What does it take to be a paranormal investigator?

So what does it take to do what we do? Why are some people called ghost hunters and some paranormal investigators? Is there really a difference? Depends on who you ask I suppose. On our show, Teresa and I often talk about being paranormal investigators, and not ghost hunters. We believe ghost hunters will always find what they're looking for, whether or not it was ever really there.

But how do we tell the difference with all the Facebook, Twitter, Web sites, YouTube videos, Podcasts and online paranormal "radio" shows, it's tough to say if we even can. Many teams put on a great face, and they get others to follow them or buy into their agendas, and then *poof* you have a whole following of those simply doing what they do best: find "evidence". Doesn't matter if they don't know anything about building materials or the surrounding layout of the location they're in. Doesn't matter if they have no control over who's walking around in other parts of a building that may be affecting the "evidence" they're collecting. Doesn't matter if they catch "sounds" as long as they believe it's a "voice". Or does it matter?

Many teams have a singular goal: to be the next television stars. You see it in all the marketing material they have (posters, shirts, hats, stickers, YouTube Channels, paid tours of locations, etc). But they tout they're only in this field to help others. How does all that other stuff help others? Does a sticker scare a negative presence away? Does the cool new hat make the energies want to talk to you more for better EVP's? Now don't get me wrong, we're not against someone getting into this field and having fun with it, or even making a living from it. Just don't be a hypocrite about it. Let people know you're the next best TV thing, or let them know they can get your new video straight from YouTube. But don't sell them a bunch of bullshit, and not even come back for a second, follow up investigation.

Lastly, if you truly are investigating to find the hidden truths, how about incorporating some of these ideas:

• Show up to an investigation on more than one day, so that you can accrue data to truly validate
• Document each investigation like someone was paying you for it
• Know what your tools will really show you, not just what you saw on TV
• Make sure that a healthy dose of skepticism plays a part of your investigation
• Ask questions, perform interviews and record them for later reference
• Look for ways the property owner may be trying to trick or "punk" you (yes it's happening more and more with the TV stuff)