Q: Hi Phil, happy new year and thank you for the chance
to talk with you today. Firstly congratulations on the
success of Dead Haunted Nights, can we ask what’s
it like going out with the public to such renowned sites
as Galleries Of Justice and Woodchester Mansion in comparison
to with a full TV crew and renown psychic?
A: Hi all, and Happy New year
to you too! In some respects going to locations with
the general public is actually easier than with a film
crew. Filming a TV show is much more constructed and
tighter with the way things are run and you are always
having to think about what you are saying and doing
as if you get it wrong it can be very time consuming.
Whereas with the public you can relax more, have a laugh
(vital if someone is frightened about doing an investigation
to chill them out a little) and not worry about fluffing
what you say. I find it fascinating seeing how people
cope with being in such places as those that you mention…lol.
Q: How did Dead Haunted Nights come about and how did
you meet Chris, Nick and Vince, and how do they find
working with you and your zany sense of humour?
A:
Lol…Dead Haunted Nights came about in 2004 when
I was chatting to Ian Lawman concerning working together
on projects. There were a couple of groups already doing
overnight events and we just thought ‘we can do
that…’, so we did. Of course people had
the added bonus of asking either myself or Ian about
our TV experiences. I met Nick and Chris in June / July
2004. Nick works in one of the stores in Lincoln city
centre and I met him when I went into where he works,
and from there I met Chris who is a friend of his. Chris
does the DHN website updating etc. Vince actually came
on a location with us as a paying member of the public,
where I got to know him and eventually asked him to
become a DHN team leader. He’s a member of Swadlincote
Paranormal Investigation group too. I must admit they
are all great and without them DHN would have struggled…cheers
guys! As for my sense of humour…we’re all
similar in that dept, so they cope fine!
Q: Which
places are you looking forward to investigating with
them this year?
A:
I’m looking forward to doing Margam Castle in
Wales as well as the Coalhouse Fort (Essex). We’re
really lucky this year as we have some great new venues
coming up which I can’t wait for. We’ve
also got Darlington Civic Theatre (Darlington) and Valentines
Mansion (London) as well as old favourites the Galleries
of Justice (Nottingham) and The Red Lion (Avebury).
Should be interesting!
Q: Do you feel that the highlighted interest in the
paranormal due to programmes such as Most Haunted and
Dead Famous has been positive or detrimental to professional
paranormal investigation and why ?
A:
I think it has done no harm at all. After all, the paranormal
subject was something that people did not really understand
and a few people even looked on it and frowned. However,
that has all changed and in no small part to the screening
of such programs as MH and DF. It is always hard to
get the mix right in a TV show – some will love
it, others hate it – but it does not stop paranormal
investigators getting out there and doing what they
enjoy!
Q:
Do you miss the limelight of television and do you have
any plans to return to our screens? We know you did
a pilot of your own programme called Spirit Seekers,
what progress is there with it?
A: I do miss it…who wouldn’t.
But the general public have been very kind to me and
sometimes it still amazes me at their generosity, it’s
like I’m still on the box every week and people
are constantly stopping me for a chat! ‘Spirit
Seekers’ has gone to the great graveyard in the
sky reserved to pilot shows…lol. Looking back
at it I did enjoy doing it, but I would have done things
differently (I even asked if I could help direct / produce
the pilot using the knowledge gained from MH, but was
turned down!).
Q:
Of all the sites you have investigated over your career
we must ask what’s the most memorable experience
and why?
A:
Crikey…erm…tough question! This tends to
change each time I am asked this as I usually remember
another incident, lol. I have had a couple of strange
experiences at Peterborough Museum, very recently too.
The first was when I was in one of the rooms and I was
sat talking to one of the guests on an event DHN held
there. As I turned to face the chap in question I saw
a bare arm, bent at the elbow, right in front of my
face! I don’t normally mention an experience if
I am not certain I witnessed it, but this I swear was
there. The other was in the cellar at the museum. A
group of us were sat in there when something quite heavy
was thrown onto the materials in front of us…made
us jump I can tell you! Brannigans nightclub with MH
was one location I will always remember, very spooky
and only the second one I ever did with them!
Q:
Reading many investigation reports there are always
references to orbs and light anomalies, what’s
your professional view towards them? Are they all purely
reflections of light on dust? If not how do you distinguish
between the two?
A:
I’m not an orb fan myself well, not of 90% of
them at least. I think there are far more down to Earth
explanations for these anomalies like dust or other
airborne particle. However, I have seen some on TV programs
that are very intriguing. These are normally larger
than the usual little things seen frequently on cameras,
and tend to zip about and change direction at pace before
vanishing. I haven’t seen many though in all honesty.
But, I’m not here to persuade you one way or the
other, so please come to your own conclusions (as with
all paranormal incidents).
Q: What have you ever caught on camera or film yourself
that is beyond rational and scientific explanation?
A: I was at a famously haunted
location in Goosnargh (Lancashire), and I took two 35mm
Infra-Red B/W shots, one right after the other, of the
stairway there. I’m quite a keen photographer.
When the film was developed there was a blur of ‘something’
coming from the middle of the stairs towards me and
then bending to the right, at the point approximately
where I was stood. To the right of me was an open doorway.
Was this something coming down the stairs towards me
and evading me by going out the door? The next shot
in the sequence was fine by the way…I have been
lucky enough to do this location a number of times,
each one had a strange incident or two.
Q: What is your view on using psychics on investigations?
We are aware you have worked with the Psychic Bad Boy
Ian Lawman, how do you rate his ‘gift’ and
how was it working professionally with him?
A: This is always a difficult
question to answer as far as rating someone’s
psychic ability / awareness is concerned. I don’t
discount anyone’s claims of psychic powers as
there is not one person of a medical / scientific standing
that can categorically say 100% that these abilities
are not possible within the human makeup. I think Ian
is very talented and I always found it immense fun working
with him.
Q:
Is there anyone in the paranormal field today that you
would like to work with on an investigation and why?
A:
I have always admired Peter Underwood. He has done so
many investigations one could learn a lot from him.
It would be interesting to attend an investigation with
Peter. My ultimate would have been Harry Price, whose
book’s I remember reading when young…especially
concerning Borley Rectory.
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