PARA THOUGHTS
EQUIPMENT
I recommend and use a Sony Nightshot capable camcorder for researching the
paranormal. I recommend the Digital one with a Memory Stick. The memory stick
allows you to save interesting photos while you are reviewing your videotape.
Many times you will need to slow the footage down to frame-by-frame stop action
to see spirit manifestations that only last a fraction of a second (availability
of energy determines the length and strength of the manifestation). I also use
an 8 LED Infrared Emitter that hooks into the "hot shoe" of the camcorder. This
gives a meaningful amount of IR to work with in the dark, but outside the night
swallows emitted IR like a ravenous beast. I am hoping to eventually save up
enough to purchase a 1,000,000 cp IR spotlight from maxmax.com. That puppy
should really light up a cemetery with infrared! I also highly recommend
purchasing a set of Generation 1 Russian night vision goggles. Used with the
Sony's 8 LED emitter I can see everything around me clearly. "Owning the night"
allows you to settle down and concentrate on the task at hand. It is also kind
of fun to be freely moving about in the dark and walking up to your ghost
hunting buddies to say "BOO!" Oops I mean "HELLO!" This is always good for a 6
to 8 inch jump at least! Always carry a backup flashlight and extra batteries.
Why batteries? Spirit manifestations consume energy and frequently they will
drain your batteries, and you too of course! Never hunt alone, if you injure
yourself you will be in for a long, uncomfortable night, or worse. I also
recommend a stout hickory walking staff. It is invaluable during night vision
operations to assist with sure footing, or to "whack" any snake, or coon that
tries to cozy up to you. Note that if the "coon" has a stripe down its back -
don't whack it! What you will experience next won't be paranormal, but it will
be extremely memorable. Good Luck!
ORBS
An "Orb" is a Basic Soul Form and is perhaps the most frequent spirit
manifestation that is captured by cameras. The "working theory" is that a
spirit, or multiple spirits, come together and form an orb as an energy
efficient way to move from place to place. Orbs are not necessarily round in
shape. They can be flattened (like a plate), or rod shaped, or any shape in
between. Orbs are usually captured by the camera when they are "hauling ass";
However, frame-by-frame analysis of a moving orb can often slow it down enough
to show the orb morphing into a face during its flight. Sometimes the orb
itself will contain letters, a face, or a complete small body of a
human/animal. Orbs and other spirit manifestations seem to reflect infrared
well, or to emit their own infrared. This is why some of our pets seem to track
and react to unseen presences. They can see in near infrared, so they do see
something there that you do not!
A "false orb" can be
created by many mundane things. Airborne dust, moisture, snow, or even dirt on
the camera lens itself will mislead many into thinking that they have captured a
paranormal event, when actually the "orb" was caused by the mundane. The
problem is that most of the cameras available today have the flash very, very
close to the camera's lens. This tends to bounce the flash off dust ect. and
show what seems at first glance to be a semitransparent orb, when actually it is
an overexposed dust mote. Using a flash extension, or a remote flash to move
the flash away from the lens would help. This is not always an option with the
new digital cameras, so choose your camera wisely.
Some claim that the
new digital cameras are prone to create "false orb" pictures. They usually
claim that when the camera's "sensor" has a lack of information a white spot
appears that can be mistaken for an orb. Logic tends to discredit this, as the
individual "pixels" that compose a digital picture are RECTANGULAR in shape -
not circular. Why would a sensor composed of units that render RECTANGULAR
pixels magically process a "lack of information" into a circular orb? Doesn't
make sense does it?
How do you separate a
paranormal photo from one caused by mundane conditions? You must learn to
examine the circumstances surrounding the photo in question. Are there animals
staring at the anomaly? What were the feelings of the person taking the picture
and the feelings of others in the room? Did any other paranormal manifestations
occur? Is there an evident source of dust in the picture, such as a dirt road?
Look at the orb itself. Is there a face, or body being manifested within it?
Note: I speculate that it takes less energy to manifest within an orb, rather
than out in the open.
Remember the people
that say all orb photos are caused by the mundane are just as bad as those who
claim that all the orbs photographed are paranormal. I think the truth lay
somewhere in between.
FIRST PARANORMAL EXPERIENCES
Other than childhood experiences, which I won't go into here, one of my
first paranormal experiences was during a drive from Detroit to Saginaw. It was
a "bluebird day" and I was slouched back relaxed and mellowing out listening to
the "oldies" channel. Suddenly, I had a disturbing vision and the thought that
"this would be a great place for a car crash." I saw an accident with my car
and myself being crumpled and torn. It was graphic in the extreme. I was quite
upset and on edge after the vision. Within 5 minutes a fool going the opposite
direction turned in front of me, he was apparently trying to get into a
restaurant parking lot and seemed oblivious to me approaching. I locked the
brakes and the car started to swing sideways. I realized that I was going to
hit hard, so I gunned the engine and tried to counter steer to come out of the
skid. Somehow I missed hitting the fool and found myself on the left hand
shoulder of the road, undamaged. I know that if not for the upsetting vision a
few minutes prior, I would have "T Boned" that fool and probably have been
killed. The vision saved me.
Several incidents happened in a
house that I rented during a period of separation from my wife. The first few
nights that I slept there I kept having the feeling of being watched. This was
so strongly disturbing that I searched the area behind me (the master bedroom- I
was sleeping on a futon in the living room). I found nothing there. I was
further mystified when my television would not turn off, even though I hit the
off button on the TV several times and heard it click. I pulled the plug out of
the wall socket and it finally went off. The next day everything was
functioning normally, as if nothing had happened. Another incident happened to
me on a night that I was up late working on my computer. My collie was a very
good guard dog. That night I noticed her sit up and lock her eyes on
something. She continued to track it across the room, staring intently at
whatever it was, course I saw nothing there. A possible explanation was
forthcoming when an elderly lady stopped by to chat while I was doing some yard
work. She started to talk about the previous owner and how she had done chores
for her. She said repeatedly that she had told the homeowner to keep her
curtains closed. When I asked why, she said that the homeowner had a boyfriend
that kept cruising by the house. One morning, the lady went into the house and
found the homeowner murdered in the bedroom. Apparently she died by way of a
knife and there had been a bloody struggle. Could this have been the unseen
presence I had felt and that my dog had visually tracked? Well, I was not ready
to consider that possibility quite yet! My wife and I reconciled and she moved
into our rented "haunted house" with me. We decided to buy our own home and
over the course of the next few weeks looked at wretched homes in various states
of disrepair. One house intrigued us. It had a unique floor plan that would
allow you to walk through a hall into the kitchen and through another opening
back to the living room again, kind of laid out like a circle. We were
seriously considering this home until Sharon had a dream about it. In her dream
she was trying to walk the "circular pathway" through the house, but an old
woman kept blocking her- perhaps the previous owner, as she was deceased. When
Sharon awoke she saw a manifestation of the woman at the foot of our bed.
Needless to say, we quit considering that particular house immediately!
Even after all this I was still a
cast-iron skeptic as far as the paranormal was concerned. When you don't want
to face the truth, it is more convenient to ignore it. A minister friend and I
were discussing life and death one day and the topic of ghosts surfaced. We
talked about the various web sites on the net that claimed to have paranormal
pictures. I easily dismissed them all as fakery and claimed that I could
produce better spook pictures in 15 minutes with the help of Photoshop. My
friend persisted that his pets seemed to be reacting to something unseen when
around his basement stairwell. This led to a discussion about the differences
between the human eye and his pet's eyes. One major factor was the animal's
ability to utilize near infrared to help see what we cannot. ((Note: We do
have some near infrared capability around the perimeter of the retina, which is
why you may see movement at night from the corner-of-your-eye, but it disappears
when you look directly at the object.)) A web search showed that Sony's
Nightshot camcorders indeed had near infrared capability and this definitely
seemed the way to go if we really intended to find out what was spooking his
cats. A few weeks later he showed me an infrared anomaly that was captured by a
Sony. He was in bed when his cat hissed, jumped off the bed and headed
out-of-Dodge. He immediately grabbed the camcorder and the resulting video
showed an orb moving across his bed. I realized that he would not try and fake
a picture and indeed, here was a complete video segment of an orb in motion!
That was when I decided it was time for me to get a Sony and actually go out
into the field to seek the truth for myself.
Enter Ghost Hunters Of Southern
Michigan, they responded to my email and agreed to allow me to accompany them on
one of their public hunts. So I packed up my Sony camcorder, my skeptical
attitude and a .38 for good measure. Well, after all, I was meeting a group of
strangers with the intent of going into a Detroit cemetery at night. The .38
calmed my nerves a bit for the coming event. In truth, the GHOSM folks
were friendly and nonjudgmental, even welcoming my skepticism. I even felt
trusting enough with these folks to leave the .38 in the car! *LoL* As we wandered
through the cemetery, someone said that they saw the ghost of a lady moving by a
monument in a certain area of the cemetery, I thought "Ya, Right!" Robin, the
group's founder, said that there was a spirit watching us from behind a tree by
the road, I thought "Ya, Right!" Robin also said that we probably would not get
a picture of the spirit as she did not want her picture to be taken, I thought "Ya,
Right! Of Course Not!" At the end of the hunt we went to the home of one
of the members to review the photos taken. What I saw stunned me!
There were pictures of orbs, yes even one in the area by the tree that Robin had
pointed out. I knew that these pictures had come directly from the camera
to the TV without anyone having the chance to alter them. I briefly
pondered the possibility that they had somehow dumped altered photos into the
camera from a previous visit, but was forced to reject this desperate
rationalization as I saw photos that included me! One photo shows me
filming for all I am worth, trying to film an anomaly, while an orb hangs
overhead and slightly behind me. It's almost like the orb is saying "Take
a photo of me with your attitude? I don't think so!" That is the
first moment when I was forced to consider the possibility that spirit photos
were real.
A SPIRIT NAMED JULIA
There came to be an interesting trip to a cemetery in the Detroit vicinity that
ended up spanning two trips there. The cemetery, according to a neighbor who
wanted to know what we were doing there, had been desecrated and a corpse
disinterred. It was relatively small, old and no longer accepting burials. I
went to the back, sat down and explained my equipment to any spirits that might
be there. I was a bit jumpy that night as I kept hearing things moving around
me. One of our members had earlier encountered a skunk wandering around and I
was a bit nervous that the critter might move into my area. I kept staring at a
particular tree, for some reason that tree was really bothering me. At any rate
when the group went back to examine the photos taken, I was shocked! Over my
head and behind me were two orange orbs with faces! They were looking directly
at me and there was no mistaking that they were pissed! This was the first time
the captures had been viewed and they went direct from the camera to the TV, so
there had been no chance for anyone to alter them. Why were these spirits upset
with me? Well, the cemetery had been desecrated before and the spirits were
probably not sure of my intentions. Later, when I had time to review my
camcorder video, I found some remarkable infrared captures. A full-faced
apparition formed over several frames of videotape. It was a young lady with
high cheekbones looking off to the left of the photo. I also discovered what
had bothered me about the tree. Sitting in the fork of the tree, superimposed
over/among the branches was the image of a man wearing a suit and a hat. He
looked straight out of the 40s, or 50s. Another interesting anomaly was a
"bright spot" that was moving all over a large tombstone and terminated when it
reached the top left side of the stone. Stop action revealed that it formed
into a skull, or face at that point. There was nothing unusually reflective at
that point (like a chipped area) and the IR emitter was pointed away from the
manifestation. The only logical deduction is that the "skull" was emitting its
own infrared.
The more I looked at
the full-faced apparition, the more I was convinced it was a call for help. We
decided to go back to the cemetery and try to help the lady into the light. On
our return visit to this cemetery I had the chance to reexamine the tombstone
and the tree where "Treeman" was filmed. As I look at the branches located at
the crook of the tree where the manifestation occurred, I am convinced that more
than just leaves and branches were filmed that night. Something else was
superimposed among them too. I found nothing unusual there to explain the skull
image on the tombstone either. I went to the back of the cemetery and asked the
spirit of the lady to manifest herself again. I again explained my equipment
and told her we returned in response to her call for help. As I was awaiting an
answer from her (only a minute or so) something streaked by me moving from left
to right. At first I thought it was probably a bat, but then it dawned on me
that it was so dark I could barely see my hand in front of my face. If it was a
bat, I should not have seen it at all! I asked one of the sensitives to listen
to the videotape (I had also asked the lady what her name was) there was
something there, but I could not make it out. The sensitive said the name was
Julia. I went back and told Julia what we intended to do and the group and I
formed a circle. At this point in time I could not visualize the light opening,
but could help to provide energy to the circle. The circle is a strange
experience; many times I feel an "electrical" tingling when I participate in
it. As often happens, Julia was hesitant to go into the light. As we talked to
her and tried to allay her fears, one of the sensitives noticed that Julia was
wearing Victorian style clothes. A figure, we think it was her mother, came out
of the light to guide Julia home. Then one of the sensitives had a vision of
Manitou, with His arms spread wide and light springing from his chest. She
described Indians converging on the circle and jumping into His light. Although
I could feel cold areas moving past and through me, my skepticism was saying "Ya
Right!
You don't really expect me to swallow this, do you?" To my complete amazement
the Sony captured a picture of an Indian Warrior within the circle. The head of
the Warrior was complete with a "Mohawk" haircut! My
reaction to the photo?
"Aw shit! It really did happen!" The flying object I mentioned earlier was
definitely NOT a bat. Review of the videotape (the camcorder was sitting in my
lap) shows a Rod Shaped object moving swiftly through the night. Was this
another manifestation of the spirit named Julia? Was she honoring my
request to materialize and tell me her name? I kn
ow I expected too much from
her, but remember my expectations were tainted by decades of Hollywood "Ghost"
movies *LoL*. I think she did the best she could with the energy available for
use that night. Other members obtained photos of spirits standing among the
trees watching us in the circle. It is an indescribable feeling felt by all
when a spirit is successfully crossed over. My skepticism definitely took a
direct hit that night.
STAGE
CALL FOR A HAUNTED THEATER
I have been to
the haunted Wayne Theater several times and it has always proved quite
interesting. The theater hails back to the great days of vaudeville and was
even rumored to be a "speakeasy" during prohibition. In its glory days the
theater had an attached hotel with a bowling alley in the basement. It is a
massive structure made largely of concrete and is currently undergoing the
process of renovation. I like sitting in the orchestra pit and visualizing in
my minds eye the performances of both stage and screen. To the left of the
stage, steps lead to the stage itself, or down to the actor's make-up rooms in
the basement. On my first visit there, sitting on those steps, a sudden chill
seemed to move THROUGH me. Neva, a sensitive sitting next to me saw the look on
my face and calmly asked, "Did you feel that?" I affirmed that I had and she
explained that a spirit walking on the steps had just walked through us. Eager
for more, I set the camcorder up and directed it to cover this area of the
steps. Turns out that my efforts were rewarded and review of the videotape
showed a moving orb crossing in front of me. Frame-by-frame analysis showed
that the orb briefly morphed into a mask-like half-face and then continued on to
the stage. The next place I visited was downstairs to the actors make up
rooms. One particular room was supposed to be very active, so of course I had
to go into that one. I knew that I was not really alone down there and had an
overwhelming desire to leave the room, to escape it immediately. It seemed so
close and unfriendly that not only did I leave the room, but the theater as
well! So much for impressing anyone on one of my first visits there! After
collecting myself I went back into the Wayne and back to the basement too. The
group had decided to form a circle and attempt to help some of the spirits cross
over. I wasn't ready to try anything like participation in a circle yet, so I
decided to watch and videotape from the same room I had beat such a hasty
retreat from. The room wasn't any friendlier, but I am a stubborn cuss and made
the decision to stay in that room no matter what. It was an illuminating
experience. Every time that I tried to close my eyes and concentrate, I could
see shouting faces coming at me. Some of the faces were quite grotesque. Later
when discussing this with the group, I learned that a spirit would sometimes try
and generate fear in an effort to create more energy spilling off from you. All
manifestations require energy, either from the surrounding air (heat energy),
electrical lines, batteries, or from your body. I did start to notice, somewhat
to my discomfort, that often orbs were photographed attached to me. Hmmmm....seemed
like a feeding frenzy, just call me a McLytle sandwich! As I was videotaping up
in the balcony of the Wayne, I moved to the back and stated towards the stairway
that lead down to ground level. The original Managers office is directly beside
the exit and as I started down the stairs there was a distinct smell of someone
smoking a cigar. I assumed that someone was smoking a cig
ar downstairs, but
when I reached the first floor no one was smoking one. I did not give it
another thought until I was reviewing my videotape. What I saw was an infrared
apparition of a curly haired head floating sideways
and looking at me. The apparition was smoking a cigar! This seems to explain
the cigar smoke I smelled in that area. I know the apparition was either
reflecting, or emitting infrared as I saw NOTHING there when I walked through to
the stairs. I can't help but speculate, was this cigar-smoking apparition a
younger looking version of one of the original owners? It did appear next to
the manager's office. Probably for the best that I could not see it at the
time, I probably would have jumped off the balcony to avoid walking by it!
On a later
return trip to the Wayne, I was standing at the front of the theater with one of
the sensitives. She said that there was a spirit walking around on the stage.
When I asked for specifics she snapped a picture and sure enough, a large orb on
the stage was visible on the cameras LCD screen. She then said that the spirit
was looking through a large metal cabinet that was on the stage. Off I went!
This was too good to pass up! I hurried onto the stage and stood where she said
the spirit was standing and thrust my hand into the cabinet. The air was
distinctly cooler in the cabinet than the air outside the cabinet. All that
poking around seemed to get the spirits attention and a deep abiding chill
overcame me and seemed to penetrate to my core. Realizing that I now had the
spirits attention with my somewhat rude actions, I also realized that I was
standing in the same spot that the spirit was. I decided it was time for a
"strategic retreat" and proceeded to walk off the stage. Problem was the deep
chill was still with me and as I swung my arms around there was physical cold
around me. Preserving as much dignity as possible, while walking posthaste back
to the front of the theater, the sensitive stated that the spirit had walked
back with me! I had really kind of guessed that already! Oh well, I had tried
to get his attention after all! I don't remember the conversation the sensitive
had with the man's spirit, I was much too engrossed repeatedly sticking my hand
into the cold area where she said he was standing. I guess I was still trying
to rationalize the event as mundane, or possibly the power of suggestion.
Anything was preferable to acknowledging that I was sticking my hand into a
spook! Earlier that night I heard the sensitives having a conversation
downstairs and went down to see what was going on. They were speaking with a
spirit at the end of the hallway (in the basement the actor's makeup rooms were
along a hallway). When I reviewed the video the spirit they were talking to was
visible in infrared (I could not see anything at the time). In one segment the
image of the spirit morphed into a very clear image of a collie. This tends to
affirm that spirits can "read"
your mind ((that and EVPs obtained where the spirit answers the question before
it is actually asked)). It seems that this entity picked up on my grief over a
collie that I had to put down. We had her for about 13 years and I cared a
great deal about this dog. The image is not exactly the image of the collie
that I lost; However, it is also extremely clear that the image is indeed a
collie complete with the characteristic long nose. I have no illusions that my
dead collie appeared in the basement of the Wayne Theater, but I do believe that
some entity was trying to make me think that she did. To what purpose? I
haven't the foggiest. Perhaps the spirit was reacting to the pain I still
carried from loosing this dog. Who knows?
