Many paranormal groups claim that ghost activity is heightened during full or new moons. Many trauma nurses and police claim that craziness increases during these times. There have been many reports written that verify these claims, and thus we have the term lunacy derived from the Latin term for the moon -Luna.

Is this for real or is this just madness?

Many ghost groups use a moon information graphic in addition to the space and atmospheric “weather” data on their websites. The claim is that ghost activity is heightened during (or just before/after depending upon the theory) the full or new moon phase. Is there any credibility to these pieces of data? In order to answer this we must first look...

I typically ignore what the hardcore skeptics have to say about the paranormal field. A healthy dose of skepticism is good for any type of scientific endeavor in order to keep things balanced, but many times the hardcore skeptics have an axe to grind and will argue just for the sake of arguing. I will admit, however, that I will frequently read skeptical magazines and view skeptical websites just to see what is going on with the other side as well as to keep myself grounded.

In the November/December 2010 issue of Skeptical Inquirer I was curious to see a story on the cover called “Ghost Hunting Mistakes”. I rolled my eyes and expected to see the same drivel of pointless arguments, but as I flipped to page 44 I found myself nodding in agreement in every paragraph.

I even smiled a few times as I read things that I have rallied against for a number of years as the...

"Is there anyone here who would like to speak to us? Please tell us your name."

                                            

A common first line to many who take the adventure of playing with a Ouija board. First of all, Ouija is a registered trademark of Parker Brothers, a

I sit here at my hotel room at the Hawthorn in Dayton, Ohio late in the evening on Saturday, August 21st. Today I was a speaker at the second annual Ohio Paranormal Convention here in Dayton alongside John Sabol, the Ghost Excavator and many time guest of the ParaNexus Universe. I noticed a common theme this year at the convention that was touched by only a few in attendance last year; the culture of our field and its influence by the television shows and the internet.

In John's half of our joint presentation he made several comments about how our field has been negatively influenced by television and how our field lacks true direction by performing horizontal investigations instead of connecting with hauntings/apparitions through their culture (instead of through our 21st century technology). I also made many statements that our field was going in circles with the blind leading the blind. Two television shows were represented by guests in attendance at the convention;...

Late last year I presented “The Power of Belief in Paranormal Investigation” to an audience at the Northeast Ohio Paranormal Conference in Rootstown, Ohio. In this I discussed some of the belief systems that are in place and how we approach them (I’ll be discussing more of these topics later in future blog posts). One of the topics I touched on was the belief factor in the overall production of ghostly events. This was actually a last minute addition to my presentation, but was one that generated a lot of questions during and after the event.

I am currently writing a second part to my first book, “Handbook for the Amateur Paranormal Investigator or Ghost Hunter: How to Become a Successful Paranormal Group”, and have included a chapter on belief. It is not only a basic concept, but one that I feel a lot of veteran individuals and groups do not fully grasp or realize has a presence in...