The Misuse and Misunderstanding of Paranormal Investigating Equipment
I’m going to share one of many rants about paranormal equipment. First there are many pieces of paranormal equipment out there, some that are made for paranormal investigating, and some that are not. Examples for the latter would be; EMF meters, thermal cameras, video cameras, still cameras, recorders both digital and analog…the list goes on. We automatically think these items will work for paranormal investigating, and to some point they may, but no one knows exactly what can and can’t catch a paranormal anomaly. But the same tools have been used for years with no scientific proof, why are the same tools used over and over again? Because we have been taught, shown, told, etc, that these are the tools used to investigate the paranormal, and now with the “pros” on TV “reality/soap opera” shows, it’s even worse. I hear the same thing “well that’s what they use on TV and they are pros, so it must get results”. NOT TRUE AT ALL, the equipment on these shows is modified for entertainment. Think about it, no one wants to see how unattractive an actual paranormal investigation is. But I will save that for another rant.
I build equipment and I’m a paranormal investigator as well (not a weekend warrior just so I can tell my friends I’m a real “ghost hunter”). I am doing this daily, either research, investigating, or building equipment. It always amazes me how many people there are that spend hundreds and thousands of dollars on equipment and don’t do any research. When I buy even a set of speakers for my computer, I spend days researching them, price matching, finding out specs and what exactly they do and don’t do. People spend thousands of dollars on equipment they have no idea what it does or doesn’t do. It’s not difficult at all to find out about a piece of equipment before one purchases it, especially today with the internet. Take, for instance, the difference between video cameras. It is very easy to find out the difference between them and why the prices vary, yet people still don’t look before purchasing.
So please do the para community a favor, do some research before you run out and purchase that next piece of equipment, and for (whatever god you pray to) sake, please don’t just buy it because the “pros” on TV use it.
