Vectis Radio Invo
Vectis Radio Investigation - Newport
First published in Haunted Magazine – 2011
With very few Paranormal shows on TV these days, and the weather being as unpredictable as ever what is a ghost investigation team to do? – How about conduct their own Web TV / Radio show for all to see!
I’ve been running Myths for over 8 years and although only being a small team, we have been lucky enough to be invited to investigate some amazing locations all over the world such as ‘The Blair Street Vaults’ in Edinburgh & the spooky WW2 tunnels inside the Gibraltar Rock. Our team consists of seasoned ghost investigators, a few skeptics mixed in with a few more spiritual types to give us the best of both reasoning’s & understandings.
First Published in Haunted Magazine - 2011
A few months ago I was approached by a local radio station and asked if myself (Paul Gerfen) and the wife (Janis) would consider taking part in a radio show about ghosts. Although reluctant at first, we finally agreed on the understanding that it was to be a serious show and our views were not to be ridiculed. (You just can’t always trust the media!)
The show went very well, leading from one show to another. But what could we do to prove to the listeners that the Paranormal World exists? These are people who would not normally watch or take part in ghost investigations. But could we do it? could we really pull it off? Having already had great success on the radio, we had a good friend in the shape of local radio presenter Calder Jon. The idea was put forward to Vectis Radio!
With the planning stage out of the way we had settled on a 4 hour investigation that would run from 9’o clock till 1. The investigation would be broadcast live on Infra-red streaming video cameras across the internet – while the Vectis Radio studio team broadcast a special show, allowing the viewers at home to interact with the investigation. What a plan! but would it work!
Slowly, Saturday the 18th June kept up the calendar, and before we knew it my house resembled something like a TV broadcast van. Wires and laptops snaked across the floor, problem is.. it may all work here, but then I’m not sat in a dark, haunted location trying to broadcast to the nation!
It’s Saturday evening, everything is being crammed into the back of what I now know to be a VERY small car. The team are all assembled outside the radio studio, a few worried faces. Not due to the upcoming investigation but the fear and dread of being live on web and radio.
The studio team consisting of Karin Brinsford and Calder Jon who thankfully have a good understanding of the Paranormal, due to us ‘breaking them in’ with a few pre warmup investigations beforehand. Calder was ready and waiting to broadcast a show that could become very unpredictable. As I had previously explained to him, a script is good for an actor – but this is a live ghost investigation, with the main stars being the spirits!
Twenty to nine.. problems! – Two static infra-red cameras that were fixed in place at various locations refuse to work! The mediums of the group are starting to pickup on a very strong unhappy presence that seems to be keeping a roving eye on us. For reasons I have yet to explain, these darn cameras just refuse to work!
Never mind, its nine o’clock – SHOW TIME!
With the cameras still playing up, its decided that for the first hour of the show the team will be based mainly in the studio, giving me time to work on the camera feeds. With Janis & Maz Wills (the medium’s)- giving their account of the atmosphere of the location next-door, it wasn’t long before myself and our cameraman for the night Jason, started to feel just a little uneasy. The temperature felt like it had dropped immensely, although the probe sat next to me proved otherwise. Poor Jason had the job of tracing the wiring, just to make sure everything was still free and untangled. With 50 metres of wire trailing behind you, there is that burning worry that something would tangle up and you just wouldn’t be able to get the camera into that one position where everything was happening.
Although we are unable to prove it, we both heard what sounded like children laughing coming from different directions. The location being a former Boys Academy, it was quite probable that we had a few visitors with us, I only hope it wasn’t them playing with the camera feeds. With the team now in position, it is time to get this investigation on the road. We started with the usual introductions by Janis, watch it Yvette Fielding.. Janis has you in her sights! Thankfully after the first few minutes everyone started to relax, forgetting the live feed and concentrating on the investigation at hand.
Why is it that you always have to have a nervous person with you on these types of shows? We had the company of two Vectis Radio presenters, Karin Brinsford & Maxine Furness. Karin has been out with us before and so was quite used to standing quietly in the dark, but poor Maxine really was a fish out of water – half expecting a demon to appear and whisk her off into the depths below.
Only 10 minutes into the broadcast and already Maxine was sure she had her first ‘Paranormal Experience’, swiftly followed by her exit to the studio for a radio update. The rest of the team continued unhindered with the investigation inhand. Slowly but surely as the time ticked by the energy seemed to be building up.
Viewers were starting to contact the studio, strange lights around the static cameras were being reported. Unexplainable energy spikes seemed to materialize, forcing our K2 and EMF meters to behave wildly before dissipating to nothing.
The Mediums onhand at the time (Maz & Mark Fisher) picked up the spirit of a very unhappy little boy, perhaps around the age of 10. Simon Horton our Psychic Artist leaned quietly against the wall, sketching out what he too could sense. It wasn’t long before ‘Andrew’ had been given form.
What a night this was turning out to be, the spirits – thankfully – had decided to play to the camera. One o’clock was fast approaching, it was time to head up to the very top rooms. Rooms which for some reason had been filling our mediums with dread. A table was in place for glass divination, could we get any sense from the cold feelings of apprehension that seemed to be contagiously passing between us. Janis started to focus on the glass and get a clear picture of the messages she sensed forming in her mind. “You killed him!” – Jan doesn’t like to mince her words! Jan was in clear communication with this foreboding spirit, who was starting to become more than a little agitated. Still the information flowed, was it possible that we had stumbled on a murder?
As the energy of the glass divination built up so did the quickfire information that Janis was passing. “He was your son!.. You pushed him down the stairs.. he fell.. the injuries killed him” – strong stuff indeed Jan! But what a way to end our first show. With us all feeling a little subdued over what had just transpired infront of us, Maz brought the table session to an abrupt close.
The whole team still have big grins on our faces, we did it! we actually put out a quality live ghost investigation on air. But where do you go from here? who knows where this will take us!..