George Singleton tells of his 'study of the supernatural and the spirit world'

George Buster Singleton

(For decades, local historian and paranormal investigator George “Buster” Singleton published a weekly newspaper column called “Somewhere in Time.” The column below, which was titled “In search of the supernatural and spirits from the past,” was originally published in the Aug. 25, 1994 edition of The Monroe Journal in Monroeville, Ala.)

I have been told several times by various people that those who venture out during the hours of darkness looking for strange somethings aren’t too smart. There have been many times I would agree with these people.

As most of my readers probably know, I have been interested in the study of the supernatural and the “spirit world” since childhood. I have spent many hours in old, abandoned houses and forgotten cemeteries looking, listening, waiting.

There have been times when I have had the living daylights frightened out of me. There have been times when the hardest thing I have ever did was to sit still, when my feet were telling me that I needed to get up and get the heck out of there.

I have been bitten twice by poisonous snakes. I have been bitten thousands of times by various insects. I have had armadillos come close enough to me that I could reach out and touch them. I have been cold enough that my teeth would chatter, sometimes loud enough that I expected other ears to pick up the sound. And I have been so hot until it seemed as if I was sitting inside an oven.

Many times I am asked why I go on these foolish ventures. Perhaps, you become addicted to such habits or it just gets in your blood, as the old saying goes. I do know, however, that it is much harder to lay this wandering addiction aside than it might seem.

Mind you, I am not complaining about this hobby or passion or whatever you might call it. I would not trade the experience that I have gained on these excursions for anything such as money or wealth of various sorts.

Throughout my adult life, I have been most fortunate to have traveled to many parts of the world. Always, during these travels, if time was available, I have always sought out the places where I could investigate any stories of the supernatural told by the local folks. I have spent several nights hunkered down in a corner of an ancient Mayan or Aztec temple. During some of these ventures, I have wished that I had not come this way, after hearing the strange noises and seeing some of the frightening sights. But, also during these ventures, I have learned much about various happenings that few others know absolutely nothing about.

For example, I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is a direct connection between the early Indians of this area and the Aztec and Mayan civilization of South and Central America. I have witnessed on several occasions, right here in our county, various happenings that were identical to some that I witnessed in the lands of the ancient Aztecs.

If you look back into time, 500 to 1,000 years is no more than a moment’s passing when compared to man’s presence here in this very area. We have let our early history fall by the wayside in our schools because we can’t see the need for it. This might sound strange to some, but I believe that many of our problems in today’s society would not exist if we had a greater knowledge of the past civilizations that inhabited this land somewhere back in time.

We tend to compare one who believes or investigates the stories of the supernatural with ignorance. But this is a great mistake. This belief relates from a time when the early families entertained themselves by passing on the old ghost stories while sitting around the stone fireplaces on cold winter evenings.

There is no place within our modern civilization for mention of another dimension or a parallel time. We rely on our modern computers for answers that should be made by the human mind. We entertain our children by sitting them down in front of the boob tube and spend hours on end watching freakish dinosaurs dance and sing and parade across the screen. Our kids know all the Ninja Turtles by name, but know very little of our past. Scenes of murder and rape are so common to the youth of today until many think that it is the right thing to do.

Don’t mistake me as saying that we should teach our children to believe everything that they hear pertaining to the supernatural. We should, however, allow them to be exposed to stories of our history and learn from many of the things that made our country great.

They should learn the importance of enjoying good, clean fun and investigate more and more the history of the bygone years of our country. They should be curious about happenings to the point that they should satisfy themselves as to the truth of the old stories and ancient legends. They should also learn to protect and preserve these places where history and these events took place.

In talking to many of our youth, each seems to want to get involved in learning of past local history. Each time that I talk to those who inquire, I encourage them to go and seek the answers to these mysteries that interest them.

Many return to me at a later date, wide-eyed and excited as to the many happenings they have witnessed and the lessons they learned while exploring into these events.

I do not have a doctorate in the study of the supernatural. I have, however, learned much from the years that I have pursued these stories that were passed on to me by my ancestors or those who have survived the years.

In looking at these lessons I have learned over the years, I believe that my life has been made much richer from these investigations. I also believe that due to these events I have come to appreciate life much more during the course of past years.

I can now find beauty in places where many others see nothing. And I have found a traveling companion in my God who never becomes tired or exhausted. So, as I look back over my life and wonder if I would change any of it, my answer is “not one minute.”

(Singleton, the author of the 1991 book “Of Foxfire and Phantom Soldiers,” passed away at the age of 79 on July 19, 2007. A longtime resident of Monroeville, he was born to Vincent William Singleton and Frances Cornelia Faile Singleton, during a late-night thunderstorm, on Dec. 14, 1927 in Marengo County, graduated from Sweet Water High School in 1946, served as a U.S. Marine paratrooper in the Korean War, worked as a riverboat deckhand, lived for a time among Apache Indians, moved to Monroe County on June 28, 1964 and served as the administrator of the Monroeville National Guard unit from June 28, 1964 to Dec. 14, 1987. He was promoted from the enlisted ranks to warrant officer in May 1972. For years, Singleton’s columns, titled “Monroe County history – Did you know?” and “Somewhere in Time” appeared in The Monroe Journal, and he wrote a lengthy series of articles about Monroe County that appeared in Alabama Life magazine. It’s believed that his first column appeared in the March 25, 1971 edition of The Monroe Journal. He also helped organize the Monroe County Museum and Historical Society and was also a past president of that organization. He is buried in Pineville Cemetery in Monroeville. The column above and all of Singleton’s other columns are available to the public through the microfilm records at the Monroe County Public Library in Monroeville. Singleton’s columns are presented here each week for research and scholarship purposes and as part of an effort to keep his work and memory alive.)