Debunk Paranormal

edit all details

I'm new to investigation, although I have been looking for answers for a long time.  I am finding in my search for the truth about what might be going on "out there" I am finding instead a whole mass of people who are just plain "out there".  This is probably the only paranormal site on the internet that won't take down what I am about to say, and I would rather share it in a place that I know is about finding answers.

So forgive me as I proceed to spew my rant.

First..photographs.  I am finding, thanks to Debunk Paranormal, the many things about camera settings that  will cause photographic anomolies.  Now when someone has a picture that looks strange and says "what happened here?"...that is someone I have noticed who will take the analysis much better.  However, I am encountering paranormal teams...not enthusiasts, but TEAMS..who will claim, "ghost" or worse yet "demon", and proceed to scare the crap out of the client.  Then when they are called out, it can become a cyber bloodbath.  All over wrong camera settings, pareidolia, and the like.  Are these teams looking for the truth or do they just want the "wow" factor?  Are they really that uneducated?  Or do they know damn good and well that the picture is explainable and are out to find woo and not actual data? 

Second, equipment.  The equipment that is used in investigating, for the most part, was never designed to "hunt ghosts".  The controversial  KII meter  can be used as a debunking tool if used correctly, but it is not a cell phone to the dead or to a haunted item.  I actually saw a member of a paranormal team say that a KII went off in front of an item...and that item was declared "haunted" and destroyed.  A childhood heirloom was thrown away because a team said it was haunted.  Worse yet these people were supposedly "grateful".  Grateful for a lie????

Third, claimed psychics.   With very scant few exceptions, they are people who are scamming those who are vulnerable.  They are usually only gifted at "fishing" for information and giving shotgun readings.  Some out and out search for information on people, especially on the internet, to make them think they "know" them.and then proceed to scare them with utter BS.  Better yet are the ones who claim to help the police.  Yes, police have taken tips from psychics.  Check the records on how many times those tips panned out.  Check even further to see how many hours of manpower was wasted on a tip from someone who had a "feeling".

I want the truth.  I have critically examined my own experiences that I once believed were paranormal in nature and found most to have an explanation.  Not all..but most.  Enough to keep me searching, but what I am finding is many people don't want to look any further but to say "ghost".  Never mind that carbon monoxide poisoning can be subtle enough not to be immediately recognized and can cause a person to believe they're experiencing paranormal.  Never mind the many neurotoxins that are released into the environment that if a person is exposed to for a period of time, their perception might be altered.  Never mind the fact that hallucinations occur IN NORMAL PEOPLE because of brain misfires.  Never mind that the orb in that photo is dust, but give it a face, a name, and an emotion.  Tell a frightened family who moved from out of state that a childhood toy is causing their child to see a ghost rather than research the facts about "new house effect".

It makes me sick sometimes, and other times it makes me laugh.  And it makes me that much more determined to weed through it and look for the truth.  I would rather see one example of something truly unexplained than a hundred examples of paracrap.

As investigators, shouldn't the truth matter above all else?