Truth about Ghost Hunters

People always ask about how one gets involved with ghost hunting. The truth is that there are several reasons behind why someone would invest so much time and energy into something that is not yet to be proven by modern day science. I am a ghost hunter, yet I am a reformed ghost hunter. I have been active in the field for over 6 years and I have come to the realization that there is much more to being a ghost hunter, a lot more.

The majority of teams claim to utilize scientific methods while they investigate peoples’ homes or rumored haunted locations. But the truth is there are not many real “scientists” in the field of ghost hunting. The majority of scientists who acknowledge ghosts are very public about their skepticism on the subject and typically laugh at the ghost-hunting concept that we are all familiar with.

A lot of teams are claiming to work science guidelines when in fact they are creating the illusion of science. Incorporating high tech equipment is one of the more common ways to make a team look and feel as if they have an edge over victims of potential paranormal activity. These scientific based teams are easy to spot: tool belts, matching uniforms and convincing yet inspiring terminology.

The ghost hunting community is full of all kinds of people. These people differ on opinions, techniques, faith and an overall outlook about life and death. This is the beauty of the field, the diverse information that is constantly being provided to the public. The field is full of people who are have experienced paranormal phenomena, people who want to experience the unknown, and of course the people who just like the thrill and attention of it all.

Over the years I have discovered the dark side of ghost hunting. Media influence, team rivalry, who has better proof, who has more evidence posted, whose website looks better, how many locations are investigated, who got to what location first and so on.

Starting my research, officially producing a website, and eventually forming a team years ago, I have witnessed a lot of good and a lot of bad, more bad than anything else.

Media - The quest to be famous, the paranormal rat race all year and especially around Halloween, teams soliciting media sources just to get the word out about their team in hopes to get more locations to investigate. Not many teams actually have focus on educating people about the unknown; they are more focused on collecting haunted locations to broadcast on their website. I have witnessed many teams even here in Oklahoma who refuse to investigate a location unless there is a media source available to them. What is the reasoning behind this? Is this what ghost hunting has come to? Researching in hopes to get on television? More media?

There are teams across the nation that are documenting their investigations on video and promoting the footage on their website. They are putting more time and effort into video editing footage of them and not really paying attention to why they are actually there - hunting specters. They will declare why they put entire investigations on their websites is because it allows the public to witness them on an investigation. So they say. But truth is there really is no evidence presented, just really bad shots of their behinds. The Media Starved.

From what a lot of people are noticing, as for any “evidence” that is applied to actual research, there just isn’t any evidence being collected; there is no logic behind it! They are not providing evidence to anyone or the field of paranormal studies. Are they putting their team on video in hopes of being noticed in the field? Does this make them more official or credible in the field of parapsychology? In my opinion, not at all. They are doing nothing but offering the illusion of prominence and publicity. Media attention is very common with ghost hunters, especially around Halloween. There is a huge battle within media sources that utilize ghost hunters and the quest to get the better story. All in all a lot of ghost hunting teams are not happy with the way they are portrayed around Halloween, but then again year after year they solicit media sources to get their team on television.

I have asked many reputable ghost hunters if media attention assisted them in getting locations to investigate, they answered pretty much the same. Overall they agree that media increases traffic, awareness and crazy people. Playing into Halloween media or the stereotype of a ghost hunter will never impress property owners to the point of contacting an investigative team.

I have to agree with the reputable masses. Over the years I have done my fair share of media and I will openly admit that it has not assisted with my actual research in the paranormal field. Yes, it is a lot of fun to show what we do to the public, so on for the season and to scare little kids I say go for it! Tell the ghost story! Why do they try to convince the general public that you are legitimate researchers while they play the theme to Ghost Busters in the background followed up by the infamous wolf howl and a cheesy graphic of a full moon?

As for educating the public and not giving skeptics and scientists something to laugh at, we as modern day ghost hunters are failing miserably, especially around Halloween.

Competition - Competition is one of the more prominent problems in the investigative field. It is in conjunction with the media craze I mention above. What are we competing against? When you analyze the situation it is rather ignorant. There are teams who are in constant conflict with other teams just because they want to feel as if they have conquered their desired home state. I find this to be amusing. For example there are a lot of teams here in Oklahoma. Some of these teams are more reputable than others because they stay out of the drama that is started by competitive teams. I have been investigating for years now and I have been face to face with competitive teams and in the long run I have bonded with a small group of teams that are not in the category of competitive. We have worked together and there has never been any hostility or rivalry. I personally will tell anyone who asks why I do not support a team. This could be that they utilize psychics all the way down to my point of me not liking their protocol. Butting heads, I really don’t recommend much but not many people are paying much attention to the inside drama involved in the paranormal field. If the general public or even the skeptics were aware of the 8^th grade mentality that I personally had to deal with, this is giving them nothing else but more things to not take us seriously. Will I ever be candid about my dislike of a team? I will always, because I have my reasons.

For example, there is a team in Tulsa Oklahoma who seems to run the roost in that neck of the woods. Well, I do not agree with this team, how they conduct investigations and how much pointless research is applied to psychic phenomenon outside of actual haunting evidence. I do not respect this team because they are very involved with blatant self-promotion and their media attention is their main focus. As for actually researching the paranormal, well that aspect of this team is virtually nonexistent.

There are teams here in Oklahoma City that I do not agree with, they are a little less competitive but all the same I will continue to be vocal about why I lack respect for them. A good investigator would take advice under consideration from his/her peers, but it is the opposite. Offering advice to these teams means that it is war at the least. So, if you can debunk a piece of their evidence, don’t attempt it. They will shun you like a cult member gone astray.

Competition is also rampant when it comes to locations to investigate. There are teams who surf the web to find locations that other teams are currently working on. They are called Site-Thieves. They show up to these locations, typically break in or under false impressions and they conduct miniature investigations just to say that they have been there. They are challenging for locations and in turn making the entire investigative field appear to be idiots.

Like I have mentioned I have been actively involved with all aspects of ghost hunting for quite some time now. I have worked with nationally known ghost hunters to the mom and pop teams from backwoods America. I have met some brilliant people during my journey into the unknown. For every brilliant person there is always one yokel that will claim to know everything and pretend to have a better understanding of death.

In my opinion nobody will ever know the truth about ghosts and the afterlife. How to learn the truth is to personally die, experience what death has to offer then return to your body and give a full report. Then the skeptics because of the grandeur of the story would still look you down and giggle. Ghost hunting is a personal interest. There are rare breeds of people in the field who actually have a strong mindset to make the hunt fun and offer something in return to the public.

There are teams out doing great things in the field. They are documenting history, they are writing books that will stand the test of time (TV can’t do that!) they are passing stories down and getting people involved with the past once again. There are teams who are adopting forgotten cemeteries and going out in their spare time cleaning up trash and mowing grass. There are teams out there who actually teach homeowners that their house is not in fact haunted that yes, the mind can play tricks on people. There are teams out there who are hosting conferences to save historical buildings and donating profits to charitable organizations. There are teams out there that are hosting workshops on educating the public on how to be skeptical and debunking stereotypes, not teaching people how to develop a 6^th sense for a reasonable price. There are teams out there who are not throwing their faith and religious beliefs on people. There are teams out there who are just having some fun with a great hobby. There are teams out there who are utilizing psychology more and more these days because they have figured out that an EMF meter is not a direct link to the afterlife. There are more and more teams who are turning skeptical and applying common sense to the field. There are teams who are working on new theories outside of the ghost story concept that we all know, love and expect. There are teams who are working hard silently and are refusing media attention because they actually have dignity and do not want to appear as a ghost hunting fool on television. There are teams out there that are not taking this research too seriously. There are teams who are now offering beautiful photographs of the locations they have visited. There are teams that are recognizing the beauty in these historical locations outside of the ghost rumors. There are teams who are not afraid to laugh and have a good time while on location. There are teams who do not wear matching t-shirts and tacky tool belts, because they are secure enough with who they are to not play into the stereotype of a ghost hunter.

The truth about ghost hunters is that none of us actually know more than anyone else. We may have more education on the subject of parapsychology or ghostly phenomenon but we are far from experts. One of the harsher truths is that the field is packed full of crazy people who have nothing more in their life outside of looking for ghosts. The truth is that there are enough shady characters in the field to produce a really good and comical reality show. The truth is that there are egos the size of Texas and attitudes of 8^th graders. The truth is ghost hunters will go broke purchasing equipment while they let the lights go out on their family. The truth is that people get so absorbed with this hobby that it becomes an addiction. The truth is that there are teams and individuals who think more of their team than their own family or children. The truth is that teams all over are involved with the media craze in hopes to get their 15 min of fame. The truth is that the direction of ghost hunting has evolved into a fantasy business venture and real research has been put on the backburner once again.

If you are interested in becoming a ghost hunter I applaud you and I highly recommend that you be very guarded when it comes to the type of team you would like to work with. I have met some brilliant researchers who are smart enough to not adopt a ghost hunting team to work with. I commend these people for their passion and commitment in the field of parapsychology. These are the true leaders. These are the people who will overall make a difference.

There are great teams out there! But if they require you to spend countless hours on their message boards, watching ghost cams or these teams are refusing to conduct investigations without media support, I would put my guard up if I were you.

*Disclaimer- the above article is the opinion of Tonya Hacker… not a direct reflection of all members of the GHOULI team~