Paranormal Investigation and the Like

Why We Do What We Do

I already explained what it is that we do as paranormal investigators. I'll talk about it briefly again, to reiterate. Our goal is not to prove the existence of ghosts. On an individual level, it may be someone's purpose for investigating. But as a group and as a whole, that should not be what you're trying to do. In the early days of paranormal investigation, the purpose actually was to do just that: prove something. However, in recent years, that view has changed a lot. It it no longer about the ghosts; it is about the clients that you are trying to help.

In almost all cases, people reach out to us for one reason and one reason only. They are scared and alone and confused. Clients often express their concern about telling others about their experiences, for fear of being ridiculed or called crazy. It is sad, really. They are afraid to enter their own house, afraid to sleep at night, worried for the wellbeing of their childre, and yet, have no one to talk to about it. So, they call up a group of strangers and let them stay the night in their house. If that's not desperate for help, I don't know what is. 

We attempt to find perfectly logical, scientific reasons to explain the "paranormal" phenomena that occurs around them. By doing this and by disproving "paranormal" things, we are able to help the client and put them at ease. 

To be able to disprove a haunting, we take all things into account, including the client's medication and any other drug use they wish to tell us about. In too many cases do we find heavy drug use to be the cause of "hauntings". Example: A case we did in Ludlow, Massachusetts. The client told us she was on anti-depressants. We asked if she used any other type of drug, such as marijuana (because anti-depressants mixed with things like weed can cause awful hallucinations). She told us no, she doesn't do any other drugs. The investigation had just started when we found buds in an ashtray in the upstairs bedroom. That, coupled with how we debunked nearly every other claim, led us to call off the investigation only an hour into it. We do not appreciate our time wasted. It was deeply satisfying though, both for us and the client, to know there was nothing paranormal going on in the house. She was left at ease.

In another case locally here in Springfield, we investigated the home a soldier fresh out of Iraq. We debunked all claims and found no evidence of the paranormal. Interestingly, he mentioned to us that he had been diagnosed with PTSD. It all made sense at that point. PTSD could have certainly caused many of the claims he reported, such as paranoia and we kindly informed him of that. He, too, was left at ease (well, as much ease that he could be at. He was missing a finger and it makes me wonder what horrors he experienced).

So, helping a client to figure out what is happening to them, and to let them know that things outside the supernatural realm are most likely the things they are experiencing, is our job exactly. We take extreme pride in being able to help the client, and being able to let them know they are not crazy, and that they are totally safe.

Even if there is something legitimately paranormal going on, we make it a priority to comfort the client and give them any resources they may need. We tell them that, if they wish, the spirit can be removed. However, out of respect for the spirit, and only in the case of a harmless little ghost, we encourage the client to get comfortable with a spirit in their house. We do not like to evade sprits if they are not doing anything wrong.