Located in the Oklahoma City metro area and servicing all of Oklahoma and the surrounding states, we are a team dedicated to objective and proof-driven research of paranormal activity. We strive to assist our clients in explaining unnatural occurrences they may have encountered. Our investigations are based upon factual events and information obtained through research, eyewitness accounts, personal interviews and field study.

Investigations are conducted at no cost to the client. We pledge to handle each case with professionalism and integrity. Your privacy will be respected throughout all phases of the investigation.

            My topic for this article was originally going to be called something along the lines of: “Please don’t start another group” or maybe even “That’s just a bad idea” but after sitting and thinking about it, I figured out that no matter what I said, people are just going to continue to start paranormal investigations groups no matter what.

            So why am I so opposed to new groups? There are a lot of reasons, mostly related to issues of unprofessional acts that come from low caliber groups that I refer to Grave Yard Hoppers but first and foremost I think my main concern is safety and in this article I am going to try and explain to you why starting a new group is just down right hazardous.

            I’m often asked how one breaks into the field and I usually respond with: “Why do you want to” before I answer that question. The job of a Paranormal Investigator is the same as any other job (with the exception that I lose money rather then make it) and with any job there comes with it elements that could hurt you if you are not properly trained.

Unfortunately a lot of people watch television shows like Ghost Hunters or Most Haunted and think that they have the aptitude to do that type of job.  On TV it certainly looks like fun but ask anyone from these types of shows and they will be quick to tell you that what you see on TV is only the best of the best. In all reality a typical investigation is rather dull and uneventful. Keep in mind that a good (legitimate) team will have a debunking figure of about 70 to 85%. Certainly this is not exciting but what about those cases where you do find something?

Our good friend Jason Hawes said once on Beyond Reality Radio (if I recall John Zaffis was co-hosting) that out of 400 to 500 actual confirmed paranormal cases that TAPS/TAPS Family took in one given year, only about 2 or so were confirmed inhuman entities. With a general record of Paranormal Teams running into hostile human entities in about 1 in 25 legit cases, chances are you are going to run into them also.

Be it demonic in nature or just a grumpy ghost, you as an inexperienced investigator are not ready for these kinds of things. Particularly if during the course of an investigation you are assaulted by one of these entities or they create an attachment to you or your equipment and come home with you. I can tell you from personal experience that attachments can place you and your loved ones in considerable danger as these types of haunting tend to be either violent or deeply psychological in nature and what are you going to do when you do not have the resources to combat this as a new investigator?

Another reason I am opposed to new groups is that when someone starts one, they never have cases right away and tend to not only take unnecessary risks that could damage their reputation but also are tempted to break the law to obtain new evidence. They run the gauntlet of everything from sneaking into graveyards at night to illegally breaking into old abandoned buildings that they do not have permission to investigate in. How many cases do you honestly believe you will get when your photo appears on the front page of some small town news paper with a headline of: “Paranormal Investigator Arrested for Breaking and Entering”.  For example a few years back I attended an investigation at a graveyard with a group that claimed to be very professional. However, every time a car drove by they would all duck down and dive behind graves. I knew at that point that not only had these people not obtained permission to be there but also these people were bad news and it was time to find another group before my reputation was forever tarnished by some misguided idea that they were entitled to evidence even if they broke the law.

Even right here in Oklahoma, a “Paranormal Investigations Group” has several videos of them breaking into old abandoned buildings in the middle of the night posted on their website. Lucky for the rest of us, these guys have been shunned by the community but let’s look a little deeper into this. Do you really know what is in that building? There could be old explosive chemicals, rotten floorboards or maybe even something like poisonous snakes that you’re sure not to see in the dark.

So having said all that, how exactly do you start a group the right way?  First I would find local reputable groups to help you get started. There are many groups out there that are established and very willing to mentor you. I would caution you against working with groups that use unverified psychic findings in their case files or groups with a reputation for being drama hounds. I even would go so far as to caution you against working with groups who have “scary” looking web pages. The last thing a client wants when looking for a team is a website with a bunch of scary skulls and ghosts flying at them while some creepy music plays somewhere in an all black background. Trust me I hear it all the time. INsight (on busy weeks) will conduct two investigations and one thing we are always told is that the client chose us because they were already in fear and our site was the first one they saw that wasn’t creepy. So be careful who you associate with.

Once you get your own group up and going, don’t expect cases to suddenly come pouring in. Most groups fail with in the first year or so of operation. If you want to be a success then be ready to make it happen yourself.  People will not know who you are just because you have a website. You are going to have to get the word out yourself. INsight took months and months to get ready and building a team from scratch is near impossible.     

Lastly, make sure you are looking at the big picture. This hobby is not science! You cannot test these theories in a lab. You aren’t going to get rich and famous doing it and your going to spend thousands of dollars on equipment and travel expenses.  If you’re a good group, most of the time you are not going to find evidence and you’ll do way more debunking than you will verifying.