A few years ago some colleagues of mine were being harassed by an individual with a Yahoo Groups site. One colleague was accused of cheating on his wife, the other plagiarism. This is because of their association with a fellow who kicked out the site manager from his team of ghost hunters. Now, although this guy, the site manager who we will refer to from now on as Mr. Yahoo, was by no means an intellectual giant, he had a clever idea. No one would respect you if I just went online and began bashing former friends. No, Mr. Yahoo started this group under the pretense that he was “policing the paranormal”.

That’s right. Out of no where, he gave himself the authority to make liable claims against more well-known and popular paranormal researchers. Many ghost hunters ended up filing “cease and desist” orders against Mr. Yahoo, but he ignored them. Some of them even had Mr. Yahoo’s Yahoo account closed. He just moved on to another site.

Interesting concept this is. What gives anyone the right to “police” anything. In the paranormal community it appears to be a mouth. Now, about six years ago, my own group in Baltimore actually was asked to certify a place in Gettysburg as “haunted”. With some trepidation, the manager was so nice to us, we agreed. Looking back on that, it was a goofy thing to do. Who were we to make such claims? It was never done again.

Mr. Yahoo, is now a faint memory and his site is no more. However, his legacy lives on. Every few months or so, another bitter person comes along and tries to be the next detector of moral truth in the paranormal community. These people suffer from a condition known as FASIGH (Failure At Success In Ghost Hunting). They were kicked off a team, couldn’t write a book to save their life, didn’t make it onto a TV show or simply didn’t like their goofy half-baked theories on the paranormal being criticized. OK, I’ll admit, maybe that acronym could use some work.

Sometimes, it may be a case in which they touch fame and likes it so much, they want more. An appearance on national news is usually enough. Now they’re addicted. Maybe if they could appease the right people, they’ll gain a loyal following and then can taste the sweetness of recognition again. They don’t need facts or even brains most of the time. Just a mouth. They’re favorite targets are paranormal TV celebrities, authors and nationally recognized ghost hunting teams. Also, anyone they disagree with. Then they latch on with the zeal of a starving rabid hyena. Rules of conduct are thrown out the window. No research is necessary! Attack first, see if the sharks smell the blood in the water, and then, maybe, they’ll research the facts. Once the facts are researched, they are ignored anyway.

When I 1st started doing this almost 11 years ago, I thought all orbs and mists were ghosts! How was I supposed to know, right? Later, I changed my mind as I learned. It was a whole year before I felt comfortable starting my own team and several years before I thought starting my own conference.

Did someone say “conference”?

Darn it! I was hoping to avoid this part.

A few years ago, I wasn’t just wrong about something, I screwed up BIG TIME! I helped plan a conference. The biggest conference I ever helped plan. I went through a personal hell that year with things happening in my family and personal life that sent me into a deep depression. Then the conference came…

Thousands of dollars went missing that I, solely, was responsible for. Unless you screwed up that bad yourself, you cannot imagine what I went through and put my closest friends and colleagues through. I accepted full responsibility. I was guilt ridden after letting my partners down who trusted me to take care of the accounting for them. As bad as that situation was, some people got a hold of a few of the details and went to town with it. Rumors and allegations that have caused me to lose friends and associations with colleagues. Exaggerating it to include previous conferences and events afterward. Now, even years later, I have to deal with that screw-up. Many people who do not know me, feel that whatever I do is tainted. There is a happy ending for that conference though. Everything came out right in the end and lots of people made lots of money! Yay!

I recovered though and with the help of my very best friends, I tried to rebuild my life and was talked out of leaving paranormal research. Because darn it, I am good at it! I wrote another book and currently work on dozens of projects to benefit the paranormal community. It is all I can do to keep my dream alive and make up for my mistakes.

I think, although we don’t like it, everyone accepts that we cannot make everyone like them. It is a fact of life that even Mrs. Garrett would have to accept. Due to criticisms of certain psychics and technologies, I have met people who decided they would make me their enemy. I guess they just woke up one day and said, “Vince Wilson is my enemy because [insert illogical reason here]!” They existed before the big conference and now they love bringing up the old conference story! Sometimes that’s not good enough though. Jeez, you would think the conference story was bad enough! It is scary, but some people get their kicks from the destruction of others. I know, this hard for most people to comprehend, but I see it first hand all the time. Why else would they spend so much time gossiping and creating drama for others?

So, another “minister of paranormal justice” is rearing his/her ugly head at me (I’ve seen pictures!). It’ll pass like it always does, but it still sucks.

What can we do?

So, you want to be a ghost hunting success story? Well, you can try to do no wrong (good luck), but it won’t matter. Write a book or an unpopular article and they will attack you too! The only thing we can do is ignore them. Or sue them I guess. But, ignoring them is cheaper. Everyone has to ignore them. Give these poor souls attention and it gives them power. Ironically, one of the worst things to happen to ghost hunting are self-appointed moralists.

Vince Wilson is EVIL!

As I mentioned earlier in this article, you cannot please everyone all of the time. Every once in awhile I will refuse to pay someone thousands of dollars to speak at an event I am planning or have to let someone go from our research team due one reason or another. Sometimes this and other causes creates an animosity that just won’t seem to ever heal. I don’t hold a grudge against anyone and forgive and forget on the drop of a hat. Sure, I have lost my temper and have done dumb things because of it. I  have made lots of mistakes in my brief career. I have never claimed to be infallible. But I have learned from all the mistakes I have made and in turn, they have made me a better person. Think about that the next time you stumble across one of those “policing the paranormal” sites and see my name being compared to Machiavellian  characters in Italian operas or anyone else’s name for that matter. There are truly scary people out there will very real mental disorders who want nothing less than the total destruction of anyone that they disagree with at any cost. I understand that it is hard to believe that can happen, but it does. Write a book, appear on TV or do something successful and, I am truly sorry for this, it will happen to you too.

The good news is, I have met hundreds of people across th country and if a dozen or so hate my guts, I can live with that.

I am big fan of Pro-Measures, the manufacturers of the Mel-Meter, for their multi-tasking devices such as the before mentioned Mel-Meter. The model I have has an EMF meter, thermo-coupler thermometer and vibration sensor built into one tough and durable little unit. You know, if more people thought along long those lines, we would need a lot less equipment bags and smaller budgets.

Here is where I get back to the laptop, or more specifically, netbooks.

Netbooks are everywhere now and they are getting cheaper all the time. It is not uncommon to see a sleek Asus netbook on sale at for under $300. Although they usually do not have a built-in DVD or even a CD ROM drive, they are nevertheless not short on features. Tons of RAM and 250 gigs of HD space or more in many cases. Netbooks are the killer hardware app until the pad PCs catch on. Now let me ask you this: If you could have either a Netbook or a $300 voice recorder for EVP, which would you go for? Many of you may say, “The voice recorder! I already have a laptop.” Sigh… With a netbook  you can have all the goodies of that voice recorder plus MORE!!!

Think about it… If you bought a Behringer Podcast Studio setup and hooked it up to your new netbook, you would have the quality of a small recording studio in your carrying bag! Check it out:

• High-resolution 2 In / 2 Out USB audio interface with plug-and-play for Windows XP and Mac OS X operating systems.
• Studio-class 5-input 2-bus mixer with premium mic preamp and 2-band “British” EQ.
• Table microphone stand
• XLR microphone cable and 2 stereo RCA cables.
• Get a full recording studio “out of the box” including USB audio interface, mixer, microphone, headphones, professional audio software!

Download the audio software Audacity for free and start recording the best EVP you ever got! Use Skype to talk to colleagues and ask their advice. Even upload EVP to the web for the public’s opinion (You have the original file, don’t worry about people “stealing it”). With a small Aiptek HD video camera, you can upload and analyze  data on the fly with a built in SD card slot.

Trust me on this, get a netbook, you’ll be happier!

Hey, it’s Vince and I am heading out to visit my friend Willy Adkins out in the Midwest.

Their first annual event will be hosted by the founder of Afterlife Paranormal, The Illinois Ghost Hunters and The Paranormal Research Community, Willy Adkins on August 13th & 14th 2010.  Even better the event will be hosted at the historic (and rumored haunted) Stratford Inn in Sycamore Illinois!

This years conference will features several amazing speakers in the world of paranormal research, ghost hunting, legends and lore as well as the opportunity to take part in some haunted after hours events too!  A ghost hunting gear swap meet will also be featured.

BUT THAT’S NOT ALL!

It is affordable!!! The economy sucks right now and you will not be gouged for profit. Reservations are as low as $35!

CLICK FOR RESERVATIONS!

The most valued outcome of a paranormal investigation is evidence, not only that but evidence from credible sources. That is why we at Paranormal Investigation are proud to bring you the Biggest Innovation in Paranormal Research in the last 25 years; we have combined the power of modern computing with the sensitivity of the latest scientific monitoring equipment. Not only can you detect potential paranormal anomalies you can also record them straight onto your PC or Laptop.

The ‘Influence Triggering’ based system will monitor and record all of the following parameters:

• Temperature
• Motion
• Sound
• Luminance
• Infra Red Night Vision Video
• Electro Magnetic Field (EMF) Meter Readings
• Negative Ion Levels / Static Interference
• Natural Magnetic Fields / Geomagnetic Fields

Anomalies in these fields are often associated with paranormal activity. Not only can you use the ParanormalPC to monitor haunting investigations, it can also be utilized in other paranormal investigations such as crop circles, UFO landing sites, alien abduction, séances, Ouija board, etc.

Astounding, right? The only problem was it was difficult for the average person to set-up, required many separate programs running at the same time and the attachments tended to detect one another! I am also not sure of the claims that it can be useful for crop circles, UFO landing sites, alien abduction, séances, Ouija board, etc. I suppose if you happen to be abducted by aliens while holding a ParanormalPC that might work. Otherwise, not so much.

Despite these issues and others, the ParanormalPC was a big seller for a few months. Many would-be ghost hunters worldwide dished out more than $800 for one of these untested high-tech paper weights. However, unlike many other devices currently available, it eventually fell off the radar for the most part. It may have had something to with price and the difficulty in using it. If paranormal researchers are going to ever be taken seriously, they are going to need to learn that sometimes they are wrong about the technological bandwagons they are so quick to jump on. Now, I could go on about how paranormal investigators are misusing K-II meters, “spirit boxes” and the Ovilus, but I’m not. This article is focused on the Mag-Temp or MEL Meter.

When this device was first brought to my attention, I was asked to field test it by my friends over at www.LessEMF.com. When I received my new EMF/thermocouple thermometer in the mail, I was very, very impressed. It was of rugged, solid construction. It had a back-light and many other useful features.  It even had a record mode to help you keep track of Max & Min temperature and EMF changes! and it was very accurate too. This device easily matched or surpassed some of the old standards like the Alpha Labs trifield meter and the classic analog Gauss meter. I couldn’t help but include it into my latest book Ultimate Ghost Hunter in 2009.

I didn’t even do my usual background checking into the device since all my self-testing passed with flying colors. After my book went to print, I started hearing numerous stories about the “Mel Meter” device. People were telling me it was designed just for ghost hunting! I found that hard to believe. Why? Up until this point, any “made just for paranormal research” devices were shoddy at best. The Mel-8704 Meter simply looked too well made! Also, devices like this are designed by teams, not by one inventor. I refused to believe it. Then, I heard even more! That the Model number, Mel-8704, was assigned to represent the birth and death of the inventor’s daughter. Great, I thought, more out of control gossip and rumors! More misunderstanding about how technology works. The girl’s name was Melody or Melanie. The “8704″ was the year the young lady was born (1987) and the year she died (2004). I didn’t believe it for a single second! I had to research further to get to the bottom of this.

So, I got out my note pad and called Mr. Gary Galka, the actual inventor of the Mel-Meter. So, I introduced myself and explained to Mr. Galka that I am going to set the record straight on the misinformation out there on his invention. Sure enough, there never was a Melody or Melanie. Her name was Melissa.

Wow, so I was wrong big time! I did not expect to find any truth in any aspect of that part of the story. Gary was retired as of 5 and ½ years ago. His daughter Melissa, or Mel as he called her since she was very young, was on her way home one evening around midnight. For some unknown reason, she swerved off of the road and struck a tree in a terrible car accident. “I jumped out of bed that night,” Gary told me, “I knew something had happened to her.” The accident happened on September 24, 2004. Mel was born in 1987. She was on life-support until September 28th before being allowed to pass on. It was soon afterward that Gary’s new obsession with the paranormal would begin.

“Most of the proceeds from the product go to charities such as Compassionate Friends and other known charity organization,” Gary told me with some pride.

“From the moment my wife and I and two daughter’s got home,” Gary explained, “Mel began to let us know that she was still around.” Gary explained how Mel began playing around with electronics in the house. The TV, radio and lights would come on and turn off and switch channels by themselves. “We could smell her perfume,” he added, “Over a period of time we could feel her hugs and kisses.” These experiences didn’t just happen to him either. His wife, Cindy and daughters Heather and Jennifer also had these wonderful After Death Communications (ADC’s) as well. They all believe that Mel reached out to them in order to help them to heal and move forward with their lives. Within six months of her passing, Gary and his wife began to reach out and help other bereaved parents in their homes and through the formation of grief counseling groups. He began researching the paranormal and related topics to better understand what was going on in this field. After reading several books, and watching a few of the paranormal shows on television it became apparent that most paranormal enthusiasts had to resort to using mainstream gadgets and devices that were typically intended for a totally different purpose. Many were modified or adapted to suit the application of paranormal research. Gary, with over 30 years of test and measurement experience sat down and began to design the Mel-Meter. Not only to help give the paranormal community a push forward, but the biggest accomplishment, as Gary explained with pride is that, “Most of the proceeds from the Mel product series goes directly to grief support charities such as Compassionate Friends and other known charity organizations”.

So, in conclusion, it’s been five and a half years since Mel passed. Gary is still getting signs and visits from her, though not as frequently. He is still highly motivated and working on even newer technology designs that will be introduced to the paranormal field in the near future, including the new RT-EVP device, P-SB7 spirit box and numerous additions to the popular Mel meter series. He will continue the trend of those who saw that there was a connection between EMF and the paranormal going back to UCLA parapsychologists in the 1970s, Loyd Auerbach in the 1990s and Chris Flemming, Troy Taylor and Dale Kaczmarek in the 21 Century.

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Evidently what the creator of the Ovilus, Bill Chappell was trying to build with his invention was a device that would randomly select words (from a built in dictionary of 512 English words) and 71 possible phonetic sounds based on Electromagnetic Field Fluctuations. I should point out that on the website that sells the Ovilus (www.digitaldowsing.com) claims the device should only be used for “entertainment purposes” while also claiming it was designed for paranormal investigations! I guess the inventor wants his cake and be able to eat it too. Also on the website it says that the Ovilus does not include any additional computer algorithms that would interfere with the randomness of the devices responses. So, according to the creator, it does not and cannot cheat. But does it detect or, speak for, ghosts?

I have never watched any of the cable TV shows this gadget has been featured on, so I know little about how the public uses this. At the Jennie Wade House was where I first encountered the Ovilus directly. The “investigators” present seemed to be speaking directly at the this so-called technological marvel. I asked them what was the theory behind this and they told me that the spirits could influence the electronics inside the Ovilus and make the words and sounds form conversation. Sorry, if I sound a bit skeptical, but I highly doubt that when someone dies they become electronic engineers. There is no evidence that suggests ghosts from decades past can learn to use modern technology. Interference notwithstanding of course. If ghosts cause a TV to act funny, it is more likely to be an unintentional side effect. However, the influence of probable outcomes is a regularly reported aspect of studies in psychic phenomena.

Now before I go and try to explain how the Ovilus could work, I should point out that it could be nothing at all. It is also possible the inventor knows that there is nothing to it. The website does say it should only be used for entertainment purposes. It could be your mind just trying to associate words with nondescript nonsense. More than half of the Ovilus downloads I listened to for this article sounded like absolute gibberish. Most of them had some text of what the poster thought it said, but I can only imagine they had very active imaginations.

Starting with experiments in the 70′s, paranormal researchers did experiments into the effect of micro-pk (a form of psychokinesis) on probable outcomes. Using random number generators thousands of papers were written on very strong evidence that human observation can affect the outcome of events. I have yet to see any experiments with this device that shows that ghosts and not human influence is the deciding factor in Ovilus experiment outcomes. For that matter, I have seen no evidence to suggest it is anymore than just a $200 toy.

According to Matthew Whitton and Rick Dyer there were several Bigfoot (Bigfoots? Bigfeet? Sasquatches?) in the immediate area. They, the rare North American primates, watched as the two men dragged their kin away evidently for fame and fortune. They then proceeded to take their hirsute embellished cadaver to the nearest scientist and forever justified the claims of crypto-zoologists everywhere! Okay, actually they “claim” they took the poor creature to an undisclosed location and tried, unsuccessfully, to freeze it in ice. You see they used a frost free refrigerator.

So, they tried to freeze the carcass until they figured out what to do. So the story goes and they contact renowned Bigfoot hunter Tom Biscardi. Actually, I am not sure if renown is the right word, perhaps infamous would be better. Biscardi has been involved in a number of Sasquatch hoaxes in the past. His questionable reputation began in the 80s with fake Bigfoot video he tried to market for Ivan Marx, a notorious hoaxer. In 2005 his reputation was further tarnished when he was involved in another Bigfoot scam involving the George Noory Show. On the Noory Show Coast to Coast AM, he claimed he would have a live ape-man that he would reveal via pay-per-view internet streaming video. When the day arrived he claimed that he himself was scammed by those detaining the specimen. So, now he is representing Whitton and Dyer and has created yet another media circus. If this turns out to be another scam (which I am 98% certain it is) it is unlikely Biscardi’s reputation will survive this time, such as is already.

So, how is this relevant to ghost investigating? This story is very significant in that hoaxes happen all the time in ghost hunting. They probably happen just about every day actually and mostly by nice enough people that would normally never do any harm at all. Some of these people even believe they are not perpetrating a hoax. Many ghost hunting groups claiming to be “scientifically minded” teams have tried to pull the wool over the eyes of the ghost hunting community. They do this using fake EVPs and altered photographs and fabricated videos. Be wary of any group that regularly produces “evidence” that is too good to believe. It probably is! Often times there are logical explanations for evidence they claim is genuinely paranormal that the team leader will ignore. However, the vast majority of hoaxes and fraud in the ghost hunting community is from those claiming supernatural abilities themselves – psychics.

I get criticized a lot for my skeptical approach to psychics, but I can assure you it is justified. Fake mediums have been around since before the Oracle of Delphi. Their heyday however was during that marvelous time in World History known as the Spiritualist Movement. Ah, the good old days, when mediums had to really work for their dishonestly earned money. A psychic usually needed a staff of people to help with her scam, er, show. They had props like trick chairs that helped with rope escapes. They had make tambourines and trumpets float through the air and play a tune too! This was a lot of work! Today’s fake psychics are getting pretty lazy. All they have to do now is point at empty space and say, “I feel the presence of restless spirit”. Some of the more dramatic ones will fain illness or act as if possessed. But they never produce ectoplasm out of their orifices any more.

Now don’t get me wrong, I believe in psychic ability. I have worked people I truly believe may be psychic. However, they are few and far between what I normally experience when it comes to “ghost whisperers”. Just this past weekend someone told me, “the level of fraud a medium propagates is directly proportional to how much money they charge for their services.” There are exceptions to this rule of course. Some ghost hunting “sensitives” fake it for free. These generally consist of very sad individuals indeed. For the most part they are not out to hurt anyone, they just want attention. Some probably are satisfied with how their lives turned out. Perhaps they expected to have done bigger and better things by the time they reached “this point” in their lives. Others perhaps have low self esteem and are enthralled with the attention and occasional adoration that they receive when they demonstrate their abilities. I believe that these are majority of the fake psychics out there. Depending on how long the reader has been ghost hunting, you may have met some of these people yourself. Even though, for the most part, they do not intend to cause any harm, they are. They hurt all of us. I usually refrain from criticizing these people out of pity. I feel sorry for them. On the other hand there are people out there that don’t deserve pity, but condemnation!

I know a very popular writer in the ghost hunting world, who, a few years ago, never claimed to have any psychic ability at all. Now this person claims to not be able to see ghosts but is able to clear buildings of spirits as well. Nearly pushing sixty this person suddenly gained psychic powers? Perhaps it was a radioactive meteorite or something. This person attacked me as well for wanting to work with a sensitive before assuming their authenticity. Hey, I’m not asking for a background check and urine samples, just a little reassurance. I am supposed to assume that anyone who claims to be psychic is the “real deal”. I don’t do that for techies!

I know some people are going to read this article and take what they want from it. They are going to skip over the fact that I said I do believe in, and in fact work with, sensitives. I will be admonished for having any doubts whatsoever about anyone. Nevertheless, someone has to say something. The Bigfoot community is going to take a major kick in the butt in the credibility department when (OK, or if) this turns out to be a fraud, which of course is very unfair of course. Most Sasquatch researchers are very dedicated to the belief that the creature is real. They would never do anything to harm their credibility. Unfortunately, every time someone “pretends” to be a psychic for the cameras, the ghost hunting community takes a hit. People in the crypto crowd like Biscardi only get this kind of press once every few years. We get press like that several times a year and its really bad at Halloween. Reporters absolutely love making the group sensitive look like a nut-job. The answer to this problem comes in a simple metaphor – “Don’t feed the lions!”

Regardless of whatever reason (money, self-esteem, etc.) they are doing what they are doing; those who would fake psychic ability require attention. This is always the case with frauds. Don’t give it to them! Establish a policy in your group – there is only one team leader and we are all equal otherwise. Don’t give your team members titles like Tech Expert, Lead Photographer or Psychic Investigator for example. Stick with co-captain, administrator, etc. Do not categorize your team members like that since it will single out some members as more “special” than others. If the press asks if you have a psychic on your team, tell them that if you did you would not reveal who they were to avoid them being persecuted by, oh, I don’t know, people like the press! If, instead of admiring your decision to promote equality and fairness among your team members, your resident psychic expresses discontent for not highlighting his/her unique gifts, you might have an ego too big for your group of ghost hunters. Here’s the point: you are trying to prove that ghosts exist, right? If you did that you would be world famous and there is no need to try to become celebrities in the meantime. As more and more teams go “scientific” I see fewer psychics sticking around. Perhaps the ones that do are the real deal. I certainly hope so. As far as the frauds, well, they’ll be OK. Many of them are forming psychic exclusive teams and forgoing any science at all.

Ghosts will be proven to exist one day and so will psychics. Perhaps both will be proven at the same time. Perhaps one will be proven before the other. Either way, they both will be proven with science.

The list above is composed of some of the most sought-after devices used for “ghost hunting.” This list uses the average price for each item with a little leeway for shipping and taxes. Just five pieces of equipment and you will be paying over one grand. Ka-ching!

Now, for the beginner ghost hunter there are alternative techniques that are both inexpensive and worthwhile. A compass (a nice camping compass for around $10) is a great alternative for an EMF meter. A digital thermometer from Wal-Mart, although slow to react, will get you through your investigation with very accurate readings. Finally, as long as your flash is more than 2 inches away (or more) from the lens of your cameras, you will be Okay! Spend wisely. A new ghost hunter on the scene once asked me at a conference what types of equipment I used on investigations and where did I get them from. I gave him a list and a week later he bought over $400 worth of equipment that he didn’t even know how to use. I understand he still calls a trifield meter a “tricorder.” I may be the author of a book called Ghost Tech, but even I know that fancy gadgets do not an expert make. C’est la vie! I’d hate to think that his wife and kids had to eat microwave dinners because Dad needed ghost-hunting gizmos so quickly.

In case you haven’t figured out yet, this article is about money. Specifically raising money for your ghost hunting team. Equipment, gasoline, and film — it adds up. Where does all that money come from? Usually — you! Now what we’re going to discuss is different ways to raise money for your group honestly and legally. But first…

Giving Ghost Hunting A Bad Rap

In an article for Ghost Hunting 101 that I plan on writing very soon, we will be talking about sharing information with other investigators and teams. What good is having all that acquired data if you cannot share it with other investigators? If we are going to solve the mystery of what ghosts and hauntings are, then we need to have some better standards. For example at the official Ghost Tech website (www.ghosttech.net) you can download forms that will help you document nearly all aspects of an investigation. Developed by the Maryland Paranormal Investigators Coalition these forms are believed to be some of the most comprehensive in the country. The best part is they’re free!
 
There is a group or two out there who are charging new investigators for accessing data from their Web site. For a yearly fee you can download their videos and pictures. How is the field of ghost hunting going to move forward if there are people like that? Although it is important to receive recognition for hard-earned research, it is never acceptable to charge for data that should be available to the public and peer scrutiny. Call me self-righteous if you’d like.

I did an article once for Ain’t It Cool News (www.aintitcoolnews.com) for the movie White Noise. It wasn’t favorable. Regardless, the moderator for the site was a little excited about getting an honest-to-goodness ghost hunter to do the review. The sites message boards were a little less “excited.” Some of the comments were about how all paranormal investigators were rip-off artists that preyed on troubled people who thought they had ghosts in their houses. They sounded like Walter Peck from Ghostbusters! Who can blame them though? There are people out there like that. In California there is a group that charges as much as $7500 to investigate your home. Scoundrels! That’s what they are. It is an honor to be invited into someone’s home and to charge to do investigation is deplorable. You can say that you will accept a donation for gas and film development, but that’s all. Most of the time the homeowner will insist on feeding us or at least making us coffee. Usually bad coffee, but it is the thought that counts. If it were a long distance to travel though, it would be okay to ask for lodging of some kind.

When we tried to create a local Baltimore group here in Maryland I would talk to other, more experienced ghost hunters around the country for advice. This is when I found out that Maryland had an appalling reputation for serious research. Evidently there are groups that are claiming to train investigators for a “price.” They would have investigations with up to fifty people then charge each person for attendance! How can you control fifty investigators? All running around at the same time with their EMF meters and digital cameras and not a minute of good training. So much for real research!

Don’t Burn Yourself

Williamsburg, Virginia — 2005. The Queen Mary — 2005. Two examples of ghost hunting conferences gone wrong — Really wrong…

Have you ever been to a ghost conference before? Some are very good and have been around (such as the American Ghost Society Conference in Illinois) for a long time now. Some are new and have yet to prove themselves, but have proven talent behind them (such as the Ghost World Conference [www.ghostworldconference.com] in 2007 [Please excuse the shameless self promotion]). On the other hand though, there are conferences that are simply awful or simply not well planned. Let us talk about the ones that are not well planned, shall we?

In 2005 a few colleagues and I were invited to a ghost conference in Williamsburg, Virginia. Williamsburg is well known for its colonial era hauntings and all involved were genuinely excited about going. So the conference got closer and closer and closer. And the updates from the conference planners became fewer and fewer and fewer. Then, just three weeks before the date of the big Williamsburg Ghost Conference we got an email. The planners were not very good planners as it turns out and had driven themselves into bankruptcy. We would later find out that these people had invested so much money into the conference that they lost their house having not made enough money from projected reservation sales. Many who have bought reservations still have not gotten their money back. Yes… Ouch.

That same year a huge and exciting conference was planned on the famously haunted RMS Queen Mary in California. They were going to have hundreds of people attend, dozens of famous ghost hunters and special events like investigations of the ship’s more infamous ghost stories. They planned on using money from a documentary of the ship’s ghosts to help pay for the conference. Their contract stipulated that they had to rent the entire ship. Too bad the Queen Mary said they couldn’t film there. The proceeds might have saved them from going into debt and having to cancel their conference.

In 2004 the Maryland Paranormal Investigators Coalition headed by yours truly decided they would have their own conference in Baltimore. We had some truly great speakers like Troy Taylor, Rosemary Ellen Guiley and Mark Nesbitt among others. Only 75 out of a planned two hundred-person conference bought reservations. I personally lost about one thousand dollars that year. We thought we were doing it right. We researched and planned and asked for advice from other conference planners. Perhaps we should have listened. Most conference planners said don’t do it!

Since 2004 we have done two additional significantly more successful conferences for the Maryland Paranormal Investigators Coalition. Each one was called the Eastern Regional Paranormal Conference and each one about doubled the previous year’s attendance. Not all planners are so lucky. Even if you have a great conference your first year doesn’t mean you will be so lucky the next year. We had other issues as well, of course. We couldn’t help but notice that we were so busy planning conferences three months out of the year we were neglecting our duties as paranormal investigators and subsequently creating a backlog of investigations that needed to be done. Also the stress of the conference caused all sorts of conflicts among our inner circle. Suffice it to say, 2006 was the last of the Eastern Regional Paranormal Conferences. Life goes on for us as we focus on our goals to advance research into ghosts and hauntings.

In the past few years the country has become saturated with ghost conferences. Just Google “ghost conference” and you’ll see what I mean. Are you willing to take the risk we did and those poor (now literally!) souls from California and Williamsburg? You may find your conference lost in a teeming sea of conferences or worse you my find yourself in bankruptcy court. Author and ghost hunter Troy Taylor had this to say about ghost conferences, “It’s kind of like a Little Rascals mentality. Remember the old ‘Our Gang’ serials? ‘Let’s put on a show,’ they’d say. That’s what a lot of these groups are doing. They’re saying, ‘let’s put on show and everyone will come and spend lots of money! It’ll be easy!’ Well, it’s not east and you can get yourself in a lot of trouble.” Trust me fellow ghost hunters, there are better, safer ways…

The Better, Safer Ways…

So the questions at hand is, “how do I raise money for my ghost hunting group honestly and without putting my family out on the street?” There are several ways actually.

Dues

This is the simplest, easiest way to earn money for your ghost hunting gear, film development, and gas for the Mystery Machine. However, careful consideration should be made as to how dues are collected and how often. Your team should have regular, monthly meetings. These meetings can take place in a home, park, library, restaurant, etc. Your group, preferably, should have some kind of regular traditions and/or practices. Reciting your team’s mission statement at the beginning of each monthly meeting creates a strong sense of purpose and dedication amongst the team members. For example, the Maryland Paranormal Investigators Coalition has the following mission statement:

Our mission statement:

• To provide leadership in Maryland through the application of scientific research of the paranormal.
• To provide education, assistance, and resources to new and existing paranormal organizations, the public and the media.
• To foster and create new paranormal organizations throughout Maryland.

An independent Treasurer should be assigned who will make monthly reports on the amount of funds in the team account. This person will also be responsible for collecting the dues. As far as how much dues are? This is up to the budgets of your average team member. I recommend no more than $10 per member per month. Dues can also and should also be collected on a per investigation basis. Try to calculate how much it will cost for gasoline per vehicle (carpool if possible!), how much film development will be, how much new audio tapes will cost, etc. Then, at the end of the investigation collect divided total from each investigator (Example: Film, gas, tapes = $30. Six Investigators = $5 per person).

Fundraisers

This one is not so easy. If you already have a full-time job you’re probably not going to like this one. Fundraising requires real hard work. You are pretty much limited to bake sales, car washes, candy bar sales, etc. You will have to go to your co-workers to hock your stuff.

“So… What are you selling the Christmas wrapping paper for? Your kid’s school? Band?”

“Uh… Actually it’s for our ghost hunting team. Do you like peanut brittle? It comes in a decorative can…”

The other negative of course is you usually have to sell a lot to get a little.

Tours

The best ghost tours in Gettysburg are Mark Nesbitt’s Ghosts of Gettysburg based on his best selling award-winning Ghosts of Gettysburg book series. Many of the most famous (or at least very well known) ghost hunters in the country do ghost tours. There’s Troy Taylor in Illinois, Dale Kaczmarek and even myself from time-to-time. Starting your own ghost tour has many advantages besides making money from something that you enjoy doing.

There are many ghost tours out there that are not exactly accurate in either history of ghost tales. In my own hometown of Baltimore there is a ghost tour in Fells Point that is horribly inaccurate in its telling of Edgar Allan Poe legend and lore. Know your history first before planning your ghost tour! Years, names, and dates always impress your customers. Look for the bloody, gory and grisly murder stories too. They’re always popular!

Only report eyewitness accounts of ghosts if you can. Documented cases are even better. There is a famous B&B in Gettysburg that rhymes with “barn’s girth” that has many exaggerated stories associated with. Exaggerated is a nice way of saying made up. People (especially ghost hunters) will try to prove you wrong. Best to keep honest. For more information on starting your own ghost walk/tour read Troy Taylor’s Ghost Hunter’s Guidebook for a whole chapter on the subject.

Workshops

This is where we separate the kids from the adults. Well-planned workshops can serve your group well in many ways besides earning spending money. They can also help you find only the most dedicated investigators to work with your team.

First of all, you want to make sure your core group is well on its way to being established. I recommend that you don’t try doing workshops until you are at least a year old having done multiple investigations. Also, it would be good if you are well read in the latest techniques and perhaps have attended some other workshops or a well-established conference.

Although they can be done practically anywhere, an indoor location is best for your workshop. Scope out the your town for a place that is willing to host a group of ghost hunters. The best possible place of course is somewhere known to be haunted. Look at libraries, dance halls, theatres, bookstores, and restaurants. Restaurants with private rooms work well. Tell them that if they let you have your workshop there for a few hours you will encourage your team of would-be investigators to eat there as well.

Privacy is a factor to consider as well. If you are conducting mock investigations and/or hosting a course on the proper use of EMF meters snickering patrons who don’t appreciate your line of work can be very distracting.

Although establishing a regular place to have workshops is important, sometimes a change of pace is nice too. Every once in awhile have your workshop at a haunted fort or cemetery (with the permission of management of course).

Once you have established a location you should try to have one on a regular basis. At least once a month is perfect. It is essential to establish regularity if you are going to have the public ascertain your team as professional and reliable. Each month should focus on a different aspect of ghost hunting. Topics can include “Ghost Hunting Technology,” “Spirit Photography How-to’s,” etc.

Now it’s time to establish price. A well-run workshop should be no more than $10. This is a fair amount to charge individuals. If the location you are having the workshop has a mandatory entrance fee than you can talk about upping the price.

A good way of getting better attendance would be to have local authors and well known ghost hunters. I myself will gladly help out as long you are within four hours of Baltimore and don’t mind me bringing along some copies of Ghost Tech and Ghost Science (hint, hint). At any of the workshops I do in and around Baltimore (including Gettysburg, Fredericksburg, Virginia, Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, etc.) you may see Jeff Belanger, Mark Nesbitt or any number of popular authors and ghost hunters in the Mid-Atlantic area.

Whatever combinations of fund raising you decide to, I really hope you do it honestly. You will definitely get my respect for it.

If you have any other, honorable, ways to raise funds for ghost hunting groups other than what I have mentioned in this article, please tell me about it in an email. Write me at vince@ghosttech.net.

There’s nothing scary about hd satellite receivers and satellite system tv dishes anymore, now that you can install satellite dish through InternetLion.com, and enjoy the best satellite television around!

Often times I am criticized for writing, well, just about anything going against the status-quo. My team, BSPR, has been around since 1999. The Paranormal Investigators Coalition has been around since 2002. I have been doing this for more than ten years. I learned from people like Dale Kaczmarek who have been researching ghosts and hauntings for more than 30 years. Still, I continue to refine my beliefs and practices. When I started ghost hunting years before BSPR existed, I read everything I could and researched authors/investigators like Troy Taylor, Loyd Auerbach, and Dr. Barry Taff. Today, we are friends and colleagues in our never ending search for the truth.

After nearly a year of forming BSPR, even after self-training with friends, we believed wholeheartedly that orbs were always ghosts and our breath in the winter was specters from the “otherside”. Now I almost always discount orbs and have a three second “hold your breath rule” for photographing in the cold. I am ever evolving in my practices and have become very critical of the operations of paranormal investigative groups across the country.

Turning off the lights and turning on delusions.

The dark plays tricks on your eyes. Okay, I’m done. Alright, maybe I should elaborate a little.

Closed-eye hallucinations and closed-eye visualizations (CEV) are a distinct class of hallucination. These types of hallucinations normally only occur when your eyes are closed or when you are in a darkened room. They are a form of phosphene. One form is thermo-receptive noise. You actually “see it” all the time. It is always in front of you. When you close your eyes, it becomes more obvious. Sometimes in a bright room, you see a reddish hue from the blood vessels in you eye lids. It is the TV static like movement you see when your eyes are shut tight.

We also cannot discount paradolia. Paradolia is the tendency to see human-like features in non-descript patterns (like seeing Elvis on your toast!). In dark rooms, you will see heads, legs, arms, and even faces. Your brain will trick you into thinking there are shadowy figures in the darkness. Make sure when you are looking for “shadow people”, there are other witnesses seeing the same thing. This is sometimes mistakenly referred to as “matrixing”.

Of course, you can never discount the power of suggestion and self-delusion. You spent $100+ to go to the Waverly Sanatorium and dammit, you want to see a ghost! Common sense tells you that with lights out, the darkness will play tricks on your eyes. Only in Scooby-Doo cartoons does someone saying, “It’s just the dark playing tricks on your eyes…” a foreboding statement of things to come. But people will ignore common sense for the thrill of the “haunt”. Not long ago, a team consisting of myself, Ron Peacock, Russ Noratel, Beth Ford, and John Wisniewski were investigating the Moundsville West Virginia State Penitentiary with some fellow ghost hunters. When we would turn the lights on, a “guest” kept complaining about our desire to get better, high-definition pictures. Always remember, the most well known ghost photographs were taken during brightly lit situations! They happened in broad daylight during midday, late afternoon. Why taint your evidence with crappy photos?

Conclusion: Lights out is for TV drama, not serious paranormal investigating!

The trouble with IR

Paranormal investigators love Sony Handycams! They are reliable, come from a notable manufacturer, and have lots of cool bells and whistles. One such “whistle” is the Sony NightShot. NightShot uses a form of night vision technology to see in low-light conditions. Night-vision devices (NVD) enhance available light. Without a projected infrared light or some light source such as moonlight or starlight, NVDs will not be able to function. They can only see in low-light environments, not zero-light environments, which is fine. The NVD in your video camera takes in light (photons) and converts the photons into electrons. The electrons are then sent into an image intensifier tube where more electrons are released, magnifying the
image intensity by several times. The electrons then hit a phosphorous plate that converts them back into photons of light and onto the CCD. NVD images appear green when displayed due to the phosphorus plate.

There is a major flaw with NVD cameras: they need to project a beam of infrared light that is reflected off nearby objects in order to work. Worse still is the fact that the IR emitter is less than two inches below or to the side of the camera. Anything flying (i.e. insects) or floating (dust) will appear on the tape as luminescent orbs. This may be okay for orb-a-philiacs (those who love orbs) who don’t care for science and any orb is a paranormal one. For a scientifically minded researcher, this is unacceptable. Caution must be used when utilizing this feature. If you are videotaping an area that has light in it already, do not use IR, use the lamp. If you are filming outdoors at night, be mindful of insects.

You must also be careful when using IR emitting devices when taping. Cameras that have auto-focus use an IR beam to calculate the distance to the nearest object. This beam can be seen as a spot projected onto the wall or any object in its way. TV remotes and handheld computers also emit IR beams. As of recent, I admit I have become a bit anti-night-vision. Before I tell you why, first let me ask you a question: Why would a company like Sony develop a product that allows people to see in the dark? Essentially they are selling spy cameras! Now, this may come in handy for private detectives on a budget, hunters wanting to record their nighttime exploits, or jealous husbands/wives. However, the marketing for these devices is clearly aimed at the general public. Here’s a little trivia for you – did you know that the first generation night-shot camera developed by Sony could see through synthetic clothing like bikinis? It’s true! After doing some… um, “research” on the Internet, I found you can still find some of these voyeuristic images on the net. Is it possible that the developers were perverts? Who can say? I have never interviewed the developers.

The x-ray ability of the night-shot cameras has since been removed. The main reason I am anti-night-vision is not because of why it was developed for the public, but what you actually get from this technology. When you use most modern high-tech video cameras you get the following:

• High definition video
• 30 to 60 frames per second
• 16 million colors or more

What do you get with the same modern camera when you switch to night-shot?

• 15 frames per second or less (even worse when set to super or enhanced night-shot mode)
• Blurry, fuzzy, low definition video
• I hope you like green!

So, why are we so hooked on night-shot when we get crappy video from
watching it?

A couple of years ago, a colleague of mine showed a video at a conference that was taken in a well known haunted prison in West Virginia. It seemed to show an unaccounted for human-like figure swaying back and forth in the lower level of the prison. The video became a huge hit in paranormal circles and was featured on several TV programs. Nevertheless, I couldn’t help but wonder how well the video would have looked if they had turned on the lights. There is no evidence to suggest that ghosts are seen more often with night-vision than with the lights on. Don’t tell me that ghosts are affected by light – IR is light, it’s just infrared light. If you are going to tell me that it’s a different wavelength of the electromagnetic spectrum, fine. Now prove it makes a difference. All
these videos that pop up in infrared could have been better –maybe. If you think that green, fuzzy videos are going to prove the existence of ghosts, you are fooling yourself. Don’t forget the fact they are great for orbs on video!

I will repeat my opinion on orbs and apply it to IR video: I think that 99.999% of all orbs in night-shot videos are just air particles. Yes, even the ones that “move really fast” and “change direction suddenly”. You think that because the orb in your video changes direction suddenly at a sharp angle, it makes it paranormal? Sorry, but no. I have heard investigators get very upset at the idea that their video did not have anything paranormal on it. “But we checked for any sources of moving air! Look how it changes direction!” So, what is the theory here? Mini-phantom orb pilots? Living (for lack of better term) 1” balls of light?

Any meteorologist will tell you that air moves. Air is moving at all times and lots of things can move it. If you are outdoors, I shouldn’t even have to explain why you can toss out your IR orb video. Bugs and millions of little air eddies are all over the place. In the colder months and even on low wind days, there is still air movement. You are dealing with microscopic particles. The slightest breeze can affect these tiny little bits of matter. In a house, walking downstairs will move air that can effect, although very slightly, air movement in other parts of the house. Cold air moving into warmer areas will move the air. Cold air is denser than warm air. Hot water pipes in the walls will warm that spot lightly and cause air to move. Vents and drafts obviously must be taken into consideration. Cold temperatures outside will affect air near windows and doors. Even your breath can cause dust to move at very sharp angles. Once again – get off orbs! Focus on human-like figures.

Conclusion: Nite-Vision is for pervs and TV drama, not serious paranormal investigating! At the very least, don’t use it as your main video source.

The psychology of ghost hunters

I am not sure how every person thinks about certain aspects of paranormal investigating when it comes to those who choose to partake in it. But I do know that some people don’t take it as seriously as I and some of my colleagues do. That’s fine–as long as you don’t claim otherwise. If you think turning lights out or orbs are ghosts, make sure you define yourselves as hobbyists.

What I had done was to take a simple temperature probe from any Wal-Mart or online electronics store (pictured-lower right) with an indoor/outdoor hookup and use that for my cold-spot detector. I would take the cord and attach that to a 2 1/2 foot wooden rod with electric tape so that the probe was at the very end of the rod’s tip. With this setup I can easily gauge the base temperatures of any given area. However, these type of probes are very, v e  r   y   ssslooooowwww. A small bedroom might take 20 minutes or more to survey!

That is why we fell in love with the Mel-Meter! Although the thermocoupler thermometer attachment was only 2 inches long, it was very fast and accurate. If only there was a way to combine the best properties of both!

Combining the Best Properties of Both

Now you can combine the best properties of both! At www.pro-measure.com, the company that manufacturers the Mel-Meter, you can order a replacement cord attachment that extends your thermal-coupler probe more than three feet! It replaces the 2 inch probe at the top of all the Mel-Meter models currently available. You can get the TP-01 / Type-K Bead Type Thermocouple (pictured-right) at this link: CLICK HERE!

By attatching the TP-01 to a wooden rod, you can drastically extend your reach and cover more ground faster without having to walk right into the cold spot!

The ELF-Zone Meter

The K-II EMF Meter

Too sensitive?

A little help from E. A. Poe

How some ghost hunters use the K-II

In conclusion…