Michelle M. Pillow's Blog, page 79
September 25, 2012
Parapsychology, Flying Objects and a Hanging Ghost: A Conversation with Dr. Barry Taff, Interview by Michelle M. Pillow
Parapsychology, Flying Objects and a Hanging Ghost: A Conversation with Dr. Barry Taff
By Michelle M. Pillow, www.MichellePillow.com
Parapsychologist, Dr. Barry Taff, has dedicated much of his life to studying the paranormal. Formally trained in the medical field with academic credentials in psychophysiology and biomedical engineering, he’s brought his knowledge of brain and body to his paranormal research. In 1969, he began working in UCLA’s parapsychology laboratory as a research associate, training people to harness their latent psychic potential. That same year, Dr. Taff himself was the subject of a paranormal study as his psychic abilities were put to the test and later published in a scholarly journal.
In the lab, he extensively studied telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition (now called remote viewing) over an 8 year period. During which time they discovered that people could indeed be trained to develop their abilities. But, his real interest lay in field work. With over 43 years in the field and over 5000 cases under his belt, many of which focus on ghosts, hauntings, doppelganger, apparitions and poltergeists, he’s become a world-recognized authority on the subject.
Aside from his haunting and psychic research, Dr. Taff also holds several medical patents, has written screenplays, enjoyed racing cars, and has an interest in UFO research. His first book, Aliens above, Ghosts Below: Explorations of the Unknown, releases June 2011 from Cosmic Pantheon. You can find out more about him or his work on the web at www.BarryTaff.net.
I would like to thank Dr. Taff for taking the time to talk to me about his work.
Michelle: You’ve had a pretty interesting career, one that I’m sure several people would be jealous of.
Taff: Well, if they were in it, they might not be. Most of the time I just sit around and talk to people. Once in a blue moon, you’re in the right place at the right time and something happens; you’re able to document it; you’re able to observe it and learn something from it. The things I’ve learned over the last 43 years have been amazing.
Michelle: Out of those 5000 cases you’ve done, what percentage would you say are ‘active’ cases?
Taff: Active is a very rudimentary term, and a very subjective one. The chance of us running into something while we’re there for two hours in one evening is the chance of winning the lottery. It’s astronomical. Here strangers come into people’s homes, they don’t know us, they don’t know anything about us, and we ask a lot of personal, intrusive questions into their medical and psychological backgrounds, the psychodynamic of the family. We take measurements of the environment and of the people; look at their medications, how long they’ve been taking them. And the chance of something reacting while we’re there is, again, like the chance of winning the lottery. We’re always at the mercy of whatever we’re dealing with, and you never know. We go into every case expecting nothing to happen, and most of the time that’s exactly what happens: Nothing.
Michelle: When you go into these situations, asking people personal information, do you find that most people are forthcoming and honest about what is happening?
Taff: Most of the time they are straightforward. Sometimes, though, they are less than truthful in regard to the psychodynamic of the family—if it’s a dysfunctional family, their at each other’s throats emotionally. If it’s a very caustic environment, they’re not going to admit that to strangers. Who wants to air their dirty laundry in public?
One of the ways I personally analyze what is going on is by the amount of fear on the person. If the people seem to like it, I question the validity of the event. Most people with a brain don’t like these things. It’s very disruptive and unnerving, and we don’t know what it is or how to get rid of it.
It’s not so much about what they’re saying, compared to how they’re saying it—the tone of their voice, their articulation, their body language, their intonation, all of this is relevant.
Michelle: Is there a degree in parapsychology, or is it more of a field of study with experts in various other areas (anthropology, psychology, etc.) taking part?
Taff: One person got a doctorate in parapsychology— Jeffrey Mishlove from UC Berkeley. They made him work his butt off, more so than the average doctorate candidate. Of course, even if you have that degree from a major university, what are you going to do with it? Who’s going to hire you? No offense to Dr. Mishlove.
They did offer a Masters degree program at Kennedy State University years ago. It was abandoned due to lack of interest and lack of money.
The real world applications for parapsychology are few and far between. It’s been used in law enforcement, selectively. It’s been used by the military with remote viewing, remote influence, and things of that nature. That’s been about it. There are healers or medical intuitives like myself, but as far as putting it to use in a pragmatic way that has not come to pass. We just don’t know enough about it.
Michelle: Aside from higher, formal education, are there programs you recommend for those who wish to further study?
Taff: Loyd Auerbach is setting up a program at the University of Virginia. These are important, however when that’s said and done, you spend your time, energy and money on these classes which will teach scientific protocols and discipline and methods for doing scientific research. What are you going to do when you have your degree? You’ll be shunned. I was shunned and I didn’t even have a degree in parapsychology.
Academic parapsychology is not a place I recommend people to go, because if you want to make a living off of it, you’re in trouble.
Parapsychology wasn’t even a science until 1969 when Dr. Margaret Mead, a well known anthropologist, stood up at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, did a filibuster, and got them to accept it. The Parapsychological Association was formed.
Michelle: Switching a little bit from the formal study of the paranormal to the popularity of paranormal in pop culture. Do you have any favorite paranormal shows?
Taff: There is not one paranormal reality TV show on television that I watch. In my opinion, it’s a waste of time and energy. They misrepresent the field. They misinform the public. If you’re producing a paranormal reality show, you have got to have something happen at least once per show, which means you have to do one of three things. You fake it. You embellish or exaggerate everything that happened to make it look relevant and important. And/or you populate the show with a bunch of wackos. The formula is pretty basic, but if you have to wait for something to happen for a show to work the logistics are going to be terrible.
Michelle: What interests you most about the paranormal?
Taff: When you see a 220 pound man picked up and thrown around the room like a rag doll, yet no heat is produced, you’re seeing an event that is impossible based on what we know about the universe. The energies we know of—magnetism, nuclear forces, and gravity—before they would make an event like that occur the amount of heat liberated by that process would burn not only the person but everything in the room would catch fire. Not only does that not happen, the room gets colder. We’re looking at a force of nature that works without heat. The data collected on this is massive. I’m convinced that the kind of energy we’re seeing with objects flying around the room can theoretically take us to the stars and back. It could possibly alter time and space and change the way we run the planet—without heat.
Michelle: This case of the 220 pound man, was this a real case you worked on?
Taff: Yes, it’s from Chapter Three of my book called The Hazardous Haunting of 1989. Jeff Wheatcraft was one of our assistants and something tried to hang him in the attic of the San Pedro House. Fortunately, someone else was up there and they saved him. Then, many months later, the woman (of the house) had moved. I was unavailable, but Barry Conrad and Jeff went up there to meet with Jackie Hernandez. Jeff and his chair were levitated into the air and thrown across the room to the ceiling. He was knocked out. And, yet, the room got ice cold before it occurred.
Michelle: So, the picture of the man by the rafters in the attic. Is that real or a reenactment of the hanging event?
Taff: Barry (Conrad) heard a moan. It was pitch black. He fired the camera as Jeff was being picked up by this clothesline wrapped around his neck and pulled over the rafter. He grabbed the shot just before Jeff was about to be pulled up tight against the rafter. It was amazing. He had a rope burn on his neck and he developed post traumatic stress disorder. Before he didn’t really believe too much, but this totally messed his life up, big time.
I think we’re looking at the tip of a very large iceberg here. We’re being shown something. The question is what are we going to do about it? We have got to get beyond the question of: Is it real? We know it’s real. What we need to know is what we can do with it.
Michelle: Before you got into this field, did you had any personal paranormal experiences?
Taff: Yes. Part of it was curiosity, but the curiosity was provoked by psychic experiences as a kid. Precognitive, clairvoyance, out of body, these were all very normal for me. I thought everyone had them. Then I learned at a very young age that most people either don’t have them or they don’t discuss them.
I’d know things people were thinking, what they were doing when I wasn’t with them. The first instance I remember was ten years old, the fifth grade, during recess this little blonde girl came walking towards me and like a colored x-ray I could see under her dress was a plastic bag attached to her side and there was a tube going into her. Remember, I was ten years old, I didn’t know what a colostomy was, and I went up to her and I asked her what it was. She panicked, ran and got a teacher, who brought me to the principal’s office. The principal through that I had snuck in the girls’ bathroom. I said, no that it was there as a color x-ray. Then I looked at him and said you have that appendix scar that never healed properly, it’s always purple. He called my parents and said, what is he? My parents said, don’t ask.
Michelle: So did your parents understand about your abilities?
Taff: No, they didn’t want to even deal with it. They just wanted to stay away from it completely.
Michelle: now that you are a paranormal investigator, do you work with groups? Or do you prefer to work solo?
Taff: I’ve never worked with a group. I’ve worked with different people over time, most have come and gone. I worked with a man named Barry Conrad for over 20 years (up until a year ago). He’s been a good friend and colleague. Now I work with a very gifted man named Jack Rourke, a psychic and researcher, and Alex Mistretta, a researcher. We don’t have a name, we just go out and we don’t charge people ever.
Michelle: Are these mainly poltergeist type cases?
Taff: Right. 90% of my cases are poltergeist, but it’s really hard to say when one thing ends and another begins. It’s all intertwined. Is there really any real difference between a ghost and a poltergeist? It could all be the same thing. It’s a question of interpretation.
Michelle: Clearly, by reading your book, we can hear about some of the more fascinating investigations that you’ve done, but what about the most comical—those that aren’t necessarily filled with evidence, but are memorable nonetheless?
Taff: In 1971 in Van Nuys, nice family, classic poltergeist activity and apparitions. At one point they were finding money floating down from the ceiling. Thousands of dollars were found. I asked if they were upset by this. They said yeah. I asked, are you declaring it? They said no. Well, then it’s free money. Imagine that.
They had a 17 year old son, a football player. He saw one of the apparitions one night while going to the bathroom. He locked himself in and wouldn’t come out of the bathroom until morning.
Another case not in the book, was mid-70s in an old building Rudolph Valentino used to live in. A family living in one of the apartments would eat dinner, pile dishes in the sink, go out, and when they came back everything was clean.
Michelle: Does that thing travel? I’d kind of like that one.
Taff: Yeah, we’ll call it Rent-A-Geist.
We had a case in Hollywood that was still active. It’s in Chapter One of my book. There’s a body buried under the house from 1922 named Regina. There have been a lot of psychokinetic manifestations. There’s a headstone there. No one wanted to pay to have the body excavated.
Michelle: I’ll let readers check out your book, Aliens Above, Ghosts Below, for those details. It’s an interesting case.
What do you say to “hardnosed” skeptics of the paranormal?
Taff: I’ll give you an example. I was on a show in 1978 to talk about the field in general. There was an actor, John Bennett Perry, who said I don’t believe in this sort of garbage. So I said to him, on the air, who cares if you believe, you’re an actor. If you were a scientist or did academic research and studied the data and then don’t believe it you can say something. How can you comment on something you know nothing about?
It’s really easy to be a skeptic if you don’t know anything.
Michelle: What is it like being Dr Barry Taff?
Taff: It’s like being a stranger in a strange land. I think I was born 2000 years too early. The older I get, the less I have in common with more people. The best thing is to leave a legacy, that you’ve left the world in a far better place than when you entered it.
To learn more about Dr. Taff, or his first book, Aliens above, Ghosts Below: Explorations of the Unknown (June 2011, Cosmic Pantheon), visit him on the web at www.BarryTaff.net.
September 24, 2012
Frost Maiden: Space Lords Book One
BOB |
Review
“5 CUPS! Frost Maiden is wonderfully well written, and the story pulls at your heart strings in every way imaginable. I can not wait to read more stories by this author, and hope that her next installment of Space Lords is not to far off.” – Lee Ann, Coffeetime Romances, March 2008
Product Description
ABOUT THE SERIES:
This series is the next installment in the Futuristic saga, following Dragon Lords, Lords of the Var and Zhang Dynasty.
BLURB:
Empath and space pirate, Evan Cormier is obsessed with decoding an ominous premonition about his future. When a fellow crewman angered a spirit, the vengeful Zhang An took her wrath out on everyone in the vicinity. Evan just happened to be one of them. He’s now facing a future in which he’ll be forever alone.
Lady Josselyn of the House of Craven has been betrayed. With her home world on a Florencian moon under attack and her family dead, she finds herself at the mercy of the one who deceived them. There is only one thing left to do–die with honor. But before she can join her family in the afterlife, she must first avenge all that she held dear. Falling in love with a pirate was never in the plan. Evan and his thieving crewmates might have delayed her fate, but they can’t stop destiny.
September 23, 2012
Vlog: They Only Have Horses (Renn Faire Book Signing Sept 2012)
Thank you to all the readers that came out, to the authors, and the awesome Renn Faire Folk!
Vlog: Michelle M. Pillow: Quick Thank You!! to readers and viewers. You all rawk!
Michelle M. Pillow: Quick Thank You!! to readers and viewers. You all rawk!
See the ENTIRE Mandy and Michelle back and forth in order here with the “Oh, it’s on!” Playlist.
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September 21, 2012
Vlog: Michelle Pillow: How To: Awesome Writer Hairstyle
Michelle Pillow: How To: Awesome Writer Hairstyle
Very informal micro chat about my experiences as a published author.
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Vlog: Michelle Pillow: Author Tip: Writing Gloves
Michelle Pillow: Author Tip: Writing Gloves
Very informal micro chat about my experiences as a published author.
Product Review: Smart Glove
Smart Glove on Amazon:
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September 19, 2012
Vlog: Michelle M. Pillow: BAD Blatant Promo
Michelle Pillow: BAD Blatant Promo
Very informal micro chat about my experiences as a published author.
In Response to Mandy M. Roth’s Video about bad promotions:
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September 18, 2012
Vlog: Hello Jareth, Mr. Goblin King
Michelle M. Pillow handles rejection really well in her video response to the Goblin King. (Response to Rejection Video here)
See the ENTIRE Mandy and Michelle back and forth in order here with the “Oh, it’s on!” Playlist.
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Ghost Hunters: WPRS Interview
WPRS Interview
By Michelle M. Pillow, www.michellepillow.com
At a Borders’ book signing a few years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting several members of the Wichita, Kansas based Wichita Paranormal Research Society (WPRS). Their passion for the paranormal, as well as the professionalism in which they talked about their craft was evident. With new TAPs family member cards fresh from the printers and an assorted display of paranormal themed WPRS t-shirts, they were about to leave for an investigation at the Brown Grand Theater in Concordia, Ks.
The group includes founder Shane Elliot, Case Manager-Public Relations Manger & Investigator Sherrie Curry, Photographer & Investigator Derek Pinkston, Investigator/Tech Bob Gilmer, Tech Manager Shaun Reeves, Investigator Ted Thomason, Historian Lori DeWinkler, Software Tech Manager Jeremy Webster, and investigators Donna Chaffin and Charles Harding. WPRS is 100% non-profit. Their services are free of charge.
Three WPRS members took a moment out of their buy schedules to talk with me about their recent investigation and their group in general. A big thank you to Sherrie Curry, Shane Elliot, and Bob Gilmer.
Q: Tell us a little about the investigation at Brown Grand Theater.
Shane: This was a beautiful location to investigate. With original seating in the balcony boxes, and many of the original Theatrical posters framed around the theatre you couldn’t help but feel like you were being pulled back into the early 1900’s.
Theatres can be very tough to investigate because of the acoustic qualities. So we started off with just a couple of investigators at a time actually investigating the theatre. We had plenty of room to cover with all the seating area on the main floor, the balcony, the stage, the catwalk, and the basement with boiler room.
Some of the claims where of a door that opened and closed regular on its own, the sound of footsteps in various locations around the theatre, and of apparitions witnessed on the stage, and up in the second balcony. And we were hoping to either prove or disprove some of these claims.
Sherrie: The theater was in outstanding condition and the employees were great. Derek was able to take some great pictures of the location. During the investigation I personally saw 2 questionable shadows. The first one I was up in the catwalk above the stage and saw a shadow walk into an electrical room heard some questionable female voices from that location. Once on the stage I saw a dark shadow up in the balcony chairs, I thought it was one of “us” however found out later it was not.
Q: What other locations have WPRS investigated?
Bob: Wow there is so many… The best one to me was a house just north of town. I got touched and had a conversation with something via the k 2 meter.
Sherrie: Well there are so many great places, a few I can’t mention due to privacy issues. I’ll just mention a couple. The Orpheum Theater is a great place. We have investigated there several times, during a tour of a guest investigator she felt something tug on her pant leg, we dismissed this occurrence thinking it was possible her pant caught on a chair while walking by, however later in the night we were in the same spot sitting down taking pictures and I felt a finger run down the back of my left leg, from the knee down to my ankle. Heard nothing. Later going over the audio recordings and coming to that spot, there was a female voice that spoke one word very loud right after I was touched, she had said “Peace”. Investigating the Orpheum we have always had several unknown EVPs.
Cowtown, on the other hand we have investigated multiple times throughout the year. Several locations are very active with paranormal activity. The Murdock house is always interesting seeing shadow people, mists, voices, bangs, and footsteps. These seem to happen inside the house and outside the house. We have also had footsteps from the Devore Farm, enclosed wind chimes moving 5 times within a 30 minutes period, voices and camera movement. This is just to mention a couple hot spots at Cowtown there are several others.
Shane: The Old Cowtown Museum. We have recorded close to a hundred EVP’s from that location and recorded on video items moving on their own. And we have record on video a strange occurrence with multiple lights in one location being turned off and on in separate rooms, at separate times from one another. We have had several investigators witness a shadow person, or persons around the location, and have heard claims from employees and guests of the Museum that have witnessed the same thing.
The Orpheum Theatre. We have investigated several times, and we have recorded what could be paranormal activity, but at the same time we have debunked a lot of claims there as well.
The Beaumont Hotel. Over the years this has been an interesting location to investigate. One of the claims is of a Cowboy that roams the halls of the hotel named Zeke. During one of our first investigations there most of our EVP questions were directed towards Zeke. At the end of the night one of the EVP’s we captured said “What’s Zeke?”
Q: To date, what is the most interesting location your team has investigated?
Sherrie: I’m sure we all have our favorites. I guess mine has to be my first investigation in a local Wichita business. I had over 50 EVP’s during that investigation, saw my first shadow person, heard a voice of a person I couldn’t see, and footsteps. It was all the way around crazy. Only thing captured to provide as evidence was the EVP’s. Several were very clear and very loud, what was interesting was the disembodied voice I heard along with 3 other females was a male voice, no one caught that on their audio recorder.
Bob: Got to be Cowtown. We get so much from that place. It’s hard to just pick one out.
Shane: The Old Cowtown Museum. And most interesting piece of evidence so far would have to be the EVP screaming at two investigators to “GET OUT! I WARN YOU!”. That is still one of the loudest EVP’s I’ve ever heard, and yet we didn’t hear it until playing it back.
Having said that we have had a lot of personal experiences that if only we had moved the camera a few feet, or even a few inches we probably would have caught on video. But because we didn’t they are just personal experiences now.
Q: What criteria do you look for when deciding a location?
Sherrie: Activity, stories, history and if the place looks interesting we will approach the owner to see if they have any reported claims.
Shane: If children are involved there is no question we are going to get in there and try to help the family as quick as possible. Other than that it just depends on the claims, and/or the history.
Q: Have you ever been disappointed by a location?
Sherrie: Every location is interesting in its own way. We have been disappointed with lack of activity during investigations many times. Then we go over the evidence and find great things. We were investigating a school with great history and tons of stories from past students of sightings of the ghost and mists etc… we investigated and found nothing. Once we went over our recordings we found lots of EVP’s, which proved otherwise.
Shane: We have had a few people lie to us just to get us to come out to their home or business. That is always disappointing, but they are few and far between.
Q: Any funny/unexpected stories?
Sherrie: Well with Shaun around you can always expect the unexpected. He’s the clown of the group, whether he is trying on random hats to make us laugh or just being himself, he’s always a riot!! I guess if you want to know about funny things during investigations, I have to say if one of us gets startled (Donna) she grabs all of her equipment and won’t leave my side. She doesn’t run and she doesn’t scream, she just calmly, in a hurried fashion, gathers her things and becomes glue. We kind of tease her about it.
Shane: The Beaumont Hotel. The first time we investigated I was on the second floor when an investigator that was watching the monitors called me on the radio saying that the screen door just slammed in the kitchen. He was new to the team so I just told him to calm down and listen for anything else unusual. A few minutes passed and he called again, “The door just slammed again!”.
Thinking it was the wind or a loose screen door I made my way downstairs to check things out. As the investigator was explaining what was going on, it happened again. This noise was defiantly inside and not an outdoor screen door, but obviously something slamming shut. So we looked around, and found a cooler in the back with a sliding door that stored drinks. The door had a spring on it, and if you opened it and let it go, the door would slam shut sounding very similar to what we had heard. By this time all the investigators where down in the kitchen standing around this cooler, and I was asking something to the effect of “if you opened this door could you please do it again?” About that time we all heard the noise again, and everyone jumped about a foot out of their skin.
It was the hotels ice machine behind us dropping ice.
Q: What first interested you in paranormal investigation?
Sherrie: I have had several personal experiences that led me to this field. I wanted some answers. One day a friend brought a recording of a voice from her home to work and told me this fantastic story. This led me to WPRS in the first place.
Bob: The first time I saw Ghostbusters when I was a kid. I said back then, “This is what I want to do when I grow up.”
Shane: Before 2005 I really had no interest in the paranormal. Nothing had really happened to me, and I had not heard any stories to make me believe much was going on in the way of the paranormal, but in May of 2005 that all changed.
My son was two weeks old, and sleeping soundly in his crib. My wife and I were sound asleep in our room when suddenly my son awoke crying. This woke me up, and I laid there for a minute to see if he would go back to sleep, or if I needed to go check on him. Suddenly, I heard a humming come over the baby monitor, and I immediately thought, “Okay, we are picking up a radio, or maybe a commercial truck.” But then it changed to a woman singing a lullaby. I immediately realized my wife was lying next to me, and someone must have broken into our house. I went to jump up and that’s when I felt a hand just below my right knee. It wasn’t holding me down, but just patting my leg as if to say “It’s okay.” I immediately felt calm, and my son fell back to sleep.
The next evening my wife was watching an episode of Ghost Hunters. Up until this point I had never watched this program, or any of the various paranormal shows for longer than a few minutes. It just wasn’t something that interested me. But due to what had happened the night before I thought I would watch this show.
What impressed me was the fact that the TAPS team didn’t come in and find a bunch of paranormal things going on. Instead they went into the families’ home with a list of claims, and actually found normal reasons that could cause all the paranormal claims. I realized I wanted to start researching this myself, and began looking online for local teams. At the time there really wasn’t anything here in Wichita, and from the people that I met over the months that I spent looking for a team. Those people finally suggested that I start a team here myself. So that’s how the Wichita Paranormal Research Society came to be.
Q: Do you investigate anything other than hauntings?
Shane: So far, no, but we would if given the chance.
Bob: I would love to do something with UFOs.
Q: Why do you think people are so interested in the paranormal and unexplained?
Sherrie: People are becoming more open to the idea and there are more and more TV shows about the paranormal which makes people believe more in the paranormal… or less because some shows are so hokey.
Shane: You could say because of the movies and television, and I believe that does add something to it, but if you go out and ask 100 people if they believe they have ever witnessed something paranormal. 99 of those people are going to say they have. Something is going on out there, and it’s just human nature to be curious, and want to learn more about it.
Q: Who are your heroes in the field?
Bob: John Zaffis.
Shane: Jason Wilson, and Grant Hawes from TAPS of course. But someone that I have met and has been a true mentor to me over the years is Danny Carthy of Leinster Paranormal in Ireland. He has over 20 years experience and has always found the time to talk to me via the internet or phone. Just a really great guy and I really appreciate all his help and input.
Sherrie: This may say corny but it has to be the WPRS team. These are people you can count on for anything. You have to trust who you are walking around in the dark with and trust you won’t offend them with a joke and trust they will defend you and help you if something threatens you. They are my best friends and I love all of them. Each and every one of them is special. If you want to know outside of WRPS I have to say the TAPS Family. It’s great to have backup and to have someone to go to with questions and discuss things and ideas with.
Q: What philosophies do you adhere to while investigating? Do you approach the work as a skeptic or a believer?
Sherrie: Well, for me it’s a little of both. I do believe however I approach each investigation as a skeptic. We are not there to prove a haunting. We are there to show people there are other explanations of why things could be happening. We help them with the explainable, and then if we find something we can’t explain that is what we leave with the possibility of paranormal activity going on in their home or business.
Bob: Go in with an open mind. I try to debunk everything and when I can’t come up with an answer, then maybe it’s paranormal.
Shane: I’m more of a skeptic. We never walk into a location assuming it has paranormal activity. We go over all the claims and try to find normal causes to those claims. After an investigation when we have gone over all the video, audio, and photographs, if we do find anything we can’t explain we go back, and try to recreate it. After that if we still can’t explain it, then we might consider it as possible paranormal.
Q: Do you have any unbreakable rules when it comes to investigating?
Sherrie: No drugs or alcohol allowed and respect the deceased.
Shane: Safety comes first. All investigators work in a team of two. The idea is if something paranormal happens to someone there will be another person there to hopefully help document it. But the most important reason is for safety.
Bob: Never do a “dude run”. Heck, I run after the ghosts.
Q: What equipment does your team use? What, in your experiences, picks up the best evidence?
Shane: We use infrared (IR) video cameras, full spectrum video cameras, hand held video cameras, digital cameras, digital voice recorders, and various electromagnetic field (EMF) meters… Digital voice recorders probably provide us with our most evidence, and that being EVP’s.
Sherrie: My favorite is my digital recorder.
Q: There seems to be a lot of talk lately about why many ghost hunting shows investigate in the dark rather than the day. What is your opinion?
Bob: It’s easier to see the ghosts at night. That sounds strange but they are darker than the dark so it’s easier to me to see them.
Sherrie:City is quiet at night. If you have lights on it can cause our EMF detectors to provide false readings. When the lights are off we don’t have to worry as much about that. We have investigated during the day and had lots of activity at a known haunted location just to see if there was a difference. Well in that location there was no difference, we still had activity just more background noise from traffic.
Shane: Well obviously for television it adds an effect for the viewers. But since most of the claims are at night I believe that’s why most investigations take place then. The reason we investigate in the dark is because most of the claims happen when the lights were turned out, and people are sleeping, and the location is its quietest. However, if I ever get a claim that someone was making pancakes in the morning, and Elvis walks through a wall and through their kitchen. I’ll investigate that place during the day, and hopefully someone will be making pancakes.
Q: Do you feel there are things presented by evidence that is explainable in other ways?
Sherrie: 99% of orbs are a reflection of a flash from the camera on dust, bugs, humidity or items in the room.
Shane: Defiantly. We don’t consider any orbs as possible evidence. They are just too easy to reproduce, even the slightest bit of dust, moisture, or tiniest bug can create them.
Q: What advice do you have for beginners?
Sherrie: Understand there are lots of theories out there and yours may not be the only one. Do not trespass. Don’t investigate outside. There is too much distortion and contamination from background noise such as dogs, bugs, traffic, wind etc.
Shane: Practice safety. Your best tool is your brain. Use common since, not everything is paranormal. Matter a fact most of its not.
Q: How do you feel about the paranormal shows currently on TV? Any must-watch?
Sherrie: I only watch Ghost Hunters and Ghost Hunters International. They investigate the same way we do.
Shane: Ghost Hunters is the only one I watch. I’m not saying that because I’m biased and part of the TAPS family. I’m saying that because I’ve tried to watch all of them for a short period of time, and I’ll probably give any new ones coming out a chance. But most of them are going for that WOW factor now, and will stoop to any level to get it.
Q: You recently became TAPS family members, congrats! What does this mean for your group?
Shane: Thanks! That’s a real honor for us. I’m sure there were groups before TAPS that took a real skeptical approach to paranormal research, but TAPS is the team that brought it to the main stream. I’m just honored to represent the TAPS name. And they are keeping us busy with our already busy case files. Ha Ha.
Sherrie: If some needs help in our around Kansas they can find us on the TAPS web site.
Q: Any dream locations you’d like to investigate?
Sherrie: Several…I guess one would be a castle in Ireland, locally the Winfield State Prison, which is now owned by the VA.
Bob: The Stanly hotel.
Shane: Anything over the pond in Ireland, or Scotland. We are working on doing some of that in the next year or two.
Q: Any new projects in the works?
Sherrie: We have been on several radio shows. We have t-shirts for sale. You can go to the web site to order them, www.wichitaparanormal.com.
Shane: With the buzz about paranormal research right now I think every group out there probably has a book in the works or is thinking about one. We do have a book we are working on. We also are getting ready to film a few local shows. Local magazines, and News broadcasts have been really good to us, and we do those one a regular basis.
Q: Any future plans or projects for the group?
Sherrie: We are always investigating. Getting ready to head to Branson, Missouri to investigate the Titanic exhibit and film a show with a local show called Heavy Pork, a late Saturday night Fox program.
Thank you Sherrie, Shane, Bob and the member of WPRS!
The Orpheum Theater (www.wichitaorpheum.com) and Cowtown Museum (www.oldcowtown.org) are both located in Wichita, Ks. Information about the Brown Grand Theater of Concordia, Ks can be found at browngrand.org and The Stanly Hotel at www.stanleyhotel.com. You can learn more about WPRS or purchase exclusive WPRS merchandise by visiting their website, www.wichitaparanormal.com.
Interview by Michelle M. Pillow, www.michellepillow.com
September 17, 2012
Silk by Michelle M. Pillow
BOB |
Review
“Action-packed ..something to please everyone.” –4 1/2 STARS! — RT BOOKreviews
“This story is worthy of any and all accolades possible. The worldbuilding is beyond the pale and the story of Silk is unique… Kudos to Michelle Pillow for a phenomenal read.” –In the Library Review
“SILK was a very emotionally gripping tale … Well done, Ms. Pillow!” –4 1/2 BLUE RIBBONS! — Romance Junkies
“With believable, dynamic characters and a plot with many twists thrown into the mixture, Michelle Pillow has penned a tale that will mesmerize readers.” –5 STARS! — eCataRomance Reviews
“Grab it, read it, love it!” –Road to Romance
Product Description
In order to keep his secret formula from the enemy, the dying Dr. William St. James made the impossible choice. He injected the only sample of it into his daughter, killing her chance at a normal life so that an elite superhero may be born. Now, ten years later and utterly alone, Quinlan St. James is still torn between the woman she could have been and the superhero, Silk, she has become.
Nikandros is an immortal Protector, sworn to an eternity in the service of good. His is a lonely existence, one chosen long ago. Believing that Quinlan might be selling her father’s formula to the highest bidder, the Protectors send him to seduce the reclusive billionaire. However, instead of a coldhearted conspirator, he discovers a lonely woman with a heart of gold–and a secret identity. Now it’s up to him to prove her innocence without blowing his cover.
