A visit to the Paranormal 101 class at the Fresno Adult Ed Center

Last night (Thursday September 22) I attended the Paranormal 101 class that the Fresno Adult Ed School offers every Fall semester. The class is instructed by Central California Paranormal Investigators founder and director Jackie Meador. Meador has been involved investigating the paranormal for over a decade now and has been an instructor through the Adult Ed system for six years now.

The course is six weeks long and starts off with a short history of the paranormal field from it's founding in the Spiritual Movement in the late 19th Century all the way up to modern times and the numerous paranormal reality shows on TV. For the first three weeks students learn what type of equipment is used (camera both film and digital, audio recorders and devices that collect environmental data) and how to properly use it. Meador also goes into detail on how important it is to research the history of a site as any information you can find may help validate any evidence you may gather.

During the third week the class takes a field trip to a haunted location for the students to practice the techniques they learn in class. The location is Sierra Sky Ranch, a location I personally feel to be one of the most active places I've ever investigated. This is the infamous Sierra Sky Ranch that I have mentioned before. The students form groups and a member of CCPI tags along with them to make sure everyone is safe and is there to answer any questions.

The final three weeks involves the students discussing what they saw at the Ranch and going over any evidence they may have gathered. Each group is then asked to give a report on their findings, if the location is haunted or not in their opinions and to show their evidence.

As I write this there is still time to sign up for the class. Meador said that the school will allow students to register up to the second class, which will be on September 29. The class is at the Manchester Center, second floor, Room 6 and is from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm and to register you can call the school at (559) 457-6000. The trip up to the Sierra Sky Ranch will be on October 15, so if you want to take the class be sure you are available that night as it's an overnight investigation.

Also there will be a good chance I will be attending the October 15 investigation and will be tweeting as the investigation occurs (and hopefully be able to stream some video as well). Details will be announced via Twitter and Facebook so if you aren't following either one you can find my Twitter here and my Facebook here.

Spooky lectures for the month of October

It’s October, and for this blogger that can mean only one thing. Halloween is near. When I used to be a paranormal investigator this was always a busy month. Not for investigating, but doing promotional work. It seems this year it’s no different for several groups in the area.

I saw a calendar for the Fresno County Public Library events for October and it seems there are several lectures on the subject of the paranormal for this month (most focusing on ghost hunting). I’d thought I’d post them here in case anyone was interested in attending one of these lectures.

The first event is a lecture on basic ghost hunting. Here you can talk to paranormal investigators from Central California Paranormal Investigators, hear some of their stories, and see both photographic evidence and listen to EVP recordings. There will also be a question and answer period for anyone who might have any questions. For those interested in going, here are the locations and dates:

Woodward Park Library – October 6 at 7 PM

Kingsburg Library – October 21 at 6:30 PM

Clovis Regional Library – October 26 at 7 PM

Fowler Library – October 28 at 6:30 PM

There will also be a screening of the documentary Haunting of Central California. This documentary was previously mentioned here and it was shot up at the Jeffery Inn in Coulterville (which is in Mariposa County) by Central California Paranormal Investigators. Representatives from CCPI will be available to answer any questions.

Cedar Clinton Library – October 27 at 4:30 PM

Fig Garden Regional Library – November 8 at 7PM

Sunnyside Regional Library – November 21 at 2PM

I had previously mentioned the CCPI Lightworkers, and they will be doing a discussion on psychic gifts and how they can be used.

Sunnyside Regional Library – October 17 at 2 PM

Fig Garden Regional Library – November 7 at 2 PM

And it seems that CCPI will be leading an actual ghost hunt at the Central Library in downtown Fresno on November 5, starting at 7 PM. You have to be at least 14 and have to pre-register at 488-3856. I’m not sure what the story is behind the haunts here but I plan on registering to see what is there.

And finally CCPI is doing ghost walks in both the Tower District and Old Town Clovis. For more information you can check out Nightfall tours.

Local paranormal investigation group documentary to air on TV this Sunday

The Jeffery Hotel, Coulterville California

This Sunday, local paranormal group Central California Paranormal Investigators (CCPI) will be having a documentary they recently filmed in Mariposa County air on KAIL TV ch 53/7.1 digital on May 30, 2010, from 8:00pm to 10:00 pm. This is the second documantary the group has produced of haunts in Central California and this one takes places in the small ghost town of Coulterville, at the historic Jeffery Hotel.

CCPI was joined by several other investigators who had taken the Paranormal Studies program and the Fresno Adult Education Center. The group has yet to release yet what evidence they have gathered, but will do so when the documentary is aired this Sunday.

For those interested in taking the Paranormal Studies program, the next one is scheduled to start sometime in the fall of 2010 and you can register on-line here when the class is available.

Want to be a paranormal investigator? This class is the best way to start.

With the popularity of Ghost Hunters and other paranormal reality TV shows, more and more people are becoming paranormal investigators thinking that all they need is a camcorder with night vision and a flash light. When I first started investigating ghosts I read book after book at the library (this was before the internet was as prolific as it is today) on anything I could find, from the typical ghost books, to photography, and even a few on criminology so I knew how to approach an investigation from a scientific point of view.

Fast forward ten years and there is now a class on the basics of how to be a paranormal investigator right here in Fresno. It's an Adult Ed. class and it's being taught at the Manchester Mall on Saturdays at 9:00 am from Oct. 17 to Nov. 21. I never too the class, the person who was running the group I was with started it. Her name is Jackie Meador and I have mentioned her a few times on this blog in the past. Jackie has been investigating haunted locations throughout the country for almost a decade now and she is one of the most knowledgeable people I have ever met regarding the subject of the paranormal.

Like I said, the class is a basic one that teaches the principles of what it is to be a paranormal investigator. From type of equipment that is needed and how to use it, to the classifications of haunts, and even how to conduct the investigation and write the report, Jackie covers this all over a six week course. The best part, is at week three you actually get to put what you learned to practice and investigate an actual haunted location (the Sierra Sky Ranch).

If anyone is interested in becoming a paranormal investigator, or just learning about the paranormal I would definitely recommend taking this class. The class fills up quickly, so register now. But if you can't get in this semester, there is a Spring one available in a few months so check back then. Here's the link to the Fall class.

Fresno's own paranormal studies

Downtown at the Ceaser Chavez Adult Ed. Center Jackie Meador, who is the founder of Central California Paranormal Investigators, has been teaching those interested in the paranormal for almost three years now. Meador herself has been involved with the paranormal since 2001 and has traveled around the country investigating famous locations. Her decision for starting the six week course was to help those who are interested in learning how to become a paranormal investigator. The class is held twice a year. Once in the fall and once in the spring and last six weeks.



Meador explaining the difference between film and digital cameras.


Over the six weeks the twenty or so students learn the history of modern day paranormal investigators, the equipment they use, the types of incidents that are most likely to occur, and how to go about gathering evidence. They are also paired up into groups of five to six to work together. During the third week of the course, the students travel to one of the Valley's most haunted locations, the Sierra Sky Ranch up in Oakhurst, and conduct an actual investigation using the techniques they learned in class. Most, if not all the students spend the night at the Ranch, renting rooms for the night. The final three weeks the students go over any possible evidence they may have caught and then give a report based on their experiences.

I've been lucky enough to go on every class trip up there and there is always lots of activity. The next scheduled field trip is this coming Saturday, October 4. Hopefully something eventful will happen and I can report back on it next week.