Parazon Radio - Guest Paula Hayes

Paula Hayes of the Southern Paranormal Anomaly Research Society (SPARS) discusses her group and their investigations at Civil War sites throughout the South.

All content © Buck Bannister.
Buck's Ghost's and Hauntings
All Rights Reserved.

Paranormal Safety

It seems sometimes that Paranormal groups become so focused on the paranormal that they neglect the physical. I've read dozens of articles about how paranormal investigators should "protect" themselves from ne'er do well spirits. People have espoused everything from prayers and rosaries to visualizing psychic energy "bubbles".

But what I don't see very often are articles reminding paranormal groups to protect themselves physically during investigations. To me, the threat of physical injury from unsafe practices is much greater than that of a ghost "attaching" itself to you and following you home!

But, what steps can investigators take to protect themselves during an investigation and even before setting out for one?

Here are some simple things you can do to make sure you don't come to harm during an investigation.

Know your fellow investigators! Know with whom you're setting off on the adventure. With the popularity of "meetup" sites there are hundreds of "paranromal groups" out there who are nothing more than collections of fans of TV shows who want to jump into the field. Many have little or no training. In such situations you're putting yourself in potential danger because you're going to be out with strangers or near strangers at night and often in isolated areas. Obviously, you can see the problems in that scenario. I strongly advise those wanting to get into the field to join a well respected and established group. You are much safer because the people know one another well and there are no "wild cards" who might show up that someone has never seen before. Established groups also tend to be much more respectful of the law and property rights. Which brings me to my next point...

Don't Break the Law! Private property is just that, private. Because you are calling yourself a "ghost hunter" or "paranromal investigator" you do not have a free ticket into any site, building or ruin. Just recently a group of young "ghost hunters" were prosecuted for breaking into an abandoned amusement park to "investigate" there.
Be aware also that some people perceive cemeteries as "public property". They are not public. Almost all cemeteries are privately owned or owned by a city or church. You do not have permission to go into them and conduct an investigation just because you can get through the gate. The same holds true of abandoned property. You must always ask permission. If you don't know who to ask you need to learn one of the most basic functions of an investigator - research. Learn to look up the property owner and how to get in contact. If they give you permission, you're all set. If, on the other hand, they tell you no, then graciously accept that decision and stay away.

If you are given permission, never do anything on their property that is illegal or could cause them liability. I don't care if your wacky "cleansing ritual" calls for you to swig alcohol and blow fire or something. Don't do it. Likewise, and I hope no decent investigator would ever do it, do not show up intoxicated or with alcohol or other drugs in you or on you. However, going back to the first point, if you don't know who is accompanying you, you never know what they may be doing!

Watch your step! When investigating old buildings it's imperative that you be careful of where you step. Always be sure you know the layout of the building and where any potential hazards might lay. Never go "lights out" before the entire area has been checked for safety hazards and everyone clearly instructed on where they are. Better yet, mark those hazards if possible!

Never work alone! There are two very good reasons for this rule. The first is it helps eliminate the potential for fraud by making sure everyone is accounted for at all times. More importantly, however, it works as a safety rule. Should one person be injured or become ill there is another person available to get help immediately.

Watch the cords! Larger groups will run a lot of cable during an investigation for the remote cameras. These cords should be taped down if at all possible (be careful of floors and carpets though). Make sure you watch where they are and avoid stepping on them if possible so you don't trip!

Be aware of your surroundings! Always have someone watching the area when you're working in isolated areas or outdoors. You never know what kind of nuts will be drawn to the activity. Be aware of vagrants in the area, kids looking for trouble and when working in abandoned areas - drug dealers and other unsavory types. It's rare that you will run into problems but it does happen. Be sure you know where all your people are at all times and don't hesitate to get help if needed from law enforcement!

Make sure you have a cellphone and it has service in the area where you are! Everyone these days carries a cellphone but when you're working in outlying areas be sure you have service! It will do you no good to need police or an ambulance and not be able to call 911!

Cut out the Horseplay! As the night wears on it is tempting to get a little silly on those investigations where nothing happens. This is especially true of young or inexperienced groups and investigators. However, don't give in to the temptation to horse around by trying to scare others. Don't hide behind doors and jump out or put bugs down someone's shirt. The reason is quite simple, suppose you jump out from behind a door and he person you scare leaps back and trips down some stairs. Would the joke be funny then? It's best to leave the joking around until after the investigation is wrapped up.

Use Common Sense! Sure, you really want to get that camera on top of an old shelf but don't have a step ladder. What do you do? Do you find another spot to place it or do you climb on top of the pile of old lumber on the floor and hope you don't slide off? Hopefully, you'll use common sense and find another placement and learn that a step stool isn't a bad thing to put in your kit.

Using common sense will keep you out of a lot of trouble. Think before you do things and remember that no investigation is ever worth a trip to the hospital or worse. After all, you're there to hunt ghosts, not join their ranks because you fell off a table and broke your neck!

Please be careful out there and remember, you will face a lot more threats from every day objects than you ever will from ghosts so please be aware of your physical safety as much (if not more) than your spiritual safety!

All content © Buck Bannister.
Buck's Ghost's and Hauntings
All Rights Reserved.

Tombstone Day Trip

Some of the SPI gang decided to mix a little business with pleasure and head to Tombstone for the afternoon. Here are some pics from our visit to have some fun and hammer out the details of an investigation down there next month.

All content © Buck Bannister.
Buck's Ghost's and Hauntings
All Rights Reserved.

Buckland's Book of Spirit Communication

Buckland's Book Of Spirit Comm by Raymond Buckland

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
A rather interesting look at developing psychic or mediumship abilities. This book draws heavily on the works of the National Spiritualist Association of Churches as well as historical accounts of mediumship throughout the last century and a half.

For a practical guide to developing these abilities I'm not sure I would recommend this book. However, from an historical point of view it covers some interesting topics although it serves as an apologist work for much of the physical medium movement of the past 150 years and rarely looks with a critical eye at that movement.

For that reason I consider it something of a starting point for delving further into the social and historical phenomenon of mediumship and spirit communication.


View all my reviews.

All content © Buck Bannister.
Buck's Ghost's and Hauntings
All Rights Reserved.

Too Many Years Around Academics

There are times when I'm flipping through the popular paranormal magazines that I ache for a real peer reviewed journal. Perhaps it's the fact that I spent many years at a teaching hospital and was exposed to the academic environment there.

As I read an article in TAPS Paramagazine earlier today I couldn't help but think how a true peer reviewed publication would be beneficial. The article I was reading dealt with some archeological discoveries in Peru. The article drew parallels between those structures and the pyramids of Egypt as all enthusiasts do when a somewhat raised triangular shape is discovered.

The article went on to draw even more parallels between the Incan practice of headbinding to create elongated skulls (considered, obviously, attractive) and Egyptian statuary showing similar elongated heads.
The conclusion of the author was that these people with elongated skulls must be aliens. Hope you didn't sprain your ankle on that huge leap of logic. Yes, this person actually argued that despite the cultural practice of physically shaping a skull from birth to be elongated, that the people of Peru might actually have been space aliens building these ceremonial structures. Of course, the coup de grace was the fact that somewhere, and he doesn't cite a source, there was a 7 month old fetus found in Peru from the period which had - an elongated skull! Never mind the fact that elongated skulls can be explained by disease (hydrocephaly comes to mind immediately), but also infant skulls are very flexible. They must be to pass through the birth canal. I've delivered a few babies in my day, especially by petite moms, whose skulls were elongated from passing through the birth canal. Were they aliens? No, just really a tight fit!

But this sort of leaping to conclusions which is popular in current paranormal literature could be avoided if only we had a real peer reviewed journal. Articles or papers could be submitted and then vetted by a learned committee before publication. Then members of the community could test the research methodology and submit follow up papers.

What a dream! But, it would be nearly impossible to do. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your point of view), the paranormal community is so diverse getting any sort of real consensus on what would even constitute legitimate scholarship might be impossible.

After all, I've had people in the community become irate with me when I've pointed out the most basic historical error. Even pointing out the error in logic such as when people try to draw links between word roots in different languages. Recently, I was on the receiving end of some terse words when I pointed out a problem with some language interpretation. The main issue in that argument was that the person in question was saying the word "ame" corresponded to heaven. Of course, as anyone with a basic understanding of Latin would know, that's not even close. They then made the argument that "ame" (a non-word by the way) meant heaven because in the Latin based languages the words for love start with 'am' - well they start with 'am' because they are based on the Latin word for the noun "love" which is "amor". The act of love is "delecto".

Of course, in Spanish the word for heaven is 'cielo. In French it is 'ciel' and in Italian, 'paradiso'. The first two are obviously based on the Latin 'caelum' and the latter on the Latin 'paradise' which interestingly comes directly to English!


Look at the orb debate. While the people who stick to the scientific method and good scholarship can show mounds of data on photographic orbs being dust, bugs, moisture, etc. the other side simply jumps up and down yelling and putting forth arguments that orbs, even the dust ones, are so prevalent because we are nearing the end of the Mayan Calendar or the spirits are using the dust to get your attention. I'm sure there are a few more flying around too that I haven't had the pleasure of encountering yet.

In this sort of environment is it possible to create a true peer reviewed journal that would bring some level of rationality to our discussions?

It is highly unlikely. In the paranormal world everyone likes to do their own thing. There are people within the paranormal community who have a great deal of education either formal or self-taught. There are also a number of people who are interested in the sensational aspects of the field. Then there are those in the middle who are the work horses of the paranormal. They prefer to be in the field doing the work and leave the theorizing to others.

With such a diverse field, some of whom revere scholarship and some of whom ignore it, and a majority who simply want to get out and hunt ghosts; a real peer reviewed journal, unfortunately, would be nearly impossible.

All content © Buck Bannister.
Buck's Ghost's and Hauntings
All Rights Reserved.

Most Farted (Most Haunted Spoof)

I saw this on my friend Ken's blog "Spooked" and had to post it here as well. This is incredibly puerile humor but incredibly hilarious!

All content © Buck Bannister.
Buck's Ghost's and Hauntings
All Rights Reserved.

Paul Bradford and the IR/UV Strobe

A fleeting glimpse out of the corner of the eye, a darting shadow form moving impossibly fast, a flickering apparition that seems to jump from place to place; all these are phenomena reported by clients and paranormal groups.

For a number of years the paranormal investigation community has theorized that apparitions or spirits move at a rate much faster than normal human locomotion. This idea has even captured the popular imagination and been incorporated into Hollywood thrillers and horror movies whose special effects show “ghosts” moving at impossibly fast speeds as they haunt the victims in the films.

Does this theory have any validity in the real world? Paranormal investigators have never been able to test the theory because no technique existed to capture fast moving apparitions on camera.

Enter Paul Bradford, a co-founder of Sonoran Paranormal Investigations, Inc. in Arizona. Bradford, known by his colleagues as the “Paranormal MacGyver” has worked for several years developing tools to help paranormal investigators better utilize infrared cameras to capture paranormal activity in the dark.

Recently, Bradford began development of an infrared strobe system that when used in conjunction with infrared cameras may capture any fast moving activity in a darkened room. According to Bradford, “Strobe lights also have an industrial application for example; strobe lights (or stroboscopes) have been used to study the behavior of rotating machinery, oscillating vibration of components or structures and for balancing for a number of years.”

According to Bradford, his plan for developing the device revolved around the desire in most investigations to “go dark” that is, use as little light as possible in order to capture phenomena that might not happen when investigators light a room fully or a number of people are moving about. He also had safety concerns about using strobe lighting in the visible light spectrum because of its effect on people with epilepsy as well as the disorientation of those exposed to only strobe lighting for long periods.

However, his main theoretical reasoning centered around the fact that spirits are not visible normally except in the infrared or other ranges. “We have devices now that will allow us to see in the dark, something that some animals have always been able to do. There’s the theory that animals can see spirits and that’s why they react to something rather unexpectedly or bark at what appears to be nothing.” Bradford says of his rationale.

Combining this application with prevailing paranormal theories Bradford has also theorized that if ghosts exist in other dimensions, as many have believed it would not be far fetched to think they move at much different rates of speed than our own dimension.

Adapting a regular party strobe light, Bradford originally replaced the regular bulbs with Infrared LEDs. This allows him to adjust the rate of the strobe to experiment with different speeds. “By using something like a Sony Night Shot camcorder you can cover its built in IR illumination very simply either by placing an object in front of the LED’s or by using a small piece of electrical tape. You then use the strobe as the light source.” Bradford explains.

After a discussion with Barry Fitzgerald of Sci-Fi Channel’s Ghost Hunters International who has been experimenting with full spectrum cameras, Bradford made another change to his original design and added ultraviolet (UV) bulbs to the device. This allows investigators using the newer full spectrum cameras to capture not only the infrared spectrum but the ultraviolet spectrum as well.

According to Bradford, “Barry and I discussed my project and he told me he was getting more positive results on the ultraviolet end of the spectrum and asked if I might be able to adapt the strobe for a range of 300nm.”

Bradford immediately began working on the ultraviolet version and Fitzgerald has agreed to test the device on his investigations in conjunction with his full spectrum cameras.

The theories behind Bradford’s work are complex and highly technical, yet in typical modest fashion, he states, “Don’t get me wrong I don’t claim to know or understand Quantum Physics.” Yet his devices may actually help investigators document and further catalog the range of paranormal activity experienced.

“There still isn’t really anything out there specifically for the use of ghost hunting, what we do is take a tool or object intended for something else and adapt it to our need. This tool that I’ve built is specifically for Ghost Hunting.” Bradford explains regarding the applications for his device.

However, does this modest native of Meopham, Kent UK, think this will change the field? “This is just another tool, it’s not the next step in ghost hunting its not going to change the world, but it’s an idea, something based on a few other ideas that have been floating about.”

Bradford operates Creepy Hollow Ghost Hunting Gear that provides the new IR/UV strobe as well as other custom-made gadgets. His work can be found on the web at: http://www.creepyhollowgear.com

Equipment Specs:

• IR LEDs
• 6V Battery operated 4xAA
• Light weight durable design
• 850nm (Sony Nightshot IR Compatible)
• Introductory price of : $25 plus s/h

All content © Buck Bannister.
Buck's Ghost's and Hauntings
All Rights Reserved.

Tonight on Parazona Radio

The guys will be talking to the team leaders from API Florida tonight about their recent investigation of the "Fantasy of Flight" air museum and a supposedly haunted B17 Bomber.

According to API:

API started out as a Northeast England based team. Due to much interest in the team, as well as other factors, API began to form international branches in Florida, California, Texas and Alaska, with more State-side teams in the planning stages. We also have a team in the beginning stages forming in Africa.

We believe that there is a difference between 'ghost hunting' and 'paranormal investigation'. We conduct paranormal investigations seriously with particular goals in mind, using set rules, regulations and varied experiments. When we have completed an investigation we analyze all data and evidence. Our team of researchers also locates pertinent history about the location, as well as information and genealogies about the people who once inhabited it.

Although most of our team are believers in the existence of 'ghosts' or 'spirits,' we still maintain that all purported evidence must be analyzed to the fullest extents possible to determine any rational explanations. Each team member has their own unique qualities, strengths, abilities and talents which greatly enhance our experiences.

Every one of our members takes a very active part in promoting the team, seeking locations, doing research, writing reports, raising funds and various other team related activities. We are serious about and devoted to the investigation of paranormal activity and treat all requests with prompt and courteous attention. We are very flexible in scheduling meetings and appointments with a client or potential client and will always strive to meet with the client's needs.

All of our members are expected to conduct investigations with strict confidentiality and conform to a code of ethics that ensures the protection of privacy. Details or information about an investigation will never be released, publicized or published in any way without prior agreement or signing of release and consent forms. We provide our own 'Release of Liability' and 'Permission to Publicize' forms designed to protect the location owner as well as the team. We also require that for some locations our members and any guests sign 'Non-Disclosure' agreements.

We strive to maintain a respectful, responsible and sensitive demeanour towards the location owners and their property. We also insist that all team members conduct themselves in a respectable manner and treat the general public with courtesy. We also operate with the thought in mind that 'ghosts' and/or 'spirits' were once somebody's loved ones...a spouse, parent, grandparent, child, etc...We behave towards them as we would wish our own loved ones or ourselves to be treated...with respect, dignity and courtesy. We consider 'ghost baiting' to be inappropriate behaviour and strongly discourage it.

It has been our experience that working with a smaller team is preferable. This avoids wasting precious time that can quickly be eaten up when trying to deal with the problems of organizing a larger team. We believe that this policy also helps to build a tighter, stronger and more close-knit team. It also ensures that we always have more reliable team members.

Our team is a non-profit organization. We do not charge a fee for conducting investigations, nor do we sell tickets to events. All equipment and other essentials are purchased out of our own pockets.

We do not believe in charging a fee to any guests who attend our investigations. There are some instances that a location may have a set fee required to attend, with any and all monies collected going directly to the owners/trustees of the location as a charitable donation, which also covers any electricity usage on our parts. We will never charge a guest more than we ourselves pay. If the venue is free for our team, it will also be free to guests attending. If there is a charge, the amount we pay would be the same for guests.

The API International webpage is http://www.anomalous-phenomena-investigations.co.uk

My API Florida myspace page is http://www.myspace.com/apiflorida

So, join us tonight for Parazona Radio: Where the Dead Don't Rest!

All content © Buck Bannister.
Buck's Ghost's and Hauntings
All Rights Reserved.