Karl Petry, Spirit-seeking Psychic
Tuesday April 8, 2008 8:34 AM
Imagine what life would be like if you always saw double: this world and the spirit world. Everywhere you went, you saw ghosts of the dead walking among the living, and phantom scenes from the past superimposed upon the present.
That's what "reality" looks like to Karl Petry, a psychic whose fame is on the rise. Petry makes the "I see dead people" kid in Sixth Sense look like an amateur.
Seeing double can be a bit disorienting at times, but Petry long ago learned how to accommodate his unusual ability. His own sixth sense opened in childhood, when he began seeing phantom scenes from the past. Like many young psychics, he soon learned that adults did not appreciate his uncanny knowledge, and so he kept quiet about his visions of the spirit world until well into adulthood.
Petry now uses his ability in paranormal investigations, and in assisting in missing persons and criminal cases. Paranormal investigators who are savvy enough to know that a good psychic is an asset appreciate his accuracy in details about people, places and events that can be researched and verified.
He believes in taking a gentle approach to ghost investigations and disagrees with those who try to make ghosts angry in order to get responses. "The overwhelming feeling I get is that ghosts are lonely and sad," he says. "They should have our consideration and respect."
He also believes that a tech-only approach to ghost hunting will not yield the optimum results. Ghosts are sensitive, like cats, he says. Faced with a barrage of lights and equipment, they are likely to retreat. Psychics can coax them out.
Petry's psychic work is not easy and takes a toll. Doing a paranormal investigation requires fasting in order to accommodate the strong physical sensations that occur as he tunes in to an environment. Information, impressions and spirit visitations sometimes continue long after he has left a scene.
When not using his psychic skills, Petry works as a professional videographer and independent film maker. Most of his films have paranormal themes. His best-selling film, The Ghosts of Angela Webb, is based on his investigation of a highly active house in rural New Jersey. An unusual feature about the house is that people who have died while owning the house — no matter how and when they have died — become resident ghosts. The area surrounding the house has other haunted homes, and is known for mysterious creature sightings and UFO activity as well.
Petry has come to the attention of Hollywood, and is in negotiations for film and television projects. He believes strongly that the psychic realm can be made interesting to the audiences without resort to theatrics. The truth really is the strangest of all.
