Why Inertia could be affecting your investigating (and you may not know it!)

Sitting in the bedroom of a suburban house. Lights are off except for the faint glow coming in from the window from the streetlight outside. 

It was the middle of winter and even though were inside, we had to switch all heating off to be able to eliminate any possible audible interference. And yes… it was COLD. 

I and another investigator were here to help a family with claims of paranormal activity and most of it seem to centre around this area of their house. 

Knocks were heard from what appeared to be inside the walls. 

Shadows claimed to be darting across the hallway at 3pm at night. 

Feelings of uneasiness and of being watched seem to happen as well as objects seemingly moving from room to room on their own. And in most cases, disappearing alltogether. 

One part of this bedroom had an open door wardrobe. The tenants would often claim the hangers would swing on their own. 

As we sat there for a while, I decided to try and figure out if there was a reasonable explanation as to why the hangers would move. 

Firstly I jumped around near the wardrobe seeing if the floor below would tilt the foundations of the wardrobe and make it move. Yes, sometimes when investigating and trying to find a PAE (Possible Alternative Explanation) you can look a little strange, to say the least. 

There was a slight swinging of the hangers but not enough to be consistent with the witness statement. 

I decided to walk casually past the wardrobe. Just as I did, I just brushed passed one of the hangers. This then hit the other hangers and in what could best be described as a domino effect, got them ALL swinging. And in a decent swing. 

The biggest clue was that they continued to swing for a while. So, if you were to walk past it and come back minutes later, it could appear as though they were moving on their own with no assistance from anything living. 

What actually happened is called Inertia. It’s a part of physics and is known as one of Newton’s 3 Laws of Motion. 

Sounds a little wordy? Do not fear! Here it is broken down: 

There are 3 Laws of Motion. 

1) Inertia

2) Force

3) Equal and Opposite

We’ll go into Inertia in a moment but the second Law of Force means for something to move an object it needs to have mass itself. 

The Third Law of Equal and Opposite means that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction so if something is picked up and weighs 1kg, the “thing” picking it up must have a mass and energy enough to overcome gravity as well to move it. 

So… Inertia. How could this be affecting your investigations? 

Inertia means if you have an object and it is stationary, it will stay stationary. 

It also means that if an object is moved it will continue to move. 

In short? An object will be stationary unless there is “power” applied to the object to make it move. 

So if something like a light bulb that dangles from the ceiling is moving and yet wasn’t before, there is a possibility that something like a breeze started its swinging motion and it’s still swinging minutes later – and therefore not something caused by the paranormal. 

Or if there is a chain swinging that wasn’t before. Maybe someone was near the chain, moved it slightly unconsciously (we’re in the dark as well, right?) and it was still swinging minutes later. 

You can also try finding a PAE (Possible Alternative Explanation) too by recreating the situation by moving the object and timing how long it swings for – just to be sure. 

Keeping Inertia in mind when investigating is a wonderfully beneficial insight to have.

5 Reasons Why Investigators Need to Learn About Science and Psychology

Have you ever found yourself looking through what seems like a sea of information on the internet? 

Annoyed about finding information from someone who claims to have 30 years experience… but really only investigating for 1 year?

Sick of just knowing how to use an EMF detector and want something a little more?

Feel like every other investigator is just “winging it”?

Right then. You start searching on the internet for some sort of reliable information. 

You type something like “Paranormal Phenomena” in google. Wonderful, there are pages and pages of information that comes up. 

That’s great, right? 

But some of this info comes from research papers written by people who have, lets just say, a more “complicated” language. 

And yet this information is enormously valuable but it really can feel intimidating navigating through it all when it's written in an “academic” format. Your brain can feel like exploding just trying to get through the first paragraph.

If you do have an academic background? Awesome! I highly encourage you to explore some great case studies on the internet.

But, like me, not all investigators do have an academic background and important information like this can feel - so out of reach. The time it takes to read and re-read each paragraph to then try and comprehend can be enormously off putting.

Yet, knowing this kinda info is really beneficial and for so many reasons.

Knowing how your equipment works, setting up for an investigation and sometimes even the history of a location are key things to know about investigating. But, understanding even the basics of science and psychology are just as beneficial. 

Even though this information can feel like it's hidden behind a secret language, here are the 5 most important reasons why learning the basics of science and psychology is important:

Understanding the best tool you have – your mind

Our brains are amazing instruments. And they are also built for survival. But when it comes to investigating those survival instincts can kinda be a hindrance. Think of visual pareidolia and how we can find familiarity in shapes. This is to protect us from enemies and people we don’t know but when investigating some of the most simple of shadows can look like a possible apparition.

Knowing how the outside world works

Knowing that materials can contract and expand with temperature changes to understanding air flow around a structure or building can help enormously when investigating. How many times have we heard pops and bangs to realise that it's before dawn (which is the coldest time of any 24 hour period) or that the sun has just gone down.

Saves time when investigating

Knowing even the basics of science and psychology can save so much time. If you do hear or see something you can find a PAE for (Possible Alternative Explaination) soon afterwards, this means more time spent on phenomena that can’t be explained (and possibliy paranormal!). Even when reviewing footage!

Saves money (from saving time)

Time is money, right? We investigate the paranormal because we are passionate about it and being more effective as an investigator means we can get more done in the time we are on a location.

Feel more confident investigating

Because you can become more skilled at finding your PAE (Possible Alternative Explaination), you become more confident with your knoweldge. Knowing HOW certain aspects of science and psychology works can be so rewarding. To you, to potential clients and others you investiagte with.

Knowing basic science and psycology can really up your game with investigating. It’s a way to take it to the next level after you’ve really got a handle on the key essentials. 

Because you shouldn’t have to feel stuck not knowing the important stuff JUST because of the way its written.