GHOST of Pinellas

We at GHOST of Pinellas have had a few changes in our member line-up.

GHOST of Pinellas annouces the release of Mike Giardelli and Bobb McCauly from their member contracts as of Aug. 19th, 2009.

We at GHOST of Pinellas wish them luck in all their future endeavors!

We at GHOST of Pinellas have decided that Sean Rowan will be the new Co-Director of GHOST of Pinellas effective Aug. 20th, 2009! Sean was a member of All Things Paranormal before applying to GHOST of Pinellas and was the Tech. Coordinator for GHOST of Pinellas for 1 1/2 years! He currently resides in New Port Richey and has conducted investigations in Pinellas Park, Seminole, Largo and St. Petersburg.

Congratulations to Sean in his new position!

~Mark Manarino, CPIR

Founder/Director

GHOST of Pinellas

Ok, so I just read a blog on one of our friends list and the blog was about paranormal teams not helping out clients and just getting research for themselves! I agree to this blog as for one, I think this is not the right way to run a paranormal group! If you are going to advertise your team out there claiming that you will help the client, you need to stick to your word! I have had clients e-mail our team asking if we would help because the first group they called in told them they had caught an evp and the clients never heard from them again! The clients were shocked that they had caught something in there home and are now scared because the team never discussed to them about the paranormal occurences in their home. Now, how does that make the rest of the hard-working paranormal research groups out there look like? It makes us look like we are just in it for the evidence.

This blog I read also stated that this team had traveled all the way up to Virgina to help out a client who had called a local team and they pretty much just got there evidence and booked on outta there. This dedicated team traveled all the way to Virgina to cover the slack from another inexpeirenced team.

I like to catagorize cases into 2 groups: Public investigations and Private Investigations. When a team is conducting an investigation at a public place like a cemetery or museum, most of the time there are no frightend clients involved, usually the owner of the business or caretaker of the cemetery. These teams who just investigate cemeteries and public places like museums usually dont have to worry about helping a client involved with the haunting. The teams who conduct investigations into private residences and homes is where they need to be professional and those are the cases where the clients actually need help in their situation. These teams who advertise "Got ghosts?... Call us!... We can help!", usually can't follow up on that advertisment.

Now, I am an EMT, I work on an ambulance all day long. I respond to 911 calls and help the people who called for assistance. I look at paranormal investigations in the same exact way! These people who are terrified in their own home call paranormal researchers to come in and help them with their difficult situation. These people have problems with a possible haunting...where else can they go for help? No where else because if they call 911 or a neighbor they would probably get ridculed for even thinking they have a ghost! They look for paranormal researchers for comfort and answers, they call us because they expect to recieve help! They are reaching out to us because they are confused and scared! So help them if you advertise that on your website or myspace! If you can't help them, try to find a team who can. We all want to find that great piece of evidence of the afterlife, but we get so caught up in finding ghosts that we forget why were really looking for them, because the homeowner called us in to HELP! Lets not forget that, please! Now, I would be lying if I said this team could'nt help out a client in need BUT we found them help  (ie: paranormal team etc.)

I am sorry if I make anyone mad in this blog, that was not my goal, but seriously, if someone gets mad about this blog, then that might be because that person is one of the groups who are just in this line of work for the evidence.We also need to make sure we help each other out, esp. in the paranormal field. We need to always be professional and help people in need. We get critizied everyday in this field because were looking for answers to the afterlife. Most people would say that is insane, some would even say we need psychiatric help! If people would stop being closed-minded all the time and look at all the great pieces of evidence that have been caught over the years, I think this field would be a little more understanding and accepted! So we need to work together to make paranormal investigations a legitimate science and to promote the study and research in paranormal phenomena!

Ok, I think I let off some steam here...lol

PS ~ I am not trying to make our team look good, that is not what I am trying to say in this blog, I just needed to bring attention to the things that are being done by "professional" paranormal groups out there!

~Thanks for viewing!

This blog was written by Mobile Paranormal Research Society ~ Jacksonville (MPRS~Jax) and was used with permission by the owner(s).

1.Do Research-Spend the time actually finding out what possible paranormal activity may be going on before you get to the site of the investigation. Never go into any investigation blind or on a whim. Emergency investigations are a different story and need to be taken care of promptly. Designate someone on your team to speak to the person(s) who called in the emergency while the investigation is going on. Make sure that this person will relay important information to the team if it is of major importance.

2.Recon the Site-On every outing, emergency or not, have the lead investigators do a walkthrough and get a general idea of anything that could be considered as a hazard. Holes in the flooring, objects protruding from the walls, etc.

Once the lights go out, these things could and probably will cause a team member to be injured. Nothing is worse than shutting down an emergency investigation because a team member got hurt.

3.Get Permission-Never go into any building without being given permission by the caretaker or owner of the property. Police tend not to be very forgiving when they have to go into a deserted building to take someone into custody. Do everything that you can to avoid this situation.....next to a team member injury...this is the worst thing that can happen.

4.Carry a first aid kit-In this line of work, you don't have to be clumsy to need medical assistance. Outside forces can and probably will try to cut, scratch, or burn you or your team members. Make sure to have a fully stocked first aid kit, and, if you can manage to find someone, try to get a licensed Emergency Medical Technician on staff.

5.Carry extra batteries-Imagine this, you are in the darkest area of the house. An apparition attempts to form, and drains the batteries in your flashlight. Now what? Exactly, now you see why you will need them.

6.Be aware of your surroundings-Make a mental note of the layout of the entire investigation area. This way you can vacate without getting lost. Loss of batteries in your flashlight or being attacked by phenomena will usually cause you to want to exit the property promptly. Knowledge of the layout will assist you in egressing quicker.

7.Take breaks-Take prolonged investigations in shifts. If you have 4 2 person teams, Have one team man HQ, one team on break, and two other teams on actual investigation.

8.Don't Crowd-don't force too many people into one area. It complicates the investigation. Also any residual noise from whispering or talking will pretty much destroy any potential EVPs that you might capture.

9.Be Vocal-If you wander into another teams area, make sure to announce your presence. This will prevent having false positives on video and audio. This also counts in the EVP area. Be casual in asking questions when doing EVP. You will see that the response is much better if you are relaxed and comfortable in questioning.

10.Have Fun-Try to enjoy your investigations. Take what you are doing seriously, but, not too seriously.

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-Thanks to everyone for the support!

-Mark (Founder)

GHOST of Pinellas