When someone contacts SSPR about possible paranormal activity they are experiencing in their home or business, we ask a lot of questions, both over the phone and during an initial walk through of the home.

One of the questions we always ask is this: "Have you purchased antiques, items at a garage sale, or other used items?"

In many cases, the answer is yes. And in many of those cases, we believe we can trace the activity to the purchase of a specific object.

The Masonic Sword

For example, two cli...
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South Sound Paranormal Research was the first team to investigate the Lewis County Historical Museum, and it has been one of our favorite haunted places ever since. The museum was closed to investigation for a few years, but has reopened for it now. Read Karen's blog for details.
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Tuning in to a spirit empathically

I recently spent a weekend at a lovely haunted B&B. It is generally known this inn is haunted, but the owner prefers the fact isn't advertised. In the past, she's had issues with thrill seekers coming uninvited to her property and running amok, disrespecting the gentle spirits who live there (she calls them permanents), as well as her living guests. One particularly busy weekend, she reports, a paranormal team came into the hotel without permission and scatt...
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One of the things that concerns me as a paranormal investigator/afterlife researcher is how our work might make the living feel. I often worry the relatives of the spirits  with whom we communicate might feel our research is disrespectful.
After all, I'm not sure how I'd feel if someone told me they believed my beloved grandmother haunted popular paranormal "hotspot," and people came through there every week to poke and prod at her in an attempt to communicate. My wish for everyone I love woul...
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One of the side effects of paranormal television is the influx of super cool new investigation gadgets. I admit it - while I don't watch a lot of paranormal television, I do occasionally. When there's a shiny, cool new gadget on a show I happen to be watching, I can hear the angels singing. I love gadgets because they are pretty darn cool.

Which is why many of our clients are surprised when I walk into their home or business with a pen and a piece of paper. 

It's not that I don't have a lot of ...
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People of religious faith have traditionally confessed the belief in the human soul, as well as the after-life. A significant number of religious practitioners continue to hold these beliefs in the 21 century. Meanwhile, paranormal investigation and afterlife research has been launched into the 21^st century popular culture. This intensified fascination with the paranormal may be attributed to television, including Ghost Adventures, Ghost Hunters, and The Dead Files, among others. Yet, 21st...
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Patty uses a Mel meter to take a baseline reading on an old telephone

One of the pieces of equipment paranormal investigators commonly use is an EMF detector. Contrary to popular belief, EMF meters do not detect ghosts - not even the units that are called "ghost meters."


A K2 EMF detector that uses lights to show changes in EMF fields.
 
What Do They Measure?

Electromagnetism is one of the universe's four basic forces. EMF detectors measure changes in electric and/or magnetic fields.  Depending on...
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by Karen Frazier


 
Something's happening in your home or business, and you've decided to call in the experts. You've contacted a paranormal team. What next?

Currently, there are no standardized protocols that every paranormal group uses when they investigate. However, there are many commonalities among teams. If it's SSPR you've contacted, here's what to expect.

1. After the initial contact, the investigation lead will call you to set up a time when you can meet with the team. This meeting typically...

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by Karen Frazier


When I first began paranormal investigation, I believed my role and responsibility was somewhat like Star Trek's Prime Directive: I was there to observe and document, but never to interfere. I felt it wasn't my place to presume a spirit needed to move on, even if they were somehow trapped in the earthly plane. 

I've always believed if human beings had souls, we were each on our own path and it wasn't my place to judge or interfere with the path of another. It took me quite a wh...
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by Karen Frazier

 

A popular hypothesis about paranormal activity is that ghosts can be attached to objects. While no empirical evidence exists proving this to be the case, many paranormal researchers will tell you that this appears to be true in some cases.

I can relay a recent SSPR case. We were asked to investigate a house in the Olympia area. When we interviewed the homeowners before going to their house, a persistent thought kept popping into my head about antique weaponry. I asked if they ...
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by Patty Valdez

So you think you have a ghost in your house, and your friend tells you, you need to smudge your home. What do you do next?

Most people would find their local metapsychical shop, buy a sage smudge stick, and head off to cleanse their home. Wait!

• Do you know what you're doing?
• Do you know why sage is used for smudging?
• Are you doing it right?
• Will it work?    

If you answered "no" to any of the questions above, then read on.

Native Americans have long used sage smudging. Sage is bu...

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by Karen Frazier

 

So you have things that go bump in the night in your house, and you're starting to get a little concerned. Maybe you've learned some investigation techniques from watching paranormal television shows, or even from reading this blog. So what should you do? Should you investigate your house?

Our fearless leader, Patty Valdez, strongly cautions against making this move, and I agree with her. 

Shortly after we moved into our house, I had a group of friends over for dinner including...
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by Karen Frazier



Imagine this: You are sitting in your home enjoying a little peace and quiet when a noisy band of people burst through your front door. They are carrying all sorts of stuff you don't really recognize - it looks like something out of science fiction. Some of it is so unfamiliar, it frightens you a bit. You try to ask who they are and what they want, but you can't seem to make them hear, see, or understand you. Instead, they start roaming all around your house without permission...
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by Karen Frazier

 
Rob at the Walker Ames House in Port Gamble, WA
 
Sometimes paranormal investigation can break your heart. Ultimately, our job as paranormal investigators is get to the truth - regardless of what that truth is. Often, we come up with an exciting bit of evidence, only to realize it has a decidedly un-paranormal explanation.

Case in point - SSPR recently investigated the Walker Ames house in Port Gamble, WA with Black Wolf Paranormal. One of the stories about the house involves a ...
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By Karen Frazier

Paranormal research falls under the broader category of parapsychological research, which is a subset of the social sciences (psychology, anthropology, sociology and others). Also called psychical research, parapsychology examines paranormal phenomena such as ghosts, hauntings, psi (psychic energy), reincarnation, and near-death experiences. 
 
Cultures throughout history have maintained a rich mythology surrounding death, spirits, unexplained phenomena, and the afterlife. It ...
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by Karen Frazier



There's a common belief about ghosts and hauntings I feel is a total misconception. Many people believe any spirit haunting a location must be a trapped soul. I disagree. 

If ghosts are merely a continuation of the soul energy that inhabits our body during physical life, then surely the same principles we experienced in life carry on after our death. Specifically, I'm talking about free will. As humans, we have free will throughout our lives, and our experiences as living entit...
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by Karen Frazier


Every single one of these people has had a paranormal experience
(Jenny from SSPR, Elaine from WOOPI, Ellen from PAST is Present, Patty from SSPR)
 
One of the things that has always fascinated me about being a paranormal investigator is this: when people find out what I do, many get a furtive look in their eye, lower their voices, and looking around nervously confide a paranormal experience to me. It's amazing to me just how many people have had paranormal experiences and how se...
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While the members of SSPR have a great deal of experience investigating the paranormal, we occasionally seek consultation from outside advisors. We do this in order to give our clients the best possible service we can. Depending on the situation in the home or business, we may consult with:

• Clergy from various faiths
• Scientists 
• Metaphysicians
• Parapsychologists
• Other paranormal teams
• Psychics and sensitives
• Home building and maintenance experts such as plumbers, electricians, engineers, or others
• His...

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by Karen Frazier

As anyone at SSPR will tell you (particularly our fabulous technical lead, Billi), I'm not great with the equipment. Some might even suggest I am somewhat of a disaster with it. When I speak at conferences, I often joke about not being allowed to touch the team's equipment because I inevitably drop it, break it, or flat out can't use it. So far, no one has corrected me.


Billi, wisely keeping me away from the technical equipment
 
I'm the same way around the house. I can use our b...
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