What happens when a career cop investigates the paranormal? On this #ParanormalTuesday, Mike and Wendy talk with Greg Lawson, The Paranormal Detective: paranormal investigator, writer, actor, musician, and lieutenant in charge of the midnight shift at a large sheriff's office in Texas.
Greg brings an investigator's mindset to every case. Before anything can be called paranormal, he rules out everything else, and only when something truly can't be explained does it become interesting. He admits it's frustrating when people share an amazing story and then get upset when he asks questions. He's not a debunker, he says, but if it isn't paranormal, it isn't.
He also talks about what happens when people believe they're possessed, why law enforcement makes sure someone is medically cleared first, and why he's wary of video evidence that isn't the original file, since you can't know whether the pixels have been manipulated. As he points out, people have been reporting strange experiences for thousands of years. We seem wired for it, electronics or not.
Greg shares a dramatic story from his police career and a call from back in the 1980s, and describes his own investigation method: research public records, talk to people who know the history, secure the electricity, let the house "cook," and even sweep the grounds with a metal detector.
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