An Interview with Amanda White from the Dead Watch Society Paranormal Group

Amanda White is a paranormal investigator and Public Relations Manager for the Dead Watch Society out of Battle Creek, Michigan. She also networks with other paranormal groups from across the country.

Lisa: Amanda, you are an investigator and the Public Relations Manager for the Dead Watch Society. How long have you been doing paranormal research?

Amanda: I have been interested in many aspects of the paranormal since I was quite young, however I began my research about 5 years ago, in late 2002. Shortly thereafter, I began networking with members of paranormal groups across the country. Although I spend much of my time working with and learning from others, I still try to devote time to researching, collecting and analyzing my own evidence and experiencing things for myself.

Lisa: What methods do you use for public relations when it comes to a paranormal group? What types of media outlets do you search for?

Amanda: Every team has their own methods for promoting their work and/or services to the public. Almost all of our promotional work is directly with the public, on a one on one basis. We do have websites, located at www.deadwatchsociety.com and www.myspace.com/deadwatch, that we use as a platform for networking with other teams and people seeking our help, however I prefer a more personal approach with being able to sit down and really talk with them. We enjoy and will certainly use the benefits of promotion through internet, radio and print media, however all of us at The Deadwatch Society are very personable, family oriented people and we want the public and our clients to be able to get to know us and not just what we do.

Lisa: I know that you are married. Does your husband join you when you are out investigating with the group?

Amanda: Although my husband Doug would like to, unfortunately he has not been able to as of yet. He is away from home for his job roughly 12 hours daily and we also have 3 young children that keep us quite busy otherwise. Doug and I have done some work together on our own outside of the group though, and hopefully we will be able to bring him along on an investigation soon.

Lisa: Being an affiliate for Ghost Hounds out of Georgia, run by Patrick Burns, what types of things do you actually do as an affiliate?

Amanda: The Ghost Hounds, a truly great group of people! I have known Patrick for the better part of 4 years now and I consider him to be not only a mentor of mine, but a dear friend as well. However, due to location differences, Ghost Hounds base of operations being in the Atlanta, GA area and myself being a resident of Battle Creek, MI, unfortunately my affiliation has yet to be a physically interactive one. I highly respect this team of investigators and spend as much time as I can helping them promote the Ghost Hounds, the work they do and the different events they host and take part in as well as learning from their methodology and investigative techniques through internet networking.

Lisa: You took a trip recently to the Stanley Hotel in Colorado where The Shining was filmed. This was a paid-for paranormal investigating event hosted by Dave and Tim from Darkness Radio, wasn't it?

Amanda:Yes Lisa, it was, and what an AMAZING time it was too! Dave and Tim are two of the greatest people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting and the event at the Stanley was unlike any other. It was two days and three nights of fantastic presentations by Grant Wilson and Jason Hawes, Patrick Burns, Chris Fleming, John Zaffis, Adam Blai, Chad Calek, Adrian Vallera and Rosemary Ellen Guilley, Q&A panels and investigations. We had two wonderful dinners created by the chefs of the Stanley, two very successful charity auctions, the opportunity to take part in hypnosis classes with Russ Clarke, and psychic/ mediums readings with Chip Coffey and Tiffany Johnson.

The investigations we took part in were amazing as well. All of the attendees had the chance to work with each of celebrity guests and the activity at the Stanley did not disappoint. The event overall was simply outstanding! Darkness Radio events are prime and I look forward to attending more in the future. They are hosting yet another trip to the Stanley this upcoming November and it is certain to be the best paranormal event of the year.

Lisa: Did you come back from the trip with any amazing photos, EVPS or video of ghosts?

Amanda: I wasn't able to capture anything on my digital camera, but I did come back with about 10 different EVP's, three separate recordings of disembodies voices, (some of which I was able to match the audio from my recorder to my video recordings) and a few personal experiences as well. During one investigation of a storage room in the basement of the Concert Hall, we were getting some really incredible responses on the K-II meter followed by something unseen shoving me in the hip causing me to stumble sideways. As I stated previously, the activity there didn't disappoint and many of the 200+ guests in attendance walked away with some kind of experience and/or evidence collected.

Lisa: How often does The Dead Watch Society go out and do investigations into paranormal activity?

Amanda: Almost every member of our team has a family of their own as well as jobs outside the home so sometimes it is difficult to schedule all of us together for an investigation but we certainly try to get out and help people as much as we can. We are currently working on a follow-up investigation of a private residence in Middleville, MI and have another upcoming investigation at a residence north of us in Clare, MI soon as well. Ideally we would like to do at least one investigation per month but due to scheduling conflicts between jobs and/or clientele sometimes a set one-per-month isn't feasible.

Lisa: Do you think the people of Battle Creek, Michigan are pretty accepting of the supernatural, or do you run into any resistance?

Amanda: I honestly feel its 50-50 here. I have come across complete belief as well as total cynicism. Everyone that I have talked with has been open to at least discussing a broad range of paranormal topics, but they either seem to believe, or don't, there isn't much of a middle ground there.

Lisa: Is there a 'famous' or fairly well-known location that you are really dying to investigate?

Amanda:That is a tough question as there are many well known locations I'd love to investigate. I would have to say though that the St. Augustine, FL lighthouse, Waverly Hills, Gettysburg and the Myrtles Plantation would be my first choices.

Lisa: What is the most important thing that you have learned about ghosts and spirits since becoming a paranormal investigator?

Amanda:As simple as it sounds, my answer would have to be that spirits and ghosts do indeed exist.

I know that I may get some flack for saying that so matter-of-fact, simply because I cannot 'prove' that statement to everyone else, but the experiences that I have had over the years leaves me with that definite conclusion. I truly believe that there is more out there than meets the eye and it is standing right in front of us, waiting for our acknowledgments, unfortunately most are either too timid or close-minded to see it. The other most important thing I have learned is that there really are no limitations to paranormal experiences. Every entity, be it intelligent, residual, poltergeist, or non-human is going to be and 'act' differently pretty much every time. No two instances are exactly alike and you have to go into each investigation very open minded with no expectations, otherwise you are likely to be disappointed. I learned some time ago that if you're looking too hard, you are likely to miss the one thing that is right in front of your face. But you have to be prepared too.

It's important to keep your head about you in this line of work, it's not something anyone should go into lightly and do simply because it sounds like a good time. You need to be smart and keep yourself safe. What we know about the realms outside of our own barely scratches the surface of a whole universe of things we as humans cannot fully understand, and I feel that a lot of that, for now at least, is for good reason. Hopefully someday we will get to a point where the collective conscious is broad enough to cause that shift that will open those doors and allow our separate realms to co-exist and fully interact with each other but until then, I am satisfied knowing what I know and having had the experiences that I have, regardless if I can 'prove' it to anyone else.

Lisa: Do you feel that religious beliefs are connected in any way, to paranormal beliefs?

Amanda: Somewhat, yes. There is the connection that both are spiritual entities, but not everyone who believes in paranormal activity believes in one form of deity or another. Those beliefs can be combined and used together though, like with those that use religious practices in an investigation setting. But just because one is religious, doesn't mean they believe in the paranormal and vice versa.

Lisa: What are your plans for the near future at The Dead Watch Society? Anything special coming up that we should watch for?

Amanda: A few members of our team were recently approached with a project but unfortunately I am not authorized to give any details at this time. Do keep an eye out on our website though, as the information will be posted there as soon as it's available.