Today I’m going to be discussing a little bit about the equipment that our group uses.

First I’ll cover the video aspect of things.

We use a four-channel DVR that utilizes anywhere from 1 to 4 separate cameras that incorporate infrared night vision capability. These record to a built-in hard drive.  It allows us to record video in multiple areas and areas we believe that need continuous monitoring.
The next are hand held camcorders. We prefer the Sony Handycam. Some use Hi-8 tapes, others mini-DVD’s, or a hard drive. The models we use have infrared capabilities. We also utilize IR extension lights for the hand held cameras to boost their coverage. We also use digital still cameras to take still photos.

Next is our audio equipment.

While we do use the audio recording capabilities of our hand held cameras  we also use small handheld audio recorders.  We use a mixture of digital and analog voice recorders.  Our current DVR set-up has no audio so we always place a voice recorder at each camera. We also carry a recorder so we can have a record of any experience we may have and to pick up any EVP’s.

EMF Detectors are another tool that we use. They detect the presence of electro-magnetic fields. Some EMF’s can be easily explained such as unshielded electrical wires. Others not so much. Theory is, spirits draw energy from the surrounding area or produce energy that is then picked by the EMF detectors.

We also use non-contact thermometers to capture sudden, unexplained temperature fluctuations. Theory is when spirits draw energy from the surrounding air it causes a temperature drop.  Some of these temperature drops can range 30-40 degrees.

And, probably the most important pieces of equipment are our senses. Sight, hearing and smell.  Plus, common sense.

If you should have any questions about the various equipment we use, feel free to ask us!

Mark Rowland
Lead Investigator
Black Hills Paranormal Investigations

If you are experiencing any paranormal activity and are in need of help contact us at either help@bhparanormal.com or though our website www.bhparanormal.com

If you don’t have anything to do or are able to listen, BHPI investigators Mark Rowland and SpookySue Parsons will be on 103.1FM Belle Fourche. We will be discussing our investigation of the brothels above the Lucky Nugget Gambling Hall in Deadwood.  Tuesday, June 16th at 2pm

“We have all some experience of a feeling, that comes over us occasionally, of what we are saying and doing having been said and done before, in a remote time - of our having been surrounded, dim ages ago, by the same faces, objects, and circumstances - of our knowing perfectly what will be said next, as if we suddenly remember it! (Dickens in David Copperfield - chapter 39)”

So, what is déjà vu? Several possibilities are out there. One is simply the occasional mismatch made by the brain in its continuous attempt to create whole sensical pictures out of very small pieces of information. When the brain receives a small sensory input of a familiar or similar sight, smell, or sound of a past experience, the entire memory image is brought forward. Our brain has taken that to be the present by virtue of one tiny bit of sensory information. It’s this mismatch of past and present sensory information that causes the sense of disconcertment and unease associated with a passing déjà vu

Another explanation for déjà vu is that there is a slight malfunctioning between the long and short-term memory circuits of the brain. Somehow, specific information ends up going from short to long-term memory storage, bypassing the usual mechanisms used for storage transfer. Details concerning this shortcut are not yet well understood. When this new, recent piece of information is drawn upon, the person thinks that the piece is coming from long-term storage and so must have come from the distant past.

Other explanations for déjà vu have been the manifestation of wish fulfillment. Here, déjà vu is the subconscious repetition of past experiences, but with a positive ending. The realm of paranormal psychology proposes that deja vu is a chance for reincarnates to get a sneak peak into a past life. Most scientists dismiss these “magical” explanations for neurological events, citing that they break the laws of nature. Some, however, point to more recent findings in physics, such as the possibility of particles that can travel backwards in time, time loops and parallel universes. They say that these may give cause for more non-traditional ways of seeing causality and for the possibility of neurological “time travel”. This means that, maybe, just maybe, understanding déjà vu as a means of seeing into the past or future cannot be dismissed.

So, tell me your story.

Mark Rowland
Lead Investigator
Black Hills Paranormal Investigations

If you are experiencing any paranormal activity and are in need of help contact us at either help@bhparanormal.com or though our website www.bhparanormal.com

I recently received an email from a reader asking if we investigated claims of reincarnation and suggested it may be a good topic of discussion.  So, here we go.
No, reincarnation is not something we investigate.  It may not even be considered paranormal.

Reincarnation is a doctrine or metaphysical belief that some essential part of our living being survives death to be reborn into a new body. This essential part is often referred to as the spirit or soul.  According to such beliefs, a new personality is developed during each life in the physical world, but some part of the self remains constant throughout the successive lives.

Belief in reincarnation has ancient roots.  It is a central tenet with many of the Indian(India) religions.  Many of the more modern movements/beliefs such as Neopagans, New Agers, followers of Spiritism, and students of esoteric philosophies such as Kabbalah, and Gnostic and Esoteric Christianity believe in reincarnation. 
Reincarnation is rejected by almost all mainstay Christian religions. Several groups which call themselves Christian that do believe in reincarnation include the Christian Community,  Liberal Catholic Church, Unity Church, The Christian Spiritualist Movement, the Rosicrucian Fellowship and Lectorium Rosicrucianum.  Reincarnation is also an intrinsic part of many Native American and Inuit traditions.

There are many people who have investigated reincarnation and come to the conclusion that it is a legitimate phenomenon. Some skeptics have analyzed many of these accounts, and called them anecdotal.  Some suggest that the gist of these arguments can be summarized as “we all know it can’t possibly be real, so therefore it isn’t real”.
The most obvious objection to reincarnation is that there is no evidence of a physical process by which a personality could survive death and travel to another body. Another objection is that most people do not remember previous lives. Possible counter-arguments are that not all people reincarnate, or that most people do not have memorable deaths. The vast majority of cases investigated at the University of Virginia involved people who had met some sort of violent or untimely death.
Some skeptics explain that claims of evidence for reincarnation originate from selective thinking and the psychological phenomena of false memories that often result from one’s own belief system and basic fears, and thus cannot be counted.
So, there you go. Reincarnation in a nutshell. If anyone has a topic or past life they wish to talk about let me know.

Mark Rowland
Lead Investigator
Black Hills Paranormal Investigations

If you are experiencing any paranormal activity and are in need of help contact us at either help@bhparanormal.com or though our website www.bhparanormal.com