An Interview with a Believer of the Paranormal

I have been a skeptic of the paranormal all of my life and recently had a chance to interview a gentlemen that studies paranormal for a living. For the sake of his identity, I will be referring to him as Aj.

Growing up, I was always taught that when you die, you die. You don't remain on "earth," but in a holding place called "haites" until judgment day, then you would either go to heaven or hell. After this interview with Mr. Aj, my opinions have changed.

Upon arriving, Mr. Aj shook my hand and appeared a bit nervous. He explained that he didn't like talking to skeptics because he didn't like to "influence their beliefs." I assured him that I've been a skeptic for quite sometime, and that there wasn't much he could offer to change my mind. Then, I proceeded with the interview.

Mr. Aj claimed that he used to be a skeptic as well, but upon returning from Iraq, had many things happen that began his investigations.
"At first, I thought I had post-traumatic stress," Aj said.

He stated that he would wake to the smell of rotten eggs, burning hair, and cigarette smoke. He claimed that he would see dark figures, much like a shadow, only in 3D form that would pass by the bedroom door, or whatever room he was in. He said that items of clothing would disappear, and then reappear later. Items of personal value would come up missing, and then he'd find it later in a place that was very obvious. He says that what happened next made him question everything he stood for.

"I would be laying there, trying to fall asleep, and I would hear my name whispered in my ear, but no one was there. I thought I might have been in REM sleep, but after this happened several times, I finally realized that it was real, and definitely not a dream," he said.

He stated that he began his research on the internet. Aj claims to have visited numerous websites that contained photos of apparitions, orbs, mists, and other unusual activity. Next, he learned about "Electronic Voice Phenomena" or EVP's. Mr. Aj informed me that most EVP's can not be heard with the human ear, but only with a digital voice recorder. He was certain that if he could hear voices with his ears that he could pick them up on a recorder.

"I bought a cheap recorder and set it up one night. It only taped for about an hour and a half, and during that time, I didn't catch anything unusual. I decided to look for a recorder that would record hours at a time, even through the night, while I was sleeping. I was kind of discouraged when I heard nothing on the first tape recording, but I was also awake during that time, and didn't hear anything unusual. I was hoping that I could catch at least something. I guess you could say I was determined to prove to myself that I wasn't insane."

Mr. Aj bought a voice recorder that could record up to sixteen hours at a time. He stated that in the first recording, he caught three unusual sounds. He claims that he was the only person in the home at the time, so he knew the sounds that he had "caught on tape" weren't sounds of his own.

I was lucky enough to hear these "EVP's." The first sounded much like a person whispering "feet are cold." The second was a whistle, and the third sounded like "Hey, Wait." After hearing the recording, Mr. Aj told me what he made of them, and coincidentally, we agreed on what was being said in the background.

Because of my skepticism, I had to ask, "Can't these sounds be edited to make it sound like a different person? It could have been your voice, correct?"

Aj stated, "Yes, the sounds can be altered, and edited, by means of computer, and I could very well be pulling your leg, but you wanted to interview me, correct? I didn't ASK for this interview."

After a silent laugh, I proceeded with, "So, you are telling me that you were a firm skeptic, and after a few of these electronic voice phenomenon's, you were a firm believer?"

Sounding a bit agitated, Mr. Aj exclaimed, "No, I'm telling you that after these EVP's, I became only more curious, and furthered my investigation into the paranormal. I decided to get a Ouija Board, which had to have been the worst decision of my life, and I also took pictures around my home, as well as setting up a video recorder to see if I could catch anything on film."

"Why would you say that getting a Ouija Board was one of the worst decisions in your life?" I asked.

"Well, for one, I began seeing shadows more often, woke up more often to the smells of burning hair, rotten eggs, and cigarettes. Two, I seemed to have a stream of bad luck, and to top it all off, I couldn't get rid of the board. When I'd throw it away, it would be on my table the next day. Once, I through it in the trash and brought the trash out just before the garbage truck came. To my surprise, the board was back on the table the next day as if it had been untouched."

I had heard about people that said the Ouija Board would "come back," but I had never met someone that it had happened to. I was surprised that he looked so serious about the matter. I was expecting him to break out in a laugh at any moment to say that he was kidding. He didn't, so I proceeded.

I knew that he'd brought some of his footage and photos, so I decided to get right to it. I asked if I could take a look at the photos. The first photos were of the inside of Mr. Aj's home. There were a few that I had to ask why they were unusual, but most of them were self explanatory. There were close to twenty photos of orbs which are explained (in the paranormal world) as balls of electricity. Most of the time you can see through them (in the photos), but they can't be seen with a human eye. Only a snap-shot camera can pick up these so-called orbs. There was also one photo of what looked to be a lady's face, but I had an easy explanation.

"Mr. Aj, could this have been the flash of the camera? People see human faces, animals, etc. in the clouds all the time. Don't you think that could be the explanation of this apparition?"

"No, because the flash wasn't on," he claimed.

I didn't want to believe him, but proceeded, "These orbs, could they be dust, or a glare from the light?"

"Yes, they very well could be, but look in this photo, and then in this one," he stated pointing to two different photos.

One of the photos had several of these large circular (see through) patterns on Mr. Aj's couch. They were no where else in the photo. It was almost as if there were a being on this couch.

The second photo was a picture taken just before, in which only one of these "orbs" was present on the couch.

Then, Mr. Aj wanted to show me a video clip from one of the nights that he was using the Ouija Board. I agreed and sat patiently.

The first piece of footage I watched was of Mr. Aj sitting silently on the floor. There was only a bit of light from the camera, everything else was pitch black. Moments later, there was a white "mist" that crossed in front of the camera lens. Then, the footage goes completely black, but still had sound. It only lasted a second or two. The footage was back to normal. I could hear Mr. Aj say "Good-bye." Seconds later, there were fuzzy lines that crossed over the camera and then an abrupt stop. The footage was over.

Mr. Aj wanted me to watch the footage once more before explaining to me why he wanted me to watch it. When the footage was over, he began, "Ok, notice the time of the film where I say 'Good-bye'. Now, notice the time of the EVP that states "Hey, Wait."

They were almost down to the second, with about a twenty second difference. "Now, notice that I didn't get up to stop the recording. It stopped on it's own. The battery went dead. I had only been recording for an hour, but the battery had charged all night and all day before I used it."

At that moment, I could tell in Mr. Aj's eyes that he wasn't lying. He was very serious, and looked to be a little disturbed, and scared. I decided that it was time to end the interview and thank him for his time.

Upon leaving, he explained to me that if I wanted to interview him again, he was more than happy to have me, but only if I would accompany him during one of his investigations. Being such a skeptic, I agreed, so it will be only a short time before I can report to you what my next adventure will be.