"Whatever else, indeed, a 'ghost' may be, it is probably one of the most complex phenomena in nature."
- F.W.H.Myers, a founder of the Society for Psychical Research.
- F.W.H.Myers, a founder of the Society for Psychical Research.
New Zealand Strange Occurrences Society
Our main aim is to help people who have experienced phenomena they can't explain. By conducting site investigations, interviews, discussions and other research, we hope to:
The NZSOS team |
Our meeting room, 2005-06 (photo: J.Gilberd)
House investigation, 2014
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Since forming in late 2005 with four members, our group has gained experience in the field by conducting paranormal investigations in public buildings, business premises, private residences and outdoor locations over the length and breadth of New Zealand.
We remain curious, open minded and optimistic about the possibilities of paranormal phenomena, but we always look for natural reasons for mysterious happenings and avoid leaping to conclusions based on paranormal explanations. Strange Occurrences paranormal investigators all share lifelong interest in the paranormal. None of us claims to be psychic or to have the abilities of a medium; but, like many, we have each had our own experiences of things that are difficult to attribute to normal or natural causes. We all strive to gain experience, knowledge and understanding in this fascinating field of study.
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Strange Occurrences team, September 2013. L-R: Karen Lee, Denise Durkin, Rob Wilson, Jayne Marquand, Helen Gower, Patrick Brown, James Gilberd, Scott Bomann, Jo Davy, Mark Marriott. Joined since this photo was taken: Nick Hill.
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With various arts and science degrees spread among team members (including a Ph.D. and a medical doctorate) we understand and respect Scientific Method and take the position that nothing in nature is absolutely proven. We try to avoid pseudoscience (paranormal investigation is riddled with it), but we can only work with the best available methods, theories and hypotheses, and strive to perhaps develop better ones.
Within the group we have a range of attitudes to and opinions about the paranormal. Some members are more skeptical, others more accepting. Some in the team are, by their own admission, "as psychically sensitive as a concrete block" while others are more in tune with unknown forms of resonance or historical echoes that seem to occur, somehow, in a few locations and around some people. But we all share a similar level of curiosity about the broad range of unexplained phenomena known collectively as the paranormal. While we have a healthy range of personal beliefs across our team, we try to not be led by belief when investigating the paranormal. We feel it's better to be neutral, weigh all evidence and reported experiences objectively, and to be prepared to consider various possible explanations of phenomena that lie beyond the current, scientifically accepted understanding of nature. More about the Strange team. |
Links to 'Profile: How I got into the paranormal' by James Gilberd
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A brief history of Strange Occurrences
Strange Occurrences - Paranormal Investigators was formed in late 2005, born out of an excessive coffee-drinking session by James Gilberd and Mark Marriott. Denise Durkin and Karen Lee were immediately drafted in, press-gang style, and our first meeting was held. We consumed a lot of tea and biscuits and decided to adopt pseudonyms, which made sense at the time but soon had to be abandoned in favour of our true identities. Fortunately, we have developed and come a long way as a group since then.
Our first internet profile page went up in late 2005/early 2006 and just sat there. The oldest versions of it to have been archived are; 18 November 2006 and September 2006. At this time, Spooks (based in Christchurch), dissolved, leaving us as the only known, active team in New Zealand (for a year or so, at least). In 2007 we began to get media attention, which led to more enquiries about our services, and in 2008 we "came out from behind our mysterious web presence", dropped the pseudonyms and got down to business. In this period several other paranormal teams came into being, and we enjoyed a period of cooperation with Manawatu's Phoen-X PRI during which we all cut our teeth on many investigations. The progress of Strange Occurrences has been extensively charted in print media, radio and television, as well as in our book Spooked - Exploring the Paranormal in New Zealand published by Random House NZ. In August 2015 the group changed its name to the New Zealand Strange Occurrences Society. To be continued...
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"Who am I?
As a bird I fly about Seeing things, partaking of things. Let my heart be delighted with them." - Aztec poem. |
"But at the last, what do we know?" - Arthur Machen.
