As 2021 rapidly draws to a close I thought I would take five to reflect a little on a year that saw many restrictions, but still some interesting paranormal aspects too.

One project that I have been working on in 2021 is a documentary on certain concepts relating to the paranormal. Now this is the first time I have tried to make a documentary and I am trying to do it right; or at least the best job I can do. Of course sometimes these things take time to produce, especially when the team all have full-time jobs. Although in fairness; the project has evolved a little since its first conception to become something somewhat more in-depth than the initial question I tried to ask. There are certainly few simple questions in the paranormal field. Equally when you think you have found a few answers, you often find many more questions.

It is that almost never ending story, that true mystery, that I think maintains my own interest in the subject. However, unlike the days when I began investigating the paranormal, these days I do not limit the possibilities to simply ghosts and spirits. Through my membership to the SPR and through my own general reading, I have managed to learn that there is so very much more to the paranormal. Concepts of psi and simple explanations often overlooked by the general weekender Ghost Hunters. This is usually down to the fact that many Ghost Hunting groups continue to approach their ghost hunts in the same manner. Changes to this happen fairly irregularly.

If anything was highlighted by the impact of COVID during 2019 and 2020 to me in regards to the paranormal; it was how many Ghost Hunters felt their paranormal journeys were put on hold. This based on the fact that they were unable to attend locations and investigate as a group. Some expressed how they were fulfilling their paranormal their paranormal requirement by watching many TV programmes on the subject. Although the majority of these were also of the same old Ghost Hunting style. It was really nothing new in reality, but more of the same that everyone was used to watching and doing.

Of course when we were not locked down, some groups managed to get out together and conduct a few Ghost Hunts at choice locations letting them in. As usual these hit social media with mixed feelings. This often highlighted the desire for social interaction over true psychical research for many; which appears to be as important to discovering life after death for some. However, this makes sense to me, as over the years I have built up a small group of friends within the paranormal. Some of which still help me to challenge my own approach to the paranormal research I enjoy doing.

That friendship was highlighted to me brilliantly when I began work on my documentary; I called on a few friends to help me with getting it started and they did so without question. Sometimes I think we may forget how lucky we are to have such supportive friends.

This past year has allowed me to focus more on the Ghost Hunt as an event as a whole, stepping back slightly and allowing myself to observe more. Often when we attend a Ghost Hunt we become a part of the paranormal events ourselves. Even though as ghost hunters we try to remain unbiased to the paranormal events that may occur around us; there maybe times we are very much a part of those events. In fact, one could argue that sometimes the paranormal activity would not occur without our presence. Perhaps a little like the experimenter effect.

Stumbling on this line of questioning had me take a little time to reflect on a few past investigations, providing me with a new perspective. Its this reflection that often shows us other possibilities we missed the first time around. Especially when what we thought was potential spirit interaction becomes a more likely case of telepathy or other psi events. Rather than the explanation residing with the afterlife; it more likely resides with us. This was something I have been researching for a few years now, but was a more consistent theme throughout 2021.

However, there appears to be a slight issue with the source being accepted as psi related rather than ghosts or spirits. That issue is often belief based as individuals will believe the paranormal activity to be related to an entity of some kind, but not their own supernatural abilities. Belief can often be formed individually or by the group through simple approaches like not questioning activity too much and allowing it to build. In some circumstances I read about, it would seem that groups may fake activity at first before allowing genuine activity to take over. Again this supports a theory of us being the source, rather than one from beyond the grave.

Something else I touched on this past year was the concepts of coincidence. Often during many Ghost Hunts, I have attended the teams may connect various pieces of information together, when in reality their connection is pure coincidence. I discussed this in more detail in a blog post earlier in the year, when I looked at a couple of murder cases that occurred yards apart, but also almost 157 years apart. Whilst there were many similarities we had to follow the facts, something we need to do more of in the paranormal I feel. As often we become caught in the spooky drama and fail to actually investigate.

Following the facts is a theme I am going to try and follow more during 2022. In which I will try to present cases, analyse the facts and present them in a way that may just highlight a few other perspectives worth evaluation.

It’s been an interesting year with many more threads to follow. There’s certainly still much to explore in the books on the paranormal as well as across the world. I hope you will continue to join and support me as I continue to explore the paranormal.