My Life in Ghost

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My Life in Ghost hunting
By Dr.Paul Lee
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WHO AM I?

• 33 years old, born on Halloween

• BSc in Physics from Southampton

• PhD in Nuclear Physics from York

• Currently works as a software
• engineer for a large
• Worldwide Systems Company

• Life-long interest in ghosts, Forteana and the
  paranormal

• Was a believer in psychic ability, now very
  sceptical!

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Where have I been?

• Nearly 30 cases since
• the mid 1990s
• Cases range from the Edinburgh Vaults to Beaulieu
  Abbey
• I would like to go on more cases but the Most
  Haunted effect is making it difficult!

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Basic Principle of Vigils

• Sit in the dark, waiting for things to happen

• Make a note of events (sounds etc.) heard by
  different teams to
• eliminate non-paranormal events afterward.

• Obvious drawbacks- very boring and very fruitless

• Some researchers have little or nothing to show
  for decades
• worth of patience

• Humans are very poor observers and data
  gatherers- many teams
• use video cameras etc.

• Some Most Haunted wannabee groups are
  medium-led, for
• instance The UK Ghost Investigators

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Run by Heidi Graham and Alan Smallwood, after
Heidis previous partner had been ousted.
Orb obsessed, medium-centric group
Very much a Im Psychic, and youre not so you
Im right and youre wrong so you will do what
I say foot-stamping group dont really
investigate ghosts just rely on the
uncorroborated rantings of the psychics.
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A disgruntled member writes..
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Beaulieu Abbey, Hampshire, March 2003
Alan Smallwood excitedly proclaiming Thats an
apparition! while watching strange shadows on a
night-shot time lapse digital video camera
I was watching the same scene through my simple
hand-held night vision monocular scope. I saw no
such shadows. Therefore, this must have been a
camera artefact.
UKGI ignored this in favour of phantom monks.
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Farnham Castle, June 2003

• My third and last investigation
• with UKGI

• More rubbish from a trio of
• psychics feeding off
• - and trying to out-do each other

• No regard for scientific or
• Common sense ideas e.g camera
• Flashes going off constantly to
• Catch orbs destroy night
• vision!

When I brought my feelings to the UKGIs
attention, I was banned from their group!
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Clerkenwell House of Detention, May 1999

• Organised by the Ghost Club.

• The investigation organisers
• idea of equipment were just
• thermometers - not a good start!

• The proceedings were dominated
• by a very unconvincing psychic
• who liked to be the centre of
• attention.a trick she pulled in
• October at Charlton House when
• she tried to convince us that
• fireworks were spirit raps this
• was 8 days before November 5th!

• I was eventually to leave the Ghost Club due to
  unfair pricing
• policies practised by the club.

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Many groups seem to be a device for feeding the
ego of the founder.
For instance, one group that touts its
scientific research has, it is said, provided
free trips to the US for mediums. ie. Not
people with a scientific background, or with
internationally recognised qualified research
credentials.
Talking of mediums and psychics. Most of their
information is either confirmed by historical
accounts.or cant be corroborated at all! So why
use mediums? What good is the information they
provide?
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Some thoughts about recent ghost hunts
There is a very high level of credulous buffoonery
Lack of technical knowledge and ignorance leads
to embarrassing and easily debunked theories e.g.
Orbs
Most Haunted has launched dozens of
clones these are either wannabees, who copy the
format, or groups who are trying to make money
out of ghost- hunting (such as Ghosts-UK).
Venues that either charged little or nothing for
access now charge a fortune (e.g. The Ram Inn
near Bristol was once free now it is 40 per
person).
Most groups are thrill seekers with no intention
of furthering the field of study such groups
dilute ghost cases and force out genuine
researchers, like ASSAP, the SPR etc.
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ORBS

• Orbs are commonly thought of as only appearing
  on digital cameras (ie since the mid 1990s)
• They have been appearing on film well before
  that though!

• So, why so many orbs photos in the last few
  years?
• Digital cameras enable you to take dozens of
  pictures and
• instantly view and delete the ones you dont
  want. I have seen
• this happen! Non-orb pictures tend to get
  deleted

• Camera manufacturers (Canon et al) have stated
  that orbs are
• minute particles close to the lens dust,
  water vapour, hair etc.
• - they even provide information on how to get
  rid of orbs from photos
• But..most paranormal experts dismiss this,
  but then again, they
• arent necessarily experts in photography.

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• If paranormal enthusiasts dont agree with the
  dust orb theory,
• then it is up to them to provide an
  alternative.
• . On the proviso that such theories can be
  tested.
• It is simply not good enough to come up with
  bald statements,
• such as orbs are the first stage of a spirit
  manifestation.
• How do they know this? Has anyone seen this
  happen? And
• why has no-one seen the second stage of a
  spirit manifestation
• from an orb?

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What about the claim that orbs obey instructions
etc.?
Does anyone remember Jaytee the dog, shown on
Paul McKennas World of the Paranormal TV
series in the 1990s? This was a dog that was
alleged to have psychic abilities and knew when
her master was returning home by running to the
window. The dog is psychic proclaimed McKenna
at the end. But only by selective use of
footage! When all the footage is viewed, the
dogs reactions can be determined to be random.
The same situation exists with orbs by only
dealing with a few selected examples, any theory
can be proven. But suppressing the evidence that
you dont like is tantamount to fraud and
serves to delude yourself.
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Some conclusions..

• Ghost hunts are a useless way of gathering
  paranormal data
• the amateur groups lack funding, expertise or
  experience
• (especially in technical matters).

• I view ghost hunts as good social occasions
  these days.

• I have not encountered one single definite
  unexplainable event
• since becoming an active investigator just
  loads of bafflegab
• from psychics.

• However, when things do happen, it almost always
  happens when the
• observers are in a relaxed, or distracted frame
  of mind

The maxim practised by a lot of paranormal
enthusiasts is Why settle for a rational,
mundane explanation when a paranormal one will
suffice?
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Two important Rules of Thumb I Always Remember
Never attempt to explain one mystery by invoking
another
-Bords Law (after Janet And Colin Bord,
Forteana Researchers)
If something seems mundane or rational.then it
probably is
- Lees Law (coined by me)
There is a huge difference between open minded
and being credulous
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So, why isnt gathering subjective, random,
one-off data considering scientific?
What does happen
What should happen
1.Devise Theory
Rework Theory
2.Design and perform Experiment
Gather evidence
NB some groups do repeat sessions at the same
venue for repeatable results,
e.g Dr.Braithewaite at Muncaster Castle
No
3.Does Theory Match Experiment?
Yes
Given evidence, how does one work backwards to
a theory?
Theory Proven
NB Results should be repeatable!
Some observational sciences (eg Astronomy) follow
this loop observe theorise - compare
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So, what about the future..?

• I am not aware of any Universities or REPUTABLE
  institutions
• performing research into spontaneous cases.

• For the foreseeable future, all research will
  be performed by
• amateur groups with their own agendas (e.g.
  suspicions regarding
• the use of technology etc.)

• I find the reliance on human senses to be
  unconvincing

• I have been advocating a completely computer
  driven data
• gathering system for years, to remove fallible
  human senses
• from the loop.

• No luck as yet though!

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Any Questions.?
Contact me via my website ( http//www.paullee.com
) - more of my ghost writings can be found there.
Read about your favourite psychics cheating, and
more fraud in the paranormal world at
http//www.badpsychics.co.uk