How To Find A Paranormal Team

Need some help and don’t know where to turn? Let’s talk about how to find a good paranormal investigating team…

Like I’ve said many times before ANYONE can call themselves “Paranormal Investigators,” “ghost hunters,” "researchers," "mediums" etc...and claim they are “professional, scientific” etc… The truth of that matter is that there is no special training, no special skills and no specific aptitude to label oneself as thus. Yet those self-imposed labels seem to hold a lot of weight when it comes to people looking for help.

I have seen it time and time again when a person is looking for help, they hear that you are a paranormal investigator and they suddenly trust you implicitly. They will believe anything you say as they view you as the "expert", and worst of all let you unaccompanied into their house or place of business based on your word that you aren’t going to do anything terrible.  They will also believe any “evidence” that the investigators put forth and say it’s proof of spirit activity.  I also feel that because of the popularity of the ghost hunting TV shows that when a homeowner sees that you have all the gadgets, gizmos, and DVR systems that people do on TV that you MUST know what you are doing. However, none of that makes those investigators good at what they do, or logical in collecting and presenting evidence.  DON’T BE THAT PERSON!

 

So what do you do when you think you may have something going on and want an opinion?

 

1)      If they have a website, visit it and see what kind of information they are presenting as fact. If they are passing of pictures of dust orbs and slow-shutter speed light anomalies or orbs  as proof of spirit activity then go to the next team.

2)      Call them. See what kind of personalities they have on the phone and if they would be willing to meet for a short time to discuss what you need from them. A pre-investigation interview is IMPERATIVE as this is your chance to feel them out and honestly, them to feel you out. The safety of the team is important to them and a good team would never just show up at someone’s house without knowing anything about the situation as you never know what you could be walking into.

3)      Ask them how they do their investigations from beginning to end. If there is anything that seems odd to you, then question it. For example, let’s say my method is to come to your house and leave some recorders around your house while you and your family are there. I will come back later, pick up the recorders and review them for EVP evidence. It would be perfectly OK for you to ask “how can you possibly know what is an EVP when you had no control or knowledge of what was going on around the recorder.” Just to be clear that is NOT my method, but it is of another local team. Or maybe they are really into "provoking", and calling out "demons" which may not be something you would be comfortable. Again, not our methods.

4)      Ask them about their evidence. Ask them how they set up their investigations, how they review their evidence and how they determine what is anomalous enough to be given to you as evidence. Answers like “Well this is an orb unlike any I have seen before so it can’t be dust/rain/moisture/spirt/skin cells etc.” or “I know it’s an EVP because it sounds like a man and there were no men in the room.” Or “I know that its and EVP because I know I wouldn’t say something like that.” We have done a lot of research into what we think at the time may be EVPs and it’s shocking how much voices and words can be different from one recorder to another. It doesn’t make it an EVP though!

5)      Ask to see an example of their final client report.  I have seen some from other teams that make me want to get out my red pen and grade it like it was an 8^th grade writing project.  If someone cannot have enough attention to detail to make sure that their client report is mostly (we all make mistakes) free of typos, punctuation problems and terrible grammar then how can I trust that that person can pay enough attention to detail to properly review their evidence?

6)      Ask for references. They should be readily available and gladly supplied. The reference should be about their professionalism and manner not evidence.  Remember that just because they got evidence from a former place doesn't make it REAL evidence.

7)      Figure out what you really want from the team. Would you be OK if the team came back with no evidence and instead came back with logical explanations from some of your experiences?  Or do you want that TV show ghost hunter experience to happen in your house and want a load of evidence even if it may be questionable? Some people do want that and if that’s what you want then I would view it more like having a psychic come do a party of yours. It’s fun, you may get something cool out of it but it’s not done for anything more than entertainment purposes.

8)      It is OK to cancel an investigation at any time if you feel like it is not your cup of tea. If the team is using methodologies etc that you don’t feel is appropriate or is setting up a situation that could create fear in your home then stop it. No team should ever start talking about negative spirits or demons in your home and there is absolutely no way they could possibly know for a FACT that such things are in your home. It is irresponsible to make those claims and leave a homeowner worse off than they were before.

9)      Finally, it is also OK for the team to cancel or stop an investigation at any time if they feel like the situation is not what they thought it would be. There are people out there that need much more than what a paranormal investigation team can give them and that usually falls into the mental health category. We are providing a free service that takes up time and energy and if we don’t feel like it would be appropriate to begin or continue with an investigation that is within our, or any teams right. If that happens the best thing to do is to move on. Do not harass the team with constant phone calls or threats.

Just a side note: If you do have an investigation where you leave the team alone in your house make sure you take valuables and medication with you.  I am not suggesting that any of the teams out there would steal or rummage through your medicine cabinet but it's just common sense.  Real estate agents tell homeowners to do the same when they are having an open house so it can't hurt!

 

As always if you have any question please feel free to contact me! Paraobservations@gmail.com 

Amanda