Absolutely! You’ve pointed out ghost hunting’s dirty little secret. We should all be thankful that medical science doesn’t research in the same way.

Some thoughts:

Modern ghost investigation is bogus. It’s like trying to find out what a family had for dinner by looking at the stains on the carpet. The paranormal by its nature transcends the material. We can’t hunt them, but they do hunt us.

It is also beyond the reach of “science”. Science is based on the five human senses, which function in a simple, material four dimensional Newtonian universe, a sort of Darwin’s Eye, deceptively simple. But beneath the surface lies a complexity that is still only being discovered. We have several dimensions and nearly infinite number of universes, which we have no way of knowing anything about. Yet, we shackle our minds to thinking developed centuries ago.

Let’s be honest, we all want validation, other people to say we are smart and pretty, or handsome. I like that. Paranormal investigators seek this validation from the fundamentalist skeptic crowd like the computer nerd hoping the homecoming queen will compliment him for sexy-looking braces. They cling to their outmoded world view because they hold the power, like atheist priests, telling us we are damned to stupid person hell for believing anything that may smack of an after life. Yet we still want their approval, it is an abusive relationship that must end. Have them put Ghost Divas or the Site on their blog rolls. Ain’t gonna happen.

Because we have bound ourselves to other’s rules, rules set up for us to fail, we currently are failures. We know nothing new because we are using microscopes to learn study Mars. Why bother with this path that produces no results? Why placate the skeptical establishment when they laugh at anything that even comes close to being real evidence?

So where do we go from here? There are many avenues for the investigator of the supernatural, yet are we willing to put aside our prejudices? Are we willing to look into areas ignored by the field, make the connections. It can be a wonderful area of study, I have enjoyed learning that the world is not simple, there is a spiritual world seething under the surface. Are we brave enough or driven enough to expand our horizons, to stop beating our heads against a dead end and move on to more productive areas of study in the field?

On a side note, I think as a leader on the field in this state, the GHOULI/GhostDiva network has people all around the state with real ideas and experiences to share, areas of study. Why not publish on this blog personal experiences gathered by the various groups (excluding sensitive, personal data, of course). Ask for submissions, find stories that seem credible and interview them,delve into the experience. Talk about the events in your live that led you into the paranormal, make it meaningful. Cover all areas, if a news story pops up about a haunted court house in Kentucky, report it and flesh out the information. Guest articles, interviews, commentaries. Have a series articles, once a week on a certain topic: ghost lights, mists, shadow people. Give synopsese about research done about levitation, theories about poltergeists. Venture into negleced lands, like miracles visionaries, healings. There are so many people out there who could be reached with so much postive, accurate information and I think this site could be a local venue for that and the honest discussions that would hopefully come after. Become Oklahoma’s Hub for Supernatural talk.

Well said and I do agree with you.
If you would like to share, you know where to find me. The problem is that nobody really has anything to say anymore. I take that back. Many people have stories of who they met or rubbed elbows with at some overpriced ghost convention. These same people take ghost tours of locations they see on TV then claim they researched or investigated it on their websites. But to sit down and talk with them it’s like talking to a narrator on the history channel during October. It’s just regurgitated ghost stories. Sure there are personal experiences but it is very hard for me to believe that a group of 20 tour patrons all seen the ghost of the little girl on the 4th floor at Waverly Hills Sanitarium. Hysteria at its finest and most people these days choose to not accept that as a phenomenon. Hysteria is a phenomenon and is probably greater than an actual ghost sighting. (more believable?)

Nobody is talking. There is no other way of putting it. People and locations have literally been “tapped out”. The history has been deformed. It’s tragic! Ghost Hunting teams have become a business and I have challenged people everywhere to share research practices. Nobody is stepping forward but each day I am invited to a $100 a ticket event so I can hang out with some person that was once on a reality TV show.

I know you and I understand your style of research. It is mandatory in paranormal research. Technology is flooding the field and it seems the newest gadget is taking the place of actual documentation and potential validation of a potential haunt. Even property owners are staging ghostly activity, just to have a team show up and entertain them for a night. It’s a sad and sickening thing and peoples lives, emotions and wallets are on the line these days. I won’t even get into the stigmatization of property once a team enters a private home and declares there are “demons” running a muck.

Let’s work together to correct the problems. Get the field focused again on actual research without all the bells and whistles. I do wish more people would put effort into what they do compared to earning money to by a “mobile command unit” for their team. We just need to find the people that support the testing and theories and allow peer review to enter back into the mix. I’m willing, you are willing, so let’s find more.

I will admit I have let this blog get pushed on the back burner. Life comes takes place and priorities come about. I am working on it and I do not want to appear as if I am making an excuse. I do prefer to blog about things in Oklahoma. I do not want to make this blog a trash media dump for all things paranormal.

I commend your efforts and look forward to a renewed interest in both the field and the science behind it. For too long, it has been about gadgetry and celebrity and t-shirts. I, for one, am ready for intelligent, learned individuals once more to bring their curiosity and mental faculties to bear on a long-standing enigma.

Well said! The need to do real research is crucial and that includes searching the folkloric (urban legend) aspect of the ‘believed tale’ which is a major culprit in many of these more questionable stories. The approach to real research involves indepth historic and social research into the area in question, psychological studies about suggestion and responses, studies of micro weather patterns in the area, knowledge of the process and sounds of ground movement, buildings settling, and structural stresses over time, it involves detailed record keeping and more than one hurried night running around a building seeking a sensation.

I like your blog.

Plenty of harcore PSI research is being conducted, just not by any paranormal groups. Parapsychic instutes like ASP, IONS and Rhine commonly publish in the Journal of Parapsychology for peer review. There are also a handful of theoretical physicists (Brian Josephson comes to mind) that are intrigued by the quantum/paranormal relationship. In my opinion, this is were the true scientific data lies, not with some joker like me, wandering around in the dark with a flashlight and digital voice recorder. Keep searching for the truth.