Extreme Paranormal Investigations by Marcus F. Griffin

This book gives readers a first-hand account of some of the most hair-raising investigations that Marcus F. Griffin and his ghost hunting crew have conducted over the years. Belle Gunness, America’s first female serial killer, and Jeffrey Dahmer are just two examples of whose properties the team visits and encounters some unfriendly ghosts. This book is perfect for fans of the paranormal tv shows, and the author’s writing style is absolutely perfect for the subject matter.

Ghost Hunting for Beginners by Rich Newman

This book would be a perfect gift for someone who loves the paranormal televisions and wants to experience spirits first hand. The reader will be armed with all the basics of what is needed to form a team, conduct an investigation, and learn about the various equipment that can be used during an investigation. Rich Newman is a well-respected ghost hunter with over a decade of experience. His advice and knowledge is the perfect start for those who want to get off the couch and start exploring.

True Police Stories of the Strange & Unexplained by Det. Sgt. Ingrid P. Dean

Do you have someone on your list who is a police officer? If so, this is a perfect gift. Included in this collection are angels, UFOs, and truly extraordinary stories that give one faith in a higher power and that someone/thing is watching over us. It’s a very inspirational book and a fabulous tribute to the very brave folks in blue.

Paranormal Obsession by Deonna Kelli Sayed

So how did we all become obsessed about the paranormal. Was it the tv shows? They’ve only been around since the late 90s. America’s obsession goes way back to the spiritualist movement in the 1850s, and Deonna Kelli Sayed explores the various factors that keep this paranormal obsession fueled throughout the years. It’s an excellent, detailed look that goes beyond the tv shows and ghost hunting. It’s a must-read for ghost hunters.

The Ghost Hunter’s Field Guide by Rich Newman

Do you have a ghost hunter on your holiday list? This book provides over 1,000 locations in all 50 states of haunted public locations. Hotels, restaurants, historic buildings, and other locations are listed by town and allow the reader to plot and plan a trip to visit a reportedly haunted location. There is a key in the entry that lists what activity has been documented at the location. Of course, ghost hunting etiquette must be followed, but if one wants to dine in a haunted restaurant to see if any ghostly vibes can be picked up, there’s an extensive list of options no matter where one happens to be.

True UFO Accounts from the Vaults of FATE Magazine

If you know someone whose motto is: The Truth is Out There, this book is for them. Articles from the over 60 years of FATE magazine’s history have been collected and include the most well-known and documented sighting stories, deep history and explanations of Roswell, and articles from the most respected and revered ufologists are included in this volume.

I hope that some of the suggestions will make perfect gift ideas for those on your holiday list, and thus make the holidays a bit less harried for you.

Happy holidays!

But what happens when the adventure follows you home?

All of the events I’ve attended have been led by professionals and people who know what they are doing. There are ways of protecting yourself when participating in spiritual communications so that spirits don’t harm you in any way, shape, or form.

But there are times when nothing harms you, but you have a sense that something is “there.”

I was invited to a friend’s house to do some table tipping. There was a group of us, all very eager to try this very traditional form of spirit communication. To our dismay, no spirits knocked on the table, but we could definitely feel the energy coursing along the table top.

On my way home, I felt a presence in the car with me. My psychic gifts are rather underdeveloped, but I can sense a presence. My friend who hosted the party lives in a very haunted house, so I wasn’t too surprised that a ghost tagged along. I could feel the spirit follow me as I walked into my apartment. I smiled and said “I don’t mind a tagalong, but I know that Annie is rather attached to her ghosts. You are welcome as long as you do no harm to me or my pets.” I then felt the presence disappear. I got out my white sage bundle and smudged the house just to be on the safe side.

The morning after my first ghost investigation, I was rudely awakened by my cat running around the apartment like something was chasing her. I figured she was chasing a toy and grumped a bit that she had woke me up after a couple hours of sleep. I then heard her panting from exhaustion. I got up, put my glasses on, and saw that she wasn’t playing with a toy. It was like she was being chased by something I couldn’t see. As she was panting, trying to catch her breath (which I’ve never seen her do, and I’ve had her for 11 years), I picked her up. She hid under my arm and was very frightened. As soon as I put her down, she ran into the basement. This isn’t unusual. That’s her hangout, especially in the summer, but she was hiding. This is her typical behavior when guests are over, but it was just me. I would bring her upstairs and she’d howl and run back downstairs and hide. I did this twice and she had the same reaction. I knew something was up.

I took out my white sage bundle and smudged the house. I said that only positive spirits and energies are allowed, and for all negative spirits to please leave. I asked the spirits to not harm me or my cat, and that any spirits that did so were unwelcome and must leave.

About a half hour after I smudged the apartment, my cat came upstairs, hopped on the couch, and snuggled next to me. I was relieved to know that whatever had followed me home was gone and would no longer bother me or my cat.

When you participate in any type of spirit communication or ghost hunting, please take steps to protect yourself before and after the event. Psychic Protection for Beginners by Richard Webster is a fabulous resource for protecting you and your family and house from any psychic or paranormal harm. Magical Housekeeping by Tess Whitehurst does a fabulous job of keeping your house in magical and mystical harmony. The Ghost Hunter’s Survival Guide by Michelle Belanger is an excellent resource for protection when ghost hunting.

So if you feel that a spirit has followed you home, never fear. It may be friendly, but if it bothers you, your family, or your pets, that’s when it’s time to strike back with a smudge stick!

On a slightly similar note, I only just realized a couple weeks ago that 20/20 has been featuring a show called The Sixth Sense. Where have I been?! The synopsis sounds intriguing: “When nothing adds up and a gut feeling’s all you have, forget about your five senses… what you really need is the sixth sense…features stories of extraordinary instinct that uncovers the truth.” But from what I’ve seen I’m not quite sure why they feature some of the stories as sixth sense. The show from this past weekend on the Kims story was truly heartbreaking, but they never really tied it back to why the story fit as a sixth sense experience (although, I didn’t catch the first half of the show).

Since I was completely unaware of the 20/20 features, are there any great paranormal shows that you love that I’m missing out on? If you’ve tuned in to The Sixth Sense, what are your thoughts? Will you be joining in this Friday to view A Gifted Man? After you’ve watched it, offer your feedback here! What did you think?

“Paranormal Investigator” is now a culturally cool social marker. This is an Earth-sized shift from a mere decade ago, when most enthusiasts were often mislabeled as “weird,” “woo-woo,” “nerdy,” or even “Satanic.”

While writing Paranormal Obsession: America’s Fascination with Ghosts & Hauntings, Spooks & Spirits, I wanted to know who is actually doing this ghost stuff. It seems that new teams pop up everyday. But what types of folks are taking up the intrepid journey to seek out the unknown?

I developed the STATE OF THE PARANORMAL FIELD 2010 Survey. This was an anonymous, online questionnaire looking at the demographics and beliefs of those who identify as paranormal investigators. The survey obtained qualitative, not statistical data, yet it provides a unique glimpse into the who and why of today’s ghost hunting scene.

From the 172 participants, this is what I discovered:

• Most belong to a formally organized paranormal group.
• Women are the majority and appear to experiment with a wider range of techniques (including psychic abilities) and technical equipment than their male counterparts.
• However, most investigators desire “objective” evidence and minimize the role of psychics on investigation.
• Most participants, regardless of gender, did not identify with an organized religion, citing to be spiritual rather than religious.
• Most have been ghost hunting eight years or less, therefore possibly correlating with the 2004 launch of paranormal reality TV.
• Over 2,000 investigations took place in 2009-2010 between the 172 individuals who participated in the survey. There are tens of thousands of investigators around the world, so multiply that by any number you like and you get an idea that a lot of ghost hunting is going on.
• The majority of investigators desire to help clients with paranormal issues while also pursuing objective explanations to ghostly events. Altruistic and scientific motivations dominate the why of ghost hunting.
• Most believe in the existence of ghosts (spirits of the deceased), demonics, and thought forms. Furthermore, an overwhelming majority does not attribute paranormal activity to earth or nature spirits, such as elementals and faeries. Extraterrestrial explanations are also one of the least popular assumptions, as well as time hiccups.

Skeptics can be impressed: most investigators believe that paranormal activity is actually uncommon, occurring in 30% or less of their investigations. Investigators listed that they receive relatively tame claims despite how popular culture portrays hauntings. Cold spots, rapping noises, sensing a presence, and the feeling of being watched are the most common reports.

To summarize, today’s ghost hunters are predominately female, really do believe in ghosts, yet are conservative in labeling things paranormal. Investigators enjoy experimenting with equipment and desire to do good.

In short, paranormal investigators are pretty cool.

Our thanks to Deonna Kelli Sayed for her guest post! Deonna Kelli Sayed is the author of Paranormal Obsession: America’s Fascination with Ghosts & Hauntings, Spooks & Spirits and So You Want to Hunt Ghosts (forthcoming). She is the editor of Ghostvillage.com and a member of Haunted North Carolina.

Hang on, don’t head to the bunkers just yet. This is just a theory that researchers think may happen if the effects of global warming on our planet start to contaminate the rest of the galaxy and universe. Other theories include an alliance between human and aliens (to ward off other aliens), indifference (we know each other exists but don’t do anything about it), to them enslaving us or killing us with alien diseases.

What lesson can we take from this research? Treat our planet with care and help reduce greenhouse gases to prevent our planet from drawing unwelcome attention from extraterrestrials. And let’s hope if contact is made, the first words we (or they) hear is “We come in peace.”

I saw the shadow person that lives in my house again today. A shadow person is a type of entity that appears as a shadow. My shadow person appears to be fond of the stairway that leads from the first floor of my house to the second floor.

If truth be told, my cats saw it first. I was watching television and noticed the cats staring at the stairway. I glanced that way and noticed the shadow of a man coming slowly down the stairs. I could see the outline of his fingers on the white railing. As soon as he knew I spotted him he took off faster than the speed of light down the remaining stairs and disappeared.

There’s much speculation among paranormal researchers as to what exactly shadow people are. My observation is that they seem to be shy, make no attempt to interact with the living, and are relatively harmless. Some paranormal researchers believe they are a negative or “bad” spirit, while other ghost hunters believe them to be “watchers,” observing humans as they go about their daily lives.

Personally, I’m not sure exactly what their purpose is, but there have been reports of shadow people with red eyes. Although I’ve never seen one with red eyes, I don’t discount their existence. They are curious beings and I only hope one day we learn more about them.

Have you ever seen a shadow person? If so, I’d love to hear about it! You can email me your shadow person story at debichestnut@yahoo.com.

Our thanks to Debi for her guest post! For more from Debi Chestnut, read her article “5 Reasons Your Home May Be Haunted.”

We know this ancient race of beings as genies, but in the Middle East they are known as Djinn or Jinn. While tracking down the mysterious Djinn in Saudi Arabia, a very old and wise Muslim holy man said to me, “There are no UFOs, there are no ghosts, no demons, nor fallen angels; there are only Djinn!” He was trying to tell me that what we call the paranormal is actually manifestations of these elusive beings.

The word Djinn can be traced to the Persian word Janna, which means “hidden.” This description is fairly apt, since for the most part Djinn cannot be seen by us. In ancient Persia it was thought that the race of Djinn was invisible and lived in a very remote place on Earth. For almost two decades I have done considerable research into the Djinn and used my background in physics to interpret the ancient Persian, and more recent Muslim, folklore for the modern world.

It is my theory that the Djinn are not invisible, but cannot be seen because they exist in a dimension that is very close to our own reality. From this other dimension they can see us but we only get glimpses of them when they choose to interact with people in our plane of existence.

Djinn are not human; according to the noble Qur’an, God created them from smokeless fire. This could mean that Djinn bodies are actually made up of the fourth state of matter called plasma. Plasma is an ionized form of matter with no physical form, but can change shape in a magnetic field.

According to legend, the race of Djinn was the master of Earth before the human race. After polluting the physical universe and warring with each other, an army of angels was sent by Allah to isolate the Djinn race in another dimension where they could do no harm to themselves or this plane of existence. The legend goes on to say the Djinn want this world back and the only way they achieve this is to get rid of the human race.

In The Vengeful Djinn, Rosemary Ellen Guiley and I reveal the hidden agenda of this mysterious race that has interacted with mankind for countless centuries.

When Nikola Tesla first created the device that’s now known to paranormal investigators as the “Tesla Radio,” he stated, “The sounds I am listening to every night at first appear to be human voices conversing back and forth in a language I cannot understand. I find it difficult to imagine that I am actually hearing real voices from people not of this planet. There must be a more simple explanation that has so far eluded me.”

Much like his fellow scientist Thomas Edison, Tesla fully believed in the validity of conversing with the dead—to him, it was simply a matter of discovering and utilizing the correct technology. Though neither of the inventors would construct such a device (Tesla Radio aside), modern ghost hunters have taken great strides toward communicating with spirits.

One of the more interesting is the use of an AM radio. I’m not referring to the now infamous “Radio Shack Hack” (this technique produces more stray radio signals than it does ghostly voices), but the use of an AM radio to directly tune in the voices of the dead. To use this technique, simply dial down the radio to its lowest frequency (520 kHz for most American radios, though if you can purchase some European models, they can go as low as 148 kHz) and start talking. Of course, it helps to actually be in a place that’s known to be haunted…

Does it work? According to many investigators, yes. Why? Is there anything that suggests that ghosts can even speak in AM frequencies? Consider the Germanium Diode Microphone that famed EVP practitioner Dr. Konstantin Raudive created for his work. He claimed this microphone was especially suited for picking up spirit voices—though it would often have to be isolated within a sterile “Faraday Cage” to block out stray AM radio signals. This suggests that spirit voices and AM radio signals may be quite close to each other. But don’t take my word for it…

Building your own Tesla Radio, Germanium Diode Microphone, and Faraday Cage are as easy as a quick Google search (and a not-so-quick day in the workshop)—and, certainly, getting an AM radio and audio recorder (to document your experiments) is no problem. Just be sure you have something good to talk about!

Some people are terrified of graveyards. I’ve always felt very calm and at peace while in a graveyard. The church we attended when I was young had the cemetery directly adjacent to the building, and we’d play duck-duck-goose in the unoccupied section during bible school (we stayed away from the graves; respect for the dead was very much enforced). The land for the church and cemetery was donated by my great-great-grandfather and five generations of my family are buried there, so I would often visit them when I was bored. The church is a half-mile up the road from my parents’ farm and has the only flat surface in the surrounding area. My friends and I would ride our bikes there and enjoy biking on the level parking lot. After a few spins around the lot, we’d pick wildflowers and say hi to the relatives.

No matter if you love cemeteries,   Melba Goodwyn’s Chasing Graveyard Ghosts will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up on end. Melba is a parapsychologist and has been ghost hunting for many years, and this is a collection of her tales while investigating graveyards. Aliens, vampires, panthers, ghosts, and statues that move are some of the mysteries included in this book and are and guaranteed to give you goosebumps!

Ghosts are all around, but what if you want to specifically go somewhere that has been reported to be haunted but not have to traipse all over the country? Rich Newman’s Ghost Hunter’s Field Guide is full of over 1,000 locations in all 50 states that have been reported to be haunted. Every location is a business or location that is open to the public, such as restaurants, hotels, and museums. Each entry has a small write-up of the location and a few particulars, along with an activity key that lists what paranormal activity has been reported. The address and a website are also provided. This book is great to keep in your car while on a road trip. If you’re looking for a place to stay overnight, how about a haunted B&B? If you’re not that brave, there are plenty of restaurants that have had interesting experiences.

So if you’re looking for something to get your heart racing during these winter months, these books definitely fit the bill!

During a time period from 1983-1989, thousands of people in the Hudson Valley of New York state reported they had an encounter with a UFO. The mysterious object was reported to be the size of two football fields, triangular in shape, and covered with brilliant lights of various colors. The sight of the object was so dramatic that it stopped traffic on all the major highways; people from all walks of life got out of their cars and looked up to see something they knew was not from this world.

At times the UFO would stop and hover, projecting a brilliant beam of white light that engulfed people, whether standing on the ground or in their cars, as well as entire houses. Later, I discovered that a high percentage of these people who were scanned by the UFO later claimed to have made contact with an alien intelligence. Some say the contact took place on a psychic scale, while others claim they (and sometimes their entire family) were visited by some unknown alien intelligence at night and abducted.

As a result of the massive number of UFO sightings in that area, the late Dr. J. Allen Hynek, Mr. Bob Pratt, and I put together a book entitled Night Siege: The Hudson Valley UFO sightings. During the writing of this book, Dr. Hynek wanted to keep out of the book all the cases of “High Strangeness,” which were the abduction and contact experiences being reported at the time.

Dr. Hynek felt that a UFO close encounter was hard enough to believe, so he wanted to keep the material in the book as believable and scientifically respectable as possible. I voiced my opinion to Dr. Hynek, telling him that the abduction cases that involve this series of sightings are part of the UFO experience and should be documented as such in Night Siege. His response was,

“We can’t release this type of information; the media would have a field day with it. The news reports would include sarcastic humor and make light of a serious situation. If well-qualified witnesses thought they were going to be made fun of, they won’t come forward with their sighting account.”

Dr. Hynek passed away before Night Siege was published, and out of respect for him the many stories of alien abduction and extraterrestrial contact were kept out of the book.

In the years to follow the number of cases of abductions and contact continued to come to my attention. After a long, in-depth study of the reports, it is clear to me that there is something else going on—something more bizarre than alien abductions. My research has proven to me that the contact experience that many of these people had may be ultraterrestrial and not extraterrestrial in origin. A detailed study of these cases are now presented in my new book, Ultraterrestrial Contact: A Paranormal Investigator’s Exploration into the Hidden Abduction Epidemic.