New paranormal TV show launches

Bristol-based paranormal investigator Paul Hobday will soon appear in TV show Ghost Chasers. There was no better place to meet him than Arnos Vale cemetery to talk about how Paul’s interest in the paranormal began.

“I’ve had a fascination with the paranormal since I was a child,” says Paul. “But it was when I started to experience paranormal phenomena for myself – poltergeist-type activity, noises, things that I had no explanation for – that’s when I knew I needed answers.”

It was this that led Paul to start his research into paranormal phenomena, and to begin investigating reports of ghosts and hauntings for himself. Eventually, Paul was asked to work for a ghost-hunting events company, travelling the UK investigating some of the country’s most haunted locations with members of the public, leading them on a night of ghostly investigations.

Then, in 2010, Paul was invited to take part as a paranormal investigator on Living TV’s Paranormal Investigation: Live. This involved investigating a Scottish castle, live to the nation, for two nights over a Halloween weekend. 

After that show, Paul decided to focus more on the psychology and science of paranormal phenomena, attending courses and seminars, and studying the subject of parapsychology. This was in a bid to understand and explain what might be causing the reports of ghosts, poltergeists and hauntings, whilst keeping himself open-minded to all possibilities. Ultimately, he wanted answers, whatever those answers might be – natural or supernatural.

“As a paranormal investigator, I’d class myself as a sceptic. Not a cynic, but a sceptic, By that, I mean I’m open-minded to the possibilities, but I need solid evidence for me to decide either way,” Paul says.

“I believe that there is such a thing as paranormal activity, things that are not yet explainable by current scientific understanding. But are they caused by the ghosts of dead people? I would like to think that there is some form of afterlife, but I haven’t seen any proof, and that’s the Holy Grail of paranormal investigations – trying to find that evidence”. 

Having witnessed a multitude of apparent paranormal activity over the years – like seeing things move by themselves, having coins and stones thrown at him by unseen hands, and hearing cries and screams – he still always looks for the scientific explanation. An understanding of psychology and the science of the world we live in can explain most reports of paranormal activity as normal occurrences that are misunderstood. But, there is a very small percentage that cannot be explained, and it is those incidents that are considered to be paranormal.

“Being paranormal does not necessarily mean it’s the spirit of a dead person,” says Paul, “There are plenty of other theories to also explore. Was the poltergeist activity a form of psychokinesis, or was the ghost sighting a cross-over in time?”

Walking around the cemetery, Paul remembers one anecdote where someone took a photo and sent it to the media as a ghost caught on camera. It seemed to have a kind of human shape. But it is easy to see that the low resolution capture was actually just the photographers breath, reflected in the flash light. And the human shape was a case of pareidolia – the psychological trick of the mind where your brain is programmed to see figures and faces in random patterns. 

“There is a natural fear of the unknown – the things that you cannot see or understand,” says Paul. 

Ghost Chasers will air on Friday March 3 at 9pm on Insight, available on Sky HD channel 564.

To find out more about Paul and his experiences as a paranormal investigator, visit www.paulhobday.com  

Read more: 45 gravestones returned to Arnos Vale