Johnson, Carl Leonard

(1954– ); Johnson, Keith Edward (1954– ); Johnson, Sandra Ann Hutchings (1963– )

   Paranormal investigators, especially of cases involving demonic activity. Carl and Keith Johnson (identical twin brothers) have worked as demonologists with paranormal investigators and have appeared on reality television shows featuring demonic cases. Keith and Sandra Johnson (husband and wife) founded the New England Anomalies Research organization. Keith and Carl were born on December 9, 1954, in Providence, Rhode Island, and grew up in North Scituate, Rhode Island. The Johnson family was the first to occupy the new house in North Scituate. Family members, including the children, soon experienced paranormal phenomena, such as disembodied voices and knockings at the walls and windows. Once, water in a glass held by the boys’ mother suddenly vanished with a loud “slurping” sound. By the time Keith and Carl were five, the sounds of animated human conversation could be heard outside their bedroom window. Although the conversation sounded close enough to be clearly heard, no specific words could be distinguished. This and other odd experiences led the boys to become intensely interested in spirit phenomena at an early age.

   While in school in Scituate, Carl and Keith began serious study of the paranormal, including ghosts, ANGELs, DEMONs, and other inhuman spirits. Carl was especially interested in the demonic and the darker side of both human and spirit nature. He began concentrating on the works of ALEISTER CROWLEY and Anton Szandor LaVey (see satanism), among others.

   When Carl and Keith were 17, they attended a lecture at Rhode Island College given by ED AND LORRAINE WARREN. They struck up a lifelong friendship with the famed paranormal investigators and demonologists. This meeting, especially with Ed, was a turning point for Keith, inspiring him to pursue the field of demonology. The two participated in paranormal investigations with Rhode Island groups and worked occasionally with the Warrens, assisting in an EXORCISM.

   Sandra Ann Hutchings was born in Warwick, Rhode Island, on May 17, 1963. She was the seventh child of a seventh child, a birth order that in folklore indicates supernatural powers such as psychic abilities. She attended high school in Warwick and received her college degree in human services in Warwick as well. Sandra also became actively involved in local theater in Warwick, where she met Keith. They married in 1991 and live in Warwick with their son, Keith Edward Johnson, Jr. In the 1990s, Carl also moved to Warwick. They became involved for a time with The Atlantic Paranormal Research Society, whose members have starred in a popular reality television show, Ghost Hunters. In 2004, Keith and Sandra branched off to found their own group, New England Anomalies Research, which Carl joined. They have worked with lay demonologists such as JOHN ZAFFIS and ADAM BLAI and have appeared on other reality shows besides Ghost Hunters.

   Keith and Sandra teach classes and lecture on the paranormal, specializing in inhuman hauntings. They host a weekly television talk show, Ghosts R NEAR, aired in New England. Carl serves as alternate cohost. The Johnsons estimate that approximately 15 percent of hauntings involve nonhuman entities. Such cases have been on the rise since about the 1990s. One significant factor is the overall rise in global tensions and feelings of insecurity and vulnerability, due in part to terrorism and the World Trade Center attacks in 2001.

   FURTHER READING:

   - Near England Anomalies Research Web site. URL: http://www.nearparanormal.com.