Remembering the real masters of the paranormal
BY CARL OLIN
LONG BEFORE the SciFi reality-TV series, Ghost Hunters, the ?real? paranormal/parapsychological investigators, Loyd Auerbach, Christopher Chacon and William Roll were each, independently, conducting their own extraordinary research into ghosts and poltergeists. As a result of television shows about the paranormal, many new self-proclaimed paranormal investigators and research groups have sprouted up all over the world. But make no mistake, today?s so-called paranormal researchers still cannot hold a candle to Auerbach, Chacon and Roll and the select few other world-renowned veteran paranormal experts that have been conducting field and laboratory investigations long before reality TV cast a spotlight onto this subject matter.
Amidst the thousands of researchers and investigators now in the world who consider themselves ?paranormal researchers,? only a select few perpetually reigning top experts are true veterans of exploring these phenomena and continue to remain as the highest authorities and undisputed experts in their respective areas of the paranormal.
Because the world of the paranormal consists of so many sub-categories, there are researchers and experts that specialize in each category, with the exception of one or two ultimate experts that explore all-categories of the paranormal. The many categories of the paranormal include, but are not limited to: Supernatural phenomena (poltergeists, witchcraft, demonic possession, reincarnation, etc.), parapsychological/psychic phenomena (telepathy, clairvoyance, out-of-body experiences, etc.), close encounters and extraterrestrial phenomena, cryptozoology (Bigfoot, Loch Ness Monster, chupacabras, etc.) and miscellaneous anomalous/Fortean phenomena (crop circles, Bermuda Triangle, raining worms, etc.). Within each of these categories, there are experts who specialize in the investigation and documentation of these phenomena.
The top researchers
In the area of supernatural phenomena, the top field-investigative experts in the world, listed in alphabetical order, are Fr. Gabriele Amorth, Christopher Chacon and William Roll. These three experts are also listed among the top experts in parapsychological/psychic phenomena, along with Loyd Auerbach, Hans Holzer, Brad Steiger, Arthur Hastings, Dean Radin, Marilyn Schlitz and Charles Tart.
In the area of UFO close encounters and extraterrestrial experiences, the top, most recognizable experts are Preston Dennett, Stanton Friedman, Timothy Good, Richard Haines, Bud Hopkins and Bruce Maccabee.
For cryptozoology phenomena, the highest regarded experts are Loren Coleman, Karl Shuker and John Wall, all of whom have conducted field investigations surrounding creatures that defy known categorization and knowledge.
While all these experts specialize in field investigations or lab research of phenomena, the arena of paranormal phenomena must also recognize those highly respected experts who are primarily professional ?arm-chair researchers? and collectors of anecdotal paranormal information. One of these was Charles Berlitz, a long-time researcher who specialized in gathering information on a variety of supernatural phenomena for his many books. Another professional arm-chair researcher is William Corliss, a modern-day Charles Fort, who has been documenting reports of anomalous phenomena for his books and website specializing in anomalies.
Ignored by TV
These select few top experts have earned a place in paranormal history because of the quality and integrity of their paranormal investigating that allow them the elite status of being regarded amongst the top in their fields. In addition to their vast knowledge and incomparable expertise, they each possess fascinating backgrounds, amazing documented experiences and intriguing personalities. And yet even with this invaluable wealth of paranormal experts at their disposal, TV executives prefer to dip into a pool of amateurs and novices in an attempt to give credibility to their TV shows.
In the last five or so years, primarily as a result of enormously popular TV programming of the late 1980s and '90s, hundreds upon hundreds of new self-proclaimed paranormal researchers and investigators have appeared, flooding the world of the paranormal.
Ironically enough, if it were not for the ?real experts,? previously mentioned, and the extraordinary research they had conducted, the majority of these recent novices and wannabes would have never been inspired to follow in their footsteps.
Christopher Chacon, for example, is a highly-regarded internationally known veteran paranormal investigator, and while he had been featured on countless TV programs all through the '80s and '90s, has not been interviewed or utilized on any of these recent shows. As earlier mentioned, there are only one or two investigators in the world who are considered the ?ultimate paranormal experts? because of the global nature of field investigations that encompass all categories of the paranormal. Chacon is regarded as one of these experts.
Chacon is one of the few paranormal authorities whose expertise, experiences and research cross-over each category of the paranormal. He has participated in thousands of cases investigating and researching all types of extraordinary phenomena, from supernatural phenomena such as poltergesists and haunts to UFO close encounters, from anomalous phenomena to cryptozoology, from psychic/parapsychological phenomena to demonic possession.
Chacon is also one of the world?s foremost experts and field explorers surrounding metaphysics and ancient mysticism. He is a former scientific investigator/researcher with the Phenomenology Division of The Office of Scientific Investigation and Research (O.S.I.R.). The O.S.I.R. is the only international private agency of its kind in the world that scientifically explores paranormal and anomalous phenomena. In addition to his elite O.S.I.R. training, Chacon?s research and experiences are made-up of an infinite number of laboratory and actual field research, encountering and exploring phenomena of every type. For these impressive reasons, Chacon is considered one of the overall top experts in the paranormal.
The wannabes
The world of paranormal investigating today has been commercialized and degraded by the countless sensationalistic and frivolous reality TV programs produced over the last few years. With the canceling of the TV series, Sightings in 1997 and The Other Side, all attempts at producing quality and credible reality-TV programming about the paranormal has resulted in failure. Gone are the professionally depicted parapsychological investigations seen on Unsolved Mysteries, replaced with such mediocre programming as Worlds Scariest Places, Court TV?s Haunting Evidence or even the Travel Channel?s, Weird Travels.
Instead of featuring such world-renowned experts as parapsychologist Loyd Auerbach, TV series like, Ghost Hunters and X Testers prefer to feature self-proclaimed experts with little or no actual documented field experience in conducting investigations of this type.
The investigators on these new TV shows self-promote themselves as experts, but the facts in the paranormal and parapsychological community is well-documented and prove these amateurs otherwise.
Why producers do not utilize such experts as Auerbach is, honestly, quite baffling. Not only was he a university professor who taught parapsychology, but he is also the author of several excellent and very successful books on parapsychology. One can only speculate that the producers? agenda of the ?bottom line? and producing the cheapest possible show, coupled by the need to have expendable talent, fuels their creative decision-making.
And now comes word of yet another reality series that will feature college-age students recklessly investigating paranormal phenomena. In the spirit of the atrocious MTV series, Fear, which was cancelled several years ago, MTV has in production a new series that will, in the same mindless way, stumble irresponsibly into the world of the paranormal for the simple reason of shock value. The young ?researchers? (I use the term loosely) will attempt to explore supernatural phenomena in a negligent and unscientific manner, putting to shame the field of paranormal investigations.
A call for professionalism
While it is a wonderful and exciting fact that so many fans of the paranormal have been empowered to conduct their own research, with some even forming their own groups and organizations, the idea that anyone can out-qualify the ?true masters of the paranormal? is absurd and an insult to the integrity of all those who are true connoisseurs of the subject matter.
Perhaps one day TV programming that features the paranormal will once again return to quality and integrity and bring back these incomparable experts in an attempt to restore its respect with the TV audience and stop alienating the true fans of the paranormal.
Carl Olin is a book restorer and senior librarian for the main library of an Ivy-League university. He spends his spare time studying and researching articles on paranormal phenomena and parapsychology.
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