What to do when you experience phenomena

I mentioned in a previous post that I would post about what you should do when you experience certain types of phenomena, specifically noises and apparitions. 


Noises:
If you are investigating and you hear a noise you should stop for a moment and see if it reoccurs. Whether it reoccurs or not, try to find out where it come from and go to this spot. While at this spot do all you can to figure out what caused the noise. First check any equipment that might have also heard the noise. The begin to check the room for fallen objects and look around the room for things that seem out of place, if you are working with a team ask if they were in the area when you heard the noise. If you still do not know what caused the noise, try to recreate it. You can try dropping objects on the floor, stomping on the ground, or opening and closing doors. 
If you cannot recreate or find a cause for the noise you have experienced paranormal phenomena.*


Shadows/Apparitions:
If you see a shadow or an apparition stop and ask out loud if someone is around. If you get no response, try to think about what could have form what you just saw. Shadows can be causes by lights coming in through windows, or even off equipment that has lights. Like with what you would do when you hear a noise, try to recreate the image. This is easier if you have someone with you**. See if shining a light at a certain angle creates a form or analyze objects and see if they look similar to what you saw. 
If you cannot recreate the image then you may have seen a ghost.*


* If you do not have it caught on equipment it is nothing but a story. Your ears and eyes can play tricks on you.
** For safety and the recreation of images I suggest always investigating with someone else. 

Interview with Tony from Texas Paranormal Research Team

This is an interview of Tony from Texas Paranormal Research Team 

Me- What natural events, have you found, can easily be mistaken as paranormal phenomena?

Tony- Extreme amounts of electromagnetic energy(EMF) can cause a person to feel ill, paranoid, and cause hallucinations amongst other things. Almost all of which can make someone believe they are being haunted. Things like plumbing, a house settling, different kinds of flooring , and other “house noises” can lead a person to think that something paranormal is occurring.

Me- What is the first thing you do when phenomena happens during an investigation?

Tony- We do not yell or get overly excited, because we actually inform the spirits before an investigation that we are expecting them to interact and that we are not there for a "scare show." We may move slowly towards the area that something occurred or ask it to come visit us and come out of the shadows, but for the most part we do not chase occurrences or act in threatening manners.

Me- Do you and your team use photography as a medium?

Tony- We do, but photos are so easily modified and most often discounted by the paranormal community (peers). We do document the places we investigate with photos for future references and do snap several shots over our shoulders walking by or leaving rooms just to see what we get. So in short we do, but we do not put much stock in it unless it is over the top obvious.

Me- What is your attitude when doing an investigation?
Tony- In most cases we arrive with an open mind, not with an every place we visit is haunted outlook. We divide our onsite team into groups based upon experience to keep things on the right pace for what we are there to attempt to do. Very few cases do we arrive with the thoughts of provoking or trying to excite the spirits to get activity.