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About Parasearch
Consultants
Authors
Membership Information

About Parasearch
Parasearch was formed in December 1986 by David Taylor to investigate and research alleged paranormal phenomena in the West Midlands (including Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire). We aim to research and investigate the paranormal in a scientific and objective manner whilst maintaining the view that human beings and the universe have a transcendent essence that may reveal other realms of reality, and also that human consciousness has dimensions that extend beyond body and mind.

Parasearch is always at pains to act in the best interests of those who have witnessed what they believe might possibly be events of a paranormal nature, and adopt a discreet, sympathetic and helpful approach to all cases we investigate.

Parasearch has a policy of actively promoting good working relationships with other groups, both locally and nationally and, where possible, will invite other groups along on our organised vigils. Parasearch acts as a regional group in the West Midlands on behalf of the Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena (ASSAP) and the Society for Psychical Research (SPR).

In August 2002, we organised the Shades and Shadows Conference which took place in Worcester. We believe it was the biggest conference of its kind ever held in the Midlands. Read the conference report.

In 2006 Parasearch celebrated its 20th anniversary, making it the longest running paranormal research group in the Midlands. To celebrate this event Parasearch, along with ASSAP, organised a joint anniversary conference at the University of Worcester. The over 70 strong audience packed the conference room to hear world respected authors and researchers give enthraling lectures on diverse subjects. In June 2003, the Mysterious People website conducted an interview with Parasearch Chairman, David Taylor. Read it here.

Apart from actively seeking out and investigating paranormal phenomena on a regular basis, we also hold monthly committee meetings which full members are eligible to attend.

Consultants
Parasearch runs a consultant scheme of individuals with specialist knowledge who are contacted periodically by Parasearch.

Good paranormal investigation requires a sound level of knowledge in too many disciplines for any one team to specialise.  Consultants fill in those vital gaps, offering their expert knowledge or skills for the benefit of Parasearch investigations and research. Below is a list of some of the consultants who we work with.

Paul Lee PhD	Physics
Karl Gensberg PhD	Molecular Biology
Paul Devereux MA, FRSA	Author, Researcher, Lecturer, Broadcaster. Research Fellow, International Consciousness Research Laboratories (ICRL) group, Princeton.
Morris Troughton-Hume Dip.PP	Professional Photographer
Steve Sant	Professional Photographer
Jeremy Harte	Author, historian, folklorist and Museum Curator
Mike White	Former Chairman of ASSAP
Brian Haughton M.Phil	Archaeology & History
Mark Fox PhD	Philosophy

Authors
Parasearch is fortunate in having several well respected authors among its members. Amongst its local authors are Anne Bradford who has written over a dozen books on Worcestershire and Midlands ghosts, and Christine McCarthy, author of Some Ghostly Tales of Shropshire.

Brian Haughton is author of Hidden History, a comprehensive overview of archaeological mysteries. Dr. Mark Fox is author of several academic research papers as well as the author of Religion, Spirituality and the Near Death Experience.

Well-respected international authors include Jeremy Harte, author of award winning books on folklore and Paul Devereux, author of over 20 books on ancient sites, cognitive archaeology and earth mysteries.

Membership Information
Parasearch has a hand-picked team of dedicated researchers who are committed to investigating paranormal phenomena in Worcestershire, Shropshire, Warwickshire and the West Midlands. If you live in the area defined above, and you feel you have something to offer to the serious, scientific study of the paranormal, then please get in touch for an application form. Unfortunately we can't guarantee you membership of the group, but your application will be given full and serious consideration. Parasearch runs a two-tier level of membership - Full Members and Associate Members. Associate Membership is by invitation only, and is designed for people who are currently unable to get fully involved with Parasearch activities.

Parasearch is fortunate in having a dedicated team of members, whose multidisciplinary approach to the subject ensures that Parasearch offers new and innovative investigative methods. Here are just a few examples of our members' interests:

David Taylor BA(Hons) - Parasearch Chairman
I have been actively involved in the investigation of the paranormal for over 25 years since becoming a member of the British UFO Society and the British Flying Saucer Bureau. In 1986 I founded Parasearch, an ASSAP-affiliated regional paranormal research group. I am also an Accredited Investigator for the Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena (ASSAP) and until recently served as a Groups Officer as well as being a director on its national executive committee. I am also a member of the Society for Psychical Research (SPR), the Scientific & Medical Network, the Alister Hardy Society, the Ghost Club and the Churches Fellowship for Psychical and Spiritual Studies and am a committee member of the Unitarian Society for Psychical Studies.

On the non-paranormal front, I am a member of the Chapels Society, The Historic Churches Preservation Trust and CND. I am a contributor to the Baptisma Sacra project and an executive member of Hales Owen Abbey Trust, a local conservation group. I am also a former member of the Folklore Society, the Independent UFO Network and the Northern UFO Network.

Along with members of Parasearch I have conducted investigations in a variety of haunted locations, from castles and pubs to police stations and theatres. I have also taken part in research at the Koeslter Parapsychology Unit based in Edinburgh. Many Parasearch investigations have appeared in national and local press, from The Sunday Times to Fortean Times! I have even inspired an opera involving ghosts!

My main area of interest is the psychological, anthropological and folkloric aspects of hauntings and apparitions and their transpersonal elements. I am also interested in contemporary vision and belief.

I have also lectured widely on the subject of the paranormal, including the Fortean Times UnConvention, National Trust, Architecture Centre and a variety of schools and charities.

I have co-authored one book on the paranormal (with Anne Bradford) and contributed to Midlands Ghosts & Hauntings (also by Anne Bradford) and written one book on church architecture. I have also contributed articles and material to several publications, including Magonia, Mercian Mysteries, At The Edge, Northern Earth, UFO Debate, UFO Brigantia, Anomaly, The Ghost Club Newsletter, White Dragon, Fortean Times and Journal of the Society for Psychical Research. Some of this research has been cited in such books as The Paranormal Year by Jenny Randles, Folklore of the Black Country by Roy Palmer, Alternative Approaches to Folklore and Alternative Approaches to Geomancy by Jeremy Harte, The Sun, The Moon, The Hill and The Well by Michael Smith, Explore Folklore and Sacred Places by Bob Trubshaw and The Lore of the Ghost by Brian Haughton.

When not investigating the paranormal, my day job is a graphic designer in Birmingham. To relax I enjoy listening to jazz and classical music, watching Woody Allen films, going to the theatre, reading, walking, birdwatching, second-hand bookshops and old churches.

George Gregg PhD - Parasearch Research & Fieldwork Team
George retired as a university academic / mental health nurse in 2006. He has been interested in reports of the paranormal for most of his life. He has had a number of personal experiences which could be taken to be paranormal or ghost like. He has been a member of Parasearch since 2000 and has acted as Research Coordinator from 2002-2006. From 2007 he is now part of the new Parasearch Research & Fieldwork Team (RFT). George has also been Parasearch Investigator of the Year in 2002 & 2003. He is interested in the social and anthropological origins of such beliefs and experiences. There is no doubt in his mind that there is a haunting / ghost syndrome which may be triggered partially by a range of physical phenomena (e.g.: EM Fields, temperature changes, location, and visual / touch / auditory / olfactory cues) combined with the individual / group cultural beliefs and personal interpretation of such phenomena. George thinks there is strong evidence for the social construction of such ideas.

He is also interested in alternative therapies, religion, religious experience, esoteric beliefs and the UFO experience. George is a member of the Society for Psychical Research (SPR) and the Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena (ASSAP). He has been both Deputy NIC and National Investigations Coordinator 2003/4 for ASSAP. He was also the leader for ASSAP'S Altered States Special Group for a number of years. George is currently an Accredited Investigator with ASSAP. George believes that the scientific method combined with a phenomenological approach is one of the key ways to make progress in this fascinating field of research. He suggests that the witness / experiencers beliefs are often the key to making sense of the phenomena being reported for investigation.

Other scientific groups that George is a member of are the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA) and British Centre for Science Education (BCSE). George is married to Pamela they have one daughter and two grandchidren. He has been a Dr. Who fan since 1963 and is enjoying its current incarnation since 2005 including Torchwood (2006) and Sara Jane Adventures (2007).

Jeremy Harte - Consultant
Jeremy is a researcher into folklore and archaeology, with a particular interest in sacred space and tales of encounters with the supernatural. His books include Cuckoo Pounds and Singing Barrows, The Green Man, Alternative Approaches to Folklore 1969-1996, Research in Geomancy - Readings in Sacred Space 1990-1994 and the award winning Explore Fairy Traditions. He is curator of Bourne Hall Museum in Surrey, where he lives alone in an old house full of dust and shadows.

In his journey through life he has picked up a degree from Cambridge, an ex-wife and two children, and a commitment to Buddhism. Click here for more information about Jeremy and his publications.

Paul Devereux MA, FRSA - Consultant
Paul is an independent researcher, freelance author (26 mainstream-published books in 28 years), lecturer and broadcaster. Senior Research Fellow of the International Consciousness Research Laboratories, Princeton. Full Member of the Society for Scientific Exploration; Member of the Scientific and Medical Network and the Society for the Anthropology of Consciousness. His main areas of interest are cognitive archaeology (especially the newly-designated field of archaeoacoustics) and the anthropology of consciousness and consciousness studies generally. In addition to writing books, he also pens magazine articles and has peer-review papers to his name, plus he is a founding co-editor of a new peer-review journal: Time & Mind. He is also a painter and photographer. Click here for Paul's website

Brian Haughton M.Phil - Consultant
Brian is a qualified archaeologist, with an interest in the strange and unusual. He is a graduate of Nottingham (B.A. in Archaeology) and Birmingham (M.Phil in Greek Archaeology) Universities, and has worked on archaeological projects in England and Greece.

He has written on the subjects of ancient mysteries and unusual people in history for various print and internet publications. He is author of the acclaimed Hidden History. His research into the Princess Caraboo hoax has been used by the B.B.C. on a number of occasions. Haughton's work has been published on various websites including the B.B.Cs Legacies website, World Mysteries and the Book of Thoth. His articles have appeared in magazines across the world including New Dawn Magazine, Awareness, All Destiny and the UKs Paranormal Magazine, and he has also appeared on a number of radio shows. Haughton long ago fell for the lure of the supernatural, initially inspired by the ghost stories of Sheridan Le Fanu and M.R. James and TV programmes like Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World and Leonard Nimoy's In Search Of series. He currently lives and writes in Patras, Greece. Brian runs the Mysterious People website.

Anne Bradford - Associate Member
Anne was a secretary and a school teacher before she turned to writing and publishing. This began in 1992 when a librarian in her home town of Redditch showed her some local Victorian ghost stories - looking for someone to update them by adding some contemporary eye witness accounts. The resulting book was called Haunted. To date (2007) Anne has written 8 true story collections of ghost stories and 3 oral history books. Anne gives talks on a range of subjects which enables her to collect information for her other books. To contact Anne, click here. The transcript of an interview with Anne in Mysterious People can be found here.

Steve Sant - Photographic Consultant
I have spent 15 years working Energy Management Systems, 6 years as a Systems Engineer, and for the past 5 years running my own imaging and design company. I have been a keen photographer most of my life and have experience of traditional darkroom techniques and now very at home (due to my past employment) with digital imaging. I spend a lot of time manipulating and retouching images so have aquired reasonable skills for analysing images for several purposes - not just detecting tampering.

Sceptic but hopeful!

I'm in search of evidence to support the existence of the paranorma and have yet to find anything meaningful. I have been associated with Parasearch sporadically over the years, and am constantly fascinated with the many cases that have been covered.

Many cases are explainable and repeatable using scientific methodology. Of those that are not, some are ascribed the most implausible scientific explanations, while others evade explanation altogether as they rely upon purely anecdotal evidence. It is those cases that attract the most bizzare explanations by the scientific lobby that interest me most deeply - and I have experienced one such event in my own life.

Despite this, "Believers" see me as a debunker, or hard nosed sceptic and "Non-Believers" call me a spiritual fruitcake. This, I think at least proves I am doing something right! I always try to see the greatest value in any particular case.

"Greatest Value" is difficult to sum up in such brevity - suffice to say that life is full of many, many wonders - not all readily explainable. The secret in helping people understand their experiences is not defined purely in the act of proving or disproving them where possible (and this can sometimes be detrimantal) but in encouraging them to continue seeking ever more subtle proofs of the true mysteries of existence.

Dave Walker - Parasearch Associate Member
I've have had a passive interest in the paranormal for 40 years, during which time I'd met Spiritualists and experienced Healing. It was not until after my own perceived paranormal experiences began that I read a number of books by several authors including Jenny Randles, to whom I sent an account several years ago. It was late as 2006 that I discovered the Parasearch website after deciding to offer my personal account in the hope that it might both aid future research and attract explanations for my experiences. Thus as a novice, I've yet to establish any specific areas of either interest or expertise!

I am originally from South Gloucestershire; my C of E upbringing and Grammar-school Science education at Bristol Cathedral School have not coloured my objective viewpoint. After a varied Science career in the Bristol area, and being no stranger to Worcestershire, I relocated to Malvern in 2001; now semi-retired from the MoD, I run my own small-repair handyman business. Having been a keen amateur photographer in my 'past life' I am both a life member of, and an established publicity volunteer for, the preserved Severn Valley Railway since first joining in 1976.

I strongly believe that my direction in life continues to be influenced by several now-deceased friends and relatives, of whose presence I've become constantly aware since starting a 'new life' in Malvern. Now reinventing my social life I enjoy visiting old buildings and churches, with which I often feel an empathy; listening to most music, watching Sci-Fi films on TV; walking, pub meals and retail therapy!

Frank Smith - Parasearch Research & Fieldwork Team
Frank is a retired Electronic Researcher from Birmingham University. His particular expertise is the detection / measurement of EMF, Infrasound and acoustics in relation to paranormal phenomena. He spent some time, in the past, key working with the late Vic Tandy (Coventry University) developing infrasound detection and feeding back this important work to Parasearch.

Frank is currently doing research into the STT (Stone Tape Theory) by attempting to activate possible information stored in the walls / fabric of ancient or moderately old buildings. By using a range of electronic equipment built to his own specifications. The most common building that is being investigated is a church. It has to have a reasonable history of worship. Frank attempts to get the building to play back the 'stone tape'. By using acoustic resonance he hopes that scenes from the past, that have an emotionally laden content, could be replayed either by audio or visional detection, or hopefully both.

Frank has considered the possibility of boosting an individual's psychic ability by subjecting them to a range of audio frequencies. The experiments use mono or binorial methods. He has found some good anecdotal evidence for this and is currently proceeding with experimental work.

Frank is also working on EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena). He is considering the possibility that deceased persons / entities may be signalling us from another dimension. Rather like SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) he is searching for post-mortem human intelligence (SPI).