Ghost Education & Research Center
Here are some common questions about
paranormal activiity, investigations, and GERC.
Copyright 2010 - GERC - All rights reserved.
Q 1 - What is paranormal activity?
ANSWER: Paranormal Activity is anything that is out of
the ordinary that is happening in your home or office
that cannot be dismissed as imagination or your mind
playing tricks on you.
Q 2 - What are some examples?
ANSWER: Here is a by no means complete list of things that may
be classified as paranormal activities:
- Objects moving on their own when there's no logical explanation
- Objects levitating and/or being thrown vs. falling straight down
- Sounds of someone walking in your house when there is no one
else walking
- Shadows or human-like figures walking or moving around inside
then disappearing
- Sounds of someone talking or carrying on conversations when no
one else is talking
- Sounds of someone singing or humming
- Electronic devices turning on and off when they are not supposed
to
- Physical touching, brushing, hitting, or bumping when no one is
around
- Unexplained drops in temperature
- Physical manipulation of objects (e.g. doors, cabinets, door
knobs, latches, hanging objects, ceiling fans, all opening and
closing, turning on or off, or swinging around)
Q 3 - What should I do if I think I have such activity at my home,
business, or other location?
ANSWER: Possibly nothing. It depends on the severity of the
situation and you and your family's level of discomfort with it.
Most of the time a logical or rational explanation can be found for
what you think is paranormal. The way you can tell is by doing
some research yourself and seeing if you can recreate what you
just saw or heard. See what caused the sound source or caused
an object to move. Perhaps it's a branch on the outside tapping
against the house? Sometimes houses expand and contract
depending on the heat and humidity. Older houses creak,
unsecured pipes sometimes bang up against the walls. Common
sense usually dismisses everyday occurrences.
However, if you have paranormal activity, you'll know. You'll run
out of excuses or rational explanations because of consistencies.
Things stop being a coincidence after the 3rd or 4th time.
Q 4 - What if I or my family are already terrified?
ANSWER: First off ... relax!
There's nothing that is going to harm you or your family.
Take a deep breath and let it out. You're going to be okay.
We know because we keep in contact with all the people who just like
yourself, have contacted us thinking they were crazy or losing their
mind. We're talking doctors, lawyers, teachers, principles, government
officials, business owners, medics, professors, people with high
integrity and trust, everyday people just like you.
Paranormal Activity doesn't discriminate on who you are or where you
live. If it is happening you need to remember that it probably has been
happening for a long time and maybe just now you are noticing it.
Q 5 - But how can a NEW place be haunted?
ANSWER: It doesn't matter if you live in a new house or a really
really old house... the land your on could be haunted. So much
history has passed on the streets and lands that we call home that
sometimes there is no way of knowing. It could be just a residual
haunting.
A Residual Haunting is not a ghost that can interact with you or can
cause you any harm. Instead, it's a energy imprint on a certain
location that happened long time ago. Something traumatic
happened where such emotional suffering took place that the land
or surrounding walls captured the emotional energy or frequency.
It then plays back this moment in time like a projector playing an
old movie. It starts, plays, finishes and repeats... over and over
again. Sometimes there's gaps in between the play back... it could
be months, days, even years before it starts up again. But that's all
it is. Nothing that can harm you, nothing that can see you or
interact with you.
Q 6 - What types of hauntings are there?
ANSWER: There are what people call an "Intelligent" haunting and
those are usually interactive entities who respond to you or others
being there.
They are interactive because they usually respond to how you react
to them. If they see that you jump 3 feet in the air when they do
something, that's going to get their attention.
Most of the time, they are not trying to scare you, but only trying to
get your attention... to let you know they are there. As to WHO it is
that's trying to get your attention and why, that's another story that
usually an investigation has to be done in order to gain more
information.
Q 7 - How much will you charge?
ANSWER: Well that depends on your income...
Just kidding! We do not charge fees to investigate. Our services
are 100% FREE, regardless of your income, whether we find
paranormal activity or not. We do this for free because we're in
the business of helping people to deal with their paranormal
activity and at the same time trying to document hard core
evidence.
The only way we can do that is by being given access to your
home or workplace by you so we can setup equipment that can
capture evidence. We can't do that without your help. That is
why we go where they are reported.
Q 8 - What kind of equipment do you use?
ANSWER: We have a respectable collection of commercial and
consumer video, audio, and sensory gear.
Key items in our investigation arsenal include a Triplex DVR
Surveillance system, which is capable of monitoring up to 8
cameras in real time. Our "soul catcher" configuration of video
and audio surveillance gear can even be accessed remotely to
enable live monitoring of active investigations or remote, long-term
monitoring of sites with infrequence, hard to catch activity.
Our cameras include Sony CCD cameras that are designed for
clarity and for ease of operation under any kind of conditions
inside or out, day or night. We also have several types of EMF
detectors including the K2 which is used to communicate with
things we cannot see. We have several digital recorders and
wireless audio devices to catch the faintest of sounds. We also
use a Sony handicam video camera for "go anywhere" video
capture.
A detailed list is available for those who really need this
information.
Q 9 - Does GERC investigate cemeteries?
ANSWER: No, not usually.
Unless the cemetery is on a home owner's property and the home
owner has the rights to it AND they give us permission, only then will
we investigate it. Ironically, cemeteries are not very haunted.
Spirits, ghosts, entities, what ever you want to call them, seem to
need energy and are usually found where there are a lot of people.
Cemeteries usually don't have a lot of activity contrary to popular
belief (unless you like Zombies ... then that's okay
They are harder to investigate because they are constantly hungry
and trying to gnaw on you). In all seriousness, most clients have no
need for us to investigate a cemetery for them and the vast majority
of our investigations are client-driven.
Q 10 - Do you investigate haunted businesses?
ANSWER: Usually only at the request of the business owner, and
then only under special circumstances. It's not very polite to
knock on someone's door and ask "Excuse me, Do you have a
Ghost I can investigate?"
Most people don't want the attention. Just because someone
copies someone else's information from another website or book,
certain investigation groups may assume it's okay to go and ask
these people if they can investigate there, too. Usually this is very
rude and inconsiderate because guess what? You're probably the
537th person to ask them that in the last few years.
Our motto is "Respect the Living AND the Dead".
We don't go where we are not welcomed, PERIOD. It doesn't
matter if you're a "ghost hunter" or not... people can and WILL
shoot you for trespassing... thinking maybe you're going to rob or
harm them. You never know but you can't afford to take that
chance. Don't be stupid. If you want to ghost hunt, join a local
ghost hunting group. But join one that is responsible and careful
to remain respectful of property owners and spirits alike.
Q 11 - Do people really do stupid things?
ANSWER: Unfortunately, yes. Whenever something becomes
popular on TV or in the movies, people watch it and then think that
they can go out and do the same thing. Some care a little, some a
lot, some not at all... but they all want to be "ghost hunters”. If, like
many, they have not done their homework, they have no clue what
they are getting themselves into. They often end up trespassing,
perhaps even getting arrested or end up injuring themselves
because they are walking around at night in a dark area where they
can trip and twist an ankle. And that is just the mundane, normal
side of the coin.
Then there are the actual paranormal risks ...
Although rare, there are some entities that are territorial. This
means if that you cross a certain line, they will push you away. If
you're lucky. If you've really pissed them off, they will physically
hurt you. This is no joking matter. Most spirits are just as they were
in real life, nice, or mean, or even hateful and violent.
One of our earlier cases involved a man who was relieving himself
in the bathroom when he was picked up and thrown up against the
wall in front of him. He had a nasty bruise on his forehead to prove
it because his hands were below the waist line and he couldn't
move them fast enough to protect his head.
On that same case, our lead investigator was physically hurt by
what was believed to be the same entity that harmed the client.
He is living proof that you can get hurt. He and his team at least
knew what they were getting into.
Q 12 - OK, wow ... can I be scared NOW?
ANSWER: Don't be. We knew going into that investigation
that we were dealing with a hostile entity. We enlisted the
help of Lone Star Spirits, located in Texas, to assist us. Their
team's medium confirmed for us us that the person doing the
harm was the original land owner and didn't know he had
passed away and was only defending his property.
In over one hundreds investigations we've been on, this was
the only case where anyone got hurt. This was a very rare
situation. Those are great odds to relax about. Just
remember, we knew going in that place was potentially
dangerous. Most places aren't. If you have been
experiencing paranormal activity and you haven't been
physically harmed, then you have nothing to worry about.
If you feel your bed being pushed, bumped, or laid on, this
doesn't count as harming you. Trust us, you'll know if they
want to hurt you.
Q 13 - What is your coverage area?
ANSWER: We are based in Portland, Oregon, and will provide
investigation support within 50 miles of Portland. This includes,
Vancouver (WA), Gresham, Woodburn, Hillsboro, and pretty
much all points in between.
If you are further than 50 miles away, please contact us. Outside
of the 50 mile limit, we ask only for help to cover fuel costs and, if
an overnight stay is necessary, for lodging in your town.
In these cases, we ask for a modest Paypal advance payment to
cover these travel expenses.
Q 14 - OK, I am ready ... what next?
ANSWER: Before you contact us, make sure you keep a detailed
journal or notes of all the things happening, when they are
happening, what time, what were you doing when it happened, did
anyone else experience it? Etc. and if you investigated it... what
did you find or didn't find?
If you are done taking notes, or if you just cannot wait any longer,
please visit the CONTACT PAGE for detailed instructions, and use
the CONTACT FORM, when ready, to send us an email request.
If you have a REAL EMERGENCY, check out the contact page for
the GERC HOTLINE phone number. Even if you do use the
GERC HOTLINE, you should still submit your support detail
information.
Q 15 - What if I don’t want publicity?
ANSWER: Most people who contact us don't want the world to
know about it either so we do everything we can to respect your
privacy and contact information long after the investigation is
over. Your contact information is kept confidential. Permanent
records are managed by our founder, Steven Wolff, and kept
safely guarded.
If we find any evidence on your property, we will share it with
you and give you a copy.
Also if we post anything on our website, we will also change
your contact info to just "Private Residence - City, State" if we
talk about what happened at your location or "Private Business"
unless you don't care that we tell the world of our findings at
your business.
Q 16 - Are there “fake” haunted businesses?
ANSWER: Yes. Not ALL, of course.
Some businesses welcome and even thrive on getting officially
recognized as being haunted. That brings good money into some
places. People like to book rooms that supposedly have a ghost in
hopes of experiencing something cool. There's nothing wrong with
that so long as their claims are legitimate.
But It also makes us cautious of business owners who seek to
exploit us for their personal gain.
An example of that would be a certain Distillery in California. They
have rigged paranormal activity and don't share that information
openly, yet seek the help of legit and credible groups like us to help
boost their business. Even The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS)
found this out the hard way.
It's a sad fact, but there are people out there who seek to deceive
paranormal investigators trying to conduct legitimate scientific
investigations. This is why we are not quick to believe everything
we see or hear.
Q 17 - Who owns the evidence you collect?
ANSWER: We do.
We are happy to give you a copy of all evidence we collect for
you to use as you please. Under the 1976 Copyright law (Title
17, US Code) Any audio or video we gather or collect
automatically becomes the copyright of GERC and is protected
under the United States Copyright law, regardless if its published
or not.
This is important to understand because we've had legal
challenges as to who owns the evidence we gather. This
includes Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP) and any video or
photographs we take. Again, we are happy to share with you any
copies of the evidence we gather. It is not a right, just a courtesy
we do.
How we use that is up to us to decide but we will do our best to
make sure that the evidence does not jeopardize your personal,
family, or business privacy and information. If you feel it may be,
please bring it to our attention and we'll be happy to work with
you on making it right.
Q 18 - Do I have to sign a waiver?
ANSWER: When you email us and ask us to do an investigation,
you are giving us a waiver to come into your home or office and
conduct a paranormal investigation. During our investigation, we
will use various equipment that will record, detect and gather
information about the surroundings. You are allowing us to do our
research and use our equipment to gather data and potential
evidence of paranormal activity. Should we find or gather any
evidence of paranormal activity, that evidence automatically
becomes the property of GERC.
Your email is your waiver and is proof that you are the home
owner and that you are agreeing to all GERC and its members
access to your home or business to gather evidence of
paranormal activity and to conduct an investigation into what
maybe causing your paranormal activity. You are waiving your
rights to the evidence or information we collect and are giving us
permission to be in your home or office, legally.
We in turn will respect your privacy to the best of our ability and
should you want to be discreet, we will honor that. This policy will
likely change over time to use a prepared set of waiver
documents.
Q 19 - Have happens next?
ANSWER: Usually we can come investigate within 72 hours
notice, but that all depends on what day of the week, etc.
Remember, we have family lives, too, and we can't just drop
everything at a moments notice. We have to gather up our
equipment, fuel up our cars, figure out what's the fastest and
safest way to your place, etc.
IMPORTANT NOTE!
Just because we offer our services doesn't mean we have to
come investigate. We do not have nor are we willing to assume
any obligation to anyone to do anything. Everything we do is
because we want to and care about the people we're helping. If
we cannot make it or if we don't come investigate, it's nothing
personal... we just can't. Usually we'll do our best to reschedule if
something comes up. In extreme cases, we will also try to
connect you with alternative investigation team thats our values.
You, as a client, have an obligation to us, too, to inform us
adequately should a scheduled investigation or visit need to be
cancelled or reschedule.
Q 20 - Have you folks been on TV?
ANSWER: Yes, we have been.
We have done several local news interviews with the media,
usually around the Halloween months as they are usually the first
to seek us out for an interview.... looking for a good "ghost story".
We've also served as consultants to other shows, though most of
these consultations are covered by non-disclosure agreements.
