Category: Paranormal

Paranormal, psi Theories

Is Time Real? One Physicists Opinion May Convince You Otherwise

by Ashley KnibbLeave a Comment on Is Time Real? One Physicists Opinion May Convince You Otherwise
Is Time Real? One Physicists Opinion May Convince You Otherwise

Look what I found on Facebook…

I was happily minding my own business scrolling through my Facebook news feed, when I stumbled upon a little article from Quartz. The basis for the article was that, although time feels real to us all, it may not even exist! This is of course according our good old friend quantum physics. For the record, I am still trying to decide if quantum physics is helping me out with working out aspects of the paranormal or just gradually breaking down the reality we have already accepted. Is quantum physics our friend? Perhaps a future blog post.

The article goes onto discuss various aspects of what theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli understands about time, our world and the universe. It was some the quotes from Rovelli that caught my eye, especially as he connects time to our very emotions, our lives, our memories and our existence.

Carlo Rovelli’s book on time…

Rovelli released a book back in April called The Order of Time, which discusses our experience of times passage as humans and that its absent at minuscule and vast scales. In this book he makes a good argument in regards to chronology and continuity may just be a story that we tell ourselves so we can make sense of our existence.

You’re probably wondering where I am going with this, but please stick with me on this.

So what’s time all about then???

The article of course continues to go into further detail around the theories of Rovelli and explain how time may not be quite what we think it is. In fact, there’s all kinds of cool examples thrown into this little article, which really do get you thinking about the reality of time.

An obvious one being that time clearly passes at different rates from one location to another. For example, on a mountain top time passes faster than at sea level for example. Then there’s the feeling of how time passes dependant on what you may be doing, it can either appear to move quickly and ‘fly by’ or be so slow that you could remark that it feels its moving backwards.

Of course we are all aware of the different time zones around the world, most are aware that when look at distant planets what we see is old information because the light takes time to travel. However what some may not know is that uniformity of times is actually a fairly modern thing. Prior to this more modern consideration of time, different places would consider specifics like ‘noon’ to occur at different points in the day. Not dramatically different mind you, but different. ‘Noon’ was considered to be when the sun was highest in the sky, villages in Europe would mark this with the ringing of church bells. Which would occur at different times. Hence it was what could be considered a ‘business decision’ as the article puts it, not a fact. Time is brought into alignment by us not the universe.

This all got me thinking!

If we take time, as we understand it in its linear fashion out of the equation so to speak, then what we have left is a sequence of events related to locations that occurred during our existence. Stuff that happened to us and others around us at some place. Oddly when you start to think of things like this it begins to draw some interesting similes with the paranormal. In order to visualise this I thought of it as each of our life events being written on a post-it and stuck on a wall. The wall represents our life as one whole experience broken down into the many that make it up. The order of the post-its on the wall depends on their relationship to the other post-its on the wall. Thus if one post-it describes a birthday party and another describes a bike ride on a bike that was received for the birthday that relates to the birthday party, then those would be in close proximity.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love a good linear time line with everything in order, but sometimes you need to look at things with a different perspective. This new way of looking at things may seem a little chaotic at first, but when we look closer we begin to see the relationships between the events on the individual post-its. There becomes a correlation between what on one scale appears chaotic and on another has distinctive order.

Paranormal time…

However in order to really bring this into the paranormal we need to change something about our wall of post-its! Let’s get rid of the wall and allow the post-its to freely float in the space in front of us. Now rather than being flat they become more three-dimensional, like a cloud of post-it notes of events. This allows us to see multiple relationships between the events on the post-its, in different directions. Looking from this perspective presents us with events that appear to cross the linear boundaries we usually have in place.

Have you figured out where this is going?

Rather than the collection of post-its being related to yours or even my life experience events, lets relate them to a specific location. Let’s call it Location X, for dramatic effect obviously. Location X has existed for 400 years, so there are now many post-it notes detailing various events that have occurred at Location X floating in front of us. However its important to realise that the post-its don’t just document historically documented events, they document every event no matter how big or small it was. If actual events exist in reality as I am describing, where they are not restricted by a linear fashion, then it may be possible for those events to become connected to new events as they occur.

Lost? Confused? That’s because we deleted linear time, ooops!

Think about it though. When it comes to investigating a particular location, if all those events existed and occurred without time, then they happen now! As in they didn’t happen then or are going to happen, then all occur at once, so to speak. That might mean that nothing gets recorded at a location, no residual energy resides there, no ghosts and no spirits. Which means the activity we experience could be a cross-over of those events or perhaps when there is a particularly close relationship. Question then becomes why are some of the events overlapping? Why are some closer that others or more related?

The only thing that comes to mind at this point, is that perhaps as more of the events are related they overlap. Although as ever this is just another theory, but perhaps this might spark ideas that lead us to the answers.

Don’t forget to check out theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli’s book The Order of Time on amazon, by clicking the link or image below.

What are your thoughts on time and this concept of it?

Please comment below and join the discussion..

As ever please share, like and subscribe to my blog.

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Demon House, Demonic, Demons, Paranormal, Zak Bagans

Zak Bagans’ Demon House – Is it a fake?

by Ashley Knibb4 Comments on Zak Bagans’ Demon House – Is it a fake?
Zak Bagans’ Demon House – Is it a fake?

Four things Zak Bagans tells us at the beginning of the Demon House…

Zak Bagans’ Demon House begins more like a Hollywood horror film than documentary, but presents us with four fundamental pieces of information before we really know what’s going on. These are; that Zak Bagans is one of the most formidable paranormal investigators, researchers and demonologists in the world; that the demon house was reported on the news as one of the most compelling cases of demonic possession and exorcism in recent times; that before this case even came to Zak’s attention he had a dream about a particularly tall goat like creature that effected him in some way; and finally that once aware of the demon house Zak brought it straight away and this too was reported on the news.

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Let’s pause for a second now and just think about the information you’ve been given literally in under five minutes. Firstly, you’ve been told that our hero in this story, Zak Bagans is one of if not the best at what he does in the world. You’ve also been advised that this case was so horrific that it made it onto the news, where they reported on demonic possession and exorcism’s, bearing in mind that generally we associate the news with reporting facts to us. Then you’ve been made aware of a dark dream where a particular dark character may be causing some kind of harm to Zak. Although this dream may not be related at all, it certainly is now. Especially as its beginning to fit the other information presented to us. This is all sealed by the last fact we are told, that Zak Bagans brought the house with the intention to find out what was going on there.

One could say the scene has been set and the characters ready to play their parts!

Not a review of the Demon House…

At this point you would likely be of the mindset that given the opening of this particular blog, I am probably about to give Zak Bagans’ Demon House a pretty poor review. In which case you would be wrong, as this isn’t a review of the film at all. Granted it’s a blog about the Demon House, but it’s certainly not what I would consider a review. You see the problem is as much as I recognise many TV programmes today as a modern sensationalism of the paranormal field, I equally recognise the very positive part they play. Albeit a little difficult to see and often well hidden, these shows do generate an interest and certainly generate discussion. It’s without doubt the also have a large following too, which I think is great news. If a small percentage of that large following take up a serious interest in the paranormal then we will gradually see innovations in the way we do things and perhaps even some good theories too.

Alas I digress, back to the Demon House..

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Once past the opening titles which incidentally equally suggest some dark happenings within this particular property, Zak arrives at his new home! Okay, so he has no intention of moving in for real, but we know Zak and in order to fully experience this property we know at some point the guy will be dramatically locked inside. After all that’s pretty much the concept for his popular TV show Ghost Adventures.

Demonic activity plagues family…

First things first though, in thick snow Bagans checks out the house. It isn’t long either before we get onto the family that had recently had the terrible demonic experiences at the property. However they are unwilling to discuss the matter with Zak Bagans team. It’s later suggested that they are in talks with some people from Hollywood though, if memory serves me well. However Bagans does manage to find someone linked to the family willing to talk and they fill us in on the strange happenings of the Demon House.

This all helps Bagans to link the story to some additional eye witnesses, such as staff at a nearby hospital and a social worker. These confirm the story Zak was investigating, which includes witnessing a child walking backwards up a wall against the laws of science, especially gravity. It also confirms some reports of strange occurrences witnessed at the house too. This also includes a couple of local law enforcement officers who don’t like the house either.

In fact we go through a whole section of backing up the previous reports. This is standard in any documentary, but it could equally be argued that you would do the same in a fictional story too.

If it sounds too good to be true, then….

This is one of the biggest problems I have with this particular case, it falls firmly into the category of; ‘if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is’. What I mean by this is that everything comes across as readily accessible to Bagans, apart from the family themselves. This was something I pondered over for a while, something I looked at from both sides too. It could be something as simple as they signed up to a film deal with someone who prevented them from talking to Bagans. Perhaps as the whole thing took its toll on the family they didn’t wish to relive it by telling a TV personality and potentially the world about it. Then there were the children, the children that were supposed effected were quite young, so perhaps their mother didn’t want them exposed to the media. Perhaps if the family was being dishonest then they were worried the children would give it away. There was a lot around this that didn’t sit well, which really wasn’t helped by one person Bagans spoke to mentioning they were offered money too for their story. It wasn’t that this had occurred, my concern was more around Bagans need to highlight it in a few places.

Girl becomes possessed by the dark entity…

Next up was a family that appeared to show up at the house because they used to live there I think. Given Bagans comprehension that this house was greatly haunted and potentially in his mind quite dangerous, he went onto invite the family in. If that wasn’t enough he gave them a brief tour, which included the basement. This whole part of the film is something I struggled with to be honest. Perhaps at that point Bagans wasn’t of the mindset the place posed a particular threat, but then if that wasn’t the case why buy it and investigate it?

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The outcome of this family’s visit was, if I am honest, decisively far-fetched! The sequence of events that followed could have been scripted by Stephen King. Basically the family visits Bagans in his little Demon House, previously their home I believe. During the tour of the house, most likely in the basement, something dark attached itself to the daughter. Then from this point forward a girl who used to be quite pleasant becomes increasingly negative and abusive towards her mother. This is of course reported back to Bagans who quickly understands this to be a possible possession, so they take the girl to a local man of god and an exorcism is performed in the church on camera. Granted it doesn’t follow the likes the cult classic films The Exorcist in its approach, but again you have to wonder in these circumstances. Zak Bagans does a fantastic job of measuring the success of the exorcism and advises that she is okay after it.

Let’s just recap and bring a scientist into the Demon House…

So, up until this point we have had the previous witnesses, the conspiracy theory based on someone from Hollywood trying to buy the stories or perhaps their silence, we have seen what the Demon House can do to a teenage girl after just a brief tour of the place too. What is missing is the scientific view-point, enter our scientist!

During this particular part of the film Bagans and his team, along with the scientist conduct a thorough investigation of the house. During this some very interesting readings occur in relation to activity experienced by Bagans. However they also capture some odd video and something happens to one of the team, who if memory serves me is or was a camera man. Now the scientist confirms that there is something very odd about the house or at least the land that it sits on. Drawing correlations to things that appear to affect Bagans. However once again what occurs here is more evident once they all leave the house.

Bagans scientist friend soon falls drastically ill and ends up in hospital with multiple serious conditions, which even he is of the assumption that his change in health has a direct link to the recent visit to the house. Obviously this doesn’t all happen over night and these conditions build over time.

Violent dark outbursts at the hotel…

However the action on the cameraman guy is much swifter and dramatic. Once back at the hotel he begins to act really strange, this soon escalates to him having a huge outburst in the corridor of the hotel. Something which is equally quite violent too. I had a slight concern over this part of the footage too. The team appear to film it on a few devices, even though they’re supposed to be concerned about their friend. Also, when this occurs there are no other people in the hotel that come out of their rooms within the corridor. Either Bagans team have the whole floor to themselves or there are no other guests in the hotel. Both of which I find a little hard to understand. Equally to this you don’t see a member of staff appear to see what all the commotion is about. Hence it comes across more like a scene being shot for a film, in my opinion. Suffice to say after this the cameraman spirals further into darkness and due to his behaviour Bagans has to let him go.

If you know film and TV then you’ll be well aware that what’s been occurring is the gradual build for the grand finale. Which in Zak Bagans style similar to Ghost Adventures, will be alone lockdown in the Demon House to see what may happen to Bagans over night. In all honesty I was a little disappointed by this, as there only appeared to be a couple of minor events. However the events in question seemed to freak Bagans out quite a bit and he left the house with a severe eye injury that he will now have with him forever.

The Demon House is demolished…

Then in an odd ending Bagans has the house demolished, so that it can not cause pain for anyone else. However it may not be the house and these entities may be attached to the land itself. In which case if they build another house, that too may have the problems of the original.

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Zak Bagans Demon House left me with a great number of questions still unanswered in honesty. It was certainly an entertaining piece of film in my opinion and it was well put together as I watched straight through to the end. I’m no expert in demonology that’s for sure, but it is an area I would like to know more about. However as ever paranormal stories that are concluded to be related to demons often have me wondering to their authenticity.

Did Zak Bagans purchase a genuine property that was haunted by a possible demon or even a few demons? That is not an easy one to answer. Bagans does make a compelling case and certainly suggests that there is evidence to support the claims. Evidence I would certainly be interested in viewing. It is suggested that this case was shot over several years at the beginning, perhaps that which seemed to have occurred in a short space of time had a longer lead time. That too would make some of the case more credible. It’s certainly a case I would like to review and if the house stood take a look myself. Which is part of this story that I find a little hard to swallow. If this particular house was such a location where actual activity of this nature had occurred, then surely it could have been kept as a possible location for further and more scientific research? Obviously I understand that Bagans film shows the dangers that this house can inflict on people who visit it whilst they are there and after they have left. However if our desire to know so much of what is beyond our reality of existence, should we not attempt to follow the rabbit down the hole to see what exists beyond? Exploration of new lands has never come without risk or danger, so should the risk be evident in the physical and the metaphysical.

Granted that Bagans owned the house and it was his to do with as he pleased, but should such a decision that could give us greater understanding of our own existence remain with one individual?

Was it just entertainment then…

Of course we must equally entertain, well the common factor that the whole thing was ‘for entertainment purposes’ only in which case the validity of this case comes under immense scrutiny in my opinion. So, from one researcher to another, and one that doesn’t like to draw complete conclusions without all the data; I simply ask Zak Bagans to share with me the complete details of this case for peer review? Simply put, if the actual evidence is that compelling then the case will stand by itself. However if its experience lead; the lifestyles and belief systems of those involved may have given the perception of the involvement of dark entities, when in fact there were more lets say psychological explanations available.

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As I said earlier this isn’t really a review of Zak Bagans’ Demon House, so I am not about to give the film a thumbs up or indeed recommend it to anyone as a must watch for those interested in the paranormal. However the delivery of the film does follow some interesting premises in itself. Bagans tells us that the house is cursed, we are presented with information stating that this is a true story and Bagans and the team certainly appear to have their own share of bad luck when it comes to the house. There is plenty to persuade us that the Demon House lives up to its name and certainly has the power to possess a teenage girl, affect the health of a scientist, change the mindset of a crew member and in its finale damage the very vision of Zak Bagans. Whether we take these on board as fact, well that’s a personal venture.

In my opinion the story was compelling and certainly interesting, but as with anything on TV (news included) I take it at face value. I prefer to do a little more research and see what may be beyond the sensationalism of a film such as this. After all we shouldn’t look something up on the internet and just go with what Wikipedia say, should we? There are certainly moments of the film that brought out my sceptic side in full force, that I can not deny. There were moments which Bagans delivered what could only be understood as dramatic and possibly constructed for our viewing pleasure. However it did follow that same successful format that Ghost Adventures has used and thus I’m sure received many interesting reviews.

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As far as an actual story of modern-day demonic possession and presence of a dark entity terrorising a normal home, the film delivered enough to keep you watching, but for me not enough to drive good evidence. As far as a documentary I feel it let itself down with too many dramatic elements too. Good paranormal entertainment, poor factual documentary, in my opinion.

Would Zak Bagans let me review the case I wonder…

However, in regards to this story itself, my question to Zak Bagans remains, if you have good documented evidence to back up this case I would certainly be interested in reviewing it? As a case of such calibre in my opinion should be reviewed by multiple people from varying approaches and understanding. That way we can comprehend its true authenticity across the board.

If you’ve never seen Ghost Adventures, where have you been? Alternatively pop on over to Amazon and start with Season 1.

If you have watched Zak Bagans’ Demon House, then please comment below and share your thoughts on this piece of film? Please keep it civil though, this is a structured discussion after all!

As ever please like, comment, share and subscribe… Let’s get the discussion going….

 

Paranormal, psi Theories

Is This A Ghost I See Before Me?

by Ashley KnibbLeave a Comment on Is This A Ghost I See Before Me?
Is This A Ghost I See Before Me?

Answers provide more questions…

There’s an awful lot of what we do during an investigation or ghost hunts that we accept as being, let’s say reality local to us. In fact a lot of what we often seek, is based on what we believe. Further more, its equally based on what we believe we see, hear or experience.

Confused? Bear with me on this.

Over the years I have attended quite a few paranormal investigations, ghost hunts and related events. These have all been interesting in their own ways and each have provided different understandings of the paranormal as a whole. It’s the age old scenario, each time you manage to answer a few questions, ten more questions arise from those answers. I’m sure that is something that each person that’s taken it upon themselves to take a line of enquiry regarding the unknown has concluded at some point.

However over the years there have been some interesting moments when certain things have come to light, which have made me question things on a completely different level. Oddly for me these have all highlighted the simple fact that more of what we experience could be related to our own abilities internally, in a psychical manner. Now I that may sound a little radical or out there, but as a matter of fact there has been a lot of research to back this up in regards to telepathy for example.

Is it power of spirit, or power of mind???

This concept for me has actually popped up on numerous occasions over the years during my own investigations, research and explorations of the paranormal field. There was even one particular point where a medium asked me directly on behalf of spirit; ‘is it power of the mind or power of spirit?’

This to me was fascinating given that we were sat around a table in a group discussing the possibility of asking spirit to move an object for us. Indeed the question was extremely on point and resonated with me straight away. If we sat around this table and all focused on asking a spirit to move an object on the table. Then if the object moved would that be due to the spirit moving the object following our request or would it be more likely to be a form of psychokinesis generated from the groups thought activity? These kind of questions have developed over the years for me within the paranormal field and in a way formed the basis for the Psi Theory blogs.

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Another great one that I received whilst conducting an investigation at the Royal Oak, was the phrase ‘communication is perception, perception is communication.’ This was uttered by a Medium whilst in trance allowing a spirit to communicate through him. This is a phrase that has remained with me for a number of years now and in my opinion has such philosophical meaning. You see we often quickly conclude minimal information from random sources within an investigation as having a direct relation to a probable spirit as a source. We make the connection between the smallest piece of information and the consciousness of an individual that has passed away, without really assessing truly the relative value of that information.

This is often seen with EVP work and mediumship. EVP work is probably the best example as I am sure we have all had that single piece of audio, which could be a single noise or even just one word, but we immediately jump to the conclusion that we are dealing with an intelligence. This generally occurs because we spend so much time looking for something that when we get it we elevate its status, probably unknowingly too. I remember doing something similar once when we had an object move by itself right in front of us at Peterborough Museum. As I recounted the details moments later, the distance the object had moved had increased dramatically, in reality it was only a few centimetres. Our own excitement (me included) of a situation can often lead us to elaborate its reality a little. Something that shows our own memories on occasions can not be trusted.

Psychic projection rocks the boat…

However it was one of my most favourite experiments, that Brian J Cano introduced me to that throws the concept of an EVP being related to an intelligent spirit completely out there. I am of course talking of the Psychic Projection Experiment. In this the group focus their thoughts on the digital recording device with the hope that they will be psychically projected onto the device. My own experience of this at Fort Horsted with Brian J Cano and Sage Paranormal, was actually relatively successful. This little experiment that only took a few minutes to complete, changed a perception. If our thoughts could be projected onto a digital device, then our psychical abilities are likely to outweigh the possibility of spiritual communication!

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Now don’t panic, I haven’t given up on or suddenly decided to completely discount the possibility of spiritual communication here. I have just come to the conclusion that perhaps we need a little more to confirm survival of human consciousness.

Let’s just think about that little experiment for a moment though! If we can actually record our thoughts on a digital device designed for capturing audio, then there could be real potential there. It was little experiments like these and becoming a member of the SPR that open my eyes to a whole new possibility of paranormal research related not to ghosts, but to our own abilities. This for me meant that a field that was already huge, just grew to about ten times the size!

However it soon became apparent that telepathy played a huge part in all this. Now its probably important to explain that when I discuss telepathy, I am not talking about mind reading. That is considered completely different from the concepts I am discussing, but often I know that many perceive telepathy to be quite simply mind reading. See perception again!

“Telepathy – The communication of impressions of any kind from one mind to another, independently of recognised channels of sense.” – FWH Myers

What is very important to recognise here is that Myers defines telepathy as ‘one mind to another’; this doesn’t in my opinion mean one human mind to another though, it perhaps just defines the possibility of transference of information independently of normal senses. That in itself is very important, the possibility of information having the capability to be transferred or indeed ‘picked up’ in places is where we begin to see this possibly generate new explanations for paranormal activity.

Thinking about information transfer…

The transference of information or indeed thought is often something that is not taken into consideration whilst we investigate possibly haunted locations. There are often some variables we just don’t take into consideration, like ourselves! This was something that I began to think about quite a bit when I realised a few mediums that I have worked would provide some very interesting pieces of information, but quickly follow it up by stating; ‘how could I have known that?’ It was always a valid question of course. How could they have known it? There were two obvious answers; 1) fraud – they had done a little research (not likely for the Mediums I worked with); 2) they were conversing with spirits – could this be true? However there was another possibility now, the information could have been received from someone else alive either local or non-local to the investigation, or even obtained at a different time too! This is where my own Theory of Telepathic Interaction (recently published in the ASSAP Journal Vol. 49, P.83) came into play. The ideograms within that theory  helped me to reach a logical possible source for the information. Often this would be defined as being from a local source too. This made perfect sense to me. Especially as many investigations that I have been on have involved a group of people, some with knowledge of the locations history and activity and indeed some without knowledge. Thus it would be logical to assume that the information could be obtained from those with knowledge locally.

There is so much more to this and something I believe needs further exploration in order to allow us to fully understand what is really going on here. Source of information and how its received is becoming the key questions within the paranormal. Understanding this will allow us to better comprehend the source of information and then if there could be survival beyond death.

Is this a ghost I see before me???

This all leads me back to the title of this blog. Is this a ghost I see before me! Our senses and indeed our memories can not be trusted, this is something we know now. Yet the concept of seeing a ghost is still reported, I have said many times in the past that I have seen an apparition and explained the experiences of others that have also seen apparitions too. However the question now arises, are we actually seeing these apparitions? Especially when I have read accounts from some that explain how they saw an apparition, but someone in the same space didn’t see what they did. This in my opinion presents the possibility that we can individually receive information which in turn can be comprehended as something we see, when in reality its likely to be comprehended in our mind, but overlaid into the environment we are physically looking at. Strange as it may seem, I am suggesting that the apparitions we see may not be seen, but interpreted information within our minds. There is a lot more to learn about this area and comprehend before we truly understand how it all works. As long as we look into other possibilities I am sure we will eventually discover other explanations.

So, you see or perhaps we don’t, but the ghosts we experience could be our interpretation of localised or indeed non-localised information, rather than something that has materialised right in front of us.

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Paranormal, psi Theories

Social Media’s Immersive Memories and the Paranormal

by Ashley KnibbLeave a Comment on Social Media’s Immersive Memories and the Paranormal
Social Media’s Immersive Memories and the Paranormal

Facebooks virtual memory environments…

I caught a little of Facebooks F8 live yesterday and something in particular caught my eye. They spoke of how in the very near future Facebook would be able to create 3D immersive environments from out flat videos. Within these 3D environments we will be able to look back at those memories that we have uploaded to Facebook right where they happened.

So, you could walk around a 3D model of your living room and view photos, videos and other memories that occurred right in that room. No longer will it just be a case of looking through an album, you will be able to virtually walk around viewing memories.

We are approaching exciting new times in social media that’s for sure, but what the heck does all of this have to do with the paranormal I hear you cry. It’s simple really, data collection and experience documentation on a whole new level. I guess I’m just getting ahead of the curve here though, but I’m actually a little excited about this. We could finally find a good use of social media rather than the negativity it has been used for in recent times.

Another approach coming soon…

I think it’s important to mention here that for me this actually isn’t a new concept, a similar idea was presented to me over a year ago, although not with this relationship to social media. I’m not going to mention who brought that idea to me as it’s not exactly the same as this concept, but still something that at the time I thought to be a fantastic idea. It’s also not my place to mention it right now, however the person I’m talking about will know who they are and can certainly comment below if they would like to do so. Perhaps I will mention it in a future post once the idea has been developed a little closer to production. Without saying too much about the idea, as that’s something for them to do, it would be a platform that would allow access to information on activity at many locations.

Getting back to the whole 3D immersive environment on Facebook.

As I mentioned previously, I’m a little excited about this idea, but right now I’m probably appearing a little like a nerd in an Apple store. Let me explain in a bit more detail.

Currently many paranormal investigators, ghost hunters, teams and events groups; regularly post information on their experiences and time at probable Haunted locations possibly ever week. Not only is the frequency of these posts pretty much daily, it is almost global too. These posts are already in many forms; status text, photos, videos, audio and live broadcasts. That right there is an astronomical amount of data linking the paranormal community together world wide. Its also a tonne of information on each location related to locations and investigators.

Those of you that have been here before will have already recognised one my favourite ingredients making itself known here, data!

How this could work…

Right, now lets look at one particular location in the UK as an example for this interesting development. I’m going to use Peterborough Museum in this example.

Basically, whilst investigating Peterborough Museum you record video of the location. This would allow Facebook to create the 3D environment I believe for you to virtually navigate. Then you can add in various elements of information like photos or video into the 3D environment to observe as you navigate it. If Facebook manage to create this immersive virtual 3D environment then fundamentally you would have a kind of album you could virtually navigate. An album full of all kinds of information related to your investigations of the location.

This would of course be something connected to your Facebook page or group I’m guessing. However it could go further, that 3D immersive environment for Peterborough Museum could be made public or perhaps shared amongst friends. Then it could really become a fantastic tool for the paranormal and this is why I’m so excited about this in regards to the paranormal field too!

Basically, many investigators, ghost hunters and teams could theoretically post their experiences using photos, videos and more to those 3D immersive environments for all to see and review. Going back to our example, you could visit the immersive 3D environment for Peterborough Museum and take a look around at what others had posted there in relation to their own experiences. Then from there draw some comparisons to understand the activity better.

Check out the big data…

It could quite literally be access to big data within the paranormal field on a platform that everybody already uses. We could make some great leaps forwards with this and the possibility doesn’t end there.

The concept of machine learning could be entered into the equation and that could help us do some much needed content analysis here to fully understand what might be going on. Think about it you could catch a Facebook live from an investigation whilst reviewing the other experiences there too.

There’s so very much more to Paranormal tech than a few flashy lights and trigger objects. With more data in the mix than ever before we could achieve amazing things. It also seems that as our main technology these days is based around mobile devices and social media, it just makes sense to find new ways to incorporate it into what we do somehow.

Yes, I know that social media and especially Facebook are often spoken about in a negative way due to the abuse that often comes from them, but perhaps this is a chance to turn that around.

Technologies like this could help us look for patterns and understand more about the paranormal moving forward, should we utilise them the best we can.

I would be very interested to hear what you all think of this 3D immersive experience we could see very soon and its possible use within the paranormal field?

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Paranormal, Paranormal Data Capture, psi Theories, Research

We Need You!!!

by Ashley KnibbLeave a Comment on We Need You!!!
We Need You!!!

The Data Age…

We live in a time where data has never been so important to us, it’s literally a time where everything in our lives has link to some kind of data or algorithms to comprehend what we want.

Think about that for second. I am sure there are examples you could provide that seem like they have no influence from some form of data, but do they?

Its certainly a strange concept to get your head around that a lot of what we do is likely to be because the choices we are most likely to engage with have been presented to us. Conspiracy theorist have a field day with this kind of area and the concept of being constantly watched isn’t a new. The book 1984 suggested a world monitored by CCTV for example many decades ago now. Oddly the UK is dubbed one of the most monitored countries in the world when it comes to CCTV. The recent TV series Hunted shows how hard it is to avoid the CCTV once dropped in the centre of a city. Head out into the country and even though camera coverage is more sparse, ‘big brother’ will still find you!

This disturbing fact is one aspect of information and data that is captured in huge quantities on a daily basis, where you are and what you’re doing. Now if you think it would take thousands of hours for a person to sift through any footage to track your movements individually, then you would be right. However this isn’t the case and also where the data aspect falls into this. There is now excellent software that runs facial recognition and number plate recognition, the authorities can track you through a number of systems using this. In fact the systems do all the work and simply alert when you pop up so to speak.

Wait, what, now…

Lost? Wondering why I am rambling on about CCTV instead of the paranormal? Well it’s simple really, many of us utilise audio and video as a primary tool for attempting to capture probable ‘evidence’ of the paranormal. However these are equally tools which can help us document our environments of investigation more fully. At some point, I couldn’t tell you when I stopped reviewing every piece of footage on my CCTV system post investigation. This wasn’t because I got a tag lazy, but because I soon realised whatever I found would have no meaning without additional sources to support it. So, I allowed those other source to present themselves and to utilise the CCTV to a) back those sources up and b) identify the locations of the team. The latter wasn’t because I didn’t trust my team, but actually because our memories are not quite the best at actually recalling information about an event.We needed to back our own timeline up if we were to become able to present to the academics. More information and data.

The other thing I discovered was that in order to prove what we thought we were experiencing we needed a lot of data to support that. A couple of our favourite cases with a vague comprehension of what happened with no hard evidence would never be enough. This lead me to come to the conclusion that we would need at least a couple of hundred main cases to study and they would need to be geographically and chronologically spread, but what I really wanted to include was an abundance of up to date recent cases too. Especially as these recent cases from investigators out there today doing the work may constitute current activity we could investigate further.

Which is how I came to want to seek so much data or information within the paranormal field.

Hello ‘Big Data’…

The easiest way to comprehend this and to explain how these day in our everyday life we encounter this ‘big data’ and the collection and use of it, is to bring in one thing that often seems to cause issue within the ghost hunter community. I am of course referring to the internet based social media platforms we now use day in day out. These particular system constantly gather information on what we search for, like and become interested in. Then that information is fed through algorithms that likes of Facebook and Google use in order to determine which advertisement would be best suited for us.

I have spoken about this previously, when I mentioned AI and machine learning, but now I am saying let’s take that approach of gather information and using it together to understand more about the field we all love. I totally understand that gather numbers and pieces of information isn’t everyone’s cup of tea and will never be more exciting than navigating a haunted location in the quiet of night, but whilst we do that on occasion we could grab a little information to get us going.

ParaSearch Radio interview on research…

Around this time last night (as I’m writing this post) I was talking to Kerry Greenaway on The Spirit Dimension radio show, one of Paraseach Radio’s many interesting shows about this very subject. In fact we put a call out to the Paranormal Investigators out there for assistance in gathering some of this data/information in order to add into our research and understand the Paranormal better perhaps. Links below:-

The Spirit Dimension – Research Project

ParaSearch Radio’s YouTube Channel – Subscribe for their latest

You can also gather the kind of information I am after using my Paranormal Investigators Journal. I have even created a simple form for capturing Paranormal Activity here too.

Please have a listen to my interview with Kerry as it explains what we are trying to achieve a little better, the link to YouTube is above.

If we are truly going to crack this field or at least made significant steps forward we need to start gathering huge amounts of data and information in one place so we can analyse its contents, search for significant patterns and cross match it for similarities. I hate to say it, but video, photographs and audio are always to a degree come under harsh evaluation. IT shouldn’t be a case of whether someone believes what they see in a picture or hear in an EVP, the evidence should speak for itself.

So, please join me in gathering all this data and information together from your investigations over the upcoming year to begin with and hopefully beyond. It doesn’t matter if you UK, US, German or Australian based, the more we can gather from all over the world the better. It equally doesn’t matter if it was the investigation you did last weekend, last year or a decade ago, if you have it documented I can use it.

The first sweep (as I call it) is simply to gather location details, when the event occurred, what happened and whom. I also need the source if possible, as that can help me return to that case for more details later. Any event passed onto will be logged in the sheet with that person beside it. It also doesn’t matter if four different teams send me the same piece of activity for the same location at different or even the same times. It’s all important data we can use.

So please get in contact, send me some information, use the form on my website, contact Kerry at ParaSearch; it really doesn’t matter how as long as we share this information.

WE NEED YOU!!

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Haunted Locations, Paranormal, The Winchester Mystery House

The Most Haunted Locations in the World – The Winchester Mystery House

by Ashley Knibb3 Comments on The Most Haunted Locations in the World – The Winchester Mystery House
The Most Haunted Locations in the World – The Winchester Mystery House

A little history…

Often in the paranormal we are lucky enough to have several adventures in amazing locations seeking out various oddities. On occasion some of these locations are a little odd all by themselves. It’s not common place to find a location that is simply odd throughout and raises a tonne of questions all on its own. However the Winchester Mystery House does exactly what it says on the tin, providing its visitors with quite a bit of confusion as they navigate its hallways.

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However this particular story of a haunted location is less about a location becoming haunted and more about how one fascinating woman dealt with the loss of her close family. The woman was Sarah Winchester, wife of William Winchester, the only son of Oliver Winchester; owner of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. Basically back in 1862, the Winchester’s were ‘big money’.

What should have been the beginning of an amazing life for Sarah soon turned a dark corner when she lost her only daughter at only one month old in 1866. In 1880 Sarah’s father in-law Oliver died and William inherited half of his fathers huge empire. Barely a year past and Sarah lost her husband William too, which meant his share of the family business went to Sarah.Unknown.jpeg

It was this sequence of traumatic events that Sarah lived through that possibly became the basis for the understanding that she may be cursed. A curse that Sarah possibly believed originated in the fact that the Winchester’s were responsible for creating weapon’s that had claimed possibly thousands of lives over the years. Fixated on this Sarah looked for a way to break the curse, which lead her down a more spiritual path. It was while exploring this path it’s believed a psychic medium advised her that the only way to combat the curse would be to build a house the spirits and her could both live in. The psychic went on to advise Sarah that if she stopped building the house, the curse would bring about her demise too.

It’s probably a good time to mention that although Sarah consulted with mediums and took those consultations very seriously, to the point of changing her life. This was likely driven by her grief, but it does leave us questioning things just a bit! Why would a highly intelligent, upstanding community member such as her be guided by such elaborate suggestions? Grief can certainly drive belief in such situations.

Sarah brought a six bedroom house in San Jose, which was still being built. A team were hired to carry out the work and the continuous construction of the Winchester House began.

A 1906 earthquake changed the seven story building at that point, making it only four stories. The earthquakes damage to the house was equally tied into the curse by Sarah, which highlighted that too much focus had been on the front of the house. Worked stopped on the front of the home and it has remained boarded up ever since.

A few of the Winchester House’s features…

It’s said that the number thirteen features heavily throughout the house and this could be due to Sarah’s obsession with the number. Something that may have even been a feature in her Will, which was believed to be written in thirteen sections and signed thirteen times. I always wonder how much truth there is in these numerical links; is it something that really was intended or perhaps something people have read into it after the fact? I guess the Will might help define this a little.

It is believed that in order to understand what was needed to be built next, Sarah would conduct a séance every night at midnight in the Séance Room. Perhaps this was where the design for such a collection of random and mind-boggling layouts evolved, but the why and even the how quickly returns. Was Sarah actually in communication with spirits advising her how to build her house? Were the layout designs simply from Sarah’s imagination, hence their complex random designs? Is there a possible method to the madness of the layout of the Winchester House.

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The work on the Winchester House contained for roughly thirty-eight years under Sarah’s and possibly spirits instructions. Sarah died at the impressive age of 83 in her sleep from natural causes and went on to finally join her husband and daughter in the cemetery.

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The Winchester House was auctioned and the new owners opened it as a tourist attraction. The house attracts many ghost hunters and paranormal investigators seeking the answers that the house has hidden in its walls. The place is certainly on my top ten list of places to investigate, after all I love a mystery.

The haunting of the Winchester House…

As far as paranormal activity is concerned, Winchester House presents its fair share too. Visitors have reported full-blown apparitions, odd sounds, cold spots, footsteps, strange feelings and even Sarah herself!

There is without doubt some strange things occurring at the Winchester House, some paranormal and also many secrets tied to its design too. Perhaps Sarah Winchester found a way to connect with spirits better? Maybe the whole house is some kind of psychical amplifier? One thing is certain in regards to the Winchester Mystery House, Sarah’s séance secrets remain well hidden within its walls. Walls which surround rooms that confuse, hallways to nowhere, hidden doors and a staircase into the ceiling!

Would you risk getting a little lost in the Winchester House…

The Winchester Mystery House is one of those fascinating locations that takes things far beyond the norm and most definitely into the paranormal. Although there is a part of me that wonders about the psychology here too. The very confusing ‘fun house’ layout of the house and its interesting history may just be generating the appearance of activity! However it could be genuinely haunted; after all it experienced over thirty years of continuous renovations, which has been associated with probable paranormal activity in the past too. Not to mention the nightly seances held by Sarah too. There are certainly all the ingredients for a traditional haunted house here. Why Sarah Winchester spent so much time and money putting the house together as it is will no doubt remain a mystery for years to come. In my opinion its one pretty interesting mystery too…

Don’t forget to read more haunted locations posts here…

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Sources/Further Reading : –

http://www.winchestermysteryhouse.com,

https://www.livinglifeinfullspectrum.com.au/blog/the-mystery-behind-the-sarah-winchester-mystery-house/

Paranormal, Paranormal Data Capture, Research

The Paranormal Activity Form

by Ashley Knibb2 Comments on The Paranormal Activity Form
The Paranormal Activity Form

The Simpler Form

In my quest to gather as much data as possible, I wanted to make things as simple as possible for anyone willing to assist me. So, with this in mind I thought I would create a really simple and straight forward version of the data capture form that I previous shared to gather data.

Firstly, this one doesn’t require your name and email, should you wish to remain anonymous in this attempt to gather information on paranormal activity. However remaining anonymous does mean I will be unable to contact you (should I wish to) in order to gather further details on your experience.

Simply enter the location name and county in the ‘Location of Activity’ field, then enter the date of the day or night the activity occurred on. Then go ahead and check the box next to the type of activity that occurred so we can categorise it. As sometime we can experience multiple types of activity at once, please feel free to check more than one box.

The Paranormal Activity Form

 

 

Again, as ever thank you for your support and assistance in helping me to gather this data. Hopefully it will present some interesting findings.

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