~ Written By Ardis Stembridge ~
As a paranormal investigator, I am part of a community of people who either believe, or want to believe in things unbelievable. It’s a field of research that requires a willing suspension of disbelief, a fine line of hope, and often an unhealthy amount of faith to hold it all together. From U.F.O’s, Cryptids, and Psychic intuition, theories abound that give life to an otherwise dead and worthless field of science.
As a researcher whose particular area of research is that of ghostly phenomena, I often find it difficult to associate myself with my peers because of such theories, and my brand of skepticism has earned a scarlet letter that looms large around my neck that, oddly enough, I view as a blessing. Away from the herd, I have a still and quiet perch to view the chaos that ensues within my community and I take pause to learn and re-evaluate the direction paranormal research is heading.
So many well-intentioned and passionate investigators who have dedicated their lives to a common pursuit have negated any successes they may have earned by infusing unfounded theories and beliefs into their research. From the kingpins of ghost hunting to your local groups of investigators, these theories have become viewed as dogma. My constant debate of these fallacies have caused my expulsion from more than one paranormal “consortium” whose purposes were that of setting a higher standard through debate and vote. It has been my experience that when it comes to the theories within the ghost hunting community, opposing a theory is tantamount to treason and punishable by banishment.
However, as the founder of Credible Paranormal Investigations, an organization polarized to the mission of bridging the gap between the paranormal investigator and the main-stream scientific community, I or my team members are not beholden to baseless theories, but are tasked with the responsibility of shedding light where darkness normally prevails. Therefore, let’s discuss some of the common beliefs required to be a card-carrying member of the paranormal social club that is Ghost Hunting.
Poltergeists, Demons, Inhuman, Elementals, Incubus, Succubus and other boogiemen:
The most prevalent complaint from the Ghost Hunting community is that they can’t get an iota of respect from the organized skeptical, or main-stream scientific communities. Some really good data and evidence in favor of the existence of what we pursue is being thrown out – not on the merit of the evidence, but the merit of the investigator who collected it.
So many investigators claim to investigate objectively, employ an investigative platform of disproving to find proof, and use a level of scientific approach to collect data, yet they place their quarry into categories that are based on myth and fantasy. This is the twenty-first century where the pursuit of alternative energy, vaccines, and environmental issues are what is important. And as all studies are concerned, they require justification, time, and money- all of which are very difficult to come by. We can’t blame them for shunning evidence and claims presented by hobby investigators who delve in fairy tales. It’s difficult enough for us to investigate the theorized existence of ghosts, much less other creatures that haunt our imagination. Gaining the respect of those who have other birds to kill will be no easy task given the current mindset within the paranormal community.
The fact of the matter is that what we investigate are claims of phenomena that have no tangible source. Yet we presume to have enough knowledge about the phenomena to place it into categories as different beings, including “ghosts”. Doing so is damaging to our cause. That’s why researchers of things unbelievable should narrow their pursuits from proving that a catalogue of beings are responsible for paranormal phenomena, and focus on proving whether the phenomena exists at all.
Theory: Energy drainage is a result of paranormal manifestation:
Most paranormal investigators believe that ghosts require energy to manifest; therefore they steal energy from their environment to accomplish this. These sources of energy are often claimed to be the equipment investigators use, as well as from the investigators themselves, many of whom claim to feel dizzy, tired, and nauseous just prior and during a paranormal event.
There is no doubt that energy is required for something seemingly paranormal to happen. Energy is required for all things conceivable to happen. From the movement of wind and water, to the operation of cameras and the human body, energy is required for such things to occur. However, attributing the drainage of energy from the human body and from the equipment investigators use as a source of the energy required by an entity to manifest is an unfounded theory that makes very little sense when weighed against scientific fact.
Though there are countless ways to produce energy, the fact of the matter is that there only exists two types of energy, and they are known as Kinetic and Potential energy. Kinetic energy is based on movement. When we hit a baseball with a bat, we are transferring kinetic energy from the bat into the ball which causes it to react. The physical swing of the bat was also a result of kinetic energy that was transferred to the manipulator of the bat through the food that he ate in the form of caloric energy, then transferred throughout the body through various avenues such as blood flow and muscle contraction until the energy completed a circuit of contact with the baseball.
Kinetic energy is always on the move and looking to travel from one object to another. It is in the atoms that make up our bodies and are in continuous movement within our cells, much of which will change form and thrive after we die and our bodies decay. The atoms will become part of the earth until they take a new form somewhere down the road.
Potential energy is a bit harder to explain, but it boils down to energy that is the opposite of kinetic energy. The perfect example of potential energy would be a simple spring. A spring is made up of atoms just like all other things are. Yet the energy within the spring is being expended by holding the shape of the spring in its current form. When we bend the spring, the energy within it can now be exerted to pull it back to its most energy efficient shape; a coil.
Now that we understand the types of energy, we have to ask ourselves how these two types of energy apply to individual paranormal events. If someone sees an apparition, for example, we only have one scientific basis by which to judge its manifestation, and that would be through light. In order for an apparition to be seen, it would either have to reflect light, or emit light.
In terms of emitting light, there is no doubt that emitted light is a result of energy. But we have to consider how energy is used to produce light. It is easy to use relatively few volts of electricity to cause a light bulb to produce light. Other than fire, this is pretty much the only method humans use to produce light. The kinetic energy generated by the atoms within two chemicals can cause a charge within a battery that, in-turn, causes atoms to be pushed through wires when a circuit is completed. This energy can then be transferred through an un-insulated mono filament that heats up to produce light. The energy emanating from the mono filament is transferred to other objects in the form of light and heat. Our eyes take in the light energy and our bodies absorb the heat energy and they are then used for other expulsions of energy.
But the key to this question is that it takes tangible objects, like human skin and cable coverings, with an insulated mass to contain energy or it else will immediately move on to other forms. Raw energy can produce light, but it takes massive amounts to do so in any form that would make up something like the figure of a human. In order for the light to take a recognizable form of a human, it would have to have a very well insulated, but clear membrane of some sort to contain this massive amount of energy since an apparition is not made up of flesh and blood.
In terms of an apparition reflecting light, a similar set of circumstances would be necessary for it to manifest. Since claims of apparitions usually revolve around them appearing, and then disappearing, we would have to acknowledge that it must have the ability to achieve mass, and then dissolve that mass away in a very short period of time. Once again, an insulated but clear membrane would have to exist that can absorb and contain enough energy within itself, as well as have the ability to arrange the atoms within it into a recognizable shape while achieving enough mass to reflect light, before reaching a breaching point that releases the energy and thereby completing the manifestation cycle that the witness perceives as a disappearance of the apparition.
This was just one example of how an apparition might be able to achieve visibility through energy manipulation. However, the amount of energy that would be required for this would be phenomenal and the energy in the batteries of a camera or a human body would be but a fraction of what would be required. Comparing other paranormal happenings to these same and unchanging laws of physics would eliminate these sources of energy in every instance.
Theory: Limestone and Quartz deposits are related to paranormal activity:
Many paranormal investigators hold to the theory that Limestone and Quartz deposits are somehow related to paranormal activity based on the fact that supposedly haunted locations are often found near these deposits. Despite the fact that there is no scientific basis for this assumption, there is one very simple explanation for why this theory cannot hold water. The truth of the matter is that just about every supposedly haunted location is near these types of minerals.
Limestone is an abundant deposit that can be found on most continents. It may not always be local, but Limestone plays a very big part in our everyday lives. It is a soft material that is often used as a component for building materials, including cement which makes up the roads we drive on and the foundations that our homes are built upon. It is even added to toothpaste to act as an abrasive, and is added to the bread we eat as a source of calcium.
As far as Quartz is concerned- it is the most abundant mineral on the planet, so of course quartz can be found in the vicinity of a paranormal hot-spot. The idea that these two minerals are somehow a prerequisite for paranormal activity is baseless. If they were related to paranormal activity, then entire communities would be experiencing seemingly paranormal events rather than one or two locations throughout.
Conclusion:
These are just a few examples of theories that are hurting the field of paranormal research, yet they are being tossed around by the biggest names in the field with little regard for the damage being caused. It is no wonder that paranormal research is the very definition of pseudoscience. When it comes to scientific study, most researchers have the burden of holding themselves to the weight of evidence. Most paranormal investigators, however, feel that there has to be a balance between fact and legend in order to earn a sense of acceptance by their peers, validation for the pursuits, and a convenient playbook of caveats that alleviate the burden of reason and accountability.
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