The Facts and Fiction of Paranormal Investigation

Brandy Stark, PhDMid Pinellas Comic and Maker Con

Sept. 10, 2016

Paranormal Investigation What is it? Paranormal investigation:

Investigates claims regarding the presence of ghosts, demons, spirits, aliens, lake monsters, and other "strange and bizarre" things. –Skeptics Dictionary

Usually does not have a background tied to parapsychology, or other related field

Paranormal Investigation For this talk, the focus is on ghost

investigation/ghost hunting: The process of investigating locations that are reported to be haunted by ghosts.

Paranormal investigation teams will attempt to collect evidence that they see as supportive of paranormal activity.

Fact or Fiction?Paranormal investigation is a new phenomena.

Fiction Harvard psychologist and philosopher William

James (late 1800s) studied oddities such as “crisis apparitions”

In the early-to-mid-1900s, Joseph Banks Rhine helped to pioneer the study of ESP by founding a (now-defunct) parapsychology lab at Duke University.

Harry Price debunked many natural phenomena

A list of ten notable paranormalists can be found here

Fact or Fiction?Paranormal investigation is done using scientific methodologies.

Fiction Dr. Andrew Nichols, a world-renown parapsychologist,

said here that he believes that they also push questionable science on the TV-watching public.

Issues include assumptive behaviors – ghosts only manifest at night and so investigations should be at night. (Why would ghosts come out only then? How can you be a good observer in the dark?)• Personal observation: I have spent 20 years doing

investigations in the evening, early night, and a few during the day. Entities have manifest at all times; some daytime investigations have proven useful to actually rule out phenomena or false “sensitive impressions”

Fiction Investigators use unproven, “scientific seeming”

instruments like magnetometers, which have ultimately failed to produce replicable results

Shady Science of Ghost Investigation: Less scientific methods used to prove ghosts

• Personal observation: I have tried a number of the “new” tools that have come out. None of them hold water or produce results

-- Cell phones/apps: No.-- A basic kit seems to work fine. An EMF reader, thermometer,

notebook, video camera (infrared is great), digital and film cameras, digital recorders, notebooks or word processing capabilities.

Fiction They suggest that every oddity are signs

of ghosts (orbs, “ghostly touches”)• Still a problem; people are swayed by the shows

and believe obvious false positives are real More generally, as Nichols put it, “they

just run around like little girls.”• These shows are for ENTERTAINMENT purposes,

not serious study• These are also staged to bring forth excitement

Fact or Fiction?Paranormal TV is a new phenomena

Fiction Ripleys Believe it or Not 1949-1950,

1982-1986,1999 (animated)2000-2003Paranormal ABC, TBS

One Step Beyond (Alcoa Presents…)1959-1961ParanormalABC In Search Of…1976–1982ParanormalU.S. syndicated Beyond Reason1977-1980ParanormalCBC (Canada) Next Step Beyond (The)1978-1979ParanormalSyndicated Arthur C. Clarke’s Mysterious World1980ParanormalU.K. Arthur C. Clarke’s World of Strange Powers1985ParanormalA&E

networks Unsolved Mysteries1987, 2001ParanormalNBC, CBS James Randi: Psychic Investigator1991PsychicsU.K. Haunted Lives/Real Ghosts1991-1995

(mini-series [3 eps])GhostsCBS/UPN There are more shows…many, many more shows.

Fact or Fiction?The TV shows are a great source to learn how to do paranormal investigation

Fiction They make for good entertainment and people are

really interested in them Desire to believe already exists Critical thinking needs to be applied by the audience

because these shows are heavily edited and even scripted.

Suggestion is rampant Have over-populated the field with copy cats, people

who want to be paranormal TV stars; have not created strong standards (read more here)

They draw attention away from people who have researched the field, years of experience, and long lineages in the field

Fiction Designed to make money

From Ghost TV Shows Scare Up Major Cash: Paranormal reality shows make a lot of sense from a money standpoint. The cameras and production equipment are low-cost almost by necessity. Ghosts don't demand craft services and a bigger trailer. And the qualification for being a professional paranormal investigator consists of declaring, "I am a professional paranormal investigator" and not much else. This might literally be the cheapest form of reality show on TV.

Fiction Casting call, posted July 29, 2016

Are you a skilled paranormal investigator who has what it takes to work with stylish, superstar clients in Los Angeles and New York?

The producers of Ghost Hunters are putting together a sharp, exciting team to investigate celebrity homes and businesses on a brand new TV show for a major cable network.

It doesn’t matter where you live in the U.S., as long as you have solid experience as a paranormal investigator, case manager, researcher or tech expert, AND you’re savvy enough to work with famous clientele.

This is your opportunity to investigate high-profile cases on national TV! CONTACT PRODUCERS TODAY! Send an email to NOPE with your name, location, phone number, a recent photo and why you

want to take on Paranormal Celebrity, or fill out the form below.   ***ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS*** PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT YOU MEET THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA: You must be at least 18 years of age as of August 1, 2016. You must be a legal US resident. You must not be a candidate for public office and must agree not to become one until after

one (1) year after the initial exhibition of the episodes of the Program in which you appear, if selected as a participant.

Applicants must be available in September, 2016 (final dates TBD), to film in-person casting footage. Producers will transport applicants to the casting location (TBD) to film interviews and other content, which may include a sample investigation with other applicants. If necessary, Producer will provide lodging.

Fact or Fiction?So why do we do it?

Proof of afterlife FunResearchInterestComraderyThe odd times when something does

seem to happen!

YOUR QUESTIONS What are you curious about? What

do you want to know?