Greetings lovely readers/webseries watchers,
Today we bring you our first interview with a paranormal investigative team. I've had the pleasure of communicating with John and Bea Brugge of World Paranormal Investigation and appeared on their radio podcast, The Erie Hours, not too long ago. They were awesome enough to come on and talk a little about their approach to investigations and their thoughts on the paranormal investigation industry as a whole. As well as sharing some interesting experiences they've had.
And of course, check out their website and follow them on social media at the end!
PoV: For those unfamiliar with your work, talk a little of who you are and what exactly all it is that you do.
JB: My name is John Brugge and I'm a Founder and the President of World Paranormal Investigations and my wife Bea Brugge is also a Founder and the Vice President of WPI. We formed in July of 2004 after teaming up with some friends from the United Kingdom whom shared the same interest in the paranormal field. We've conducted over 250 investigations that span from here in the U.S. to the U.K. including being the first team to ever investigated the Watseka Wonder House aka the Mary Roff home where the first case of a "possession" reported to have occurred in the home.
PoV: When did your interest in the paranormal start?
J.B: Growing up in Montrose a small town in southwest Colorado ghosts and the paranormal were never talked about, but when I met Bea as pen pals she told me that her house in Cleveland Ohio was haunted in which I didn't know what to think and whether or not I should be afraid of her or believe her. It was when I came out to meet her family back in 1994 that I had my first encounter with the paranormal in her house that made more of a believer out of me. Then in 2003 I came across a local investigation team that I had went out and did some actual investigating, but shortly after joining the group disbanded leaving me with unanswered questions eventually leading to the launch of WPI.
PoV: Now, the field of paranormal investigating or 'ghost hunting' has come under a lot of scrutiny, especially now that it has gone mainstream. In what ways do you think 'mainstreamizing' the profession has hurt and helped it?
J.B: This has always been a touchy subject with me where I tend to step on A LOT of toes, but we were asked to do numerous mainstream TV shows and we were honored that they had contacted us, but once we responded that we will not fake evidence or falsify information for the sake of entertainment the shows lost interest in us real quick. So me personally I feel the mainstream has hurt it, because the shows are scripted and depicts the field as one filled with demons and evil which is just not true. So in return you have your viewers of these programs who are not truly educated in the paranormal field taking what these shows are saying as being the holy grail and if they have something in their home or business right away it's bad. You must remember you are dealing with human beings that have passed whether or not it's a father, mother, brother, sister, child, etc. and my belief is if you were an ill mannered person in this world you'll be the same way in the afterlife and a lot of people mistake that as a demon or something evil. I would say 90% of our encounters have been pleasant ones.
PoV: What is your method of conducting an investigation?
J.B: We go into a location to prove why it's NOT haunted... not why it is haunted. Many times you can find logical and scientific explanations for what's going on in the location, but it's when you capture something and you try everything in your power to debunk it and you can't makes it all that more rewarding. That's why if you look on our site in our 250 investigations we only have a handful of evidence, because we were able to debunk everything else and what we do have posted we always encourage someone to approach us if they feel they can explain something we posted. We want to hear from them, because this is an ongoing learning experience for everyone involved and there is not a single person out there who can honestly say they know everything about everything in regards to the paranormal. Also what sets us aside from most groups is we combine both scientific and spiritual techniques when it comes to investigating. People in the United Kingdom tend to lean more towards the spiritual side of it whereas people in the United States are more about the scientific realm of it. Both side are VERY important therefore we combined the two in order to come up with answers.
PoV: According to your website, you two have visited Stonehenge. What was that experience like?
B.B: I've been to England twice, once in 1991 and then again in 2005. In 1991, I visited Stonehenge. Cannot report anything out of the ordinary. The day we visited the Stonehenge the weather was not very good and we were dealing with quite a bit of black ice. Someday I would like to visit Stonehenge again.
PoV: What would you say was the creepiest experience you have had on an investigation?
J.B: I've personally been scratched across the face, and one time while investigating the Mansfield Reformatory where Shawshank Redemption along with other great movies were filmed at we were walking along a tier in the one cell block and heard the distinct sound of footsteps running towards me and getting about a foot away from me I jumped back like two feet and whatever or whomever was getting our attention went right past us and actually brushing Bea's arm. Right after that we heard a cell door slam shut, but none of the doors were closed and we were the only people in that particular location at the time.
PoV: What place had the weirdest or most mysterious history behind it?
J.B: The Majestic Theatre in Chillicothe Ohio... Once a Masonic Opera House and very popular during the Vaudeville era... In 1918 there was an Influenza outbreak in the area and many people had succumbed to it. Not having enough area in the local morgue they brought bodies there to the opera house and stacking their bodies in the dressing rooms like wood. They would then take the bodies to the stage area where they made a makeshift morgue and would embalm the bodies right there on the stage, but they had no where for the blood so they drained the blood into the alley behind the theatre and it later had became known as "Blood Alley".
PoV: What sort of challenges come with being a paranormal investigation team?
J.B: I guess the biggest challenge has been to find the right people to join the team with the same intentions as us. Too many people want to do it seeking fame and fortune which is the wrong reason to get involved with the paranormal PERIOD!!! Once they realize we won't sell ourselves out or once they realize it's truly not as exciting as what they see on TV they lose interest. Also a challenge is getting people to believe in WPI and what stand for, because they see all these teams coming out of the woodwork and out there doing it as social networking versus truly investigating and helping those out in need. like to tell people we've been doing this before it became "cool" to be an investigator, because we started in July of 2004 which was before any of these paranormal shows hit the TV. We have always have and always will put our clients as our #1 priority!
PoV: And finally, what's in store for you guys? Where can curious onlookers find you?
J.B: Well Bea and I Host/Produce a weekly Podcast "The Erie Hours with WPI" heard every Sunday night from 9pm est- 10pm pst. on Blog Talk Radio. I'm also working on a book titled WPI:The First 10 Years... A Haunting Journey With World Paranormal Investigations which will give the reader an insight to some of the locations we've investigated including history of the locations as well as any activity we may have captured at the particular location.
You can find us at www.wpiusauk.com on Facebook at World Paranormal Investigations or The Erie Hours with WPI and you can also find us on Twitter at @WPIUSAUK and @ErieHours.
*****
For first access to giveaways and other content not seen by the rest of the world, sign up for the free Messages from the Labyrinth Newsletter!
Paperback copies of Descent (The Birthrite Series, #1) and Sacred Atonement:Novelette (The Birthrite Series, # 1.5) available together for the low price of $21.00 at my Official Website
My music projects are available at CDBaby
My filmwork is on IMDb
"The Birthrite Series" and other books at Smashwords and Barnes & Noble NOOK
My books and music are also on Amazon and iTunes
Tiffany on Goodreads
Support great authors and independent bookstores at Smashwords and Indiebound
Today we bring you our first interview with a paranormal investigative team. I've had the pleasure of communicating with John and Bea Brugge of World Paranormal Investigation and appeared on their radio podcast, The Erie Hours, not too long ago. They were awesome enough to come on and talk a little about their approach to investigations and their thoughts on the paranormal investigation industry as a whole. As well as sharing some interesting experiences they've had.
And of course, check out their website and follow them on social media at the end!
PoV: For those unfamiliar with your work, talk a little of who you are and what exactly all it is that you do.
JB: My name is John Brugge and I'm a Founder and the President of World Paranormal Investigations and my wife Bea Brugge is also a Founder and the Vice President of WPI. We formed in July of 2004 after teaming up with some friends from the United Kingdom whom shared the same interest in the paranormal field. We've conducted over 250 investigations that span from here in the U.S. to the U.K. including being the first team to ever investigated the Watseka Wonder House aka the Mary Roff home where the first case of a "possession" reported to have occurred in the home.
PoV: When did your interest in the paranormal start?
J.B: Growing up in Montrose a small town in southwest Colorado ghosts and the paranormal were never talked about, but when I met Bea as pen pals she told me that her house in Cleveland Ohio was haunted in which I didn't know what to think and whether or not I should be afraid of her or believe her. It was when I came out to meet her family back in 1994 that I had my first encounter with the paranormal in her house that made more of a believer out of me. Then in 2003 I came across a local investigation team that I had went out and did some actual investigating, but shortly after joining the group disbanded leaving me with unanswered questions eventually leading to the launch of WPI.
PoV: Now, the field of paranormal investigating or 'ghost hunting' has come under a lot of scrutiny, especially now that it has gone mainstream. In what ways do you think 'mainstreamizing' the profession has hurt and helped it?
J.B: This has always been a touchy subject with me where I tend to step on A LOT of toes, but we were asked to do numerous mainstream TV shows and we were honored that they had contacted us, but once we responded that we will not fake evidence or falsify information for the sake of entertainment the shows lost interest in us real quick. So me personally I feel the mainstream has hurt it, because the shows are scripted and depicts the field as one filled with demons and evil which is just not true. So in return you have your viewers of these programs who are not truly educated in the paranormal field taking what these shows are saying as being the holy grail and if they have something in their home or business right away it's bad. You must remember you are dealing with human beings that have passed whether or not it's a father, mother, brother, sister, child, etc. and my belief is if you were an ill mannered person in this world you'll be the same way in the afterlife and a lot of people mistake that as a demon or something evil. I would say 90% of our encounters have been pleasant ones.
PoV: What is your method of conducting an investigation?
J.B: We go into a location to prove why it's NOT haunted... not why it is haunted. Many times you can find logical and scientific explanations for what's going on in the location, but it's when you capture something and you try everything in your power to debunk it and you can't makes it all that more rewarding. That's why if you look on our site in our 250 investigations we only have a handful of evidence, because we were able to debunk everything else and what we do have posted we always encourage someone to approach us if they feel they can explain something we posted. We want to hear from them, because this is an ongoing learning experience for everyone involved and there is not a single person out there who can honestly say they know everything about everything in regards to the paranormal. Also what sets us aside from most groups is we combine both scientific and spiritual techniques when it comes to investigating. People in the United Kingdom tend to lean more towards the spiritual side of it whereas people in the United States are more about the scientific realm of it. Both side are VERY important therefore we combined the two in order to come up with answers.
PoV: According to your website, you two have visited Stonehenge. What was that experience like?
B.B: I've been to England twice, once in 1991 and then again in 2005. In 1991, I visited Stonehenge. Cannot report anything out of the ordinary. The day we visited the Stonehenge the weather was not very good and we were dealing with quite a bit of black ice. Someday I would like to visit Stonehenge again.
PoV: What would you say was the creepiest experience you have had on an investigation?
J.B: I've personally been scratched across the face, and one time while investigating the Mansfield Reformatory where Shawshank Redemption along with other great movies were filmed at we were walking along a tier in the one cell block and heard the distinct sound of footsteps running towards me and getting about a foot away from me I jumped back like two feet and whatever or whomever was getting our attention went right past us and actually brushing Bea's arm. Right after that we heard a cell door slam shut, but none of the doors were closed and we were the only people in that particular location at the time.
PoV: What place had the weirdest or most mysterious history behind it?
J.B: The Majestic Theatre in Chillicothe Ohio... Once a Masonic Opera House and very popular during the Vaudeville era... In 1918 there was an Influenza outbreak in the area and many people had succumbed to it. Not having enough area in the local morgue they brought bodies there to the opera house and stacking their bodies in the dressing rooms like wood. They would then take the bodies to the stage area where they made a makeshift morgue and would embalm the bodies right there on the stage, but they had no where for the blood so they drained the blood into the alley behind the theatre and it later had became known as "Blood Alley".
PoV: What sort of challenges come with being a paranormal investigation team?
J.B: I guess the biggest challenge has been to find the right people to join the team with the same intentions as us. Too many people want to do it seeking fame and fortune which is the wrong reason to get involved with the paranormal PERIOD!!! Once they realize we won't sell ourselves out or once they realize it's truly not as exciting as what they see on TV they lose interest. Also a challenge is getting people to believe in WPI and what stand for, because they see all these teams coming out of the woodwork and out there doing it as social networking versus truly investigating and helping those out in need. like to tell people we've been doing this before it became "cool" to be an investigator, because we started in July of 2004 which was before any of these paranormal shows hit the TV. We have always have and always will put our clients as our #1 priority!
PoV: And finally, what's in store for you guys? Where can curious onlookers find you?
J.B: Well Bea and I Host/Produce a weekly Podcast "The Erie Hours with WPI" heard every Sunday night from 9pm est- 10pm pst. on Blog Talk Radio. I'm also working on a book titled WPI:The First 10 Years... A Haunting Journey With World Paranormal Investigations which will give the reader an insight to some of the locations we've investigated including history of the locations as well as any activity we may have captured at the particular location.
You can find us at www.wpiusauk.com on Facebook at World Paranormal Investigations or The Erie Hours with WPI and you can also find us on Twitter at @WPIUSAUK and @ErieHours.
Simply enter the code YB27E at checkout. :)
*****
For first access to giveaways and other content not seen by the rest of the world, sign up for the free Messages from the Labyrinth Newsletter!
Paperback copies of Descent (The Birthrite Series, #1) and Sacred Atonement:Novelette (The Birthrite Series, # 1.5) available together for the low price of $21.00 at my Official Website
My music projects are available at CDBaby
My filmwork is on IMDb
"The Birthrite Series" and other books at Smashwords and Barnes & Noble NOOK
My books and music are also on Amazon and iTunes
Tiffany on Goodreads
Support great authors and independent bookstores at Smashwords and Indiebound
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