Choose A Team Wisely

If you believe you have paranormal activity in your home or business and are considering having a paranormal team conduct an investigation, I would encourage you to choose a team wisely because anyone can buy equipment and call themselves paranormal investigators and not know what they are doing and as a result, they could make things worse. If they charge for their service, I would definitely shy away from them and look for another team.

Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween/Samhain!

A Good State of Mind Is Important

A good, balanced state of mind is important in paranormal investigation and encountering paranormal activity. Problems at home, at work, or with other team members can hinder an investigation and even draw unwanted negative energy to you and cause it to latch on to you or follow you home. Before going on an investigation, it is wise to ground yourself and banish all negative thoughts/feelings. If you don't feel you can do this, then it would be wise to stay home and not participate in that investigation.

Investigating The Paranormal Is NOT Occultic

I am amazed at the utter ignorance of some people who ought to know better since they claim to be knowledgeable on the subject of the paranormal, and yet make the ignorant and uninformed claim that paranormal research is occultic, when in fact, it certainly is NOT! The occult typically refers to any type of black magic or witchcraft and NOT to ghost-hunting or paranormal investigations. Anyone who makes the statement that paranormal research is occultic is a fool and does not know what he/she is talking about.

Impromptu Investigation At The LTRS

I love impromptu investigations, especially at our long term research site! Ron, Karen, and I did just that this last Monday evening and we had some interesting results in the area of the basement we call "the bedroom." On the 3rd floor, Ron and I saw a lot of shadow movement by the elevator shaft, and we felt like we were surrounded and being watched.

Live Investigation This Saturday

There will be a live investigation at the PROS LTRS again this Saturday. This is a PROS-only night meaning that only PROS members will be at the site. We currently have one camera up with audio so you will still be able to watch some of the investigation as well as listen to it.

Do Storms Fuel Paranormal Activity?

There is a theory in the paranormal field that holds that storms fuel paranormal activity. I have not been able to substantiate that theory, myself. We have been at the LTRS many times during stormy weather and have not noticed any increase in paranormal activity at the site.  In fact, many times during the stormy weather, there has been no activity at the site whatsoever, and at other times during stormy weather, the activity has been minimal.

Training Investigation This Evening!

This evening, starting around 8p.m. central time, I will be training members of Flat Line Paranormal at our PROS LTRS in Guthrie, OK.

Paracon 2013 This Weekend

Paracon 2013 is this weekend at old Ft. Reno which is known to have paranormal activity. I am looking forward to the conference and meeting others in this field.

Live Investigation This Saturday Evening

This Saturday evening,  beginning around 9pm (Central Standard Time), I will be leading a live investigation at our long term research site in Guthrie, OK. By going to http://www.prosinvestigations.com and clicking on the live webcams tab, you will be able to watch and hear the investigation as it takes place.  The site is a 100 year old mercantile with known activity. The site was used in the filming of the movie Fingerprints.

Is There Evidence For The Existence Of Ghosts?

Is there evidence for the existence of ghosts? Why, yes, there is quit a bit of evidence! There are photographs that have been taken, but in all honesty, our best evidence is in something known as Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) wherein voices of spirits are imprinted on magnetic tape or on digital voice recorders. Also, during the second world war, voices of deceased pilots were heard coming over military radios. In regard to evp, some voices appear to be residual, whereas others are intelligent and interactive. At our PROS long-term research site I've had evp of an entity saying, "hi Jack." On another occasion, when the founder of our team and I were discussing my new RT-EVP real-time digital recorder, we caught evp of two entities having a brief discussion about it. A female voice is heard asking, "how do you beat a recorder?" and a male voice answers, "don't talk." This indicates that these spirits are aware of our tools and technology. We've had some spirits eager to interact with us through evp, and we've had some who did not want to interact with us and just wanted to be left alone.  If anyone is interested in learning more about evp, I would recommend you read about Friedrich Jürgenson and Konstantin Raudive who were pioneers in the field of evp.

We don't know how they do it, but spirits are able to imprint their voices on magnetic tape and on digital recorders. For those who are interested, the Catholic Church investigated evp quite thoroughly and concluded that evp is real.

Another form of evidence is that of personal experience. In my investigations of the paranormal, I have been touched by unseen entities. I have also seen apparitions, and shadow figures. One night at the PROS long-term research site, I was with another investigator on the 3rd floor and we were conducting a sit-down session and I asked that if anyone was present, to please turn on the ghost light, which is actually a fishing light and demonstrated how to turn it on. The light was activated as requested, and I watched a shadow figure move past me on my right, and as it did so, the hair on my arm raised and I had the typical what we refer to as the 9 volt sensation as the entity move by me. I have also seen a lady in a long white dress at the foot of the stairs as another investigator and I were descending the stairs going into the basement, and at the time, there was nobody else in the building except the two of us conducting the investigation. I have also witnessed objects being moved, objects being thrown, as well as other paranormal activity. Granted that personal experiences mean nothing in and of themselves, but that changes when someone else with you witnesses/experiences the same thing and this has happened on numerous occasions. 

The paranormal is very real and is not a figment of one's imagination, nor the result of gullibility or trickery as some skeptics have ignorantly claimed. We have conducted many tours of our site the tours included skeptics who, after having their own experiences or examined the evidence gathered at the time of the tour, have changed their minds and became convinced of the paranormal.

Provoking

Provoking a spirit during an investigation is becoming popular among some paranormal teams largely because they see it done on paranormal television shows such as Ghost Adventures. This is a very dangerous and unwise practice as it can lead to the provoker being violently attacked and even possessed. It can also make things worse for the client who would have to deal with the consequences of the provoker's actions after the investigative team leaves. More on this soon.

Are Ghosts Biblical?

The question is often asked, "are ghosts Biblical?"  It is a sad truth that many Christians spend very little, if any time reading/studying the Bible and are unaware that the Bible mentions ghosts several times. Jesus Himself was thought to be a ghost by His own disciples who did not recognize Him when He was walking on the water toward them (Matthew 14:22-26; Mark 6:45-52). Because the average Christian spends so little, if any time in the Bible, when they are told by their minister or Sunday school teacher that ghosts are actually demons impersonating the dead, they accept it without giving it any thought and are astonished to find out that ghosts are mentioned in the Bible when it is shown to them. I also note that not once did Jesus ever say that ghosts are demons and He certainly had plenty of opportunity to do so. At Luke 24:36-43, Jesus was regarded as a ghost by His followers and He had to partake of material food and be touched to convince them that He wasn't. It seems to me that if ghosts do not exist, Jesus would have taken this opportunity to say so, but He did not. Instead, what did He say?
"And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have" (Luke 24:38-39).
Instead of debunking the existence of ghosts, Jesus actually confirmed their existence with the above statement in my opinion. So, yes, ghosts ARE Biblical!

Why Are Some Spirits Earthbound?

Why are some spirits earthbound? This is a good question for which there is no definitive answer. As a Bible-believing Christian, I always believed that at death, the soul either goes immediately to heaven or to hell, but there seem to be instances where a soul remains earthbound for whatever reason. There are many theories as to why this happens but the following are the prevailing theories:

1. Unfinished business
2. Unaware that they have died
3. Watching over loved ones

There is evidence that the above are the main reasons a soul remains earthbound.  I will elaborate more on this later.  It should also be pointed out that there have been instances of malevolent spirits pretending to be the spirit of a departed loved one in order to gain a hold on the family or residence.

Paracon 2013

Paracon 2013 is around the corner! http://www.paranormaltimesmag.com/

I'm looking forward to this event and seeing acquaintances from last year's conference. We have a line-up of good speakers and I'm looking forward to meeting them and hearing them. I'm also looking forward to our investigation of old Fort Reno afterward! Old Fort Reno is known to be haunted and I'm excited about the opportunity to investigate it!

Debunking

Debunking evidence of paranormal activity is part of conducting investigations of paranormal activity. Most claimed activity has common sense explanations, and we look for these before considering an activity as "paranormal." For example, it is often reported that a client has feelings of being watched, or has seen an apparition. It is known that high levels of emf (electromagnetic field) can cause a person to experience the feeling of being watched, hallucinate, cause nausea, tingling sensation among other things, so we do an emf sweep to check for unusually high levels of emf and establish a base-line reading. Chemical fumes can also cause these things as well, so we look for that. We also look at the client's psychological make-up, drug use, etc.  We know that not everything that is claimed to be "paranormal" is, so we eliminate the obvious explanations before considering the paranormal. A legitimate investigator never goes into an investigation assuming a place is haunted or has paranormal activity. Rather, we go into an investigation as skeptics. When we review the evidence we have collected from an investigation, we try hard to debunk our own evidence and if a piece of evidence can be explained, we toss it.

Paranormal TV Shows

I like to watch many of the paranormal TV shows that are on the Travel channel and Scyfy channel, but I get disgusted with certain ones that misrepresent the paranormal. One such popular show depicts a three man "investigative team" going to various locations to investigate claims of hauntings which is all well and good, with the exception that this team makes it a point to deliberately provoke any entities that may well be there. They do this without regard for the problems it may cause for the property owners after they leave. Also, this three man team seems to find demons at practically every location they "investigate" and real paranormal investigators such as myself know this to be  bogus and a misrepresentation of the paranormal. Yes, we do encounter a demonic entity occasionally, but these men make it seem as though it is a common occurrence at every haunted location. The "lead investigator" of this three man team seems to take special delight in provoking demonic entities, thus putting himself and his two friends and anyone else who may be with them in danger of attack or even possession should they actually encounter a real demonic entity. When people see this garbage on their show, they assume it is the way the paranormal is and assume all hauntings are evil and demonic. New paranormal teams have formed and have relied on this misinformation about the paranormal to be fact, when of course, it is far from it. Shows such as this one do more harm than good for the paranormal field.

Should You Be Afraid of The Paranormal?

Should you be afraid of the paranormal? My answer to that question is, "no." We tend to be afraid of what we don't understand, so it is normal and understandable for people be afraid when they first encounter paranormal activity or have a paranormal experience, but in reality, in my opinion, there really isn't anything to be afraid of and during an investigation we should not show any fear because a malevolent entity can pick up on the fear, feed on it, and use that fear against you. I've been on investigations where an entity would try to scare me and I would turn it around on it by saying, "is that all you have?" I let it know that I do not scare easily and that it wasn't going to scare me. Now, having said all that, let me say that even though we should not fear the paranormal, we should have a healthy respect for it. I always make it a point to let any entities present know that I respect them, and am not there to harm them or cause trouble for them, and that I only want to communicate with them and learn more about them. This approach is very effective. I do not provoke and do not believe it is necessary or wise to do so. I treat them with dignity, courtesy, and respect.  At our long term research site, the entities know who I am and they address me by name. I am at ease around them because they know me and my intentions. I have been touched by them many times in a very friendly manner.

Now, having said that, let me tell you that if for some reason you DO become afraid, remove yourself immediately and regain your composure. If you are on an investigation and are not sure you can continue investigating, then remain outside while the other members of the team continue with the investigation. If you own or live in property that is experiencing paranormal activity and you become frightened, you can call in a team of paranormal investigators to deal with the situation. Legitimate teams do not charge anything for their services and would be happy to assist you. 

Very Interesting!

Interesting things have been happening! My computer has been opening apps such as WordSearch 9, Microsoft Works 9, Firefox browser, etc.,and this just started recently. So far, it is only happening when I use Windows 7 and not when I am using Kubuntu.

Update: I debunked this. My computer is an all-in-one touchscreen computer and I discovered a spider crawling across the screen. The touchscreen is sensitive enough to detect the spider on the screen and was opening the applications that corresponded to the icons it crawled across on the screen. 

Should Christians Investigate The Paranormal?

Should Christians investigate the paranormal? There are Christians who believe everything having to do with the paranormal is demonic in origin and that Christians should avoid anything having to do with it. Such Christians, however well-intentioned, are seriously misguided. As a Christian, minister, and paranormal investigator, it is my belief that Christians ought to be involved in this field. I've been actively investigating the paranormal for almost 3 years, and in that time, I have only come across one event that could be regarded as "demonic." All the others had to do with human spirits.  Looking back on it, I can't really fault them, though, because there was a time I believed the same way until I had my own experiences with the paranormal that caused me to start looking for answers and had some of my preconceived views shaken to the point that I had to do a lot of rethinking which led me to become a paranormal investigator.

What Does "Paranormal" Mean?

I’m going to start off the paranormal entries by answering the question, “what does ‘paranormal’ mean?”  It is a term coined in the early 20th century that simply means “above normal,” and refers to experiences or pehenomena that are outside the range or normal experiences or scientific explanation. While some include extraterrestrial life, ufos, and creatures associated with cryptozoology within the realm of the paranormal, I do not. For my purposes, paranormal refers to the supernatural such as ghosts.