Girl Ghost Hunters

I’ve noticed something a little weird in several years of ghost hunting (and not ghostly weird. Normal weird.) There just aren’t a lot of female ghost hunters out there. When I go out with my group, I’m usually the only girl. Once in awhile I’ll talk one of my female friends to go along, but most of the time it’s just me and the guys. While it’s not necessarily a bad thing, it seems odd to me. Most of the ghost hunting groups I’m familiar with are at least 90% male. I’m not really sure why. It’s something that I’ve been trying to figure out.

There are a lot of technical aspects of ghost hunting, and some girls get intimidated by using high-tech equipment, but I’m not sure that’s enough to scare a lot of women off. It’s also possible that males are more open-minded about the possibility of the paranormal, but I also know plenty of females who believe in ghosts. Maybe it’s just that ghost hunting groups in general are run by men, and men tend to invite other men ghost hunting. Or maybe it’s just something people view as a ‘guy’ thing.

Honestly, I have no idea why there are so few ghost hunting girls around, but I’d love to see more of a balance in the future.

Do you have any theories on why there aren’t many girl ghost hunters? Do you think it’s a bad thing?

Weekly News Round-up 1/25/12

A Russian scientist claims signs of life can be spotted on images of Venus. You can read about it here.

NPR posted pictures of the TNT area where the Mothman was once spotted.

Huffington Post has an article about a man who is claiming that a ghost is responsible for assulting his wife (though no one is buying his claim.) There is an interesting discussion on whether ghosts could hurt someone at the end of the article. Read it here.

Ghosts and Real Estate

Several times while discussing ghost hunting with people, the topic of how ghosts affect real estate laws has come up. Several homeowners claimed that evidence of ghosts is required by law to be disclosed to potential buyers. At first, it sounded pretty silly to me. It’s hard to imagine that laws could be in place designed around paranormal activities. But it’s come up often enough that I decided to see if there was any truth to what people were saying.

It turns out that they were sort of right. The law actually depends on what state you live in (or country for that matter.) Some states have a law that basically says homeowners are required to disclose any emotional defects of a property. That can include violent crimes that occurred at the location, issues with the location itself, and possible paranormal activity.

There was actually a well publicized case in New York where a woman bought a house not knowing that it had a reputation of being haunted. When a local mentioned it to her, she took the sellers to court and got back her full deposit on the property.

Massachusetts on the other hand has a law that says that paranormal activity, because it isn’t a material facet, is not terms for action against a seller.

So if you are buying, or selling property, and you are concerned with paranormal activity, check your local laws first. What you find just might surprise you.

Weekly News Round-up 1/18/11

Smithonian.com posted an article discussing if Bigfoot may have once lived. You can read it here.

ITN posted a video taken in a Glasglow church that some people believe shows an image of Diana. You can see it here. The video looks photoshopped to me, but you can make up your own mind.

A strange cloud formation was captured over Rome. Gather.com has the video here.

Paranormal Video

One of my team members made a trailer from our ghost hunts from the past year-I  thought I would share with you guys. Enjoy!

Weekly News Round-up 1/11/12

MSN.com posted an article about sightings of a creature called Orang Minyak (Oily Man) in Malaysia.

Huffington Post has an article that claims UFO sightings have gone up since 2012 hit. You can read it here.

io9.com posted an article that claims that NASA hypnotized early astronauts to keep them from swearing on air.

Attracting Ghosts

Over the years, people have gone to all kinds of lengths to attract spirits to them. Early on people held séances with mediums in an attempt to communicate with the other side. People still sometimes try to interact with the dead this way. People will use Ouiji boards or dowsing rods as a way to talk to ghosts.  I’ve also seen a lot of ghost hunting groups using all kinds of equipment that they hope might bring about a spirit. My own group has even done some experimenting with our equipment to see if we could use it to bring more out. I’m always open to the idea of experimenting with new technology.

But so far, I haven’t seen anything that really seems to increase the probability of interacting with a spirit. In my opinion, most spirits come and go as they please. They interact with us whenever they feel like it, often when we aren’t expecting it.

I love the idea of being able to ‘bring out’ ghosts with something as simple as electricity or a spiritual ability, but for now, I’m not convinced this is possible. I really hope some day someone shows me something to change my mind.

Do you think people have the ability to call or attract ghosts? Why or why not?

Weekly News Round-up 1/4/12

This year started off strangely, with thousands of birds falling  from the sky in Arkansas. You can read more about it here.

Monstertracker.com posted about a recent Bigfoot siting in Kentucky. The witness claims that the creature appeared to be surrounded by some sort of aura. Check it out here.

A strange ball that fell from the sky last month has been identified as a part from an unmaned rocket. The Sydney Morning Herald posted an article about it here.

Finding Haunted Places

It’s a brand new year. It’s time to put away the holiday decorations and set down the cookies. My team has been talking about our plans for ghost hunting this year, so I thought I would share a little about how we choose places to investigate.

We hardly have it down to a science. Sometimes our ghost hunting friends from other teams tell us about places they’ve investigated, and we will contact the property owners ourselves. Other times, people contact us and ask us to do an investigation. This is, by far, the majority of our investigations. It’s usually home or business owners who have just moved into a new place, and are being scared by something they’ve seen or heard. Sometimes we do events with the public, and people come out just to ask for help. I like getting to help people feel more comfortable in their homes; it’s one of my favorite things about ghost hunting. Occasionally, we will contact places we think might be haunted at random, just to see if they have experienced anything.

One of our most interesting investigations came from contacting a local historical society. We walked in on a whim and basically asked them if they knew any haunted locations in the area. Their response was to point to the floor. They knew the building was haunted and they were really excited to have people come in and check it out.

The point I’m trying to make, is that it’s really, really easy to find haunted buildings, sites, and places. Sometimes all you have to do is ask. My team is already lining up some really exciting things for this year, and I can’t wait to share some of it with you!