The Four Types of 'Ghost Investigator'

Thrill seeker, Ghost Hunter, Paranormal Investigator, or Paranormal Researcher? 11th Hour Paranormal's  Chad Stambaugh asks how you eat yours?

 

 

 

I know I've been discussing the meaning of science for the last few weeks, but I had to revisit it. Science separates one type of paranormal enthusiasts from the other. Are you really using the right label for yourself?

 

The "Thrill-Seeker" is the fairly clear-cut group. Thrill seekers attend 'investigations' for fun. Perhaps you go on ghost walks or entertainment-geared commercial investigations, but you're sure to be in it for the kicks.

 

The "Ghost Hunter" will often talk about 'science', but they do not know it. The ghost hunter can often be seen as an independent team going to locations and waving around every piece of equipment they can lay their hands on; EVP, Trigger objects, Séance's are the staple diet of the ghost hunter. You talk about theories and science, but none of it adds up.

 

The "Paranormal Investigator" thinks a little more about what it does. It establishes the phenomena in a location and goes to seek it out. Your theories might not be sound, but you've done the reading and you only use the equipment and methods you know are likely to seek out natural sources of ghost experiences.

 

The elusive "Paranormal Researcher"-often spoke of, but rarely sighted; conducts paranormal research on the basis of good scientific thinking. Whether or not you attend investigations you can be sure you have a clear hypothesis to test and have a penchant for variable control.

 

So it's science that separates the thrill seekers and ghost hunters on one hand from the paranormal investigators and researchers on the other. But these are crude and flawed labels, for all sorts of reasons. But if you're really interested in scientific enquiry, how do you tell one investigator from the other?

 

The answer is easier than you might think. The seekers and hunters will find a location with reports of haunting's and use whatever unscientific methods are at their disposal to find evidence of the haunting. The underlying assumption is a) Yes! Ghost do exist, and we're hear to find them, and b) all these unscientific methods can somehow find proof of the ghosts. One day. Never.

 

The investigators and researchers, on the other hand, start with the opposite assumption. The underlying assumption is that so many haunting cases have natural causes, which one has to 'go in' with the aim of finding the natural causes of previously experienced paranormal events. What's left after you've done this is; what should be examined more carefully.

 

Seeking and hunting may often provide personal proof, and there is nothing wrong with this; however, if you find objective answers, you need to genuinely investigate and research.