![]() ![]() So much of that is ridiculously expensive and useless most of the time. “We use equipment, but not the stuff you see on TV. ![]() We make actual reports - a lot of investigators don’t - and we document as much as we can,” Leigh says. “We do bring more scientific rigor to the process. They don’t use mediums or psychics, and while they do use cameras, digital audio recorders and other technical instruments to support their investigations, their most important tool is one you don’t see often in the field: the scientific method. “There are a handful of teams out there who use methods similar to ours, but they’re few and far between.” PIM operates as a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit, which means the group doesn’t charge for its work or make money off of the outreach programs they conduct at libraries and other venues. “We have a ‘debunk-first’ mentality, and that’s reflected in our cases,” he says. Their work is nothing you’d see on TV, but if it was it would be more like MythBusters than Ghost Hunters. In 2007, he founded his own team, Paranormal Investigators of Milwaukee (PIM). With an undergraduate degree in biology and a master’s in epidemiology and cell biology, Leigh is a career scientist who applies his scientific training to investigating the paranormal. And some scientists, although not many, have devoted their own time and resources to studying the paranormal - by becoming ghost hunters themselves. Today, a surprising number of colleges and universities offer opportunities to study and even conduct research in parapsychology. Even Einstein once attended a séance (although he did not report any spooky action). In the 1920s, the venerable Scientific American was open-minded enough to offer a long-standing reward, up to $15,000 at one point, to anyone who could provide conclusive evidence of ghosts. Sherlock Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle - a trained physician, don’t forget - spent the latter part of his life (and much of his credibility) as a defender of spiritualism. Harvard’s own William James, who helped found the school’s psychology department, was obsessed with the supernatural throughout his career. ![]() Īnd yet, over the decades, plenty of scientists and science-minded institutions have dipped their toes into the murky waters of the paranormal. With their flashy gadgets and dramatic reactions any time the night-vision camera captures a mote of dust in the air, it’s little wonder that the field of paranormal investigations has long been consigned to the garbage heap of pseudoscience. ![]() If you are not careful to observe certain precautions, it is highly possible you may unknowingly call forth entities you may be ill-equipped to handle and who may create problems for you, your family, as well as everyone present and their families and friends.It’s easy to have a laugh at the expense of all those ghost hunters you see on TV. Before you begin, you must understand that working with spirits of any sort is not a game (be sure to read Alyne Pustanio’s article on page 14 and Madrina Angelique's article on page 30 before attempting your first séance). Though I am not reproducing the precise instructions I received from my aunt here-frankly it was so long ago I would not be able to repro- duce them verbatim-the following instructions will get you started on a formal method of communicating with the spirits of the Dead. It wasn’t until much later in life that I came to understand how much of a role séances played in New Orleans Voudou and Spiritualism back in the day. ![]()
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