Paranormal Education

Collecting evidence of the paranormal should not be easy.

Paranormal Investigation is a hobby of patience; we spend 6 to 8 hours at a place, with equipment set up and recording then at the end tear everything down, go home and review just to spend another 6 to 8 hours to find NOTHING and then start the process all over again, and that's fine. Truth be told, a paranormal investigation is a very slow sometimes boring process that yields nothing in the end. This is paranormal investigation done RIGHT. Unlike the TV shows where the common phrase is "did you hear that?" or "did you see that?" Or in almost every investigation they got so many EVP, video & photos of ghosts.

Paranormal investigation should NOT be easy if you are doing it right. If you do many investigations and get nothing, then you did your job right and you go back to try it again till you find nothing and deem the location "not haunted" or after many investigations you find 1 or 2 pieces of data, then you keep researching. People or groups ask us why we don't get evidence every time, they always do.

People say to us "Surly you photographed orbs, got a hit on the K2 meter, had the flashlight go on and off during questioning, did you find nothing on any of the ghost apps and did you not get any EVPS's on the Frank box, spirit box or SB7, did the device that speaks words not say anything?"

My response to the questions above to them is this "If you have easy time getting paranormal evidence then SOMETHING is wrong! If you have easy time getting paranormal evidence, then SOMETHING is not being done right!" Go back and re-examine your method of collecting this data.

Collecting proof of the paranormal is NOT easy or fast. If you have a tool that every time you use on an investigation and you get proof of a ghost no matter where you are, there is a good chance it does not work or is giving you false positives.

Over the 14 years we have done over 170 total investigations (residential, follow-up cases, historic buildings & cemeteries), but when you go to our page and look at the data we have collect you will only find a total of 40 and that 40 is over 10 year stretch or to put it another way out of 100% of our investigations our success rate is 24% and that means 76% of the time we recorded no data. Ghosts are not easy to collect data on. Paranormal investigation should be a challenge to everyone and tools that give you a positive result every time are tools that do not work, for if they did don't you think science would be sending teams of people to the field to use these tools. They are not because something as immaterial, ethereal, rarely seen as ghosts is not easy nor do they always cooperate.

Stop and ask yourself, if you end every investigation with "evidence" and collecting it is easy ARE YOU DOING IT RIGHT?

Ghost (Hunting) Apps

In this day and age there is an app for everything you can think of. In the last four years there has been an ever growing number of "ghost apps" that claim everything from they can detect when one is around you, ones that (supposedly) scan multiple frequencies for paranormal activity, to apps that randomly say words, but are still vague, an app that you talk into and sends that word into an echo loop that you have to listen for a word from that. The only thing that is different between any app and a frank box (aka spirit box) one is a program that is created with instructions on how to perform and the other is a broken radio.

When you see an app for the paranormal why do you see the phrase "entertainment only" Understand this app was created by someone, maybe they believe in the paranormal, maybe they just want to cash in on the popularity of it. Here are some questions to ask yourself:

1. How do you know that when the program (app) was created maybe it was instructed to say a random word from a list of pre-programmed words that are vague enough that when said it could fit into any area.

2. With any electric (or scientific) equipment that measures any energy it has to be calibrated to ensure the readings are correct. So who will calibrate the app or even your phone or pad to ensure its reading correctly?

3. Ask your self did the creator of this app have the best interests of you, your group or the research of the paranormal OR did they have the best interest of making as much money as they can and wanted to profit off the paranormal.

Using ANY app to research the paranormal is unreliable for the reasons already listed. In the end, unless you can examine the code of the program you cannot prove that your information collected from the app is proven accurate.

Now with all that said, if you are going to use an app, for your entertainment only, FINE pick one and go have fun. If you are looking for more reliable data don't use an app!

Questions to ask yourself about the Frank box (AKA spirit box)

Ok I have a question for all paranormal groups or people that use the frank box (aka spirit box) please provide some feedback.

1. When you use the frank box, where are the "voices" coming from earthbound spirits or from everywhere (earthbound, heaven or hell)

2. How many times have you heard a voice speak (clearly) in a foreign language?

3. You have clipped the pin so it does not stop scanning, why don't you cut the antenna wire and the receiving pin?

4. If the voices come from everywhere, what good is it on an investigation of a house; it could be the spirit from 6 states over and not even from your current location.

5. How do you TRULY know, that the voices heard are indeed from a spirit and NOT just a DJ, song or radio commercial?

Try this test:

We built our own frank box, and then made 100 index cards with colors, shapes, pictures of animals & objects. We would hold up a card and ask the Frank box “what is on this card.” All we wanted to hear was a one-word answer of what was on the card. In all the hours of research and out of 100 cards it failed 100%. We never heard any answers and we gave it 3-5 minutes per card. We passed it off to other members over time to do their own research and experiments and log the results. No correct answers were ever given to any members at any location (house or cemetery).

We do not collect evidence; we collect data:

Over the years we have started to rethink how we define our research. When we do an investigation we don't go looking for evidence of a haunting, we don't collect evidence during an investigation. Even if we get an EVP, video or photo we are not calling it evidence. We don't use the term evidence, because the definition of evidence is:

That which tends to prove or disprove something; ground for belief; proof.

We as an investigation group are still trying to understand what is a ghost, how is it able to do, what it does and why is it here. Just because you get an EVP, video or photo it does not constitute as evidence because we are still trying to prove what we are investigation for. All you have is a hypothesis that might fit the facts of the research done before hand.

What we DO collect is data. It is defined as:

Individual statistics or items of information: These data represent the results of an analysis. Information used usually to calculate, analyze, or plan something.

We try to do as many investigations as possible at a given site, a case study. We research the building and lands history as thoroughly as possible, documenting everything we learn. From our research and history, we collected and from what the client report what is happening we from a hypothesis of who the potential haunting could be from (based off or research)

During the investigation we ask specific questions based off the research done before hand. After the investigation we analyze the data collected. We will return multiple times if possible to collect more data. We try to form a hypothesis, and experiment all the while recording the data to see if our hypothesis is correct, if not we start over.

So we don't collect evidence because we still don't yet understand what a ghost is and how it can exist or why.

We collect data from many locations, comparing the data to look for a pattern; environmental, weather, seasonal & solar conditions and compare it to the previous data. (In regards to EVP, photos, video and EMF reading)

When investigating the paranormal it's not about how many places you investigate per day/week or month, it's about how many time you study ONE given location as thoroughly as possible.

Paranormal Ethics

Massillon Paranormal Research Association believes very strongly in positive ethics use in the
paranormal.

Below is a list of what we feel are unacceptable acts in the paranormal field. If you own, or
are in a paranormal group, look at your group’s actions and ask yourself: by our actions, in the paranormal are we helping to advance the research of the paranormal and proving to scientists that spirits are real, or are we causing more damage by our actions and giving scientists reasons not to take this field seriously? We need to show that this field is not a pseudo-science. Remember, if we don’t start taking what we do seriously, science never will.

Paranormal Investigation Team or Tour Company:
If your group offers “ghost tours” and are charging money for them, it just gives the
impression that the only reason you are into the paranormal is to profit from its popularity.
You have to ask yourself the questions: How long have they studied the paranormal and if
someone hurts themselves do they have liability insurance to cover the medical expenses?

Selling "official" group items
One thing to consider about your clothing with your group name and/or logo is; let's say if you
sell 30 shirts to non members and to people that you do not know, you might run into this
problem. You run the risk that someone (or more than one person) that is wearing your shirt
could impersonate you or your group (by calling themselves members of your team) get into
someone property (to steal) or trespass into a abandon building or a cemetery at night. If they
get caught and or arrested the police see your shirt on them and then you will get questioned
and that might do damage to your name, especially if the newspapers or other media catches
wind of it. This is something to think about. That's why only our members get issued shirts to
prevent fraud from other. This gives the impression that the only reason you are into the
paranormal is to profit from its popularity.

Faulty Equipment:
Look at your equipment. Are they susceptible to man-made signals that might give you a false
positives? Any piece of equipment that can receive a man-made signals will not be taken
seriously by the scientific community, because the “evidence” you acquire with it can be
contaminated by the man-made signals. So what equipment is likely not to be taking seriously:

Frank Box
Uses radio signals, so how can you prove that it’s not just a radio transmission?

Ovilus puck or PX
The creator of this devise, when asked on his website said, “These devices are for
Entertainment Purposes only”. That is all we can say, until someone has absolute proof one
way or the other.” “A Joke? Absolutely!”

K-II or K2
The K-II/K2 Meter is highly unreliable, often giving false readings for any number of reasons
including radio interference. (Note how many times on TV shows, the "responses" come
when K2 is near a walkie-talkie.) Text messaging and in-coming calls from cell phones also
will cause the K-2 meter to give false-positives. If your cell phone is on “silent mode“, you
will not know that the false-positive is coming from your phone.

Ghost busting/removal:
Claims of being able to remove spirits from a given location, or charging fees/donations for
removing a spirits, is basically unethical and is a claim that cannot be guaranteed. A group in
Columbus charges $1500.00 for spirit removal, and according to the interview by their local
news channel and newspaper, they have clients that will pay for their service. How do you
think the scientific community views these acts? No one can guarantee a successful removal
(also see taunting spirits below).

Claiming to be a non-profit group:
Saying that your group is a Not-For-Profit group is fine. It simply means you do paranormal
research/investigations at no cost to the client. A Non-Profit 501(c) group has been
registered by the IRS and the organization is able to be found on the IRS website.

Go to the IRS website click on the Charities and non-profit tab. On the left hand side, click
the wording that says “Search for Charities”. In the search field, enter the name of the group
and set the State to your home state.

Trespassing:
You would not just walk into someone’s house and start looking around when no one is
home, or go into a store and start stealing items would you? Hopefully your answer is no. So
then, why trespass into an abandoned building or enter into an area that is off limits? The act
of trespassing is against the law! Think about how you would feel if you owned a building or
a property and people were sneaking in?

Trespassing at a location sets a bad image for the paranormal. It shows that you have
disregard for other’s personal property. When you go into an area that is off limits, you are
setting a bad example to every new paranormal group, and it gives the impression that “hey,
it’s ok to sneak in and investigate.”

It is better to seek permission and to legally enter buildings or be in a cemetery after dark (get
permission in writing). This way, if you do find evidence and decide to talk about it, or share
it (owner permitting), you can do it, without the risk of the owner or the law local
enforcement giving you a call about your trespassing, and the possibility of charges being
filed. Entering a cemetery at night without permission from the grounds keeper is also
trespassing. You can be fined or arrested if the police are called or spot you in after dusk.
The cemetery can also press charges against you and your group.

A breach of client privacy:
People are private, they don’t want the outside world to know their business. When a person
contacts you because they feel they might have paranormal activity, there is a good chance
they don’t want their neighbors or the public to know. They could be worried that if word
gets out that their house/business/property is in fact haunted, that they might have problems
selling the building (stigmatized property) or have trespassers trying to catch a glimpse.

With this said, unless you get the clients permission, you do not post a picture of the front of
the house/business, as you might as well have posted their address (because someone,
somewhere, knows that house/business, and will start spreading the word). If you take inside
photos, blur out the family’s photos hanging on the walls or anything that might make the area
identified to the public. You should NEVER sell any of your clients video of their investigation
to the public.

Put yourself in the client’s shoes. How would you feel if you could not sell your house
because it was labeled as haunted, or people stopped coming to your business because it’s
haunted by ghosts?

Paranormal Ethics (Part 2)

Taunting Spirits:
This has been made popular by TV: cursing, poking fun of, challenging spirits to do their
worst. By this, you are hoping to get a reaction from the spirit to produce evidence. This is
very risky. No one really knows how a spirit is able to move objects, with this said if, a ghost
was angry enough, who knows what it is capable of doing. Worst case scenario: a spirit, that
you have been cursing at and challenging, might decide that it is going to follow you home to
finish this argument by pushing you down a flight of stairs or even throwing something at you.
If you taunted a spirit at a client’s house/business, you have possibility made the client
situation worse. Now, not only is their house/business haunted;, they now they have a very
unpleasant, unseen house guest that is now more active than before the taunting started.

So you might be wondering “So how do you get a positive reaction from a spirit?” Try doing
research at the local library on the house/business or property’s history. Find out names,
dates or any information. If you can determine who might be haunting an area, use the history
of the person or property in question.

“Mr. /Mrs. John Doe I see you liked trains?”
“Mr. /Mrs. John Doe I see you had a son/daughter named………is that true?”
“Mr. /Mrs. John Doe I see you was married to your husband/wife on……..is this true?”
“Mr. /Mrs. John Doe I see you worked at………. for………… years, is this right”
"Mr. /Mrs. John Doe I see you enjoyed this hobby?”

By using facts from the person’s life, that spirit might be thinking “How do they know that
information about me? I want to speak with them about this.”

This is especially true if the person in question has been dead for 50+ years. No one has
mentioned their name for such long time that they wonder… “How do they know that
information about me? I want to speak with them about me.”

Removing spirits:
Trying to remove a spirit, regardless of your best intentions, might provoke a spirit to act out.
After you leave the property, the client might have to put up with a spirit that is angered
because some strangers came in and tried to remove them from the place that they might still
consider to be their home.

Lastly:

Remember that your actions could affect your group and how the public sees you and how
science sees the paranormal community as a whole. Ask yourself, how strongly you believe in
positive ethics use in the paranormal and how do you portray it?

Unreliable/unethical equipment and techniques

Ouija Boards

Table Tipping

Ouija Boards

We do NOT condone the practice of using Ouija boards for anyone or used anywhere. We do not use this communication, as it is not a scientific method of proof of the existence of spirits. We have found houses that because haunted after one of these were used.

Séance

Table Tipping

Ouija Boards

A séance is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word came to be used specifically for a meeting of people who are gathered to receive messages from spirits or to listen to a spirit medium’s discourse with or relay messages from spirits. Like the Ouija Board this works on the principle that the group’s intentions are to contact spirits. The users cannot control what comes through and sometimes doorways or portals can be opened that allow other spirits through.

We do NOT condone the practice of séance for anyone or use anywhere. We do not use this communication, as it is not a scientific method of proof of the existence of
spirits.

Table Tipping

Frank Box/Spirit Box

Also known as “Table Turning “is another type of séance, in which
participants sit around a table, place their hands on it, and wait for the table
to levitate or wobble back and forth. The table was a means of communicating with the spirits; or to show that a spirit is present in the room.

We do not perform or condone this; it is not a scientific method of proving
the existence of spirits.

Frank Box/Spirit Box

Any Ovilus or PX Meter

Frank Box/Spirit Box

In regards to the Frank box, the idea to invent new means to contact spirits is good, but the frank box in our opinion has a fatal flaw. It uses man made radio signals.

Skeptics (magazines & websites) claim that all EVP’s are stray radio or TV signals.
A recorder does NOT have the technology built in to receive these broadcasts, and
because of this, when you get an EVP it is not a manmade signal, but a sprit trying to communicate. You can prove this to a skeptic that your EVP’s are authentic.

When you use a frank box and you hear a voice, is it a spirit, or a DJ, song or ad from the radio station? Can you REALLY say that it’s a voice of a spirit or a radio broadcast, and how do you prove it? Using pieces of equipment that are known to be susceptible to interference from manmade signals, and then trying to pass its results off as paranormal evidence makes non-believers laugh at the paranormal community. (Skeptics groups/magazines LOVE to call out paranormal groups on
this one. Let’s stop making it easy for them!)

It was once said “For the frank box to work there must be a signal from an AM or
FM” why, they record on a recorder without man made transmissions just fine.

We feel that the frank box is just a random form of audio matrixing and you open
yourselves up to false positives.

In the end you cannot prove that your recording from the frank box is not just a radio broadcast. Like I said skeptics groups/magazines LOVE to call out
paranormal groups on this one. Let’s stop making it easy for them!

KII (K2) Meter

Any Ovilus or PX Meter

The K2 Meter is unlike the traditional analog or digital display meters utilizing a set of lights in varying colors from green to yellow to red. The higher the lights move up the color scale, the stronger the field.

Many groups are using this meter currently. Paranormal groups first became aware of the meter on an older Ghost Hunters (TAPS) episode when they investigated the Sharon Tate murder scene. The meter seemed to allow a way to communicate with an intelligent entity and they had great success.

There are some who claim the meter is inaccurate and refuse to use it. Others
seem to rely on it solely as their EMF detector.

The K2 Meter is highly unreliable often giving false readings for any number of reasons including radio interference. (Note how many times on TV shows the "responses" come when K2 is near a walkie-talkie.) Text messaging and in-coming calls from cell phones also causes the K-2 meter to give false-positives

Some of the interference that will set this meter off is as followed:

Keying up a walkie-talkie, Incoming texts/calls from a cell phone (if you follow protocol you or others will
have your cell on silent or vibrate and you might mistake the false positive as
something paranormal)

Old wiring (sleeved in a cloth) that is "bleeding" energy will make this meter
flicker. When you power up this meter it should only have the first green light lit up, if there are any other lights lit up there is a manmade power close by. Even if there is a spirit close by it will be unable to hold that level of energy to keep the other lights lit up for long.

Any Ovilus or PX Meter

The Ovilus is marketed as an entertainment device only. The manufacturer does not claim that the device allows communication with the dead. Reviews have been mixed. Due to the random nature of the answers, there is too much left to random chance. This is more like a random word generator.

According to the manufactures' website, the odds of actually getting a response that is connected to the as followed:

If you ask a single word question and the device gives you a single word answer that is contextually correct, the odds are 1 in 2000 using the Puck.

Using the Ovilus I in dictionary mode, the odds are 1 in 511.

In phonetic mode, the odds change to 1 in 71.

The PX in dictionary mode, the odds is 1 in 2047.

In phonetic mode, the odds change to 1 in 71.

In the end you will have a hard time proving that your recording from the
Ovilus/PX Meter is not just a random word. If you ask the same question long enough you'll get the word you are looking for. Like I said skeptics
groups/magazines LOVE to call out paranormal groups on their evidence.

Let's stop making it easy for them!

Paranormal Education

Collecting evidence of the paranormal should not be easy.

Ghost (Hunting) Apps

Questions to ask yourself about the Frank box (AKA spirit box)

We do not collect evidence; we collect data:

Paranormal Ethics

Paranormal Ethics (Part 2)

Unreliable/unethical equipment and techniques

Ouija Boards

Table Tipping

Ouija Boards

Séance

Table Tipping

Ouija Boards

Table Tipping

Table Tipping

Frank Box/Spirit Box

Frank Box/Spirit Box

Any Ovilus or PX Meter

Frank Box/Spirit Box

KII (K2) Meter

Any Ovilus or PX Meter

Any Ovilus or PX Meter

Any Ovilus or PX Meter

Any Ovilus or PX Meter

Any Ovilus or PX Meter

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