If you are thinking about trying some paranormal investigation I would like to impart some basic rules and tips to help get you started. First things first - what is the paranormal? Paranormal is defined as beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. When considering “what is beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding”, the first word that comes to mind is the supernatural. The supernatural is defined as that which is attributed to some force beyond scientific understanding or the laws of nature. There is that "beyond scientific understanding" again, and understanding and trying to gather scientific evidence is what a paranormal investigator will try to do.

Paranormal investigators will try to explain what is happening, why it may be happening and they will try to gather evidence to support their findings. The evidence could show that there is a natural or manmade explanation for the event or it could show that there is something supernatural happening. So, the general scope of what most paranormal investigators investigate is the base event which in most cases is a possible haunting or an event that appears as a possible haunting.

A haunting is a general term for a possible supernatural event that is occurring or has occurred in the past involving a ghost or spirit. This is not the only type of supernatural event, but it is the most common type of event that the general public will assume is happening. This is due to all the books and shows on hauntings and the ensuing investigations. Anytime something is not easily explained there is a jump to the conclusion that it must be a haunting. So if you are going to do paranormal investigations let’s look at the things you will need to consider.

The first thing that you need to discern before you start an investigation is the information that is given to you and who is giving the information. You need to be cautious in the world today and that includes dealings with people in all walks of life. It is advisable to compile a questionnaire to be answered by those concerned first. This questionnaire should include questions regarding the event and the person who is reporting to you that the event occurred. Some of the basic questions will include date, time, weather conditions and any thing that may be out of the ordinary that occurred that day. You will need ask who was there and their ages and if there is any mental health history among any of the witnesses. The questions regarding mental health issues may be difficult to ask but they are important in helping you to decide your course of action. This is not to say that people that have mental health issues will not experience the paranormal. Some people with these issues are just attempting to gain more attention and you will need to be cautious in your dealings with anyone that has any mental health issues.

The questionnaire will be used as a base of information for your interviews and who you will talk to and maybe who you will not to talk to, so you may want to make it a prerequisite before you do an investigation. Next, you will need to do a preliminary interview with the potential client first on the phone or in a public place before going to the site. All this is for your safety due to the fact that in the world today you always need to be cautious in dealing with people that you do not know. Your safety and the safety of your team should be your first consideration in deciding to take on an investigation. This includes the need to investigate the location and the possible client.

This may seem paranoid to some but based upon my Law Enforcement back- ground I have seen too many scams and people with psychological issues that caused or could have caused problems legally or physical. People may lie about having the right to be on the property to gain access to the property with criminal intent. So it is important to do some checking into the story and the story teller to keep from having any problems. If you think there maybe a problem with the site or the people you can always postpone or even decline the investigation. If everything checks out and you feel safe to conduct an investigation it is time to do the research.

Now that you have the story and have determined that it is safe for you and your team to conduct an investigation you will need to do some preliminary investigations. You will need to conduct interviews of anyone that the client says could be a witness to the event. In this stage of the investigation you will be gathering all the information you can from the witnesses and also from historic documents. Looking at the history of a place may give you insight into what type of event may be occurring.

You can find records of who has lived at the address at the library of the county of the address along with archives of the local newspaper. The local newspaper will have the obituaries and any articles of interest for the address or family. If this event is due to something that happened many years ago you may not be able to find any information in the library. If this is the case don’t be worried because if it was from a long time ago more people may know the story, so conduct more interviews. During your interviews take notes and if possible make a recording of the interview with a cassette or digital recorder and if you can video record the interview. Don’t be surprised if you get conflicting information during your interviews ranging from the different points of view and the different beliefs of the person interviewed. From your interviews and any information you have ascertained from your research you will start to make your determinations of what “type” of event you will be investigating.

You now have information to review to decide how you will handle your investigation and the first indications of what type of event you will be investigating. Is the event a haunting involving a ghost or an event dealing with a different type of entity? You will have to start making your determination. When you start to look into paranormal events you will need to be able to walk an enigmatic fine line… that of a skeptic and that of being an observer with an open mind. An event may or may not be paranormal so that is why you need to be a skeptic and not just believe that everything is automatically paranormal. You need to look for all the possible natural causes of the event and any contributing factors for the event.

On your questionnaire you will have the date and time of the event so that you can contact an Astrologer to see if there was any outstanding astrological events that were occurring during that time. Some astrological events seem to fuel some paranormal events so it will be worth your while to have this information. For example, if the event happened on a full moon or a void a course moon you may want to plan your onsite investigation during the next time the astrological event is happening. So now you will move on to plan your onsite investigations and the key word is investigations.

Your first trip to the site should be during the day and a few days before your primary investigation. You will take pictures and notes of the outside and the inside of the location along with measurements of the dimensions of the rooms. One thing you will look for are all the sources of EMF (electro magnetic field) that are man made so you can eliminate them prior to your main investigation. This will include the location of all power lines and possible lay lines outside the location and over or around the location. The pictures and information that you have will help you to plan how you want to proceed with the placement of recording devices and how to work your investigation. The pictures of the outside will also allow you, if you have any historic pictures of the site, see any changes that have been made to the location. Once you have collected all your data it is time to plan your investigation with your team and prepare for your onsite investigation.

Now that you are ready to go to the site you will pick the team that is most appropriate for the investigation and you will also decide which equipment you will need to conduct your investigation. You may be confronted with a lot of people who want to do investigations but who do not all have what is needed to conduct all types of investigations. Each person has their own special talents that you can draw upon in your investigations but you may not need every type of investigator on each investigation. You may not need five video camera operators or more that one person that is sensitive. In your consideration of who to take along with you the number of people that will effectively be able to function in the area is also important to consider.

Another consideration in picking your team is what the type of event you will be investigating. In your gathering of information you will get an idea of what type of entity you maybe dealing with so, if you are dealing with an evil entity the selection of your team should consist of those who can keep people that cannot handle it out of harms way. As I said, your safety and the safety of your team is the most important thing to consider before you ever conduct an investigation. Once you have decided on your team and what equipment to bring, it would be appropriate to meet with the team for one last planning session. This last planning session (that can be the day of the investigation) will enable you to check all of your equipment and make sure that all who will be on scene know their jobs.

Being ready for the onsite investigation will help you to better conduct the investigation. Once you arrive on the site start gathering your evidence - this means that you will start recording and taking pictures as soon as possible. Don’t forget to take pictures of the outside of the location that will match the pictures that you took during the day. You will need to look around the outside for any lights that could affect your pictures. Do not rush in, take your time and follow your plan so that your team is organized and professional in their investigation. Every investigation is different and has its own problems and surprises so the planning that you did before you arrived will show in your execution.

While taking pictures always announce that there will be a flash to keep from blinding others in the area. When taking video give a narrative of where you are and any reading that your team is gathering like temperature and EMF readings. If you are not with someone who is taking video and you have readings, take notes to include the time and location. Each team needs at least two members so that one can take readings and one can log them. Also, if something happens that was not captured on video or in a picture you have two witnesses. If you are making an audio recording in an area you will give a narrative when you start the tape with date, time and location of the recorder. You will in your planning decide where each audio recorder will be placed so that each member of the team knows where your recorders are located.

There are two ways to use audio recorders. One is to place the recorder in an area and leave it there to capture EVP (electronic voice phenomena) and the other way is to keep it with you and prompt the entity to answer your questions or prove that it is there. You don’t want to use up all your pictures before you have covered all the areas that you wanted to cover. It would be wise to have extra batteries, film or memory beyond what you have planned to use. You’ll need extra film and memory because you may have more activity to capture than you planned for… so be prepared! Extra batteries are needed because of the possibility of depletion by the entity during the investigation.

Your onsite time will be determined by the size of the area and how many pictures you have planned to take. The time you have onsite can also be determined by the client and your own time restraints and how much film or memory you have. Remember - You don’t want to use up all you pictures before you have covered all the areas that you wanted to cover. If you have more than one set of investigators you should meet up every so often and compare notes and discuss anything that may need to be looked at again before you finish your investigation. At the end of the investigation all the members of the team should decide when to meet up to go over the pictures, audio and all the video.

The review of all the gathered pictures, audio and video can take a long time so the more people you have helping the better. Each person should look at all the possible evidence with a skeptical point of view. You do not want to jump to any conclusions, so look at all the things that could have caused the anomaly on the picture or audio. You will need to rule out all the possible man made causes and malfunctions of equipment before you decide that you have evidence.

 If you have decided that you do have some evidence you need keep the original media intact unmodified. This will show that there was no tampering with the evidence. You will then put together a report of your findings and your conclusions that you have drawn from interviews and your evidence. If dealing with a client, you may put together a copy of your report and go over your results with them or give them a written report.

With each investigation you conduct, you will gain more experience and more information that you can draw upon at another time. Just remember that every investigation will be different and just because one event is similar to another event where you conducted an investigation there will be differences. I hope that this helps any of you who want to conduct an investigation get an idea of what will be required.

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