Turf wars already exist. I’ve been stunned by the terrible things being said about so-called competitors in the field. In many cases, it’s a power struggle, and I’m not sure what trophy they expect to win. (Generally, networks aren’t interested in new TV shows about ghost hunting, but most aspiring “Ghost Hunter” wannabes don’t realize that yet.)

In other cases, it’s about being the big fish in a little pond, and grabbing enough attention to demand higher prices for local paid events and dinner shows. (I understand fundraisers to repair and maintain dilapidated, haunted locations. I understand paying for serious paranormal conferences. I do not understand ghost-hunting-as-dinner-theater, but perhaps that’s my own prejudice.)

From my viewpoint, turf wars and competition are terribly damaging to this field.

Ironically, in May & June I sat down individually with several serious researchers who weren’t talking with each other, and each of them had been the victim of gossip started or embellished by a con artist. Most of the researchers knew what was being said about other people; few knew what was being said about them, personally. Once the truth became clear, the researchers began cooperating with each other again, and everyone’s working in harmony again.

Cooperation is vital for us to understand what’s really going on at haunted locations.

You’re right that there are no certified experts in this field, since we have no real standards of measurement for credentials. You’re also right about the value of a degree in parapsychology. In most serious scientific communities, that’s met with derision, not respect.

However, some people have more experience than others. Generally, I look for people who have in excess of 100 hours research in the field — in addition to time spent in off-site research and data analysis — or who’ve been involved in this field prior to its peak of popularity in 2004. That increases the likelihood that the person has some expertise, though many excellent researchers have entered the field since 2004.

(That said, I recently read an autobiography of a “psychic” who claimed to have been researching ghosts since 2001. Then, I checked his story on Google and found the story confirmed… but it was in 2004, not 2001. So, the startup date isn’t necessarily meaningful, and I’ve learned to double-check claims as much as I can.)

In addition, there are some amateurs who haven’t a clue what they’re doing, and that troubles me. I keep hearing about serious researchers — in haunted locations — encountering teams of ghost enthusiasts… and the latter have been drinking. I’m also seeing increased vandalism at haunted sites. That makes me want to stop mentioning specific locations, though this website was originally created to share research advice and places the public can learn ghost research techniques.

As you can tell, I’m fairly disgusted with what’s happened as people look at ghost hunting with fame and fortune in mind.

Until paranormal research resumes as a serious study, I agree wholeheartedly that we need to charge only travel expenses, at the most. In fact, the people who most need our help are often those who thought the problem would go away on its own. Now, they’re frantic, they’ve been so stressed and have had so little sleep, they’ve lost their jobs. They can barely afford groceries, much less some high fee for an investigation.

Frankly, those are the people we most need to help, and they’re often the ones with the most active homes that can further our research and understanding of what causes hauntings.