El Salto River, Zip Line & Rappelling Adventure, located 45 minutes from the San Juan hotel areas. Full day tour where you’ll get to hike, rappell and zip line through this beautiful forest. Transportation, lunch and equipment included. For more info, contact rocaliza@gmail.com www.rocaliza.com

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www.adventure-videos.com This is my travel to Moreton Island. It’s near Brisbane and a 4wd exclusive adventure sand island. There is some beautiful scenery all around the island, it is a bit like a travel in Fraser Island, but less touristic and more peaceful. Moreton Islansd is the right place to have a great adventure in the sand with your 4×4. I would recommend that Adventure travel to Moreton Island to everybody who is keen for some 4wdrive experience!

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Over the last five years as a paranormal investigator I have attempted to answer many questions dealing with the paranormal. I certainly do not consider myself an expert by any means.

Since some of these questions have dealt with areas in which I feel I have some competence–cognitive psychology, mental illness, brain disorders, vision–I feel that I have been able to adequately address them. If I don’t feel that I have the background necessary to answer a specific question, I will refer the individual to people who do.

There is one question that has been repeatedly asked which I found surprising. I would say, the majority–but not all–of the people that have asked me this question have been teenagers.

The question is always some variation of…

“I’ve decided that I want to be a ghost hunter, you know for a job. I’ve very certain about this, do you know how I do this?”

Even with my relatively limited knowledge, I was willing to tackle this question.

I can only assume that the recent popularity of such shows as Ghost Hunters, Most Haunted, Paranormal State, and others has lead to the belief–at least in the people asking the question–that being a paranormal investigator is a legitimate career path.

So, I tell them with no uncertainty, that Ghost Hunting is probably NOT a viable career choice.

I believe that the popularity of this field touches on the basis of human existence…consider the question being asked; Is there an afterlife? Of course everyone is interested. But, lets take a step back and consider the draw as a career.

You get to travel, you get to go into cool places, it appears to be a relatively easy activity that is accessible to everyone, and you may get to be on television and become famous! There are some basic human needs being met here, and being thought of as cool because of your job is something we all could live with. Who doesn’t want recognition and to be looked up to by their peers?

So, we find ourselves easily understanding some of the motivations for seeking a career as a ghost hunter: Prestige, recognition, possible fame, working toward finding the answer of one of the most important questions of life and death.

But…

Realize that some of the most respected people in the field have been doing this for years, and most of don’t have their own television show or perhaps make a significant amount of money doing it. People labor for years to gain a level of expertise in a subject matter. Sudden stars like Jason and Grant of TAPs have been conducting paranormal investigations for years, yet, their primary careers are (or were) as plumbers.

The people whom I consider the most respected and well-known paranormal investigators are individuals like Troy Taylor, Jon Zaffis, and Lloyd Auerbach. I am not conversant on the educational and career backgrounds of these individuals, but I do believe that they are able to make somewhat of a living working in the paranormal field. None of them have a famous TV show, but all are accomplished authors, lecturers, and teachers willing to share their knowledge. Mr. Taylor–with the well-known mid-western sensibility to tell it like it is–specifically says that he eschews celebrity, having chosen

not to go that way long ago.

In my eyes, these folks are the giants, without which shows like Ghost Hunters would not exist.

Now we come to money. How does one earn money being a paranormal investigator?

While some investigators charge for their services, I would say that most do not. Groups often accept donations, even going as far as to set up a Paypal account on their Web site (which I consider particularly tacky by the way). Our group accepts donations, and though we’ve received a few, they certainly haven’t covered our expenses.

So, where does that leave us?

People that are making money in this field are authors, run tour groups and give conferences, teach classes, and, perhaps, earn money from Web site advertising or selling ghost hunting equipment. Some also may offer paranormal marketing for businesses–something we provide for free. The rarest are the very small percentage of people who have a television show and/or act as consultants to the entertainment industry.

At least as far as I can tell.

I should note that I have been contacted by three different television producers over the last 5 years (via e-mail ) looking for people to audition for new paranormal-based television shows. Pretty cool, but I’m not an accomplished or well-known investigator, so I would hazard that I was one of 1000′s of people that they contacted. Sure, they may have liked my amateurish web site, and perhaps saw my picture, but I assume that these opportunities are very rare.

Visit the International Ghost Hunters Society (Dave and Sharon Oester) at www.ghostweb.com or Mass Paranormal at www.massparanormal.net if you want examples of people that are probably able to finance their time spent doing paranormal investigations via their activities. I respect both these groups, and their Web sites are certainly worth a look.

There are many ways to earn money, but you don’t do it being an investigator, you generally have to do it by one of the ways I’ve mentioned in the previous paragraph.

So, where does that leave you for a career as a ghost hunter?

I advise people that ghost hunting is a hobby. If you can find a way to earn enough revenue to finance your hobby through donations, you are a successful ghost hunter. If you can build a popular paranormal web site and earn money through advertising and selling products on line, you are a successful ghost hunter. If you can earn revenue from teaching a workshop, you are a successful ghost hunter.

But, you better pick something else for a stable long-term career.

If you are very, very serious about the pursuit of the paranormal, there is an actual career path for you as a psychologist. You would need to start by earning your bachelors degree in psychology, they pursue a graduate degree (doctorate) in parapsychology and then, probably get a job teaching at a university. Technically, its not a career as a ghost hunter, but you’ll more then likely make enough money to finance your investigations. Ghost hunting won’t be a job, it would still be a hobby–like it is for me and the other 99% of ghost hunters out there. Of course, you’ll be extremely qualified to actually conduct investigations.

So, for all of you career track ghost hunters out there, good luck!

Does anyone have any other ideas? I’d sure like to make enough money ghost hunting to pay my mortgage.

EVP Audio Recordings

by Bobby Elgee, Sights Unseen Paranormal 

Many paranormal groups will detail the difference between two types of hauntings–residual and intelligent. Without going into a great degree of detail, residual hauntings are like a tape recorder that periodically plays for a variety of supposed reasons, while intelligent hauntings imply some degree of consciousness and interaction with the environment, including the people that encounter them. The goal of this article is not to go into a myriad of details regarding the specifics of these two types of hauntings, or necessarily, how to tell the difference. Instead, I’d like to discuss people’s propensity to attribute human characteristics to things that aren’t human. Consider the following definition, taken straight from Merriem-Websters 11th Collegiate Dictonary: 

anthropomorphize 

Main Entry: 

an·thro·po·mor·phize 

Function: verb 

Inflected Form(s): 

an·thro·po·mor·phized; an·thro·po·mor·phiz·ing 

Date: 1845 

transitive verb 

: to attribute human form or personality to 

intransitive verb 

: to attribute human form or personality to things not human 

— an·thro·po·mor·phi·za·tion  noun 

If you are a human being, you have a natural tendency to do this. It’s part of being human, much like recognizing faces in ambiguous visual stimuli; a wonderful ability afforded us by the most spectacular of all organs–our brains. The question is, how does one do this accurately in the realm of paranormal investigation? 

It’s natural for humans to be self-centered or egocentric. If something happened, its probably related to you, and perhaps is because of something you did. Ask a child of a certain age “Why does the sun come up?” and they will answer with some variation of “Because I got up.” It is simply a developmental stage that–hopefully–we all outgrow. 

But, to me, it seems that we may revert to earlier developmental stages when analyzing paranormal phenomena. Consider the following hypothetical questions and answers…. 

Why did that mist show up in a picture? 

It was a ghost trying to show itself to me. 

Why did those plates fall off the counter? 

A ghost was trying to get my attention. 

Why are the dowsing rods moving? 

A spirit is spinning them around in answer to your questions. 

Why did my EMF detector spike when there’s no electrical source around? 

A spirit is attempting to make contact with us. 

Why did this cold spot materialize? 

A ghost is trying to manifest, and tell me it’s here. 

Why did that door slam? 

The spirits are upset that we’re here. 

What is the cat looking at? 

A ghost, animals can see things that we can’t, and the ghost is trying to communicate with it.. 

The questions could certainly apply to many paranormal investigations I’ve been on. The answers however, show a clear indication of anthropormorphism–in addition to a lack of a debunking attempt. Their is no indication from the events that this is an intelligent haunting, and yet the person answering the question automatically makes it a conscious spirit interacting with the investigator. In addition, they are clearly ascribing human attributes to something non-human, in this case, a bunch of environmental observations. 

Whether such things are paranormal–not explainable by science–may be determined in the context of a careful investigation. Whether they were caused by a spirit or ghost can certainly never be proven, regardless of whether it is a residual or intelligent haunting. 

I guess what I’m trying to say is that we all need to fight against our basic human propensity to anthropormorphize. I feel it can sabotage an investigation, causing investigators to loose focus and pigeon-hole data into their belief system, and, perhaps, even cause people to miss potentially relevant events. 

So, unless a full-bodied apparition materializes in front of you in period dress, tells you it’s a ghost, and then offers to play a game of cards with you, be very careful about calling anything an intelligent haunting. The events that occurred are probably not paranormal to begin with. To make them into a ghost interacting with you is quite a stretch. 

Have I been in haunted places where I felt that a presence was interacting with the team? Absolutely! Have I recorded EVPs that respond to an investigators questions in a specific manner? Yes, albeit rarely. 

Assigning attributes such as sex and personality traits–as well as motivations–to paranormal phenomena is a slippery slope. I prefer to leave that stuff up to competent psychics–which are very, very rare. 

Ghost Hunting

If you want to have some fun and have an entertaining treasure hunt, try the Western Ghost Towns.

The ones I’m referring to are the ones you need a four wheel drive vehicle to get to them. The key to finding these ghost towns is “research”. The first place most people start is buying a book on ghost towns in the area they are going to treasure hunt. It is best to have a topographical map of the area also. Another good source is the local historical society. They usually have old photographs of long gone ghost towns.

Let me say something about old black and white photographs. All the building depicted in the photograph appear further away than the actual distance at the ghost town site.

We were searching a long gone town in SE Arizona. We had to four wheel it for about 1-1/2 hours to get to it. We had the Typo map; an old picture of the town dated 1888. There were some visible adobe foundations at the site. We were looking for the old saloon site. Standing on a small rise we thought it was approximately 50 yards away. Fortunately there were other mounds of dirt and hills we good triangulate. We actually were almost standing on top of the saloon foundation.

Looking at the old picture we determined where the front door would have been. Most of the building would have had wooden walks, with separations between the boards. If some one dropped a coin on the walk, most likely it would drop through the floor. Since we didn’t have a picture of what the saloon looked like inside we had to guess where the bar might have been.

Most of the buildings in these old ghost towns are not very big, so you can set up a string search pattern area to make sure you cover every inch. It was a lot of fun researching the site.

Our finds that day were over 50 100 year old square head nails, 3 “V” Nickels, one worth $35-$50. Older pennies, and a few quarters. We were hoping for a Gold coin, but maybe we will find it over the next hill. Happy treasure hunting.

Treasure Hunting items at; Treasures

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