The Ghost in the Machine

How a homeless former sound technician fused the power of smartphones and spirit-hunting to build a global business and become a paranormal industry phenom.

Photos by Alissa Ambrose

Raindrops fall on the only roof he can put above his family, the nylon of the rain flap – and the tent beneath it – taking blow after blow with each concussive bead. Two weeks of this, four hours today, have made small divots in the fabric where the water pools up, and, eventually, will seep into the cabin unless drained by hand. Daniel Roberge, at thirty-eight years of age, has learned to press his fist into the cloth instead of punching it, which could aggravate the divot and create a larger leak.

He’s been outside climbing trees and hanging tarps while spiders crawled in his beard. What isn’t wet is damp, like his glasses, like the skin of the freezer bag that holds his Android phone and tablet. Roberge carries this bag each morning to the offices at Autumn Hills campground in Weare, New Hampshire to use the free Wi-Fi and answer emails. “Where are my friends?” he tweets on August 10, 2012.

The drips are manageable now, drips that soak his sleeping bag, drips …