Paranormal Investigations

With over thirty paranormal investigations under my belt, allow me to lead you down the path to your own investigations. Bring your electronic voice recorder, your electromagnetic field meter, digital camera and small flashlight. The path can be twisty and tricky at times. As an acknowledged skeptic, I can tell you that I have experienced things that are not easily and/or readily explained. With that in mind, let's talk about some of the dos, don'ts and things you might not have thought of in conducting your own paranormal investigation.

First, let's take a moment to discuss the types of haunting, and how you may be able to capture evidence. Residual haunting is when a spirit does the same thing, over and over, like watching a video tape. The spirit is not aware of others in their surroundings, and most likely does not realize they are not among the living. Poltergeist activity, contrary to the movie, is generally NOT supernatural in its origins. Usually, someone amongst the living has experienced such trauma that they are projecting energy that manifests itself as a ghost, or paranormal. Intelligent haunting are where the spirits are making an active effort in communication. This may come in the form of manifestation, sounds, voices, movement of objects, you get the point. You ask it for a response in some way, and it complies.

So, let's talk about location. Homes and businesses are the most common, but outside locations are often overlooked. No, I'm not talking about the obvious cemetery, although sometimes they can be interesting. I'm talking about former civil war battlegrounds, empty property of former tragedies such as fires, even the solitude of a beautiful gazebo overlooking a serene lake. The prevalent theory on locations is that it's often the site of a tragic or emotional event, but the location can be a known location that a person once enjoyed in their earthly presence. So if know that someone loved the diner down the street, and had coffee there every morning, there may be residual energy of that person still having the morning coffee. You may also find that the one thing the spirit is attached to the most, is a person that is still amongst the living. Follow the logic here?

Now, let's talk about what you need to get there. In the introduction I mentioned the basic tools for following the path of the paranormal. Flashlight, digital voice recorder, EMF meter, digital thermometer and a digital camera are all standard fare. You can purchase these items online relatively easily and inexpensively with a simple search for the names of the device. Again the commonly accepted standard is that if you catch something with one of those devices, try to quickly confirm with one of the other devices. For example, if you hear a sound or a voice, are you able to capture the sound on digital recording? Did the EMF meter or temperature gauge spike at the same time? Were you able to snap a quick photo and capture anything unusual? If you did, what actually constitutes good evidence? One thing not considered evidence is a personal experience. These are the smells you might encounter that are out of place. Maybe you feel a cold chill on your body, or the sensation of a touch. While personal experiences are good for documentation, without concurrent evidence from one of the scientific devices, these are nothing more than good campfire ghost stories.

Ok, so you have your gear, you have your location all picked out and ready to go. What do we do once we get there? This is where the fun part begins! My first word of advice: PATIENCE. These spirits are in a place where time has no correlation. They aren't trained pets to do tricks on your demand. If you have an intelligent haunting you will get the interaction you desire. If the energy is residual or other, then you basically have to wait for the "tape to rewind" to experience the activity. Don't say silly things like "why don't you take me over". While I may be a skeptic, there are many respected people that will tell you how bad of an idea that is. Why tempt something you don't know anything about? Walk through the rooms or the area, take your time. Sit down, have a conversation while recording. Ask why the spirit is there, what is its name, can they see you, ask for information that you can confirm (such as did they own the property, are they related to someone still living, etc). If you experience a cold spot, try and follow it with your thermometer or just with your natural sensations if you can feel it.

Use your meters, use your natural senses, document your experiences, and review whatever evidence you collect with a skeptical eye. Look for explanations before assuming it's unexplainable. If you're doing the investigation for personal reasons, don't allow yourself to imply something that may not be there. Be sure you keep your eyes open for possible explanations. If you're doing the investigation for someone else, please don't give them false hope or scare the pants off of them either. Present your evidence clearly with what you know and what you can't be sure of.