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Paranormal Penny Pinchers are a ghost hunting team from Wilmslow, Cheshire, who aim to be budget-friendly. DAVID SAUNDERSON talks to lead researcher Jon McKenzie and reveals how they make their own equipment and work together effectively, even on a limited budget.
SPOOKY ISLES: What was that first pivotal moment that led you to found your own paranormal investigation team?
JON McKENZIE: Some members had experiences and began conducting numerous public surveys in various locations we loved. When COVID hit, I was bored and decided to build some equipment to watch YouTube videos as something to pass the time. And from there I decided to build the team together with my best friends and wife.
Why did you decide to focus on penny pinching?
Money as a whole for the team is not as plentiful as some researchers out there. So we choose our equipment based on affordability and the same goes for the locations we visited. All the locations we visited in the beginning were part of team shares with another team, which kept costs down. And now when we look at booking locations, we will invite other teams for a team share.
Can you tell us about the homemade devices you made for your research? How do they compare in terms of performance to their more expensive counterparts?
We found that the equipment I built comes close to more expensive versions. I have seen other people who have difficulty buying expensive equipment try to build their own equipment, which has inspired me for some projects or even discussions about possible ideas to collaborate with others.
I’ve even made some videos on how researchers can repair cat balls instead of having to constantly buy new ones, saving them a little money.
We still use some of my homemade equipment, but it varies depending on location and also from some of the more recent equipment we’ve acquired, especially from affordable suppliers like Scire Tech, who are getting such a fantastic response that they’re taking the ‘Go to’ pieces are of the equipment.
But there are upcoming events and projects where our homemade devices will be selected for experiments and compared at different locations.
The EM pump is a homemade device used in every examination because it helped build up the energy. We tested this at our own location, where we did sessions with one week and without the next and it took longer to build the energy when it didn’t.
How do you choose locations for your studies, budget-consciously? Do you prioritize places with a high frequency of reported paranormal activity?
For locations, we look for local places and try to stay within a two-hour drive to keep fuel costs down. And if the price seems reasonable, we will try to book it. As a team we also like to go to places with a lot of history, even if they may or may not be known for their activities.
As a team we always go to places with an open mind, being aware that the activity has started one evening and then we go and it’s a quiet night so we try not to get caught up in the hype of the location and find out for yourself.
What role does each team member play during an investigation? For example, how does a ‘Team Empath’ contribute differently than a ‘Lead Skeptic’?
In an investigation we all bounce off each other and we all take the lead.
- Stacey (co-founder) takes care of any recording or photos that need to be taken.
- Sam (Lead Empathy) will fill similar roles to Stacey but using her abilities to see what she can feel and we help and encourage her by making sure we don’t feed the medium and ask questions to help her to attract what she is For example, if Sam says she feels like there is a feminine presence, we will know if she is old, young etc.
- Dave is our researcher and will investigate the history of the location. Me, Sam and Stacey like to blindly see what we get and if it works with the information Dave has gathered. Dave started as a skeptic, but has become a big believer in the paranormal, but like me, he will first look for rational explanations.
- Stew is our biggest skeptic. He keeps us all level-headed by searching for a rational explanation. He has encountered events that he said he had no plausible explanation for.
- Myself: As much as I say I am the principal investigator, I let the team lead the investigation and depending on the spirit we communicate with, it depends on who takes the lead. I also have empathic abilities and will use that and see if it matches what Sam gets.
Our team dynamic means there is no one person in charge, all decisions are made collectively and in the same way, with all the evidence we share, we look at it all and see what we think and whether it is worth posting .
How do you deal with internal skepticism? Does having skeptics like Dave and Stew on the team have a positive or negative impact on the group dynamic?
I believe it is healthy to have skepticism. Although I believe 100% in the paranormal, I will also look for rational explanations with Stew in advance. We like to keep an open mind and question or challenge everything we see, hear and experience, which helps to substantiate or disprove things by conducting experiments.
As a team I believe we have a balanced, healthy level of skepticism, but not so much that it prevents us from being open to other possibilities, personal experiences and dismissing everything, because we believe you should have the full picture before passing judgment. We never try to force anyone to believe the things we have experienced and offer teams and researchers to come to our location as they are in charge and conduct their own research where we just observe and find their own findings.
What are your short and long term goals? Do you eventually want to turn this into a full-time business or keep it as a hobby?
Our only target at the moment is our exclusive Stockport location at Hallam Mill, which we have opened up for a team to come and investigate. Since Stew is a business partner, we try to help keep the lights on, especially with costs. life crisis. The prices we advertise are the prices we would pay ourselves, making it affordable for everyone.
The long term goals would again help keep our venue open and maintain affordable prices for all teams. We would like to continue meeting and collaborating with new and old teams, making new discoveries and learning from each other.
What is the most compelling evidence or experience you have collected so far in your paranormal investigations?
A few months ago we had Scotland’s Paranormal Investigation Group (SPIG) at Hallam Mill and we were in the middle of a session that had been going on for at least 30 minutes. As the session came to an end, a cat ball rolled across the table. sat up. Here’s the clip on TikTok.
Can you tell us something about your network? Have you worked with other paranormal investigators or groups, and what have you learned from them?
Stacey and Sam are our networking people, they are constantly talking to people to get them to come to our location and spread our name. And if it’s not about our location, they’ll deploy us somewhere for a Collab investigation with another team.
We have worked with many teams and learned new or different ways of working and we enjoy that as much as the research itself. Seeing the techniques in action and trying it out for yourself and seeing the results. This has also helped with techniques we weren’t too sure about so we never tried, to be able to try out new ideas and see how we feel afterwards, something we will incorporate into our research technique.
How do you ensure the safety and well-being of your team during potentially risky investigations?
We start and end each examination with a prayer and we also carry several gemstones, which is a personal belief and varies from person to person, but helps for our own peace of mind. We treat the building and the spirits with great respect, as we are the ‘uninvited guests’ in investigating whether a ‘negative’ or ‘unfriendly’ spirit may be present and setting boundaries for provocation if it is ever used.
If we think someone is getting too involved in something, we tick them off. We always research and ask for advice before trying anything new. We obtain consent from all team members who wish to participate in experiments. This is how we ensure that everyone feels comfortable and respects all our beliefs and boundaries.
Finally, what advice would you give to aspiring paranormal investigators who are interested in starting their own teams but are deterred by budget limitations?
Start with a simple EMF reader. If you know where to look, you can pick up a K2 equivalent for less than £20. A few cat balls, a flashlight. But also investigate how the equipment you buy works and what can cause incorrect measurements.
And don’t listen to what others say about equipment, apps, etc. Try it yourself and see what works for you. Ultimately it’s you, not them, and a word comes through an app and it’s confirmed by another price of equipment, then that’s your proof. Everyone works differently and we can all learn from each other and help each other grow.
More information about Paranormal Penny Paranormal on Facebook.
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