I was laying in bed with my sinuses stuffed to the roof because of a cold; and while laying here I started thinking about past discussions on some paranormal forums and wondered why believers were trying to prove the existence of the paranormal. For one thing, they already believe so why try to prove it’s existence to themselves? The other thing I don’t understand is if they are trying to prove it to the world then why not use methods that are acceptable to those they are trying to convince?

This also made me wonder why many investigators don’t try to figure out what makes the paranormal tick. If they are so convinced the paranormal exists, why do they keep going through the same motions? What could they possibly expect to achieve? After all, they are not gaining any ground or knowledge. Proof of that is in the fact that we don’t know anymore about the paranormal now than we did 100 years ago, which is basically nothing other than the fact that people are still reporting experiences that have yet to be confirmed.

So, what do investigators expect to gain in their efforts? They certainly are providing anything that could be considered proof of the paranormal, and they aren’t testing any of the theories or dogma in a way that could confirm or deny those theories and dogma. So, what do they expect to achieve? If it’s to have a successful spook hunt then I can somewhat comprehend, since spook huntin’ can be fun and exciting. At least for a while. I have to wonder if deep down many of these investigators aren’t hoping to be the next ParaCeleb. If that is true then it is a shame. From what I’ve seen there are a miniscule number of ParaCelebs that have a clue, and those aren’t the ones that investigators seem to try and emulate.

Patrick Doyle gives us another good video on hoaxes, as well as some more sound food for thought. Enjoy!

There have been some interesting complaints going around lately about TAPS ParaMag. This recently came to my attention from the SyFy forum. Several times in the past I had seen people post complaints about not getting all the issues they paid for. Well, I thought that had been resolved, but from what I’m reading, many are still getting shorted as noted in this review of the magazine.

In a discussion on a forum I was part of with the new editor, Scotty Roberts, there were some good things that came out of it, as well as some bad. Mr. Roberts, who’s been editor for two weeks, says that they’re working hard to correct the poor practices the magazine has made in the past. That is a good thing. But at this point it is only words. He also stated that he contacted a couple of people on that forum who had expressed their grievances about not receiving the magazine as promised, and was working to correct that problem. That too is a good thing, and hopefully he follows through. But then there’s the bad.

On the issue of people not getting their issues as promised, Mr. Roberts replied to a poster that they were working hard to get things back on track and that everyone would receive what they paid for, so what’s the problem. Well, the first part of what he said is good. But the “What’s the problem,” statement is highly unprofessional and is skirting the issue that TAPS ParaMag did not fulfill it’s obligations to it’s customers. From the subscription page of TAPS ParaMag (at the time of this article), “Join THE SEARCH FOR ANSWERS and stay up on the latest developments by ordering here for one year of TAPS PARAMAG to get the mag delivered to your door every other month.” A professional and ethical manager would have never said “So what’s the problem.” They would know the problem was failure of TAPS ParaMag to deliver it’s end of the deal, and that the “So what’s the problem,” is poor customer relations. What they would have done is to state the first part, but then apologize for the past behavior of the business and publicly announce a way for customers to contact the magazine for immediate resolution. With what he said it gives the impression that the failure of the publication to make good on its commitment is irrelevant and that customers should be happy that they are getting all the issues they paid for. My business professors would say that’s total hogwash and highly unprofessional since the magazine failed to live up to its end of the deal. I wonder how Mr. Roberts would feel about a business that treated him in such a manner? I know in my case if I order something from a company and it’s suppose to be delivered on a routine basis; let’s say every other month just as this magazine, and then skip me over for six months at which time they suddenly dump all of what should have been delivered in that time frame, I am not going to be happy because that wasn’t the deal, and I will not do business with that company in the future. This is a typical reaction from a customer, which is why professional managers who are worth their weight in salt would not make statements such as that made by Mr. Roberts.

Another thing that concerned me was his statement about only being editor for two weeks and to give him time to correct things. Well, people don’t care how long you’ve been in charge. They’ve been screwed, they’re angry, and they want to hear what what’s going to be done to fix the problem. This is one thing Mr. Roberts never divulged. All he said was great things were going to happen with the magazine and that the problem was being remedied, but it will take time. That’s not a professional response and is again, poor customer relations. Customers don’t care if there are great things to come or not. What they do care about is what are you going to do to fix the problem. They want to here specifically what is being done, not just that the magazine is working hard to correct the problem. A professional manager would have announced what they were doing to fix the problem, as well as giving out information on how unsatisfied customers could contact the magazine in order to get that prompt resolution. Also, a professional manager would not be trying to pump up the image of the company in this forum. Angry customers don’t care about great things to come, and to announce how great things will be only grows that anger as they think things like, “yeah right, you’re just going to screw more people”, and, “who cares if you promise great things if we don’t get the product.” To me, Mr. Roberts seems to want a clean slate and that the past performance of the company shouldn’t reflect upon him. I guess what Mr. Roberts doesn’t understand is that’s not how business works. Professional managers who accept such a position know that they’re walking into a firestorm, and know that they now carry the burden of the failures of the prior manager. While it is true that his performance should not be based on the prior managers performance, it is also true that he has accepted the position and all burdens from the prior manager, therefore, stop making excuses and if you’re not ready to give detailed plans of how you intend to fix the problems you inherited then it is best to keep your mouth shut. Otherwise you do nothing more than make a negative impression as outlined, and you appear to be an excuse maker instead of a professional manager.

All in all, I’d recommend to those who have complaints and have not received what was promised to file for resolution through the Better Business Bureau. I’m sure Mr. Roberts would rather you contact the magazine than to do this, but considering that Mr. Roberts has no track record and has already exhibited unprofessional managerial behavior, along with the track record this business has already shown, I highly recommend going the route of the Better Business Bureau since they are a unbiased, third party arbitrator who looks out for both parties involved.

Additional 1/3/09

Since this article was first published there was more discussion about this on the thread with Mr. Roberts. In that thread I noted the unprofessional behavior that Mr. Roberts was exhibiting according to my business professors and that he was digging a deeper hole. His response was to justify his engagement in the thread, which further proves his unprofessional skills as a manager. This only further solidifies my doubt that contacting Mr. Roberts will be able to do much with the magazine, and that if you want resolution then seek that through the Better Business Bureau. Remember, NOBODY is policing the paranormal community so these things need to be brought to light using resource such as the BBB. One statement that cracked me up and further demonstrated Mr. Roberts unprofessional behavior was how he referred to people as “haters”, this after he chastised people for remarks they had made saying that they didn’t have all the information. Pot meet kettle in this case Mr. Roberts. In case you haven’t noticed, people don’t necessarily hate the players, they hate the lies that the players are dishing out.

I’ve been out on a few paranormal forums lately, which is something I do from time to time. While reading through a few threads I read about a few groups out there who say that the science isn’t important, but providing the clients with comforting answers is. In essence, they didn’t care about whether or not their investigation methods were scientific, just that they produce some comforting answers, regardless of whether or not those answers were the truth. I personally think that’s a load of bull flop, and if that’s the purpose of your group then you need to stop claiming to investigate and simply call yourselves what you are: paranormal counselors.

I’m sure this will rile many an investigator, but if so then it’s because they do not want to face the truth. Just like most other counselors, paranormal counselors are not trained psychologists and don’t have to have real answers. They simply need to appease the client and make them feel better when dealing with the issue, just like so many so called paranormal investigators do. They take whatever “evidence” they collect, interpret it however they see fit, and then present it to the client in order to “help” them. They also claim that the client doesn’t want scientific investigations, which says to me the client wants to be lied to since pseudoscience isn’t truth, it’s fiction. Basically, these investigators have found the perfect victim to play out their con. Many will strongly disagree with that statement, primarily on the grounds that the group isn’t making any money. But a con does not require money as the only source of gain. The gain can be from nothing more than the investigators feeling good about “helping” someone. In fact, in this case, the only difference between a professional con and one perpetrated by these type of investigators is that they don’t go after money. Both lie to the client. Both make it look like they’re doing something when they’re not (EMF, EVP, etc), and both will back peddle and use wiggle words to cover up the fact that all they have is a house of cards.

One thing that surfaced in several of these threads were groups that were irritated with other groups “policing” them. It’s funny how these same groups talk about working together to share ideas, but the moment their ideas and methods are criticized they immediately take offense and go into this type of mode of thinking. Some have even had threads shutdown on the more gentile of boards because they begin to get hostile, and instead of the mods/admins letting the conversation continue and reprimanding the person causing the problems, they simply shutdown ALL discussion. Poor form if you ask me. How on earth are people suppose to share information and ideas if threads get closed because someone gets offended? You might as well say, “You can post subjects here that go along with our general group think,” otherwise someone will get bent out of shape and we have to stop discussing it before someone starts flaming another. Most of the threads I saw were pretty tame, and it almost seemed like the threads were closed to silence that topic.

Another thing that some of these threads brought to mind was the lack of “policing” that goes on in the paranormal community, which is why it’s so riddled with fraud. One thing that keeps coming up is that groups shouldn’t denounce other groups methods, or “pick” on other groups. The argument is that the energy required to do so could be better spent on making headway in the field. I nearly busted a gut when I read that because NOBODY is making headway anyhow, yet there is a ton of headway being made in false claims, fraudulent videos posted on youTube, and every group I’ve seen out there is doing nothing more than “Spook Huntin’”. In other words, everyone is in a glass house, so throwing stones will only bring everyone’s house down. So I can see why they’d want to not have the community scrutinized.

So, in closing I ask investigators this: Are you investigating the paranormal in a search for the truth, or are you investigating the paranormal to make the client feel better? If it’s the latter, why don’t you call yourself what you are: Paranormal Counselor.

This is a convention that was originally suppose to be held in October, but was moved to December. I had commented on it back in October, after Loyd Auerbach had blogged about it.

While I had been following it, and as of December 6th, it was still scheduled to take place on the weekend of the 11th – 13th, even though they had no specifics on guests or vendors who would be there. Well, I finally had a chance to get around to checking in again and found that their website (http://www.extremeparacon.com/) has indeed said it was canceled and is offering refunds. I just hope that everyone out there who put money into this convention does indeed receive a full refund.

After all I’ve seen and read, I’d have to say yes. I’d say this is a big reason for the “one theory is…..” type regurgitation of various, untested theories. While there is a lot of disagreement amongst people in the community about which theories are valid and which are not, there is also a number of theories that the majority of the community clings to without ever truly testing. Basically what I see is a number of people who are so inclined to hold to their beliefs about the paranormal for whatever reasons they choose that they often group together to support these theories and will use flimsy evidence to further support their beliefs.

One of the things that I often see that is classical in groupthink is the diminishing of things that are contrary or problematic: “The paranormal does not perform on command,” is something I’ve heard time and time again, which to me is nothing more than excuse, especially when investigators so often command the paranormal to perform a specific behavior and jump for joy when something happens that they interpret as paranormal because it did happen on command. Now I know some will be saying, “Well, it’s not that it doesn’t perform on command, it’s that it doesn’t always perform on command.” To me this is nothing more than further excuse making, and is to do nothing more than support the groupthink and bad testing practices.

Another classic groupthink mentality is justification through effort: “Well at least they’re trying new methods.” I’m not sure how many times I’ve heard groups supported by this type of mentality, but it’s hogwash. It doesn’t matter whether or not they’re trying new methods it’s whether or not their methods bare out any truth, or are even founded in any sort of rational thought process. This can be seen with trying to measure cold spots with a non-contact IR thermometer or thermal imaging camera; neither of which can see air temperature. But, because investigators wanted to do something new they started to purchase and use these devices without having a clue as to the limitations of the devices, primarily because they were “trying new methods.” What good is it to try new methods if you don’t fully research those methods, especially if those methods involve a piece of equipment that you have no clue as to how it works, what it’s limitations are, or even understand what the results mean?

I think one of the forms of groupthink that really has me shaking my head is the justification of current methods by using ad hominem attacks on science. I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard the excuse that “science can’t explain everything, or, science isn’t always right and often has to change what they say about something.” Red herring arguments and ad hominem statements do not change the argument. Pseudoscience has never produced any truth while science has given us much. It’s true that science isn’t always right, but even when science has been wrong it still has shed more light and truth on a topic than pseudoscience could ever hope to achieve.

Today, groupthink is even more of an issue in the paranormal community than ever. With all the Para-TV shows that have hit the airwaves over the last five years, many investigators have jumped on the bandwagon and started mimicking the investigators on these shows because they think that the “evidence” from these shows is proof of the paranormal. So, in classic groupthink fashion, they take what is seen on a show produced for entertainment and without question they follow their methods without applying any critical thought as to whether those methods are truly valid. On big downside to this is that groups will often “enhance” their evidence just so they can “find” something to validate these methods. One that floored me was when I witnessed a group use the flashlight method. For those who don’t know that’s when they loosen the battery contact to where the light can be turned on with the slightest amount of pressure. It is also one rife with fraud as investigators “enhance” their flashlight by rigging an external switch of sorts. With the group I’m thinking of, and use to respect, I saw them do this method which only had me shaking my head in disbelief. Not because they were trying it out, but because of other things I witnessed: the flashlight was on a cardboard box and stood on end without falling over, and there was a slit cut in the box and that flashlight was at the end of that slit. A typical setup for a flashlight rigged with an external switch. Now some will say that I’m being too picky, but this group knows better that to setup something in this fashion, and they know what the implications would be by doing so. But they did just that. And by doing that I would have to conclude that they wanted to be part of the community that finds evidence by whatever means necessary.

Groupthink is definitely prevalent in the paranormal community, and I think Irving Janis would have found it an interesting group to study for the phenomena as it has all eight types of what causes groupthink. To me, this is going to be the biggest hurdle for the paranormal community to overcome before they can get out of the dark ages and enter into an era where truth can be established and the days of “well the theory goes…” comes to an end. Well, that and the Para-Celebs stop milking the cash cow of obscurity and start working to find answers instead of pushing the groupthink mentality.

I’ve been reading some pretty disturbing articles and blogs about unethical behavior in the paranormal community. These range from conventions selling tickets to events that never happen, to groups preying on other groups. I think it’s time for people in the paranormal community to wake up, take action, and start making it harder for the unethical behavior to continue.

Unethical behavior homeowners need to be aware of

One of the worst examples of unethical behavior is when groups take advantage of homeowners whether it’s eliciting funds, or even worse when groups use an investigation as a guise to take inventory of a homeowners belongings for later theft, or even committing theft there and then. Groups who behave in such a manner need to be reported immediately. Those that commit theft should also be prosecuted when enough evidence exists to warrant legal action. In any case, if there is documented evidence of such things then the victims need to make sure they get the word out about what happened. Hopefully, doing so will help prevent that group from taking advantage of anymore homeowners.

Unethical behavior groups need to be aware of

Another form of unethical behavior that I’ve been reading about is group on group attacks. These range in nature and severity from smear campaigns to theft of equipment and identity. For those groups that are out there claiming superiority over another group I ask that they back up their claims by showing what they have done to make any progress in establishing proof of the paranormal. So far, I haven’t seen one group that can produce a piece of evidence that can stand the test for the rules of evidence. So as far as I can see, every group that is out there is in no better standing than any other group out there. I’ve seen some claim superiority by the awards they’ve won from various organizations, but considering those organizations are in the same boat as far as paranormal research and expertise as any group or investigator out there, those awards mean nothing. They may make people feel good and special, but they’re pointless when it comes to establishing claims of superiority. The same goes with how long someone has been investigating. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been investigating for one year or one hundred. All that can be claimed by how long someone has been investigating is just that. It gives them no more superiority than any other group.

Not that this type of mentality with groups isn’t bad enough but it actually gets worse. Some groups that engage in this type of behavior also resort to smear campaigns, which is one of the most cowardly and loathsome acts that a group can do to another. To resort to smearing another group with false pretenses noted above, groups that do so to make themselves appear superior are truly pathetic, and when doing so to try and steal participants at another groups event is not only unethical, but truly speaks volumes about the despicable character of the group launching the campaign.

One other form of unethical behavior amongst groups is theft of other groups property. While I haven’t seen a significant increase in reports of this, it still should be addressed. This behavior is pretty sad. How low is someone will to go if they are sink so low as to steal property from a group who is working with them to try and achieve the same goals. Groups who are caught doing this should definitely be reported to the authorities, and facts about the theft made know amongst the community.

The last form of unethical behavior by groups is identity theft. This is something that seems to be on the rise and is yet another show of how low some groups can stoop. Identity theft can take many forms from impersonating members of a group on a message board to impersonating a group to gain access to a site. Neither is good and both are unethical. Most of what I’ve seen when it comes to impersonating group members on forums comes in the form of smearing the character of the person and/or group. This is often done by assuming the identity and then making inflammatory statements and remarks in order to paint the assumed identity in a negative light. This often goes along with a group participating in behavior already mentioned, but can also be simple jealous rivalry.

The one that really gets me with identity theft is assuming a groups identity to gain access to a site. To me, this is truly pathetic behavior as it not only show unethical behavior, but also shows a degree of laziness since they are stealing all the effort an legwork the true group put in to gain access to the location. For groups that do this I have one thing to say, “Get off you butt and do your own work to get access. If the owners won’t give you access but they will another group then you need to address that issue within your own group!”.

Unethical behavior of homeowners

This is a rare one, but it does occur, and it seems it may be on the rise. Most often this is when the homeowner contacts a group about investigating their home and arranges for the group to come out. Once there the group is in for a surprise after they finish unloading equipment and the homeowner then demands that the group leave immediately, without their equipment. In some instances the homeowners demands are made as they brandish weapons. One really tragic thing here is that if the group cannot establish they took equipment into the house then the police may not be able to do anything to help recover it.

Unethical behavior of Conventions

This is one area I disagree with when it comes what constitutes a scam. Many people label all paranormal conventions as a scam because of their view of the speakers and Para-Celebs that these conventions revolve around. While I don’t hold any of these Para-Celebs in any high regard because they have done nothing to advance the field of paranormal research, I do not regard the conventions that often revolve around them as being a scam even though they offer nothing to the field. Conventions are entertainment. If someone wants to spend their money to attend a convention then that’s up to the individual. If they were entertained then they got what they paid for. If they believe anything these Para-Celebs say is fact then I would highly recommend doing some research as to what constitutes a verifiable claim and what constitutes an opinion.

What I see as unethical behavior in conventions can best be exemplified with the events that Brent Fair had a hand in. For those of you unfamiliar with Brent Fair, he is someone who promoted two conventions which collected monies for those events and then failed to produce those events. While some people did receive their money back, many did not. For more information on Brent Fair and TAPSCon 2, Paranormal Underground has an excellent page on it.

But Brent Fair isn’t the only one out there. Currently Darkrealm Labs is keeping an eye on Extreme Paranormal Conference (Extreme Para-Con). This was a convention that was suppose to take place on October 13th of this year, but was pushed back to December 11th. This is exactly what happened with TAPSCon 2, which was then all together canceled without notice to ticket holders. While the exact reason for this rescheduling is unknown it does draw need for concern, especially after reading Loyd Auerbach’s MySpace blog about his experience with them, from the perspective of a speaker scheduled to appear at the event.

One thing that disturbs me with many of the conventions is the “No money back guarantee.” This is what you will find when reading many of the refund policies of these conventions. Just about all the refund policies I’ve seen state that regardless of whether or not the convention occurs you are not entitled to a refund. To me, this is not only poor business practices, it is also opens the door to temptation for unethical behavior. With the industry as a whole, these types of refund policies are detrimental since they make it easy for con men to scam the innocent with phony conventions. I would think that community would want to do it’s best to prevent that so people are not discouraged from attending these events.

Don’t be a victim

There are several steps to help keep from being a victim of unethical behavior for those who choose to engage in such practices.

For the Groups

Groups should be careful when investigating private residences. Though rare, there have been a significant number of reports from groups who have had their equipment stolen by people posing as clients in order to draw them into their home, and then order them out, keeping the equipment. Here’s some steps that can help protect you with this issue, as well as being a good general idea:

Conduct a detailed phone interview with the client. Gather as much information about the activity so you can draft a good agreement to present the client with, which will detail start time and end time of the investigation as well as who will be present, and what equipment will be brought onto the site.

Make your first face to face meeting in a public area and bring your draft agreement so you can iron out the details with the client. By doing this, you are on neutral ground, and if it’s a public area it is less likely for a client who has bad intentions to try anything. One thing I would make sure of is to get the agreement notarized. This takes the burden of establishing the clients identity off of your shoulders, as well as strengthening the documentation trail.

When it comes to other groups trying to claim superiority then I would call them on it and ask, “What have you done to advance the field?” I’d be willing to bet they can’t answer that question with anything but a bunch of bull. As I mentioned earlier, if any group has done anything to advance the field then they would have documentation to prove this, and they wouldn’t have to resort to, “the theory is…..”

For those groups that are being attacked with smear campaigns, again I would confront the other group and ask them to back up what they are saying with documented facts. Don’t get into a pissing contest or shouting match. That only drags you down as far as credibility and image goes. Simply ask them for the facts and when they state something that is not documented fact then point that out. Also make sure to document the incidents. Personally, I would post them as well for informative purposes so other groups are aware of your experience with them. As long as you’re civil about the whole situation and don’t use it as a counter attack, you will keep your reputation intact and help get the word out about the unethical behavior of other groups.

For the Homeowners

For the homeowners I recommend they first do some research about potential groups they may ask for help. Check the length of time the group has been around, but better yet, check the message boards. There are many out there, and often they have information on groups, especially those who behave poorly. One thing the homeowner must be mindful when doing this is that as mentioned, there are some groups or fans of groups who will try to smear other groups. Make sure to check more than one source when gathering information, and make sure to read between the lines when it comes to information gained from message boards.

Once a group is chosen then make sure to discuss an agreement with that group. They should provide a written copy of the agreement for both parties to sign, but make sure they are going to do this. If they do not want to take on the burden then take it upon yourself to do so. Also, make sure the agreement states who is going to take part in this investigation and what their purpose is. Most importantly, get the document notarized so their identification is properly checked.

Lock away any valuables. Leaving valuables out in place sight when strangers come into your home is not a wise idea, and to do so with strangers who are wondering around your home investigating is downright stupid.

Document the plate number(s) of the vehicle the investigators arrive in. This is just another precaution in case things go wrong and the authorities need to be called in.

For those attending conventions

One of the first thing I do when attending any type of convention is to check out its history. This can be done in several ways. First would be to check the Better Business Bureau to see if any complaints have been filed, and if so, what the resolution was. With start up conventions this won’t help much since there’s no track record. With those types of conventions I NEVER pay in advance and wait to buy my tickets at the door. Usually first run conventions don’t sell out and the few dollars extra that it costs are well worth the expense when considering the alternative of losing all the money you spend on admission. Message boards are also a good place to find out about conventions. Not only can you find out about any shady practices, but you can also get information that can help make your convention experience even better.

If you are going to attend a convention and you are going to buy tickets in advance then make sure the method of payment you use has some sort of fraud protection. Many credit cards offer this as part of their regular service. If you’re unsure then make sure to find out before you make your ticket purchase. PayPal offers this service as well, but has a narrow window of coverage. Many credit cards have time windows in which to file claims as well. In any case make sure that you do not purchase your tickets so early that this protection does not expire until after the convention is held. Far too often conventions that fold are not discovered until the day of the convention. If your protection runs out before then you’re out of luck.

Check the refund policies. Some of these basically state your out of luck if they cancel, leaving you with nothing. Others will state that they are allowed to change dates and that unless they outright cancel the convention then you’re at their mercy for scheduling. My personal opinion on this type of business behavior is that it’s a load of crap. Conventions that run with such policies do not get my advance ticket purchase, and they get a letter from me that states that because of their refund policy there is no way I will ever purchase tickets in advance. Many of these conventions I do not attend because of those policies. If more people call them on these poor business methods then they will be forced to change those policies.

If for some reason you do find yourself getting scammed make sure to report it to the authorities, and the community. Go on message boards and tell people about your experience. Don’t be slanderous or bitter in your statements. That’s self defeating most of the time. Instead, report the facts and report as much information you can, such as who the people are who were running the convention, the reasons (if any) as to why it was canceled, and if they are involved in any other conventions. Just make sure you are civil throughout as more people are going to listen to someone who can intelligently and calmly state their case.

Well, that’s about it. As you can see there is a lot of unethical behavior in the paranormal community. I hope that at least some of this information is useful to you, and I hope that it can help clean up the poor behavior of some that are in the community. There’s no good reason for it, and with the surge of new interest in the subject there has also been a surge of unethical behavior. So keep your eyes open. Remember, there is no one policing this field except those in the field. It is up to us to clean it up and keep it clean.

When I first heard about this show and how they were going to use scientific methods to explore the paranormal I though, “Excellent.” But knowing it was a TV show I wasn’t expecting too much, and good thing. Ghost Labs falls flat on it’s face when it comes to that.

As far as support equipment and mobile lab, these guys have everyone else beat hands down. The touch display they have is a pretty cool toy/tool, and I think it’s wise that they chose an enclosed trailer over a van. The amount of space they have to devote to equipment and operations monitoring is far superior than what can be achieved with a van. Also, from a marketing/promotion angle, the size of the mural that can be painted onto the sides is impressive. These guys definitely get an A+ for toys/tools.

Before I get started into this episode I thought I’d go over a few things that look as though they’ll be part of the main premise. First is the claim made at the beginning of the show:

This basically puts the ball of responsibility of evidence into the court of the Kilnge brothers and their investigators. The company that produces the show is simply responsible for recording what they do, not what they produce for evidence. This means that any evidence which is found to be staged is sole responsibility of Everyday Paranormal and not the production company. Seems a bit risky to me, and if I were the Klinge brothers, I don’t think I’d take that risk since there’s no telling if production company is going to stick to their jobs and not tamper with things. If they do, people will look first to Everyday Paranormal, since it is they who are responsible for evidence.

The Klinge brothers opening statement for the show

“We are the Klinge brothers. And we believe that science holds the keys to unlocking the secrets of the dead. We formed an investigation team called Everyday Paranormal. Our mission: visit the most haunted places in America, find evidence, and test new theories to probe the existence of the afterlife.”

The episode begins with Brad’s story of an encounter he had. “July 6, 1990. I was on a family vacation in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It was broad daylight and we were on our way out of town in my dad’s truck. I look over into the field and I see this small group of Union soldiers, just walking through the field. I thought they were doing a reenactment, so I told my dad to stop the truck. I jump out with my old VHS video camera and I start running after them. They’re in frame for several seconds and I think, “You know what, I want to try and get closer to these guys so I can get them on film better. I stop the camera and I start running after them again. Right at that moment they disappeared before my eyes. There was no explanation. I mean there were no signs of a reenactment; there were no crowds, no cars, nothing like that. There’s no way they could have gotten to the treeline that quickly, and it was just unexplainable.”

Whether it’s true or not is impossible to say. There’s nothing in the video to suggest anything paranormal, and we have only his word that the events transpired as they did. At this point we’ll assume that he did experience what he claims to have, but whether or not it was paranormal, there’s no way for us to know since there’s no evidence to support the claim. Basically it is to establish why Brad became interested in the paranormal. Anyhow, on with the show.

This isn’t looking good. The Extreme Paranormal Conference, which was to be held October 16th – 18th has been moved. Their website claims it was due to conflicting schedules with guests, but reading through Loyd Auerbach’s MySpace blog, that doesn’t sound like the truth.

Here’s Loyd’s blog:

So the question remains: Are we in the midst of another paranormal convention scam? Or just poor management?” Either way, it seems a lot of people are going to be greatly disappointed.

This from Chip Coffee’s blog: (Chip was booked as a celeb at the event)
Sep 16, 2009 9:32 PM
TALA event canceled

It is with deep regret that I must inform everyone that the event scheduled for this weekend at the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in West Virginia will not be taking place.

I was scheduled to appear at the event and was informed today that the event will not happen.

Brent Fair and Odyssey Star Productions originally promoted/coordinated this event. It sickens me to think that this situation is turning into a repeat of the TapsCon debacle.

After all the money to produce the TALA event was siphoned from the Odyssey Star account, Bob and Summer Jennings tried desperately, against insurmountable odds, to insure that the event would go on as planned. Sadly, at the last minute, they were unable to reach agreements with the venue and the event was canceled.

Unfortunately, I have no information to offer regarding refunds to those who paid to attend this event.

If/when I do receive such information, I will post it immediately.

So it seems that Brent Fair has sucked the life out of another paranormal event. And, from what I read in the agreement when purchasing tickets is that no refunds would be given. Now this may not be the fault of the folks currently running Odyssey Star Productions, but I know I would never attend one of their events if they refuse to refund money since the flat out canceled it. I know they won’t see it that way, but if they can’t refund the money and are such poor business people that they allow Mr. Fair to embezzle all the funds then they shouldn’t be in business and need to be shut down.