It's a dark and stormy night, and you've been invited to tag along with a local ghost hunting team. Every crack of thunder makes you jump, and every flash of lightning casts strange shadows along the walls. Each one seems to be reaching for you.
Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.
You slowly make your way down one of the maze-like hallways of an abandoned asylum, gripping the flashlight someone handed you earlier. As you pass a doorway, you catch movement out of the corner of your eye.
You freeze.
You take a slow breath and notice something else.
When did it get so cold?
You exhale, and your eyes widen as you watch your breath drift through the beam of your flashlight.
This is it.
Your first ghost.
You take one more deep breath, summon every ounce of courage you have, and swing your flashlight toward the doorway.
Something launches straight at your face.
You scream.
Your flashlight goes flying.
The beam bounces wildly off the walls while you desperately try to fight off your ghostly attacker.
It's...kind of furry.
You weren't expecting a furry ghost, but this is your first investigation, so who are you to judge?
The creature bounces off you and disappears down the hallway just as the rest of the team comes running.
"What happened?"
You explain your terrifying encounter while trying to catch your breath.
Everyone cautiously enters the room.
Immediately, someone notices the broken window.
That explains the sudden cold air.
The room is searched from top to bottom, but there's no sign of your furry ghost.
As everyone starts to leave...
...your attacker comes flying past the doorway again.
A squirrel.
Your terrifying paranormal encounter has officially been reduced to a broken window and an angry squirrel.
It happens more often than you'd think.
Not the squirrel.
The assumptions.
One of the biggest mistakes a paranormal investigator can make is walking into a location already convinced it's haunted. Once you've decided every creak, shadow, cold spot, or strange noise must be paranormal, your brain starts connecting dots that were never connected in the first place.
To me, skepticism is the single most important piece of equipment you can carry into an investigation.
If someone asks you to investigate their home, your first job isn't to prove it's haunted.
Your job is to prove it isn't.
Rule out the draft from the broken window.
Rule out the squirrel in the attic.
Rule out the pipes, the wiring, the neighbors, the settling house, and every other explanation you can think of.
Only after you've exhausted the ordinary should you start considering the extraordinary.
That's how you build credibility.
Ghost hunting has never really been about owning the newest REM Pod or carrying the most expensive equipment. It's about observation. Asking questions. Testing theories. Looking for answers, even when those answers aren't paranormal.
You're not just a ghost hunter.
You're a detective.
One last piece of advice.
If you're looking for a paranormal team, pay attention to how they investigate.
If they seem too excited that your house is haunted...
If they're provoking every room they walk into...
If they're trying to create activity instead of understand it...
Find another team.
A good investigation is about uncovering the truth, whatever that truth happens to be.
Your team should be investigating...
...not instigating.
