Why investigating paranormal activities can be fun Part 2

This article was found on http://www.helium.com

It was written by Tom Stewart

Created on: November 06, 2009 Last Updated: November 07, 2009

Investigating the paranormal can have some aspects of fun. Some of the more exciting parts would include exploring the history of interesting places in your area, the friendships and closeness you develop with your fellow investigators, and of course there is the actual discovery of paranormal activities. But if you ask any experienced paranormal investigator, you'll likely be told that investigating the paranormal is usually a boring and tedious activity and not nearly as fun as the television shows make it appear.

If you're someone who loves doing research and learning about history then you will find this area of paranormal investigation exciting. But for most people, spending hours upon hours researching old books and newspapers in libraries and searching through property histories and ancestry records can be quite boring. But it is an essential part of paranormal investigation for many reasons. Before you can go into a reportedly haunted location you must first have an idea of what you might be dealing with. You must first uncover the history of the location and learn of any activities, tragedies, or deaths that may have occurred there. Sometimes the discovery of this information can be exciting, like a thrilling book based on a true story. But other times it can be mundane and uninteresting. Another necessary part of research is to find out the condition of the property and whether it is safe to enter; another important aspect of paranormal investigation.

Safety is your number one concern when being a paranormal investigator. And safety usually means - boring. It is unwise to just sneak into a cemetery or abandoned building without first considering your safety. First and foremost you should never enter a place without permission. Checking with the owners of a property will not only prevent you from getting into trouble for trespassing but will also help you be informed as to how safe an area is. As it turns out, spirits and ghosts cannot hurt you. Only you can hurt you. So you need to know if the areas you're entering are safe for walking, breathing, and investigating. Some of the information you need to know to be safe is: Are the floors and stairs are safe to walk on? Is there is any dangerous asbestos or dust particles in the building that you might unknowingly inhale? If investigating outdoors you need to know if there are any dangerous animals in the vicinity, or even worse, any dangerous humans who might be lurking and looking to cause trouble.

You should also never investigate alone. By working with two or more teammates you can watch out for each other and help each other if anything dangerous should happen. It will of course be more fun if you are working with someone who is a friend as you try to discover the unknown. But some other safety precautions you should take into consideration are making sure you tell someone where you are going and how you long you plan to be there. And make sure you have the proper equipment and that it is in working condition.

Another not so fun part of paranormal investigation is the equipment. Some of the more modern instruments used like K-II meters and infra-red cameras can be quite expensive. Of course your own five senses are the most important pieces of equipment needed when investigating. But you should never go out into a dark location without basic equipment like flashlights and cameras. Before heading out you need to make sure that all of your equipment is working properly with fresh batteries. There's nothing worse than being caught in a dark location and your flashlight dies on you. Always bring extra batteries and be prepared to use them as it is believed that spirits will sometimes drain your batteries for the energy they need to manifest. Naturally, if you get hurt on your investigation it will most certainly not be fun. So be sure you dress properly as well. Where comfortable rugged shoes, long pants, long sleeves, and warm clothing if you are outside. Weather can play a big factor in your investigations, so be prepared for anything from cold to rain or even snow in some places. Also make sure you take into consideration things like insects, snakes, and spiders. These creatures thrive in the places you'll be exploring so be prepared to meet them up-close, and be dressed properly to avoid being bitten.

For the most part paranormal investigation requires a scientific approach for the best chance at success. It involves setting up lots of equipment like cameras, microphones, computers, and hundreds of feet of cable in most cases. It can take several hours to set up everything before beginning an investigation. This is why it's a good idea to have a team of investigators with you, and to know what you're doing. Once you have finally set up all of your surveillance equipment, you can then begin to explore some areas on a personal level. This is where most investigators will begin conducting Electronic Magnetic Field (EMF) sweeps to help better find areas of distortion and possible locations for paranormal activity. It is also another long and boring procedure. Once this has been completed most investigators will choose a logical location to do what is called an Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) session. This usually involves an hour or more of sitting in the dark talking to spirits that you aren't sure are there or even exist. You'll continue to ask questions hoping that you will receive some sort of audible response on your digital voice recorder or handheld video camera. Contradictory to the television shows, it's very rare that you'll record a response on your recorder, but when it does happen it is very exciting.

The most boring part, but best chance for excitement, is during your evidence review. After you have conducted an extensive investigation of a haunted location you must then spend hours upon hours reviewing the audio, video, and photographic evidence you have gathered. You can't take any shortcuts during this procedure or you might miss some of the most compelling evidence of your investigation. So if you recorded 6 hours of video, you must sit and intently watch all 6 hours of this video. And the same goes for the hundreds of photographs taken and hours of audio recorded. However, for the most part this is where the fun part begins. Occasionally you will catch some strange voices or unexpected sounds on the audio. Even more rare but not unlikely you might see something strange on your videos. When this does happen it is very exciting because it's quite possible you found evidence of a spirit making contact.

There will also be some very rare occasions that while investigation you'll witness an object move, a door close, or even be touched. But again it is very, very rare and for some it's more frightening than fun. People, who try to become paranormal investigators, because it looks like a thrill on TV, are quickly disappointed with how boring and unexciting it really is. The television shows do portray it as being exciting and thrilling, but they usually leave out the boring parts like the historic research, the safety precautions, the equipment maintenance and set-up, the hours spent talking to the dark, and the many hours of evidence review. Television shows are looking to entertain the viewer and earn ratings. So they cleverly edit out the mostly boring parts. And in some cases they actually embellish or, dare I say, manufacture evidence which is considered paranormal when, if they had shown the whole story, would easily be seen as something normal. So if you are prepared to endure the many boring hours involved in paranormal investigation, then you may just get lucky and capture proof of a ghost or spirit, and that truly is the most fun part.