Last night, we had the pleasure of hosting a fundraising event. We conducted tours of the downtown area, with all proceeds going to help defray costs of the upcoming trip to the State History Fair for the students at Fort Pierce Westwood High School who won at district competition. We really enjoyed the chance to showcase some of the more unique aspects of Fort Pierce’s history, and loved getting to spend time with so many local residents. We managed to have some photographs taken (thanks to Stacy Reckard for manning the camera!) during the final tour. Hope you enjoy them! “The GRIM Society Haunted History Tour in downtown Fort Pierce, April 14, 2012. This event was a fundraiser, with all proceeds going to help pay for students from Westwood High School to attend the State History Fair competition.”

From The GRIM Society Haunted History Tour, posted by on 4/15/2012 (20 items)

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If you’ve ever spent time researching the paranormal, you’ve probably noticed that much of the discussion surrounding the topic can be summarized as nothing more than opinions being debated among believers and non-believers alike. While this statement might not sit well with those of us who dedicate our time to the field of paranormal research, the truth we must admit to ourselves is that nearly every premise we operate under is unproven; they are merely surmises generated by a collective of individual perception and personal belief.

For those who have never been involved in a lively debate on, for example, the types of paranormal activity, this concept might not make sense at first glance, but you’ve probably seen at least one television show peppered with the term ‘personal experience’. This term is the key to the entire field of paranormal research. Everything we do is affected by our personal experiences, and those experiences are all based on our individual perception of the world around us. This long-standing situation has allowed those outside the field to target our research as pseudoscience.

All of this begs the question: Should the ‘data’ collected through paranormal research—photographs of orbs, video of strange shadows, audio recordings of what most interpret as a voice—which relies on individual perceptions be considered evidence? Its a difficult question to answer. The collection of data might seem to be science-based as it makes use of technology, yet even with modern recording devices, it all begins in the mind.

Read the full article: http://hubpages.com/hub/is_it_really_paranormal_activity_or_my_mind_playing_tricks

Imagine the scene: You’re sitting quietly in a silent room, hours into a rather luckless investigation of a reportedly haunted building, when suddenly you hear footsteps on the floor above you; the floor currently unoccupied by living beings. Your heart pounds as you silently beseech every God you can remember, begging them for the audio to come through onto the video camera you hold in your hand. After the investigation wraps up for the night, you’re so exhausted that you know the review will have to wait. The next day, you remember the events and rush to download the video from your camera, eagerly watching it, headphones pressed tightly to your ears. Moments tick by until…there! You can hear the far away sound of footsteps in the hall above. The sound is so faint, though, you’re not certain anyone other than a bat might be able to hear it. What’s a paranormal investigator supposed to do at this point? Exactly how does one perform that arcane magic which transforms the softest whisper into the startling ‘enhanced audio’?

In the realm of paranormal research, evidence is key and audio is a cornerstone to that evidence. Listening to the enhanced audio clips from an investigation can turn a rather ho-hum presentation into a fantastic discovery that leaves everyone involved speechless. The problem is, many investigators aren’t sure how to get from raw film footage to workable audio files. While we’ll be the first to admit that the process of data review is tedious and time consuming (how long can YOU stare at a quiet, empty room before you fall asleep?), the process of extracting the audio from your video files is actually quite simple. With the help of this article, you’ll be splitting audio from video in no time, and even performing a few basic enhancements (enhancements, not enchantments!) to that audio in no time!

Read the full article here: http://hubpages.com/hub/Paranormal-Research-Techniques-Extracting-Audio-from-Video-Files

According to most sources, the term paranormal found popularity in common use relatively recently; they claim that the designation dates back only to the 1920s. In order to uncover the true roots of the word, we have to first examine it’s separate parts.

The word is formed by combining the Greek prefix para-, which means “alongside, beyond, altered, contrary,” with the word norma, a Latin word meaning “rule or pattern”. By understanding that the word is created through the combination of these two parts, we can draw a simple conclusion: whoever coined the term was educated enough to have at least a passing acquaintance with both Latin and Greek. While it might not seem like a major clue, it eliminates a large portion of the population at the time.

Read the entire article here: http://hubpages.com/hub/themeaningofparanormal

Over the weekend, we had the pleasure of visiting St. Bernard de Clairvaux Spanish Mission. It is an amazing place that offers a really unique look at history. The Monastery was built in Sacramenia, Segovia, Spain between 1133 and 1144. It was dedicated to the honor of the Blessed Mother and named “Monastery of Our Lady, Queen of the Angels,” then later renamed in honor of Bernard of Clairvaux, a famous Cistercian Monk. The Cistercian Monks occupied the monastery for nearly 700 years before the Cloister was seized, sold and converted into a stable and granary in the mid 1830s. That is where the story gets really interesting.

William Randolph Hearst, a famous American businessman, purchased the Cloisters and outer buildings in 1925. He had workers dismantle the structures, packing each stone in hay inside one of 11,00 wooden crates, intending to ship the entire Monastery home to the United States. The process would have been a smooth one, had the stones themselves been numbered in some way, but instead, the workers labeled the boxes. Enter the US Department of Agriculture, who realized that there was an outbreak of hoof and mouth disease in Segovia and, afraid that the crates would spread the illness in the US, they quarantined the shipment. During the quarantine, they broke open the crates and burned the hay, which was a possible carrier of the disease. Then they put the stones back- without ensuring they went into the correct crates.

Hearst suffered financial losses right at the time that the crates were released, forcing the entire Monastery to go up for auction in its disassembled form. The stones remained in a warehouse for 26 years before W. Edgemon and R. Moss purchased them. It was 1953, and they decided the Monatery would make a great tourist attraction. It took 19 months and 1.5 million dollars to put the pieces back together; the process was time consuming and there are still stones left over.

I highly recommend a side trip to the Monastery if you’re ever in the area. The story is fascinating and the scenery beautiful, so don’t miss it if you ever get the opportunity!

In Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass, the White Queen tells Alice that in her land, “memory works both ways.” Not only can the Queen remember things from the past, but she also remembers “things that happened the week after next.” Alice attempts to argue with the Queen, stating “I’m sure mine only works one way…I can’t remember things before they happen.” The Queen replies, “It’s a poor sort of memory that only works backwards.”

This is the opening paragraph from a really interesting article published over at the Psychology Today blog The Social Thinker, written by Melissa Burkley, Ph.D.  The idea invokes an interesting discussion of what memory is, what precognition might be and how the two are related.  Imagine, just for a moment, being able to ‘remember’ the future.  Consider the idea of being able to improve your mid-term final grade, business dinner or even that conversation with your mother-in-law simply by thinking about them and perfecting them in your own mind after they happen.

The implications of this possible evidence within the paranormal community could be far reaching; it introduces almost as many questions as it provides answers for.  Here is a bit more information on the research:

Dr. Bem, a social psychologist at Cornell University, conducted a series of studies that will soon be published in one of the most prestigious psychology journals (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology). Across nine experiments, Bem examined the idea that our brain has the ability to not only reflect on past experiences, but also anticipate future experiences. This ability for the brain to “see into the future” is often referred to as psi phenomena.

I would love to hear everyone else’s opinion on this study.  How do you think it will affect the paranormal field? Do you believe the findings (based on the original article) are valid proof that we are (or can be) psychic?

If you’re like us, you’ll love this upcoming event! Dr. Wentz is an amazing speaker who will keep you entertained and take the time to answer any questions you might have. We’ll be there- hope you will too!

Join Dr. Rachel Wentz as she explores the strange role the skeleton has played in human culture.

Tuesday, October 19 at 6:30 pm Ft. Pierce Library 101 Melody Lane Fort Pierce (772) 462-2878

Ready for a tantalizing touch of the spooky- mixed with a healthy dose of history? We’ve concocted the perfect combination for a fantastic Halloween event! After the tour is over, spend time walking around the park to do an investigation of your own! The first 50 participants will receive goody-bags! Children 12 and over only, please. Tours will begin at 7:30, 8:30 and 9:30 p.m, and, due to limited parking, reservations are required. Reservations can be made by calling (772) 801-0177.

Hi everyone! I need your help again, but this time we’re not looking for battery drain reports (although we still want those, so don’t forget to send them in!).

I want to hear about the haunted trees in your area. I know that many communities have them, so if yours is one of them, I ask that you please stop by and fill out a haunted tree report for me.  The form is quick and easy, and should only take a couple minutes, but would help me immensly with my research.

Thanks in advance!

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been party to quite a bit of discussion on research into the paranormal as a whole. Most of these conversations centered around the scientific aspect of paranormal research. Questions that came up frequently involved both personal experiences and the requirements of ‘proof’ or ‘evidence’. As I pondered the topic, I was reminded of something I’d learned about a long, long time ago (I’m showing my age…lol) and decided to post my own belief here, for everyone to read and discuss. I should probably warn you, this post will be quite long; I’ve never suffered from a loss of words!

According to what I learned in school, the scientific method contains steps. It’s a process, one that begins with observation and research. Back in the day, we were taught that the method was as follows:

• Observation/Research
• Hypothesis
• Prediction
• Experimentation
• Conclusion

Now, I don’t know if they’ve updated this process since I left school, but I still stand by the steps included here. I should also probably point out that I understand that not all scientific research can adhere to these steps, but I’d like to think that cases such as that are the exception, not the rule. So how does this process apply to paranormal research? Well, from my own experience, we’ve never left the observation and research phase. Skeptics clamor for proof of the beyond, irrefutable evidence that ghosts exist; this isn’t possible to provide, because there are no conclusions here- only theory. As we collect our observations and conduct our research, the theory we work with might change, but it is impossible to design an experiment without knowing what you are trying to accomplish or prove with that experimentation. All of this leads to the existence of skeptics and believers, those who are adamant that the paranormal exists in the context of ghosts, hauntings and other spiritually-linked events and those who are just as adamant that there is no proof, therefore it can’t possibly be real. For the purpose of this blog post, we’re going to define these two terms as follows:

skeptic: n. 1. One who instinctively or habitually doubts, questions, or disagrees with assertions or generally accepted conclusions.

believer: n. 1. a supporter who accepts something as true

If you’re ready for more, this article continues after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »