Submitted by Holbrook PSI on
I have written before that some people think that everything is alien or everything is a ghost. “That is that!”… When there is something paranormal to them it is caused by the spirit world or there are people that see it as extraterrestrial. There are the total skeptics who say that there is nothing spiritual or paranormal or alien, just the delusions or hallucinations of a person who says they see something unexplainable. Yet when the “total skeptic” has something happen that is paranormal some will convert and some will deny that they have seen or experienced any thing at all. The denial of a skeptic to acknowledge something that their mind cannot logically explain can be frustrating to deal with. The same is for the person that is a believer that every thing is supernatural or everything is extraterrestrial.
Let’s take a look at the “total skeptic” who will not even acknowledge an event that they cannot explain first. Being a paranormal investigator I have ran into several of these folks, or should I say that they have sought me out to debunk me. It seems that many of these skeptics believe that it is their crusade to try to debunk investigators (not necessarily the evidence) with personal attacks or false rumors. Most investigators welcome skeptical looks at the evidence, but often the skeptic attacks by questioning the mental health status of the investigator because of his/her beliefs. They even question the intelligence of the investigators by twisting words or theories. The smart investigator will avoid these types of skeptics when they can, but sometimes there is no way to avoid them. These type of skeptics have a need to impose their beliefs or lack of beliefs on others, to try to show some sort of superiority that they think they have. In the times that I have had run-ins with this type of skeptic it was not fun. There is no way of showing this type of person anything that is paranormal because they do not have an open mind. Having an open mind to the paranormal balances skepticism so that the ability to accept there may be things that cannot be logically explained can be further pursued and evaluated for truth.
The “total believers” on the other hand, accept that anything that is paranormal is derived from the spirit-world or the extraterrestrial and this is not being open minded either. If you exclude the possibility of one or the other in a paranormal event then you are not looking at all possibilities. Now- don’t get me wrong here, there are certain situations that will only fit into one or the other like a UFO in the night sky or an apparition in a graveyard. Like I said at the start of this article, there was a question asked of me that started all this…
The question was asked about a situation that was occurring with the questioner’s husband. He is one who believes that everything paranormal is extraterrestrial and that he had been seeing a UFO for a while. He lives in an area that was Native American many years ago, and is not fully developed (still a lot of woods) around his house. His wife said that he took her outside to show her something that the extraterrestrials were doing to mess with him. He took a slingshot and used it to send a rock out into the woods. She said that she heard the rock hit a tree and then the ground. He told her to wait for a minute and after a minute or so a rock came out of the woods hitting the ground somewhere in front of them. This disturbed the lady … the event of a rock coming out of the woods under these conditions would disturb most people! At the time of the article I have yet to set up a time to investigate the “rock return” from the woods or some of the other events that are happening at the site. Some of the other events that are happening at the house are on the inside and from the description could be supernatural. I gleaned this from talking to the wife on several occasions in regards to what is happening at her house - I do have a total hypothesis about the events.
One of the first things that she said has been occurring was that her new-born was looking at something and acting like someone was there talking to her. Her husband would probably think that this was not a supernatural type of event. He thinks that the extraterrestrials are throwing the rocks back at him, so according to the wife he thinks everything that is happening is extraterrestrial based. He may be seeing UFO’s, I am not denying that, but most of the other paranormal events sound more supernatural than extraterrestrial. Part of my hypothesis on what is going on at the house is that it may be on sacred Native American land, some paranormal investigators believe that there is more paranormal activity on sacred sites. This activity includes more UFO and extraterrestrial activity and paranormal activity that would include nature spirits. I am hoping that when I meet with the husband that he will be able to break from his one-sided belief that everything is extraterrestrial related. When doing an investigation you have to respect the peoples beliefs at the site, even if you think it is one thing and they believe that it is something else.
When you are on an investigation, you will have to play the diplomat sometimes with the client because of their beliefs. When I talk about beliefs here I am not talking about UFO’s and supernatural, I am talking about good and evil or Angels and Demons. The religious or spiritual beliefs of the client shade the way they view the paranormal and this includes anything extraterrestrial and the supernatural. The beliefs of the client can be like the ones above that there is nothing extraterrestrial only supernatural. The only difference is that it will go a step or two more and include that everything supernatural is either good or evil. So to clarify what I am saying, the people that I am talking about believe that there are only good spirits and Angels, there is no evil or Demons. This can go the other way also, there are no ghost just Demons pretending to be a ghost. They will still call a paranormal investigator even if they believe that it is a Demon event and not a haunting. There are events that are related to a Demon that pretends to be a ghost, but these people only see Demons and nothing else including Angels. These people may believe in Angels but that they do not appear or have a tangible affect on their life, like a guardian Angel can. I will tell you what I believe, I believe that in the Universe (which includes us) that there is balance, this equates to good and evil, male and female and night and day. Like I said this the way I see the world and nature, balance, this includes everything including the paranormal. So like I said sometimes you have to play the diplomat when dealing with a client or anyone because your beliefs may not match their beliefs - BUT this doesn’t mean that you cannot help them. As an investigator you are not there to attack their beliefs or try to change their beliefs you are there to help them by finding out what is happening and a possible cause. To do this you will have to approach the client and the people that you talk with in the right manner.
No matter what your religious upbringing or beliefs when talking with a client as a investigator you will need to be as neutral as possible. This is being diplomatic, by asking the client general questions to gage the way they believe. This can be done in a questionnaire prior to the initial interview or given to the client at the time of the interview. In your questionnaire you can ask many questions that when asked in writing will not be as offensive as they would be if asked in person. With the answers you have from your questionnaire you will have what you need to know how to handle the client and their beliefs. With this you will also have a guide to how to clear their house, because with different religions there are different ways to clear an area.
In clearing an area or house what the client or occupant believes will have a big roll in what should be done or not done. I will not go into what to do in reference to a particular belief, it is enough to say that some things may work in all situations if there is a belief that it will work. But it is best to keep to the ways that the client believes in tact to deal with the situation. This may take some research or even to have the preacher or priest from the client’s church to get involved. This would be in an extreme case, it is something that the client would have to request and you may not be welcome to be there when the preacher or priest comes to the house. You should not be upset, you are the investigator and if the beliefs of the client need the clergy to fix the problem then you should respect this. This is all linked to how to keep your open mind when dealing with people that are a little less open-minded. I like to accept others’ beliefs if they work for them- in my acceptance I do not have to believe the same way but respect and not show any disapproval. This goes to all of the above, the total skeptic, the supernatural only and the extraterrestrial only and also all the different religions. In dealing with all the types of people that you will come across in paranormal investigations the key word is “diplomacy.”
You will deal with many different people when doing investigations, I like to say - the good the bad and the ugly (the title of one of my favorite Clint movies). If you notice my little analogy there are two that may be difficult and one that is easy, this includes the people that you will deal with as clients and the people that you meet on the street. The way the public will view you as a paranormal investigator and as a person will be directly connected to how you deal with the different people you come in contact with. This includes the true skeptics, the supernatural only, the extraterrestrials only and all the different religious beliefs that you will deal with. Respect their beliefs (even if their beliefs seem crazy to you) and be diplomatic when you talk with them so not to disrespect them or hurt your reputation.
Our job as paranormal investigators is to gather evidence, to prove or disprove and not to try and change a person’s belief or mind in regards to a paranormal event. Provide your results or findings in a professional manner and let the people that view it make up their own mind. Answer their questions when asked and explain yourself without walking on their beliefs and you will avoid problems, and won’t get baited by the total skeptic.