Paranormal Investigations: My Beliefs Explained

Observation is my preferred method of investigation.

In my last blog, I received some criticism about how I conduct paranormal investigations.  One of the main criticisms was my rule of having only one point of contact between the team and the client.  This rule is mainly for protecting the integrity of the investigation.  The client is the primary source of information you have.  If too many team members are communicating with the client, they will become overwhelmed and confused.  When this happens, the client will become scared.  All the information they give from this point forward is usually sensationalized and unreliable.  It’s not that they are lying to you.  Fear makes a person hypervigilant.  Everything they witness becomes paranormal.  Even the everyday events are now suspected to have supernatural causes, and this sends your team down rabbit holes that lead nowhere.

I also received questions about my preferred method of investigation.  I prefer the method of observation.  I sit quietly, take notes, and observe the events happening around me.  One person commented that I place too much emphasis on field notes.  Because field notes prove nothing.  I’m not trying to prove anything during an investigation.  I’m trying to explain the events that the client is witnessing.  Don’t confuse this with debunking.  Because I absolutely hate debunking.  Taking the approach that nothing is haunted until everything else is ruled out greatly skews your investigation.  You should approach every investigation with an open mind and with complete neutrality.  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 hope this clarifies what I was trying to convey in my last blog.  Please, if you have any questions or comments.  Feel free to contact me.  Only through discourse can we advance the field of paranormal study to a legitimate science.