11/1/2006 9:01:00 AM Howells residents research paranormal phenomena
The science of the soul
HOWELLS - What is a ghost?
Could it be that the paranormal phenomena shouldn't be as frightening as people make it out to be?
Could it be that what people deem as hauntings and evidence of the paranormal is actually - well, normal?
Ian Todd, lead investigator for Vanderworker Todd Paranormal Research of Howells, has a pretty good idea.
"They are an electrical imprint," Todd said. "The theory is that that's what ghosts or spirits are."
Human beings, Todd said, are basically made up of water and operate by electrical impulse or energy.
"According to Einstein's Theory of Relativity, energy can neither be created or destroyed," Todd said. "When we die, our bodies decompose. All of our water and other matter in us returns to the soil, it's evaporated into the atmosphere and disperses throughout.
"Where does our energy go?"
That energy - often referred to as a lifeforce, spirit or soul - has to go somewhere because it can neither be created nor destroyed, Todd said.
"If it's hanging around . . .my electrical imprint is still here. So that's going to register on a (electromagnetic field) meter," Todd said. "Whether it be a conscious being or not, it's still there. So it's a remnant of a person irregardless. It's their electrical imprint they left on the world."
Todd said that's why a lot of paranormal phenomena occurs in areas where there is a large deposit of limestone or chalk - like many places in Nebraska. Limestone and chalk draw in energy and hold it like a battery, he said.
"(Energy) has to go somewhere because it can neither be created nor destroyed. That's a scientific principle," Todd said.
The science of the afterworld is what Todd's team hopes to help bring to the forefront, he said.
"Lay people, if they want to dispute with us, that's fine, but we're trying to get this pushed more to the scientists of the world, to doctors and the physicists," Todd said.
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Want to learn more?
To read more about different types of hauntings and view evidence from past VTPR cases, log on to http://snuzz420.tripod.com
Although, as a bona fide ghost hunter - or as he prefers, paranormal researcher - there are times when the hair on the back of Todd's neck has stood up.
Todd is the lead investigator for Vanderworker Todd Paranormal Research (VTPR) - a nonprofit, family-operated ghost-hunting organization based here.
Like many people, there have been times when tracking the paranormal has been a bit unnerving.
"I've been in places that have bothered me," he said. "But wherever you're at, you kind of try to think, 'I'm a professional. What good is that to them to be freaking out and not get the data that they need?' "
Todd, who has a degree in psychology from Wayne State College, said part of his team's mission is to bring the field of paranormal research to the forefront and have it be taken seriously. VTPR uses science to try to explain what appears to be paranormal activity or hauntings.
"We believe that there are things we can't explain, things that happen because of nature, and mother Earth is kind of weird and she'll do strange things. There are things that aren't explainable at all to science. That's what we try to bring to the table," Todd said.
Using night vision cameras, infrared thermometers, digital and analog voice recorders, 35mm and digital cameras and electromagnetic field meters (EMF) to perform investigations, the team gathers evidence to try explaining what the human race currently deems as paranormal phenomena.
Each investigation starts out by filling out a large protocol packet that explains how the equipment will be set up and goes over the history of the house or land and the family involved.
"One thing we believe is that when you're doing any type of research - whether it's college research, medical research or paranormal research - you need to be exact," Todd said. "If you're doing it kind of fly-by-night, nobody is going to take you seriously. Nobody takes this seriously anyway."
The ghost-hunting team likes to spend several hours on an investigation doing EMF sweeps, taking both still and video recordings and trying to capture EVPs - electronic voice phenomenon - where disembodied voices inaudible to the human ear are detected on a voice recorder. When the investigation is over, Todd said, the team spends countless hours examining the the data compiled.
When they do run across evidence of the paranormal, the team members will try to debunk it by re-creating the phenomena, Todd said.
"We're real big into trying to debunk stuff," Todd said. "We try to look at every angle of every piece of data that we take before we say this is unexplainable to us."
The team has photographed orbs, but Todd said VTPR doesn't place a lot of emphasis on them as evidence of paranormal phenomena. VTPR has also caught doors closing by themselves and objects moving on video that they haven't been able to debunk, Todd said.
"A lot of people will ask, 'Is it haunted?' Well, that's a really hard question to ask a person and have them answer," he said.
Actually catching a gaseous anomaly - or stereotypical apparition - with a camera is rare, Todd said.
Todd said while he wants to believe hauntings happen, his team lets the documented evidence speak for itself.
"There are things that, by science, I can't explain or anybody else in the group can't explain," he said. "It's like, 'Here's the evidence. This is what we found. This is what we think, now it's up to you to say whether this is what you wanted to hear or not.' "
Reader Comments
Posted: Sunday, October 19, 2008
Article comment by:
Cyndi Butterfield
This article really interested me so, that I am inquiring about any info you may have on how to join the team. I have been interested in the pranormal since I was 8yrs old. It fascinates me.Some might say that I am obsessed with it. Any way If you have anyway to contact todd or any other team members I would appreciate it. Whether it be an email or phone number, etc. My name is Cyndi and I live in Leigh,NE.I am so looking forward to hear back with any info you may have. Thanks, Cyndi
