PARANOLA

The long anticipated drop off of interest in the paranormal seems to have set in at last. The same catalyst for the explosion of interest has led to its demise, television. As with anything involved in the media, when something gets ratings and the following of crucial target demographics it will be duplicated.

Ultimately it is copied so many times that the quality of the content becomes un-viewable. Think of it like a photo of a photo of a photo of a photo. So with the success of shows like Ghost Hunters and Ghost Adventures, we have become so over-saturated that the supernatural has become supernormal.

The general public was enamored with ghost hunting shows for a longer time than most initially predicted. The reasons are obvious for why they garnered so much interest.

What Made this Boom?

– It is something nearly everyone believes they may have experienced in their life.

You would be hard pressed to find anyone who hasn’t thought they felt something peculiar at some point in their life. Whether it was a premonition about bad news or getting a scent of something in the air that made you feel like a lost relative had stopped by to say hello. When so many of us have had these unexplained experiences it becomes a communal event to watch others encounter similar events.

– There is easy access for amateurs to investigate.

With no more than an inexpensive audio recorder or even a cell phone, anyone can emulate their favorite spirit talker. KII meters and the like are mostly inexpensive and they give you a way to connect with those who you watch on TV every week (many times a day.) Take the inexpensive gear,  find a dark corner of an old house and bingo. You are just like the boys. (yes, that could be a Supernatural reference)

– Marketing: Hair, Muscles, Brains Optional.

Paranormal Pioneers Ed and Lorraine Warrant, Stanford Friedman, Loyd Auerbrach

With the proliferation of shows geared towards millennials (and older folks who crush on the muscular baby faced hosts) the ‘geek’ element was diminished. It became cool to talk about electronic gadgets and admit you believe in a spiritual realm. The early shows out there broke down walls. They took the paranormal beyond look from the realm of the pioneers like Loyd Auerbach, Ed and Lorraine Warren, and Stanford Friedman to well, you know. You should check out the Paranormal Pioneers page on The National Paranormal Society website.

Remember when it was acceptable for teenagers to walk around with pacifiers in their mouths? Pet rocks? Trolls (not the Internet kind.) As a culture we are pushed to doing what the beautiful people do because we think it will make us more beautiful. (By the way I love those four totally and I always had a crush on Lorraine.)

– Watching other people get scared is generally entertaining.

You either get creeped out or you find it funny to see people scurrying around in the dark in fear. We are a society who demands to be entertained in all aspects of our life.

No matter how serious the situation or the subject, we want it to be entertaining or we lose interest. Does it lead to manufactured or inflated scenarios, yes. No one expects people to watch things for the sheer purpose of being informed or C-SPAN would smash the ratings of The Bachelor.

Proliferation and disintegration.

As with anything good in this world, too much leads to bad things. It began innocently enough with a focus on evidence. Then the evidence being secondary (at best) to the personalities. Hey, its Hollywood people. At this point in the devolution, it has gone from the personality driven to purely gimmick-driven shows.

There are so many lists out there of the paranormal TV world I will spare you mine but here is a Wikipedia link that should clarify. That is a lot. Most recently on my radar is the new show by the Destination America people called “Ghost Brothers.” Can we agree the shark was jumped long, long ago?

Grim Reapers or Just the Horsemen of the Apocolypse?

Am I saying that I see the extinction of paranormal investigation? Of course not. The shows need to thin out and they have been. Do the over the top shows hurt the already thin credibility of legitimately conducted paranormal investigations? Yes. But I see this trend as a good thing. We are seeing the harbingers of our destruction but sometimes the world needs a kick in the teeth to refocus on what is important.

Alas what we have come to learn is that if you are in this for fame and fortune, you cannot be true to the work. We have put a great deal of time, effort, and yes money into our investigations. We did that to look for information, for the truth.

It isn’t a profession for us. We have had our fair share (or more) of road blocks and trials. But PARANOLA lives on and while we are a scattered out across the country we have not given up on our goal. As we find credible leads and with your help finding them we will continue to investigate.

Thank you so much to all our supporters, and we hope to hear from you soon and often!

Some of the PARANOLA Krewe from the early years.

The long anticipated drop off of interest in the paranormal seems to have set in at last. The same catalyst for the explosion of interest has led to its demise, television. As with anything involved in the media, when something gets ratings and the following of crucial target demographics it will be duplicated.

Ultimately it is copied so many times that the quality of the content becomes un-viewable. Think of it like a photo of a photo of a photo of a photo. So with the success of shows like Ghost Hunters and Ghost Adventures, we have become so over-saturated that the supernatural has become supernormal.

The general public was enamored with ghost hunting shows for a longer time than most initially predicted. The reasons are obvious for why they garnered so much interest.

What Made this Boom?

– It is something nearly everyone believes they may have experienced in their life.

You would be hard pressed to find anyone who hasn’t thought they felt something peculiar at some point in their life. Whether it was a premonition about bad news or getting a scent of something in the air that made you feel like a lost relative had stopped by to say hello. When so many of us have had these unexplained experiences it becomes a communal event to watch others encounter similar events.

– There is easy access for amateurs to investigate.

With no more than an inexpensive audio recorder or even a cell phone, anyone can emulate their favorite spirit talker. KII meters and the like are mostly inexpensive and they give you a way to connect with those who you watch on TV every week (many times a day.) Take the inexpensive gear,  find a dark corner of an old house and bingo. You are just like the boys. (yes, that could be a Supernatural reference)

– Marketing: Hair, Muscles, Brains Optional.

Paranormal Pioneers Ed and Lorraine Warrant, Stanford Friedman, Loyd Auerbrach

With the proliferation of shows geared towards millennials (and older folks who crush on the muscular baby faced hosts) the ‘geek’ element was diminished. It became cool to talk about electronic gadgets and admit you believe in a spiritual realm. The early shows out there broke down walls. They took the paranormal beyond look from the realm of the pioneers like Loyd Auerbach, Ed and Lorraine Warren, and Stanford Friedman to well, you know. You should check out the Paranormal Pioneers page on The National Paranormal Society website.

Remember when it was acceptable for teenagers to walk around with pacifiers in their mouths? Pet rocks? Trolls (not the Internet kind.) As a culture we are pushed to doing what the beautiful people do because we think it will make us more beautiful. (By the way I love those four totally and I always had a crush on Lorraine.)

– Watching other people get scared is generally entertaining.

You either get creeped out or you find it funny to see people scurrying around in the dark in fear. We are a society who demands to be entertained in all aspects of our life.

No matter how serious the situation or the subject, we want it to be entertaining or we lose interest. Does it lead to manufactured or inflated scenarios, yes. No one expects people to watch things for the sheer purpose of being informed or C-SPAN would smash the ratings of The Bachelor.

Proliferation and disintegration.

As with anything good in this world, too much leads to bad things. It began innocently enough with a focus on evidence. Then the evidence being secondary (at best) to the personalities. Hey, its Hollywood people. At this point in the devolution, it has gone from the personality driven to purely gimmick-driven shows.

There are so many lists out there of the paranormal TV world I will spare you mine but here is a Wikipedia link that should clarify. That is a lot. Most recently on my radar is the new show by the Destination America people called “Ghost Brothers.” Can we agree the shark was jumped long, long ago?

Grim Reapers or Just the Horsemen of the Apocolypse?

Am I saying that I see the extinction of paranormal investigation? Of course not. The shows need to thin out and they have been. Do the over the top shows hurt the already thin credibility of legitimately conducted paranormal investigations? Yes. But I see this trend as a good thing. We are seeing the harbingers of our destruction but sometimes the world needs a kick in the teeth to refocus on what is important.

Alas what we have come to learn is that if you are in this for fame and fortune, you cannot be true to the work. We have put a great deal of time, effort, and yes money into our investigations. We did that to look for information, for the truth.

It isn’t a profession for us. We have had our fair share (or more) of road blocks and trials. But PARANOLA lives on and while we are a scattered out across the country we have not given up on our goal. As we find credible leads and with your help finding them we will continue to investigate.

Thank you so much to all our supporters, and we hope to hear from you soon and often!

Some of the PARANOLA Krewe from the early years.

The long anticipated drop off of interest in the paranormal seems to have set in at last. The same catalyst for the explosion of interest has led to its demise, television. As with anything involved in the media, when something gets ratings and the following of crucial target demographics it will be duplicated.

Ultimately it is copied so many times that the quality of the content becomes un-viewable. Think of it like a photo of a photo of a photo of a photo. So with the success of shows like Ghost Hunters and Ghost Adventures, we have become so over-saturated that the supernatural has become supernormal.

The general public was enamored with ghost hunting shows for a longer time than most initially predicted. The reasons are obvious for why they garnered so much interest.

What Made this Boom?

– It is something nearly everyone believes they may have experienced in their life.

You would be hard pressed to find anyone who hasn’t thought they felt something peculiar at some point in their life. Whether it was a premonition about bad news or getting a scent of something in the air that made you feel like a lost relative had stopped by to say hello. When so many of us have had these unexplained experiences it becomes a communal event to watch others encounter similar events.

– There is easy access for amateurs to investigate.

With no more than an inexpensive audio recorder or even a cell phone, anyone can emulate their favorite spirit talker. KII meters and the like are mostly inexpensive and they give you a way to connect with those who you watch on TV every week (many times a day.) Take the inexpensive gear,  find a dark corner of an old house and bingo. You are just like the boys. (yes, that could be a Supernatural reference)

– Marketing: Hair, Muscles, Brains Optional.

Paranormal Pioneers Ed and Lorraine Warrant, Stanford Friedman, Loyd Auerbrach

With the proliferation of shows geared towards millennials (and older folks who crush on the muscular baby faced hosts) the ‘geek’ element was diminished. It became cool to talk about electronic gadgets and admit you believe in a spiritual realm. The early shows out there broke down walls. They took the paranormal beyond look from the realm of the pioneers like Loyd Auerbach, Ed and Lorraine Warren, and Stanford Friedman to well, you know. You should check out the Paranormal Pioneers page on The National Paranormal Society website.

Remember when it was acceptable for teenagers to walk around with pacifiers in their mouths? Pet rocks? Trolls (not the Internet kind.) As a culture we are pushed to doing what the beautiful people do because we think it will make us more beautiful. (By the way I love those four totally and I always had a crush on Lorraine.)

– Watching other people get scared is generally entertaining.

You either get creeped out or you find it funny to see people scurrying around in the dark in fear. We are a society who demands to be entertained in all aspects of our life.

No matter how serious the situation or the subject, we want it to be entertaining or we lose interest. Does it lead to manufactured or inflated scenarios, yes. No one expects people to watch things for the sheer purpose of being informed or C-SPAN would smash the ratings of The Bachelor.

Proliferation and disintegration.

As with anything good in this world, too much leads to bad things. It began innocently enough with a focus on evidence. Then the evidence being secondary (at best) to the personalities. Hey, its Hollywood people. At this point in the devolution, it has gone from the personality driven to purely gimmick-driven shows.

There are so many lists out there of the paranormal TV world I will spare you mine but here is a Wikipedia link that should clarify. That is a lot. Most recently on my radar is the new show by the Destination America people called “Ghost Brothers.” Can we agree the shark was jumped long, long ago?

Grim Reapers or Just the Horsemen of the Apocolypse?

Am I saying that I see the extinction of paranormal investigation? Of course not. The shows need to thin out and they have been. Do the over the top shows hurt the already thin credibility of legitimately conducted paranormal investigations? Yes. But I see this trend as a good thing. We are seeing the harbingers of our destruction but sometimes the world needs a kick in the teeth to refocus on what is important.

Alas what we have come to learn is that if you are in this for fame and fortune, you cannot be true to the work. We have put a great deal of time, effort, and yes money into our investigations. We did that to look for information, for the truth.

It isn’t a profession for us. We have had our fair share (or more) of road blocks and trials. But PARANOLA lives on and while we are a scattered out across the country we have not given up on our goal. As we find credible leads and with your help finding them we will continue to investigate.

Thank you so much to all our supporters, and we hope to hear from you soon and often!

Some of the PARANOLA Krewe from the early years.

The long anticipated drop off of interest in the paranormal seems to have set in at last. The same catalyst for the explosion of interest has led to its demise, television. As with anything involved in the media, when something gets ratings and the following of crucial target demographics it will be duplicated.

Ultimately it is copied so many times that the quality of the content becomes un-viewable. Think of it like a photo of a photo of a photo of a photo. So with the success of shows like Ghost Hunters and Ghost Adventures, we have become so over-saturated that the supernatural has become supernormal.

The general public was enamored with ghost hunting shows for a longer time than most initially predicted. The reasons are obvious for why they garnered so much interest.

What Made this Boom?

– It is something nearly everyone believes they may have experienced in their life.

You would be hard pressed to find anyone who hasn’t thought they felt something peculiar at some point in their life. Whether it was a premonition about bad news or getting a scent of something in the air that made you feel like a lost relative had stopped by to say hello. When so many of us have had these unexplained experiences it becomes a communal event to watch others encounter similar events.

– There is easy access for amateurs to investigate.

With no more than an inexpensive audio recorder or even a cell phone, anyone can emulate their favorite spirit talker. KII meters and the like are mostly inexpensive and they give you a way to connect with those who you watch on TV every week (many times a day.) Take the inexpensive gear,  find a dark corner of an old house and bingo. You are just like the boys. (yes, that could be a Supernatural reference)

– Marketing: Hair, Muscles, Brains Optional.

Paranormal Pioneers Ed and Lorraine Warrant, Stanford Friedman, Loyd Auerbrach

With the proliferation of shows geared towards millennials (and older folks who crush on the muscular baby faced hosts) the ‘geek’ element was diminished. It became cool to talk about electronic gadgets and admit you believe in a spiritual realm. The early shows out there broke down walls. They took the paranormal beyond look from the realm of the pioneers like Loyd Auerbach, Ed and Lorraine Warren, and Stanford Friedman to well, you know. You should check out the Paranormal Pioneers page on The National Paranormal Society website.

Remember when it was acceptable for teenagers to walk around with pacifiers in their mouths? Pet rocks? Trolls (not the Internet kind.) As a culture we are pushed to doing what the beautiful people do because we think it will make us more beautiful. (By the way I love those four totally and I always had a crush on Lorraine.)

– Watching other people get scared is generally entertaining.

You either get creeped out or you find it funny to see people scurrying around in the dark in fear. We are a society who demands to be entertained in all aspects of our life.

No matter how serious the situation or the subject, we want it to be entertaining or we lose interest. Does it lead to manufactured or inflated scenarios, yes. No one expects people to watch things for the sheer purpose of being informed or C-SPAN would smash the ratings of The Bachelor.

Proliferation and disintegration.

As with anything good in this world, too much leads to bad things. It began innocently enough with a focus on evidence. Then the evidence being secondary (at best) to the personalities. Hey, its Hollywood people. At this point in the devolution, it has gone from the personality driven to purely gimmick-driven shows.

There are so many lists out there of the paranormal TV world I will spare you mine but here is a Wikipedia link that should clarify. That is a lot. Most recently on my radar is the new show by the Destination America people called “Ghost Brothers.” Can we agree the shark was jumped long, long ago?

Grim Reapers or Just the Horsemen of the Apocolypse?

Am I saying that I see the extinction of paranormal investigation? Of course not. The shows need to thin out and they have been. Do the over the top shows hurt the already thin credibility of legitimately conducted paranormal investigations? Yes. But I see this trend as a good thing. We are seeing the harbingers of our destruction but sometimes the world needs a kick in the teeth to refocus on what is important.

Alas what we have come to learn is that if you are in this for fame and fortune, you cannot be true to the work. We have put a great deal of time, effort, and yes money into our investigations. We did that to look for information, for the truth.

It isn’t a profession for us. We have had our fair share (or more) of road blocks and trials. But PARANOLA lives on and while we are a scattered out across the country we have not given up on our goal. As we find credible leads and with your help finding them we will continue to investigate.

Thank you so much to all our supporters, and we hope to hear from you soon and often!

Some of the PARANOLA Krewe from the early years.

So I figured I would start off this corner of the PARANOLA world with an Intro for those of you who don’t know me

My name is Chris , I am originally from New England, now living in the South with my Pug Pugsley and my Rat Terrier Wednesday who are both named after characters from the classic show “The Adams Family” . I love writing, creating, the outside, gardening, my fish and just living a simple life. I am a huge advocate for animals often donating any tips or donations given to me by clients for readings to animals in need. My sweet Wednesday was rescued from a puppy-mill and Pugsley was my puppy saved on Craigslist.

I knew at a young age I was different, I could see spirits and communicate with these spirits since I was about three or four years old. I never knew they were any different than you or I until I was about 9 or 10. At that time due to some things in my family I buried my gifts deep within me.

I can see, speak and communicate with spirits who have passed. I love helping people with these gifts to find comfort in the messages that come through. I do not care for labels so Medium is the nearest to what I would say I am or what I can do.

I love reading, art, creating things as well as helping people with intuitive readings about life, those who have passed, health issues, as well as helping other paranormal groups with questions and consulting regarding photo’s of a place supposedly haunted or about the location, activity, etc. I am currently working on creating custom wands made out of wood and crystals, I also enjoy writing and I am currently working on a fictional story loosely based on life experiences as well as started a journal to help others like myself with dreams of writing a children’s book someday for those who now are born like this as I was many years ago. 

I joined the PARANOLA family about let’s see five years now , we are unique in we are those who are not in it for the fame, fortune or money whatsoever, we are in it to help people . Feel free to comment, leave me a message or even give me a subject you would like to see written about.

Look forward to the posts…….

Bright Blessings,

C 🙂

Related

PARANOLA is a paranormal research and investigation team that focuses on the Greater New Orleans Area exclusively.

Our main goal is to process and document paranormal activity. We focus on researching thoroughly including adhering as close as possible to the processes of the scientific method.

Our Future Plans:

Our future is a bright one with some very talented people working to bring a resource to the Greater New Orleans Community. Through our investigation, documenting what we find and what you find, as well as working to create a New Orleans-based and Greater New Orleans focused forum for locals and visitors alike who have experienced the paranormal in our great city.

We will begin shooting our investigations in the most commonly believed haunts in our city to places you’ve never known existed. Those investigations will then be posted so you can comment, question, and share your insight with us.

Contact Us:

You can also contact us here:

FACEBOOK: http://facebook.com/paranola
TWITTER: http://twitter.com/paranola
VIMEO: http://vimeo.com/paranola

Toll-Free: (855) PARANO-0 (727-2660)
(855) 727-2660

We are asked often why we haven’t formally investigated some of the more infamous cemeteries in the New Orleans area. It is really as simple as you would think.

One concept includes city-owned properties not wanting to bother with the possible negative press from the families of those interred in their cemeteries (no matter what kind of horrendous conditions they far too often are allowed to end up in.) There is also the myriad of bureaucratic offices and officials that would rather deny than approve of such an investigation.

Then you have those who are owned by the Catholic Church. Let us look at some basic Church doctrine on “ghosts” and the “spirit”. While there are some (we know from first hand conversations) in the Archdiocese of New Orleans who have a more open view on such investigations, the problem is that the majority are most interested protecting the dogma over possible new insights.

There are the few that are out there who are unattended, that belong to non-Catholic churches, and various other ones. These all can lead to issues including those mentioned, issues with local residents watching people waltzing around a abandoned cemetery, and of course local law enforcement who may or may not be cooperative even if contacted before time.

Another consideration is one you must take seriously is this. If there are random spirits, ones that are inactive should we as living beings, investigators, go into their final resting place and disturb them?

We are so pleased to announce that we have been able to secure a great office from which we will be operating!

Located in the very heart of downtown New Orleans, Louisiana this office gives us a centralized place to do day to day business. This is a huge step forward after working hard to maintain a consistent level of business while being without a real centralized and @PARANOLA specific home. As of the end of November we began getting the bare bones of the space together with desks, storage, telecom, and such things. Beginning this week we will be consolidating our resources into the new space.

This is a huge step for us and we would like to thank all of you who have been behind us through our occasional stumbles and slow-downs. Trust us, they have been just as trying to us if not more so.

More information, photos, and details will be coming soon.

– The PARANOLA Krewe

Related

I will be honest, I had a hundred ideas about what it could be. I didn’t freak out, not really how I respond to things but I did have my mind start racing. I immediately went to see if I could find ANYTHING that would make sense. Nothing. This is inside, in a room, not outside where it could have been a crazed squirrel.

I felt a bit of what I call ‘my feeling’ that tends to fire when something odd is happening. It isn’t an all over feeling, if you have watched any of our @PARANOLA videos you have probably heard me mention it. I feel a tingling down one arm just as I opened the door and walked into the room. To be honest I had a feeling of energy all through my body, but with this specific arm thing in addition.

I mentioned it to someone else in the house, no one had been in there. I sat back down in my chair to continue working on what I was writing. Within about an hour I heard a bit of a scared yell and glass breaking, nearly simultaneously. A shot glass (which I put my vitamins in) was on my night stand and I was told it moved from one side of a table and flew off shattering on impact.

At this point I am actively thinking, this seems peculiar. I trusted the person who had told me about the shot glass as if I would have seen it myself. However, always trying to be skeptical I didn’t really. I tend to not even trust my own eyes when it comes to such things.

It wasn’t long until the final two shoes dropped. Two rooms, directly next to each other had odd events and then they both did, loudly again.

(last on this, part 3 will be posted shortly.)

I am quite sure that there are spirits, even having a very skeptical and scientific approach to paranormal investigation. Yes, it seems a bit of an oxymoron but I believe the more time you spend investigating the paranormal the more certain things become self evident.

Today I had one of those days. One where my negativity and the stress I have been under might have contributed to there being an opening for something unwanted to enter. No, this isn’t just about having the house open due to my AC being on the blink and allowing a mosquito or two inside. I honestly have seen how negative energy can be like a magnet to more negativity, people, and possibly other things.

The concept of ‘tricksters’ are fun fodder for short stories and even tv shows. However looking into such things you find there are variations on the intent (conscious or intrinsic) that they have. What I bumped into today, I believe was one of the lesser ones. Not malevolent but with enough energy to manipulate objects, possibly emotions, and even perception.

It began with a simple enough thing, I was not paying much attention to what I was doing as I was checking email. I realized I had popped up an application that allowed me to view my security cameras. It was a full screen HD one that came on by default. I looked at it, thought ‘why did I open this?’ and then saw what appeared to be something resembling a clown doll pop out from underneath something, shake back and forth violently about 3 times and then disappear back under what it had emerged from.

… to be continued.
@paranolajoe

So we are working our way through the audio and video shot at the one time Fat City staple called “The Ship’s Wheel.”

This was a very unique experience for us and done differently than we normally do things. This has to do with the activity we experienced, the client participation, and that there were just two of our group at the shoot. @PARANOLAJoe and @PARANOLASarah were the only team members available after having had a different investigation the night before. So it was those two @PARANOLA Krewe members and three of the key people from the Ship’s Wheel.

The former burlesque/strip bar had been a family run business for decades and the last night before the new owners took the keys was the night we investigated. There had been reports of many strange occurrences, ranging from dark figures, to knocking noises, glasses at the bar moving or falling, to a presence that they believe was linked to a local man who was down on his luck that the Ship’s Wheel had taken in as family that had died a few years ago.

What we ended up with was a very strong reaction from a  that appeared to be directly answering questions when asked by one of the Wheel’s family. We ended up with evidence that seems to imply that even in death the link between a father and daughter continues on.

The whole webisode will be posted soon and you will be able to see exactly what we mean. For now you can see the two “Ship’s Wheel” teases that we have posted on our Vimeo Channel.

The specific Ship’s Wheel teases are located here:

Tease #1: http://vimeo.com/86076854

Tease #2: http://vimeo.com/86948810

It has been our philosophy to bring in people who, on their word promise they will be focused and dedicated to the work of our @PARANOLA Krewe. This has backfired more than once in the past year. It has delayed our release of a few of our investigations and it has made the tension level higher than any of the founding Krewe would want to deal with.

At this point we are suspending any applications for new members of the Krewe of @PARANOLA however we promise to get the shoots we have made edited and online before the end of the year. We are committed to tightening our ranks, helping one another power through our own private issues and get these things done so we can bring to you our findings and investigations to this point. For the foreseeable future, we will not be looking for new members but would welcome any submissions of sites to investigate.

Thank you for all of your support and we will get this right before we give you anything just to give you something.

-@PARANOLA Krewe

You can find the video on our Vimeo TV channel:

http://tv.paranola.com

Or here is a direct link to the video:

It seems the world of the paranormal has become more of a social event than a scientific or sincere investigation. We are doing our damn-est to bring you what we have recorded, documented and witnessed first hand over the past few months. Do we turn things around in a short period of time, no. The simple answer is this, “we want to make sure we follow as best we can to the scientific method and our real-time experiences.”

These experiences can be complicated, not only that they can be emotionally and physically traumatic. We are doing out best to bring you well produced versions of what we experienced so you can have as accurate of a portrayal of what the investigators went through as well as any of those who were with us. That takes some time, particular with necessary personnel changes and being respectful to those who had traumatic experiences during the investigations.

Within the next week or two you will see clips from what we are working on now. Three NEW investigations done, while we continue to press for more to investigate. It is important that everyone recognizes that those who participate in these cases are not only doing scientific, paranormal, and scientific work but are experiencing REAL physical and emotional trauma at times.

Not every investigation, but it happens and has happened within the course of our last few investigations. All of our participants sign waivers to give the Krewe a chance to use whatever we film, but we are a family. Unless our family is comfortable sharing our experiences from the investigation, we will not move forward until/unless they do.

Thank you for your patience with us, your support, and your encouragement.

-@PARANOLA

We had a chance to investigate two very unique locations and ended up with two very different results.

As we have made it clear before, we go into a location and if something or some things happen that we cannot explain we do our best to document them. However, we also go in without any expectations of having anything happen at all, and if we are unable to experience anything we make it clear that we did not on that particular night experience anything. As for the two investigations we did in roughly 3 days earlier in May we ended up with very easily documented and what we considered to be uncommon occurrences.

One very dramatic incident was what we are referring to a as an oppression. From the time we arrived at this particular location one of our team was experiencing being touched on her leg repeatedly over the course of a few hours. She ultimately ended up being more or less put into some sort of trance (for lack of a better word) and the video very clearly shows the progression of this happening.

With the second investigation, we experienced activity with a REM Pod that seemed to indicate a direct response to dozens of questions. These questions were being asked by someone who worked at the location and what indicated to us as being her father who had passed nearly 10 years earlier. It was very emotional as she would ask for specific responses, ask about specific events, and the REM would respond accordingly. Needless to say there were many tears and it was a much more positive feeling we all left with than the first of the two investigations.

We wanted to bring you up to date and let you know these are being worked on, the hours of video is being edited, audio is being analyzed, and it will be posted as soon as we feel we have them right.

Thank you to those who allowed us to investigate and participate.

-The PARANOLA Krewe

We are busily trying to manage our personal business/lives and working on setting up the investigation schedule for the first quarter of 2013. We have paperwork in progress for a large site, a well known but as of yet investigated alleged haunting at a dance hall, and the first of a series of investigations we will be doing for alleged hauntings in the French Quarter.

2012 ended up being less productive than we had anticipated. We are all disappointed with that. Many of the PARANOLA Krewe experienced devastating personal losses and illnesses. The hurricane didn’t help much, happening right around the time we had 3 investigations set-up. (We are hoping to reschedule those for this coming summer.

Thank you for your patience and the PARANOLA Krewe wants to thank you for your support and special thanks to those who came out to see those of us who were at ComicCon 2012 New Orleans!

We are looking forward to a great 2013 and we wish you one as well!

-The PARANOLA Krewe

The event was held at the Bourbon Orleans Hotel on Orleans St. in NoLa. The talk was divided into four parts. The first part consisted of Chip Coffey talking about his life and family from childhood on to present day and how his childhood relates to his new book, Growing Up Psychic. The second part involved Chip talking about work he has done including Paranormal State and Psychic Kids and included some brief clips from episodes such as the infamous “I am six.”

In the third section Chip randomly picked people to ask him questions either as a medium or a psychic. There were a lot of questions about loved ones who are now in spirit. After the third section the people who only bought basic admission tickets left. VIP and Super VIP then had their pictures taken with Chip and everyone received an autographed copy of Growing Up Psychic.

The fourth section was a brief investigation of the hotel’s ballroom in which we were permitted to record and use the KII and the Mel meters. Chip utilized the mini mag-light technique.. if you have never tried this technique it is worth a shot. Interesting that Chip picked up on children spirits while no one in our group had the slightest intuition of any children being around. One of my favorite parts of the evening was when Chip raffled off his scarf.

Sadly, I did not win but I did donate $20 to NoH8 and animal rescue organizations. (^_^)

Overall a very interesting night. We did manage to get our name out there so I would not be surprised if our next investigation stems from this night in some fashion.

The long anticipated drop off of interest in the paranormal seems to have set in at last. The same catalyst for the explosion of interest has led to its demise, television. As with anything involved in the media, when something gets ratings and the following of crucial target demographics it will be duplicated.

Ultimately it is copied so many times that the quality of the content becomes un-viewable. Think of it like a photo of a photo of a photo of a photo. So with the success of shows like Ghost Hunters and Ghost Adventures, we have become so over-saturated that the supernatural has become supernormal.

The general public was enamored with ghost hunting shows for a longer time than most initially predicted. The reasons are obvious for why they garnered so much interest.

What Made this Boom?

– It is something nearly everyone believes they may have experienced in their life.

You would be hard pressed to find anyone who hasn’t thought they felt something peculiar at some point in their life. Whether it was a premonition about bad news or getting a scent of something in the air that made you feel like a lost relative had stopped by to say hello. When so many of us have had these unexplained experiences it becomes a communal event to watch others encounter similar events.

– There is easy access for amateurs to investigate.

With no more than an inexpensive audio recorder or even a cell phone, anyone can emulate their favorite spirit talker. KII meters and the like are mostly inexpensive and they give you a way to connect with those who you watch on TV every week (many times a day.) Take the inexpensive gear,  find a dark corner of an old house and bingo. You are just like the boys. (yes, that could be a Supernatural reference)

– Marketing: Hair, Muscles, Brains Optional.

Paranormal Pioneers Ed and Lorraine Warrant, Stanford Friedman, Loyd Auerbrach

With the proliferation of shows geared towards millennials (and older folks who crush on the muscular baby faced hosts) the ‘geek’ element was diminished. It became cool to talk about electronic gadgets and admit you believe in a spiritual realm. The early shows out there broke down walls. They took the paranormal beyond look from the realm of the pioneers like Loyd Auerbach, Ed and Lorraine Warren, and Stanford Friedman to well, you know. You should check out the Paranormal Pioneers page on The National Paranormal Society website.

Remember when it was acceptable for teenagers to walk around with pacifiers in their mouths? Pet rocks? Trolls (not the Internet kind.) As a culture we are pushed to doing what the beautiful people do because we think it will make us more beautiful. (By the way I love those four totally and I always had a crush on Lorraine.)

– Watching other people get scared is generally entertaining.

You either get creeped out or you find it funny to see people scurrying around in the dark in fear. We are a society who demands to be entertained in all aspects of our life.

No matter how serious the situation or the subject, we want it to be entertaining or we lose interest. Does it lead to manufactured or inflated scenarios, yes. No one expects people to watch things for the sheer purpose of being informed or C-SPAN would smash the ratings of The Bachelor.

Proliferation and disintegration.

As with anything good in this world, too much leads to bad things. It began innocently enough with a focus on evidence. Then the evidence being secondary (at best) to the personalities. Hey, its Hollywood people. At this point in the devolution, it has gone from the personality driven to purely gimmick-driven shows.

There are so many lists out there of the paranormal TV world I will spare you mine but here is a Wikipedia link that should clarify. That is a lot. Most recently on my radar is the new show by the Destination America people called “Ghost Brothers.” Can we agree the shark was jumped long, long ago?

Grim Reapers or Just the Horsemen of the Apocolypse?

Am I saying that I see the extinction of paranormal investigation? Of course not. The shows need to thin out and they have been. Do the over the top shows hurt the already thin credibility of legitimately conducted paranormal investigations? Yes. But I see this trend as a good thing. We are seeing the harbingers of our destruction but sometimes the world needs a kick in the teeth to refocus on what is important.

Alas what we have come to learn is that if you are in this for fame and fortune, you cannot be true to the work. We have put a great deal of time, effort, and yes money into our investigations. We did that to look for information, for the truth.

It isn’t a profession for us. We have had our fair share (or more) of road blocks and trials. But PARANOLA lives on and while we are a scattered out across the country we have not given up on our goal. As we find credible leads and with your help finding them we will continue to investigate.

Thank you so much to all our supporters, and we hope to hear from you soon and often!

Some of the PARANOLA Krewe from the early years.

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Tags: C-SPAN, Ed and Lorraine Warren, Ghost Adventures, Ghost Hunters, KII Meter, Loyd Auerbach, Stanford Friedman, television, The Bachelor