Paranormal Survey

I decided to try a paranormal survey at a recent local event which the team recently attended. The hope was to get a feeling, not only how many people had experienced paranormal events, or perceived paranormal events, but also what types of activity they had experienced.

I want to thank personally all those who volunteered to be grilled with a 2-page survey in the middle of a street fair. Your participation and honesty was greatly appreciated.

We are a small, regional group, so obviously I’m more interested in the paranormal activity that has been experienced in my local area of Central, Delaware – although activity anywhere is always of interest.

While all experiences are anecdotal, and often reported long after the activity occurred, still it is of great interest to a research group to find out what paranormal activity was experienced.

From a scientific standpoint there were several errors in my pooling of which I freely admit:

1. The pool of respondents is quite low. I hope to grow the number over time, as I believe this line of inquiry is powerful.

2. Those that approach a paranormal research group booth at a street fair are those more likely to be interested in / or have had paranormal experiences of their own which they likely to desire to share.

As D.P.R.G. has spent the majority of its efforts on researching and investigating hauntings, much of the other realms of paranormal experiences have been rather neglected. In my 17-years of investigative experience, I’ve only heard of a very small number of UFO sightings in the area, and one cryptid sighting. Hence, my first line of inquiry was to find out what types of experiences people reported.

· 82% of respondents (14 people) reported experiencing paranormal phenomena such as seeing an apparition

· 47% of respondents (8 people) reported seeing a shadow person – all black figure with no discernible facial features

· 18% of respondents reported seeing a Bigfoot or other type of Cryptid Creature

a. 1960’s Delaware Shore- Bob S.

b. 1970’s Rte. 404 Maryland – Bob S.

c. Early 2000’s something thick, dark and black in his home – Gabe

· 11% of Respondents (3 people) reported having either witnessed a UFO or a UFO type of experience

· .05% of Respondents (1 Person) reported having dreams of demonic figures described as tall, dark creatures demonstrating both animalistic and humanoid features.

Haunting Activity – As D.P.R.G. has, as stated earlier, spent the last 17 years investigating haunted locations, obviously the most often reported type of experiences are of great interest to us.

By far the most often reported experience was Odd Sounds:

· 76% of respondents (13 people) reported odd sounds

a. .05% of respondent (1 person) reported hearing odd knocks and bangs

This was followed closely by reported electronic device malfunction:

· 53% of respondents (9 people) reported electronic malfunctions such as music turning on / off, televisions coming on changing channels etc.

a. Electronic “harassment” [his word] and battery drainage – Gabe

Tied for 3rd Place were door opening and closing and/or temperature anomalies:

· 47% of respondents (8 people) reported doors slamming shut or locking or unlocking on their own

· 47% of respondents (8 people) reported experiencing temperature changes “cold spots, hot spots”

Tied for 4th Place were odd voices being heard, lights turning on and off and seeing full-bodied apparitions:

· 35% of respondents (6 people) reported hearing odd voices for which they could not account

· 35% of respondents (6 people) reported lights turning on /off by themselves

· 35% of respondents (6 people) reported seeing an actual apparition

a. Emi reported seeing an apparition in her Grandmother’s house and experiencing odd things in the same house every time she visited there.

Tied for 5th Place seemed to be dedicated to object movement and manipulation:

· 29% of respondents (5 people) reported seeing objects moving or levitating on their own.

· 29% of respondents (5 people) reported that objects disappeared/reappeared in odd locations

· 29% of respondents (5 people) reported seeing an “orb” with their own eyes and not caught on a photograph later

· 18% of respondents (3 people) reported seeing cabinet doors opening / closing on their own

· .05% of respondents (1 person) reported being grabbed by an unseen entity

· .05% of respondents (1 person) reported something sitting down on the bed upon which they were lying

There is a misconception among many in the paranormal field that there is a “Witching Hour” a time when most paranormal activity occurs – usually believed to be 3am. I’ve always contended that if a building is haunted it is haunted at all hours of the day and night, though we may be more aware of activity in the quiet hours of the night. The respondents seemed to justify this belief:

· 29% of respondents (5 people) responded that the bulk of the activity occurred during the morning hours

· 18%of respondents (3 people) resported that it occurred at night.

a. Emi reported that the activity happened in the middle of the day, the morning and at night

b. Jesse responded that 2am appeared to be the hotspot

c. Laura simply responded that it was both the am and the pm when activity occurred.

Those that responded to the Section for having lived or worked in a haunted location:

· 41% (7 reported) that the property was known for having experienced a tragedy crime or known death on the property.

a. .05% of respondents (1person) reported a death / suicide that was known to have happened on the property.

b. .05% of respondents (1person) reported that a girl had been known to pass away when a fire swept through the property.

c. .05% of respondents (1person) reported that the area was a known battle site.

· 29% of respondents (5 people) reported that the property had a reputation before they moved in or worked there for being haunted – whether that was known to them before purchasing or inhabiting the property is unknown.

· 12% of respondents (2 people) reported that the activity increased when renovations were being performed on the property

· .05% of respondents (1 person) reported that activity began on the property after they brought a specific object on to the property – buyer beware.

Interestingly enough, none of the respondents reported an increase in paranormal phenomena after doing any of these usually frowned upon activities.

None of the respondents reported an uptick in activity after:

o 0% of respondents using a Ouija board

o 0% of respondents holding a séance

o 0% of respondents visiting a known haunted location

o 0% of respondents reading a scary book or watching a paranormal television show.