An interview with Karl Pfeiffer, the multitalented photographer, novelist, and ghost hunter. We cover his time on Syfy’s Ghost Hunters Academy, as well as his thoughts on paranormal TV. We bravely tackle the polarizing topic of orbs! Plus his experiences from leading ghost tours at the Stanley Hotel, and the inspiration for his photography!
Every now and then I receive photos from readers or listeners. Often they come with a subject line like “What do you make of this?” I’ve never claimed to be an expert when it comes to analyzing possible paranormal evidence in a photograph. I don’t even bring it up much. And honestly, when I was out investigating, the photographs were always kind of an after thought. I used photos more for documentation of the surroundings, and never really thought about them as a way to capture evidence. As you probably know, my focus was always on audio.
Like many others in the paranormal field, the photos we often get sent to us involve “orbs”, which most of the time end up being quite obviously explainable. And just as often, it’s an awkward offended reaction that I get when I respond with my usual answer. People want SO BADLY for things to be a ghost… even after someone gives them 30 possible explanations for what they’re seeing. I’m not sure why some folks ask if they don’t want an honest response. And so some of these photos end up sitting in my inbox, or maybe I reply with something harmless like… “Cool photo!”
But this photo was different. I am NOT making a claim that this is paranormal. But isn’t it interesting? You don’t see one like this often. Here’s the information I have from the photo that was sent in by Sarah. I was given permission to share it with you. Sarah writes:
“I wanted to send you this photo and get your opinion. I just [took] this picture of my daughter’s basketball team in our grade school gym. There were children running around behind the team prior to me taking the picture but I sat and waited for them to leave before I snapped the pic. If you look behind the chair of the last girl you can see that the white figure continues down behind her chair. Please let me know what you think of the photo.
Thank you so much!”
My mind immediately saw what looks like a solid foot or shoe planted on the ground behind the chair. If this were a child running behind the players in the photo, the foot would have been somewhat stationary, at least for the moment the picture was taken. But even then, seeing a solid foot doesn’t mean it isn’t paranormal. It’s definitely something to think about though.
I also think that if Sarah admits to knowing children had been running around the team prior to the photo, could it be she captured one of them and she just doesn’t remember? That’s probably the most logical explanation. But… even then, I wouldn’t expect such a ghostly, unrecognizable flash of white from a camera in this day and age… even if the kid was super fast! But I could be very wrong. Thankfully, when I mentioned my question about a possible kid running behind the players, Sarah wasn’t offended. She responded very politely with the following:
“I will tell you that when I took the picture I was not looking at the screen, I was actually looking over my camera to make sure all the children had ran past. I steadied the camera on my knees and watched above it. I actually have a sequence of pictures, one with the kids running past then the one with the figure that I sent you and then one with no one but the team. They are time stamped about 8 seconds apart.”
Surely we have some photographers or experienced investigators out there willing to weigh in with their thoughts or explanations. Is this a Warrior ghost?
And thank you for the photo, Sarah!
Don’t forget about the Love Never Dies Book Giveaway! Deadline for entries is Monday March 30, 2015! Can’t wait to hear from you!
Today is February 5, 2014. It is also my 2nd Blogiversary! In honor of this day, I give you 15 candid reasons to befriend a paranormal nerd! Hopefully, some of you will be encouraged to find a new friend TODAY! Or maybe you’re sitting at home with a spirit box or set of dowsing rods in your hands. Yeah I’m talking to you! No plans this weekend? You’ll want to share this immediately!
15 Reasons to Befriend a Paranormal Nerd Today!
1. As we tend to very open-minded, we don’t think you’re crazy when you tell us about your experiences, but depending on what subgroup of the paranormal we belong to, don’t be offended when we set out on a mission to “debunk” it.
2. Think you have a ghost or spirit trying to contact you? We’re likely to have a plethora of meters and gadgets to help make that connection, and we can’t wait to show you how it all works! And if our gadgets don’t spark a conversation, we’ve always got plenty of friends who claim to be “sensitive”.
3. According to my friend Tim, we “know whether it’s time to buy a new lamp or if Aunt Matilda’s threat to haunt you was legit.” Ohhh Tim… does this come from experience?
4. We can help to explain our favorite acronym lingo, such as EVP, ITC, EMF, IR, UV, OBE, ADC, DBE, ESP, PK, K2, and mG.
5. On a serious note, according to Rachel, “They are intuitive and empathic. They don’t see the world in black and white, they see many more colors! Plus, there is a sense of peace about them. Maybe it’s because they have some insight on the afterlife.” I absolutely love Rachel’s way with words.
6. Are you at a party or with a group of people who tend to be on the boring side? That awkward silence doesn’t bother us. We’re used to carrying on conversations with ghosts that typically don’t answer back, therefore we don’t easily get bored. Though we’ll likely keep the conversation going, don’t be offended if we accidentally blurt something like “If you can hear me, knock three times” or “How did you die?”
7. Are small animals disappearing from your neighborhood? Have no fear. We’re on it… and we know exactly what a Bigfoot call sounds like!
8. We’ll be the first to tell you that your no-good horrible very bad day was not your fault, because Mercury is in retrograde!
9. We’ll prove or disprove the orb photo taken at your nephew’s birthday party in no time flat! (Ahem… the ones who know what they’re talking about will tell you that even though it appears to have a face inside, or devil horns, or a personality, or like to be called “Beverly”, there are eleventy-thousand likely explanations for it, and then let you decide for yourself.)
10. We paranormal people who are also investigators are often willing to invite others to the next big investigation! And we can’t wait to share our favorite stories or our “Class A” EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena).
11. Not feeling well? Going through a bad experience? We can break out the crystals and send you rooms full of “love and light”!
12. We know how to begin the research to learn the history of your home, or genealogy research to learn about your ancestors!
13. Ever suspect your family pet of learning how to access the refrigerator while you’re sleeping? We’ve got night vision cameras. Just ask us.
14. Need sage for house blessing or clearing? We know just where to get it.
15. Need to borrow a black shirt, polo, or hoodie? Take your pick. Oh sorry… here’s some tape to cover up that logo.
Through social media, I went to some of my friends and faithful readers for help on this one. I’d like to thank Rachel, Tim, Stacey, Cassie, Cathy, and Dar for their additional thoughts and contributions to this post!
10 important reasons to go see Chip Coffey at a “Coffey Talk” near you! (Big Séance)
Recently, a conversation brought me to the topic of categorizing paranormal events, more specifically… hauntings. Many paranormal groups list these categories or “types of ghosts” on their webpages. Often they have their own slant to them, depending on their experience or beliefs. And I don’t pretend to be the wisest or most experienced investigator, but in my opinion, many of these definitions or explanations are sometimes just clearly wrong. I have to be honest though, I’ve considered adding such a glossary to my own group’s page several times before.
A Residual Haunting (a phrase that I believe was coined, or at least made popular, by Jason and Grant of T.A.P.S./Ghost Hunters), also sometimes referred to as an “imprint” haunting, is usually considered to be the energy of a spirit or even an event that plays over and over like a recording. It is usually predictable and there’s little chance of getting any kind of communication back from this type of phenomena. Some even believe that the makeup of certain environments or physical surroundings involved in one of these hauntings (such as water or limestone) could play an important role in the imprint. Actually, many old-school investigators consider the word “haunting” itself to be “residual”.
An Intelligent Haunting is thought to be the actual spirit of a person who remains (maybe by choice, maybe not) on our side of the veil. You are more likely to strike up communication with one of these hauntings, since they are likely to be aware of your presence. I could be wrong, but I think most paranormal investigators get way more excited about this kind of haunting. One of the main reasons I am involved in the paranormal is to learn whatever I can from the other side, or from paranormal events in general. And who really wants to talk to someone who doesn’t talk back?
The categories I just mentioned are the two main categories that I’m likely to use in my investigations. I can really get behind these. But I think we in the paranormal field sometimes recklessly jump to categorizing things too far… either because it makes us sound educated on the topic, or because we’re just not sure.
…which is Poltergeist. By simply using or saying this term you are likely to bring negative or concerning thoughts to someone looking for help or answers. As an entity, a poltergeist has traditionally been described as a noisy, sometimes disruptive, and sometimes destructive ghost. But I think now days we use this term in reference to a “phenomenon” that isn’t really an entity or “ghost” at all.
Poltergeist activity is often reported to be caused by or have a connection with young adolescents, many times female. It’s also often reported in homes where tension and/or struggle is constantly present. So if we’re using the term “poltergeist” to refer to a ghost, then I don’t understand why. In my opinion, couldn’t any intelligent haunting make noise or move an object if they really wanted to? Maybe they all can’t, but some certainly have. And investigators have been capturing evidence of spirits making noise or moving things for years, such as communication via EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena) and even disembodied voices (voices that are heard live on site, without the aid of equipment).
If we’re using the term “poltergeist” to refer to the phenomenon that isn’t an entity at all, then in my opinion, we need to come up with a new term. Let’s call it something else. It’s not a ghost, so let’s stop confusing people.
Shadow People. Different groups or investigators describe these “ghosts” differently. Rather than being a full-blown apparition, or a see through vaporous apparition, these are usually described as solid and dark shadows. Sometimes they’re described as always short. Some people say that “shadow people” are “inhuman” entities (we’ll get to those later) or even “trickster” entities. My question is, how do we know so many details about a spirit or entity just by seeing the shadow? What if what you saw was just an average spirit and they were working really hard to present themselves physically to you and this was all he could muster today? Maybe yesterday he was a full-blown apparition? What makes us automatically know that an apparition that presents itself today as a shadow is “inhuman” or “trickster”? In my opinion, it’s just a spirit that happened to present itself to you as a shadow at the moment. And maybe you’ll learn more later… but until then, let’s not insult the spirit of Great Uncle Frank with calling him a “shadow person”. What’s that? Oh, the shadow was running from you and darting in and out of rooms? Oh… that’s probably because you were hunting him down with a laser grid.
How about when an investigator tells a client that they’ve got an Inhuman Spirit in their home? Really? Explain, please. Is it E.T.? Is it a demon? And how did you come to this conclusion so quickly? Was it a dark shadow? Did it growl? Did it smell? Maybe it’s just the spirit of an old family pet?
This list for me could go on and on. Negative Entities or sometimes even Demonic Entities, Gnomes, Fairies, Djinn (this one is really popular now), and one of my least favorite…. ORBS! (Don’t get me started.)
So anyway, here I am conflicted with categorizing the paranormal this week when I was asked a question by a friend. She asked “If a house is haunted and then you relocate said house, does the ghost move with the house or stay with the property?” And actually, it’s something I’ve pondered more than a few times. I immediately jumped into my explanation with… “Well… it depends on if it was a residual ghost or an intelligent ghost.” 🙂
I guess categorizing is important… sometimes. But let’s be careful and think it through.
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Paranormal Burnout…
Warning! Lots of opinionated comments and blabbering below…
Well, I’ve done most of these things. Unfortunately, the results of my recent EVP research would bore most of you. A lot of VERY quiet and VERY questionable moments that I continuously label as “possible” communication or “possible” EVP. I get nervous about the possibility of my hard drive filling to the max with these “possible” audio clips, and sorting through them and labeling them is becoming a chore. I’ve stopped saving so many of these and only make note of them. Either I’m doing something wrong or I’m not very patient. Or… maybe I’m not supposed to be an EVP master like Randall Keller. 🙂 It probably shouldn’t ruin my day, but sometimes after spending hours reviewing one session with no gems, it gets me down and I begin to wonder what the point is.
I’ve continued to occasionally experiment with radio sweep on my clock radio, which was brought on by possible (there’s that word again… see a theme here?) encouragement from spirit in a dream as well as an EVP response a while back. I’ve done more research with the spirit box, which I was very excited about, but have continued to be disappointed by, or maybe I’m just too skeptical about responses that may be coming through. Or… maybe I just need to get out of the house and record elsewhere. Or… maybe I just need to get out of the house. 🙂
By now I’ve read most of the books. One thing I didn’t consider is that these books would take me on a wild ride through several tangents and ITC topics that are interesting me. My mistake? I jumped right from one book to the next due to my addiction of knowledge and need to gain lots of it in a small amount of time. I didn’t stop to take a break between each book, or to even think about or attempt any of the concepts inside each individual book. Now that I’ve realized this, I plan on taking a step back. I’ll review each book by taking some notes, researching more of the techniques or concepts more deeply.
And finally, I’ve developed a kind of paranormal attitude that I’m not liking one bit. I’m a member of several online groups or circles of different paranormal and spiritual people and I’m learning a lot about other nerds and “crazies” like me. I find myself too easily criticizing the person who sees the obvious dust particle or reflection of the sun or a beam of light as the beautiful spirit orb whose name is Ralph, who is apparently in the photo to protect the person being photographed while sitting at their table at Applebees. Whaaaat?! “What you are seeing here in this water scrying example is a sprite. I also see a native American.” Why is there always a native American? And who am I to judge or get upset, anyway? I’m the one planning séances and sitting here waiting for my clock radio to talk to me based on a dream. And you should know that I’m interested in the spirit box. I’m interested in all things ITC. I want to be able to meditate successfully. I want to channel. I want to experience astral travel. I really want to hear and see what others do. As you may know, I’ve struggled to balance the “spiritual” nerd and the “paranormal” nerd inside myself. You may think there’s not a big difference, but trust me, they are completely different circles of people.
And so… I’ve decided I’m just burned out. Or maybe it’s just the July blues and I really need for school to start (and don’t worry, it will… less than two weeks away). Maybe I just need to get grounded and go be a “normal person” for a while. My friend Marilyn tells me I need to go and stick my feet in the dirt. Not a lot of dirt around here, but maybe she’s right. If you drive down my street and see me sitting in the yard looking like a patient from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, perhaps staring off into the distance while chewing on a blade of grass, just wave and drive on by. If you’re invited to my home and you notice I’m hoarding chicken carcasses under the bed like the girl from Girl Interrupted… well… just call for help, please.
Last night I prayed to whoever would listen, perhaps my spirit guide, or my totem, or an Archangel, or maybe even Ralph. Hopefully someone can help me figure out what I’m supposed to do or not do. I hope you’ll understand if I take a blogging break for a while. You may even enjoy a break from reading it. 🙂
I hope I haven’t offended anyone. Am I still talking? (Are you still reading?)
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