What is Paranormal Activity?
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.
Examples of paranormal activity:
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. (I.E. Doors, Cabinets, Door knobs, Latches, hanging objects, ceiling fans, all opening and closing, turning on or off, or swinging around)
Okay I think I have Paranormal Activity, now what?
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.
Okay Now I'm Scared...
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.
But I live in a new house, it shouldn't be haunted?
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.
What's 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.
What kind of equipment do you have and use?
We have a State-Of-The-Art Triplex DVR Surveillance system that is capable of monitoring up to 8 cameras all in real time with audio with the ability for 5 people to remotely access the soul catcher from anywhere in the world and see images in real time, in broad daylight or pitch black night. Our cameras are Sony CCD cameras that are designed for clarity and for operation under any kind of conditions inside or out, day or night. We 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 to catch the faintest of sounds. We also use a Sony handicam that can go anywhere we go as well as several digital cameras that have video capabilities.
What other types of Haunting is there?
There is 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 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.
How much is an investigation going to cost me?
Well that depends on your income... Just kidding. Our services are 100% FREE, regardless of your income, or regardless if we find paranormal activity or not. We do this for free because we're in the business of helping people deal with their paranormal activity and at the same time try to document hard core evidence. The only way we can do that is by being given access to your home or work by you so we can setup equipment that can capture evidence. We can't do that we don't know where the activity is, that's why we go where they are reported.
Do you investigate Cemeteries?
No, we don't. We have enough cases where people contact us to tell us where the activity is. Unless the cemetery is on a home owners 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 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. :-P
Do you investigate local businesses that are reportedly "haunted"?
Unless the business owner or patrons of the establishment contact us directly, we usually don't. 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 and because someone copies someone
else's information from another website or book, they think its
okay to go and ask these people if they can investigate. 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.
This becomes more of a problem towards the Halloween months as
more and more people start looking for websites, locations and
stories dealing with ghosts and the super natural. Usually these
people are thrill seekers and are looking for a good time or
scare. They could care less about the feelings of anyone else
and often times are a pain in the butt to places that are listed
as haunted. We know of a church in Salem, Oregon that is
constantly being harassed by "ghost hunters" wanting to
investigate the church because they read online that it was
haunted. Sadly, it's not and there's been over 500 arrests by
the local sheriffs department over the last few years because
people trespass and try to investigate on their own without
permission.
Our motto is "Respect the Living AND the Dead"
You don't go where you 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. They have rules for a reason.
Wow... People do that?
Unfortunately, yes. When ever something becomes popular on the big screen or on TV, 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" and because they haven't done their research, they have no clue what they are getting themselves into. They usually end up trespassing and 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.
That's not even considering the paranormal side of the coin...
Although
rare, there are some entities that are territorial. This means
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. I AM NOT KIDDING.
Most spirits are just as they were in real life. If they were
mean and hateful, you're going to know it.
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, I was physically hurt by what I believe is the same entity that harmed the client so I'm living proof that you can get hurt. It hurt like a @#$%^&*$#$%^& and although I didn't have to go to the hospital, I will never forget that night. I knew what I was getting myself into before I took on the investigation. You Don't.
Ghost hunting is not for kids or people who don't know what they are doing.
Okay, I'm really afraid again...
Don't be. We knew going into that investigation that we were dealing with a hostile entity. We contacted the help of Lone Star Spirits, located in Texas to assist us. They had a medium who told 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 the 100+ investigations we've been on, that was the only case where anyone got hurt. So you have a 1% chance that you have a negative entity that wants to hurt you. 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 (or sofa, chairs) ~ this doesn't count as harming you.
Trust me, you'll know if they want to hurt you.
What Cities & States to you Investigate?
We investigate:
Portland, Oregon
Vancouver, Washington
And 50 Miles in all directions of these two cities... Free of Charge.
So if you live in Hillsboro, Oregon or Gresham, Oregon that's within 50 miles of Portland.
Unfortunately, due to high gas prices and limited income, we cannot investigate further without monetary assistance from the person wanting the investigation to offset the high cost of gas. This means that the person who wants the investigation will have to pay us before hand via PayPal to ensure we have enough gas to get to and from their location. Our services are free, but beyond 50 miles ~ we need some donations. The exception to this is if you provide food and lodging at your business/home as trade for the gas which roughly equals out.
Okay I'm ready to invite you to investigate my property, now what?
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?
After several days of taking notes, or if you can't wait you can contact us by CLICKING HERE.
Most importantly, tell us what City, State you live in so we can look you up on Google maps and plan ahead if we need too. Most people give us plenty of contact information.
For document and statistical purposes, we prefer to do most of the talking via email so we can study the emails and compare notes with other people like yourself who contact us with similar concerns.
I don't want the world to know about this...
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 and only Steven Wolff - Founder
of GERC keeps it 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.
What about those businesses who advertise as Haunted?
Some businesses welcome and thrive off of 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 and we do that ourselves.
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 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.
Who owns the evidence you collect?
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.
Do I have to sign a Waiver?
We do almost all our communication via email for documentation, statistical and legal purposes.
When you email us, all information is saved and is stored offline. We use this information to compare notes with other people just like you who write us and share similar stories. We compare these stories and look for patterns in these emails that may help our research. If we share these patterns or stories with others, we will block out the last name and contact information so no sensitive information is exchanged.
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.
How soon can you come investigate?
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're not obligated to anyone to do anything. Everything we do is because we want to and care about the people we're helping. If we can't 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. Vice versa... if for some reason you can't have us over, please give us advanced notice.
What time do you start investigating?
We usually start our investigation while its still light outside so in the Summer months, that's around 9pm PST.
In the winter months, 8pm usually. Our investigations usually go well into the next morning hours so we'll investigate from 8 or 9pm till about 4am. The reason for this is paranormal activity is usually more active in the early morning hours when things are calmest both indoors and out.
Do you share the results the same night?
Usually we're with the family when things may happen so we share news of what ever happened right away. Sometimes we catch evidence that we won't find until several days after we reviewed our tapes. Normally we will keep you posted of anything we find as we find it or sometimes we will wait until we can meet again and go over the evidence with you in what we call a Reveal.
Everything we catch on audio, video, or photograph, you are welcome to have a copy to do with as you please. We usually will give you the evidence and also give you a copy of the "leading up to" so you can put the evidence in context when you show family or friends.
Do you guys come to Schools, Colleges, Universities, etc?
YES! We are
happy to be guest speakers for colleges and universities and
even some grade schools. We have done this quite a few times and
are comfortable talking to large groups of people. We are in the
business of educating as well as research so when an opportunity
to teach comes up, we usually accept.
Usually someone at these places will
contact us just like you would for an investigation and will ask
or invite us to attend a school function or speak at a special
lecture. We do ask for plenty of notice so we can prepare our
presentation. For more information please email us.
Have you guys been on TV?
Yes, we have been. We've done lots of 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 been consultants to other shows we're not allowed to disclose for contractual reasons. We do work with executive producers of famous paranormal shows currently on TV and those who have long been canceled.
Can I join GERC ?
We're limited on how many people can be in our group but we are always looking for a few exceptional individuals who are committed to helping us help others. We're looking for people who are open minded, intelligent, good at trouble shooting / investigating and who has a sense of humor mixed equally with professionalism. We're also looking for people who are reliable, dependable and have high integrity. People trust us to come into their homes or businesses. This means we have access to sensitive areas, places that may have personal belongings or value. It goes without saying we are entrusted to maintain our professionalism and integrity... including how we gather evidence. We will not doctor, alter, or rig our evidence for anyone to prove anything! We are in a field that demands we have and maintain a high caliber of integrity. It is so easy to fake, forge or alter evidence that we need to only associate ourselves with like minded people. If we can't trust ourselves, we can't ask others to trust us.
If you feel you're up to the job, click HERE and tell us why we should include you in our team.
You guys are GREAT! How Can I give back to you ?
Everything we do is out of our own pocket. All our equipment, food, lodging, batteries, gas, etc. all comes from us. You contact us because you need and want our help and we're happy to help you, free of charge. We will never ask you for money however should you wish to contribute and help us further our research, we won't say No.
We believe in paying it forward instead of paying it back. Do good things for others, good things will come to you... is what people call Karma. We believe in it and should you want to help us, we would be very appreciative of your kindness and generosity. We can give Kudos to you on a special webpage if you like, or if you wish to keep it quiet, we'll respect that too. It's nice to help people and it's even nicer when it's reciprocated but it's not expected.
It would be nice to update our equipment, purchase something we don't have, or fix something that doesn't work anymore. Everything we have and use has a purpose and helps us help others. It will go straight to the Founder of the Ghost Education & Research Center - Steven Wolff and he will be happy to show you where your generosity has gone to help us if you'd like. We will even give you a receipt for tax write off at your request.
So if you wish to surprise us and donate what ever you can afford, we will say with a warm heart...
THANK YOU!!!
