Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Normal.
Hi Sarah, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I started in the paranormal, as many in my field do, by growing up in a haunted house. Then in 2006, during a near-death experience, I was visited by close relatives who had passed away years earlier. I quickly became fascinated with the study of consciousness surviving bodily death. Now years later, I can call myself a serious student of Parapsychology. Parapsychology is an applied science that uses the scientific method to study hauntings, apparitions, E.S.P., and psychic experiences. I continue taking classes at The Rhine Institute to this day and am a Certified Parapsychological Field Investigator.
After returning from an eye-opening trip to Gettysburg in 2021, I wanted to get more field experience. That is, I wanted to study reports by the general public of their homes being haunted. After speaking to some ghost-hunting groups and shadowing a local team in St. Petersburg, I quickly realized something that appalled me. People were genuinely calling paranormal groups because they had unexplained activity and were frightened. In return, they had people come into their homes to scare them further with the words “evil” or “demon” for what? I believe in making compelling YouTube videos or copying what they see on T.V. I knew I had to do something different.
I started F.P.I Florida Paranormal Investigators with my partner Jen to offer my neighbors a genuine way to get help if they believe their home has paranormal activity. I was inspired by the work of paranormal investigators such as Amy Bruni and Adam Berry from the show Kindred Spirits and my Parapsychology professor Loyd Auerbach. We aim to approach each investigation by first ruling out “normal” environmental explanations. You would be surprised how many things in our everyday environment can make us feel that something spooky is happening. However, If the events can not be explained with known factors, we work with the family to find a resolution. We do not charge for these services, but many of our kind clients wanted to give us something out of gratitude. Because of this, we have recently filed Articles of Incorporation, forming Ghost Advocates Inc., which will work with local autism charities. Our motto is “Spirits Shining a Light on the Spectrum.”
Paranormal Investigations is a passion project, and I could not do it alone. My amazing teammates also volunteer their time for the love of the work and a willingness to help. Thank you, Heidy, Mikey, and Jen. I could not do this without your exceptional talent and hard work. F.P.I. continues to add new members with upcoming historical events and lectures scheduled in the Fall. Our mission is to Research, Educate and Help.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Working in a field that not everyone accepts as accurate will never be easy. People will call us crazy and weird. For my part, I am a proud weirdo, so I am ok with it. I’m pretty sure my team is too.
It’s a struggle financially. Traditionally paranormal investigators do not accept money for residential services. Teams can only monetize by making themselves known to sell merchandise. We are committed to our client’s confidentiality and respecting the field we love. Therefore, we won’t make exploitative videos or shock value social media content, which leaves us somewhat unknown.
We like to focus on research and educating the public. However, equipment and travel expenses add up. So that’s an ongoing challenge.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
What sets F.P.I apart is our use of parapsychological experiments. One such experiment is called the Ganzfeld experiment, which aims to heighten latent psychic abilities through limited sensory deprivation.
The subject’s eyes are covered to remain open, but sight is limited; often, halved ping-pong balls are used. They are then bathed in warm red light and don noise-canceling headphones. Many rhythmic sounds are used, but we use white noise playing through the headphones. This environment is created so the brain replaces normal sensory imagery with extra sensory perception.
We have used this in the field many times, and it is fascinating. Even people who don’t consider themselves psychic, like myself, have picked up on things we shouldn’t have known.
This is a fairly simplistic explanation, but I encourage interested parties to check our journal articles by the SPR or Society for Psychical Research.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
Strangely, the Covid-19 pandemic showed a considerable increase in reports of paranormal activity. This is primarily because we were forced to slow down and spend much time quietly at home. People discovered their houses’ strange noises or quirks that they had never noticed before, and suddenly everything became paranormal. The truth is that we don’t often find evidence of actual paranormal activity. I know I’m not supposed to say that, but…
For example, both high and low-frequency sounds can affect the body. The dense matter of the eye vibrates, causing “shadows” out of the corner of the eye, or you feel prickly like your hairs are standing on end. Or if the windows and doors aren’t at 90 degrees or the floor isn’t level, it can make the room have an oddly bad or ominous feeling. These are regular occurrences in the environment that cause biological changes so subtly, our brain registers them as paranormal when they are, in fact, completely normal.
The uptick in paranormal reports during the pandemic was just us becoming more aware of our environment and its eccentricities.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://floridaparanormalinvestigators.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/floridaparanormal/#
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FlolridaParanormalInvestigators22
- Other: https://linktr.ee/sarahnormal?utm_source=linktree_admin_share
