Gaining Access to Sites
It can't be emphasized strongly enough — access to most sites must be obtained and permission granted before investigators traipse around a property. It is just good sense and it protects the team from annoying and possibly expensive legal issues.
If a site is on private property, it is privately owned. Graveyards and cemeteries can be either privately or publicly owned, but as vandalism in cemeteries becomes more and more of an issue, police and security patrols may question your presence, especially after dark.
Always bring along personal identification and a driver's license when taking part in an investigation. Some sort of business card with the name of the group will also enhance your credibility and professional appearance.
If you have a friend who is super organized and business-like, he might be an excellent candidate to be a case manager if you can get him interested in ghost hunting. The trick will be getting him to go on that first hunt with you; after that you may have him hooked.
Follow these guidelines:
Dress normally. Capes, over-the-top costumes, or anything that makes you appear less than professional is not to your benefit when you are trying to gain access to a site.
If you are asked to leave an area, do so immediately. There is no point in arguing or making a scene.
Never go out alone. Isolated locations can be tricky. Always bring a cell phone.
Be careful if you are investigating in the homes of friends or relatives. Be very considerate of their privacy, and be aware of the consequences if you actually turn up something disturbing. Elderly relatives or friends in poor health are not good candidates.
Exceptions to the Rules
Where can you go to practice and hone your skills without obtaining permission? Try public places to which there is free access during the daytime — for example, parks, museums, and historic sites. If you enter these areas after dark, you should notify the proper and appropriate people or agencies. This may mean alerting the police to the fact that you will be at the location and taking photos. This will save you time and hassles. You can also find out if friends or family will open their homes to you for training.
Another option is the haunted hotel or bed and breakfast. You have permission to be there by virtue of the fact that you have reserved a room, but be discreet if you are investigating in public areas. Ask the management if it is all right to take a few photos; they may be very cooperative. Sometimes they will even tell you where activity has taken place and tell stories of their own personal encounters.
The Lizzie Borden House in Fall River, Massachusetts, is now a bed and breakfast. Guided tours of the house are available. These orbs were captured at the scene of Andrew Borden's murder.
Photo copyright Melissa Martin Ellis, 2007.
Photos taken during a tour of the Lizzie Borden House in Fall River, Massachusetts, were quite ordinary until one investigator noticed orbs in a photo and took a closer look. One orb is in the doorway where the murderer must have stood when the blows were struck, and one is where Andrew Borden's head would have been.
On the same tour, author Douglas Clegg heard a cat meow in the basement, but there wasn't a cat down there. People standing within a few feet of him did not hear the sound, although there have been numerous other reports of a phantom cat at the Borden House Bed and Breakfast. The website Real Haunts has a list of haunted houses and sites, some of which are accessible to the public.
This photo shows Lizzie Borden several years before the murders and scandal.
Photo copyright Melissa Martin Ellis, 2007.
