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HPI Paranormal Investigators
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Paul Dale Roberts and Shannon McCabe

This month's Special:

REAL GHOSTBUSTERS

Paul Dale Roberts and Shannon McCabe

(not TV actors)

IN THE "SPECIAL PAGE" ARCHIVES:

Ramsey Campbell
Mathew Cade
Bat$hit!crazy
Ellen Datlow
Brent Monahan
Owen King
Dacre Stoker

 

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COME WITH ME ON A REAL PARANORMAL INVESTIGATION

My name is Paul Dale Roberts, and I perform paranormal investigations with my partner, Shannon McCabe. In fact, I belong to a company called HPI Paranormal Investigators, based in Sacramento California.

The purpose of this article is to tell you the whys, whats, and hows of a ghost hunter. A real ghost hunter, and not an actor on TV.

I will even give you an example of one of my paranormal investigations!

First the WHY: One of the reasons why I do what I do is because it's my high. I get an adrenaline rush when I witness true paranormal activity. It doesn't happen very often, but when it does and I can witness the events with my own senses and not just with machines, is the ultimate high.

Now the WHAT:  HPI International (Haunted and Paranormal Investigations) is a ghost hunting company with affiliates across the globe. HPI has been featured on The History Channel, Showtime, A&E and an array of other television and radio projects.                                                                                    
HPI is an investigative company that helps home owners and businesses deal with their paranormal needs. This part of the company is run by its general manager (that's me, Paul Dale Roberts) along with a core team of seasoned paranormal investigators.                     

When I first met Shannon McCabe, I learned she had a very diverse background. She is a woman that seeks out adventure! It was a perfect fit for a team of ghost hunters.

And finally, the HOW: When we get a call for a possible investigation, I listen to the client's story. I listen for inconsistencies and contradictions in the statements. If the story sounds plausible, I will then obtain information on how old is the residence, do they know of any history about the residence, and what are the 'symptoms.'

I then provide the address to our researcher in London, England, who is Laurie Rutledge. Laurie has the ability to find anything on anyone and anybody. She has the ability to obtain information on any residence address I provide to her. She is somewhat mysterious, but I do know that she has a very extensive legal background.

The Actual Investigation:

I will go through bios of my 35 investigators to decide which ones would be more adapt for this particular investigation. It's like the way Jim Phelps of Mission Impossible would select his agents for an assignment. After choosing the investigators, we all meet up at the address of the potential haunted site. My videographer John Shue always records the events, but owners have the option of staying completely anonymous or signing a waiver form allowing HPI to publicize the investigation.

Before the investigation, there is an initial briefing. I will learn what areas of the residence needs to be investigated.  I will break up the group into usually three teams. The teams will go into different areas of the home.  Each team will have a lead investigator. 

The teams will be in communication with base camp (me, the audio analyzer, and the video monitor) via walkie-talkie. Each investigation is in for the duration of 45 minutes. 

After each investigation, we have an evidence briefing, and this is where we actually allow the occupants to assist in our investigation. In the evidence briefing, the occupants actually get to see through videos, and hear through audios, the evidence we have collected. We show them any anomalies. 

Then comes the decision! Is the residence (or business) haunted or not?

We always look for the logical explanations first. A real haunting is somewhat rare (although I have experienced many) and so we may give them a reasonable explanation for what they may have considered a strange event. 

We explain the McCabe Method of obtaining EVPs (Electronic Voice Phenomenon). With a digital recorder, we record, say something simple like: "Is there anyone here?"  We pause, allowing the entity to respond, then play back and sometimes you may have an entity say: "Yes, I am here!"  (Note: We call it the McCabe Method, because Shannon came up with a quicker way of collecting EVPs. Most ghosthunting groups leave their recorder on all night and analyze the recordings all day the next day.  But logically thinking, if these are intelligent ghosts and if you asked the ghost what his or her name is, wouldn't they respond immediately and not wait two or three hours to tell you their name is Charlotte or Joe or Buck Henry?)

By the end of the night...we will know if the home is actually haunted or if everything had a reasonable explanation and was debunked. 

But if the residence or business really is haunted...then what?

If the entities are benign we generally just try to ask them to leave. If the entities are malevolent, we will do a cleansing.  We call in Catholic, Wiccan, Voodoo, Native American cleansers or metaphysical cleansers, depending upon the circumstances.

After the investigation, the occupants have open communication with me via my cell phone. I listen to follow-ups, their thanks, or if the activity has started back up again.  It is very rare after a cleansing that activity returns, but if it does, we send out a second team for another investigation and another cleansing.

And now, here is an example of a real paranormal investigations performed by HPI International:

The home at Brougham Way was a strange home because rumors of hauntings abounded. When HPI (Haunted and Paranormal Investigations International) got wind of it, Shannon sent out two teams of seasoned investigators to this home on a Scouting Mission.

When she got the results back from the Scouts, Shannon told me that Brougham Way was definitely haunted, because the first preliminary investigation resulted with eight EVPs captured at the home. Since most incidents can be explained in logical instead of paranormal activities, I knew this was an exceptional opportunity and would be a great experience. I asked Shannon  if I could bring "newbie" investigators to give them this experience, and got her approval.

When we set up at Brougham Way, we conducted a séance that produced amazing results. Results that stunned fifteen newbies included the sounds of a little girl giggling and saying "hi," something that we could all hear with our own ears. Then came the sounds of the wall echoing with a ripping effect, and later a series of knocks on the wall. All were something that we could all hear without instruments and we all witnessed. It was a séance that was so frightening to the newbies, that many broke the circle, some were crying and three did not want to continue with the séance.

The Outcome of the Actual Investigation:

When faced with proof that Brougham Way was indeed inhabited by actual ghosts, the owners gave us a surprising conclusion to the investigation. Unlike most homeowners that are faced with this situation, these homeowners were not afraid, and actually embraced the existence of the entities in their home.

Instead of asking that their residence be cleansed, the owners told us that they had gotten used to their spirit "friends," and had actually grown to like their presence. They felt it was a unique situation, and if the ghosts had made the decision to stay in the house, who were they to question it?

Therefore, no efforts were made to send the ghosts away. To this day, the house on Brougham Way is still haunted, although not in any malicious manner. In fact, the ghosts have the permission of the owners to share the house, which is why this particular case stands out in my mind.

 

 

About HPI Paranormal Investigators

Paul Dale Roberts and Shannon McCabe

H.P.I. Paranormal Investigations International began as a paranormal investigative group in 2004.

H.P.I. International has a group of select core investigators for private investigations, and a large group of members (or Ghosties as we call them) that they take to haunted locations for fun events and overnighters called Scouting Missions.

The owner is Shannon McCabe, who has a background in promotions, event planning and paranormal investigations. The General Manager is an accomplished ghostwriter, Paul Dale Roberts.

Together they have been on shows such as History Channel's Monster Quest, Conversations With A Serial Killer, Penn & Teller's Bullshit, TV's Pay Per View Special Off The Hook, UK's Sky 1 Network's Michael Jackson: In Search of His Spirit and a documentary about Angels and Demons.

New folks are welcome to join H.P.I. by contacting them and providing your email. They hope to meet you at an H.P.I. Scouting Mission soon!

They conduct training classes periodically for those new to the field, teaching all aspects of the paranormal. Check the Events page for details.

They respect and honor requests for confidentiality from clients and conduct themselves in a professional manner at all times.

If you have unusual activity in your home or workplace and would like to get to the bottom of what's going on, feel free to contact H.P.I. at 1-888-709-4HPI.

Visit the website at: www.HPIparanormal.net.

Learn more about HPI International HERE.

Mysterious Realms