The dream team

david hobbs · The dream team

Lot's of us on this forum like to go places and do the psychic thing.

That is we like to pick up on spirit and history in old and interesting places.

I am sure that we are all to polite to say what would be ideal for a ghost investigation for fear of upsetting someone on the forum.

Forgive that last statement it probably overshadows even the most stupid statement i have ever made because basically nobody on here is afraid to point out the failings of others.

Any way what i am
so ineptley trying to say is this.

How can we improve on ghost hunting.

What in your opinion is the right way to do things.

What should we be trying to achieve?

Oh dear.

I feel a conversation coming on

Raymond

I have always felt that no matter how you conduct an investigation it shoud always be well planned beforehand.

There's nothing worse than going to a place and hanging around for a hour until somebody decides they're in charge.

Despite all my differences with The Ghost Club I have to say their investigations were planned like a military operation and everyone got the most out of the evening that they could.

Kas

A very good question and one that I cannot resist posting my view.

I would say that we should always investigate in a non assumption led way. Unfortunately this is very rarely considered.
But imo would improve how we work.

david hobbs

Well that depends on what it is you are investigating.

If you are looking for ghosts then you can be sure that they will be found be it due to assumption or not. Some people could find a ghost in a match box.

The things that I really like to investigate are the histories of places and buildings.

When you do that then there is no assumption because you simply have no idea what it is that you are looking for and to me this form of investigation is rewarding when the psychic input is proved correct by a researcher.

So as I say, it really depends on the type of thing that you are investigating.

Yes there is too much assumption.

Raymond

I agree.

I've said before, you really don't need to go creeping about castles and old manor houses to investigate the paranormal.

A council flat up the road will do just as well.

david hobbs

Agreed but this is about the aproach to the subject rather than the place under investigation.

Raymond

I've always found the best way to approach anything paranormal is with an open mind.

If you expect to see/hear/experience something - you will, although whether or not that 'something' actually exists outside your own head remains open for debate.

david hobbs

I think Kas wants a method that does not involve mediums or psychics.

In other word hard evidence that stands up under scrutiny.

Investigating past events does not in my mind need this approach whereas ghost hunting does if hard evidence there be.

And let's face it apart from personal experience there just isn't any evidence that scientists would accept and rightly so.

How the two things come together if indeed they ever can is beyond me.

Raymond

david hobbs

He is a member of ASSAP and they do not use mediums either.

Raymond

So I understand.

I do hope ASSAP aren't like The Ghost Club in as much as their reasons for not using mediums.

It's one thing to cultivate a 'scientific' approach to the paranormal but, certainly in the case of The Ghost Club, it was decided to drop mediums out of sheer bloody-mindedness.

"We don't want to be associated with all that hocus-pocus nonsense" was the answer I received when I was asked to leave The Ghost Club.

With this kind of blinkered vision I doubt any serious paranormal group will ever get anywhere.

Kas

Raymond

Sounds fair enough to me.

david hobbs

So mediumship and ghosts are unproven

How are they getting along with proving using their methods.

I assume that they are indeed trying to prove something.

Raymond

Aren't we all?

evergreen

for some there is never enough proof

Raymond

That's right and there never will be.

Blind faith afflicts the sceptic just as much as the believer.

david hobbs

Raymond

It's only important to prove stuff to yourself. We're not here to convince other people of things, that's their job.

Kas

david hobbs

Pumpkin33

I think this is a tough subject.

My opinion is that to conduct a good investigation you should have a team that get on with each other, have respect for each other whatever their differences and who listen to each other. there doesnt have to be a leader as such but there should be somebody in control on each investigation. In an old group I was the events organizer and would be "in Charge" on location e.g liaise with point of contact at location, learn history and health and safelty and on many investigation other team members were disrespectful towards what I was telling them and broke health and safety regulations etc, this is not helpful when trying to be professional and conduct a proper investigation.

Also, from past experience and Raymond will know about this, peoples beliefs on the paranormal can be very varied and personal and each person has a different understanding and interpretation of how to conduct an investigation. Like religion, it can be interpreted and manipulated for your own gain and if you want to get results then you have to work togther and not judge each other because they think different to you.

To finish my point, it doesnt matter how many investigations you go on and how much evidence you gather, everybody will take that experience differently. A banging noise thats unexplained might be enough evidence for one person where personally, unless I see a full blown "Ghost" I will still be open minded but slightly sceptical.

And thats all I have to say about that!!

Raymond

In small doses, scepticism is a good thing. Blind faith - either way - can be very misleading.

I meet people all the time who completely accept every little 'odd' occurance as paranormal, likewise I also meet people who dismiss everything as 'rationally explained' in an almost bloody-minded way.

Both annoy the hell out of me.

I have opinions on all manner of subjects. Some subjects I'm slightly more tolarable towards (like SP's shadow people) and other subjects I'm slightly more hostile towards (like the many conspiracy theories bantered about on here) but I can't say I "believe" in either simply because I have never had any first hand experience of them.

I will wait until I see a satisfying amount of evidence on anything before I will put my name to it.

david hobbs

I have always found it fascinating watching the investigators as much as the ghosts.

To some Ley Lines seem to exist just about everywhere frankly the don't know the difference between a ley line and a railway line. There is even a vid on here where one of our members is watching a suspected UFO and filming it and in the background you hear a very young voice asking if everyone has their protection up. WTF is that all about Then there is the protection racket. Oh don't forget to put up your protection up, and that's just to go into McDonald's.

Then those who want to heal a house and those who want to heal the whole world.

I do enjoy the occasional investigation but most of what is picked up is nonsense.

Just now and again you get a real and provable little gem and that makes all of the bullshit worthwhile.

Pumpkin33

The best evidence I have ever produced was not on an investigation, it was on holiday when we just took a picture of a supposed haunted pub and got some great results, a very odd image in the window of the pub. We went back to the same pub a year later while on holiday and took another picture just to see what happened and got a much better, but different image appear in the photo. We ended up going back there a few months later, the only available date they had for the room above that window was our 3 year anniversary so we just knew we had to go and stay there. Not that much happened during the night except that everytime my other half went to the bathroom the light went out, the light switch was outside the room and on the same circuit as the hall light which was perfectly fine!! We took more pictures but got nothing.

To us this was good proof of something being there as we tested out lots of different angles when taking the photo's and checked the images etc and we could not recreate the odd images we had previously got.

Unfortunatly the pictures have been lost when our laptop crashed and wiped everything off it, I have a print out of the images which I may be able to scan in and share but you will loose some of the quality of image, they are very interesting photo's!!

david hobbs

Please do

Perhaps some computer wizz can use photoshop and try to enhance them.

Worth a try.

Raymond

Hobbs, when you need the help of Bravo why don't you just ask him?

Do we have to go through this silly dance routine every bloody time?

david hobbs

Actually I know how to use the very basics of photoshop.

Raymond

Oh what's that? Pulling the plug out when you finally admit you don't have a clue?

david hobbs

Well that is almost true to be honest but I think I remember the picture enhancement from the evening classes back a while.

Trouble is if you don't use it you forget how to do it.

Raymond

david hobbs

Don't know I have forgotten!

Actually I must say that I did find photoshop boring as hell.

I liked the photography clas that precede it though.

Still if the picture get's posted I shall see what I can do.