Ghost Rider Investigations

I hear it all the time... "Jon, I want to be a ghost hunter... How do I get into doing this?"

The truth about paranormal investigation is that it is far more than the investigation. For those of you new to the process, it can seem like work and is often filled with boredom, equipment troubles, people issues and more. For those trained and who know what to expect, it can be rewarding, enlightening and a source of great comfort.

To investigate and appreciate the unknown which we all aspire to meet in our field work, requires passion and patience, often in equal measure. So this article describes the realities one can expect as a new investigator diving into the great unknown of paranormal research!

So if you are reading this, it can be assumed you really want to be like the TAPS guys or Ghost Adventures Crew and think it is just about grabbing a recorder and heading out.

Not so fast there Pilgrim...

You've got research to do. And you need to do preparation and planning before going out there. And you'll wade through a lot of junk information to find good sites to investigate along with learning HOW to investigate in the first place.

The first thing is to ask yourself what is driving you to hunt ghosts or paranormal phenomena. In my own case, my many psychic experiences over a lifetime drove me to question and attempt to debunk the things that happened around me and led me to this place I am at now, a full-fledged team lead with a real organization and cases in the hopper. I deal with the paranormal daily.

The question is, is that what YOU want? So you need to decide right now if this is for you and if you want to make the investment in time, experience, learning, energy and equipment to do this. Oh... And I forgot that you need to make lots of mistakes so you know what NOT to do!

You might want to strike out on your own and fumble your way through. I did and it cost me a lot of time and effort to realize that I did need instruction and I spent a lot of time getting to know other groups and to watch how they worked and what they did. That effort has payed off and I'm much more comfortable with the process than when I first started.

The process involved making forays to check out other groups and teams, to see their internal politics and procedures and to decide what would work for me and what I could accept or not. You too will find yourself evaluating what works for you in this way and to decide if you are the more independent type or need guidance from a stronger team structure. This is a purely personal decision, but one you'll need to make.

What I don't recommend is going out alone on investigations. I've done it, but I also knew what I was doing and always had an itinerary and time set for me to return with people knowing where I'd be. This is a safety thing and now, I prefer a minimum of two people on investigations to be safe.

There is also the matter of spiritual safety and knowing what you might encounter on a case and how to handle yourself. If you have no idea of what a ghost is, or what sorts of supernatural creatures exist out there, then you have no business hunting ghosts! I mean that!

The other key thing is to trust yourself. If you do experience unease or fear on entering a site, then heed your body and mind warning you and back-off. I'm not afraid to say I've had more than one case where that has happened to me and I've listened to myself and backed off. It was the right thing to do!

Earlier this month, I submitted my photograph of the spirit faces captured on Queen Mary to analysts at the American Association of Electronic Voice Phenomena (AAEVP).

The photo was analyzed and enhanced by the moderator of this influential group and he was impressed with the photo. He described the capture as "littered with spirit images" in his post to me.

I was heartened at having finally captured an image that had definite potential as being that of a paranormal image and thank the AAEVP for taking the time to assist with analysis of the image.

GRI will be in a quiet mode for next several months as we start revving up for 2010 and future site research. Team meetings are now on hold until 2010 and the majority of our investigations will be done by a three-person core team for the remaining 2009 time frame.

The economy (and subsequent effect on all of us) coupled with refocusing our goals have seen us streamline the organization and return to our founding principles of field work, analysis and lots of it.

As such, we're going to be doing two strike missions per month to hunt new sites and haunts for the remainder of 2009 and also to engage in one "large" case per month with our occasional investigators and guests. This will remain the case for the remainder of the year to finish out the 2009 plan. As a result of this change, we'll roar into 2010 with a boat-load of new sites that have never been hunted before!

Strike missions are either very short half-day exercises all the way to full day travel to examine and research a site. They are an excellent opportunity for our occasional investigators and new investigators or those testing themselves for a first-time access to a paranormally active location.

The strike missions will involve two to three investigators traveling to a new site to evaluate it and to do test EVP and other measurements. It is truly an "investigation", but does not possess all the extra work of a more "public" investigation.

Strike missions are characterized by the following qualities:

1. Fast  - We're in and out in one day or less. Some may go over a day due to travel or multiple site investigations to take advantage of proximity.
   
2. We go when we go. These are purely opt-in missions for those interested in going. 
3. Evidence will be limited to short collection bursts and analyzed within one day to judge a site.
4. Often, we may hit several sites on same mission set to maximize our footprint and reach.
   

This is your chance to get in on the action since we have made a few policy changes...

We're going to do these missions no matter what people's schedules are. If you can make it at the designated time, then you are on the mission. First-come, first-serve. If you can't make it, then look for another mission to hook up with us on and sign in for it. Once we commit to the time to leave, that is when we leave.

We're varying distance and sites to allow the team to have access to these missions dependent on their life circumstances and to also open the doors to new investigators who want to try their hand in the field. This is only fair and provides equal chances for people who may not be able to travel far to join in.

Evidence analysis will be done on or just after the mission. We will file reports on-site with our local software and check EVPs and photo evidence at the same time. As soon as the report and analysis are done, they will be uploaded to the GRI database and stored for later planning purposes. This is a "must-do" for being on the strike-team when doing these missions.

If you are not yet a member of GRI and want to test your mettle with us on a scouting mission, please contact us (use the Contact link on left menu) to join one of our scouting missions.

We are being a bit cagey about our new site hunting list, so we've given the sites a set of names that mirror our military bent... It adds a little fun to the process and we've got something special in mind to make this truly mean something for our members. You'll see when you finish the investigation - trust me, you'll like it!

Scouting Mission list and mission code names

• August - "Ruby"
  
  • Ruby 1 - August 1 -  Northern California (done).
  • Ruby 2 - August 29 - Old City Cemetery (done).
    
• September - "Shangrala"
  • Shangrala 1 - Sept 12 -  Folsom area - book research trip.
  • Shangrala 2 - Sept 19 - Northern California - Pigeon Point Lighthouse book research trip.
    
• October - "Elvira"
  • Elvira 1 - Oct 3 -  Nevada
  • Elvira 2 - Oct 17 - Nevada
    
• November - "Dirty Dozen"
  • Dirty Dozen 1 - Nov 7 - Central California.
  • Dirty Dozen 2 - Nov 21 - To be decided.
    
• December - "Cold Front"
  • Cold Front 1 - Dec 5 - To be decided.
  • Cold Front 2 - Dec 12 -  To be decided.
  2010

• January - "Frosty" - Extreme Northern California.
  
• February - "Shadow" - Northeastern California
  
• March - "Green Ghost" - Coastal California
• April - "Spirit Light" - tbd.
  
• May - "Sunshine" - tbd.
• June - "Dream" - tbd.
• July - "Apple Pie" - tbd.
• August - "Laser" - tbd.
• September - "Jupiter" - tbd.
• October - "Dark Light" - tbd.
• November - "Cool Change" - tbd.
• December - "Ghost of Christmas Past" - tbd.

I was asked to write about the ghostly stories of my family by a woman I'm good friends with and ended up posting this story on my site and thought that you might enjoy hearing a yarn from an age past - Thus I share with you the story of Grandma Bater's Ghost:

Many years ago, in the early 20'th century, a woman by the name of Grandma Bater was a fixture of the community in the little town of Sterling City in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California.

Grandma Bater was known throughout the area and she was somehow associated with the principle industry of logging that was the main business of the town. Grandma Bater spent many an afternoon rocking on the porch, probably knitting or crocheting while watching life pass through the streets of Stirling City. Hers was a typical life and she was quite a lovely person from the way it has been told to me.

Going on the recollections of family, my mother told me of her encounters with the ghost of Grandma Bater. She died sometime in the 40's and her home passed through a number of hands over the years. My mother had the occasion to visit the house as many of our family hunted and fished in the area and spent time in Sterling City.

Not long after Grandma Bater died, the next inhabitants of the house, whom I presume were immediate family, began to notice that at 4:00pm every day, the rocker that Grandma would sit in would take to rocking by itself. No one ever thought to remove the rocker. It just seemed that it was a beautiful and sensitive matter whose origins and reasons for being went without saying.

Not knowing what to make of it, we are posting this odd photograph from the Queen Mary of a doorway photo taken on March 7'th, 2009.

The photo original is shown later in this article. It is at the original size with zero edits.

We would love to hear what you have to say about it!

We're looking for other folks to accompany us! Having investigated there once before, we are excited to return to this incredible ship.

It would be great for GRI to visit the ship in force and/or guests of GRI to visit as a group! If you are interested, then see below! If interested, we'd like to carpool. Jon can take one in the GRI Mustang and then one more vehicle for another couple of folks.

Let us know if interested in banding together for the drive down!

Journey Paranormal Society™

will be returning to

The USS Hornet

for an overnight investigation on

Saturday, July 11, 2009

with special guest

John Michael Capaldi

Whats included:

• Pizza Party Dinner
• Special Private Investigation exclusively for JPS™
• Sleeping accommodations in Sick Bay
• Continental Breakfast
• Bottled water, soft drinks, light snacks included

Activities include:

• Investigating with psychic John Michael Capaldi
• Learn How to Set Up a DVR System
• Experiment with an Ovilus and a Shack Hack
• Try out a Thermal Imaging Camera

"Attended the U.S.S. Hornet investigation on Oct 31, 2008

and really enjoyed meeting this great team!" 

-  Jon, Ghost-Rider-Investigations

All for $189.00 per person

Limited to 35