A Hazard of being a Paranormal Investigator

  Paranormal investigating is a hazardous hobby. Wondering around in dark homes, dilapidated buildings, or buildings being renovated can lead to bumps, bruises, cuts, and more serious injuries. All those things can be prevented if you are safe, cautious, and watch out for each other. There is another hazard of investigating. That hazard is attachments. Attachments are when the energy or spirit of a dead person/entity “attaches” to someone and usually shows up at home.

  Ask any paranormal investigator about attachments and they will probably tell you stories about the activity in their own homes. Attachments are an unintended consequence of paranormal investigating. It seems even if you take precautions by saying prayers before investigations or do smudging afterwords, they will sometimes find a way to come home with you.

  I have had strange activity going on in every single house I have lived in since I started investigating. Over my ten years of investigating, I have lived in seven different homes in four states. I always think that when I move, I can just verbally demand that whatever is there stays behind. It never does. Once we get settled into our new home, the activity starts right up again.

  One would probably think that since I am a paranormal investigator and experienced a lot of crazy stuff that activity in my own home wouldn’t really bother me, but it does. It does a lot! It’s one thing to go into someone else’s house, have some experiences, and then go home. It’s something completely different being woke up in the middle of the night by something you can’t see! I guess the only benefit of this is that I am able to understand exactly what our clients are going through.

  The activity started after I conducted my first couple of investigations. It was subtle at first. I would hear footsteps in the house, noises around my bedroom at night that couldn’t be explained, and a general feeling of being watched. Over the years, and during certain periods, the activity has increased. In the last ten years since this all began, I have heard voices of women and children, been poked in the back while I am going to sleep, heard knocking on the walls, and had drawers and other things open and close at night. The activity only happens in the bedroom and only takes place once the lights go out and I am trying to go to sleep.

  After every night of increased activity, I share with my wife what happened. She always thinks it’s just my imagination, even though I see her wake up and react to whatever is going on. She already thinks I am crazy enough going out looking for ghosts. Lately I have been able to get her to take it more seriously. One night I was working a night shift and she was in bed reading. She started feeling like something was moving around at the end of our bed. Thinking it was the cat, she looked down and saw nothing was there. As she stared at the end of the bed, she could see the sheets moving. A couple of minutes later a blanket we had at the end of the bed moved about four inches, while she was watching it. She believes me now!

  The activity continues no matter what I do. When it picks up, I just tell it to knock it off. Well, I sometimes use a little bit harsher language than that! If it is really causing me problems with getting sleep I will use some sage and try out a prayer of protection or removal. It usually helps for a little while, but than it’s back again.

  One common thing we hear on every investigation is the client saying that they don’t want us to think they are crazy or they want us to help prove that they aren’t crazy. My response to them is that we don’t think they are crazy at all and that they should come check out my house! There isn’t a person on our team that doesn’t have some kind of activity going on in their house. At this point, I would think it would be strange if they didn’t!

  So, if you are an investigator, thinking about being one, or you just like to visit places that are reported to be haunted, be careful out there and at least try and take some precautions to protect yourself before you go! You may be bringing home more than memories from your investigation or visit.

You Decided to Become a Paranormal Investigator, Now What? Part II

Let’s re-cap a bit from Part I. You now know that being a paranormal investigator can be very time consuming. You also know that it is a good idea to talk to your family and significant others about your choice to become a paranormal investigator. Next, I discussed not investigating in your own home and how it’s not safe to rush and investigate on your own. Finally, I talked about how important it is to educate yourself in all things paranormal before you meet your first team. Now, let’s talk about one of my favorite things, equipment.

If you do a search, on the internet, for paranormal equipment or ghost hunting equipment, you’re going to come up with all kinds of results from eBay, amazon, online paranormal stores, and even individual groups that sell equipment. 

You will find every type of equipment imaginable. From the basic K2 to thermal (FLIR) cameras that cost thousands of dollars. While a thermal camera is very cool and many investigators would love to have one, you’re new to all of this so, let’s start out with the basics.

Before I go into the “basics,” let me tell a little story why it is important to start here. A while back our team went to an event that allowed new investigators and experienced investigators to investigate in one incredibly historic location. Everyone was broken up into groups. Our group consisted of our entire team as well as some new to investigating. When we arrived at our second location we were all forced to stay in a relatively small area. I noticed one of the less experienced investigators with us had a relatively advanced piece of equipment. It was obvious to us that the person wasn't exactly sure how to use this equipment. At one point one of our team members had to explain to them why it was doing what it was doing. At another point an alarm on the device began to go off and this person had no idea how to turn it off. It was very distracting to the rest of us and, I am not sure if the person knew it or not, but it was taking away from their own experience. That's why it is better to start out with the basics.

I understood why this person bought this device. It was cool and we all want to show up for an investigation with a cool piece of equipment. I was the same way when I first started. Lucky for me, I couldn’t afford much so I was forced to start out with the basics. What I didn’t know at the time was that was the best thing I could have done for myself.

So, what are the basics? Our group asks all our investigators to start out with a minimum of four pieces of equipment. We ask that they have a flashlight, a digital voice recorder, a digital camera, and some sort of EMF (electro-magnetic Field) detector. 

The flashlight doesn’t need to be anything special. I would suggest that you find one that has white, red, and or blue light. Red or blue light is easier on the eyes when the lights are out. You can buy a handheld version or one like I carry that has a strap that fits around your head. It is one less thing you need to carry.

Just about any handheld voice recorder will work. There are a lot of companies that make them. Just make sure that you can connect it to a computer so that you can download your audio files. A recorder that has the capacity to record 1GB of audio would be more than enough space for any investigation. Just as long as you delete the audio off your recorder after you download it to your computer.

If you own a professional camera set-up, by all means, bring it with you on an investigation, so as long as you know how to use it and it won’t disrupt your ability to investigate. If you don’t, a normal digital camera will do just fine. I would suggest doing some research about settings and taking pictures during an investigation. I would also suggest that you learn some of the conditions that can cause your photos to contain what you may think is something paranormal when actually it is something normal like reflection, refraction, dust, or improper settings causing anomalies in your pictures. 

Finally, we have the EMF detector. You can spend anywhere from $25-$200. I wouldn’t suggest the $25 model. It is very limited in detecting EMF. I also wouldn’t suggest spending $200. That is overkill for a new investigator. Your best bet would be to start out with a K2 meter, which costs about $60-$65. If you’re able to spend a little more money, I would highly suggest you purchase a MEL Meter. The basic MEL-8704R measures EMF and temperature. It is highly accurate and will filter out a lot of the natural sources of EMF. It will run you about $100. This device takes a little time to get used to so, you will want to mess around with it before you use it on an investigation. It’s really not that difficult to use. It is one of my favorite devices because it is so accurate and it was built specifically for paranormal investigations.

K2 Meter

MEL 8704R Meter

Once you get all of your equipment, learn how to use it! Don’t go out on your first investigation and fumble around with your equipment. Your first priority should be learning how to investigate. You can’t do that if you are spending 20 minutes worrying about how to turn your voice recorder on. Now that you have your equipment, it’s time for the most important step to becoming a paranormal investigator, finding a group.

Finding a group, in your area, that you would like to join may be one of the most important things you do on your journey. At this point you need to ask yourself what kind of group you want to join? In my opinion, there are two basic types of groups that would take on brand new investigators. 

One group investigates the paranormal in order to have experiences and capture evidence. This group will typically investigate places like hotels, businesses, and other public places. They may occasionally investigate residents, but that isn’t necessarily the primary goal. 

The other group is primarily concerned about investigating residents and helping people. This group will also investigate hotels and businesses, but this isn’t the primary goal. Our team would be in this category. We focus on helping people first, but we do enjoy going out and having the experience to be able to investigate some of the more well-known locations.

Once you have an idea about what kind of group you would be interested in joining, do a search, on the internet or Facebook, of paranormal groups in your area. Read their pages over and find out what their mission statement is. If there is a section with details about their investigators, you may want to read it to get an idea what the members are like. Another thing you may want to look at his how often the page is updated. If it hasn’t been updated for two years, they probably aren’t a very active group.

Once you find a group that interests you, look for contact information. If there is an e-mail address on the page, send them an e-mail and tell them that you are looking for a group to join. Let them know that you don’t have experience, but also let them know that you have some knowledge of the paranormal and that you own your own equipment. This will show you’re dedicated and despite your lack of experience, you will be willing to learn and do the work needed to become an investigator.

Another place to look for local teams, and this may seem strange, is Craigslist. Both of the teams I have been a part of have advertised on Craigslist and this is where we found a majority of our investigators. Look under “Groups” or “General” and you may find a group in your area that is looking for new members.

As I said before, this isn’t the end all be all for becoming an investigator but, I am very confident that if you follow these steps, you will be well on your way to becoming a great investigator. The rest just takes time, learning, and getting some investigations under your belt. 

So, you decided to become a paranormal investigator, now you know what to do. The rest is all up to you!

The MEL Meter: An EMF Detector with a Touching Story

I was first introduced to the MEL Meter when I was a relatively new investigator with my first paranormal group, Vegas Valley Paranormal, in Las Vegas Nevada. Our founder and director, Barrie Berry, had just purchased a new piece of equipment and he was eager to share his new purchase with me. Barrie was always eager to share his new equipment with me which helped me learn and grow as an investigator.

At the time, my knowledge on EMF (Electro Magnetic Field) detectors was rather limited. My first EMF detector was a cheap $20 “ghost detector.” It was simple and I didn’t really know, at the time, that it was not really that useful. It was one of my first pieces of equipment and it made me feel like a real investigator.

Barrie also had a K2 meter that I used from time to time. Compared to my “ghost detector” I thought the K2 was high tech. Maybe it was the instant satisfaction I got when the meter lit up when it came into contact with any source of EMF.

What I didn’t know at the time, and didn’t find out until much later, was that the K2 is very unreliable when it comes to determining the difference between natural EMF and something that may be paranormal. Don’t get me wrong, The K2 can be useful during an investigation, it’s just not the most reliable EMF detector on the market.

So, we are on an investigation and Barrie hands me this new device that he just bought. I had never seen anything like it. Barrie explains to me how to use it and what it does. It measures EMF and display the value on the screen. It also measures the temperature and can detect minor amounts of vibration where ever it is placed. My mind is blown! Wow, this thing can do all that? Oh, and unlike the K2, the Mel Meter can filter out things like appliances giving you a much better confidence in a reading being natural or unexplained.

I fell in love with the MEL Meter on the spot! Any time we did an investigation it was the first piece of equipment I would grab out of Barrie’s equipment box. It was my favorite piece of equipment and still is today.

I didn’t find out until many years later that my favorite piece of equipment and what I consider one of the most innovative pieces of paranormal equipment, had a story behind it that was incredibly touching and made me love it even more. It’s a little known story that many in the paranormal world don’t really know.

The MEL Meter is the creation of Gary Galka, an electrical engineer from Granby, Conn. Gary wasn’t a paranormal investigator. Actually, he had nothing to do at all with the paranormal, but his creation, was truly a labor of love.

Gary had a nickname for his daughter, Melissa. He always called her “Mel.” One night Melissa was driving home, around midnight, and for an unknown reason she swerved off the road and hit a tree. She sustained horrible injuries which left her on life support for four days. Melissa was eventually taken off life support and passed away, the worst nightmare for any father.

Shortly after Melissa’s passing, Gary and his family began to experience strange activity in his home. The TV, radio, and lights would come on by themselves and then turn off. TV channels would mysteriously change as well. The family could even smell the perfume that she would wear. They believed that Melissa was reaching out to them in order to help them heal.

Six months after Melissa’s passing, Gary and his wife began to reach out to other families who had lost loved ones in the form of grief counseling. Gary also began to research the paranormal to try and better understand what he and his family were experiencing.

After reading books and watching paranormal TV shows, it became apparent to Gary that investigators were using mainstream devices that were intended for totally different purposes. Gary wanted to create something that was designed specifically for paranormal research.

So, using his 30 years of experience as an electrical engineer, Gary created the very first Mel Meter. He call it the Mel-8704. “Mel”, of course was for his daughters nickname, 87 was the year that she was born, and 04 was the year that she died.

Not only did Gary create a device to, “give the paranormal community a push forward,” he also created a way to further help grieving families. A majority of the proceeds from the sales of his Mel Meters are donated to grief support charities. 

The Mel Meter has morphed into several different variations. Today’s versions include shadow detection, hot /cold spot alarm, and one version even creates its own electro-magnetic field which is believed to help develop paranormal activity. 

The next time you are out on an investigation and you pick up your Mel Meter, remember how a father’s love for his daughter helped improve how we investigate.

Tech Review: Para Hunter Full Spectrum POV Glasses

I don’t normally jump into the realm of reviewing new paranormal equipment. Since I have had a couple people ask me to do a review of one of my newest toys I thought I may as well just blog it so anyone that wanted to could read about it before making a purchase.

There is not much new under the paranormal sun when it comes to equipment these days. Sure there are some new variations of the equipment that has been around for a while, but nothing that I have seen that I thought I couldn’t live without on an investigation. 

All that changed when I saw a post, on Facebook, from Jason Hawes of Ghost Hunters. I didn’t see the episode he referenced but he was letting everyone know where they could get a pair of the POV glasses he was wearing on a recent episode. I immediately went to the website to check it out. It was by far the coolest piece of equipment I had seen in a long time!

For the last year I have been searching for a small camera system that could be warn on investigations to record exactly what I was seeing. I found one that was very expensive and the quality looked questionable. I even thought about designing my own with little success. 

DVR systems are great for recording what is happening in an area but they can’t capture everything an investigator witnesses. How many times have you had a personal experience that couldn’t be captured because you were carry a camcorder and it just happened to be pointing in a different direction when it happened? All you’re left with is a great story to tell others. Maybe you witnessed something and you’re not exactly sure what it is that you witnessed. It would sure be nice to have a way to record it and review what you saw.

Now there is a way to record everything you are seeing. All in a light weight pair of glasses.

I ordered mine from a group called Black Cross Paranormal Here is the link http://www.freewebstore.org/BlackCrossParanormal/Video/cat1395162_1261885.aspx

I am including the link because I was very impressed with everything to do with my purchase from them. I like to be able to share with others the places that I believe do a good job selling equipment. There are some shady places, on the Internet, to buy equipment.

The glasses look just like a standard pair of sunglasses. The camera shoots 720P HD video in .AVI format, they can also be used to take still pictures, and they have audio capability. It comes with a very nice case for the glasses, three different lenses in yellow, clear, and tinted that can be swapped out quite easily. It also comes with a 4GB micro SD card which will give you about 2 hours of video. They are capable of taking a card up to 32GB. I purchased a 16GB card separately. A cord for charging the battery is also included.

The glasses are capable of seeing in the Full Spectrum range which means that it can record in the IR and Ultraviolet spectrum. It has no built in light source so, when the lights go out all you are going to record is darkness. There is an IR light source that you can buy separately which Velcro to the side of the glasses. It has a small battery pack that you can just place in your pocket. The lights are good but I do wish they were a little brighter in order to see further. I highly recommend spending the extra money! I don’t know how many times I have had someone I know purchase an IR or full spectrum camera and they don’t realize that they have to buy a separate light kit in order to use the camera in the dark. Unfortunately there is no full spectrum light set designed for the glasses at this time. In order to record full spectrum you would have to carry around a regular full spectrum light.

The camera is very easy to use. Basically everything you need to do is done with one button. You press the button and a red light flashes to let you know they are on. Then the light turns to blue and begins to flash to let you know it is recording. When you want to stop recording, you hit the button again and the light turns to solid blue. When you are ready to record again you just press the button.

The other button allows you to switch modes. This changes the camera from video to still pictures. I haven’t messed with this feature because I don’t really have the need to take still pictures with it and I didn’t want to accidentally switch modes without knowing which mode it was on. 

While using the glasses on an investigation I did find one annoying thing. The blue light that flashes to let you know its recording is on the inside of the glasses, right next to your eye. It’s very bright and can be very annoying.

Since I was unable to find any reference to the battery life in the instructions or online I wasn’t sure what to expect when I used them on an investigation. I was able to get about two hours out of them before it died. If you’re going to use them on a long investigation I would suggest either planning the times you want to use them or recharging them for a while to use later.

Downloading the video is easy. You just open the .AVI file to watch your video. Anyone that has used a Sony Nightshot video camera knows what a pain it is to finalize the video and then having to use a program to convert the video into a format that your computer can use to view the video. Not to mention having to use those mini DVDs that only can record 30 mins!

I would highly suggest that you take some time to play around with these before you take them on the road. Record some video and download it onto your computer to make sure everything looks good. I found that the positioning of one set of the IR lights was causing the camera to pick up some glare from the light. I had to keep repositioning it until I had it so the glare was gone. 

Not much excites me when it comes to paranormal equipment these days, but I would have to say that these glasses are a must have in any investigators tool kit!  When all was said and done I spent about $200 for the glasses and the extra IR light. A little expensive but well worth it!