Building And Choosing Your Paranormal Team

Picking and Building Our Paranormal Research Team

        First rule of ghost investigation on-site: Never go alone!  Not only is this for data purposes, but safety as well. If something should go wrong or you need assistance, a partner on site should always be within quick eyesight and Earshot of where you’re located. Aside from the obvious, another detail that will determine your team’s size will be how many people will be allowed to go to the site to perform the work. Even at larger spaces, for reason of insurance and safety, some sites will set a limit (or gently suggest one) and it’s important that you do not try to “sneak in” some extra bodies. Again, you’ve have an Agreement with the folks there and you want to keep any promises. Remember, “Bending” those promises may jeopardize your chances of returning to the site to continue your work. Next thing is, if you’re serious about this (and one should be… nota Bella: One should always take the study, the phenomena, and witness seriously, but never take themselves or their egos too seriously. It is a hobby and should be fun, but at the same time it’s a serious bit of work that if done with respect and professionalism, could be very rewarding, but a good giggle does take the edge off certain situations!).

       Where was I? If you’re serious, your team should be split into groups of at least two if Not more depending on the size of the site you’re looking into. This is because, should any of your team actually encounter something, it’s best to have an extra set of eyes to see whatever it is as opposed to a single witness. Aside from this in certain aspects of your equipment to rule out any issues, you should have a person to     “Witness” certain procedures. (We’ll cover those later on.) Next thing is teams always work better if it’s understood there is a team leader and that person takes control of folks at the site. (There is no “I” in “team,” but there is an “m” And and “e”!) The team leader should break the team into smaller groups (of at least two) and assign Locations and jobs.

        The leader should be aware of the people on his or her team’s strengths and weaknesses in determining these jobs and locations. For example, if there’s a “technophobe” on a team (someone who can’t cope with high-tech equipment), try to give him or her “pen-and-paper” job and act as a simple Witness. If they’re really bad, put them in charge of dispensing equipment. If there’s someone in the team that has admitted being very afraid of things, keep him or Her in well lit, less “frightening” locations when possible. The real problem is when you have one or more “goofballs” that are being a little too silly for the investigation’s own good. You know the ones. They start off with the old “Flashlight under the chin” gimmick going, “Oooo! I’m a scary ghost!” and you can see that they take this job about as serious as someone trying to scalp Carrot Top tickets. With folks like this I do one of two things.

        I put them in place that I know through Also, many psychics will, if allowed, lead a team on an on-site investigation unwittingly. Many of them, while walking about a site, will allude to certain spots or areas being active which can then make a team concentrate on them a little too much? Imagine (and this has happened to us) that a team of twelve is at a large site. Because the psychic has pointed at one spot as a “hot spot” for data collection, ten of your twelve people fixate on that spot and the majority of your equipment is swung over to it. Meanwhile, the two   “Dissenters” actually do have something incredible happen, but have no equipment, and only two of them are witnesses to it. You won’t be too happy, will you? When I have worked (successfully) with psychical investigators, I’ve tried to do the Following.

 1.) I’ve tried to keep as much history about the site away from the investigators to get their pure feelings without them being led by these notes.

2.) I’ve not told them where most of the activity has been reported. I let them tell me what they think.

3.) I let them “walk about” the place without the team as a whole to gather their ideas without sharing them with everyone to avoid “fixations” by the other team members.

4.) I ask them to write down rather than vocalize their findings and feelings.

         Even after all this, I ask them not to tell the team anything that might skew someone Else’s findings. Another important thing to remember when looking into psychical investigations is the “General public’s” view on this type of investigation. To be honest, psychics and sensitive’s have gotten a “bad rap”, with the average person who sees them all as being “store-front gypsies” or like those “1-900 psychics. ”It is for this reason too, that I avoid using a psychical investigator without making sure that the person who is allowing us to be there is completely comfortable with it. Now, before carrying on and before I get angry e-mails, it’s important that researchers or Investigator be able to “step outside” themselves and see the world through the eyes of the average person. If you’re lucky, in terms of psychics and sensitives, most people are Aware of maybe Sylvia Browne and possibly John Edwards… and this is still not the Majority of people out there. Most “normal” people don’t know a psychic from a hole in

         The wall, so their perceptions of what a “psychic” or “psychical investigation” is all about are a bit skewed. Hence, in the Ghosts and Hauntings Research Societies, “psychics” and “sensitive’s” is not a “front-line” tool within investigation, and when they are used we are very careful to try to use as many controls as possible. As a very important note as well, we (the GHRS) never charge for our work or information and therefore will not even consider working with a psychic that wants to or tries to charge either ourselves or a witness for their efforts. Next when looking at a site, try to avoid everyone in your team gathering together in one spot. You should get an idea of the layout and “landscape” of the place you’re heading to. This can be done with a map or floor plan.

       It’s best to assign “locations” to your teams and ask them to spend a little time in each area. Effectively, send one team to location A for About a half hour while another team is in location B for the same time. To ensure no one gets jittery about being stuck anywhere, it’s best to move people every half hour or so to a new location. So the first team, after a time, goes to location B and the second team goes to location A or the like. In some locations, such as Fort George at Niagara-on-the-Lake, during investigations, it’s not unusual to have up to seven teams looking into nine locations. Again, just keep everyone moving when you can. As above, anyone who shouldn’t be doing things, leave him or here in an “important” spot to keep that person out of trouble. It is important for the team leader to ensure this is the case as people tend to try and “Clump” in locations that are thought to be “hot spots” for activity. In doing this, other Things might go missed in another location. It’s vital that your team understands this. Now, human nature will inevitably take over and reaction and curiosity will get the better of some teams. If you’re at a site and a small team suddenly experiences something and shouts out, this will probably draw more than a few people to the area. It’s Impossible to control this, so I usually let the people who attracted the attention get out

What they feel they need to, give everyone a minute or two, and then send folks back to their assigned spots. So, you’ve figured out the best number of people. You’ve assembled a team. You’ve gotten your ideas on where to situate your team. Now on to equipment and uses.