Eye on the Paranormal – Issue 3

This week’s edition of Eye on the Paranormal expands even more as we add a new feature called THE MAILBAG, Where I respond to some of the previous week’s comments.

THE MAILBAG:

“Sorry, but I grew up in RI and happen to know some of the present and former members of T.A.P.S. personally. Their investigations are real, not scripted, and they take what they do very seriously. They seek the truth, which is why they focus so much on debunking claims. If you actually talk to the group, you'll see they are passionate about what they do. Don't be so quick to judge. Maybe you need to take a look at your own ego and put it in check.” O.D.B.

Sorry, I don’t think I said anything about T.A.P.S. being scripted or faked like Paranormal State. If I did, please point that out to me and I will correct it.

“You want your daily muse????
Blog on how important myspace is to the ghost community- where would anybody be without it? If I lived in the Amityville horror house back in the day- I wouldn't be able to log on and see that there's 50 teams of ghosthunters in my very own town ready to help me battle the demons! Would I have had to look in the yellow pages? What would I have done with out my podcasts...just listen to coast to coast on scatchy am in the middle of the night and hope to get some answers?? Where would you be without it?
Thanks for the blogs regardless.” Beth

Beth, if you had grown up in that particular house in Amityville, NY, you would not have needed to call anyone. Newsflash: It was one big hoax! The courts have even ruled on this and there are several good books that expose it. In addition, there are numerous web sites dedicated to how the hoax was pulled off. This alleged Amityville Horror case has cost the paranormal community a lot of credibility within the mainstream. Why? Because many say if such a celebrated case is phony what else is?

ASK PRS

Each week we will post questions that we would love PRS (Paranormal Research Society) to answer. But we know they never will.

You, my reading audience, are invited to send in questions and we will gladly post them in the following week’s issue. Please send them to my MySpace page email. And please don’t hold your breath waiting for an answer.

Secondly, as we move through both seasons of “Paranormal State,” we will be adding additional names of so-called para-celebrities who have made an appearance on either season of the show, to our “Paranormal Moment of Truth Challenge.”

Here are the questions from September 20, 2008.

1. As a team, how many cases did PRS investigate off-campus prior to the start of the series?
2. How many cases does PRS investigate on a yearly basis, not including those for the TV series?
3. If you do investigate without the cameras rolling, how often do you invite para-celebrities to take part in such investigations? Or are they only there to make an appearance on the show?
4. What kind of training did Ryan Buell receive in demonology, and how was it that he became active with the local archdiocese?

This week we have 3 new questions from our readers, who, in fear of retaliation have asked that they be posted anonymously.

1. What happened to the people who were part of PRS in the pilot episode but mysteriously disappeared from the series?
2. Why doesn’t PRS feature any of the new kids from the campus club on their current season?
3. Why doesn’t Chip Coffey or PRS do any events that we don’t have to pay to see?
4. Everyone knows that the Frank Box is a fake—why did Ryan Buell use it on the show and continue to stand behind the validity of the device?

ANALYSIS OF PARANORMAL STATE SEASON 1, PART 1

We now begin to do an episode-by-episode overview of season 1. As we do, the numerous para-celebrities that make an appearance on the show will be added to the Paranormal Moment of Truth Challenge each week.

SIXTH SENSE – PILOT EPISODE

This episode is responsible for creating an urban myth within the paranormal community, in the minds of the general public, and most ghost hunters: the idea of “dead time.” Ryan Buell explains that dead time is 3 a.m., the exact opposite hour of the time of Christ’s death on the cross, and the time that spirits and demons are to be the most active. Now there are problems with this logic.

1 ~ Christ died on the cross, but who knows exactly when He took his last breath?

2 ~ Time is a relative matter altogether. Einstein suggested that time could be bent, slowed down, and sped up. If we take into account that there are variances between time zones, so does that mean that a ghost or demon looks at a clock and says, “I can’t start shaking the bed ‘til it’s 3—and it’s 2:58—2 more minutes…” Or do they say, “Well it’s 3:59, so I’ll go into hiding until 3 a.m. tomorrow.” Please note that spirits are not bound by time. Time is a matter of importance that is limited to those of us in a physical body that realizes time is in limited supply.

Spiritual activity can have highs and lows at any time of the day or night. It’s illogical to think that spiritual activity increases across time zones as the clock clicks to 3 and decreases when the number changes to 4.

Outside of the establishment of the myth of Dead Time, “Sixth Sense” did launch the fledgling career of wanna be TV personality Ryan Buell and the rest of the Paranormal Research Society, [PRS]. Psychologist Adam Blai was an active part of the pilot and if he had remained a part of PRS and Paranormal State it would have developed altogether differently and positively.

The episode deals with Matthew Seighman, a boy who apparently has been hearing and seeing spirits his entire life. Since moving to a new home with his parents, the spirit of a young man, Timothy, haunts him. it turns out that Timothy was found dead in the nearby woods. But was it a murder or suicide? We never learn which. Along with the omitted fact, what about the family in the house prior to the Seighman family moving in experiencing any type of paranormal activity before Timothy’s death?

As for Matthew, I’m not going to address that much, he’s just a youngster that the production company saw as a great chance for ratings and Ryan’s budding desire for celebrity status. The saddest part of the episode is when Ryan shows a photo to Matthew of a wedding party that Timothy is a part of. This photo features 16 people. Matthew says, “That’s him.” But listen to the voice. Is he saying that’s him as in a question or as a statement? And even if Matthew picked him out is that really proof of psychic ability? Let’s take a close look at the photo. There are 16 people, so that means that you start out with a 1 in 16 chance of being right. There are 8 women, that removes 8 choices automatically. You’re down to a 1 in 8 chance. Timothy is a teenager, which removes 3 more, which reduces it to a 1 in 4 chance, or a 25% chance of guessing correctly.

In another act of deception, Ryan claims on the phone that he is with Penn State--which he is not. They have been known to repeat this deception over and over again with clients.

In closing, one additional factor must be mentioned and it’s a factor that will constantly raise its head in the series…the couple was going through marital troubles prior to the beginning of the haunting. Did the marital troubles add to the haunting?

THE NAME – Episode 2

This episode begins an arc that encompasses two other episodes,“The Devil in Syracuse” and “The Dark Man,” that deals with supposed direct or indirect demonic activity. These three shows establish, once again, more outright myths and half-truths by Ryan and his trusty old sidekick, Chip “You Told Me Nothing!” Coffey.

Once again, we meet a family with issues when it comes to the paranormal. This family has problems when it comes to marriages, relationships, and family commitments prior to the haunting. The family is made up of Jodi, a single mother, and Nate, her teenage son. She has gone through divorces and separation leaving her son without a father figure. Their new home has supposedly some kind of spirit activity but we never ever get any kind indication of what type of activity whatsoever. Paranormal State does advertise that these cases are “the most severe” but rarely do we ever see any kind of activity onscreen.

Ryan is shown that there was a mass murder several years ago on the property. And he is shocked to learn such information. Now don’t you think that this information would have been provided to PRS prior to their arrival? In addition, there just happens to be a graveyard across the street and it’s a big shock that the murder victims just happen to be buried there.

So in comes Psychic/Medium Chip Coffey. If you notice, Chip tends to pick up on where people sleep a lot in the homes that he enters. Is this in an indication of someone with great psychic ability? No. Because there are many clues in bedrooms that are indicative of age/gender/interests of the ones who occupy the room.

Chip then adds to the sense of danger by playing the demon card, saying that it is interested in Ryan.

Dead Time is called for. And many ghosts are ready to perform as the clock strikes three. Suddenly the activity picks up. Chip writes a name on a piece of paper and hands it to Ryan and the name just happens to be of a demon that Ryan just happens to have been thinking about. And this demon just happens to be one of the top demons, and it just happens to be a demon that Ryan tangled with while he was conducing an exorcism for the Catholic church two years ago.

Of course we never see the name written on the paper, which would really be a shot in the arm for both Chip’s claims as well as the credibility of Paranormal State.

Urban myth alert! Sorry folks, over at PRS and Paranormal State, you can shout the name of a demon off the top of a mountain if he’s not interested in coming he will not come. Just think of the name in your head and the demon wants to come around you and it will. Notice they say you can’t say the name, but A&E can repeatedly jumble the six letters of the name across the screen. Eilfie, who is the supposed “occult specialist” hints that she might have heard the name. This is difficult to understand, as anybody that’s studied demonology 101 would be very familiar with that name.

But Ryan’s not done with his parade of para-celebrities for this episode. Lorraine Warren is suddenly brought into the home in the dead of night. Now for those of you not familiar with this name [pun intended], Ms. Warren is one of those involved in bringing the myth of the Amityville horror into the minds of America. She continues to make money telling a false story about the Amityville horror house and has yet to apologize for her role in the hoax. She also spews additional false information when she tells the concerned mother that she is very lucky to have a priest involved in the case that will come and cleanse her home. Maybe Ms. Warren has been out of the loop but you can get just about any priest, pastor, minister, and even Buddhist monk to come and bless and cleanse your home, respectively.

And it even seems that Ryan is oblivious to the facts of the Amityville Horror case being exposed as a fake.

The happy investigators leave feeling that they have accomplished much but once you strip away the hoopla, the myths, the lies, and the half-truths, you see that once again Paranormal State has done nothing for the family. As more information will come out later about what has happened to them since the airing of the show.

Postscript: For those of you viewers who were left thinking that the mass murder that was discussed in this episode took place in Elizabethtown, near Elizabethtown or in even in the state of Pennsylvania, you were misled. The mass murder actually took place in North Dakota!

DEVIL IN SYRACUSE – Episode 3

But let's focus on the "Devil In Syracuse" case and the errors that were made in it. For those who have yet to see the episode, it concerns Ryan Buell's investigation of a young couple, Teena and Raymond, with two children with claims of paranormal activity in their trailer. Their claims were not out of the ordinary in any way, as claims go.


1. The first mistake I see in how they handled the case is in opening. You don't go in assuming it is demonic activity, and expecting to do an exorcism. The first rule you should live by, if you are a paranormal investigator, is that you rule out the probable prior to embracing the improbable. You need to completely rule out the chance of: ghosts, poltergeists, or possible psychological explanations for the activity or signs of paranormal activity.

2. The carryover from the previous episode of Paranormal State concerning Ryan's involvement with a demon known as Belial. Anyone who has read anything on the subject of demonology should be familiar with this name. Some say it is simply another name for Satan. It's not. Some say that he is the son of Lucifer. That's not true. And finally, some say he was the next in line for Lucifer's job, but aligned with Lucifer and was cast into hell. Which is true. He is one of the top lieutenants and has at least four legions in his personal army of demons to call upon. In my encounters with him he is never alone, which in this case, they acted as if he was. Also, he loves to do tricks such as move objects, rap on walls, and speak in a loud voice. He loves to show off his personal arsenal of abilities. Yet in this case, he shows no activity whatsoever when called on.

3. One myth again made popular is if you speak the demon's name the demon will come. Sort of like a dark version in the movie "Field of Dreams", if you build it, he will come. Demons can only be in one place at the same time, they're not omnipotent, nor can they hear all words spoken.

4. The trailer itself was not placed under spiritual protection when the team arrived. This put not only the family, but also neighbors and the entire investigation team in danger of being attacked and harmed.

5. Yes, it is true that the messy condition of the house, and the depression that was evident within the family can be both a result and an invitation to demonic activity.

6. In he flipping of the cross incident. Why were there no cameras set up to catch the act of flipping the cross? Why did the family react to the presence, yet Ryan showed no sense or reaction to the presence of his personal demon? A demon who's got the attention of his adversary will never, ever pass up an opportunity to show of their talents. You have to remember that demons are ego driven and will show constantly how reckless and brave they are.

7. Reverend Andrew Calder's activity within the episode was stellar. He did what any authentic exorcist would do when called upon the scene.

8. Why was there a two-week delay in the performance of the exorcism? You gave the demon two weeks to prepare for battle that was not necessary. And if a demon if Belial's level was present he would have brought in reinforcements, he would have greatly increased demonic activity and if the child was the object of his presence he would have made every effort to go after that child. Even the child being baptized within that two week timespan would not have dissuaded his intentions if that child were his final goal. And in actuality, the child's baptism would have increased his interest. For possessing such a person is a mighty trophy to the dark side.

9. Now here is a big issue, which really troubles me. When you step into demonic battle, you must have spiritual authority concerning your position. And you must have moral authority as well. That does not mean just a few forgive me, Lord type prayers, but a complete and absolute confession of all past misdeeds and also a period of fasting of the flesh, no drinking, no drugs, no lust, no sex, no anger, no envy, and no attachment. If not, the demon will most certainly use that against you during the battle. The young couple absolutely had no business being there during the exorcism. And the exorcist appeared not to know nor could he personally communicate with the demonic presence. This is not how it's done.

10. Concerning the husband being "truly possessed." The husband was not possessed at all. Possibly tainted, but not possessed. If he had been absolutely possessed, the possession on him would have lasted hours, days, weeks, or months, and not just a few minutes. He would have also reacted negatively to the placement of crucifixes and rosaries against his body.

11. The family did not have prayers of cleansing done. Nor was the safety of Pat, the houseguest, ever addressed.

12. Finally, the most obvious was never looked at. And more than likely, the paranormal activity was not demonic at all, but psychological in nature. The house was in a disarray, the family was ruled by depression, emotional and financial troubles, and a pending separation was causing huge amounts of stress between the husband and wife. Tension also was evident between the children and their parents. The presence of the houseguest seemed as though she ruled over the family and caused additional tension. The psychic negative energy will build and build until there's an explosion. Things go wrong, people want explanations for it, let's try to distract ourselves from the physical problems and the answer is we have demonic activity. I've had many cases where this is how it happens.

POSTSCRIPT: Since Keith & Sandra Johnson “play” roles as demonologists in this episode, their names will be added to the PARANORMAL MOMENT OF TRUTH CHALLENGE.

THE DARK MAN – Episode 4

I'll state this again, for the record. I have nothing against Ryan Buell and his team, never met the man, nor anyone from the Paranormal Research Society. But, if you're going to call yourself an expert, please conduct your investigations like one. And if you're going to call yourself a warrior, please wage the battle against the proper foe.

The Dark Man is clearly a demon and he was in control of the situation from the very beginning. For some reason, Ryan and PRS was led down one false trail after another. I think the culprit was the ego of the entire team.

"The Dark Man" episode concerns a family on a small farm in Pennsylvania. They had two sons. Chris, the youngest son, died of a drug overdose due to the presence of the Dark Man, an entity he had been aware of since the age of 5. And it seems that the Dark Man has also been terrorizing the family in their dreams, with paranormal activity, and is holding the son from crossing over. I'll try to deal with my issues of the investigation in sequential order to follow the unfolding of the episode.

~ The first error was and is how can they can conduct a haunting investigation with clear early presence of some kind of demonic activity going on and not have an exorcist or demonologist on hand?

~ Their medium is neither on site nor in the same state, but 1,000 miles away in Florida. They are walking around spiritually blind throughout the entire investigation.

~ Chris died due to a drug overdose. That is considered a form of suicide. And depending on the family's spiritual beliefs, that issue was never, ever addressed within the episode.

~ When the team goes on a tour of the basement, they learn that there has been activity there. A woman had her arm grabbed, bitten, and developed a rash. This activity is not the sign of a few unhappy earthbound spirits; this is the sign of a strong demonic presence of one or more demons.

~ They learn that people feel the property is eerie and strange, things had happened on that property but is never explained nor is the history of the property ever looked into. We then learn that a mentally ill man suffering from schizophrenia, [remember that people who suffered from demonic possession are often labeled schizophrenic] killed himself in the pond. He was holding a little box at the time. Suicide by drowning is not a common form of suicide. It has a very strong element of suffering and is not over quickly. And why did the "mentally ill man" choose to die on their property? The demon of the Dark Man must have been terrorizing him, and that's why the mentally ill man didn't come in contact with him until after his death. The Dark Man led him to die on the property, creating an entrance and a blood anointing onto it then his attention was turned on to the child, Chris. Also, the deceased son may have had some mental issues, but this is never pursued.

~ Ryan makes a severe error when he asks Helen, the mother, to determine who the Dark Man is. Ryan is the expert and he should have the skills to make the determination, but leaves that up to an amateur. And this distraught woman doesn't have any kind of knowledge of demonology.

~ Why was there Dead Time at the pond? The family had not indicated there was any paranormal activity at the pond whatsoever.

~ Why did Ryan not use the Christian rituals to get the spirits to speak, and to get the demons to acknowledge their presence? And if we accept the activity of the spirits during Dead Time, they were very minor spirits, indeed. Nor did they exhibit the kind of activity that you think Chris would be engaging in, which would be to get the investigators attention indicating that he wants to be released.

~ With Chris dead, the older brother is the next logical target with the demon and this is never followed up.

~ Helen should never have been allowed to challenge the demon. And a good medium should have been able to discern it was not Chris that was speaking to her, but the demon of the Dark Man. By her challenging the demon, she in a sense gave an invitation to that demon to come into contact with her. And there was never any indication presented at all about the family's spiritual activities, or lack of.

~ No EVP's at all! Tormented ghosts love to talk and demons need to talk.

~ Eilfie performs a banishing ritual which she assures Ryan has had "some effect in the past." Going into spiritual warfare with a ritual that simply has "some effect" does not generate a whole lot of confidence in a victory. And why did a pagan ritual need to be performed here? Where was the spiritual proof that she had any kind of authority? What was Eilfie's spiritual authority to perform the ritual if it was just being a third generation pagan? That gives no authority whatsoever. Why are Archangels being commanded in a pagan ritual? Archangels give their authority to be commanded by three entities: God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. They are not going to come in response to a pagan ritual. Pagan rituals are fine, but you don't mix religions with your rituals. Furthermore, when Ryan says, "whether it works or not, we hope it brings peace to this family." If the banishment ritual fails to work, the demon is still bound to the property, Chris is still bound to the demon, and the paranormal activity will continue. How could the family find any peace in this situation? And why wasn't a ceremony performed to release Chris, who was being tormented by the Dark Man, who was a tormented spirit, as well, under Ryan's theory. No prayers or cleansing activity is done in the house that Chris killed himself in. Nothing is done to address the demonic activity taking place in the basement. The house and the rest of the property was never cleansed as Ryan had made an effort to do in other episodes.

~ To claim, just hours after the banishment ceremony in the pond, that it was successful is simply ridiculous. All the demon did was cease his activity while they were still on the property and waited to return to his activity when the cast and crew had departed. And my biggest question is why wasn't an exorcist called in to perform an exorcism? An exorcist could have cleansed the house, and dealt with the issues that were still haunting the family.

~ The only expert in this episode that showed any kind of skill was Diane, the grief counselor

So come back next week for more news from the Eye on the Paranormal.

THE PARANORMAL MOMENT OF TRUTH CHALLENGE

Dear Ryan Buell, Chip Coffey, Lorraine Warren, and Sandra & Keith Johnson:


I have expressed concerns about how you conduct your investigations and the validity of those investigations, where anyone with a clear and discerning eye can see that they are not authentic. I have also witnessed heavy-handed tactics being used against people who question your alleged authority within the paranormal community and dared to raise questions concerning the validity of appearing on the A&E shows, Paranormal State, and Psychic Kids: Children of the Paranormal. I can no longer sit by in silence. That is why I came up with The Paranormal Moment of Truth Challenge, which will benefit you, your organization, the paranormal field, and a charity that would be assisted from the donation of the prize money.

1 ~ It would silence your critics if you are determined to be telling the truth about all your claims and how they are presented. There can be no one left to challenge your honesty and integrity.

2 ~ It would not only benefit your organization, but it would also help the entire paranormal field. Because if such evidence is true, it will be brought to a much wider audience, which hopefully would fuel additional legitimate investigations. So it’s a win-win situation for everyone.

3 ~ The charity of your choice would have the prize money donated to them. If the truth is being told, that prize money could reach $500,000.

So, what is The Paranormal Moment of Truth Challenge? I am sure you’ve heard of the Fox Network program entitled The Moment of Truth. This is where a contestant is hooked up to a lie detector test and asked 50 questions, of which 21 of them are used on the actual show. As long as you tell the truth, you keep on winning money -- up to $500,000. The production company, Lighthearted Entertainment Inc., would jump at an opportunity of doing a show with the two of you. And I will put my personal credibility on the line and appear, as well. For if you visit my Free All Spirits page (www.myspace.com/freeallspirits), you’ll notice that I personally make what some would call outlandish claims concerning my work as a Demonologist/Exorcist/Paranormal Investigator/Caring Spiritual Adviser.

If you would like to be "one step closer to the truth" then this is a way to achieve your goal. If interested, please contact me at this email address and I will get the ball rolling as soon as possible.

Your friend in spirit,
Kirby

To date, this is the response that I’ve received from them.

Why not do the show? Only you, the paranormal field, and a charity of your choice would benefit.

INFORMATION REQUEST: If anyone wants to share any information with their experiences involving the PRS, Ryan Buell, Chip Coffey, and any other para-celebrity that has made an appearance on Paranormal State, whether it is good or bad, I would like to read it. Your confidentiality is 100% guaranteed.

NOTE: Please feel free to copy and paste this and place it all over the web. And, unlike any of my other blogs, you can even repost this under your own name!