A Haunting Encounter with Patrick Burns
Thursday October 25, 2007 1:12 AM
Paranormal investigator Patrick Burns is the host and organizer of GhoStock, this weekend's big festival in Savannah, Georgia. (See Andrew's preview.) Despite a jam-packed schedule at this year's Univ-Con, he took a few moments to do an exclusive interview with the Paranormal Insider.
Michelle: Unlike many paranormal investigators, you came into your abilities to perceive spirits relatively late in life. When did you start you realize that you were sensitive to spirits, and how did your abilities manifest to you?
Patrick: I had a few experiences when I was in my late teens. I experienced a full body apparition on a few occasions when I was in my late teens and early twenties, but I've really always been skeptical when approaching paranormal investigation, as I think everyone should. I have a tendency even today to believe my instruments even more than I believe my own senses. I don't know if that's right or wrong, but I tend to believe hard data that I can chart.
Michelle: What role do you think science should ultimately play in the investigation of the unexplained?
Patrick: There's nothing that's unexplainable, there are just things that are unexplained. And there's an explanation for everything scientifically. Whether or not we understand the science behind these events occurring is another question. But I believe that everything in our universe can be explained scientifically. It's just a matter of the science evolving to the point where it understands what's going on.
Michelle: Your ghost-hunting group, Ghost Hounds, is based out of your native Atlanta. Do you have a favorite Atlanta haunting?
Patrick: There's this beautiful antebellum plantation house in the metropolitan district of Atlanta. This house, originally located in Washington, Georgia, was spared Sherman's torch, and it was imported brick by brick into downtown Atlanta. In 2003, we did an investigation there with a news team. I always love it when we get activity in the midst of the media, because it validates us in the eyes of the lay people. Lo and behold, we got some great EVP activity in the building while we were there that we were not able to discredit or disprove. That was one of my most favorite investigations in downtown Atlanta.
Michelle: What future projects do we have to look forward to from you or from Ghost Hounds?
Patrick: I'm at Univ-Con this weekend. Next weekend I have a conference that I have founded and run called GhoStock, and this takes place in Savannah twice a year. It's a lovely town, very active. It's been described by some as the most haunted city in America per capita. We're expecting a crowd of close to 150 this time around. We have panel discussions and workshops, but there are also fun things that we do, like a costume contest and a karaoke contest. But the centerpiece of our conference is that we break people off into small groups of maybe five to ten people, and we send them out to areas where have obtained exclusive after-hours access. We ask these small groups to go out, conduct their own investigations, come back and review their footage. Then we have a reveal session the next night where they can present what they found, if anything, at these locations. It's a great opportunity to get field experience and to compare with fellow investigators.
