Montana Ghost Hunter

I’ve had quite a few people ask me why I’m into the paranormal and specifically ghost hunting. They ask me this, since I spend a large portion of my conversation debunking or logically theorizing possible physical reasons to how something occurred. Often I hear, “for someone that believes in ghost, you sure don’t sound like you believe in ghosts”.

I’ve been personally been struggling with this. I touched this topic slightly a few months ago in my “Losing Faith” post. Basically, I think that 99% of “paranormal” experiences are quite normal and physical. The 1% remaining, I believe is unexplainable and can truly fall in the paranormal range.

In the past, I’ve had paranormal experiences related to a death of a close friend of mine, which really convinced me that there is something out there.  I don’t want to get into detail, but the experiences led me to have little doubt that true paranormal activity happens.

Participating in ghost hunts and group activities I’ve noticed the trend (and in myself) of wanting something to happen SO bad, that you become hyper-sensitive to a point of being easily influenced. I’ve tried to stay honest with myself, when someone says “Do you hear that?” or “Did you see that?” that I don’t automatically say yes. If I didn’t hear it, I say ‘no’. If I didn’t see it, I say ‘no’. Stepping outside of the moment and observing one’s own behavior, you may notice the ‘lemming effect’ in all of us to not want to be left out of the group. It’s amazing how this can happen at the subconscious level and in the end you may convince yourself that you did experience something that you truly did not.

That always leads to evidence. I’m a strong believer of evidence over personal experience. The evidence is something captured and representable. Something tangible in a sense. Something I can show a complete stranger and let them dissect it and come to their own conclusions. Personal experiences is weighed to how well you can tell a story and convince others or yourself a experience happened the way you remembered it. That ‘convincing’ can lead to alterations in the story and perception of the circumstances as well. That is why it’s hard to rely on it.

Unfortunately, my belief in the paranormal is tied to personal experiences as well. No evidence captured. No “proof”, and I think that is why I’m in this field today. I want to capture proof to convince myself. I think I’m a believer, but also a hardcore skeptic at the same time. Maybe a skeptic that wants to believe? I don’t know, but I’m working it out.