Meet the team behind Spectrum Paranormal Investigations

To get started can you tell us a bit about yourselves, how you got into the world of the paranormal, and how you became experts in paranormal research?

Hazel:

The team was founded in 1996. I was researching ufology with the British UFO Research Association, which I was a member at before that. UFO's were always my main passion. But in the early 2000s, I, along with Dean and another couple of guys, formed Spectrum Paranormal Investigations. We were going to [research] UFOs, but we stuck with, ghosts and hauntings.

[Since then], the team over the years have been actively involved in going to notorious haunted locations to do our own research.

I was very fortunate enough to know Maurice Gross, who was the lead investigator on the Enfield Poltergeist case, in the early years, and he was like a bit of a mentor to me. He gave me some very good guidance on how to actively become a paranormal researcher, and the dos and don'ts. We stuck to that sort of format which we've continued over the years.

When you're actively out there operating, doing what we do, you acquire a lot of knowledge along the way. So, over the years, we've become extensively involved in so many ghost hunts so I suppose we can call ourselves qualified in that respect We’re boots on ground. 

Dean, your bio describes you as an “open-minded sceptic”, which is quite interesting considering the industry. What does that mean, and how do you feel being fully immersed in this industry?

Dean:

I mean, I never really had a paranormal occurrence [before joining Spectrum Paranormal Investigations]. Normally there is a catalyst for people that want to do this sort of stuff - whether they’ve seen a ghost, or they've had experiences themselves, and it normally starts from quite an early age. 

I hadn't really had any experiences, but I had a love for the paranormal from a very early age with Ghostbusters. I was always wondering and had always had an intrigue, but nothing really happened. But where I was living stuff did happen there... and we did have a few experiences and that also spiked my interest in the paranormal. So when Hazel was thinking about putting a team together, naturally, I felt it was a really good opportunity to be a part of a paranormal group, not knowing what sort of direction we would go in.

It's just what exactly are we dealing with here? I'm not closed off to it. But with other team members they've experienced or seen ghosts, I've never seen a ghost. I've witnessed things, and I've been in a room where I've heard people speaking or we've had this, that and the other. But for me, being the sort of person I am, I just want to see a full manifestation or a full ghost in front of me, in black and white. You can't really deny that. 

Some [people] are sensitives, some are mediums - they proclaim to be able to speak to the dead. Where me, I go into a building and I I feel no different to when I would be at a bus stop or a haunted location. I don't have any sensory perception to anything paranormal. So, I think for me, that's why I still would proclaim to be "sceptical", because I try to think logically when dealing with the paranormal.

Hazel, I saw that your bio, says you're "sensitive and tuned into the environment". I wanted to ask how that helps with you informing your investigations?

Hazel:

Ever since I was a child, I I've experienced what would be deemed as a "nightmare", but later on, as I was getting older, I started to experience the dreams I was actually having were sort of relating to events that were taking place in the world. I started to think,  "is there something really strange going on here? Am I able to have visions of the future?" So, in my later years, my late 20s, I started to have very significant, what I would deem, as prophetic dreams. I believe there are millions of people in the world that experience this type of thing.

I pursued and researched into prophetic dreaming [and topics around it]. I had a few which were witnessed by the Church, and they actually condemned me because they came true. I've also got witness statements for dreams I've had. 

For me, when I started to actually go out in the field, I then started to realise that I was able to sense the environment and Dean has seen this himself. But I've actually had these confirmed on site by the witnesses [who ask] "how were you able to tell that was the spot, or the location, where we saw the entity or where we felt the presence?"

If I can have my sensory perceptions validated by the clients, that's enough for me to indicate that I have some kind of ability to be able to step into any environment and feel the changes. I believe that the best tool any paranormal investigator could have is their body, because you already possess all the natural abilities for defences, and you have the five senses.

I believe that we can pass things down to one another, and this is where I get my ability from. 

I've seen enough. I have seen spirit animals. I've seen apparitions. Dean's been there when we've had these apparitions. In fact, Dean's brother James and I, see the same thing, at the same time, in the same location. And we're both startled by this, and we both validate each other's experience. 

I am a believer in the paranormal, but it's like Dean said - finding that one elusive, full-blown manifestation of a ghost, a spirit, or something that you can actually put on film, have a recording of and say "look here, here we go. We have a ghost. We have a spirit. The afterlife is real" is still the quest. It's still the quest of Spectrum Paranormal Investigations to get that.

Are there any specific locations that you think hauntings and sightings are more likely to occur?

Dean:

We believe that people who live closer to places place like power lines or water - things that can hold, disperse or retain energy - are more or most likely to experience paranormal activity. This is because water is a form of energy and can retain energy. Or [places like] old castles where the foundation of the building materials that might be able to retain energy within the walls [such as] silica.

There's a whole theory on silica and how it can retain energy. So, we find that this is why there's so many reports in haunted castles. 

But we've been to cases where people have been living next to a large electrical tower and they think they've had the sensation of hairs on the back of their neck standing up or of being touched, stuff like this. But once we've done our ruling out process with our environmental equipment, we managed to determine that it was actually environmental issues they were experiencing rather than paranormal ones.

We're not there to say you've got a ghost, and I think that's where 99% of the industry leads to. They hype it up saying: "Yes, we're ghost hunters. We're going to go in there and look for ghosts".

We would always try to remain true to ourselves, where we rule out natural environment changes first and then we would start to look at more paranormal activity and seeking out the evidence, but the evidence has to be there for us to do that. 

Are there specific locations or areas that you find yourselves investigating more than others based on reports? 

Hazel:

The places that I always aim for and try and take the team to include pubs. We've done a lot of pubs, because that's where a lot of people gather. Even in the old days, pubs were used as courthouses. That's where people pass judgement on people and they were led away and hung outside, or from the beams inside the pubs.

Not a lot of people actually know this, but most village pubs were courthouses, where you'll be trialled, and hung from the beams, so I believe that a lot of energy is retained within those kinds of locations. 

Of course we also set ourselves up to investigate people's properties. 

Once we got ourselves on the circuit, we would go out to locations on a Thursday night and drive to old places and see if they'd let us in and investigate. And most people were quite receptive. 

We know most of it is 99% environmental. But we ask the public, can you please send in your evidence, so we can build a case first. We give them a task, [for example] for the next month can you please collect data like recordings, photographic evidence or witness statements. Anything you can gather within that month. If you keep on having this continuous knocking, can you record it? 

If someone sent us enough evidence to warrant an investigation, we would be there in a heartbeat.

Dean:

Most people think that, we're out there all the time in graveyards and everyone has a perception of a what a ghost hunter is or investigator is. We've been to graveyards, and they’re some of the most peaceful places on earth. 

Horror movies, Hollywood, and the average ghost stories just put it out there. We do get mocked sometimes, but we remain true for ourselves.

We're just normal people who have a passion for the paranormal.

If you've been doing it for years, then I feel like you are experts of some kind in your field, right? If you've been doing it for years, you know your stuff. You know exactly how to, what you should do and what you shouldn't do. 

Hazel:

We can walk into any location, and we know how to set up. 

We have guidelines for how we go on an investigation, we know what equipment to take with us. So obviously if the place has electricity, we can bring other pieces of equipment. But nine times out of 10, if it doesn't, we know we’ll take battery-operated stuff only, where we have to have a controlled environment. 

Everything has to be checked and double-checked. We make sure that when we're doing all the baseline readings of a location before we start, we know where the hotspots are, so we’re able to know things like "on this side of the building we're getting very high EMF (Electromagnetic fields) readings" and so on. I mean there's a lot to it, but we stick to our format and it works. 

What would you suggest to people who are looking to conduct their own sort of research or investigations? 

Hazel:

Do your research first into paranormal cases and look at the way they've actually been conducted. 

Keep an open mind.

Go in with the perception that you're going into it as we do - to check the environment first and do environmental research on the property. Look for things like overhead cables, power lines and lay lines as well. Lay lines are known to give off high electromagnetic field, and that, can sometimes cause disturbances in the brain's frequencies as well. It's been known that they cause hallucinations. So, just make sure that they they've done environmental research before they go in and think that they're going in to find a ghost. That, I would say, would probably be the best way to approach ghost hunting if you're starting out, and then go from there.

Obviously also do your research on equipment and make sure you're using pretty much analogue stuff. Don't rely too much on digital because you can't manipulate analogue - analogue is analogue. Digital is very manipulative, and people can always sort of ‘debunk’ what you've found and say you've done that through digital editing or something. So try and use an analogue form of equipment to do your research as well. That would be very helpful. That's why we use basic tools, but we get fantastic results. 

What would you say to any sceptics? 

Dean:

I think if you if you go into a building with the mindset that you're not going to find a ghost from the get go, then you put out negative energy. So as a sceptic you have to be willing to be convinced, because if you're not willing to be convinced why would an energy show itself to you? It's like in real life. If you're putting out a bad vibe, why would anyone want to be around you? So even though I am sceptical, I still get involved. 

My advice as sceptic is: just be considerate to others and other beliefs, and even though you might not believe just treat it seriously. If you're going to get results, your best results are going to be from positive energy, not negative. 

Hazel:

We've always made sure and we’ve been advocates that no one who's on our investigations must be under the influence. Full stop. Because straight away, your results are tainted by yourself. You have to go in with a completely clear mind, and so you can get a better perception of what's actually going on. 

Clear mind, open hearts that's the best way forward. What you put out, you get back. 

What’s next for Spectrum Paranormal Investigations?

Hazel:

Actually, I don't know if Dean knows about it. Someone's [invited us] to investigate an undertakers, because they've heard and seen things. So that's going to be interesting!

Tune in to BLAZE for Haunted Week from Monday 23rd Ooctober 8pm and find out more about what's on, including Paranormal Survivor, premiering in the UK on Wednesday 25th October at 9pm BLAZE, on Freesat channel 162.   

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