The Dangers of the Paranormal

By Reap Paden

I was going to write about the brain this week...but....this is more important. Not more important than your brain but more important for your brain to know about.

Search 'dangers of the paranormal' and you will find something that should amaze you. It's a website built to warn people about the dangers they may encounter when being involved in paranormal....stuff, hence the name.

When I came upon this website for the first time my mind expected to see some information about homeless people and drug users residing in some of the vacant buildings paranormal people would be attracted to. I thought maybe I would find some bold warning that many old buildings have been gutted and just left in ruin providing numerous hazards from boards with protruding nails to minimal structural integrity. Having a wall or building fall on you or your group would probably manage to get your name in the paper usually isn't the best way to make people aware of your group. You  would maybe get an opportunity to find out if ghosts are real but getting killed isn't the preferred method of ghost hunters as far as I know......although in some cases..never-mind.

So I check out the website and what do I find? Here's a list of the dangers in order as they appear on the site-  Mental illness, insanity, possession, obsession, attachments, hitch-hikers, walk-in's (as in belonging to Christopher Walken I assume), push-ins, oppression, infestation, physical problems, mental problems, spiritual problems, insomnia, agitation, personality changes, loss of time, paranoia, hearing voices, hallucinations, animal attacks, slip and fall injuries, getting pushed by entities,assault, fainting spells, unexplained financial difficulties, losing your job, losing your friends, losing your family, losing your reality, losing yourself, changes in appearance, loss of electronic equipment, spider bites, allergic reactions, hypothermia, exposure to the elements, frostbite, loss of faith or belief, unexplained medical issues, depression, eventual hospitalization or therapy, divorce, sudden abandonment of hygiene, alcoholism, sudden drug or substance abuse, self inflicted trauma, automobile accidents, mechanic bills, fires, loss of cell phone functions, indignation from spirits, demonic attachments, loss of pets lives, family members affected, death of relatives, loss of happiness and fulfillment with everything in life, loss of belief system, arrest, jail, rehabilitation, loss of patience, loss of affection, loss of intimacy....

And then it says "The extremely long and more detailed list of the risks can be found below." The LONG list??!

After reading this I was left breathless, partly because I had been giggling through much of it and partly because the list was.....it was....well, I'm not sure words can describe it. I'll just call it stupid to simplify things.

Besides the warning about hitch-hikers, which I'm not too sure is a 'top danger', the slips and falls warning was about what I expected. The list sounded more like a "dangers of living life' than a list of dangers specifically attributed to ghost hunting.

I took a look at the 'long list' here are some of the interesting things I found:

"Always remember that while in these environments, you and the investigators are always prone to a spirit attack. You may be shoved, hit, cut and slapped, you may have the wind knocked out of you by an unseen force or find yourself pushed down a flight of stairs. Some investigators have found themselves on the brunt end of a flying object that was thrown at them by an unseen force. Use common sense and always be aware of your environment."

Allow me to say here, if anything is thrown at you or you are hit with an object DO NOT assume it is a ghost. It is more likely a real tangible human who is trying to harm you. I would gamble that in at least 99.9% in such circumstances a real human is the cause. (The other .1% is a knife throwing cat that escaped from the circus)

"In the past we have experienced clients under partial possession who have threatened us with household items. This was documented and we were in danger despite all precautions."

Once again I feel the need to interject...In these cases your 'client' has been upgraded to 'assailant' or 'perpetrator' and possession is not the cause of this person's behavior. Do not try to combat the offender with a crucifix or holy water, find a real person to help or to call for help.

"Many investigators find themselves hearing voices when under a spirit based attack. They will be kept awake for days, pushed, shoved, and touched. They may experience uncontrollable shaking, cold, or fevers around them. This is usually caused by a separate entity affecting their physiological functions. If you feel like something has followed you home from an investigation, let people know."

If this happens to you or anyone you know or hear about get that person to a doctor immediatly. For the 10th time..this is most likely not being caused by and type of entity, the person needs help from a real live medical professional. A demonologist will not cut it and a psychic will not help.

There is 10 blogs of worthless and irresponsible content included with what I have posted here. At the end of the page it reads: "If you have a story and would like to share it of your own experiences with the Dangers of the Paranormal, email us through our contact page at SOCALPRS.com and include DOTP in the title."

Next I hit the link to the video page. There I find Dave Shrader in a couple of videos. I can't figure out if I'm more annoyed by the disinformation Dave is presenting or by the level of boredom I'm feeling while watching. Boring but overall about par for the course.

Then I come to Chris Fleming's video message to the only people in more danger than the cast of Deadliest Catch, ghost hunters. It's not bad until I get to the end. At the end it is as if Chris feels some need to prove he has been 'in the trenches' and tells a couple of incredibly lame stories. One is about his body being taken over and by sheer luck Chris did not fall into a lake, he instead fell backwards into a chair. Yes it was a close call. Good thing someone left that recliner at the edge of the lake or who knows, Chris could have ended up with a  prosthetic butt.

The second story is even more amazing. Chris was walking along minding his own business when he suddenly began to fall forward into a bed of nails that he hadn't noticed laying directly in front of him. As Chris was falling he suddenly stopped falling, hung in the air for a moment and was pushed back upright before being turned into something you would see at the end of a toothpick while attending a middle-income social event.

Then I came upon a video about a young girl. That will be where we pick it up next time. In the meantime I'm going to write an email to SOCALPRS.com

Side note: The domain name chipcoffey.info. Book mark it now.