How we go about investigating -- from initial contact, research and physical investigation to evidence review and presentation.
1.
We do not charge for investigations. Beware of anyone or any group that
wants to charge you. Some groups may request a gas reimbursement if they had to
make a long drive, but most groups will not charge you, and if they do,
we advise you to seek help elsewhere.
2. We are not "certified ghost hunters". This is not a proven science and there are no experts. Certification is a scam to get
money from beginners. Most reputable groups will teach you everything you want to know for FREE if you just ask. Any group charging people to be
"certified" as a paranormal investigator is not credible at all. Likewise, anyone claiming to be "certified" or an "expert" is either very naive or they're just trying to get you to go to them over other groups.
3. There are many good groups out there for you to choose from, but
there are some not-so-good ones too. Due to the immense popularity of
TV shows like Ghost Hunters,
there are new groups constantly coming out of the woodwork only to
disappear within 1-3 years never to be heard from again. Many of these
groups have no other experience besides watching these shows. This is
not to say that just because a group is new you should stay away from
them. Everybody has to start somewhere. I've been blown away by people
who are younger than I am and new to the field.......and I've also seen
people who've been doing this longer than I have act completely
unprofessional. Do your research before contacting a group. If a group has pictures
of "dust orbs" and long exposures on their website, or if they have flaming
skulls and blood dripping on their front page, we would suggest looking for
another group.
4. A typical investigation begins with a phone call or email.
5.
After we decide that a case will be looked into, we will make a
preliminary visit to your site. At this time we will
interview you, and the interview will be recorded. We may also want to
interview anyone else at your site who has experienced an unexplained
event related to your possible haunting.
6. During the
preliminary visit we will also conduct a walkthrough. We will take base
EMF and temperature readings, and look for anything that might
naturally explain what is going on.
7. We will then set up a date with you to
come back for the investigation. We will do the investigation at your
convenience day or night, but for best results we would prefer to do it
when the most activity is reported. Investigations do NOT have to be done at night. This was started by some of the early mediums who were frauds and were trying to trick people, and since then it has just stuck. Some TV shows do it for the spook factor. Depending on the size of your
investigation, we may be there a minimum of three hours or as long as an
entire evening (or more). The length of our stay is pre-arranged with
you.
8. Before your investigation, we will gather whatever historical data about your site that is available.
9. We approach investigations scientifically, which means we
don't use psychics or run on "feelings", and we try to correlate any
data or personal experiences with other data. We do not simply show up with
cameras and voice recorders and call that "science". If, for example,
you report a shaking bed we will check the bed, the floor, nearby windows, etc.
We will then hypothesize what could
make the bed shake. We will try out
various hypothesis, record it on video and note the results. If we can
find a
natural explanation, we will present it to you (and sometimes
demonstrate). If
the rest of the investigation yields no "paranormal" events then we
will conclude that there are a number of naturally occurring factors
combining
to create a false haunting. If we cannot come up with a natural
explanation, we
file it under "unexplainable". At the end of the investigation, if we
have a large amount of unexplainable events, along with audio/video
evidence we lean towards paranormal.
10.
We will set up equipment around areas where activity is reported. We
use video cameras, digital cameras, voice recorders, EMF meters,
temperature readers, and motion sensors. When we record for EVPs we
always have two voice recorders running at
the same time so we can cross reference, and we have a video camera
recording us with everybody sitting so they're in frame and facing the
camera. We begin every investigation by allowing a half an hour of
controlled
silence so that we can document the regular sounds the building makes,
then when we're ready to start recording we sit together and have
everyone identify themselves into the recorder. If anyone makes a sound
or hears something that could later be mistaken as an EVP, we say "that
was a stomach" or "that was me shifting" into the recorder. When we get
an unusual EMF spike or temperature fluctuation, we look for where it's
coming from. We try to eliminate all the possibilities, and if we can't
find the source we don't jump to conclusions, we just make a note of
it. We also do not present orbs or mists as evidence and we are
familiar with the different kinds of camera defects.
11. We will not touch any of your personal things or go anywhere you do not want us to go.
12.
Please
only have one or two people there including yourself or your
representative. Do not invite your friends or neighbors to observe us
as there really is nothing to see, and if there are extra people it
tends to get in the way. If there are too many unnecessary people or
distractions, it makes it impossible to do a proper investigation and
we may pack up and leave early.
13. Please do not have any children present as paranormal investigations may frighten them or they may get in the way.
14. Please no smoking during the investigation.
15.
We will ask that you turn off cell phones and not have any radios or TVs on during the investigation.
16. If there is any taking of illegal substances during our investigation, we will pack up and leave the premises immediately.
17.
If we find evidence of a hoax, tricks or a prank, we will leave
immediately and will not even mention your site as something we
investigated.
18. After your investigation, over the course of
the next several days we will analyze our data and go over and compare
video and audio recordings. We will get back to you usually within
about two weeks and set up a date for us to come back to do a review.
We will give you a written report and a CD containing copies of any
findings.
19. If you (the client) are having
us investigate your property so that you can promote it as being
"haunted", we are *not* going to state that it is haunted when we feel
it is not. We are in this field because we care about honest paranormal
research, not because we want to help promote a business. If we feel a
place is haunted, we will say so. If we feel a place is NOT haunted, we
will also say so.
20. Often one visit isn't enough to make a final conclusion, and we may request one or more follow up visits.
21. We do not do "cleansings". If you decide you think you want a cleansing, we will help you find someone.
22.
We
can keep the investigation anonymous or just semi anonymous (we will
leave out your name, address, and anything that could link it to you).
Your choice. Any
results that are posted on our website are there with the client's
permission.
If
you are interested in having a paranormal investigation conducted at
your site, please visit our contact page. We look forward to hearing
from you!
Copyright � 2007 Midwest Preternatural Research. All Rights Reserved.