The biggest mistake ghost hunters make is repeating the same mistakes made by those who came before them. If you cannot learn from your mistakes, you are doomed to repeat them. Such is the way of the paranormal community.
How many times have we heard stories that begin with "Then out of the corner of my eye I saw"? Or, "I saw movement out of the corner of my eye"? Are these "Sightings" credible? To answer this question, we must first examine what peripheral vision really is. Unlike some insects with multiple eyes, humans … Read moreSightings in Peripheral Vision; Credible or Not?
The following is from an article written by Winston Wu in 2011. The article, "Debunking Pseudo-skeptical Arguments of Paranormal Debunkers", makes several rational arguments for many statements made by Pseudoskeptics. This one covers the blanket statement, "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence". This is one of the core mantras of hard nosed skeptics, and is usually presented like … Read moreExtraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence? Perhaps not. Here is the other side of the coin.
Cody discusses Infrared thermometers, why they do not detect cold spots. The use of this instrument in ghost hunting is so flawed that it can actually be used as a gauge to determine how experienced a ghost hunting team really is.
In this video, Cody explains the flaws of using EMF meters in ghost hunting and paranormal investigations. They simply do not do what paranormal investigators think they do because of a lack of understanding on how to properly measure EM.
Some researchers believe that many of the experiences reported in allegedly haunted locations have a psychological explanation. Work assessing this psychological approach has involved examining the suggestibility and paranormal belief of people who tend to report unusual experiences in allegedly haunted locations.
Members of SGHA discuss how the history of "haunted" locations can affect the bias of ghost hunters investigating them. What is your opinion? If ghost hunters/ investigators know the history of the location they are investigating, can it create bias? Can the bias contaminate the investigation's findings?
A investigative standard for ghost investigations developed from the historical contributions of the early psychical researchers. This video explains the relevant history and how the standard is used.
One of the most appalling things about the "field" of modern day ghost hunting (paranormal investigation/research) is the obvious disregard of its history and the obtained knowledge, pro and con, that was learned. This becomes painfully evident with the simple definition of the word "ghost hunter". Here are a few quotes concerning the definition of … Read moreWhat is in a name? Ghost Hunter v.s. Paranormal Investigator
Full-spectrum photography is a subset of full spectral imaging, defined currently among photography enthusiasts as imaging with consumer cameras the full, broad spectrum of a film or camera sensor bandwidth. In practice, a specialized broadband/full-spectrum camera captures visible, near infrared and near ultraviolet light. For a camera to be full spectrum, it must be able to capture all three. … Read moreFull-spectrum photography
This question recently popped up on a friend’s Facebook, so I’m going to add my 2 cents. First of all, this is a sore issue in itself with many people simply because of bogus paranormal certifications that are already out there and how those certifications have been used (monetary gain, One-upmanship, etc.). I believe … Read moreIs it possible to certify someone as a paranormal investigator?
For the story, check out the video below. After reading several comments about this myth on YouTube, I decided to write a little bit about this particular "ghost" since I was one of the narrators in the video and SGHA was the original entity that investigated and researched this story. There are several … Read moreThe myth of the Hatchet Lady, Old Town Albuquerque
The majority of paranormal investigators would readily agree that ghosts must be some form of energy. As such, it is important to understand many of the laws that govern energy. Energy exists in many forms, such as heat, light, chemical energy, and electrical energy. Energy is the ability to bring about change or to do … Read moreApplied Science: Laws of Thermodynamics
The most important thing for a scientific ghost hunter to know is the science behind what he or she is doing. Anyone who has studied physics knows how daunting it is to learn the philosophical and mathematical formulas needed to fully comprehend, express, and apply natural laws. Occam’s razor is a principle attributed to … Read moreApplied Science: Occam’s Razor (also spelled Ockham’s Razor)
Simply put, the Law of Extrema states that all natural processes act to extremize (maximize or minimize) a physical quantity. An especially important instance of this is the principle that all systems, by themselves, tend toward a state of minimum energy. This explains many phenomena in nature including the deaths of all organisms as well … Read moreApplied Science: Law of Extrema
In this special edition podcast we talk about one of our hypotheses concerning ghosts. If they actually exist, what would they be? just one of many ideas…
The Histogram dialog gives you everything you want to know, and then some. First, you should convert the image to grayscale. This can eliminate color variations from skewing the results. First figure out what particular pixel you plan to sample, and what range of similar pixels is appropriate to include in the sampling. Set … Read moreImage Analysis: Using Photoshop to compare the density levels of selected objects
The Principle of Universality says that all laws of nature must work the same way everywhere. That is, the laws are objective; it doesn't matter who does the experiment or where, the same results should be produced under the same conditions. In paranormal studies it means that if ghosts exist they are bound under … Read moreApplied Science: The Principles of Universality and Causality
The concept of entropy is still being actively debated by philosophers of science and is difficult to convey, so what follows is my own working definition. I find it useful to define an increase or decrease in entropy as a loss or gain in any one, two, or all three of these properties of … Read moreApplied Science: Law of Entropy and “ghosts”
