Dr. Mark Farley's Personal Blog

Also, this approach of tearing down and trash-talking turns the concept of paranormal unity into a farce. If we can’t unite as a community, we will never be able to establish standard practices and procedures or sanction ourselves for wrongdoing.

Like most equipment used by paranormal investigators, it wasn’t originally designed for ghost hunting. It was designed for a whole other purpose, and the paranormal community adopted it for use in investigations.

So you capture a photograph of what you think is paranormal. If you’re like me, you’ll spend hours staring at it. Then you post it on social media to share what you captured and, hopefully, receive a little validation.

I believe if you’re truly trying to “help” the client. You should be focusing on explaining the events they are witnessing. In these situations, proof doesn’t help anyone but you; explanations help the client. Deep down, the practice of debunking only helps the investigator. Because deep down, through this facade of skewed skepticism, they really want to capture the “Holy Grail” of paranormal evidence. Investigations are for explaining; research is for proving.

I am rather strict during the investigation because the last thing I want is a team full of thrill seekers. I want professionals; I want standards; and I want quality. If our field is going to be accepted as a legitimate field of study. These are the three traits I feel every team must strive for.

So, I allow team members to carry their cell phones during investigations. There are just too many advantages to having them.