|
Although having had an interest in the paranormal for
many years it was not until August 2002 that we took the opportunity to
carry out an overnight vigil at a ‘haunted’ location. We had seen an
episode of Ghost Detectives in March of that year from the old Gaol in
Friargate, Derby and were so intrigued that we visited the location o the
following Saturday afternoon. This was shortly followed by participation
in both of the Derby Ghost walks, which were both intriguing and fun.
It wasn’t until after the showing of the Most Haunted episode from Derby
gaol and the subsequent interest on Living TV’s Most Haunted forum that
an opportunity finally arose through like-minded people, to participate in
an overnight stay. Unfortunately as we were all inexperienced in ‘ghost
hunting’ we did little more than replicate the events from the Most
Haunted episode.
Undeterred by the obvious criticism we received from the MH forum, several
of us decided to start an investigation team in the Derby area and booked
another night at the gaol. Although every attempt was made to carry out a
controlled investigation including several new experiments and séances
the night did not go to plan, leaving most of the participants
disappointed with the nights events.
After some restructuring Derwent Paranormal Investigators was formed and
procedures drafted in an attempt to eliminate any accidental contamination
or the possibility of fraud during an investigation. Also, we would no
longer carry out séances on investigations as we could quite possibly be
reporting on the feelings of an individual person with no concrete
evidence. Since this time we have had some amazing results as well as
being able to discount other results as being naturally occurring, or
specific anomalies caused by faults in certain pieces of equipment.
After months of ‘training’ at Derby Gaol where we had the opportunity
to try out many new experiments, having spent every available weekend at
the location, we decided to spread our wings in 2003 and carry out vigils
at other locations. This of course has meant honing our skills to quickly
assess locations and identify naturally occurring phenomena both prior and
during an investigation whilst still maintaining our high standards.
So do we believe in ghosts? Why would anyone waste so much time and money
on equipment to become a paranormal investigator if they didn’t believe?
However, as a paranormal investigator it would be foolhardy to accept
everything that is seen to be paranormal and therefore to be an
investigator you need to be a sceptic and try as far as is humanly
possible to discount all occurrences as naturally occurring. Over the
months several questions have been answered. However, many more are
questions are now being asked. Our work continues…
|