Not Everything is as It Seems

 

If there is one important lesson that I have learned in my 18 years of paranormal investigation, it's that having an open mind is a must.

When clients call me and request an investigation, I spend as long as possible with them on the phone in order to get as complete a picture of what might be going on in their house or business.

Once my team arrives on scene for the preliminary investigation, there is another question and answer session as we start the process of figuring out if what the client is experiencing is paranormal, caused by man made objects or if the client may be experiencing health issues.

With a 100 question questionnaire, we cover as many possibilities as we can. Those questions range from what the client does for a living, to relationship issues, to what type of activity is occurring, and other questions. We also have them describe the activity in detail.

While a team member asks the questions and takes note another team member is walking through the building noting locations of furniture and other items as well as electrical/EMF levels in the building.

I won't bore you with all the details but it's a very thorough preliminary.

Fast forward to the actual investigation and after looking at all the possible causes for the activity, we conclude that yes, there is a ghost or an entity in the building. The task is then to figure out what or who we are dealing with.

There is a lot of ghost investigation shows on TV that focus on negative or what appears to be demonic activity. The unfortunate thing about that is that people are influenced by these shows and automatically think that activity in their house or building is demonic.

Now, when I started investigating 18 years ago, the majority of the ghosts in homes were deceased family members. Clients actually thought they were being visited by family members. But because of the TV shows that has changed.

I have a newsflash! Not everything is demonic.

According to the mediums on my team, when we die, we keep our personalities. For example, if you are an angry person, chances are you will be angry as a ghost. My team has conducted investigations where the alleged demon turned out to be a ghost trying to act like one in order to scare the people in the building.

I'm not saying there are no demons because those cases do pop up but they don't pop up as frequently as TV would have you believe. A lot of the negative cases turn out to be human ghosts who are angry for one reason or another.

A good example of that happened on a residential investigation. The investigator had a necklace with cross attached around her neck. During the investigation, the cross started to rise by itself until the necklace and cross were hanging in mid air horizontal to the ground. It not only surprised the investigator but scared her as well. The team shaman determined that it was not a demon or dark entity. It was a man who had died many years ago on the property and was not happy with the family that was living in the house. He wanted the inhabitants to think he was a demon so they would leave.

There was another case where a client swore up and down that there was a demon in the house. As I walked through during the preliminary investigation, I noticed that the client had blessed items like crosses and religious icons on the walls in every room. I asked the client if any of the icons or crosses had fallen off the walls. When the client said they hadn't, I knew there wasn't a demon. If there had been, then those religious articles would not have stayed on the walls. Again it was an angry person trying to make the family believe he was a demon.

That's why not everything is as it seems and it's very important that a paranormal team does a thorough job and investigates every possibility for the activity that the client is experiencing. That includes looking at natural or man made things that could be causing the activity. High EMF is a perfect example. It can cause headaches, hallucinations and other things that affect the brain.

The main thing to remember is that the client sought you out to help find answers to what they are experiencing so it is your job to sort everything out.

This is the first of a two-part blog entry dealing with conducting investigations in private homes.

Lending a Helping Hand

Like any profession, investigating the paranormal requires that teams pay their dues. No! Not monetarily although that happens anyway with the cost of equipment. But, when I say dues, I really mean that practice is the key to having a successful team.

TV has really done a disservice to the field. Some beginning paranormal enthusiasts feel that they know how to conduct an investigation just because they've seen it done on TV every week by this group or that group. And, because of the ease with which investigations are portrayed on TV, many groups are eager to take on residential cases and solve someones ghostly issues.

Well, guess what kiddies! You are doing far more harm than good.

First off I can't tell you how many times, my team has been called out to fix a mess caused by another team. And I can tell you this, some inexperienced teams do cause major messes for clients.

Unless you have been ghost hunting for at least a year or two, you have no business taking on any client investigations. Period!

I'm not saying that you shouldn't ghost hunt. Feel free to go out and hunt. And by ghost hunt I mean investigate commercial buildings such as old hotels, theaters or any other locations that do not require you to have one on one contact with clients.

These types of investigations will help you to learn how to use your equipment properly.

I recall one investigation that we did at a restaurant in the Placerville, California, area where the owner told me that a group that had gone in before us had no idea how to use their video cameras and other equipment. They spent the whole evening fumbling with buttons and did very little investigating.

Not a very good look for a team that is supposed to act in a professional manner.

Before even leaving their homes, the investigators should have held one or two training sessions in the proper operation of their equipment. But they didn't.

I require that all team members go through a three hour training session on equipment. I also require that everyone learns investigation protocols as well. Not only that, but training sessions should be done on a regular basis to keep everyone up to speed.

Now, once a team has had a training session, then it can go out to an old hotel or theater where members will hone the skills needed to use on residential investigations.

Very seldom will you get into a hotel that doesn't have guests. In many instances, the bar or saloon won't close until the wee hours of the morning and you'll have people walking up and down hallways. Unless you intend to be in the location all night and not get started until 3 a.m., you'll start your investigation anyway, noises be damned.

But don't despair! This type of investigating is a good thing. You see, as you deal with noisy saloons and people walking in halls, you learn how to conduct your Electro Magnetic Voice Phenomena sessions in less than pristine conditions. You start creating protocols that better help you identify the different voices you pick up on the recorder.

For example, I have all team members who are present in the room say their names in their normal voice and then say their names in a whisper voice. This way I have a reference to analyze when or if the recorder picks up a whisper. I also require team members to note out loud if they shift their bodies, if their stomach growls or if they make any other noises. I also require that they vocally note the time of the occurrence. That also goes for anything that might happen during the session such as feeling cold, hearing people walk by, people speaking, or hearing a car go by. It all helps when it comes time for reviewing the evidence. And if you're lucky, you will still get EVPs.

And just as importantly, team members will learn how to use their equipment-they'll be able to see first hand how different meters react to electrical items such as wall wiring, light fixtures, kitchen appliances, and other sources that put off an Electro Magnetic Field. And they learn that certain meters, when placed near each other will cause high EMF readings. Cell phones too. This type of investigation teaches the investigator how to use all the equipment in their arsenal.

Oh! And what about finding logical explanations for alleged paranormal activity? Older buildings are great for that. Again they are a great learning ground to look into cabinets that open by themselves, phantom lights near windows, breezes that seem to come out of nowhere, faucets that seem to turn on by themselves. And let's don't forget about doors that seem open by themselves.

Are the walls thin? Can voices from other rooms be heard? Do footsteps in the room actually happen in the room or are they simply coming from the hall? Are there any trees near the building which could cause shadows in the rooms or hit the roof creating the sound of footsteps?

All these can be done during commercial investigations.

Practice, practice, practice.

The more you do, the better you get at doing it. Trust me! When you enter someone's house you are going to be very happy that you took the time to hone your skills. Add to that, you'll look professional in front of the client.

Coming up Part Two of tips for conducting an investigation in a private residence.

Orbs Make My Head Spin

Orbs.

It's not that I don't believe that “orbs” exist, it's just that there is so much misinformation about them that my head tends to spin when I have someone randomly email me pictures of so-called “orbs”.

Since my last blog, I have been concentrating on evidence review and booking investigations in addition to hosting my weekly radio show. I have also spent the week answering emails from people about orb activity in and around their homes.

Don't get me wrong. When I was a young investigator, I too got excited every time I saw an “orb” show up on my then, three megapixel digital camera. After all, it was the same camera ghost investigators on TV were using. Have I dated myself yet? Believe it or not I have been a paranormal investigator for a long time-long before I joined any group and quite a while before I created California Haunts.

I remember snapping the pictures and showing them to anyone who would pay attention. For what it's worth, the majority of investigators were all into the “orb” thing. Now, I don't wanna ruffle the feathers of some of my good friends who have had investigation groups for years. You know who you are and I have the utmost respect for you and you are the ones who nursemaided me into looking at “orbs” more critically.

So returning back to my reason for writing this blog. To this day there are still investigators out there who swear that every spec of dust or pollen is a ghost “orb”. Some of those investigators have very popular TV shows.

Recently I received an email from a potential client asking me to send out one of my team mediums because she and her husband had been taking pictures in their home that contained “orbs.” The client was so concerned about this that she wanted the reassurance of a medium that there was nothing to fear.

First off, I respect each and everyone who sends me requests for help. That is why I do this. My goal is to help inform people about the paranormal and to find explanations for what is happening through meticulous investigation Like a police detective, I take reports, look at photos, listen to audio, look at video, take EMF readings, temperature readings and try to find the most plausible answers for clients. In most cases, the occurrences are caused by something electrical or something within the house or business. In those rare cases, where I can't explain what is causing the disturbances, then I and my team look at other possibilities.

When it comes to “orbs” I find it interesting that there are still groups out there who are misinforming the public in such a way that people see what they think is a legitimate “orb” and they automatically think it is of paranormal nature.

A good case in point is during one of my team's investigations, we were at home where I had set up the infrared DVR cameras in a couple of bedrooms. As the client stood over my shoulder watching, several objects shot across the screen. Upon seeing this, the client became excited and exclaimed, that the “orbs” confirmed the presence of ghosts in her home. Delicately I explained that dust particles can show up on monitoring systems and look pretty solid at times depending on their distance from the camera. The client then proceeded to assure me that her home was dust free. At that, I got up and went into the bedroom and proceeded to walk around dragging my feet from time to time. From my location I could her the client gasp as suddenly there was a snow storm of “orbs” flying through the air.

I have also been out with other groups in very dusty buildings and have witnessed those people taking digital pictures and then excitedly tell me about the “orbs” that were caught. For those of you out there who know me, you know it takes everything I have to not roll my eyes when I am presented with evidence like that.

For starters, you have to take your surroundings into consideration. Carpets do hold dust and I don't care how many times you vacuume, the dust is always there. If you are in an old building, there will always be dust in one form or another present. When taking pictures outside, you have to factor in things like dirt and pollen. Oh yes! Pollen creates the most colorful “orbs.”

Now the question is..what are legitimate “orbs”? That one is tough! You will get differing answers depending on who you talk to. From my perspective and my experience as a photo journalist, most “orbs” are simply caused by light hitting the camera lens at a certain angle. In cases where a flash is used, “orbs” are simply dust and other particles which reflect the light from the flash and depending on how far the particle is from the lens, its shape and intensity can vary. The same goes for video cameras whether they have IR capabilities or not.

So what in my opinion would constitute a legitimate “orb”? I agree with Troy Taylor in that with all the evidence we gather as ghost hunters, “orbs” should be treated no differently. Always be sure to note any temperature changes or increase in EMF while taking pictures or video. Also look for what lighting or reflective sources are nearby. A camera flash hitting a shiny object with the camera lens at a certain angle can also create an “orb” effect. If an “orb” appears on film or camera and you are able to correspond its appearance with temperature of EMF changes, then you might have something. Just be careful and don't jump to conclusions.

For “orbs” that appear in motion, always think of the possibility of bugs and look fer every possible explanation including direction of flight and what lighting or reflective sources are nearby before declaring them paranormal.

Now, as for the client inquiry, I suggested she email me the pictures so I could look at them and I also asked if she had noticed any temperature changes or anything like that when she took the pictures. As of now, two days later, I have received no response.

I just wish that those groups out there who are misinforming the public would get with the program. It bothers me to hear a potential client feel as if they have something to fear because their camera picked up a spec of dust or a bug. It also bothers me when I meet with a client who will insist that a spec of dust, pollen or bug is paranormal because they have seen something similar on TV or have attended a conference or lecture where a ghost hunt group has claimed they are real as well.

Get with the program and do your job. Be scientists and look at every possibility before going public with your findings. It will save a lot of people from fear and misinformation.

Lessons Learned

First off ghost hunting does have its risks.

I could trip or stub a toe while wandering around some allegedly haunted location in the dark carrying an EMF meter in one hand and a flashlight in another or I could choke on a strawberry poptart as I sit at the monitoring station. But something that sticks in the back of most ghost hunters minds is the chance that an unwelcome guest may decide to make the trip home with him or her.

Let's remember that I am journalist by trade and I am trained to look at things objectively. I also pride myself on knowing when things at my home are as they shou

ld be and when they are not...

For me, doing this for as long as I have, it is part of the territory although you never really seem to get used to it. And don't get me wrong, it is not something that I encourage...sometimes it just happens.

When I first started doing this with another group, I was simply filming in a well-documented haunted location. At one point, one of the sensitives on their team turned towards me and with a deep voice, told me that photographs were not allowed. Funny, I thought. I have a video camera.

I went home and began the editing process on the video and the computer had nothing but problems. Data would get lost, the machine would refuse to recognize the video camera, it was one problem after another. I attributed it to the computer having issues. This went on for at least two weeks. What got my attention was when I stood up to go and get a drink of water. I had a few small video tapes stacked on the computer desk. As I made the turn out of my office, the tapes suddenly toppled from the desktop like they were pushed. And I watched as the dog sat staring at the area for some time afterwards. Perhaps I should have listened when the angry voice ordered me to stop taking photographs.

Sometime later, as part of a newspaper article, I went along to a prelim at a restaurant in the Gold Country. When I got home that night I watched a couple hours of TV. When I turned the TV off, I heard male voices faintly having a conversation in my house. I ignored them and went about my business. That night as I dressed for bed, I felt a finger run down my back. That did it. I opened my front door and ordered whoever it was out. Needless to say I did not have another problem.

After those instances I started wearing protection in the form of a bag of protective rocks in my pocket and a Native American medicine bag. And for many years, I did not bring home any unwanted visitors

The last year and a half seemed more active than others for me. A friend who happens to be psychic and I went out to lunch on day and she mentioned a ghost who hung around the back of the dining area. She said he was attracted to me. Nice. That night when I got home, I was working in my office and I watched as a hair brush lifted off of the desk right in front of me and then hit the floor. Again I opened my front door and banished whatever it was.

About a year ago, following an investigation in the Gold Country a male ghost that I had encountered at a hotel decided to pay a visit. I knew because things started moving around the house and I saw a basketball lift off the floor and fly into a wall. The clincher came when I was sleeping and I could feel a weight on top of me. I reached up half asleep and felt an arm and I pushed back. Again the front door flew open. See ya!

The point of this blog is not to scare those interested in ghosts and ghost hunting. The point is to make those who want to do this understand that occasionally unwelcome visitors may make an appearance. As ghost hunters whether you are a scientific type or a believer, always make sure you wear some type protection or make sure that before you leave a location to tell those ghosts that may be there that they need to stay there and are not welcome in your house or vehicle.

I just did a residential investigation where the ghost, according to a team psychic, liked harassing the homeowner and wouldn't leave. I openly challenged it and much to the chagrin of the psychic, in my infinite wisdom, told it to follow me. This was an effort to get it away from the client. It worked, but, for the past week and a half, guess what? And although now things are tapering down, it has been interesting.

The moral of all this is learn your lessons well. I have. And every psychic on the staff of California Haunts is enjoying telling me, “I told you so.”

Most of the time if a ghost hunter is followed home, it only lasts a week or so but it can unnerving.

So again make sure you protect yourselves and learn from the experiences of others as to what not to do during an investigation.

Ghost Wars

What ever happened to the ghost hunters creed of doing it to "HELP PEOPLE"?

In the 15 years that I have been involved in ghost hunting I have seen a lot of changes-technology, techniques, and most importantly the attitude of those who say they are serving their clients needs.

I have owned a printing and advertising business, a freelancing business, dog breeding business and I have also managed up to 15 employees in my careers as a journalist/editor and working as a manager in a couple of big bulk mail centers. During that time, I saw a lot of changes in how businesses run.

Perhaps it is that dream of being on national TV that drives some groups and individuals to disregard and otherwise act in ways that are-without going into detail, the things that I have seen and heard that are going on are appalling.

What I don't understand is how something

like ghost hunting suddenly became an extreme sport in that it seems that everyone is grappling to be the top dog no matter what. And while they are doing it, they have no problem stepping on the toes of those groups that worked hard to build up their reputation.

Why is that people don't want to work for what they achieve? My group fell victim some time ago to another group that thought they could take our clients away from us. I found out because the client informed me of this and I knew that one of the particular group members had attended a meeting.

I have heard similar stories from other older groups. And the other stuff-the badmouthing..why?

Another thing that is interesting, is that a few years ago, paranormal groups were popping up everywhere. If you check some link pages from current groups, you will see this, but I bet you that half of those links now go nowhere. Why? Because ghost hunting, real ghost hunting isn't what appears on TV. It is hard work that takes days of your time. And in a lot of instances it can be really boring. Once the reality sets in for some groups, the group disbands.

All I can say is..GROW UP! We all had to work hard to build up our groups. The only people you hurt is the clients. If you go out and do a half-assed job then you hurt the clients.

Again, are we not here to help people? This isn't a race to be on TV or to see how many investigations you can do in a month. It's a service that is intended to educate and help people who may be experiencing a paranormal event.

So let's all try and remember what we do this for. I just hope that those few who are out there causing the issues don't ruin it for everyone else because that would be sad for the clients and those ghost hunters who are doing an honest job.

Safety First-When is an Investigation too hazardous?

When is it better to err on the side of caution when you are responsible for the well-being of others?

Up until the 8th year of running this team, I had never had to face any decision about the safety of my team during an investigation.

Now, I am not talking about old buildings that have no floors in places or stairways with no handrails. I am talking about coming face to face with something that could very well affect those who come in contact with it.

But that all changed when

we were called out to a residence where the client claimed that her two-year-old daughter might be possessed. On the phone with me the client described personality changes and physical feats that most people can not do.

Keeping an open mind, I listened to her and I could hear the fear in her voice so I set up the preliminary investigation.

As ghost hunters, we teach ourselves to have open minds and to look for every possible cause as a way to come up with real-world explanations for activity and that is what I did.

A lot of what the client told me was going on was typical of what has been seen on a lot of the TV shows but it is my belief that every client deserves a full preliminary and investigation. Our job is to help and we go out of our way to do that.

I did not attend this particular prelim as I had to work that day. I did however, pick team members who I knew would look at the facts involved and do the job asked of them.

That afternoon I received a phone call from one of the investigators and she described how her husband, who I know to be very logical and rational was shook up. She described how the little girl would be sweet as can be and then in an instant her voice would change and get very deep and tell the husband to get away from her very articulately. She also described how the EMF meters were off the charts when near the little girl or any of her belongings.

As I listened to her, I could her hear her husband in the background recount his experience in a shaky voice. He said he had felt drained and had to sit on the couch..he then fell asleep. His wife described looking into a dark corner of the home and feeling uneasy...she saw the outline of something with claws and then the little girl appeared from the shadows.

Another investigator described talking with the parents of the girl and of how terrified they were. The mother had described seeing a gargoyle-type shadow in the home. The investigator also reported that the little girl did a spider walk as she went into another room.

There is more but I do not want give away everything that happened.

After hearing the investigators, I made the decision to pull back and seek other help for the client. Some of you may say that I am doing a disservice to the client because of this. I don't feel that way. I pride myself on the fact that my team members come from varying backgrounds. Some are social workers, others are psychiatrists and others have skills as well so we are equipped to handle just about any case.

But at what point do you look at the overall safety of your team? What if this does in fact turn into a legitimate demon possession case? We as a team are not trained to handle that. What if we make things worse? What if by being there it lashes out and hurts someone?

I know of two accounts of a paranormal group that ran into demonic activity. During the first case, the group leader called out the demon and tried to banish it from the home. It seemed to work however, for many months afterward, several members of the team that had participated in the investigation became ill. One was bitten by a venomous spider, another nearly lost her eyesight and others ended up sick. The psychic on the team said she felt something had followed her home. A few years later that same team ran into another case and one team member actually was lifted up of the ground and slammed into a wall.

At what point do you draw the line and admit you are in over your head?

The family in our team's case is scared and I am committed to get them the best help possible. I am in the process of putting together all the connected preliminary paperwork and an EVP that was caught so that I can present the information to local clergy. They are far more equipped to handle this case than we are. Some, like the Catholic Church, have psychiatrists on staff for evaluations.

As a paranormal team, we are willing to help our clients in any way we can but that does not mean that I will allow any of my team members to be hurt during an investigation. I am proud of this team and the service it provides. We have worked very hard to build a good reputation and we will continue to work at keeping that reputation.

The Media and Ghost Hunting

With all the Halloween hype over it's time for paranormal groups to get back to helping those in need.

While the public rela

tions garnered from media attention can benefit investigation groups, mine included, it must be remembered that ghosts do not just come out during the month of October.

Families all over the world try to find ways to cope with bumps, visitations, disembodied voices, doors slamming and other activity each and every day and night for that matter. For them, Halloween is everyday.

I am not complaining because to tell you the truth, the more PR my team gets, the more our message is able to reach people. We're here to help. And for someone who is at home terrified, just having what they are experiencing verified can be a comfort.

I guess my main beef is that outside of the TV shows, the main stream media really needs to step up and cover groups during the year not just at Halloween or during the month of October.

The one thing that the TV shows have done is create more awareness so news producers and editors should not be afraid to publish or air the occasional ghost investigation that is truly helping someone in need. And believe me, there are a lot of people in need.

Those are the everyday cases that the media overlooks or the public is unaware of that paranormal groups deal with consistently.

Although there are those people who truly want to publicize their “ghosts” that still leaves the majority of the population who just want a quiet investigation where the paranormal team comes out, sets up its equipment and attempts to collect evidence. Those clients simply want help and it is our job as a paranormal team to provide as much help as is possible.

Being a journalist and editor for nearly 15 years has taught me that the media will go with the hot story. That is normal, after all, we want to sell newspapers or get high ratings. Even community newspapers tend to cover “what's hot” whether it's about a local farmer who stops using commercial pesticides or the dance at the high school.

All I'm saying is that mainstream media needs to change its view on paranormal groups and what they do. It's not just a “Halloween” thing. It's an all year issue that affects many people around the world.