Sleep Paralysis - The Truth Behind the Terror

Has this ever happened to you?

One moment you're sound asleep. The next moment you're wide awake. You try to move but you can't. You're aware of pressure on your body, as if someone is sitting on your chest. You try to open your mouth and scream, but you are paralyzed. You feel and hear something breathing in your ear, and you're convinced this is not a hallucination. 

Welcome to the mysterious phenomenon known as Sleep Paralysis: an overlap between our REM and waking stages of sleep. In this fascinating video from TED-ed, Ami Angelowicz describes the science behind this terrifying anomalous state of consciousness.

An Evening with PPI at the Creole Cafe

Pacific Paranormal Investigations was honored to host a group EVP vigil at the New Orleans Creole Cafe in Old Town, San Diego on Thursday May 21, 2015. This special event was hosted by our friends at San Diego Ghost and Paranormal Group (SDGAP), the largest paranormal meetup group in California.

PPI investigators Brian Miller, Tim Mountain and Debra Page reviewed basic procedures and protocols for EVP vigils, and the participants suggested new approaches to conducting EVP vigils in group settings.

"The evening was a great success," Brian Miller said. "We always have a great time working with our friends and colleagues from SDGAP, and we look forward to working with them again soon."

Seeing Ain't Believing: Visual Anomalies & Misperception

One of the most inherently unreliable claims of paranormal activity are eye witness reports. The disciplines of Science and Medicine have helped us understand that "seeing" isn't necessarily "believing". There are many different biological factors related to vision that present day paranormal investigators should be aware of before going out in the field, because they can be misinterpreted as paranormal experiences when, in fact, they are not. The following video from TED-ed explains a couple of the most common ones. Enjoy! 

Inventory of the Invisible: How Much Do We Really Know About the Physical World?

Our understanding of physical reality is based primarily on visual verification, so it is very humbling from a scientific standpoint to think about the many things we aren't able to see, and therefore, don't really understand. This video from TED-ed  is especially enlightening when applied to the study of paranormal phenomenon. Enjoy!