How to Become a Paranormal Investigator

You may have seen TV shows about Ghost Hunting, Haunted Castles, and Paranormal Investigation. Has anyone every thought of becoming one? All you need is some basic understanding of ghost, spirits, orbs, ectoplasm and a few electronic gadgets to detect the presence of ghost.

There is a website called the International Ghost Hunters Society where you can read up on everything you will need to know to perform a Ghost Hunting investigation. This site even has courses you can take to become a certify Ghost Hunter by the IGHS. You may even want to start your own Ghost Hunters Club so that you have a few more people that can assist you in your investigations.

The basic equipment you will need to get started is a hand held tape recorder for EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena) work, digital camera and camcorder. This will get you started in documenting a haunting. A few other pieces of equipment that will help you detect the presence of ghost are EMF meter and digital thermometer.

To get your first Ghost Hunting job run some ads in a few local papers. Choose areas that have old homes or have historical sites around. You will most likely get some calls from these types of areas.

Once you get your first call ask some basic questions like what time does the disturbances occur, do they actually see an apparition or do they feel a presence and if it's a child that only sees the ghost. This will give you some idea what to expect when you get to the home. Most hauntings occur in the middle of the night so plan on working late nights for most of your investigations.

Once you arrive at the home the first thing you will want to do is find out what areas of the house or establishment experience the apparition or disturbance. If there are disturbances in multi parts of the premise you will want one or two of your assistance to cover the other areas.

As you are walking through the premise you will want to use your EMF to detect an abnormal level of electrical magnetic energy. Ghosts are known to cause electrical magnetic disturbance and spikes in normal background readings. Ghosts are also known to produce cold spots; this is where your digital spot thermometer comes in handy.

As you are walking through the premise turn on your hand held voice recorder and start talking to the ghost. Many times when you play back the tape you will hear voices in the background answering your questions or making a statement. You also will want to have your camcorder on to get any evidence of an apparition that you may not see at the time of the walk through. This is why you will need a few others with you so that they can operate the other devices.

After you have been to a few investigations you will become familiar with the procedures and what questions to ask when you interview the owners of the home or establishment.

No two hauntings are ever the same so the more investigations you perform the more knowledge you will gain. Also by having monthly meetings with the other members you can discuss new topics and up coming investigations.

Happy Ghost Hunting!