The Quiet Reality of Paranormal Investigating

If you've never been on a paranormal investigation, you might imagine constant excitement. The kind portrayed on television, where something incredible seems to happen every few minutes. My experience has been very different. Most investigations are quiet. Sometimes they're even boring.

Television often creates excitement through constant sounds: the beeping of a REM-POD, an Ovilus announcing words, or a motion sensor blaring in the darkness. When used correctly and with proper discernment, these alerts are often far less frequent than these shows suggest.

Hours can pass with nothing more than conversations among investigators, monitoring equipment, asking questions into empty rooms, and prolonged silence. It's during these moments of quiet and stillness that the most compelling sounds are heard. A disembodied voice saying “Here”, a loud clap in response to your polite request for a noise, or a knock on the door when you least expect it.

The most substantive insights come from patience, perseverance, and respect. They also come from letting go of expectations. Much like other areas of life, when one lets go of expectations, life surprises you. You see the shadow, you feel the poke in your back, you hear your name on the Spirit Box. 

These rare moments are what make paranormal investigating so special and exciting. If meaningful paranormal events occurred as frequently as they're often portrayed on television or YouTube, one would be able to walk into any known haunted location and have numerous experiences right away. This is not the reality of documenting paranormal phenomena.

If I had to compare investigating to anything, I'd compare it to watching a defensive game of football through the eyes of an avid fan. There are long stretches where not much appears to happen. Long enough to make a casual observer scratch their head or even fall asleep. There are those handful of moments that make you gasp, laugh to yourself, or leave you wondering what just happened. It's that same dedication that keeps fans returning each week and investigators returning to the next location, even when the previous event was relatively dull. 

The most rewarding investigations aren't necessarily the ones with the most activity. They're the ones that leave you thinking differently than when you arrived.