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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We hear from potential clients all the time who are unsure whether they should be calling us.

Admittedly, calling in a paranormal team is a big step. For many people, making that phone call is the first time they've admitted aloud they may be dealing with a haunting. That can be scary because despite the influx in interest in the paranormal in popular media, there's still a large and very loud segment of the population telling you just how nuts you are if you believe in ghosts.

You're not nuts....
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by Karen Frazier
 
I wind up in a lot of conversations with people about why I am involved in paranormal research. While everyone's answer to this question is different, when I talk to the guests on my radio show who are involved in paranormal research, the answer often centers on searching for an explanation for anomalous experiences in childhood or young adulthood.

Having such an experience can certainly trigger the quest for understanding about the paranormal. It did for me. While the story I...
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by Karen Frazier

I've spent a majority of my life studying the afterlife. While paranormal research is probably the most obvious way to do this, it is actually the most recent subject in my ongoing pursuit.

As a child, I grew up with the traditions of the Christian church. I questioned those beliefs from an early age, however, because some things just didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. 

You see, along with an insatiable curiosity about the origins of the human soul, I also absolutely adore ...
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by Karen Frazier

Photo used under Flickr creative commons license (c) Aunt Owwee

When we research the paranormal, we sometimes forget that the devices we carry may be unfamiliar to spirits. I know in my investigations of the Wellington avalanche disaster site when I've used things that appear quite modern (such as laser grids or very bright lights), the spirits have indicated via a ghost box they are a little afraid of those items. This isn't surprising, given the spirits at Wellington are like...
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by Karen Frazier


A Samson Zoom H4n high-definition audio recorder

When I first started investigating the paranormal, I tried a number of audio recording devices. What I quickly discovered was how much the sound quality varied from recorder to recorder. Audio recorders range widely in price and quality, from about $40 to over $200. 

My first audio recorder was a cheap one - I spent around $40 for it. Using that audio recorder, I noticed I captured a lot of whispery voices. So many whispers, in fa...
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by Karen Frazier
 
A simple and inexpensive Radio Shack hack ghost box (Radio Shack 12-469)

Can the dead communicate with us through a field of white noise? That's the theory behind the ghost box, a piece of equipment that seeing more common use with many paranormal researchers.

The concept behind the ghost box is quite simple: a normal transistor radio is modified so it rapidly sweeps the stations of either the AM or FM band instead of remaining on one station. This creates a field of white nois...
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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 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


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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SSPR invited two other teams - WOOPI (Western Oregon Organization of Paranormal Investigators) and P.A.S.T. is Present for a joint paranormal investigation aboard the haunted USS Turner Joy in Bremerton, Washington. 

The USS Turner Joy is a Vietnam-era Forest Sherman-class destroyer that fought in the Vietnam war. The ship is now decommissioned and serves as a museum on the Bremerton waterfront. The ship, which was commissioned in 1959, spent its entire time in the Pacific Ocean, and it played...
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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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