Paranormal Adventures

On August  9^th  and 10^th,  2013 I attended a paranormal convention and attended a multitude of interesting sessions.  The various topics were tech team and equipment, the correct way to hold a séance, a look at ghosts, haunted museum artifacts, Sky People and the first North Americans, Dark Journeys: Exploring Urban Legends, a real life participant of one of the actual Amityville Horror episodes, Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files, Cryptozoology, and a live taping of 30 Odd Minutes.  Two open discussions were held with well known psychic, Chip Coffey, and stars from the television show, Ghost Hunters.  The form of study that was covered during this conference is referred to as Noetic Science. 

During the first presentation, Britt Griffith, told the audience about the special equipment that is used when conducting ghost hunts.  Thermal imaging can assist with picking up any form of spirit life.  Analog Digital may create a lot of noise and can be easily confused with possible sounds of ghostly encounters. Many ghost hunters use the same technical equipment that weather stations utilize.  Spirit identification can include steep temperature drops, static electricity rising, and barometric pressure fluctuations which are monitored and recorded.   Sony night vision and Go Pro are great products and it was recommended that the equipment should record at 30 frames per second.  After collecting evidence there needs to be an evidence review to see if there are shadows, strange luminous anomalies, and people who are not there.

Amy Bruni and Adam Berry from the Ghost Hunters Show held an open discussion which permitted the audience to ask them questions.  They were asked why they got started in the ghost hunting business.  Amy replied that she lived in a haunted house when she was growing up and Adam stated that he began with studying ghosts of animals.  Adam stated that ghosts are not rare and dealing with a demon is extremely rare.  It was suggested that the audience explore Religiousdemonology.com.  Unstable humans manifest unstable ghosts.  If they were jerks as people, they will probably be jerks as ghosts. 

Tim Shaw relayed his various qualifications and positions such as filling the role of Spiritual Minister, and he refers to himself as a medium, a conduit with spirits.  He went on to explain that séance is designed to produce physical phenomenon.  There are open and closed séances.  Open séance is represented by different people going through the motions of holding séances at irregular times.  Closed means the same people try to keep set times such as weekly of holding séances.  It took him six months of meeting regularly with the same people before they got things right.  In order to increase your success with séances you need to heighten your vibrations, which is created by becoming happier.  The happier you are the higher your vibrations.  In order to properly hold a séance you need to follow these steps: 1.  Prayer, and singing, 2.  Introduce yourself, 3.  State why you are holding the séance such as I want to contact Uncle Jack, for example. 4.  Determine what you can expect, and 5. Medium must say “We must now end this session. 

Dave Schrader, TV Host of Paranormal Challenge, informed the audience of the various forms of spirit encounters and entities: 1.  Intelligent Hauntings in which an interactive spirit appears to be as aware of the ghost hunter and the ghost hunter is aware of them.  2.  A Residual Haunting is an experience that seems to repeat itself and has no sense of the ghost hunter’s presence. 3.  A dream visitation can be very vivid and can include phone calls, various colors, and memories.  4.  Old Hag Syndrome involves a sleep paralysis and it feels like a huge weight is on your chest and you may have trouble breathing. 5.  Shadow people are dark travelers and Dave referred to them as the watchers, usually not feared. 6.  Poltergeist are particularly loud ghosts.  7.  Inhumans include demons, fairies, elementals, succubus, and incubus. They usually knock three times to get your attention.  8.  Angels usually give us messages.  9. Aliens are the final category. 

Chip Coffey stated that paranormal is something that cannot be explained; however, you cannot deny something happened.  This was an open discussion and he was asked a question about demons.  He explained that when there is a demonic presence there is oppression, infestation, and/or rotting smells such as sulfur or rotting flesh.  There is usually disease and dysfunction within the household.  A question was asked about when a loved one has died when can you contact that spirit and Chip suggested that you wait 90 to 120 days because the individual can be in deep grief and need time to process before contacting the lost one.  Another person in the audience brought up the topic of spirit wandering, when your spirit leaves your body when you are sleeping.  Interesting.

John Zaffis covered Haunted Museum Artifacts.  He actually has a barn filled with items that were once considered haunted.  He stated that gold holds onto psychic energy.  Animals are psychic, they are the most psychic.  Pay attention to the dogs in movies, many don’t want to enter the homes if they sense the home is haunted.  Salt and other binding techniques to block the item's power.  Salt has a high iron content. Bury or throw the item in deep water if you don’t want the item around.  Burning is not recommended because it can release some of its power.  Sometimes things can occur if you move into a home with some of the belongings of the previous owners.

During the Dark Journeys presentation given by Jeff Balanger, he covered information about many urban legends such as pop rocks and coke, and the sandman which was brought about in 1817 originally by Ernst T. W. Hoffman “Der Sandmann” involving the ripping out of eyes to feed to children, and the sandman is kept away by a magic spray.  An urban legend is a popular story alleged to be true that is spread from one person to another over time.  There has been an urban legend about kidney snatchers and the tooth fairy.  Dr. Duncan MacDougall from Haverfill, Mass. In 1901 weighed people right before they died and right after they died and it was determined that a person’s soul weighed 21 grams or ¾ of an ounce.  This was before ethics were enforced.  Jeff defined a ghost as the past demanding to be remembered like a movie replaying.  It has been noted that time overlaps itself and that is why we may see ghosts in period clothing dated back to the 1800s.  History is a ghost story and he mentioned Gettysburg.  Other urban legends are bloody Mary and Area 51.  He suggested that we need to be a part of the story. 

Loren Coleman described Crytozoology and its origins.  Crytozoology is the study of beings such as Big Foot and Swamp Thing.  Cryptids are animals studied by Cryptozoolists. In Portland, ME Loren with others opened a Cryptozoology Museum on Avon St.  This museum is the first one of its kind in the world.  Dr. Bernard Heuvelmans is considered the Father of Cryptozoology.  In order to state evidence of existence there must be empirical evidence such as fossils, bodies, feces, DNA, hair samples, and other anecdotal evidence including foot prints.  There have been sightings of a female Big Foot.  80% of the cases are the result of a misdiagnosis.  Could be a back of a moose for example. 

Christopher Quaratino actually lived in the Amityville home for 28 days.  His dog did not want to enter the home.  His stepfather, George, went from being a proactive man to a brooding and angry man.  There was a discovery when a panel in one room was broken and there were bags of pills that George may have been hiding.  It was questioned if George was involved in cult behavior, he was seen saying a mantra over and over.  There was a determination that a demon attached to him in the Amityville home.  George and Christopher’s mother participated in an exorcism.  At first Christopher was enthralled with George, George worked on motorcycles and then when George seemed to be calling in a spirit, and then George became scary.  From the time they lived in the Amityville home until Christopher moved out when he was 16, his stepfather was abusive.  His older brother moved out when he was 16.  Christopher received a standing ovation because this was his second time of speaking in public about his Amityville experience and it took a lot of courage to do so.

The last session I attended was entitled Fact or Fiction and the presenters were Bill Murphy and Ben Hansen.  We were shown a video of a possible UFO.  It was hovering and there were no other indicators associated with government crafts.  The U.S. Military Drone jet looks like a UFO, the X-47B.  Power sources include: 1.  Electromagnetism – holds molecules together. 2.  Gravity. 3.  Strong nuclear. 4.  Weak nuclear and 5.  Torsion which is represented by pendulum spin forces.  During WWII the Nazi constructed a craft with no visible propulsion. 

The presenters at the paranormal conference gave the audience an interesting take on their paranormal experiences.  To be honest with you I have experienced things throughout my lifetime that I know happened but I cannot explain them.  I have seen a ghost in period dress walking through a wall.  Another family member reported seeing the same ghost in the same location.  These experiences have made me question my sanity.  However, attending this conference has convinced that these paranormal experiences do occur on a regular basis.