[IGHS] Newsletter, October 17, 2004 Beatty, Nevada

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Mission Statement:

The Ghostweb is the official Web Site of the International Ghost Hunters Society. Membership in the IGHS is always FREE. The IGHS is an international society dedicated and committed to the research, documentation, education, and investigation of ghostly phenomena recorded through EVP, digital, film and video photography. The IGHS is a society of ghost believers, ghost hunters, and ghost researchers with over 15,000 members in 87 countries worldwide.

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International Ghost Hunters Society Newsletter

October 17, 2004 from Beatty, Nevada

Dr. Dave’s Notes:

I am sorry to announce that Sharon’s father passed away this past Wednesday. Things have been hectic to say the least. So far this year, it seems that tragedy has hit home for both of us. First, my Mother ended up in Intensive Care when her vehicle hit a dump truck in June and four months later, she is still recovering in a hospital. Now, Sharon is undergoing the grieving process for her Dad. It is hard for her to understand the alienation from her fundamentalist parents because of her decision to help others with grief counseling and her involvement in ghost research. Religion has driven a wedge between her and her parents, not by her choice, but by theirs. She will pay her final respects to her father on this coming Tuesday.

We have scheduled our Southwest Ghost Conference for March 25-27 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. More information can be found at http://www.ghostweb.com/swc.html regarding this conference. Book early, as we will again have limited seating available to us. We are planning on a meet and greet on Friday night, sessions and hands on investigations on Saturday and for those staying Sunday, we will have a list of haunted sites they can investigate in the Santa Fe and Albuquerque area.

We have some good news, our new book Haunted America Speaks is now available through the publisher and from bookstores starting in January 2005. The book will make you laugh, bring a tear to your eye, and send chills up your spine as you read the stories of our adventures with the phantoms of the night. The publisher is offering a 20% discount off of retail price through its web site at http://www.windstormcreative.com/windstorm/21038.htm or you can call the Publisher at 1-360-769-7174 to order the book. The book even list the web site where you can listen to the ghost voices recorded at the various haunted sites we investigated.

We will be doing another two-hour radio interview with David John Oates, founder and developer of Reverse Speech this coming Friday night. The broadcast will originate from Australia and the Australian fans of David John Oates. We will be playing the Forward and Reverse of our EVP recordings we have captured over the years. This is our second Australian radio program we have done with David John Oates.

Since doing the TV segment for Comcast G4TechTV, we have been investigating old ghost towns in central Nevada where we are without cell phone service. We have gotten some good EVP recordings at the ghost towns of Columbus and Candelaria, but when we drove a hundred miles to investigate another ghost town called Belmont that lies northeast of Tonopah, Nevada, all that occurred was some good photos being taken, but no EVPs at all. Belmont has the oldest court house in Nevada and the site of three mine mills. The ruins of half a dozen buildings still dot the landscape.

Supposedly, concerned citizens who felt the law was working too slowly for their taste hanged two men at the court house. We each recorded half a dozen tracks with our digital recorders in front and in the rear of the building, near the jail. We got absolutely nothing on the EVP recordings. The town, situated at an 8,000 foot elevation in the high desert, is nestled in a small narrow valley. The few people who live there are without electricity, each has their own source of power. We saw an old fashion windmill pumping water for one of the newer homes.

We then explored the old mills east of town and again got absolutely nothing for EVP. While the area has a good mining history and plenty of history, apparently there are no restless spirits. We have recorded in their cemetery many times over the years and have never gotten any EVP voices. The cemetery feels restful and apparently has no restless spirits. This was a good example of how we can conduct an investigation and get absolutely no results for our time. We will post the photos taken at Belmont in our Travel page on Ghostweb.com, so check back and view this ghost town.

We wanted to let those who have purchased our home study programs over the years to know that there is no time limit to complete the certification program. We know that sometimes changes occur that do not allow a person to complete the courses in a timely manner. We have had one person complete the courses after some major life changes forced them to put aside the study courses for a period of five years. Most other organizations would not honor a five year lapse, but we are different, we have been there and done that so we understand.

We arrived in Beatty to find all of the RV Parks full because of a local celebration, so we had to turn around and drive north again to stay at another favorite site, Bailey's Hot Springs RV Park. This is an old RV Park that has been around for at least three decades, as my parents would stop here when they traveled full time after my Dad's retirement from the Post Office.

The Park has three mineral springs’ bathhouses that are free to those who camp here. It is very relaxing to soak in a mineral spring; the worries of the day just sort of vanish away. The Park is very “rustic” or primitive is another term to describe the setting. We do have a nice shade tree outside the RV and a gentle breeze. The temperature is in the mid-seventies so the breeze is very pleasant. The only sour note we have for Beatty is their lack of cyber connections to the Internet, it seems that none of the RV Parks have data ports and none have any desire to install them.

We have come to appreciate sunsets as we approach our fifth year traveling full time on the road. Some of the most beautiful sunsets we have seen are in the high desert. We have viewed sunsets on the Pacific Ocean, sunsets from the swamp land in Florida, and amazing sunsets from the Gettysburg Battlefield. We have watched beautiful orange sunsets in Kansas and Nebraska, but none can compare to the brilliant fiery red sunsets of Arizona, such as when the silhouette of a lone giant saguaro cactus stands against the fiery red sky. When it is time for me to pass over, I would like to go as a brilliant fiery red sunset, and not as the hazy smog filled sunsets of Southern California.

Happy trails.

Sharon’s Notes:

Dave’s Mother is making some real progress these days. She is getting her strength back, walking the halls of the hospital with assistance and she is off the ventilator. There is a very good chance she will be returning home in a few months and she is more than ready for that. We are very relieved and thankful for her recovery. Thank you sincerely, to everyone who has prayed for her and cared about her condition since the accident. Though she doesn't know the people who have held her in their hearts and prayers, she is grateful to you all, as are we.

It is always difficult to accept the news that a loved one, especially a parent, has passed over. It was not easy for me to hear that my Father has died in his sleep on October 13. Though we did not always agree, it was a great loss for me to know that he has gone. I will miss him terribly and yet it is comforting to know that with his health declining over the past several years, he doesn't have to suffer any more.

October is always a busy month for us with Halloween coming. The interest in ghosts and goblins increases and people begin to wonder about the reality of ghosts. Who ya gonna call? We get a lot of calls and emails from people who just want to know more about the nature of ghosts. We talk with people and answer all of our email, and always have. The IGHS affiliate clubs try to maintain the same policy as people and their questions are important.

The new Ghost Hunter program is now on television and reliable sources are telling us that the program is a sham, scripted for television by amateurs. We get many emails from people who find the program laughable, others wonder about the validity of what is being shown. We watched about three minutes of the show a couple of weeks ago and found it to be nothing more than the typical hype found in most shows geared for fear. One IGHS member wrote to say that he knows the group in the Ghost Hunter show and they are nothing but amateurs who brag about all the ghost orbs, which are just ordinary dust orbs that they capture with their digital cameras. A reliable source told us that the EVP used on the show was faked. The Ghost Hunter show is a mockery to serious ghost researchers and is nothing more than another attempt at a reality show to produce fear.

In the meantime, the spirits who remain earthbound because of unresolved issues, emotional baggage, or not knowing they are dead are still out there misunderstood and feared. One lady wrote us and expressed her feeling about the show, as an injustice to the field of ghost research and to the spirits who remain on this plane of existence. We should be calling the show, not Ghost Hunters, but Panic Hunters, as they always seem to be in a panic.

We have received mail from members who are upset over recent hate emails sent to them. It amounts to the same hate and bashing that has taken place since the IGHS was established in 1996. The emails are sent by the same groups who feel the need to strike out at anyone “bigger” than themselves. With all the time they spend spreading hate and discontent, they have little time to accomplish anything productive in the field of ghost research. These same people learned from the IGHS, continue to follow our activities and read the weekly newsletters for ulterior reasons. The biggest point they try to make is the alleged fakery of Dave’s PhD, DD, and my PhD.

First of all, it took me two years of very hard work to earn the PhD behind my name with the sole purpose of helping others to understand death, loss, and the process of grief. I earned my degree from the University of Metaphysics, a private religious institution. I wanted to learn more and be able to share that knowledge with other people suffering the loss of a loved one, all the while not understanding the agony. It is an area of our lives that is not discussed openly and yet we all go through it during our lifetimes. My own experiences after losing my husband fifteen years ago showed me the tremendous need for knowledge in such a sensitive area. I not only learned about death and grief, I learned about the spirits around us and more about life itself.

I have learned from the writings of some of the best professionals who dedicated their own lives to understanding the soul, death and loss. People like Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, Dr. Raymond Moody, Dr. Karlis Osis, Dr. Louis Le Grande, and average people like Dannion Brinkley and Stephanie Ericsson. The education regarding death and humanity is an ongoing pursuit and research continues in some of the biggest hospitals and hospices in the nation. The biggest thing in this life that people have forgotten is that we are here to help each other, through thick and thin, good and bad.

I don't need a PhD behind my name to care about people or to help them understand what it is like to endure the pain of losing a child, a spouse, or a parent. The degree doesn't make me a big shot or give me knowledge; it only indicates that I've worked hard to learn so I can reach out to others who want to know more. I did not earn my degree to go out and perform brain surgery, but I am qualified to help people understand death so their hearts can begin to heal. My experience and devotion to the field of paranormal research, death, grief, and the reasons our loved ones try to contact us after death are my lifework.

Dave has experience in similar areas but he also has an extensive background in electronics and religious studies. It is because of his knowledge we have had the opportunities to share new techniques in the field of ghost hunting. Most of the equipment we have shared was not used before the IGHS was established. Tools that people are using everywhere; EMF Meters, hand held thermo scanners, motion sensors, digital cameras, the Sony Night Shot Video camera, digital recorders that perform accurately without the digital static, night vision scopes, were field tested and recommended by us.

Today, people can find these tools for sale on a hundred websites and they are used all over the world, for ghost hunting, thanks to Dave hard work in field testing and his recommendation of those tools. How to use them is a different story as many have purchased the tool but none comes with instructions for use, except here. Dave has compiled schematics for those who want to build their own EMF Meters that are free to download and he sends complete instructions for use of the tools sold on our website. No one else is offering instructions; they just want to make a sale.

The prototype for the new ultrasonic Tech Unit for real time communications with spirits of the dead is a result of Dave’s knowledge and work with an engineer who is very dedicated to developing this new technology. The IGHS is a progressive society focused on gaining more knowledge. Dave achieved his degrees from knowledge gained and used. My personal opinion has always been that if anyone deserved a degree in religion, it was Dave. I have known ministers far less knowledgeable in Biblical study than Dave and they stumble when it comes to helping those who question ghost activity or the existence of ghosts as demons. Mainstream ministers, pastors, and priests now come to Dave for help in understanding ghosts.

Dave’s degrees come from the legal recognized Universal Life Church. His Doctor of Divinity degree has been court tested and the Federal Court has deemed it legal. The Church also has the right to legally issue other degrees based on satisfactory passing of various examination, which he has completed. His degrees are not from a diploma mill, but from a legal licensed church that has ordained and licensed him as a minister. He could set up his own church and have congregational services, but he has elected to use his ordination in a different manner. Other churches like the Mormons send out young missionaries to recruit members, the Universal Life Church uses the Internet as their choice for member recruitment.

Yes, he can perform weddings or do baptism or any other church ritual legally in the eyes of the law, but he is teaching about spirituality, not about religion. His association with the Universal Life Church is a personal election, just as others elect to align with the Methodist, Lutherans, or the Catholic Church. This is what freedom of religion is all about, the right to choose for oneself how he or she shall worship their God. Dave is always helping others and it doesn't come from the degrees behind Dave’s name, it comes from his heart. The degrees are a result of a lifetime of genuine education and pursuit of truth.

Because of the work we have been doing for many years and the growth of the IGHS, there are those who overlook the accomplishments and have their needles stuck on something that does not make us the people that we are. We aren't promoting the Universal Life Church, or any other church; we are promoting truth and honesty in a scientific approach to ghost research. We cover all aspects of death, loss, grief, ghosts and things that go bump in the night. We set and follow Standards and Protocols to help eliminate natural causes when documenting the presence of spirits. There are far too many dust orbs posted on web sites today because these ghost hunters lack the knowledge and the training to recognize airborne dust particles from the real ghost anomalies.

People who meet and know us call us Dave and Sharon because that is who we are and who we will always be. We don't ride high above the crowd untouchable, like so many out in this field. The hate mail sent out is garbage intended to disrupt members of IGHS associated clubs. The people behind this are negative and their thinking stems from age old sour grapes. If they can't be successful by working at something then the next best thing is sitting back and sending out degrading emails about others. Maybe they can find success in bashing those who work hard and find success in their work. Their agenda is self serving, as they give no regard to serious researchers who really don't give a hang about the bashing going on.

Regardless of the attempts to raise doubts about Dave and myself, the IGHS is growing world-wide. We have over 15,000 members in the US and around the world and growing at the rate of over 100 new members a month. These are serious researchers who have learned from us and want to explore the realm of ghosts and learn more. Some have gone on to counsel people about ghost activity as well as death, loss and grief. These are productive people working to make a difference, documenting evidence so we can lighten the shadowy areas of our knowledge. The IGHS is the largest, most established ghost web site on the Internet today. That says volumes over hate mail sent by a few people with nothing better to do with their time as they hide in the shadows so no one knows exactly who they are.

Our country has changed since the tragedy of 9/11 when terror struck our homeland. There is suspicion, distrust of just about everything, and if you turn on the television for ten minutes, you can hear the hate and degradation our politicians have for each other. People live in fear of more attacks as the warnings continue to pour through the media. I would think at a human level, we could at least learn to focus on more positive issues and cease with the outpouring of negativity thrown at each other for no reason other than something to perpetuate the unrest. That seems to be something that some people never learn.

Happy Haunting.

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Sharon has created six different designs for her sterling silver ghost charm necklaces, with either carnelian and turquoise or carnelian and hematine stones. The sterling silver ghost charm measures about an inch in length. She also has created some beautiful jewelry by wire wrapping stunning carnelian nuggets that we found in the desert near Deming, New Mexico. The carnelian nuggets were tumbled for five weeks to bring out their natural beauty. She also has earrings with carnelian and combinations of either turquoise or hematine. Get your orders in today by going to http://photos1.ghostweb.com/carn2.html.

Digital Ghost Photography Handbook:

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How to Record and Analyze Ghost Voices:

We have shared the hidden techniques that enable us to be tremendously successful in recording the voices of the dead. If you need a step by step booklet to help you achieve the same success as we enjoy, including which software to use to analyze the EVP recordings or what cables to use to hook up the recorder to the computer, search no further, check out the booklet at http://www.ghostweb.com/booklet.html. We ship via Priority Mail through the Post Office or download it as a PDF that can be printed out on your end.

CD Version Home Study Courses:

We are having our Halloween Special with special discounts on all Home Study Courses. This is the premier certification program for ghost researchers and paranormal investigators, written by professional full time ghost researchers, Drs. Dave & Sharon. Part 1 deals with ghosts and the psychology of earth bound spirits, and Part 2 deals with working with people who are haunted by loved ones. We teach the scientific approach specializing in ghost photography and etheric voice phenomenon with 28 years of combined experience in this field. Read the recent testimonial. More information is available at our Halloween Special discount site at http://www.ghostweb.com/mainhsc1.html

Password Memberships:

We offer a special membership in our Ghostweb Ghost Galleries. Due to the size of these ghost galleries, we have to limit the number of people because of the bandwidth consumed by downloading the photos, spirit voices, and ghost videos in this area. If you want to view the largest collection of ghost photos, EVPs, and videos, check out our membership program at http://www.ghostweb.com/pass.html.

Life Time IGHS Member Certificate:

Instead of renewing every year, IGHS members can now purchase a Life Time Membership for $60 or a Life Time Membership and Life Time Clip ID Badge for $75. This is available through PayPal and through our online Secure Order Form at http://www.ghostweb.com/memcert.html.

IGHS ID Badges for Investigations:

We have received many requests for some kind of Identification Badge to wear while conducting field investigations. We have created a laminated ID Badge with a metal clip that snaps onto your shirt or other piece of clothing. It says that you are a Registered Ghost Hunter/Paranormal Investigator in good standing with the International Ghost Hunters Society and it has our signatures and web address. Order the ID Badge at http://www.ghostweb.com/id_badge.html.

IGHS Membership Certificates:

The IGHS offers a beautiful Membership Certificate. The membership certificate is valid for one year Check it out at http://www.ghostweb.com/memcert.html for more information.

Kind regards,

Dave, Sharon & BooBoo

International Ghost Hunters Society