What is needed is a team of sceptics that does a parallel investigation (or an immediate follow-up), and which has a channel for publicising its findings on the same cases.
Exactly! I think I was a bit naive in thinking that they would do a "proper" investigation or at least have
one sceptic on the team.
Anyway, below is my first set of questions and their replies. I'll add the comments I sent this morning below in a seperate post, I'm not sure if they'll reply.
MDG:
1. You say that your investigations are scientific, why? Is it because you feel that you are using technology to find ghosts? The reason I am asking is because not one of your investigations offers up any other possibility for "supernatural" causes - for instance, faulty wiring or plumbing, or draughty areas. Also, you're approaching every investigation with the premise that ghosts do exist, so that's what you set out to prove or disprove instead of looking for other possible explanations.
SPITSA:
I would just like to back track here for a moment. The whole object of our
work is not necessarily to find ghosts or paranormal activity, rather to
document any allegations of such. Clients will mail us with reportings of
various types of activity and request an investigation. We do not disbelieve
or try to disprove these allegations, but rather approach it from the stand
point that "if it is there", we will document it in one form or another. In
order to do that, we do make use of various pieces of equipment and
technology, but again, only in the pursuit of documenting these alleged
activities.
MDG:
2. On your blog you have an article describing what ghosts are and you say that orbs are a manifestation of a haunting or presence, yet on some investigations where you have found orbs, you state that there is no paranormal activity, why?
SPITSA:
Yes, I have to concede that the subject of "orbs" is rather vague. There is
so much speculation around orbs and what they are, and even the opinions of
those learned in the subject vary from being nothing more than dust and or
moisture to ghostly apparitions about to manifest. What I will say is that
we do believe that it would be incorrect to assume an investigation site
haunted, purely because of the presence of orbs. We are certainly by no
means the experts in this field. As time has gone on, we as a group are
slowly giving orbs less significance than ever before.
MDG:
3. Do you offer your clients any other explanations for what they're experiencing other than a paranormal one? For example, with regard to your last investigation where a person was pinned down in their sleep and choked, this person was possibly experiencing sleep paralysis. It's called hypnogogia and hypnopompia, something I've personally experienced, but have never related to paranormal activity.
SPITSA:
Yes indeed. And that is one of the reasons why we make use of certain
equipment like electromagnetic field detectors.
Electromagnetic hypersensitivity (ES) is a physiological disorder
characterized by symptoms directly brought on by exposure to electromagnetic
fields. It produces neurological and allergic-type symptoms. Symptoms may
include, but are not limited to, headache, eye irritation, dizziness,
nausea, skin rash, facial swelling, weakness, fatigue, pain in joints and/or
muscles, buzzing/ringing in ears, skin numbness, abdominal pressure and
pain, breathing difficulty, and irregular heartbeat. Those affected persons
may experience an abrupt onset of symptoms following exposure to a new EMF
such as fields associated with a new computer or with new fluorescent
lights, or a new home or work environment. And what we have found is that
when people do not understand the effects of high levels of EMF and
experience such symptoms, they may often attribute such, to paranormal
activity. Debunking is the primary function of a credible and responsible
paranormal investigator. It defeats your purpose if you accept natural or
explainable events as paranormal phenomenon. An often overlooked natural
cause for some reported " paranormal activity" is EMF exposure, and the
symptoms that can follow..
MDG:
4. Are there any sceptics on your team?
SPITSA:
Our team is made up of individuals with very specific expertise pertinent to
the very tasks they are expected to perform. We have on our team qualified
engineers, thermographers, professionals and others. Because of our
approach, each team member in their own right is in fact a skeptic. The aim
of their work is to prove otherwise..
MDG:
5. Would you consider allowing a couple of sceptics to tag along on one of your investigations to observe?
SPITSA:
We would always be too glad to have observers present on any of our
investigations, and in fact would even encourage it from the point of view
of transparency. Unfortunately, no matter how hard you try to present your
findings as they have happened/occurred, there will always be a small
fraction of people that will question your integrity and dispute the
validity of any evidence that is captured, citing that is very simple (and
especially in today's technological era) to manufacture, fabricate and
duplicate evidence. By doing that, we have absolutely nothing to gain other
than a bit of sensationalism, which in most cases, is easily disproved with
the net result being that once your credibility is tarnished, it becomes
almost impossible to regain it. And then who is the laughing stock?.
MDG:
6. Do you charge for your investigations?
SPITSA:
We do not charge any fee for our services. All our work is completely
voluntary. Our members give up their time and disciplines simply for the
love of the work and camaraderie we share in our group. Our operating
overheads are completely self funded, however, from time to time we do
receive generous donations from clients who have appreciated our efforts and
time. These donations are generally used for the improvement of our
equipment and acquisition of new equipment.
I sincerely hope that your questions have been answered to your
satisfaction. We look forward to hearing from you again and always welcome
any critics, comments and or suggestions. Please feel free to write us at
any time.
Fond regards,
The Spitsa Team..