GUARDING AGAINST SKEPTICISM BY STEVE GONSALVES OF TAPS

I wanted to share an article by Steve Gonsalves of the TAPS Team or Ghost Hunters as most of us know him as.  I thought this was a really good article about skepticism that I think we all who are in this field get a "good dose" of very often from maybe others that just don't understand what we do or maybe they do and just want to give us a hard time....either way I think Steve's article was really good. 

Guarding Against Skepticism – by Steve Gonsalves

You spend a lot of time doing the research, finding the evidence, and showing your evidence to the public.All this time spent just to hear someone say “That’s not real” or “That just looks like smoke”.
This person we all love is known as a skeptic.
The skeptic could be another research group, the media, or it could be your friend who you are showing your
latest research to.
Skeptic is such an evil word for some, but it doesn’t have to be that way.
Not if you research, collect, and present your evidence properly. Be your own skeptic, Don’t believe it until you see it.
Collecting your evidence could be the most important part of your research.
Most common evidence collected are photographs and videos.
We will focus mostly on photographs.
When taking pictures, We all know to make sure it’s not raining, no dust in the air, no camera straps, no smoking on the premises and no breathing in cold weather. 

I would like to go over a few things that can be very beneficial to your investigations.
The first thing you should know about is coupling.
Coupling is using other tools in conjunction with your photographs.
For instance, you could use an EMF gauge in conjunction with your photography.
Most people do this anyway, but a lot of researchers don’t and most new investigators don’t know any better.
This way you could present your evidence as, “Everytime my EMF gauge spikes a reading that supports paranormal phenomena, I capture this smoke like mist on film”.
That is a much better way to present evidence then, “Look at the strange mist in these pictures”.
The EMF gauge offers a scientific backing for your evidence.
The same would work with thermal probes or any of the paranormal adapted technology we use. 

Next, I’d like to talk about control pictures.
These are pictures of a non-paranormal nature on the same roll of film with pictures of a paranormal nature.
What this does is stops people from assuming it is something wrong with the whole roll of film. For example, say you are investigating a case where a woman knows where the activity is, and can tell it’s in the same room as her.
You take a few pictures in the area she says it is, and also take a few pictures in the same area when she says it’s not there.
This way, when you present these pictures as evidence you can say, “When she said the ‘entity’ was present we took these pictures with the fog like mist.
When she said the ‘entity’ was gone, we took these control pictures we took came out clear of the fog like mist”.
So we have control pictures validating our paranormal pictures.
It can also be used as easily as taking pictures outside of the investigation location to use as control pictures.
So you can present them as, “In the location we have these pictures with the fog like mist, we took these control pictures outside of the investigation location and all of these pictures are free from the fog like mist”.

One other thing I want to address is the lingo we use when talking about our research, and more importantly presenting our evidence.
Try to stay away from words that may cast a negative shadow on our research.
Words such as “Ghostbuster”, “Ectoplasm” and “Psychic”.
Not that these things don’t exist, it’s just that these words and words like them reflect negatively on our research.
Ectoplasm was a substance that used to exude from the mouths of early century mediums.
Come to find out it was just cheesecloth they would swallow and regurgitate at the climax of their session.
Also the Ghostbusters movie made Ectoplasm seem like a made up word.
Try to use phrases like mysterious fog, strange mist, or even Ectoplasm-like mist instead of ectoplasm.
You’ll find that if you use words like Ectoplasm, Psychic and Ghostbuster, people will have a harder time taking you seriously.
Of course there is a lot more to making and keeping your reputation healthy, but using simple tips like these it will be a lot easier to present your evidence to skeptics.

Steve Gonsalves

THE LIFE OF A GHOST HUNTER-A LITTLE FUNNY...

                                                The life of a ghost hunter....
                           You go on a great hunt and can't wait to review your evidence!
                                        You get everything ready for review.....
                                        You find a great EVP or clip....
                             And 3 hours later...... you could "care less" what you have!!!! LOL

Haunted Hill House Video

Here is just a SMALL sample of what is coming.....  Watch the lower right screen, our investigator Chris Anderson on the bed.  A very bright orb comes out of the wall and just "floats" down in across him, then back up again.  Watch it come from the corner.....down over the bed...then back up. :)  BTW.............HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!!

WHAT DO PSYCHIC'S HAVE TO DO WITH GHOST HUNTING???

  

Hellooooo Everyone!!!  Man I missed you guys! Has it only been a week??? Seems like WEEKS!!! haha  I have soooo much to tell you but today I am going to stick to my regular topic schedule, but just let me say, that Deak and I just got back from Atlanta and had the most AMAZING time at an old cemetery there!  I hope to post some of our evidence later this week so watch for it, I think you will definitely enjoy it!!!

Ok...enough of that....down to business.  Well, ghost hunters look for the dead and Psychic's talk to them so it would suggest a "good working" relationship, right?  Well, I have the utmost respect for Psychic or Mediums.  They are able to communicate with the dead in a way that "us, the average Joe" can't.  They are in tuned with the universe in such a way that spirits are able to show themselves(maybe in not the way we remember them) through signs and visions.  But be aware, as much as I respect their field, just like in ours in Ghost Hunting there are those who have no intent of helping people or researching and understanding our field.  Frauds, be careful they are out there.

I do not have a Psychic or a Medium in our group, but think it would be an asset to.  I have interviewed people that say they are "psychics".  I just have never found one that I feel 100% positive about.  Now, that doesn't mean you can't.  Just do your RESEARCH just like you would if you were investigating....ask questions, LOTS of questions, get refinances from others(if you know them personally or someone you trust has suggested them) and if you are still on the fence, invite them along on an investigation and see how they fit in with your group and get your groups "feelings" and feedback about them.  If you currently or have had in the past a Psychic or Medium in your group I would love to hear the Pros and Cons of having them in your group. 

Now, one thing I want to say really quickly is, once you have decided that you have found a Psychic or Medium that you feel good about, be careful of another pit fall when you are taking them along on an investigation.  BECAUSE they DO add so much additional insight and bring something unique to the group, don't fall into the trap of letting them be the FOCUS of the investigation.  Here's what I mean by that.....sometimes you start to FULLY RELYon the Psychic or Mediums communication before you do anything else on your own.  I believe we all have a 6th Sense but we have to develop it just like anything we do.....basically.....practice.  Don't start to rely so much on the Psychic or Medium that you don't allow you and other team members to develop their OWN 6th Sense.....you

 know.....LEARNING to FEEL what is around them in the dark......Sense that something isn't right......or having the hair on the back of your neck stand up.  These are ALL very important when ghost hunting.  Give them the time they need to develop THEIR OWN internal psychic abilities so to speak".  Does that make sense? 

http://www.theresacaputo.com/

                            

I want to share two people that I feel are true BLESSINGS in the Psychic world (and there are many more!) and you will probably know both......YES....Theresa Caputo, AKA Long Island Medium.  I have seen her twice now and believe in her ability to communicate with our loved ones.  She offers amazing messages to people that REALLY need them!  I know, not everyone is going to agree with me, and that's ok.  I love you anyway. LOL  And the other is Ronald Reeder AKA The Working Man's Medium.  Ron is a good friend of mine that has a world wide audience and every Sunday night you can be a part of his live on-air event.  Check his website for details.  I have spoken with Ron many times and he has a true compassion for the people and the spirits he communicates with.  I hope someday to do a joint event with him.  Check BOTH of these great Mediums out.

www.Ronaldreeder.com