When I first became interested in the Paranormal I read every book and website I could find on the topic. Even though I am not big on reading, I could finish an entire book in two days. I just couldn’t get enough information to quench my desire for knowledge on the subject.
During a visit to my local library I came across a book that I thought was about ghosts and the paranormal. The title was very deceiving. I took it home anyways not really knowing what it was about.
As I read through the book I began to realize that the intent of the author was to discredit the paranormal. He wasn’t interested in entertaining the idea that it was possible that ghosts actually existed. He also wasn’t interested in attempting to capture any evidence to establish any kind of claim or attempt to use that evidence to debunk it. He would simply visit a location that was reported to be haunted, walk around for a couple of hours, and if a ghost didn’t jump out at him and say, “Boo!,” that location wasn’t haunted. By the end of the book, the author came to the conclusion that there were no haunted locations, just “haunted” people. In other words, those that believe are making it up. I will never get the two days back that I spent reading that book!
Today, there are tons of paranormal shows on TV and the internet. A majority of the shows collect evidence during their investigation, but some don’t. Some are based solely on one persons "special abilities" to detect if a location is haunted or not. Not one bit of evidence is collected to support their claims.
One such show, which I will refrain from mentioning the name, involves an individual going to different locations and telling the owner what they sense. It’s usually a demonic entity, which drives me nuts! I will save my disdain for those that believe demonic entities are hiding around every corner for another blog.
I have watched this show several times. If I don’t know someone or if I can’t point to any evidence that can back their claims, I am a little skeptical of their “abilities.” A famous politician once said, “trust, but verify.” I always refer back to that statement in cases where I find myself a little skeptical.
So, several of the episodes involved locations I have never been. Since I have never been there and I don’t know the history of the location, I remained skeptical, but had nothing to go off of. One episode involved a location that I knew very well! They went to the Amargosa Hotel and Opera House in Death Valley Junction, California. I had investigated and researched the heck out of that location.
After spending some time walking around, the star of the show sat down with the caretakers of the hotel and explained what they felt was happening at the hotel. Everything they talked about was the same information that was common knowledge and you could find on every website about the history of the hotel or legends that had been passed around throughout the years. Some kind of evidence would have been nice to back up their claims. Without evidence, they were simply repeating the stories they have heard and these stories were not based off of any kind of physical proof.
Our team basis our investigations off of physical evidence, pictures/video/audio. We need something physical to present to the client so that they can see or hear for themselves that there is possibly something there. Without that physical evidence, we just have personal experiences that can’t be backed up.
I am sure many would say to themselves, yes, but evidence can be faked so what does it really matter? That is true and all you have to do is look at social media and you can find many instances where people put out fake videos, pictures, or audio in order to go “viral” and gain interest. Apps have also been created where you can insert a picture of a “ghost” into any picture to try and fool people to think that a picture of something paranormal was captured.
For those of us investigators who have reviewed 100s of hours of video and audio and 100s of pictures taken during an investigation, spotting a fake is rather easy. We take spotting fakes seriously. Every fake that comes out damages any credibility real investigators have and makes a mockery of the work that we do.
There is no way that we, as investigators, can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that our evidence is paranormal. There is no method to prove it. Most of what we go off of is based on theories by those that came before us. It would be wonderful if we had scientific proof that our evidence was paranormal. That is why we try to caveat our evidence as "possible" or "probable" when we refer to it. If all other reasonable explanations for what that evidence can be is debunked, then there is a good case to be made that it is probable that we have captured paranormal evidence. How else can one explain capturing a voice on audio that doesn’t match anyone that was present in an area or capturing a voice in an area where no one else was present?
Even though we can’t prove the evidence is 100% paranormal there are ways that we can verify the integrity of our video, photographic, and audio evidence. There are specialists in these fields that can review the evidence and certify that the evidence hasn’t been altered in any way. While this is a good method, it’s not always practical to send out every bit of evidence for every investigation to be verified.
Video, Audio, and photographic evidence is the key to a paranormal investigation. While personal experiences like seeing or having a direct encounter, sensing the presence of something paranormal, and the ability to communicate with ghosts is great, it doesn’t provide a client with the possible proof they are seeking unless something they can hear or see can be presented with the personal experience.
Watching a clients face during a review of evidence says it all. We can talk for hours about our personal experiences and you can tell that a client just isn’t as impressed. When we play a class A EVP for a client, the excitement that they have been validated is obvious. We have even had clients invite their neighbors over to listen to our evidence because they are so excited. It’s this reaction that proves that this form of evidence is the key to a paranormal investigation.