Why ghost hunt?

 I had an email the other day that asked....Why do people ghost hunt?

Because they are there.


Seriously though, people do it for a lot of reasons. I do it because as a child I spent many a scary night with the spirit of a man who built our house, and his wife. He killed her years before,  and they still were there creating an icky atmosphere. Being psychic, I had even more experiences, and I had no answers. There was not the plethora of information at the time that is now available.

There are many reasons that people "ghost hunt", I like to call it "ghost investigations". I am not "hunting them", I think they are more likely hunting me. They are always right there in front of us, they just don't always choose to make themselves evident to us.

Some people investigate to see if there really is life after death. Some like the excitement, others want to try to disprove and end up becoming believers. Some had an experience they can't explain and are looking for answers. Some have a desire to investigate just to try to invent techniques and tools that will "read" ghostly activity. Ghost investigation nerds! Some have things going on in their homes and want answers, they get "hooked".

People who investigate are tough people, nerdy people, spiritual people, strange people, and outright scared half to death people. They are all sorts and backgrounds.  There has been a few studies done on the demographics of investigators...so for all you numbers people out there, here we go.

Demographics:

A majority are female (60%), between the ages of 25-35. There are investigators from high school to retired people though.

Most are from the southern United States.

Most completed high school or above (80%).

Most have a steady income.

Most are believers (97%), and more believe in the paranormal, then God as a single entity, although most are religious.

Most people in the US believe in the paranormal (75%). That number is up, and statistics show it is from shows like "Ghost Hunters" and "Ghost Adventures". People are split 50/50 on whether the evidence on these shows is "fact" or not, which I find very interesting. I think the shows attract believers who want to see evidence, and skeptics who want to find a way to refute it.


Another bit of info, that didn't have a percentage to it, is that most don't care about pictures of orbs. They consider them most likely paranormal, but not anything significant. The problem with orbs as far as I am concerned, is most orbs I have seen are dust, water, water vapor, steam, smoke, fog, and fireflies. I have also seen fingers, camera straps, spider webs and more, that people think are "paranormal".

Our particular group tries to be very conscientious about what we allow to go through as evidence. Grant Wilson once said "When in doubt toss it out", and I go by that saying. I have pictures and EVPs that are most likely something, but there is a possibility they are not, so I don't use them. I NEVER "clean up" or alter evidence in any way. It stands alone, or it goes in the trash. When you frequently ghost hunt and do a quality job, you will geet tons of quality evidence.

We are very respectful and make sure we keep information confidential on private investigations, and respect the spirits. We don't yell at them or provoke them, if you have to do that to cause a reaction,  then you don't actually have a haunting in the first place. We don't do things that can easily have another cause,  like flashlight communication where most times the flashlight just arcs and turns on until the arc is spent and turns off. Flashlight communication is up there with orbs. We go for authentic, valid, strong evidence only.

The downside to investigating (yes there is one):

It does cost money in fees, travel, equipment, food, etc.

The environment can vary from unpleasant to dangerous (animals, falling ceilings, and drug addicts are just a few of the issues).

Bad things rarely happen, but can. People can have negative spiritual experiences, and get physically injured.

You can have an awesome experience with no evidence to back it up. That is a major frustration.

Sometimes there are some nutty people out there in open groups that can make the experience uncomfortable or unpleasant.

Sometimes nothing happens after hours and hours of last sleep.


Investigating is fun, frustrating, exciting, boring, and sometimes downright uncomfortable.
Yet, we do it. We do it for many reasons, and for each person who does it, that reason is perfect.


Happy hunting!






Peshaui Wequashimese




(C)2013 Dr R M Wolf. May not be used, copied or reproduced without prior written permission.