Debunk Paranormal

People want paranormal to exist so bad they actually do damage to the field by not using critical thinking when reviewing evidence.  Lets look at some of the evidence presented.

1.      Mirrors should be avoided when using an IR camera and while taking photos. A mirror will show IR distortion when a camera is pointed at it. A photo of a mirror can show reflections from the room that may confuse the photographer. A dirty mirror (even one we don’t notice the dirt) can show images that our brain wants to finish as a face.  We even see the flash reflections from a mirror presented as evidence.  Please understand what a mirror can do, experiment take pictures from all angles and see what can happen. Smear a layer of soap on a mirror and let it dry, take pictures to see what can show up.

2.      Trees and shrubbery, between the lighting and the leaves and branches we often see pareidolia presented as evidence.  Once again know that the shadows, shading can trick our minds to see faces. Much like seeing animals in clouds.

3.      Windows or glass can much like mirrors give reflections from both inside and outside the home, doubling possibilities of misperception.

4.      Wallpaper, Peeling missing paint causes patterns,  and once again our camera can capture these patterns that our brain misinterprets. If you think you see a face actually look at the patterns and colors, you can easily debunk your brain.

5.      Poor photography and wrong camera settings make up for a great deal of the evidence people THINK they are capturing. If you don’t know everything about your equipment are you qualified to tell a client they have ghosts?

6.      EVP’s  Are these becoming the new orb? This is the new area people are flooding the internet with as evidence. Unknown sounds we often THINK is from the other side? People and lack of understanding of equipment often give us this evidence. Most people do not understand how a footstep or clothing can give you misperceptions. Natural sounds from a home can be misinterpreted. Sounds from outside the home are often captured and presented as evidence. I have seen a few teams present a coyote as a child.

7.      EMF While high EMF can effect our thinking a K2 meter is not a tool to talk with the other side but thanks to television the paranormal community and the need to THINK they have captured a ghost, account for  the internet to be flooded with misperceptions.  Most teams don’t know how to properly use an emf meter.

8.      Battery drain, does the other side wait to drain your battery to get energy? Does this mean ghosts run on direct current? If you think they do then take a marine battery in the home to give them a nice supply of energy. Critical thinking may show you other reasons, battery’s purchased at a dollar store or a discount house may be very close to being out of energy already. Rechargeable batteries are often misused which shortens their life, one weak battery can effect your camera settings and performance, it will also drain your camera showing dead but will if you shut it off seem to have got juice again, this is because the good batteries recover some lost energy. If your at an investigation and experience battery drain use some critical thinking, are your watch batterys drained? Is the clients remote control batterys drained? Someone once reported ghosts use energy so now your lack of common sense jumped on this band wagon.

9.      Cold spots this is another area that is often lack of critical thinking, All homes have air currents, so is it possible to find a cold spot? Yes, is it paranormal? No! What could it be? How about a change in humidity? High humidity can make a person feel chilled. Ever been swimming in a lake and found warm or cold spots? This is very much like a home with fluctuating temperatures. Why would we think a cold spot is from the other side?  I hear arguments because they need energy so they draw it from the air. Well this is fine but if spirits do require and are made of energy and remove the heat from the air wouldn’t that make them a warm spot?

10.  The human mind and paranormal, this is an area so many paranormal teams ignore but they should be studying the brain and all the possible misperceptions it can give us. Remember our brains are programmed to look for familiar items and between our eyes and our brain and missing data they will often make us think we saw something we didn’t. Plus all people who investigate paranormal should study the brain and hallucinations. Sound like to much work? If it does maybe you should find a new hobby.

So do yourself and your clients a favor study, test equipment, learn everything you can about the brain and misperceptions. Its only when we stop presenting explainable evidence that we can move forward to hopefully get the answers we seek.