So far, there is no scientific proof that ghosts and spirits really exist. There are a large number a paranormal research teams throughout the country and indeed the world. So, why have all of their collective findings, not been enough to confirm the existance ghosts and to sway the minds of scientists? The truth is, although the information collected on the subject over the years may seem a lot, none of the information is actually fact! It's all theory. Ghosts are thought be the invisible remnance or soul that gets left behind when a person or animal dies. They are thought to be made up of ectoplasm. The word ectoplasm comes from the Greek words ektos and plasma, which literally mean exteriorized substance. It's something that has no physical mass and therefore cannot be touched. Scientists will not acknowledge anything that cannot be touched, measured or experimented on except for gravity. Spirits manifest themselves by using and manipulating any energy that is available to them, from power lines and leylines, to batteries and even human energy. Since nobody has ever discovered a way to capture the energy of a ghost or spirit, it cannot be scientically recognised as fact. But do we really want it to be proven? Would it take the fun out of horror movies, ghost stories, local ghost walks, paranormal investigations and halloween? One thing I do know is that if the existance of ghosts was proven, the mystery would be lost forever!

Once a month the Ghosthunteruk.com paranormal investigation team gets together to aid in the research of paranormal activity. We venture around the various different venues that have a reputation for being haunted. Before we arrive at our chosen site, we hold two meetings. The first is held about 2 weeks before the investigation, to talk about the findings of the previous investigation and where we'll be visiting on our next one. The second meeting consists of a full briefing of the task ahead and a little bit of social time to build trust between the crew members. Afterall, no-one will be on their own during the evening investigation and so will need to trust the people they sit the vigils with.

When we arrive at our destination, we perform what are called baseline tests. This means we walk the area checking for natural air flows and cold spots. We also walk around with an EMF meter (electro magnetic field) looking for any large amount of EMF that may always be there. EMF can be picked up from most things elecrical but especially radios and mobile phones, so we don't want get readings from radio equipment mixed up the possible energy of a ghost. We also take thermo readings in the most active areas to measure any rapid change in temperture. All of our baseline check information is documented and charted so that we can compare any changes to our readings.

Shortly afterwards, we have yet another walk around with the most important member of our team...spiritual medium and clairvoyant Helen Gayle. Helen informs us of any active or residual energies that may still linger at our location. She lets us know what to expect and also communicates with the spirits, finding out names, dates and history. Helen can tell us what sort of person the ghost was when they were in the physical life, why they are there, what they did and how they died. Every single word and piece of evidence that is given to Helen by the spirits can be completely trusted. She has even spoken words that she has never used before and words that are not used in her everyday vocabulary. These are words that have been given by spirit. Everything that Helen says is noted down for later research.

After the walk round with Helen we start setting up equipment like CCTV and infra-red cameras, motion detectors, trigger objects and audio devices. We may dust some areas with flour to try to get ghost prints. The crew then venture throughout the building, sitting 30 minute vigils while filming in infra-red, taking photos and asking the spirits to make noise, move something or even to show itself. At around midnight, the crew joins back together to perform a seance hosted by Helen. We then continue the vigils. The group documents all of their findings and all of the information is brought forward to create a DVD of the investigation.