I say yes they should.

The reason why I say this is because since programmes like Most Haunted and Ghost Towns have hit our TV screens its brought in a new and unwanted wave of people with interests in the paranormal, who randomly start there own so called investigation teams, because they want to be like there Most Haunted heroes, and are basically thrill seeking and wanting to feel important. They also embarrassingly always end up in conflicts with other groups because of rivalry and jealously and childishness, now this applies to most (but not all) of these amateur groups, most of them only know what they have learnt from TV shows on Living TV or have read a book or two on the subject, then go around claiming to be professional paranormal investigators, and booking places, or invading old buildings or properties, such as abandoned buildings and graveyards, most of which will show no respect for the places at all, this in turn gives serious investigators a bad name, and in the past have had locations completely closed to the serious investigator because of Most haunted fans incompetence. Graveyards have been closed to the general public because of these wannabe teams that run around chasing dust, insects, and moisture and even there own breath and cigarette smoke, its got the the point where its become frighteningly embarrassing, these people are not even willing to learn or hold alternative view points and add nothing constructive to paranormal investigation at all.

I am talking from a UK point of view, but from talking to professional American investigators they are having the same problem too, because of shows like T.A.P.S.

Also because of these shows, and rising interest, “investigation” type of tours have started, basically businesses cashing in on this kind of thing, also making real paranormal investigation look like a money making scam targeted on making money from the gullible.

Should there be some official kind of requirement or qualification that has to be gained in order to be classed as a worthy paranormal investigator, to weed out the thrill seekers, and uneducated orb and Acorah fanatics that have damaged the occupation so greatly that the serious paranormal investigation community as been lumped in with the amateur thrill seekers as a huge joke?.

Many use blind faith as there only tool, when "investigating" which amounts to no evidence at all. Faith is fine, as long as it isn’t the main tool of investigation, as that makes it look stupid with no solid content.

Paranormal investigation used to be mostly about finding evidence, for or against the existence of paranormal phenomena, and also the study of the Occult and supernatural, and to even convince the public that it is in fact real. Most of the amateur groups and shows that inspire them have had the opposite effect, and convinced more people its all a joke, and made people more sceptical because of the mindless mentality of these thrill seeking groups, who don’t seem to have the education to even simply investigate things as simple as what orbs are, or understand basic things such as ultrasound and automatic suggestion, and refuse to look at things as the facts state, but rather to continue to remain ignorant, so that they can continue on with there thrill seeking orb fantasies that all there dust particles are King Henry the 8th fuelling the ridicule real paranormal investigation now has to suffer.

Wouldn’t some kind of qualification weed out these damaging groups, as you need at least common sense and an objective mind to gain the qualification. And without the qualification, should it illegal to conduct any investigation in the name of paranormal research, or pose as a paranormal investigation team?.

Would this work, and put real paranormal investigation back on track?

I my self am not a paranormal investigator, I prefer the study of the paranormal my self, and have only been on a few investigations, but with experiences teams who have been in the business long before Most haunted ever came about.

I don’t think views should be banned, I just think to protect both the credibility of serious paranormal investigators and the locations that are investigated, something should be done to stop the people only in it for purposes of jumping on the bandwagon, and to look cool, or to mimic the rubbish we see on TV.

I think when starting as a serious paranormal investigator you need the following assets. Objectivity, an open mind, a certain level of scepticism, honesty, reasonable knowledge in the field, respect for both location and its history, and respect for the dead, and no ego, and most of all a genuine interest and need to find out more about the unknown.

This doesn’t apply to every team out there that is amateur, just to most of them. You know who you are!!!

Faeden

The fad will probably fade away, leaving the very most interested in the subject to do as they've been doing all along.

first off I am some what skeptical when it comes to the paranormal, however banning it.?. well that takes the joy of being a kid away..isn't a bit of ghost busting what most kids want to do at some point in their lives?.. I know i did.. setting up a camp in a derilict barn how cool.?. with ya mates and candles and torches and grub pinched from ya mums kitchen..going into places everyone says are haunted.. just for the sake of being big and brave... okay.. kids aside.. when it comes to serious ghost hunting yeah there should be some kind of training and guidelines set up.. some kind of international ghost measuring scale as it were.. some form of what constitutes evedence as well as there seems to be nothing universal to actually say yes ghosts exist or no ghosts don't. So by what range of evidence ..proof do we go buy.. electrical currant anomalies ?.. happens all over the place anyway.. surges and places where there is high magnitisum, whats the I found a ghost proof then?..

Well the person(s) to set up the official guidelines I believe should be a mixture of people who have been proven to be both experienced and seen to be the best in there field, such as both believers and sceptics agreeing on a level and even balanced set of ethical guidelines and common sense. I am not saying there should be some PHD degree in some science for people who want to do genuine paranormal investigation, just something that will weed out the uneducated Most Haunted Acorah fans, which cant be to hard. Most of them have the common sense of a drunk armadillo.

I am not saying I am Mr intelligence here because I am not, but I like to think I am not like these amateurs that go around trampling over cemeteries photographing uncle fester that happens to be a moth or rain droplet.

And what is wrong with TAPS? I have never heard any thing negative about them.

I was not having a dig at TAPS, I was saying its the people who watch them, and then want to be like them and start there own group that I was criticizing.

TAPS are better than the Most Haunted team, but I have noticed they spend half there time bickering amongst them selves and arguing when they could have been investigating, but then that might just be for the cameras to give the show more drama, because lets face it real investigation can be very uneventful and boring .

The idea is good, but who would police the groups that do this?

I think that land owners and the people themselves in the effected community or rural area should just take an active role in preventing these thrill seekers from gaining access to these places.

I was just curious about what I hadnt heard about them, and very true about an investigation.

Do you know of any activity run by humans, even up to the most honored and recognized of scientific efforts (example: Watson, Crick, and The Double Helix) that doesn't contain human elements of rivalry, grumpiness, and pettiness? People who do studies are pretty much like the rest of us, but hopefully better trained at what they are doing.

And, frankly, I wouldn't know who would be qualified to "certify" anyone as a competent paranormal investigator. Most scientists scoff at paranormal studies, so who's going to certify the certification panel? If the study of paranormal phenomena is tentatively on its way to scientific respectability, it's barely out of the "alchemists" stage on the way to the "chemistry" stage. I think it's going to find its own levels of competency by getting results. And that means there is going to be a lot of false starts by people doing the metaphysical equivalent of trying to turn lead into gold and searching for the Philosopher's Stone.

Taps in pretty cool but i can see from a paranormal investigators point of view, almost like there making a mockery of it and just cashing in on a new fad

and if i was a ghost that was aware of its surroundings i sure and hell wouldnt be poking my ectoplasmic head out and saying pee-ka-boo to the camera for them

I think the entire idea of 'banning' people from doing what they want in a free country such as the US or UK is well.. kind of counter productive to the idea of living in a free society.

So no, people can do what they want in their own free time.

I'm somehow reminded of all the posts ive seen here claiming we're being moved into a 'police society' due to all the freedoms being taken away and banned.. sorry to go a little off topic, but thats what came to mind.

I acutally met the members of TAPS before. They live and work in the town I used to go to school in.

How can guidelines be set up for the investigation of something that there is no real proof exists?

I mean it's like asking for an official hunting season and kill limit for pink elephants.

All joking aside, you talk about "real" investigators. But, what constitutes real?

We have people trying to detect EM readings. Is there any proof that EM readings indicate a ghost? NO!

We have people trying to use infra red spectrum devices. Again is there any solid proof you can use this to view a spirit? NO!

EMF? Have you ever heard any that sound any more convincing than playing a Beatles record backwards and trying to hear messages of the devil? NO!

It's ALL just speculation really. So how do you propose we regulate investigation methods when we don't have any methods that we can say actually work?

Eh. Copykittens of Ghostbusters yes, means of entertainment via TV for certain ppl, yes. Banned? Not sure. I think maybe paranormal experiences are personal and the ultimate truth and reason behind them beyond our human comprehension. I've watched various "ghost hunter"-type shows and feel that they are driven toward entertainment and money prospects more than anything.

So do you think people who pose as Dr's should be "free" to do as they wish?

I am all for freedom when it comes to common sense, but am aware not everything especially things that cause harm should be allowed, I am not against laws, just ones that insult common sense and basic freedoms. People don't have the right to harm others, or historic locations.

And for other peoples questions.

There are already paranormal qualifications to be gained, although I might be wrong, because I don’t know, But I am guessing that for that to have been compiled both believers and sceptics had to come to some kind of agreement at some point?

When I say sceptics and believers, I do not mean the ones at both ends of the extremes, I mean the people who have a believers agenda and a sceptics one, but are still open minded to an extent, and can respect the others beliefs and knowledge, as believe it or not, both sceptics and believer do exist that are not argumentative and respectful. Why cant they just both come up with what they see as important information they think the students should learn in equal measures, and then put the course together in two parts, the believers part and the sceptics part, and to make it fair, the student whether a believer or a sceptic will have to learn both sides of knowledge in order to pass in a balanced manner, that way whether the people making these ethics and courses agree or not, both sides of the knowledge has been fairly conducted into the final qualification. The end result will be balanced, despite whether the creators agreed or not.

On the who could be some of those who should create the ethics ect, I would choose some like Rev. Lionel Fanthorpe, or if he was still alive Maurice Grosse, also Colin Wilson, and one of my favourites Prof. Archie Roy, basically people with a sound mind, and decades of experience.


I don’t think paranormal groups should be banned, but id like to see it illegal for people posing as professional paranormal investigators that do so much damage to both properties and the reputation of true professionals, who are not in it to try and feel important, or to jump on the bandwagon, or at the very least id like to see it made a lot harder for them.

The fact is many groups have done major damage, I have seen it with my own eyes, and I just don’t think its acceptable.

Its like saying well there should not be guidelines for Dr's who pose as professionals that are not. I know paranormal investigators and Dr's are not the same, but it works on the same principles, both if are incompetent and don’t know what they are doing can and do lots of damage and cause more suffering than good.

Despite whether people believe its of a spiritual nature or not, people who have forms of spiritual disturbances can have very serious life changing things happen to them, and it can cause upheaval in there lives, its a serious business, and not to mention many of these cases of "hauntings" are not going to be down to a genuine haunting, but down to people with mental and psychological problems, and these amateurs claming to be spiritual gurus and paranormal investigators can and do make these situations of psychological problems even worse, they can often feed the fears and delusions that these unfortunate mentally ill people suffer from. And I don’t mean everyone who says they are haunted are mentally ill, but it’s a fact that many symptoms of mental illness can be very similar to that of a genuine haunting.

I am saying there should be some kind of law or regulations to at least make it harder for these people with no other intention to boost there egos and to make money. I find it hard to contemplate that there are people who don’t agree with that.

I am sorry if I have offended anyone in this post. I have been involved with the paranormal for over 15 years now, and since these TV entertainment programs have started I have seen it take a huge nose dive.

I am also aware that not all amateurs are bad, but from my own experience most of them are, and not because they are new to it, or don’t know much, we all have to start somewhere, its there intentions and lack of respect that concerns me.

Faeden, can you cite some "true professionals", people who actually make their livings from doing paranormal investigation in an ethical and non-exploitive way? What are their academic backgrounds or do they apprentice to other recognized professionals for a specific term of training? Is there a currently active professional association that can give some specific guidelines to this line of study?

As far as dopey investigators damaging property, what needs to be done is to enforce vandalism and tresspassing laws on the books. If someone gets out of line, throw a hefty fine at them; private parties affected should sue their sorry asses.

I just did, If you want to find out more about them they are on the following links.

http://www.lionel-fanthorpe.com/

http://www.astro.gla.ac.uk/people/people.php?person=archie

http://www.survivalafterdeath.org/reviews/aroy.htm

http://www.ghostclub.org.uk/grosse_obit.html

They are just to name a few.

Additionally..... If only professional paranormal investigators were permitted to do such work it still means there will be people doing it for the money only. Mostly because there are quite a number of professional people in all fields of work who say they stay in their jobs because of the money they earn and not necessarily for the 'love' or because they have a deep committed interest in their job. As long as they get paid for what they do is all some care anyway...

This is hypothetical, but would a private company or a government be it local or state or federal set aside money in their budgets to be used to investigate paranormal activity by a professional parnormal team in some of the old buildings they own?

Who would pay for people's psychic claims to be investigated?

Or if you thought you were living in a haunted house you would need to hire a professional parnormal investigation team and paying all the people who are involved in such an event and considering it can involve all night vigils etc, this would be way way too much money to what the average person would be able to afford..... And what sort of money back guarantee would have if you thought that the investigation wasn't up to scratch?

Dingo
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Sorry, but if thats your argument then you could suggest something reasonable, such as not bieng allowed to take on the title of Doctor without a prequisite Doctorate in a legitimate field of science / humanity. I wasnt aware anyone was going around giving themselves the title of Doctor of.. the Paranormal or whatever they must have made up to spawn that claim though.

Suggesting that it should be illegal for people to try and investigate or research a chosen topic out of interest is moraly wrong to me, so perhaps take a step back and change the claim.

I understand that a lot of people are being stupid in regards to this, but imo its just a fad and one that will go away, its come in and out of 'fashion' before. These people are doing something illegal, but their crime should not be seen as investigation or research, it should be seen as what it is: trespass.

It's funny you know - but most sociological studies of groups or organisations where some sort of test/exam/knowledge is needed to be known before entry, shows that all the applicants think it's 'too hard' to do or learn and that it should be easier........thing is once they become part of the organisation or group the studies show they then think the exam/test/knowledge is too easy to do or get and feel it should be made harder......

Ben