Okay, I'm back! Sorry I didn't post much last week, but life got sort of... involved. Thanks to Amazon's Sunday delivery I received my brand new sparkling UV lights, though, so now I'm pumped and ready to go investigate somewhere! Speaking of investigation, here is another piece from Olivia. Sit back, enjoy and ponder!



So what are the causes for hauntings? 

Once again I think energy, tragic, violent, suicide and even mysterious deaths create energy. 

 There are lots of good ideas on why these spirits stay instead of moving on to whatever comes next. A popular idea is that the spirit doesn’t know it’s dead and is thought to be reliving the moments or days leading up to their death, 

I don’t know about you but I find that both sad and disturbing, having known a few people who have killed themselves I can’t tell you how I hope that is not the case.

 Another thought is that some spirits just can’t move on because of some unfinished business or can’t leave a loved one. 

There are lots of categories for different types of hauntings and ghosts or spirits. But when you boil it all down I guess what I really want to know is it just energy that hangs out in places?

 Does the place itself play a part in creating this phenomenon? 

Other thoughts and ideas that I find interesting:  Some types of materials like limestone or quarts can hold or trap energy, I have also read that water can keep a spirit for crossing it, in these and tons more  stories and folk tales, the thing that stands out to me is the energy, energy of the person, energy of the place.

 So what do you think? What ideas do you have about hauntings? Do you think there’s anything to this energy theory that’s out there?

(I have actually taken to referring to the energy she is writing about as spectral energy and I'm trying to figure out what the frequency of it would be. -DW)

Well, so I broke down and made a gofundme account so I can try to get funding to build some of the things I talk about in the book. The UV specific camera alone that I'm looking at is almost 1000$. I'm confident, though, that these new methods will allow us to take paranormal research to the next level! If you are interested in donating and being a part of this technological revolution in paranormal investigation the address is:  https://www.gofundme.com/7fa4yupy

Well, here we are again! I'm working on lining up some new investigations, I have some new stuff I'd like to test out to see how it goes. Has anyone out there gotten anything good lately? Investigated any cool places? Inquiring minds want to know!

Here's another article from Olivia, She's taking this writing thing and running with it! I'm still looking forward to hearing from you guys, and I know she is too, so get those keyboards working and let's get some discussions flying!


I often wonder how much the human factor plays a role in hauntings?
Is simply believing enough?
I’m not sure, I wasn’t  really a big believer when it first happened to me, but the people who lived there before were, Does that mean they attracted the paranormal or did  they believe because of the experiences they had there?
 I can’t really say for sure but I find it all fascinating, I don’t talk about ghost and ghost hunting at work or with people I just meet, but when the subject does  come up I find that people who say they don’t believe  often have more stories than I do, which I have to tell you I love!
 Dan can also tell you it happens to him often as well.. I think there is something universal and also unique about hauntings and ghost sightings.
  Cultures from all over the world have their own myths and legends. It is amazing how they are the same in many ways,  but with their own unique  twist between cultures.
 I know some people dismiss the paranormal as just their imagination and fear magnified by the dark or because there alone etc… but what if a haunting is triggered by a person’s energy?
 What if part of why not everyone experiences the same thing in the same place in the same way is because of their own unique energy?
 What I mean by that is we all put out a different energy or aurora, maybe it’s brainwaves or emotions and so we at any given time can attract or repel different energy signatures?
It’s one explanation for why ghosts seem to only appear to some people some times. What do you think? What are your thoughts?
Is it our energy helping to manifest ghost or spirits?
Do you think it’s just over a active imagination playing on old fears?

Thanks!
Olivia

You know, It occurs to me that other than my little bio blurb which really doesn't say much, a lot of you probably have no idea who I am or why I decided I was qualified to write a book about investigating the paranormal. Actually, I decided to write this book because I'm NOT qualified to write a book about how to explore the paranormal. That's the entire point of it. No one is.
 Because no one knows anything definite about it. Oh sure, there are a lot of people who are very experienced at it, and a lot who have gotten very good at it, but no one can say they know, 100% without any doubts how anything paranormal works. I include myself in that number.
Am I experienced? Sure. I've been chasing shadows since I became fascinated with the subject when I was about 10. (That's about 36 years now... ech) Do I have a background to do this stuff? Well, I suppose so, I've led a pretty interesting life with a lot of unusual experiences which have broadened my skill set considerably wider than the average person's.
But is there anything REALLY special about me that qualifies me more than anyone else to do this? Nope.
 The only thing special about me is the ridiculous drive I've always had to answer the questions that don't seem to have any answers. To solve the unsolvable puzzles we've been shaking our heads over for years,
I'm willing to look at things a little differently than they've been looked at before and try some new things because they make sense to me at the time. I'm willing to not just step outside the box in my thinking, but to forget the box even exists and just focus on the questions at hand.
So, there's a little bit about me and why I decided to do this whole thing. Can I do it better than anyone has before me? I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

We're going to start doing something new here, shake things up a little and see how it all works out.
Once a week or every few days, or whatever, I'm going to have a guest post a feature on here. I don't want you all getting tired of reading my random rambling thoughts too much, so I figured this might mix things up pretty well! The first post is from a good friend of mine, Olivia Menezes. She and I have been out investigating for a few years now and she's got some pretty interesting takes on things. The first article she's doing is on shadow people. So, without further ado, Heeeeeeere's Olivia!




What are shadow people?  That is a question that I have been thinking about since I had my first encounter with these entities, and I have bounced back and forth between whether it is a ghost or something more demonic.
 What I have learned over the years is there are thousands of sightings by people all over the world who have had similar experiences. Shadow people do seem to show up during the most stressful or emotional times, possibly like they thrive on the emotional chaos,
I’m not sure if they cause it or are attracted to it, there are a lot of reports of them scaring the crap out of people, myself included.
 I have done a lot of Internet research on the subject and while it was interesting and helpful information, for me and my personal experience it just didn’t seem to hit home.
There are many theories on shadow people out there.  One that I do agree with is that they are not ghosts, and I don’t believe they are demons either. I know a lot of people experience them to be evil, In my experience, while it did scare the shit out of me the first time I saw it, I never felt it was there to harm me.
 So at the end of the day here are some of the questions that I am left with,
 What are they?
 Why do they seem to show up at the most stressful and emotional times?
 Are they only observing or are they some how causing this emotional turmoil?
 Why would they do that, are they feeding off the energy?
 Or are they just the product of a stressed out mind playing on our childhood fears?

 If you have any thoughts, ideas, personal experience, I would love to hear them.

Thanks,
 Olivia

Back again today! I've noticed (Because Google tells me these things!) that we've had some Russian visitors on the page. I'm wondering if you guys can chime in? What is the general opinion of paranormal occurrences over there? Do any of you know any good stories or locations?
 I'm going to post the questionnaire I've been working on in the next couple of days for anyone who would like to report a sighting. Now,  it is going to be a little bit involved, but please try to answer the questions as accurately and completely as possible.
The better the data we can gather, the sooner we will begin finding patterns. I've had some people me in the past if fake or incorrect information will bother the data findings. The answer is a resounding yes, at least in the short term.
Once enough information is compiled, though, the bad stuff will sort of throw itself out. In the short term, though, please do your best to be as accurate and as truthful as possible. I would rather have a question not answered rather than made up or filled in incorrectly.
I probably won't be posting a lot this weekend, I will be doing a book signing in downtown Ottawa Friday night and I really need to get caught up on the writing for my next novel, the sequel to "The Dragon King". My partner is getting a little antsy, she wants to get busy painting. Anyway, I will talk to all of you soon, Remember, I REALLY want to make this blog interactive so I welcome any and all questions and comments! Have a good night!  

     I'm back after a couple of day sabbatical. Sorry, I've been head first into a super secret project. Just a bit of a spoiler, though, if I can pull it off all of you guys should enjoy it. That's all I'm sayin' for now.
I was hoping I'd be starting to get some feedback already, but that's okay. So, here's a reminder: This page is as much for you all as it is for me. If there are any questions or comments you have, feel free to post them. If you aren't comfortable asking on a public venue like this you can email me, that address is: chasingshadows68@gmail.com. I promise anything you send to me will remain confidential.

Now, on to paranormal stuff. I've had a theory for a long time that moon phases and solar storms can greatly affect the amount of what I'm going to call 'spectral energy' in an area. I haven't been able to prove this yet, but with the template of questions I'm building for investigations this should be one of the first trends that can be spotted.
     For a long time I've had a theory that with enough accumulated data from investigations and the right queries applied to that data a pattern should begin to emerge. Wouldn't it be great to be able to check before you went on an investigation and be able to see, for example, if it was a high probability for EVPs or full body apparitions or if it was more likely to get low or sporadic activity or a high chance for orb pictures? I really think this is possible once enough data is input into a reference database.
       Soon I'll be posting a template of questions on here. If any of you are active investigators or even just had an encounter and would like to help me gather that information I would be extremely grateful!

Ok, enough for the moment, I need to get back to the super-secret project. Wish me luck!

Dan

A few halloween links for your web-surfing pleasure!

8 scary websites

Top 10 haunted sites in the world

America's six most haunted

Okay, that's enough for you to play with at the moment, I'll probably post some more later. Enjoy!

                                    Happy Halloween! 

Anyone out there heading out ghost hunting tonight? People ask me that all the time. I generally don't, Ghost hunting on Halloween to me is kinda like drinking on New Years Eve. Its amatuer night. People that don't give paranormal investigation a second thought the rest of the year are crawling over cemeteries, kicking in the doors of 'haunted' houses and generally trying to wake the dead and scare themselves, many time while hammered. 

In general not a good scene. Police are wound, trying to bust anyone who sneezes too loudly, drunk people and paranormal have no business mixing, and I would prefer to stay off the roads. If you do go out tonight, please be extra careful! Live to hunt another day, don't let yourself become another ghost story about old route 66 or the Higgins' family cemetery. Maybe later I'll scour the internet and post a few scary links for your viewing pleasure.  Enjoy!

Dan 

Happy Friday!

I think, since I own this blog and I want to, we're going to have free form Friday on here. I'm going to let you guys ask the questions today. Now, I don't expect a ton yet, since we're just getting rolling, but I hope to have a lot more blog members before too long. (Yes, I have a plan No, I'm not saying what it is yet. Yes, it is probably ridiculous and over the top. No, it probably won't work, but I refuse to think that way. Read the book, you'll understand.)

ANYWAY- This is how it is going to work. Anyone can ask a question. I don't care what it is, as long as it's not too dirty or personal, and I will answer to the best of my ability. Followers of the blog will have first priority since, well, you bothered to follow it, and I will answer questions until I get bored with it, I have something else to post, or you stop asking.

I figure by doing this you can get to know me a little better, I can get to know you a little better, and then we can focus on the mystery solving! so, Let's hit it!

Time to get into the meat and potatoes of this blog. As most of you have probably guessed, my name is Dan and I'm working on some different theories and ideas about supernatural occurrences. I really hate to say 'ghosts' because we don't really know what the heck we're seeing, hearing or feeling.
 If you haven't read my book yet, (Chasing Shadows : A paranormal primer) I would recommend you check out a copy of it for 2 reasons.
1. Because I would LOVE to get paid,
2. Because a lot of stuff I'll talk about here will probably be extensions and more details about things discussed in the book.
My goal by doing this whole thing is to try to finally answer some of mankind's oldest questions. Ghosts have been referred to in writing for literally thousands of years now, since way back in the first century A.D. ( even farther than that if you count the bible)
 People have been seeing these things for a LONG time. Supernatural happenings aren't all that uncommon either. If you haven't experienced something I will bet you that if you talk to 5 random people you'll get 3 of them that have seen SOMETHING they can't explain.
Guess what? That is WAY better odds than winning the lottery, but people still believe in that and claim not to believe in ghosts. (Well, except in Illinois, belief in the lottery has gotten a bit shaky here)
So, why do we have SUCH a hard time believing that something is going on that we don't understand? Well, the first problem goes back to when we were kids. Late at night when things are creepy and the veil between worlds thins a little, how many kids get scared and start yelling for mom and dad because there is a monster in their closet or a ghost looking at them?  Mom and dad are tired. They've been working all day, maybe they would like to spend a bit of quality time together. Mo matter, They want little Johnny or Sally to shut up and go to sleep. So they sigh, get up, walk into the room and turn the light on and then patiently look around and say "See? there's nothing in here. Go to sleep, there is no such thing as ghosts." Guess what? Kids remember that stuff. Mom and Dad can't be wrong about it, so there can't be any ghosts. Closed minds can rationalize ANYTHING.

The second problem is science. Science has advanced SO far in so many different areas that we've gotten cocky and arrogant enough to think that if our current scientific methodology can't find something, well, it just isn't there! But wait... Einstein's theory of relativity was just proven wrong.

http://www.livescience.com/50262-spooky-action-is-real.html

Oops. Maybe that total faith in our existing science has a bit of wiggle room after all? Could it be that we just aren't looking in the right places or with the right equipment? That's what I would like to find out.

So, here we are. Looking for something that, when viewed objectively, HAS to exist, based on the sheer number of people that have experienced it. (Scientific theory is based on repeatability, after all) even though the majority of the population doesn't want to believe it, science denies it, religions try to explain it with their own particular spin and no one can seem to work together to figure it out.
It should be a wild ride! I can't wait to see how the story ends.

Okay, We're still working through technical difficulties, but I'm hoping to have a copy of the show available soon! I'm also trying to get some upcoming investigation details ironed out. If anyone knows of anyplace begging for some ghost hunting, let me know! Is anyone going hunting on Halloween or is everyone just going to parties?

Well, another day where things didn't go EXACTLY to plan. After a long detour around the quad cities to avoid the police seeking an active shooter I still managed to make it to the school with 20 minutes to spare, only to find out a power outage had taken the live transmitter off-line. The show actually ended up being pre-recorded and aired 2 hours late. Never fear though, loyal readers! I am, even as I type this, working on getting a recording of the show and if I do I will post it on this site for anyone who cares to listen to it. You know what they say about adversity: Adapt and overcome!

Well, It's mass media day today! I'm getting ready to drive out to the Quad cities today to discuss ghost hunting and Chasing Shadows with my good friend Mitch Caffarini and his co-host on http://www.sau.edu/KALA/The_Stinger.html The show will run from 4-5 PM if you would like to tune in. Should be fun!

Well, here it is! Or rather, here it will be. This is hopefully the beginning of the new age of paranormal investigation. The point where it all starts. A place for everyone to begin openly sharing their knowledge and stories so we can finally begin looking at what paranormal occurrences REALLY are, instead of relying on guesses, fairy tales and old stories. I invite you to join me on this journey of discovery, to be one of the group that works on finding the actual answers and doesn't keep following the same old routines.  I'm sure each and every one of you has something special to bring to the table with you and I look forward to getting to know each one of you better. Thank you and I will be talking to you!