Interview With A Ghost Hunter !

It’s not hard to imagine what a Ghost Hunter may be, lets be honest the clue is actually in the name. It’s simply a living individual who searches out and sometimes finds evidence of ghosts and spirits. For many years this was the case and in most cases just an individual that would visit suggested haunted locations, talk to the witnesses and then settle down for the night to see if they experienced anything themselves. This held the level of evidence still with an individual that may or may not have experienced some kind of paranormal activity. In honesty a location itself can trick the mind into believing the stories which have already passed between the owner and the Ghost Hunter.

Thanks to the media and all of its many accessible points, we have been educated as individuals and given the tools to investigate and return with audio and visual evidence to prove that something was present.

I know from personal experience in my day job, that sometimes what a customer tells you may be far from the actual events which occurred. However, it is more often than not this initial perception of events which creates the Ghost stories and leads the Ghost Hunters to the location.

My personal interest in the paranormal began many years ago, but remained something I would continuously return to. More recently I returned to it and decided to combine it with my other interest, writing. Before I knew it I had created the Farsight Files and asked for the assistance of an actual paranormal investigation team to assist me. That’s how I first met Jim Bridgeman. Through months of email and MSN we developed the Farsight Files idea and saw its potential.

Of course this has lead me to want to know more about Ghost Hunting and the paranormal, and what better person to ask than Jim. After all he has become a bit like a Ghost Hunter mentor to me.

As co-founder of his paranormal investigation team ‘In Search of Proof’, Jim has clocked up a few years investigating in the field and many more years personally researching the paranormal. All that and he is still in his early twenty’s.

Jim first began his field investigation work with Paranormal Tours in 2004 at the Farnham Castle. In his time with Paranormal Tours he gained knowledge and experience, which soon made him a true investigator.

Usually when you ask someone why they are seeking ghosts or investigating the paranormal, you assume you will receive some weird and wonderful story about how a personal experience left them disturbed and wanting to know more. In my case there really wasn’t any such experience. Initially I found it all really interesting and to begin with, liked how the paranormal seemed to smudge the edges of what were real, what we believed and the unknown. I have to admit it’s the only subject field I have looked into which actually keeps me wanting to know more. And it was because of this I asked Jim why he got into Ghost Hunting. He answered simply;

“Unlike most paranormal investigators my reason for starting investigating was not born from a significant experience, but from a lack of one I suppose. As a child I was told stories of my Mam's resident ghost, growing up. He would open doors and close them when asked. My brothers and sister witnessed this when they were young, or so I'm told, but I never did. This made me interested and I spent many years getting books and looking at famous ghost pictures. Over the years my interest grew until I couldn't keep it in anymore and had to get out there myself!”

If you enjoy the paranormal as I do and try to watch as much related TV as possible with chance that one program might capture something good, then its more than likely you may have seen the US TV Series Ghost Hunters. The series follows The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS for short) as they investigate the paranormal in their own way. TAPS approach each investigation not with the aim of capturing a ghost on film, but with the aim of debunking what could be perceived as paranormal activity. It’s this method which further inspired me for my approach to investigating. Jim and his team also follow this methodology too, as In Search of Proof is a TAPS family member. A position held by very few investigation teams in the UK. In all accounts it wasn’t easy either, as I found out when I asked Jim how they became a member;

“We saw they were looking for international members and decided to apply. There were various levels of progression that had to be demonstrated to them and certain criteria we had to meet. After 3 months of application emails it turned out that we passed with flying colours and became one of the first international teams.”

As a TAPS family member I wanted to know more about Jim’s team approach, when it came to their investigation. I asked him if their approach was scientific, spiritual or both;

“We always try to keep a level headed approach and mix scientific with spiritual investigation. We feel that this gives us a unique view of investigating the paranormal as we keep all options open.”

I believe that Jim has some spiritual experience himself and thus doesn’t sit on the fence or believe solely in the scientific approach. He manages to see things from both angles, which as he said gives that ‘unique view’. With this in mind I was keen to find out what his opinion of Mediums was. I know personally I tend not to trust an individual claiming to be a medium with out some reasonably firm evidence being produced first. Pondering Jim’s opinion as a more experienced investigator I asked him to tell me;

“I have a few friends that are mediums and I have the greatest respect for what they do. I do honestly believe that there are people out there that can communicate with the spirit world in one way or another. I'm not sure if it is exactly them communicating directly with them or if they are tapping into some sort of universal conscious. In the early days of investigating I even sat a spiritual circle in the aims to further my investigating skills. Turned out this wasn't the way for me as I decided not to continue even though I scared myself with some fairly accurate information.
As for how they fit into our investigations that can be complicated. In the early days we tried to have a medium with us or at least someone with a spiritual background. Recently we haven’t felt the need as we wanted to push the scientific side but now we are looking at taking on a medium as a team member as we feel we need someone that can attract activity. This is working on the idea that spirit may not be able to interact without a certain amount of spiritual energy or that they may not be able to see us scientific folk who aren't on a spiritual level. If this works we're yet to find out but I'll keep you updated.”

Something I have noticed since I have got into the paranormal in more detail is the abundance of mixed reactions you receive when you tell people about it. In fact to begin with I hesitated in telling people, as most the reactions I got were negative and sceptical. However, with that in mind I remember conversations with my girlfriend where she would accuse me of being over sceptical regarding certain paranormal stories. For me this was easy to understand, but it crossed my mind that Jim was still very young and knowing what my group of friends were like at his age, I thought to ask him their opinion of his Ghost Hunting;

“It can go one of a few ways. I've had the usual "You're mad!" through to "Tell me more" all the way to "You're messing with things you don't understand!" Over all I would say people just accept it as something I do and on occasion enjoy to tell me their stories. Even the toughest acting ones have told me stories on how scared they were when they saw such and such when we've been alone.”

Eager to know more about ‘In Search Of Proof’ and their make up I asked Jim who he had in his team and what they done;

“Well best to start at the beginning.
Ian Pegg - Co-founder and tech manager
Liz Egan - Locations manager
Jenny Semmence - Scientific sensitive
Cliff Rose - Investigator in training
Martin Gregory - Sceptic
Andy Barkham - Investigator and researcher”

As you wonder with any organisation, I thought about what experience the team may have and if they had investigated in their style, any well known haunted locations. I asked Jim;

“Well as some of us work with Paranormal Tours as crew, and we've been lucky enough to investigate some very interesting locations such as ‘The Hell Fire Caves’ and ‘Woodchester Mansion’. As a full team we've investigated locations such as ‘Bisham Abbey’ and ‘The Kings Theatre’ in Southsea.”

Just a few of the locations there, a few others can be seen on their website.

Jim’s investigation team pose an obvious question, with their name being ‘In Search Of Proof’. Have they actually managed to find any proof in the investigations they have done. A vision of evidence being catalogued and filed away in some large warehouse, X-Files style comes into my mind. However, in reality evidence is hard to come by. Especially evidence which proves the paranormal and can be agreed by all that see it that it is deed proof positive. I asked Jim if he had managed to find any evidence;

“Depends what you call proof? If you mean personal proof I feel that some of us have. But something you can put in front of someone and say "this IS a ghost" then no. I'm not sure this can ever be found, but that won’t stop us trying!”

‘Proof’ is actually a massive word in the world of paranormal investigation and also a very grey area. Proof is what all investigators seek, but the degrees of proof vary according to perception and the individual. Proof of any kind is something I have yet to discover, personal or other wise, but would hope to with continued research and investigation. Perhaps one day a Farsight File will find something. However, that doesn’t mean I will stop looking. I feel the proof is out there, but finding it may never happen to the degree that makes it black and white to all that see it. Thinking of what would be the ideal and perfect type of proof in my mind I decided to ask Jim what his most perfect proof would be;

“The holy grail would be a ghost walking up to you and shaking your hand! But on a serious note I would have to say for me it would have to be visual and audio captured on more than one recording device in an area where I have covered all bases to insure no trickery could have taken place. If we could have environmental aspects covered too that would be perfect!”

I have to agree, currently that would be great. All angles covered, devices analysed to prove what was being seen was exactly that, a ghost. However, I know there would still be sceptics, who would produce an alternative reason or angle on the evidence. Perhaps Jim is right; perhaps we may never find that evidence for everyone. If I find evidence that is proof to me though, I would be happy.

As a part of my idea for the Farsight Files, I thought that rather than just investigating known haunted locations, I wanted to help people. That is visit a normal person’s home, who believes that they may be in the process of being haunted. Then investigate and research the situation, trying to discover some answers for them. I wondered if Jim felt the same way;

“We already offer this service to people over our website and this is the work that we do for TAPS.”

I look forward to working further with Jim and his team investigating the paranormal and learning more about it too. I believe he has a fresh opinion and approach to paranormal investigating which in the future may lead to some good results.

So, keep an eye on the Farsight Files and In Search Of Proof websites, perhaps one day that all important proof we all seek may be on there.