WELCOME
Welcome to the P.S.I. Website!
The Paranormal Scientific Investigators (PSI), a nonprofit organization, was founded
on October 15, 2005. We are a group of regular guys and gals with daytime jobs
and share a common interest in the paranormal. When we first began we had only a
few scientific instruments. We began by investigating where some of the local
folklore indicated paranormal activity had occurred in the past. As we grew in
members, we also grew in our methodology, as well as in our scientific
instrumentation. We learned from our earlier investigations and later redefined what
our goals are. PSI has matured considerably from those initial investigations.
We are located in southwest Ohio with our base in Greenfield, which is located at
the northeast corner of Highland County. Because we are non-profit we are doing all
of this at our own expense and so must coordinate to do this after hours. Unlike
many other groups we will only present factual evidence and under no circumstance
provide false, incomplete, or uncertain evidence. We use the scientific method of
inquiry in our investigations, looking for natural explanations first, then consider the
actual evidence, allowing it to speak for itself. Research and experimentation is
encouraged.
Our group has been to a dozen private residences more than once, a number of
public investigations, including the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio. Our
investigations have taken us to a number of Ohio counties including Highland,
Fayette, Clinton, Richland, Green, Muskingum, Fairfield, and Lucas.
PSI has set up a booth at the Wheels of Progress festival in Greenfield, Ohio, gave
a public presentation at a public library, was contacted by WCPO-TV Channel 12,
from out of Cincinnati, Ohio, interviewed by The Intelligencer & Wheeling News
(West Virginia), and interviewed by The Chronicle Cluster. PSI has also participated
in a raffle for a television set.
Members past and present have included Donnie Shepherd and Mark Stewart
(co-founders), Kendra Frank, Scott Fulkerson, Miranda Stewart, Ron Fulkerson,
Michelle Dunn, Beth Cameron, Joette Hesler, Joni Gilliland, Jonda Lombardo, and
Mike Livingston.
The Paranormal Scientific Investigators (PSI), a nonprofit organization, was founded
on October 15, 2005. We are a group of regular guys and gals with daytime jobs
and share a common interest in the paranormal. When we first began we had only a
few scientific instruments. We began by investigating where some of the local
folklore indicated paranormal activity had occurred in the past. As we grew in
members, we also grew in our methodology, as well as in our scientific
instrumentation. We learned from our earlier investigations and later redefined what
our goals are. PSI has matured considerably from those initial investigations.
We are located in southwest Ohio with our base in Greenfield, which is located at
the northeast corner of Highland County. Because we are non-profit we are doing all
of this at our own expense and so must coordinate to do this after hours. Unlike
many other groups we will only present factual evidence and under no circumstance
provide false, incomplete, or uncertain evidence. We use the scientific method of
inquiry in our investigations, looking for natural explanations first, then consider the
actual evidence, allowing it to speak for itself. Research and experimentation is
encouraged.
Our group has been to a dozen private residences more than once, a number of
public investigations, including the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio. Our
investigations have taken us to a number of Ohio counties including Highland,
Fayette, Clinton, Richland, Green, Muskingum, Fairfield, and Lucas.
PSI has set up a booth at the Wheels of Progress festival in Greenfield, Ohio, gave
a public presentation at a public library, was contacted by WCPO-TV Channel 12,
from out of Cincinnati, Ohio, interviewed by The Intelligencer & Wheeling News
(West Virginia), and interviewed by The Chronicle Cluster. PSI has also participated
in a raffle for a television set.
Members past and present have included Donnie Shepherd and Mark Stewart
(co-founders), Kendra Frank, Scott Fulkerson, Miranda Stewart, Ron Fulkerson,
Michelle Dunn, Beth Cameron, Joette Hesler, Joni Gilliland, Jonda Lombardo, and
Mike Livingston.
Haunted Ohio Where Are You
Hey everyone we are currently trying to create a page of haunted
places in Ohio, if you know of one e-mail us and we'll post it. Feel free
to contact us through e-mail at the address at the bottom of the page
with your story. Please leave anything out that you don't won't posted.
Thanks for your help.
Hey everyone we are currently trying to create a page of haunted
places in Ohio, if you know of one e-mail us and we'll post it. Feel free
to contact us through e-mail at the address at the bottom of the page
with your story. Please leave anything out that you don't won't posted.
Thanks for your help.
| Solar X-rays: Geomagnetic Field: |
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CURRENT MOON
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Do you have a place that you
believe to be haunted and want
someone to check it out, then
contact us through the contact
form and we'll try to help.
CONTACT FORM
believe to be haunted and want
someone to check it out, then
contact us through the contact
form and we'll try to help.
CONTACT FORM
To vote for our site
click on one of the
links below.
click on one of the
links below.
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Have paranormal
activity and need help,
contact us here and
we'll try to help,
possibly set up a time
for us to conduct an
investigation.
CONTACT FORM
activity and need help,
contact us here and
we'll try to help,
possibly set up a time
for us to conduct an
investigation.
CONTACT FORM
We want you to be heard, have your
opinions posted on our site in the form
of an article. Please submit yours to
donnie2918@aol.com, but please do
not copy anyone else's writings.
opinions posted on our site in the form
of an article. Please submit yours to
donnie2918@aol.com, but please do
not copy anyone else's writings.
Findings for the Christophers case
have been posted.
have been posted.
| This site is intended for the education of individuals who want to learn about the paranormal world. Please look into our articles and definitions to learn valuable information about ghost hunting do's and don'ts. |
PSI has decided once again to take
part in the local Wheels of Progress in
Greenfield, Ohio on July 18, 19 and
20th. Please stop by our booth and
check us out.
part in the local Wheels of Progress in
Greenfield, Ohio on July 18, 19 and
20th. Please stop by our booth and
check us out.
PSI has created a
documentary on the
Mansfield prison event from
2006. Click here to watch
our video.
documentary on the
Mansfield prison event from
2006. Click here to watch
our video.
The Uses of Scientific Theory
By Mark Stewart
We now look very briefly at the uses of scientific theory. I do not want to
spend a lot of time on this because to some extent it is or should be self-
evident. This section could be developed at length, but it is not the main
purpose of these series of articles to do so. Suffice it to say that theory is an
inherent part of the body of scientific knowledge and of the activity that we
know as science. It would be impossible to have science without theory,
because without theory science would simply be a collection of data, a
gathering of information, and perhaps a classification of that data. Science
would be a sterile, dead-end kind of activity if there were no theory. The
excitement and the interest of science is, having collected the information, the
data and the observations, then to be able to impose on them some meaning
and some significance – to be able to say, “I behold, I see a pattern, a picture,
a meaning, a significance here.” Science, as we know it, could not exist
without theory.
Science in my view has two main functions. First of all, it is a method that
enables us to understand the universe in which we live. This is really science
for science’s sake, for the sake of knowledge (the basic meaning of he word
“science” is “knowledge”). It is the accumulation of knowledge, not simply as
data and facts, but as an understanding or interpretation of the material world
around us.
The first use of science and scientific theory then is to comprehend the
universe around us. But secondly, scientific theory has a use in its
application. All engineering, all applied science, with the vast array of activity
that these expressions represent and understand, are concerned with the
predictive use of scientific theory. This is disguised, but in a very real manner
we use scientific theory in a predictive sense whenever we design a structure
or machine of any type. We say, “If I build this electric motor with this number
of turns of electric wire, then it will generate this particular power at this
particular voltage”. We are using the laws of science to predict what will
happen if we make our machine in a certain way. This is the process of
engineering design. Because the theory employed is at the well-established
end of the spectrum of that I have been speaking, the electric motor does
more or less what it was designed to do. Aero engine design involves the
careful application of many theories including those of aerodynamics,
combustion and thermodynamics. Generally speaking, therefore, engineering
is an illustration of the predictive use of scientific theory, and it is unnecessary
to emphasize the influence of such activities upon our daily experience. No
doubt, in most cases, these effects are beneficial to mankind.
In my final papers I will deal with the abuses of scientific theory and will
conclude on how these things apply to ghost theory and the paranormal.
By Mark Stewart
We now look very briefly at the uses of scientific theory. I do not want to
spend a lot of time on this because to some extent it is or should be self-
evident. This section could be developed at length, but it is not the main
purpose of these series of articles to do so. Suffice it to say that theory is an
inherent part of the body of scientific knowledge and of the activity that we
know as science. It would be impossible to have science without theory,
because without theory science would simply be a collection of data, a
gathering of information, and perhaps a classification of that data. Science
would be a sterile, dead-end kind of activity if there were no theory. The
excitement and the interest of science is, having collected the information, the
data and the observations, then to be able to impose on them some meaning
and some significance – to be able to say, “I behold, I see a pattern, a picture,
a meaning, a significance here.” Science, as we know it, could not exist
without theory.
Science in my view has two main functions. First of all, it is a method that
enables us to understand the universe in which we live. This is really science
for science’s sake, for the sake of knowledge (the basic meaning of he word
“science” is “knowledge”). It is the accumulation of knowledge, not simply as
data and facts, but as an understanding or interpretation of the material world
around us.
The first use of science and scientific theory then is to comprehend the
universe around us. But secondly, scientific theory has a use in its
application. All engineering, all applied science, with the vast array of activity
that these expressions represent and understand, are concerned with the
predictive use of scientific theory. This is disguised, but in a very real manner
we use scientific theory in a predictive sense whenever we design a structure
or machine of any type. We say, “If I build this electric motor with this number
of turns of electric wire, then it will generate this particular power at this
particular voltage”. We are using the laws of science to predict what will
happen if we make our machine in a certain way. This is the process of
engineering design. Because the theory employed is at the well-established
end of the spectrum of that I have been speaking, the electric motor does
more or less what it was designed to do. Aero engine design involves the
careful application of many theories including those of aerodynamics,
combustion and thermodynamics. Generally speaking, therefore, engineering
is an illustration of the predictive use of scientific theory, and it is unnecessary
to emphasize the influence of such activities upon our daily experience. No
doubt, in most cases, these effects are beneficial to mankind.
In my final papers I will deal with the abuses of scientific theory and will
conclude on how these things apply to ghost theory and the paranormal.
The Abuses of Scientific Theory
By Mark Stewart
The abuses of scientific theory arise when the nature of scientific theory,
which concerned me in the previous articles, is either ignored or forgotten. It
is generally true that abuse of anything arises when the nature of that thing is
forgotten or ignored. We can therefore look at the various abuses that
parallel the several statements made in my previous articles about the nature
of scientific theory.
The first arises when theory is confused to, or equate with, fact – when the
theory, which is the interpretation of facts, is confused with the facts of
observation themselves. I have already labored the point that this is what very
commonly happens in the popularization of science. When you are attempting
to present something very simply, you can easily present the theory as
something equal to the facts. This error arises because, in presenting a
popular or simplified picture it is easy to present the concept or the theory
and leave it at that. You may never get around to presenting the facts upon
which that concept is based, and from which that concept has been derived.
By calling for the original facts, we can get underneath the theory that has
been proposed and can question the theory. When ideas are presented to
me and it is indicated that the ideas or theory explains it all in a certain
manner, I am usually rather suspicious and therefore ask to look at the
original data. Quite often I find that the data fail to support the theory. I may
indicate for example that there may be a linear relationship between X and Y,
but when I look at the points on the graph I don’t see a linear relationship; I
see a general scatter of data. By calling for the original facts, I have
attempted to get underneath the theory that has been proposed and I may
have questioned that theory. But if the theory is presented to you as popular
science, then the facts are not usually presented to you at all. I may indicate
that this is the case; there is a linear relationship, meaning only that I have
interpreted the data in that particular way. The layman, being denied access
to the underlying facts, usually has no alternative but to accept the statement
at its face value. Thus confusion easily arises between the facts and the
theory. One man’s highly publicized interpretation may become equated with
reality in people’s minds. I call this type of abuse dogmatism. Dogmatism is
when a theory is presented as reality, as fact, instead of as an interpretation
of facts.
The second abuse is that of extrapolation. That is when a theory, which may
be perfectly good in one realm, is extended, without justification, into realms
where it is not known to apply. There is this danger, therefore, of taking a
valid, established theory that applies to a narrow realm of nature and
extending it into regions where its behavior and its validity have not been well
established and visa versa. This is a very real and serious problem that is
frequently encountered in research work. Often these matters can only be
resolved by making further measurements.
The third manner in which theory can be abused is by exaggeration. That is
when the theory is accorded a status that is inappropriate to its degree of
validation. I previously indicated theories could exist on all levels of validity,
from the hypothesis right through to the law of nature. If you take a hypothesis
and endue it with the standing of a law of nature, you are abusing scientific
theory. It is always important to give a theory the status, to attribute to it the
validity that is appropriate to its level of development.
Then fourthly, and perhaps this is the worst abuse of all there is subjectivism.
This arises when a theory is defended against the facts of observation, i.e.
when a theory is maintained in spite of new facts that emerge to indicate that
the theory is inadequate or false. Unfortunately, this happens all the time
because scientists, or in our case, paranormal investigators or researchers
are human beings and they have emotions like other human beings. There is
a degree, sometimes a strong degree, of emotional involvement of a
paranormal investigator or research or a scientist for that matter in their work.
If a woman or man has spent his whole life developing and building up a
certain theory, he or she is not going to take kindly to new evidence that
destroys that theory. There is a common joke among scientists, that if you
have two or three results that appear to prove the thing you want to prove,
you should refrain from carrying out more experiments, in case the next result
does not agree! The temptation is to stop one’s thinking at the point where it
works and to dismiss or ignore the unpleasant facts that come along,
sometimes later, to show that the theory is not as good as was thought in the
first place. There is this conservatism, this subjectivism that makes us all want
to defend our theoretical understanding of nature or the supernatural against
new facts that arise.
This is not the popular concept of science of course. Science is so objective
in the popular view that every piece of evidence is taken purely on its merits,
but in reality this is not so. Scientists, researchers, and yes even paranormal
investigators tend to select the evidence that supports their preconceived
ideas. In this respect they behave like the normal human beings they really
are! If you are aware of your preconceived notions, while investigating or
doing paranormal research, you are one step ahead of the many who are not.
There is a fifth abuse I will mention just briefly. This occurs when scientific
theory is used to justify activities in the non-scientific realm; to justify political,
social, racial, or even tendentious educational developments. This I would call
the abuse of exploitation.
In my next article I hope to lay down my presuppositions and my foundational
thoughts regarding ghost theory and how we may be able to employ the
scientific method in investigating the paranormal.
By Mark Stewart
The abuses of scientific theory arise when the nature of scientific theory,
which concerned me in the previous articles, is either ignored or forgotten. It
is generally true that abuse of anything arises when the nature of that thing is
forgotten or ignored. We can therefore look at the various abuses that
parallel the several statements made in my previous articles about the nature
of scientific theory.
The first arises when theory is confused to, or equate with, fact – when the
theory, which is the interpretation of facts, is confused with the facts of
observation themselves. I have already labored the point that this is what very
commonly happens in the popularization of science. When you are attempting
to present something very simply, you can easily present the theory as
something equal to the facts. This error arises because, in presenting a
popular or simplified picture it is easy to present the concept or the theory
and leave it at that. You may never get around to presenting the facts upon
which that concept is based, and from which that concept has been derived.
By calling for the original facts, we can get underneath the theory that has
been proposed and can question the theory. When ideas are presented to
me and it is indicated that the ideas or theory explains it all in a certain
manner, I am usually rather suspicious and therefore ask to look at the
original data. Quite often I find that the data fail to support the theory. I may
indicate for example that there may be a linear relationship between X and Y,
but when I look at the points on the graph I don’t see a linear relationship; I
see a general scatter of data. By calling for the original facts, I have
attempted to get underneath the theory that has been proposed and I may
have questioned that theory. But if the theory is presented to you as popular
science, then the facts are not usually presented to you at all. I may indicate
that this is the case; there is a linear relationship, meaning only that I have
interpreted the data in that particular way. The layman, being denied access
to the underlying facts, usually has no alternative but to accept the statement
at its face value. Thus confusion easily arises between the facts and the
theory. One man’s highly publicized interpretation may become equated with
reality in people’s minds. I call this type of abuse dogmatism. Dogmatism is
when a theory is presented as reality, as fact, instead of as an interpretation
of facts.
The second abuse is that of extrapolation. That is when a theory, which may
be perfectly good in one realm, is extended, without justification, into realms
where it is not known to apply. There is this danger, therefore, of taking a
valid, established theory that applies to a narrow realm of nature and
extending it into regions where its behavior and its validity have not been well
established and visa versa. This is a very real and serious problem that is
frequently encountered in research work. Often these matters can only be
resolved by making further measurements.
The third manner in which theory can be abused is by exaggeration. That is
when the theory is accorded a status that is inappropriate to its degree of
validation. I previously indicated theories could exist on all levels of validity,
from the hypothesis right through to the law of nature. If you take a hypothesis
and endue it with the standing of a law of nature, you are abusing scientific
theory. It is always important to give a theory the status, to attribute to it the
validity that is appropriate to its level of development.
Then fourthly, and perhaps this is the worst abuse of all there is subjectivism.
This arises when a theory is defended against the facts of observation, i.e.
when a theory is maintained in spite of new facts that emerge to indicate that
the theory is inadequate or false. Unfortunately, this happens all the time
because scientists, or in our case, paranormal investigators or researchers
are human beings and they have emotions like other human beings. There is
a degree, sometimes a strong degree, of emotional involvement of a
paranormal investigator or research or a scientist for that matter in their work.
If a woman or man has spent his whole life developing and building up a
certain theory, he or she is not going to take kindly to new evidence that
destroys that theory. There is a common joke among scientists, that if you
have two or three results that appear to prove the thing you want to prove,
you should refrain from carrying out more experiments, in case the next result
does not agree! The temptation is to stop one’s thinking at the point where it
works and to dismiss or ignore the unpleasant facts that come along,
sometimes later, to show that the theory is not as good as was thought in the
first place. There is this conservatism, this subjectivism that makes us all want
to defend our theoretical understanding of nature or the supernatural against
new facts that arise.
This is not the popular concept of science of course. Science is so objective
in the popular view that every piece of evidence is taken purely on its merits,
but in reality this is not so. Scientists, researchers, and yes even paranormal
investigators tend to select the evidence that supports their preconceived
ideas. In this respect they behave like the normal human beings they really
are! If you are aware of your preconceived notions, while investigating or
doing paranormal research, you are one step ahead of the many who are not.
There is a fifth abuse I will mention just briefly. This occurs when scientific
theory is used to justify activities in the non-scientific realm; to justify political,
social, racial, or even tendentious educational developments. This I would call
the abuse of exploitation.
In my next article I hope to lay down my presuppositions and my foundational
thoughts regarding ghost theory and how we may be able to employ the
scientific method in investigating the paranormal.
Are you interested in ghosts and want
to join a reputable team, then sign up
with PSI. We are looking for well
driving individuals willing to spend time
to try and document paranormal
activity. All new members will be given
a training course on different
instruments, training will be in a class
room and in the field. Please fill out an
application here or email us and we will
send you one and you can mail it back
to us.
CLICK HERE TO GET APPLICATION
to join a reputable team, then sign up
with PSI. We are looking for well
driving individuals willing to spend time
to try and document paranormal
activity. All new members will be given
a training course on different
instruments, training will be in a class
room and in the field. Please fill out an
application here or email us and we will
send you one and you can mail it back
to us.
CLICK HERE TO GET APPLICATION
http://bandedspirits.gotop100.com/in.php?ref=104