Is Paranormal Investigating a Passing Fad?....

For those of you who think that investigating the paranormal (or ghost hunting) as it has been dubbed is a new thing introduced through the modern “reality T.V.” phenomenon, take a look at this:

The first recorded ghost investigation was in 100 AD by Pliny the Younger, a lawyer, author and magistrate in ancient Rome. He wrote about the investigation of a haunted house in ancient Athens. Even before that, in biblical times the followers of Jesus though Jesus himself was a ghost walking on water. That reference has to say something about the ancient belief in ghosts.

In 168, one of the first full time ghost investigators was Joseph Glanville. He was a chaplain of King Charles II, and he investigated paranormal activity all across the British Isles. His most famous case was the Drummer of Tedowrth, and he even published his results in Saducismus Triumphant.

The first recorded organization (formed for the purpose of investigating haunted locations) was the Ghost Club, founded in London in 1862. In the mid 1880’s the American Psychological Association suggested applying scientific method to paranormal investigating and the idea gained strong support fro England. As a result the Society for Psychical Research was formed in order to study the existence of ghosts or spirits. This group is STILL in existence today!!

So when people say that paranormal research is bogus, and a passing fad that will die with reality T.V.…. you know it’s been around a lot longer than anyone of us!!

Thomas Edison….Father of the modern EVP!

Thomas Edison was one of the most respected scientists in modern history, and he believed that it would one day be possible to build a machine that would help humans communicate with the dead! In a 1920 essay, Edison wrote: "Now what I propose to do is furnish psychic investigators with an apparatus which will give a scientific aspect to their work."

Eddison is also quoted as saying: "If our personality survives, then it is strictly logical or scientific to assume it retains memory, intellect, other faculties and knowledge we acquire on Earth.
Therefore...if we can evolve an instrument so delicate as to be affected by our personality as it survives in the next life, such an instrument, when made available, ought to record something."
~Thomas Alva Edison~

Early EVP’s have been recorded since the introduction of sound recording in the early 1900’s At first these unexplained voices were dismissed as anomalies, but as early as 1936 scientists began looking at EVP’s as possible “Voices from the Universe”

In 1982, Sarah Estep developed a rating system for EVPs: Class C are the faintest recordings, sometimes indecipherable; Class B voices are louder, clearer, and make more sense; and Class A voices are clear, can be heard without headphones and can even be duplicated onto other tapes. This system gives a new researcher a way to describe the EVPs he or she discovers to others in terms they will understand.

Ghost, Mist, Smoke, or Light???

Believe me when I tell you the list of non-believers is immense compared to those that do believe in the paranormal. This is why we do our best to prove as well as disprove everything that we can.

That being said I wish to present another photo taken from our Ogden Exchange Investigation last month. The interesting thing about this photo is that one of our investigators saw something moving in the corner of the room. None of the rest of us saw anything so a few of our members started taking pictures. In a group of probably 6-10 photos taken one after the other this photo was the only one that had anything show up on it.

To us it appears to be a paranormal mist; which is believed to be swirling energy that resembles fog, illuminated by light. It is something that can be seen by the human eye (but typically it is captured by camera because the phenomenon happens so fast).

As with all our evidence, we present it to you and want you to make your own conclusions!!

Ogden Exchange Building…

Last month we were privileged to do an investigation in the Ogden Exchange building. This building is reported to be one of the most haunted locations in Utah. This building was erected in 1930 and used as a livestock exchange until 1959 when Weber County purchased it and converted it into the Weber County Mental Health Institute.

There have been murders, suicides, and one reported death due to a heart attack.

We did get some very compelling EVP’s…(coming soon)….But we wanted to present this picture. The first picture is the original. At the time it was taken one of our investigators stated that they could see something in the hall.

At first glance this is what the photo looked like. Our tech manager then started lightening up the photo to see if we could get anything from the shadow.

So here is the same photo lightened up a bit……Look closely on the left (you can click on the photo to see it in a larger frame). Upon seeing an outline our tech manager zoomed in on the now lighted photo and this is what we got.

As always, we are not claiming that this is necessarily paranormal…however we did have an investigator see something in the hall, and there does appear to be the outline of a person coming out of the doorway.

It was a really good investigation, and we will be posting more about it soon!

Welcome To The New Team…

We want to welcome all of our Salt City Ghost Seekers friends! This will be their new home. We have combined forces to create a bigger and better team of like minded individuals.

Don’t we worry we will still be investigating and posting our findings as usual; we will still be answering questions and doing our best to help “illuminate” the paranormal.

Please stay tuned for some really important updates and an exciting new chapter for all of us here.

*Support Your Local Haunted Attractions*….

We have highlighted a number of really cool haunted attractions this month, spanning the nation to bring you highlights from some of the biggest and best haunted attraction around.  Now that the big day is here…Halloween… we urge you to go out and support your local Haunted Attractions.

We will be heading out to the brand new “FearFactory SLC” this evening….Despite a late start and rocky opening we are SUPER impressed with what they have been able to pull off…

Located at 666 W. 900 S. in SLC, Utah…we will see you tonight! (Please join us)!!

The Number One Haunted Corn Maze for 2011…..

Don’t think we forgot about you Haunted Corn Maze!! According to Hauntworld.com the spot for number one haunted corn maze goes to the ‘Spookywoods Corn Maze” in High Point NC. It boasts the most massive maze in the United States with a number of cool attractions including;

House of Darkness

Enter the dark house of fun and fear.  Can you find your way out of our twisted imagination?

 

Prison Break

Jump aboard the tram and keep an eye out for the convicts. The woods are full of fugitives on the loose, they have taken control over the rail road and are plotting to derail the train.  Can your group stop these low life’s before they blow up the town?

 

Fright Lights

Hold on to your date, or any hot person near by.  It’s time to enter into Fright Lights. Find your way through our amazing laser light show where what looks like a tree might just be a slobbering monster!

 

Spookywoods

Enter into the unknown world of Spookywoods. This fall we have created some of the most creative sets in our history.  Something new and very twisted awaits our loyal fan base. This attraction is not for the faint of heart, prepare yourself for the most shocking set we have ever created as you enter into the hornets nest. Caution, how long can you hold your breath?

 

Military Zombie Shoot-out

Kersey Valley is the first haunted attraction in the USA to use this state of the art laser tag interactive technology.  Grab your laser gun and make your way through the barracks, mess hall, fuel depot, medical tent and the ammo storage area as you shoot zombies with your laser gun!  There is also mission to take out a guard on top of the tower. The crawling zombies are the easiest to kill since they don’t shoot back, but watch out for the Sargent and Boss Zombies as they do shoot back. This year FEAR FIGHTS BACK!