Ghost Hunting Overview - setting up and helping

Yesterday a guy asked me about techniques and such for home investigations, and I was kind of stuck for an answer, due to the fact that each and every case is different, the people who attend are different, the circumstances are different. Thus I haven't so much focused on a formula on what to do, when, as much as sensing what needs doing as were going and doing it.

However, in a perfect world, the routine is this:

Interview of the people affected. Find out who, when, what, to potentially discover why. Drug use within? Esoteric association (Ouija, seances etc)? History of mental illness?

Diagram of the residence. This is used to mark: Places identified in the interview where occurrences have been observed ("what" witnessed by "whom" and "when").

Why do this? Because memories are fallible, unreliable. Information is power.

Jot the all relevant times and date, the general weather conditions, moon phase and any extraneous relevant information here.

The diagram is used for documenting baseline readings such as outside temperature readings, time marked, temperatures readings from several spots within every applicable room, annotated with time stamps, EM intrusions not considered anomalous such as running appliances (refrigerators tend to broadcast EM energy 2 to 3 feet away when running) and locations of probable bad wiring.

Once observed and documented, other EM spikes later have the potential to be anomalous.

Temperature readings ought to be updated hourly (indoors and out) and taken at the same spots and locations each time. If somebody states that a room just got colder, or someone walks through a cold spot, this ought to reflect in readings at that time, and a basis for comparison is readily available from the diagram/temp readings.

EM spikes that were previously not observed are documented at just as the temps are on the diagram.

As mentioned above, memories are unreliable, and if it appears that you may be on a multi-visit investigation, the investigator can do themselves and the client a huge favor by offering the client an inexpensive notebook binder for future documentation.

I often recommend this no matter on first contact, and ask the client to use this tool to help us, help them. "Anything odd that happens, write it in this notebook, headed by time and date. Use the notebook as a diary or journal, a para-journal. Write what (happened), who (was there), when (it occurred) and any extraneous relevant information.

The participants and the needs of the investigation trumps all of the above. If you're a stickler on all the above and a family needs help RIGHT NOW, help RIGHT NOW. However if you can, documentation and information can often lead you to a solution.

Sometimes the interview needs to be brief, but do be sure to go back for in depth and clarifying information later.

Sometimes you may have a sensitive or medium along, someone you trust, and you'll have to decide on the spot how to utilize them. For example: having a medium present for the interview to help determine if, what being said is genuine, fabricated, or hysterical in nature. You may decide to let the client know that said person is a medium, and you may decide it's best not to for whatever reason, such as the client is vehemently opposed to the belief that such a thing (or person) exists. The investigator's job is to get the job done with the tools available without making anyone feel weird, and with respect.

Another thing to consider.

We recently had a residential case where a murder had been committed. This crime was verified, the persons involved, it was discovered, caught and convicted. The haunting revolved around the murder victim as well as a deceased relative. The affected individual was primarily a child. This made the case a priority.

Yes, we could have dragged it all out, set up all the stationary night vision cameras, the DVDs, the computers etc. and hunted the ghosts down, but to what end? To get some great photos, possibly some compelling video and sound recordings? But this was a families life, their dwelling, and a child would sleep in the room that very night where the primary activity occurs, so the way I saw is was this: Rather than waste a bunch of time trying to gather evidence of phantoms, spirits, ghosts within the structure, evidence that we would not in a million years make public, a) because it is unethical to display materials gathered in somebodies home sans their permission, and b) to seek that permission is ghoulish in my opinion,  lets get to the part about helping.

Let's help these folks understand that what they are experiencing is abnormal, and that they don't have to live with it. Let's see if we can detach from the client the shadow figures who are visiting. Let's see if we can help these folks redirect to a positive mindset. On this I'm not going to go into at this time as I have prattled on far too long already, but the bottom line is:We're here in the field to help. We'll have a good time while doing so, but in the end we help people. Let the public places we visit be the places we gather stimulating, intriguing, compelling evidence of life after death from, but let's keep the private places and private lives of people suffering, private.

So You Want To Be A Ghost Hunter Part Deux. I think.

Last night a lady asked how to get onto a paranormal team, into the paranormal, so I thought I'd jot a little on that for others that may have asked themselves the same question.

I couldn't very well offer up my group last night, or SRC for that matter because we're based pretty far away and have a very large group of people from which to draw from already if needed, something I'll touch in in just a moment.
1st things first, if you know like minded folks, band together and make a team. Simple as that. Read like a maniac, study up on the topic. But first ask yourself, "Why would I like to do this?"

If it's to have something to do, it's probably best to start by studying, and to bear in mind that when on a ghost hunt, you are looking for proof of somebody having survived the body, somebody's loved one, somebody that likely had a lot of grief felt, tears shed when they passed away. That is who you're looking to communicate with, and often they have no idea that they, or more accurately, their body, has ceased to exist. Often they can be distraught, or angry, or otherwise unsound in mind. See, most folks who pass and stay here tend to be fearful, of judgement, of leaving an incomplete life, of leaving loved ones behind, of losing a possession. That isn't a terribly healthy emotional state to begin with (and the decision is largely emotion based anyway), so please recognize that, as well as the importance of always being respectful no matter the location or circumstances.
No offense intended, many folks in the field would prefer you not get in the field at the expense of the dead, and I mean that in the nicest possible way.

If your answer comes back "So I can score a TV show!" Well, really, just go away. Seriously. I have seen so much of this it makes me want to scream. Folks in it for the exact wrong and cynical reasons really, really, really demean the field and demean the dead. And do consider the odds of this happening are about the same as farting fairy dust on the moon. Ok, maybe a little better, but still.

If your answer comes back as "Because it is (or looks) fun", then look for social contacts to find a good, reputable, informed team to learn from. Meetup.com is a good start, some teams list for positions to be filled on facebook, craigslist, etc. And read, educate yourself.

If your answer comes back "To learn more about the paranormal" or "To help people", look for a team who has that same focus, and read up on the topic.
You're best to get involved with a team which is local to you, and here's why: If you're traveling more than, say, 10 to 25 miles from home, late night return trips home can be hazardous. Many times you will be physically tired, emotionally drained, there will be impaired drivers on the roadways. I frequently travel 100 miles out for hunts and it wears me out.

Also do be sure that on a meetup to meet in a public location, This is for your own protection.I do advise hooking up with a team that does permit you to bring your spouse or significant other along whenever you can bring them. That door should always be open, and here's why. Your returning home occasionally at 4, 5 AM might be ok, but it is entirely possible that your better half will begin to feel resentful, suspicious, neglected if it happens all the time. If a group does not permit spouses etc, ask why not.
Also, ask local groups if you can accompany them on a hunt or two. If they do not permit that, ask yourself why not. Look at the paranormal as a hobby, and if a hobby isn't inclusive it often causes friction.

What equipment do I need? Well, your most important items are you, and your integrity. Beyond that, just start off as we oldsters call "Old School." Nothing wrong with old school at all, I often revert to old school when I feel I need to get my techniques honed, or when I need a change of pace.
Old school is simply using a decent camera and perhaps a voice recorder. Last night David said it, and he was absolutely right, when you become overly dependent on gadgets (some of which work, some of which do not) you begin to loose your innate, intuative skills of detecting when something has changed, or is outright wrong in a room or given situation. Focusing on meters and such can also cause you to walk into things inadvertently, possibly injuring you. As you become more adept at using your camera (and voice recorder) in the dark, then begin adding gadgets to your repretoir, but if they do not add something to your investigation such as better data collection, or better analytical ability, maybe said extra equipment isn't needed. Also consider that if you outlay a ton of money on gadgets and find the paranormal field isn't for you, you now have a lot of useless equipment that is very difficult to re-purpose.

Why would you find the field is not for you? Sleep deprivation, a bad run-in with a dark entity, hours devoted to hunting and not finding anything are valid concerns. It happens.
You'll also find that most of the time ghost hunting is very boring. Hours of tedium waiting for something to happen, and many, many times nothing does happen. In those cases you hope like hell you have a photo with activity, or better still an EVP catch.
This is when the real work begins.
Please, please understand that for every minute of data collected, you are going to spend 1 to 5 minutes examining that minute, if you're truly looking for evidence of life after death. 10 cameras filming for 10 hours? That's 100 hours x 1 to 5 of review. 500 hours? Editing? Saving? Ain't nobody got time for that.
So the key is, keep it simple, unless you have countless hours to spend.

And at all times, do enjoy yourself. I don't mean playing grab ass in the dark, but enjoy the locations, stay positive, enjoy the folks you work with, and do have fun. When a hobby becomes like a job, it is no longer a hobby, it IS a job. A low or non paying job at that.

Why investigate the Oman house? Here are some reasons.

Yes this house has appeared in numerous television shows, so is this reason enough to investigate it? It's one reason, but why has it appeared on so many shows? Because it is extremely active. Here's a break down of things we (Me, Phil from PRT, Jacob from IEGH and Justin) have seen or recorded on video and audio equipment, as well as guest encounters I have been there to witness.

Hard evidence (and sightings, personal experiences).

In the multiple times I have been to the Oman house, there have been many inexplicable instances of activity that can not be explained in strict terrestrial terms.
Hard evidence: The figurines, top floor.
While one particular (Beetlejuice movie) figurine tends to be the apparent target of something unseen, I don't think this figurine is targeted for any particular reason other than it's the easiest to topple. However, this is NOT the only figurine that topples, the 2nd one does too, as has the "Smoking Man" the troll dolls, and the shrunken head man, although far less frequently. On video we have caught all but the trolls and shrunken head guy toppling, the rest have been witnessed.
Quick disclaimer: We have been at this location whole nights were none of the figurines fall, and other nights were they just won't stay standing.



Aftermath of the House at the End of the Drive framed poster floating off the wall. While the stationary cameras did not catch this occurrence (the sole camera on this floor just missed it, out of frame), it was witnessed by several people, and this was documented right after it happened.



Same day as we set up, and well before any guests had arrived. This camera and tripod were locked down and ready to go, already recording. Note that it's being leaned to the tipping point.




Shadow Hat Man.
On this visit, only one person had a hat on, Phil from PRT, and that hat was a form fitting baseball cap. The "Shadow Hat Man" appears to be wearing a steton or some other square crown, large brim hat. I personally shot this picture, in fact felt I HAD to shoot this picture in this direction at the time. About a dozen attempts to disprove this picture by recreating it were made, we were not able to reproduce it.
Original.


Near by where many have described a "vortex." This is a picture Phil took, and Glen Willis and I were present for, there is NOTHING there to reflect light.


There are literally scores of EVPs from so many people, so many of them that I can not possibly post them all for you without writing a dissertation/thesis paper, something I have no stamina for.
There are a whole flock we have posted here. Some may be something, some may not, you decide, and by no means is this all of them, but a small sample.
However I will give you this one
One of the people who perished 200' away in 1969 was (last named) Frykowski. I have a hard time reconciling his name spelling with it's pronunciation, and said so in the bottom floor of this location. This EVP actually says his first name. Nobody was in this, the earthen room.
EVP Name

There is a whole lot more evidence too, but for now let me jump to eyewitness accounts that I was there for, or I personally saw.

Hair stroking, bottom floor.

First visit there, one of the folks kept feeling her hair being stroked. On a subsequent visit, with no knowledge of the hair stroking incident, two other people mentioned they were having their hair stroked in the same room.

Shadow forms.
On one of the early trips we had a very quiet night, not much was happening. While setting up, Justin saw a shadow man watching him in the garage from the road. When he looked up, the shadow man disappeared.
Same night, Phil watched me walk down the stairs from the first floor, and with me he saw a shadow form. I too saw the shadow form next to me.
Later in the night I came up to the first floor, which was vacant, heading to the front door. In the kitchen was a stationary shadow form that dodged back towards the refrigerator when I focused full attention on it.
Upstairs bath.
Unbeknownst to me until a week ago, a little girl a year or two ago saw a dark haired woman with gray skin peering in through the top floor bathroom window, The face then disappeared downwards.
One one of our visits Justin walked into this bath (same night as the street shadow man) and while doing his business saw a shadow form with this bath. On another trip Phil saw the same thing.
Having spoken with Alma Carey, she too saw a shadow form on the second floor (and wearing a hat) walk into the office.
The last one I'm going to relate is a confirmation.
The Ghost Adventures show, Nick is in the bottom bedroom by himself in the dark. He sees a shadow form in the outer room as if watching him.
Two visits ago Jacobs video equipment is clearly and repeatedly showing motion in both the lowest bedroom and the outer room. I walked down to the lowest room solo, in the dark, to check this out.
All was well as I walked through the outer room, sat for a minute or two and asked whatever was there to show up. Nothing happened. I then walked into the adjacent bedroom, stood there for a while looking around in the dark, and when I turned to the open doorway looking into the outer room, a shadow form began assembling into a human shape. I called up to the monitoring station on the walkie talkie and asked Jacob who was in the outer room. He replied that nobody was, and he had a clear view of the whole room.
After maybe 30 seconds the shadow form began do lose integrity, dissolve as I watched. Yeah, I did not hang around for more.

Audible vocalizations.

On the second (the very quiet) trip to the location, we had wrapped up, turned off the cameras and DVR and began collecting the equipment. I went alone to the bottom floor to disconnect and collect the the lowest bedroom camera and tripod. As I walked in the room a gravelly voice said "Azzhole" from directly behind me. I did not break stride, just looked over my shoulder and said "Oh, sure, now you start talking. Too late, you had your chance."
Same room bath, 3 trips later Lilia was in this bath when she heard a gravelly voice say "Steve." This was not living human in origin.

Walking down the stairs from the top to the middle floor, as I stepped from the 3rd to last to the 2nd to last step, a woman giggled over my left shoulder. Nobody else was on the stairs, nobody was on the lower 2 floors, everybody was on the top floor.


Meter activity.

I have measured household current in nearly every corner, every inch of this house, and there are almost no instances of stray EM energy anywhere except for the aquarium ballasts, and the area around the clothes washer, and only when it is running. It's an EM clean environment.

However we have detected, in nearly every part of the accessible house EM pulses with no explanation, and seemingly in response to questions asked. We have traced this phenomena as it has moved from location to location, as it has sporadically presented itself.

Conclusion.
This is an active location, and an exclusive location to visit. Not everybody will ever see the inside of this house, so if you get a chance to visit the David Oman house, do seize it.

You're a ghost hunter? How cool! Well, ok...

"You're a ghost hunter? That's so exciting!" I hear it often, and I'm always astonished. Growing up, waaaaaaay long ago, hunting ghosts was creepy, not cool. Ghost hunting was something you didn't admit to in polite company, it was ghoulish, even if it was a field populated by pretty smart people. The TV shows changed that, they made the paranormal normal.
However, the fact that I'm mostly retired from the field as a paranormal investigator, exciting isn't so much a word that I associate with ghost hunting. Oh sure, the prospect of a new location gets the adrenaline flowing, true, but by and large ghost hunting (paranormal investigating) is rather dull. Ghosts (spirits) are not very much fun, they aren't entertaining, the don't have a lot to say, and they do not scare me. Slightly unsettled is about as far towards fear as I am capable of swinging when it comes to ghosts, so let's face it, ghosts are dullards. Now and again though the hours of tedium are relieved by something spectacular happening, and that sort of balances out the boredom, not entirely, but somewhat.
But more to the point, excluding demons, spirits are people sans their body, people who have stayed behind, people like you and I who have had the unfortunate "life event" of excluding the word "life" from their event. Life as we receive it at any rate.
And that's largely where the field has gone astray.
We, as paranormal investigators must remember that most of the time the spirits were communicating with, or are trying to communicate with, are lost, de-compassed people. The lack a familial structure, or any structure in their existence altogether. Many times they are so very confused. Lost. And it is incumbent on us, those in the field, to maintain a respectful stance at all times, just as we would want to be treated with respect. Not shouting nor berating, not cajoling nor baiting. We must be responsible, and largely the TV shows have muddied that perspective.
Going in a different direction now, I'm working with a couple heads of other teams of forming a team comprised of just these heads of teams, and the naming process I'm not taking very seriously, as you can tell from the image, lol. You see, it really doesn't matter what your team is called, it matters what your team does. It can never be about greed, whether it be monetary or evidence collection greed. It must be about helping people on both sides of the aisle or veil cope and move on, it must be about furthering the goal of expanding research into the paranormal, it must be about giving, and it must lack self and ego, and it must embody responsibility. So many great people I have met who follow exactly this, and for those people I am grateful, and I';m sure those on the other side are too.
End rant.

Why not use Ouija Boards?

Last Saturday at David's house, Ouija boards came up in conversation and a gentleman asked me "Why not use Ouija boards, what's wrong with Ouija boards?" Wow, what a question, one that could easily require an hour long answer. He had his phone camera rolling but held down at belly level, which I thought odd, and ain't no phone (or nobody) got time for an hour long diatribe, so I went with the simplest thing I could think of, the fact that the improper use (opening, closing, cleansing) of Ouija boards and lack of experience with them is more the problem than anything else, but ever then since I've been working on a more concise short answer in the back of my head. Maybe some of you can refine this.
First it's important to know some history of the Ouija (French Oui or Yes and German Ja, or Yes, so "Yes Yes") board, but that is less important than intention and control.
Here's a short answer.

Any attempt at spirit communication, an "esoteric act", is an intention to communicate with a deceased person, an intelligent spirit, and each attempt can potentially draw in a spirit or something much worse, a demon or, as some people call them, a "Dark Energy", and in a way it's about control, or relinquishing control to "something" else. However, when I conduct an EVP session, I am in control, I can start or stop my recorder as I choose. Photography, I can choose to shoot, or not shoot a picture. Meter work, night vision camera work, all these things are external means used in documenting or communicating with that which is not part of our normal 3 dimensional world, our lives of matter and physical laws that we physical beings must obey.
A goofily named Ouija YesYes board, however, utilizes YOU, your body, your energy itself, as well as that of your partners in the esoteric act. (I have known people who use Quija boards solo, and actually become addicted to the experience, much to their detrement, but usually people use the planchette in groups of two or more people.)
So you have intent of communication, and you potentially relinquish control to something you can't see, something you can't sense (if you can sense it, then why do you need the board?), and you have no idea whatsoever who (or what) you may be communication with. Whatever you're going to communicate with us using you and your partners energies to move, manipulate the planchette, the "spirit" isn't physically moving the thing by itself, and the planchette can not move on its own. So in effect you have relinquished, with tacit permission, control.

That's only the tip of the iceberg though, there's more. I have heard so many horror stories of people getting freaked out by whatever a Ouija board has "produced," the people then throw the board out only to have it turn back up in the house again. My own wife had that happen years before I knew her. I have also witnessed people undergo a change after having used one of these things, in one case a hard core Bible believing Baptist girl decided to use one, and within a years time was violating everything she previously believed in.
So in summary, when in doubt, don't, and don't ever give permission, tacit or overt, to anything or anyone to do with you what it will, because it can and will.

Haunted Oman House Tour as seen on Ghost Adventures

What can I tell you about the upcoming tours of the Haunted Oman House, which was recently featured on Ghost Adventures, that you don't already know without spoiling any of it for you?

Let me start with the folks running it, and allow me to preface it. I have not spoken to any of the principals involved with the tour in writing this, nor advised in any way of what to say and not to say. In other words, I'm writing that which I know or have experience with.

I personally love hanging out with smart people because I always take something away from the meet, whether it be an exchange of ideas or perspective, information, what have you.

David, who owns the house, is an affable, intelligent man with a wicked sense of humor, and says exactly what he thinks with no embellishment. When he says "These things happen in my house, and this just happened," you can take it to the bank.

I can say with high confidence that you will have a great time on their tours. And by all means do!

Now please understand that I write these things because 1) if tour takers think they'll go to this house and be disrespectful, then well, I can safely say this is a bad idea. 2) I'm not talking him up for any reason other than I mean it. I am not beholden to anyone, and couldn't care less what anyone thinks of me, soooo...

I have been to this location several times before Ghost Adventures aired the Oman House episode, and amazingly did not know a few things about the paranormal activity within before the airing of the Ghost Adventures episode (see it here http://youtu.be/kp_1qp2DVZ0), but I suspected some things.

Bottom bedroom

For example, the bottom bedroom was somehow special, I knew a guest sleeping there had been disturbed, partially lifted by an unseen force, but according to the show it was a man who was raised fully off the bed and pinned against the right rear wall of the room. It was from this exact direction from which a gravelly voice called me an a$$hole as I walked into this room to retrieve our surveillance cameras after an investigation.

Nobody but me was in the room, in fact nobody was on that entire floor except me, and it gave me a bit of a pause. The night had been relatively quiet, and I looked over my shoulder, kept walking toward the camera, and in response said "Oh, sure, now you start talking after the cameras are off. Too late, you had your chance." No reply back from the gravelly voice man.

On a trip to this location a few days ago, team member Lilia, an acquaintance with an amazing ability to connect with the other side, heard my name called in the bathroom that services this same bedroom. A deep gravelly voice, once again. On a side note, the earthen room is directly behind this bathroom.

Also on this lower level we have detected major temperature changes, cold spots appearing out of nowhere, then dissipating, many times in sync with EMF spikes. The biggest changes seem to come from the stairwell shaft, and for the most part I have attributed the temperature change to the fact that it was warm in the house, cold outside, and large picture windows are set into the walls of this shaft looking out into the canyon. However, Ghost Adventures also experienced this temperature change, and they filmed in the summer time. It would have been warmer outside, not cooler, nullifying my theory.

Entering the room on the bottom floor outside the bedroom I have also experienced a sort of resistance, which has, several times, made me stop, not want to enter this room, and from this bottom floor we have also recorded disembodied voices.

On EMF readings, I have used my visits to this house to check for and document EMF hot spots, and by and large this house is, electrically speaking, very clean of stray EMF. I'll carefully check areas which have no EMF readings, and later, lo and behold, sporadic spikes occur, often seemingly in response to questions.

The earthen room is a good example.
Earthen Room

I have painstakingly checked for errant leaking energy (my profession and training as a home inspector helps with this) and found just exactly none in this room. In fact on the very first visit none of us detected any EMF spikes of any kind at all, except in the laundry room area where we had meters sounding off in a fashion not dissimilar to how a heart rate might register on a similarly equipped machine, thub dub, thub dub. However if the washer is running, about a 5' circle around it is saturated with EMF energy.

The falling figurines.

You may have seen the figurine topple on Ghost Adventures, and I have witnessed the same probably a dozen or more times. We have also had a whole investigation go by where not a single figurine was disturbed in any way.

Here is a link to a video we shot in November, 2013.
http://youtu.be/m-jjIYsKYJU
My notes:
"When this toppled, Adam Risley and I were in the next room by the bar, we did not see or it hear it topple, but we heard the roar of those downstairs at the video monitor station, "No way! Son of a bitch, it just went!" What you see us doing after the fall is getting temperature readings off of the Beetleguise figurine, checking if it was a different temperature than the ambient air temperature. It was not. The figurine topped 6 or 7 more times that night, once with some of us standing right in front of it."

I can personally attest that there is no trickery involved with the toppling of the figurines. I can also say that the floor is solid as can be. In the Ghost Adventurers episode, David illustrates this by jumping in front of the aquarium, resulting in zero movement. You're talking about 800 pounds plus of glass, water, fish and wood that these figurines stand on. That furniture is not budging.

What will you experience on your visit? I don't know, and I wouldn't say if I did know. All I can say is there's a very good chance of experiencing something paranormal, and an excellent chance of having a great time.

Is this some sort of underwear party?

Is this some sort of underwear party? Taken from one of the best commercials of all time, Carl's Jr with Hardee's biscuits, the line denotes the absurd, such as a 19th century southern gentleman appearing on a southern California beach (or any other beach) and seeing folks in modern swimwear. Of course he'd look upon the scene with bemusement and possibly horror (and perhaps lust-fulness being disguised behind the former and latter), because for all intents and purposes, swimsuits are nothing more than underwear worn outdoors. How inappropriate the scene would be to another, past generation. This same absurdity is largely how I see the paranormal as it too evolves, or de-evolves, into something it never before was, morphing into something it ought not be, commercialized, sexed up, and full of opportunity seekers and God haters. Don't misunderstand me, every one has the choice to worship as they wish, and I for one would never push my belief in God onto anybody, I have demonstrated this over and over again, but time and again I hear people complaining that "Oh, Christians are so judgmental, I hate them... blah blah blah...", all the while passing judgment on them, a completely hypocritical stance and statement. So I see all these paranormal folks, many of whom are completely God-less, some of whom actively bash on God and his followers, and on the other hand are the Christian folks who think and say that ghost hunting, paranormal investigating is "Of the Devil." They say "Noooo, those are demons and they are trying to trick you." It makes me sit back in wonder at the absurdity of it all. You're looking for spirits who survived the body and stayed behind. A spirit leaving the body is a cornerstone of religious afterlife, I would think. That some do not move on to their "just reward" would seem logical. Some just don't go. Yes, there is a small percentage of contacts with unseen entities which are "unclean spirits", demons, insane spirits, if you will, and being prepared for that eventuality is important on all ghost hunts, but by and large the percentage of demonic contact cases is very small. The atheists and God haters who hunt ghosts? Ok, you're seeking out a person (a personality) whom has continued on, managed to live, to survive sans a body, yeah? So if, theoretically, a person survived the body, and you believe it is so, then would not then ALL people survive the body? And if so, they, we, all go somewhere? Yeah? For me that's Heaven. for others that may be the universe, or back to a "spirit collective," or whatever you want to call it. The over-riding theme is that people do survive the body and most depart, but some do not. I've been told so many times, and I have lost count, that I should not be doing paranormal investigations so much as I should be trying to free these spirits who stayed behind. Well, I have retired from investigations, not for this reason, nor because I dislike the field, but more because I'm tired of it and what it is fast becoming, a topic for later. The bottom line is this: I have no idea HOW to "free a spirit," or if such a thing is really possible. And besides, on freeing spirits who stayed behind, isn't it their choice, their free will to stay or go? Isn't it that same free will that leaves so many earth bound? Who am I to toy with their free will? More often than not that choice to stay was made out of fear, and I can not allay that fear with my earth experiences, I don't know their story, their specific wants, needs, fears, and anything I say to convince a spirit to move on to a higher domain would seemingly ring of hallow, false assurances. And yet to not try, to exist with complacency also seems wrong. So I ponder this tar baby, all while watching a field which used to be made up of very smart, scientific minded people, nerds, really, become sex charged, money oriented, social events, it strikes me that the paranormal field is astray. Allow me to explain. We all live, and all of us will die one day. When we "pass way," many people will cry, miss us, our loved ones and friends. A lost life is a terrible thing, and when you've lived long enough, or have seen a lot of death, it strikes you how precious life is, and how fragile life and the dynamics of life and death really are. At nearly every grave site tears have been shed for the loss of a loved one. Real, raw emotions, terrible loss and longing. And these departed are the personalities we try to contact. So let me ask, isn't it crass to make DEATH into a profit machine? Into a reason for alcohol fueled conventions? Make the people who undertake the task of communicating with lost loved ones into false celebrities? To worship, for lack of a better word, those who look to make a financial opportunity out of the deaths of other people's loved ones? It seems to me respect is largely lost in the paranormal field. It HAS become some sort of underwear party.br /