Protecting yourself from paranormal predators

This article is from the www.examiner.com

August 22, 2:20 PM by Cheri Esperon

It is sad to report that paranormal investigators are causing harm to each other. In this field we need to worry about protecting ourselves from evil spirits, crazy clients, and the possible bad person lurking in an old building. It is unfortunate but now ghost hunters have a new threat to worry about, each other. Con artists, thieves, and bullies have entered the paranormal field to prey on those who have open hearts and minds. How do we protect ourselves from these bullies and criminals? By using the common sense, problem solving skills and logic we use nightly in our ghost hunts. Here are a few tips, some learned the hard way:

1. Always pay by credit card for any events. Most credit card companies offer fraud protection. If yours doesn’t and you aren’t in the position to switch companies, get a paypal account, they offer buyer protection.
2. Make sure you have insurance on all your gear. Contact your homeowners or renter’s insurance company. In most cases the cost of a special policy to cover your gear will be less than $50 a year.
3. Protect yourself and your equipment. Never leave it unattended, always make sure there are enough team members at an event to guard your gear.
4. Place permanent marks on all your equipment. Use an engraving pen or other means to permanently mark your equipment. Keep a list of all serial numbers, along with photographs, accurate descriptions and receipts if you have them. This will help to identify and recover your property.
5. Invest in a locking system. If you have gear stored somewhere, lock it like you would your bike. This won’t eliminate the possibility of theft, but will at least slow them down. If you gear bag is locked to your table at a convention, they won’t be able to quickly and quietly slip off with it.
6. Do your research. Check out sites like Rip Off Report or Complaints.com ask your social networking friends, or just do some Googling. Then use your analytical skills to determine what are valid complaints and what are the result of sour grapes or pettiness.
7. Stay under the radar, let your good actions speak for themselves. If you start picking paranormal fights, you can be assured someone bigger, better and meaner may jump on you. If you do find yourself the victim of this pettiness, don’t fuel the fire. Let it slip away. These bullies get bored quickly if they can’t engage you in a pissing contest and will soon be off on the search of new victims.

Enter into a paranormal relationship like you would any other relationship. Always give respect freely, but let trust be earned. Go with your gut instincts. Remember that your first priority is always the safety and well-being of your team. Be honest, explain to potential paranormal friends that you are gun-shy because of recent events and although you doubt they would harm you, you just need to protect yourself. If they have pure intentions, they will appreciate your candor and respect your decisions.

RELATED POST: When paranormal investigators harm each other

Summerwind Mansion - Part 2

This article is from the www.examiner.com

April 19, 1:06 PM by Kathie Kessler

Summerwind – Part 2

After learning her father was buying Summerwind as a business venture, Ginger finally broke down and told him the experiences she and her family had while they lived there. Her father, Raymond Bober, didn't believe in such nonsense and went ahead with his plans.

It wasn't long before the same strange phenomenon began to happen all over again. Contractors would draw up blueprints, only to find the rooms dimensions would differ from one day to another. Even photographs taken within seconds of each other would show the rooms to look different, again some even showing furniture that had long been removed. Workman's tools would go missing, they would hear voices and some refused to work there at all.

After Raymond Bober experienced some of the same supernatural occurrences, along with a number of other conventional problems, he let the property once again revert back to Mrs. Keefer in 1979, who sold the ruins of the house and property in the 80's to come investors, until it was purchased by a Canadian family who also reported the same haunting events. In June of 1988 Summerwind was struck by lightning and burned to the ground. Only the foundation, chimneys and steps remained.

What was the cause of the haunting? According to Mr. Bober, who published the book “The Carver Effect” the person haunting the property was Johnathan Carver, an American explorer who died in 1780. He said he was “contacted” by Carver who said he had been given the land as a gift after settling a dispute between two fighting Sioux Indian tribes that almost lead to war. The deed was supposedly buried somewhere on the property or in the foundation of Summerwind. Apparently he would haunt anyone who lived there until the deed was found.

No deed has ever been found. In 1983, Herb Dickman one of the original workers who laid the foundation for Summerwind in 1916 was contacted and said he remembered no objects being placed in the foundation.

In November of 2005, the Discovery Channel did “A Haunting” episode on Summerwind Mansion. You can also read the rest of the story in “The Carver Effect” written in 1979 by Raymond Bober under the pseudonym Wolffgang Von Bober.

You can view photographs of Summerwind at their website promoting “The Carver Effect” book.

See Part 1 of this story by clicking Part 1

“Evidence” of the Paranormal and Ghosts

This article comes from Ghost Hunting Guide

by Bobby Elgee, Sights Unseen Paranormal

Ghost hunting is not a science. Out of all the individuals and/or groups of ghost hunters in existence, very, very few actually have any experience with the scientific method or have any experience actually conducting experimental research.

Still, many groups will tell you that they have photos and audio of what are spirits; evidence of ghosts. As far as I am aware, there is no scientific evidence of the existence of ghosts or an afterlife. That is a question of faith at this point in time. If somebody knows something I don’t, please let me know!

As the member of a group whose members actually have some background conducting scientific research, I realize that ghost hunting doesn’t lend itself to a well-controlled scientific experiment. The methodologies are weak, the equipment used was never originally designed to detect ghosts, and it is nearly impossible to replicate the results.

Even more perturbing is the fact that certain groups are damaging the credibility of legitimate and accomplished paranormal researchers and parapsychologists by posting photographs that are easily dismissed as well-known and easily identifiable camera malfunctions and other artifacts of the photographic process.

Capturing a photograph of an orb or strange mist is just that. A photograph of a strange orb or mist. Competent paranormal investigators will attempt to rule out the anomaly….is it a reflection? Is it a bug? Is it dust? Is it condensation on the lens of the camera? Is it a problem with the developing and/or printing process? The logical possibilities are nearly endless, and yet, certain people will make a claim that “it’s a spirit orb,” or that the mist is representative of “the paranormal energy of the ghost that haunts the” location.

We try and look at our “evidence” with a critical eye, and include the use of accomplished photo consultants in an attempt to rule out all rational explanations. What we can’t explain means simply that, we can’t explain it. If we’ve done a good job ruling out everything, we may just be left with something paranormal.

Remember that the word ‘paranormal’ simply means ‘not scientifically explainable.’

That’s it. To take the next step and call a possibly paranormal photograph a picture of a ghost is a leap of faith that I, personally, can’t swallow. A person can certainly make that statement, but at that point it becomes an opinion, a statement based on belief and faith. I mean, it just as well could be a picture of a 1957 Chevy or Fred Flintstone. At that point, I can choose what I believe. There’s simply no evidence backing it up.

Our group members have varying beliefs. There is one thing we all agree with however….we’re never going to call a picture of a camera strap a “vortex through which spirits can enter our material realm” or a photograph of an orb “a spirit orb which shows a ghost trying to manifest itself.”

This is simply too big a stretch of illogical rationalization in our minds.

I’ve been a member of a group where, to be a member, you had to believe in ghosts! We’ve also had members in this group to whom every cold draft, every sound, and every strange photograph was a ghost, regardless of whether the phenomena was debunked or not.

We like to have fun, and our belief’s evolve everyday, but we feel that we have to be careful and measured in our response to what we call ‘evidence.’ 99% of the pictures we post on our Web site don’t contain anything paranormal. Capturing actual paranormal activity in photographs is quite rare. Also, the majority of EVPs can be debunked or certainly explained away by skeptics as something other then the voices of dead people. We post things of interest and for entertainment, but you won’t catch us calling something a ghost. To be quite honest, there are only two or three pieces of “evidence” I have captured over the years that I can say with near certainty are paranormal–unexplainable by conventional science.

As far as myself, I can definitely say I’ve experienced paranormal phenomena, phenomena that is unexplainable by science. As to what caused this phenomena, well, I can’t say. It’s simply unexplainable in my mind.
This is a hobby for us, and we like to have fun with it, and we don’t take ourselves too seriously, but, at the same point, however, in the spirit of transparency, we feel we have an obligation to call a spade a spade.

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