"Haunting in the Heartland"

Paranormal-Television will be with us forevermore.  The reason is simple.  It is relatively inexpensive to produce.  People are intrigued by the Paranormal, so it is a subject matter to which they are attracted.  It is inexpensive to produce television with a built in viewership.

This new Travel Channel series, "Haunting in the Heartland," is intriguing to me.  First, it focuses on the Heartland of the country, and I love stories like this set in small towns and rural areas.  Secondly, I don't know Steve Shippy, but perhaps he'll be fairly grounded and reasonable in his approach.  One can hope, and be optimistic.

A real paranormal investigation or consultation is NOT made for television. These things tend to be fairly long and uneventful.  So, shows such as this one feel a natural pressure to produce something one film that is compelling.  In some cases this means faking events, and in other cases it means using editing and narration to exaggerate everything to a fever pitch...though in the end, very little has happened.

I think there would be room in the market for a paranormal show that follows a very grounded group, as they logically examine legends, anecdotal experiences, and reported phenomenon.  But, to date, I'm not sure we've seen this happen yet.  Perhaps Steve Shippy will buck the curve.  :-)

Though this marketing copy from the article suggests my optimism might not be warranted:  "The alleged evil spirit at work in Merrill may be connected with another haunting. Shippy gets help from a clairvoyant during the episode to ward off the spirit."

Well, even if the show is a completely loopy over-hyped train-wreck, it might still be entertaining.  And really, what more can we ask from a television show than entertainment?

Mark Stinson
Ghost Vigil Investigations

Narratives Formed by Events that Coincide

What is so difficult about the strange experiences people have is the human mind's innate ability (or inclination) to connect events or circumstances, that aren't necessarily connected.  I'm sure this is a basic survival instinct from our earliest days.  Event A happened, and Event B happened at nearly the same time, and Event B was really really bad, so in the future avoid both Event a and Event B.  Its the mechanism behind psychological conditioning.

When unexplained events coincide, and we start to connect them, we build a narrative that pulls all of the events together into one cohesive story.  And this narrative becomes very real to us, and we are usually willing to defend that narrative.

So, taking the basic facts of this example story, lets look more closely.  A family is living in a home that the extended family tells haunted stories about.  A family mythology has developed where the location is creepy, and "something" paranormal is there.  This is a common thing that happens in many families, and is most always based on anecdotal experiences.  This is condition A.

Their video tape shows an unexplained anomaly, where a strange lighter colored shape or band crosses across the screen.  Since this anomaly on the recording is unexplained, we can attribute a more mundane explanation to it (digital artifact, car lights crossing across window, etc.) or something much less mundane.  This is condition B.

Their child had a scratch on their face.  This is utterly normal.  Children scratch themselves all the time, either with their own fingernails or in a fall.  And they are so young, unless you see the scratch happen, it remains unexplained.  This is condition C.

Any one of these conditions taken on its own is not particularly interesting or compelling.  But, if you put the child in the creepy location (condition A), and an anomaly shows up on the camera (condition B), and then you notice a scratch on the childs face (condition C), suddenly a conclusion is reached that "a ghost has hurt our baby and we caught it on tape."

This narrative is so charged with emotion and fear, but seems like such a definitive conclusion to the people who have woven the narrative, that an outsider coming into the situation and trying to examine it logically will have a very difficult time of it.

The thing to keep in mind, is that events are happening constantly.  Millions of moments and events passing by you every day.  Various conditions come and go in your life.  Just because events and conditions coincide, it does not necessarily mean they are connected.

But, as an investigator you must respect the importance of the narrative to the family, and handle matters in a delicate fashion.  And you must also keep in mind, that just because these events are not necessarily connected...there is at least the possibility that they ARE CONNECTED.

Mark Stinson
Ghost Vigil Investigations

Such an Interesting Topic

What could be more interesting than an exploration of whether it is possible for consciousness to survive the physical death of the body? What mechanisms are at work that might allow this survival? Does consciousness survive as an intact whole, or is it only a partial, fractured survival?

The theory that consciousness can survive the death of the physical body and then go on to affect the physical environment by touching and moving things, making sounds, and being "seen" by the living suggests many things about the nature of consciousness. It also strongly suggests that the consciousness of a living person might be capable of affecting the physical environment in equally extra-ordinary ways.

Such an interesting...and often frustrating...subject to pursue.

Mark Stinson
Ghost Vigil Investigations

Everyone Has a Story

Everyone has a story. Well, almost everyone. One of the consequences of involving yourself in the study and investigation of unexplained experiences, is that people tend to trust you with their stories. Often, the story they share with you is something they have told very few other people. Often it is a story that makes them feel embarrassed or afraid that people will think they are crazy. But, they feel a little safer sharing it with someone who is publicly involved in paranormal investigations.

What is striking about this for me personally, is how universal this is. People you would never think had a story...do indeed have a story. People from all walks of life. I've even had people come up to me and say they don't believe in ghosts, but then they immediately follow that with an experience of their own that is truly strange and unexplained. A story that directly contradicts their insistence that they don't believe in ghosts.

If you have questions about the paranormal, or a situation you need help with, contact us by email at ghostvigil@gmail.com. If you'd like to be called, include your phone number in the email. As always, the details of your communications with us will be completely confidential.

Mark Stinson
Ghost Vigil Investigations

Fear of the Unknown

A fear of the unseen, or the unknown, must have its origins in the very beginnings of mankind. The terror of what you don’t understand...what you can’t anticipate or prepare for...and all things outside our normal experience. Modern humans are no different, and have not escaped this fear.

So when a modern individual or family experience things in their home that they do not understand, it is natural and understandable that fear results. The purpose of a paranormal investigator or consultant is to help with this fear. The unexplained phenomenon should be analyzed and explored. The possible explanations should be described and articulated. Possible ways to prepare for future phenomenon and how to deal with it should be shared.

And the individual or family should be reassured that possible paranormal phenomenon, while unsettling, is in almost every case - physically harmless.

Mark Stinson
Ghost Vigil Investigations