How does a team that includes sensitives or psychics interact and function? There may be as many answers to that as there are paranormal investigative groups.

Some investigators have expressed concern about a phenomenon that sometimes occurs in the presence of very strong psychics, whose perceptions of the spirits or haunting can be so overwhelmingly strong that they can actually help it manifest for onlookers. Dubbed the observer effect, it is almost as if a very faint signal is boosted by the sensitive's mind. In effect, the observers on scene can influence the outcome of the investigation by their very presence, and more phenomena than usual can be observed.

These effects can be a help or a hindrance to the case, depending on the circumstances. They may confuse the team's investigation of the haunting if they are attributed solely to the ghosts.

I See Dead People

Often, the perception of spirits by psychics and other investigators at the scene can be quite startling. They may perceive an entity walking through a doorway, where there is now no doorway to be seen. In these instances, the apparition might seem to walk up to and pass through a solid wall or climb an invisible staircase. However, it is not always necessary to have a sensitive participate in the investigation to have a life-altering experience.

I Dare You

Andrew Laird of T.R.I.P.R.G. had an amazing introduction to ghost hunting. Laird's friend Ray was a true believer in ghosts who was forever trying to get the skeptical Laird to accompany him on ghost hunts. Laird's typical reply was “Leave me alone! I'll do it on my own!” One night, Ray succeeded in convincing Laird to come along.

There was a $20 bill and a case of beer riding on the outcome of their impromptu investigation at the abandoned Danvers Asylum. Ray said that if he didn't experience anything that night, he would never bring it up to him again. Ray was sure that Laird would see something that would shake him out of his skeptic's stance; Laird didn't think so, because he “just wasn't into it.”

Unexplained Cold Spots

After securing permission to enter the asylum, the two men entered the location and went to the second floor “excitable ward.” As they approached the nurse's station, they saw that the double doors adjacent to it were chained open.

A sign reading “No Objects Beyond This Point” caught Laird's attention and he began to feel really uneasy. His first thought was that his friend had set the situation up very well by bringing him into a place where he was front-loaded to expect something to happen.

Ray assured him he would get the same apprehensive feeling in any similar situation. As they talked and walked down a corridor, Laird felt the place growing very cold and thought to himself, “Wow, this is just weird; it isn't that cold out. This is cold — shiver cold!” As they walked down the hallway they approached the cells — small rooms with one doorway, no windows, and padded walls. These cells were used to detain violent inmates who might hurt themselves or others.

The Persistent Patient

When they were about twenty feet down the corridor from the first cell, they heard a door opening and saw a person step out. The man was wearing patient garb. He stopped and looked at Laird, looked at Ray, walked into another room, and closed the door behind him. Laird laughed and looked at his friend. “You gotta be kidding me!”

Ray said, “Andy, look, we got him now. We both know there's only one way in and out of that room, right? You owe me a case of beer, bud.”

Laird walked to the door and pushed it open. There were no knobs on the door, since all of the locks had been struck off the doors after the asylum closed. He pushed it open. There was nobody in the cell.

I Just Saw a Ghost

Laird thoroughly searched the room with his flashlight. He said it only took him “two seconds to see that there was nobody in there, nothing in there but the old padding on the walls.” He turned to his friend and demanded to know how he'd done it.

Then it hit him. He looked at Ray and said, “I just saw a ghost.” Ray answered, “Yeah, you did. We both just saw a ghost.” Right after that, all the open doors along the corridor banged shut in quick succession, “Bang, ba-bang, ba-bang.”

So Ray got his beer and Laird was left with the age-old sensation of “feet, don't fail me now!”

What Is Real?

This is a blunt reminder that what is experienced as “real” in any haunting may or may not be taking place only in the minds of the onlookers. Often there may be actual physical phenomena to capture on camera or record on tape, since there are actual light or sound waves involved. Mysteriously, we're not sure why this sort of phenomena at hauntings sometimes does have an actual physical component, as shown by evidence of apparitions and EVPs that are often captured in photographs, sound recordings, and videotapes.

Misperceptions and Misidentifications

Whether or not the team doing the investigation witnesses an apparition, the anxiety and expectations of the clients at a haunted site can sometimes trigger another sort of observer effect. These effects can be a combination of misperceptions and misidentifications of ordinary events, or the unusual movement of physical objects at the scene. This attitude can set other activities in motion, quite literally. Unusual physical activity observed on-site may actually be a result of psychokinesis (PK), the power of the human mind to move matter. In this case, the events are very hard to classify. You could be dealing with a real haunting or just an instance of PK that is not caused by the originating phenomenon.