The paranormal means different things to everyone - but one of the most popular words that comes to mind when people hear the word paranormal used to be "ghost". These days, one of the biggest words that comes to mind is the word "fake". As a person that has made the paranormal my life's passion and work, this is simply not acceptable to me.
What the paranormal is.
The paranormal is a fascinating field of research, study and scientific exploration into realms that hold mystery, intrigue, discovery and answers to life's biggest questions. It is an infinite possibility that holds a plethora and wealth of knowledge that is very difficult to tap into, but once done, will begin a journey unlike any other offering a multitude of astonishment, bewilderment, satisfaction and rewards.
The paranormal isn't just ghosts and ghost hunting - which seem to be the most popular view of this field - the paranormal is ghosts, spirits, other-worldly entities, infinite realms, gods, angels, demons, poltergeist, portals, gateways, time, space, psychic abilities, mediumship, remote viewing, astral travel, all types of magick and the occult. All of these things and more fall into the definition of the paranormal.
Paranormal topics have been researched and studied for many millennia, trying to get to the bottom of hauntings, poltergeist, psychic abilities, psychokinesis, time travel, opening portals and how magick works, just to name a few. So many people have taken it upon themselves to try to get answers to paranormal happenings. Universities have formed research groups and opened labs in their schools to study paranormal and psychic phenomena. Even the government performed many studies and experiments in paranormal and psychic topics. They were involved in remote viewing to spy on the enemy. They worked on time travel possibilities as well as current - but not admitted to - portal phenomenon. The list goes on.
What the paranormal is not.
The paranormal is not fake. The paranormal is not a source of entertainment - even though that is exactly what it has become. It is unofficially listed under 'BIG HOAX ENTERTAINMENT." This is truly sad and horrible!
Over the past decade, the paranormal has become all the rage. It is the latest craze and phenomenon that is scary, creepy and entertaining. So many people started out wanting to get into the paranormal for reasons that they wanted to truly explore, learn and advance the field. Then it became very enticing to people, especially the younger generations, because they wanted to get that adrenalin thrill of finding a ghost and having it 'scare' them by doing something. Then it became a smash hit on YouTube and other social media so a ton of make-shift ghost hunters appeared going around finding noises and running for their lives out of a building for entertainment purposes. They have absolutely no intention on doing anything paranormal, just entertaining people. They would at least try to go out of their way to make the 'noises' or fake paranormal activity look somewhat real.
Now, there is a ghost hunter or 50 around every corner, even most of the urban explorers jumped on the bandwagon and they do all the scary, keep-you-on-your-seats investigations to be so successful that they find 5 apparitions, three things get thrown at them, 20 things move across the room, etc. It is so ridiculous that it is totally unbearable to watch. These people don't even go out of their way to even try to make it appear somewhat real. They will do anything to get those big YouTube bucks.
People are starting to catch on though. They are starting to realize that so much of this is so fake and they call it bull - they are right! There have even been a bunch of paranormal debunking channels that have come out just to put the screws to these people because it is such a farce. Now so many people just think that every paranormal investigator is fake. This makes things very upsetting and difficult for those who are true to the field - which I have to admit, are few and far between.
The paranormal had such great potential to be included in one of the major sciences but it will never be accepted as such and for so many reasons. Of course these fake entertainers, instead of labeling their work as such, pretend it is real and made sure that true paranormalists are nothing to take serious.
The mainstream scientific community is stuck in their 'box' that they can't seem to think out of. Even though they try to make all of these amazing discoveries, they still cannot think out of their - 'if you can't see it" programming. One famous scientist/engineer/inventor who broke out of this box and understood what it meant to go beyond this closed-minded thinking, was Nikola Tesla. He made a device to communicate with other-worldly beings. He even said that science would take leaps and bounds if they would only combine their physical work with the non-physical. Since most of the paranormal is 'unseen' then it can't be real. It was still worth fighting for; however, the new age of ghost hunters and paranormalists saw to it that even the thought of being recognized as a true science - went straight out the window!
Everyone and their mother, their grandmother and their great, great aunt- fifty times removed went on ghost hunts or 'stumbled' upon a horrific haunting and they did this through trespassing on private property. Ghost hunting used to be free everywhere. No one charged you to do a field investigation. They either granted you permission or they didn't if they didn't like that kind of thing. That was all there was to it. With all of the trespassers and damages they were causing, establishments and oweners of locations stopped trusting ghost hunters and stopped granting permissions.
Now it is a big business. Places like closed down asylums can charge a thousand dollars or more to investigate the location. Many places have a minimum number of ghost hunters that have to be present so they make sure they get enough money. Many places will ask for an insurance policy to cover damages should you or a team member break something.
People who make ghost hunting equipment are fantastic as they provide so much more to work with that what people like me had available way back when with our analog cameras, cassette tape recorders and camcorders that were big, bulky, took cassette film and had no infrared or full spectrum capabilities. This is all we used - it is all we had to use.
With the equipment available today, much more has been discovered and much more has also been abused, both with the investigators faking evidence and the people who build the equipment that are charging exorbitant prices. I know it takes time to design and build a new device. I know that there is the cost of parts. I also know that it doesn't cost so much that a piece of equipment needs a retail price of $600. Modifying an old radio that costs $30 will now be available to you for $200. Those mods don't reflect that pricing! It is all a big business.
That's ok because if you are a fake ghost hunter, then you can afford these scary paranormal prices because you are making a killing on YouTube fooling the public into making sure you get those big bucks so you can afford that way overpriced equipment and travel all over the world living a cozy life doing nothing more than running a production company for paranormal entertainment. and pretending it is real.
This is what I am getting at - the entire reason for this post. If you want to entertain people and use a paranormal theme, fake paranormal evidence, dress up your girlfriend in a black outfit and makeup and put her in the hallway to call her an apparition, then you are not a paranormal investigator, you are a fake OR try listing your entertainment as such. I strongly feel that there is a great need to include another topic in the paranormal and that should be listed as, "PARANORMAL ENTERTAINMENT" so you can fake your audience all you want. Problem with that is, that if people think it is fake, then it isn't as much fun as it is to watch someone scream like they got kicked in the - you-know-where - and run out of a location with their tail between their legs.
As a person who is 100% honest, true to what I do, true to what I present and have all videos, photos, audio to back it up - it is very disheartening to see what a farce people have turned the paranormal into. I know that there are other serious paranormal investigators, researchers, experimenters, psychics, mediums and occultists that take their work seriously and who want to make advancements. Unfortunately we are such a small group and seem to be shrinking.
Still, I will continue to do my extensive paranormal research and experimentation - making breakthroughs where I can and doing my part to advance the science. Para-science is real and it is beyond this world - literally. Please support all of the 'real' paranormalists that are trying to find the answers to the biggest questions in the history of mankind - to get to the bottom of the enigma we call life.