Introduction

Interest in ghost hunting/paranormal investigation has exploded in the last few years thanks to para-reality TV such as Ghost Hunters, Paranormal State and Ghost Adventures.  While rank and file investigators owe a great debut to these TV investigators for brining the paranormal investigation field out of the shadows, these programs have also done a great dis-service to the regular rank and file investigator (you know what I mean, those of us that are not being funded by a major television network).  There is a misconception that says to be taken seriously as a paranormal investigator, or even to be considered a “professional group”, tons on top of tons of equipment must be used on EVERY investigation.  

The truth of the matter is, tons of flashy fancy expensive equipment isn’t necessary to conduct a professional paranormal investigation.  The most important piece of equipment that an investigator owns is his or her own senses.  As investigators we aren’t out to attempt to prove the existence of anything.  For the skeptic no amount of proof will ever be enough and for the believer no amount of proof is necessary.  As investigators our first responsibility is to the client, they are looking for solid answers to what may (or may not) be occurring in their home or business.  It is enough for an investigation team to be able to corroborate experiences it isn’t always necessary to catch activity on camera or film.

Having said that, to become an effective investigator it is important to understand some concepts relating to the paranormal.

Paranormal Phenomena

Hollywood has influenced our opinions on what paranormal activity should look like.  Again there is a misconception that for activity to be considered paranormal there MUST be disembodied voices or apparitions appearing or little girls being sucked into TV’s with a gateway to the other side being found in a closet.   Again, this can’t be farther from the truth.  Actual paranormal activity will most likely include odd or strange feelings, the feeling of being watched or feelings of dread.

Troy Taylor has the following to say about paranormal activity:

The public assumes that haunting always involves apparitions or the ghosts of the dead but actually apparitions are connected to a minority of cases.  Most haunting involve noises like phantom footsteps, strange unexplained sounds, tapings, knocking and even voices and whispers.  They can also include strange smells, sensations like the prickling of skin cold spots and breezes and being touched by unseen hands.  Other haunting can involve poltergeist activity such as furniture and solid objects being moved about, broken glass, doors open and close by themselves and the paranormal manipulation of lights and electrical devices, circuits and outlets(Taylor, T. (2004) P. 50)

Traditional Haunting:

A traditional haunting (also known as an intelligent haunting) is something that has widely been accepted as a “true haunting”.  This is because the activity present in a traditional haunting will interact with witnesses. 

The traditional or intelligent haunting is perhaps the most widely accepted kind of ghost activity….In this kind of case the spirit or entity involved is an intelligent or interactive presence in a haunted location.  It is there because of a connection to the site or to the people at the location

This ghost is best and most simply described as the personality of an individual who once lived and which has stayed behind in our world instead of passing on at the time of death. (Taylor, T. (2004) P. 51)

While traditional haunting’s are fun to investigate, they are encountered infrequently, by far the most common type of haunting a paranormal investigator will come across is the Residual Haunting.

Residual Haunting:

This is by far the most common type of paranormal activity experienced.  This type of haunting will not interact with investigators or witnesses.

The simplest way to explain this kind of activity is to compare it to an old film loop or a recording…many of the locations where these haunting take place experience an event (or series of events) that imprints itself on the atmosphere of the place.  This event can suddenly discharge and play itself at various times, just as a recording would.  The events are not always visual either.  They are often replayed as smells, sounds and noises that have no apparent explanation (Taylor, T. (2004) P. 54)

Poltergeist-Like Activity

I’m not sure where I fall in the spectrum of belief on poltergeist activity.  The common (prevailing) theory on this type of activity states that it is caused by a human (living) agent.  While I do believe that the human mind can cause all manner of strange events to take place, I have difficulty believing that an individual could be completely unaware that they are in fact causing a poltergeist disturbance. 

However, evidence that points toward the human (living) cause of the activity is compelling.  I do not feel qualified at this point to offer other suggestions; as such this section will be quoted directly from Troy Taylor and Raymond Buckland (two individuals with more experience in the paranormal field than I)

In a poltergeist case there can be a variety of phenomena taking place.  There are reports of knocking and tapping noises sounds with no visible cause, fires breaking out and much more.  In some cases this activity can be connected to ghosts….

The current theory behind this poltergeist like phenomena is that the activity is caused by a person in the household known as the human agent.  The agent is usually an adolescent girl and normally one that is troubled emotionally

It is believed that she unconsciously manipulates physical objects in the house by psycho kinesis (PK)…..

 It seems that when the activity begins to manifest the girl is almost always an unconscious of and it is rare when any of the agents actually realize that they are the source of the destruction around them.  They do not comprehend that they are the reason that objects in the home have become displaced and are usually of the impression that a ghost is present instead

The bursts of PK come and go and most poltergeist cases will peak early and then slowly fade away

It should be noted that while most cases such as this manifest around young women it is possible for puberty age boys to show this same unknowing ability.  As with the young women the vast majority will have no idea that they are causing the activity and will be surprised to find there is even a possibility that strange things are happening because of them (Taylor, T. (2004) P. 57)

The word Poltergeist is from the German and means noisy ghost but in fact poltergeist is not a ghost

It is raw energy albeit of a psychic type.  It has been defined as recurrent spontaneous psychokinetic

Psycho kinesis is the movement of objects without physical contact with them (Buckland, R. (2009) P. 119)

Portal Haunting:

Again this is a controversial topic in the paranormal field.  A portal haunting is alleged to be a doorway from our reality to another dimension/reality.  This doorway allows for beings to travel from their dimension/reality into ours.

What I find most interesting about the possibility of Portal Hauntings is the fact that if Portals do in fact exist this may explain the similarity in experiences between individuals experiencing haunting and those individuals that have experienced UFO activity.

I can’t honestly say that I have ever investigated a portal haunting; this isn’t to say that I don’t feel that it is possible for them to exist.  I find this idea an intriguing one and feel that more research into this phenomenon needs to be undertaken.

Apparitions:

Apparitions are not commonly encountered during the course of an investigation.

An apparition is a ghost sighting or sensing the super normal perception of the spirit of a deceased person or animal.  Yet apparitions are at a wide variety of types

They may seem transparent or they may appear solid they may be complete or only partially visible they may seem to communicate vocally or be mute they may be helpful or threatening some apparitions are no more than memories of the deceased in effect replaying the events

Some apparitions are of the living they might be the astral body of someone alive but located elsewhere that has suddenly become visible to the observer (Buckland, R. (2009) P. 30)

What are known as crisis apparitions are those astral bodies that appear to loved ones at a moment of crisis

This is frequently the astral body being seen which appears in the brief moments before the actual death and then becomes the true apparitions as the death takes place

Such crisis apparitions generally appear in the viewers’ everyday surroundings (Buckland, R. (2009) P. 31)

Ghosts of the living are more properly apparitions.  Such a ghost is most likely to appear when the living person is asleep in a trance in meditation or even just lost in a day dream

The astral body of the person separates from the physical body and travels about (Buckland, R. (2009) P. 94)

Demonology

Many, if not all of the para-reality ghost investigation teams have a group demonologist/occult expert.  While it is important to have one individual on an investigation team well versed in demonic haunting and occult activity this position should not be entered into lightly.  A good deal of advanced training above and beyond that of a regular investigator is required for this position.  Just the interest in and study of demonology can open up the individual to spiritual attack.  Therefore an individual looking to train to become a demonologist must be one of strong character and great faith (doesn’t have to be one of great Christian faith, any one will do).

Unlike other types of entities or spirits, demons have never lived as least not in a manner that we understand living.  What a demon actually is depends on the person that you are asking.  Again, I don’t feel it necessary to add my two cents on WHAT demons are.  All I have to say on the matter is that they can be extremely nasty to deal with.  And again, unlike what is portrayed on TV or in movies demonic attack can be extremely subtle causing the victim to begin to question his or her own sanity.

Some potential indicators of demonic haunting can include:

·         Scratching banging or clawing sounds

·         Strange/foul smells

·         Physical attack

·         Movement of objects

As a word of caution: If you feel that you are dealing with a demonic haunting and do not have the experience to handle the investigation SEEK OUT A MORE EXPERIENCED GROUP.  There are several groups around that do have experience in this area and are more than willing to help.

Occult investigations are dangerous for a different reason.  In cases that involve occult activity, the offenders are living breathing people.  These people may go to great lengths to keep their activities secret.

The most common areas that an investigation team will find evidence of occult activity will be at cemeteries and outdoor locations.  Evidence of occult groups may include:

·         Vandalism

·         Cemetery desecration

·         Trespassing

For the most part these groups are not known to be dangerous.  However, a group that is not experienced may accidently conjures things that they are unwilling/unable to get rid of.  Therefore it is beneficial to an investigation team to have an investigator well versed in occult traditions to assist in understanding what may have taken place.

Equipment

I’ve found that modern paranormal investigators have come to rely entirely too much on their equipment.  This isn’t about trying to prove something to a skeptic it’s about a personal journey to experience the possible existence of an afterlife or the existence of the soul, not about who is taking the best pictures or the best video.  When called into a residential investigation, the whole reason for the investigation is to assist the home or business owner.  The client is looking for someone to cooborate their experiences, not a group that takes the best pictures or has the newest looking equipment.   However, I digress.  Equipment should be used to cooborate an investigators personal experiences. 

The following is a list of what I can’t live without:

EMF:

I like using the EMF to help direct the investigation toward an active location.  I also use the EMF in an attempt to back up my personal feelings.  I’ve found that an EMF is most useful in debunking a haunting. 

Dowsing Rods:

Not the most technical of equipment used during an investigation.  Again, the dowsing rods are used in a similar manner to the EMF.  They are used to direct the investigation/investigators toward an active location.  During one recent investigation, dowsing rods were used to direct my group to the back part of a cemetery, once there the rods crossed (indicating that some sort of energy was present) the EMF was used to attempt to cooborate the dowsing rods there was an anolomous EM field.

During an EVP session whatever was present was asked if he or she could prove that they were present and uncross the Dowsing Rods (the rods uncrossed) then he or she was asked to re-cross the rods (they re-crossed).

Thermometer:

The how and the way to use this should go without saying.  It’s been my experience that the uber expensive thermometers don’t work any better than the cheaper variety.  Again, I’ve found them to be more useful in an attempt to cooborate what I’ve already felt rather than the other way around.

Camera:

No investigation is complete without some sort of photographic evidence.  The type of camera you use isn’t all that important, they are all basically going to work the same way.  Getting a great picture all comes down to luck….not the amount of money spent on equipment.

Pen and Paper

These are your most important investigative tools.  They should be used to record things about the investigation.  Later on field notes will be used to write a complete investigation report.

Investigative Methods

Every group will find techniques that work best for them.  Just because groups will investigate differently doesn’t make one method better than another.  As such, this section is not meant to a hard and fast guide to conducting a paranormal investigation, just a starting point:

1.      Some of the most interesting investigations I’ve gone on have been locations that are a bit off the beaten path.  When looking for places to investigate you doesn’t have to focus only on KNOWN haunted locations (if other groups have investigated and have information regarding the site already posted…what’s the fun of investigating???)

2.      Always conduct one day light preliminary investigation.  The purpose of this it to look for anything natural that may be causing the activity (power lines, etc) this investigation will also allow for the opptunity to look for any potential dangers to the investigative team.

3.      Never allow an investigator to investigate alone.  The investigation group should be broken down in to 2 or 3 person teams.  Not only does this ensure the safety of the entire team but it also allows for others to cooborate  personal experiences

4.      Always be respectful.  Never shout, yell or curse during an investigation. 

5.      Safety first.  If any investigator feels that they are not safe in the area, they should be escorted back to the staging area or away from the investigation and should not be left alone.  Also never run!

6.      Smoking should not be allowed during investigations as it may interfere with photographic or video evidence.  If investigating in cold weather remember to hold your breath before taking the picture

7.      Above all else…..have fun with your investigation.

Conclusion

Paranormal Investigation seems to be the new fad past time.  While there is nothing wrong with a group of people that enjoy getting together every once in a while to investigate a cemetery or other outdoor location, there are certain dangers associated with investigating the paranormal.  The article is not meant to be the be all and end off of paranormal investigations.  It is meant to serve as an introduction on how to conduct an investigation and how to keep you and your group safe during said investigations.  Those seriously interested in the research and investigations are urged to learn more about the field.  Orion Investigations is always looking for new investigations, if you have any questions comments or suggestions, you are urged to contact us, or any of the myriad of other investigators found throughout cyber space.

References

Taylor, T.  (2004). The Ghost Hunters Guidebook.  The Essential Guide to Investigating Ghosts & Hauntings.  Alton, Ill: White chapel Productions Press

Buckland, R.  (2009). The Weiser Field Guide to Ghosts, Apparitions, Spirits, Spectral Lights, and Other Hauntings of History and Legend.  San Francisco, CA: Weiser Books