Steve Parsons (also credited as Steven T. Parsons) is a British paranormal investigator, widely regarded by peers and academic parapsychologists as one of the leading ghost investigators in the UK, with more than 40 years of full-time investigative experience.[1]
Background
Parsons has said he began his search for answers as a child, and brings a background and qualifications in engineering and medicine to his investigative work, emphasising accurate and precise observation over anecdotal impression.[1] He completed his PhD under the supervision of Ciarán O'Keeffe at Liverpool Hope University from 2006, and continues to serve as an External Advisor there.[2]
Para.Science
In 1993, Parsons co-founded Para.Science with Ann Winsper, an independent research and investigation group formed after the pair became dissatisfied with the techniques used by other groups they had previously worked with. The organisation has developed a reputation for cutting-edge investigative technique, with a particular strength in the disciplined use of equipment to test specific theories rather than gather data indiscriminately.[3]
Notable Para.Science cases include an investigation of a disused Merseyside shipyard examining infrasound as a possible factor in reported anomalous experiences, and a 2003 case at a Cheshire farmhouse where reported paranormal activity — including visual and aural anomalies, a sensed presence, and an undiagnosed illness resembling myalgic encephalitis in a teenage member of the household — correlated with abnormally high electromagnetic field readings, partly attributable to poor-quality wiring.[3][4] Parsons's infrasound research led him to design and build specialist equipment for precisely measuring location-based infrasound, and he was among the first to demonstrate a mundane explanation for the widely debated "orb" phenomenon using digital photographic analysis.[5]
Media work
Parsons has appeared on-camera and worked as a behind-the-scenes advisor across numerous paranormal documentary and "edutainment" programmes internationally, including for the BBC, ITV, Discovery Network, and National Geographic, and appearing on shows including Most Haunted, I'm Famous & Frightened, and Paranormal Investigation Live. He has also hosted and co-hosted radio programmes, including the international weekly show Ghost Chronicles International and his own The West Files.[6]
Books
Parsons is the author of Ghostology: The Art of the Ghost Hunter (White Crow Books, 2016) and co-author, with Dr Callum Cooper, of Paracoustics: Sound and the Paranormal (White Crow Books, 2015).[1] He was commissioned by the Society for Psychical Research to write Guidance Notes for Investigators of Spontaneous Cases (2018).[1] Ghostology has been adopted as required reading on paranormal investigation courses, and was praised by Loyd Auerbach, vice-president of the Rhine Research Center's board of directors.[7]
Views
Parsons has argued that the role of a genuine ghost investigator is not to "hunt" for ghosts in the sense of tracking down and documenting their existence, but to study the full range of human experience labelled as ghosts and hauntings, seeking realistic and plausible explanations while accepting that some reports will remain unexplained without that necessarily indicating a paranormal cause.[8]
See also
- Ciarán O'Keeffe
- Most Haunted
- Society for Psychical Research
- Rhine Research Center
- Cheshire
- Merseyside
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Steve Parsons."Society for Psychical Research.
- ↑ "Curriculum Vitae."Academia.edu.April 2013.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "UK (Non-University) Paranormal Research."Psi Encyclopedia.
- ↑ "Steven Parsons."Academia.edu.
- ↑ "Steve Parsons Parapsychologist."House of Mystery Radio.
- ↑ "Steve Parsons."theghosthunter.webs.com.
- ↑ "Ghostology: The Art of the Ghost Hunter."Amazon.
- ↑ "How I Became A Ghost Hunter, Steve Parsons Reveals."Spooky Isles.