Case Closed?
When is a case no longer worth investigating? I recieve e-mails from groups who have seen a location in our gazatteer, the historical research has been done for them, the case history summerised and they decide they want to go there and do an investigation with their group. Even though nothing has been reported in 90 or so years and the current owners have shown no indication that they
When is a case no longer worth investigating? I recieve e-mails from groups who have seen a location in our gazatteer, the historical research has been done for them, the case history summerised and they decide they want to go there and do an investigation with their group. Even though nothing has been reported in 90 or so years and the current owners have shown no indication that they need an investigation. But still I get such e-mails asking for the contact details of the owners, which I never give out, even if I know who they want to speak to.
So when is a case dead? After how many years of inactivity should we consider doing an investigation a waste of time? Personally I think it really highlights the differance between paranormal investigators and paranormal tourists, which I find a problem if we are dealing with families and private residences.
Re: Case Closed?
I have no experience in conventional hauntings but I can offer my insight on UFOs, which are my main area of interest.
UFO sightings tend to happen in "flaps", or clusters of cases centered around a given geographical area and lasting one or two months. Chances are once the case gets reported by the press it may well be over, though the Internet made things much much faster these days. Unless you are interested in visiting an "historical" place for UFO history or having a day out there’s no point in returning to a particular spot once the "flap" is over. Until 1986 the Brazilian Air Force had a research team standing by 24 hours a day to investigate UFO "flaps" on the field: they made a point to be on the field in 24 hours since the first report came in (and given the remote nature of most of Brazil this is a pretty impressive feat). They have some pretty good material on file but due to the labirinthine nature of Latin America bureaucracy it’s very hard to get a hold of it. That’s the way UFOlogy should work but, sadly, not all of us are paid to stand by 24 hours a day with helicopters and airplanes ready to take us around the country.
When an interesting case pops up it is always a good idea to wait a few months until the amateurish types and "alien greeters" have left the field and witnesses have had time to "cool down". Two-three months is usually good enough; six months is too much. If more than a year elapsed you may as well concentrate on other things.
In Distortion We Trust
Re: Case Closed?
I don’t think it would be worth investigating a haunting unless there had been reports within the last few months and there were witnesses available to interview.
Thanks to the TV ghost hunting shows, people regularly ‘investigate’ sites that haven’t been active for years. Because of the methods they employ, these investigators inevitably turn something up. If you sit around in ANY empty, dark building for a few hours you are likely to hear odd noises, all of which are completely familiar (and easily explainable) to the owners. Have a tape recorder with you and ambient noises will soon give you candidates for EVP. Take along a medium and they will almost inevitably ‘find’ something. Then the account of the ‘investigation’ goes on the web, encouraging others to think there is something really going on.
I know of one location where there were virtually no reports of anything odd at all (and those there were were completely inconsistent) until some ghost hunters visited, probably because it looked spooky! The ghost hunters ‘found’ all sorts of things, almost certainly all entirely spurious. The place is now considered one of the most haunted in the country and is regularly ‘investigated’ when, in reality, it probably isn’t haunted at all.
Re: Case Closed?
Conversly, if a house has not had reports due to not being lived in, though occasionally kept up, the sudden addition of people seems to cause a spike in legitimate happenings.
For active residences/buisnesses, I’d say a few months, maybe a year. It’s more open ended for structures that are not regularly occupied (abandon prisons, ruins, bunkers, ghost towns, abandon mines, etc.)
Summum Nec Metuam Diem Nec Optima
Re: Case Closed?
Surely places like ruins or abandoned mines etc take more preparation for an investigation and have an added danger factor to them, I thought you’d want to make sure you had recent evidence before taking a team in or organising a long term investigation?
Re: Case Closed?
The problem with that is that places of that nature are not often visited on a regular basis. ‘Recent’ can be subjective if the last time a building was activly occupied was fifteen years prior. The same problem exists for areas of very large buildings that are not often used, mezzenines, access tunnels, sealed floors, etc.
However, yes, the abandon mines I referred to are a very hazerdous investigation, and should only be undertaken in conjuntion with professionals in that field. Ruins, depending on thier state, are actually less hazerdous. That said, i’ve been caught in a collapse before and strongly urge caution in such locations.
An aside: No ghost is as scary as a chimmny comming through the ceiling and brining the place down around you as you run for the door.
Summum Nec Metuam Diem Nec Optima
Re: Case Closed?
But can’t haunted areas go through periods of dormancy, like a volcano?
Re: Case Closed?
Hmm… but what would cause it? Conversly, what would cause it to be active?
Summum Nec Metuam Diem Nec Optima
Re: Case Closed?
[quote=BaronIveagh]Hmm… but what would cause it? Conversly, what would cause it to be active?[/quote]
I don’t know. But we still don’t have all that great an idea as to why and how volcanoes go dormant and then re-activate months, years, decades, centuries, millennia later.
Re: Case Closed?
Hi OldTime Radio, welcome to website:) I suppose if the theory about Anniversary Ghosts is true, then there could be a gap of at least a year between experiences and maybe more, if for instance the chained ghost walks every tenth year etc. I don’t think there is much evidence to support the anniversary theory though, eventhough it does seem to fit with older haunting accounts.
Re: Case Closed?
The Violet immediatly springs to mind, so I suppose you have a point…
Summum Nec Metuam Diem Nec Optima