I would like to begin this thread with a little of my Paranormal background before I get into the true purpose of this thread being a Paranormal
Research Training Center.
When I was young, between 5 and 8, I lived in the Bentwaters/Woodbridge area in England(unfortunately, I moved away a few months prior to the famous
UFO case occurrence). There was an abandoned house I used to play in with the other neighborhood children that was the basis for the story the movie
"Don't Be Afraid of the Dark"(original) was based on. Of course I was unaware at the time but, there were many strange occurrences I experienced while
playing in this house. The main thing I remember was that it looked like the owners just left one morning and never returned.
When we moved from England we moved into a house on Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City. After a few months of living in this house we began to see
the spirit of a little boy about 10. He appeared quite often and we never had fear of him. I remember him coming in and sitting at the end of my bed
at night from time to time. After a couple of years, it was not an odd occurrence if he came down and laid on the floor watching TV with us and he
became more and more visible to the point where we could tell he was wearing Dallas Cowboys pajamas. I have no memory of him talking or making sounds
or moving objects, only appearing visually. My Father did some checking into the house and found that a 10 year old boy was killed when a tornado
ripped the roof off the house about 3 years prior to us moving in.
After living in Oklahoma for 4 years we moved to Ramstein Germany and lived off base in the village. The house we were in was brand new so no stories
there, however, touring around Europe we visited many ruins and castles as well as WWII sites such as Hitler sites and bomb shelters. I saw many
unexplained things in so many places it got me interested in paranormal research which I began when I was 14. I began studying strange and unexplained
stories from around the world.
Over the next 28 years this interest has never diminished and I have been on thousands of investigations. During this time, I obviously continued to
learn and study as well as debunk and discover hoaxes in many cases. I found explanations as well as how to reproduce many of the accepted unexplained
occurrences. Before you begin to think that I have lost my belief in the paranormal, I will let you know there have been many times in which I could
not and still can not explain away what was experienced and have done cleanings and even a few (what I believed to be) demonic exorcisms.
Now that I have given you a little back ground I will begin with the purpose of this thread. As being a herpetologist does not pay the greatest, I
have been thinking of a new career path. Paranormal research doesn't pay much either unless you enter into contract with some TV company(which I am
not interested in doing). I decided that doing something you love is what actually brings happiness and the Paranormal is a life long joy, I began to
think about how researchers learn. It's all hands on in the field training meaning a training facility is an untapped market as there are none in
existence.
I have access to a building that used to be a mental hospital. There is only one room in the the building that has been confirmed to have paranormal
activity and it is located in the basement. There have never been reports about anywhere else save this one room. SO, by turning the upper level into
classrooms for education on history, equipment, how tos in the hoax department, etc. and turning the many rooms of the basement into a testing area,
due to the fact that I know how to hoax many occurrences, I can recreate phenomena from shadow people to images, from sounds to objects moving, as
well as EVPs and EMFs. (Edit to add: and Infrared and full spectrum photography, as well as temperature changes and pressure)
Knowing what and how many I have set up and not disclosing which room is "active" I can then test for thoroughness of investigation, critical thinking
and debunking skills. Grades would be based on how many were captured as physical evidence, how well they are explained as well as their skills as an
investigator with bonuses given for experiences captured and documented in that single room.
Anyone who successfully completes the training would be certified as an investigator, which would give clients peace of mind knowing they are not
being taken or misled due to the knowledge the investigators have in reproducing and hoaxing, not to mention the heightened quality of investigations,
as well as better quality in reported findings in the paranormal community.
The purpose of this thread was to give you an explanation of what I am attempting to do and get your thoughts on it. Thank you for reading and I look
forward to your comments.
edit on 28-5-2012 by Agarta because: (no reason given)