Introduction to Paranormal Research and Investigations

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The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where one ends, and where the other begins...
- Edgar Allan Poe

Paranormal Investigator

To be a paranormal investigator you must have a very open mind and must be able to look at all possible sides before jumping to the conclusion that a location is haunted. You should have a very detailed method on how you conduct and review your investigations and what control methods you have in place to insure that fraud is not taking place either on your team or at the location.

The questions you must ask yourself are:

Why do I want to be an paranormal investigator?
What is it that I'm hoping to learn from it?
Am I doing this just to see a ghost, or do I really want to learn the why it happens?

Doing paranormal investigations is just like anything else you do. It is only as worthwhile as what you put into it. There is nothing wrong with having this as a weekend hobby but you will not get very far or stun the world with your findings if you just do a few investigations once in a while.

To learn how to become a ghost hunter, you should look at a ghost group that has been doing paranormal investigations for several years. Ask to join their group or attend a group meeting and let them know that you are interested in learning the ropes. When you are with the group, ask if you can watch them while they are conducting the investigation. Look to see how the team members interact with each other and with the client. Watch to see if there is any organization to the investigation. Listen to how they conduct an investigation. Are they asking questions, keeping the other team members on the same page? Or are they just going willy nilly without any communications between the members of the group or client? Also ask questions to the group members and the group leader if you don’t understand something. Once you have seen what it takes to be a paranormal investigator you can now take the next step.

If you are in an area that does not have a ghost group and you would like to start your own, I would recommend that you do a lot of reading on the paranormal and link up with a ghost group to help you get started, even if it is by email, so if you need help you have several resources that you can go to for some advice.

Paranormal researchers do not uniformly agree on what makes a location haunted or what a ghost really is. There are many ideas and theories on this subject. Some are really good and others are really out there. Remember that in this field there are no true "experts."

But one thing all good ghost groups have in common is the continual search for information and new theories about how and why hauntings occur. The will strive to increase their knowledge in all areas from photography to electronics and if you are are a skeptic when it comes to the psychic realm, you will have clients that are not. Understanding the terminology and concepts will help you relate them and can spark some interesting lines of research.

Good luck and good haunting!

John Savage
Founder/Lead Investigator
Minnesota Paranormal Investigators Group