We at the Rocky Mountain Paranormal Research Society have been looking into some of what has become the “standard” way to conduct paranormal investigations and have come up with some radical and not necessarily popular conclusions.

Currently one of the most common methods of conducting an on-site investigation includes making sure that the location is immersed in complete darkness. This technique has become popularized by the television industry because of the “spooky” mood that a night shot/I.R. camera has when it is filming. Some groups go to the extreme to make sure that the location is completely dark by covering the windows and waiting for the middle of the night to conduct an investigation.

When we looked into the reasons behind the “lights out” method and what possible differences were as compared to a “lights normal” investigation.
The initial concern was that most clients or witnesses do not report seeing a ghost in total darkness. Most people who report seeing a ghost tend to be conducting their regular routines and just happen to see something. Another thought (that was pointed out by fellow investigators) was that the reason that one would want total darkness is to limit the possibility of lens flares. This theory sounds good however when you are taping in total darkness it is difficult to see the other sources of I/R lighting.  Such sources can be from other cameras, still cameras, I/R floodlights, and many other common sources. Because of this it is easier to rule out visible light that would normally illuminate an area as opposed to trying to figure out the logistics of tracking a light source that cannot be seen with the naked eye. Another problem with the “lights out” method is that because the proximity of LED’s used to illuminate the scene on most camcorders to the lens, it is almost a sure fire way to capture particulates in the air and get the dreaded “orbs”.
We have concluded that the only time that it is necessary to use I/R cameras is when the room is not bright enough in the condition that the residents of the location normally keep the lights for the camera to record an image.
One other common question that we are asked is “Why don’t you talk to the ghosts?”
We have once again discussed the reasoning behind asking the ghosts questions about their reason for being at the location, etc..
Based somewhat on the “lights normal” investigation theory we noticed that even though people do report voices and sounds, they don’t commonly report that they are able to hold conversations with them. This also brings up the issue of pre-determining that a house is haunted. By walking around a house and asking specific questions of a ghost, you have already moved from being a neutral observer to becoming slanted towards believing that the location is haunted without anything more than admitting to yourself that you are talking to a spirit at the location. Because of this we like to keep the people involved in the activity going about with their regular routines, and listen for sounds that are not related to the people at the location.

Because of theories like this, we are not your average paranormal investigative group. We like to keep ourselves out of the area of the activity and monitor when the common/daily activities of the people who are normally at the location are being done.