The REAL Dangers of Ghost Hunting

From IHuntGhosts.com: The REAL Dangers of Ghost Hunting

There is a lot of discussion about dangers encountered in the paranormal field. I have touched on them myself in various blogs and articles.

But how dangerous is it?

If a demon was lurking in every darkened corner and nasty spirits were following people home from the mall wouldn’t it have warranted a story on Fox News by now?

It is actually a very difficult question to address. The truth is that the dangers - real and perceived - greatly seem to be a matter of bias and outlook.

From the viewpoint of the skeptic: Since there is no conclusive or even convincing proof of the paranormal there can therefore be no quantifiable dangers beyond those inherent in walking about dilapidated buildings in the dark.

From the viewpoint of the believer: There are ghosts and worse wandering about that want nothing more than to follow us home, feed on the human life-force, and promote general physical and spiritual mayhem in our lives.

They can’t both be right, can they?

Those of us trying to balance a belief in the paranormal with the goal of not jumping to conclusions have a particularly hard time. Not only do we have to weigh our own concerns that are based on our own experiences and perception, if we are responsible, we have to find a balance in what we present as fact and opinion.

The television shows only add to the confusion.

The crew at Ghost Hunters seems to never experience anything nasty or even particularly scary. There is no talk of needy spirits following them home. They take no precautions that we are told about.

The guys at Ghost Adventures present us with a demonic presence in nearly every episode. They challenge that which would be called evil. Momentary possessions seem almost a day-to-day occurrence. Despite the dangers that they face weekly, they live happy, successful lives and apparently their walls are not bleeding.

So…is it safe or not?

My opinion is that ghost hunting is NOT a completely safe activity. HOWEVER, statistically it is obviously not much more dangerous than other activities or it would be included on life insurance questionnaires.

The greatest danger that paranormal investigators face is not to ourselves, but instead to the mental and spiritual well-being of our clients.

A while back, a skeptical researcher decided to test some of his “colleagues“. Living in a fairly old house, he invited various teams from around the area to investigate the occurrences (unexplainable sounds, fleeting shadows, the odd item that apparently has been moved though no one moved it…you know, the usual stuff) that he and his family were experiencing.

Upwards of ten teams did their investigations of the property if I remember correctly. Every single team reportedly found evidence of paranormal activity. For some it was just a few scratchy EVPs or orb photos. Others claimed to have found more. One stated conclusively that there were demons literally swarming about the attic and that a home cleansing if not a full blow exorcism was in order with all haste (which of course would be performed for a fee).

The catch? The homeowner had lied. He and his family had never experienced anything that even remotely resembled paranormal activity.

But the teams (and I never got an answer as to whether the teams were invited randomly or if he had searched out teams that seemed less than reliable) obviously “found” activity that did not exist. In their zeal to be “THE TEAM” that proves life beyond death once and for all, they collected bad evidence, presented misinterpreted data, and on occasion fabricated or at least imagined things that were not there.

What if this had been a real family that was really scared? Instead of calling in an exterminator to remove a couple of squirrels from the attic or getting an electrician to properly ground some faulty wiring, we have just led them to fear their own home. Instead of helping them, we have added to the stress factor caused by the unknown in their lives.

I don’t do a lot of residential cases for just this reason. The responsibility involved overwhelms me. What if I am the one that mistakes a passing car’s headlight for a shadow person and misses the build-up of carbon monoxide from a malfunctioning furnace? What if the EVP that sounds like “kill you” was instead a moth crawling across a microphone?

Worse, as a believer who has been told that he has the natural ability to both attract and influence spirits, what if my visit triggers activity or invites something into the home that was otherwise happily dormant?

As paranormal investigators we can operate under the assumption of ‘assumed risk”. I have “seen” things that I perceived as negative - one can argue whether they were imagined or not. I believe there are truly threatening and even evil things lurking about.

I try to educate myself. I try to prepare myself. I do what I see as necessary to protect myself and my team in the same way that a skydiver wears a helmet or a welder wears a welding mask. Few activities are without risk, and ghost hunting is no different.

But when it comes right down to it, you are more likely to trip over a table in the dark and break a leg than you are to encounter one of Satan’s minions. Neither is desirable, though I will confess that I would rather break my leg.

But let’s all make sure it is our own leg we are breaking.