You hear the cliché bump in the night and instantly your mind locks on the thought that it’s a ghost. It’s not unusual to jump to conclusions when experiencing something strange. As a paranormal investigator it is for this reason that I believe it is important to retain an element of scepticism. But I also believe that it is important for any diehard sceptics to keep an open mind.
Guest blog writer for Llewellyn Worldwide, Deonna Kelli Sayed writes about the four types of paranormal investigators, Faith based, Client based, Scientific based and Legend Tripping. For me personally using science based methods is important in working towards proving the existence of a paranormal world.
Not every piece of evidence you collect or experience is going to be paranormal. A large percentage can be debunked as natural causes such as light reflection, noise contamination, matrixing etc. It is for this reason that it is important to debunk first.
Debunking the paranormal means you are proving something to be other than a spirit. You are proving it to be false. Once you have found a rational explanation for something, it goes in the explainable category. However, if you are unable to find a valid explanation, you can then continue gathering evidence to back up the paranormal theory.
Another important point is it is easier to debunk something you are present for. I often get sent various forms of evidence with people asking my opinion on them. My rule of thumb is that if I’m not present for capturing the evidence then I will place it in the potential debunk pile. If I have not been able to have the opportunity to experience what took place, I cannot confidently analyse it.
Unfortunately this seems to be a common issue with “evidence” of the paranormal being posted to social media these days. People assume because it’s on a social platform that it must be real. However I would say from observing that 99% of it is fake or a hoax. This is doing a real disservice to the paranormal community and unfortunately it is some of our own members responsible.
People trust science and we live with the hope that one day science will provide us with the answers we seek. So continue with scepticism, debunk first and rely on scientific discovery to validate our theories so we may one day be taken seriously.
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