PB: The Full Story

Hello fellow paranormal fans, Andy here from PB with the latest info from a very chilly Hub.

2011 was a good year for us; we grew as a team, met new friends, dabbled once again with public events at the Plas Hyfryd and even won an award or two. 2012 looked like it was going to be even better, but 2012 never really kicked off for us. Within weeks of being back team members had dropped out, lost focus and things began to unravel at a vast rate of knots.

There were always two different sides to PB. One was the serious investigation side and the other was the public event/money making side. We could never get those two sides working in tandem so took the decision to knock the public event side on the head in late 2010. When that side of things ended PB also stopped being a partnership and I was virtually left to run the group on my own and, I think, 2011 was a pretty good year for us.

PB & friends @ The Plas: Oct 2011

After an amazing opportunity came to work with local psychic medium Karen Wilson and Ciaran O'Keeffe at the Plas in October 2011; we were pretty pumped up about the possibility of doing public events again. All of a sudden PB became a partnership once more and I found my investigation ideas being shoved to one side in favour of more public events. This lead to lots of tension in the team and I found myself trying to calm those tensions or heal rifts instead of simply hunting ghosts.

It seemed to be one row after another and things finally came to a head after March's GhostWest Lite event at the Imperial in Milford Haven and Minnies Nitespot.  It became clear to us all that things had to change if we were going to continue to search for the paranormal as a team.  And things did change for a while, we began a far more thorough investigation of Llawhaden Castle, but some members of the team still weren't happy with how things were progressing and decided to leave the team permanently, which I supported.

Stuck with a dwindling number of team members and no drive to get back out and investigate I called time on Pembrokeshire Beyond. It seemed the only right thing to do to save my sanity.

So, yeah, 2012 never really got started for us but now, after a looooong break and some time to reassess why and how we're searching for the paranormal; we're back. 2013 looks bright and we want to get back out and kickstart our search for everything paranormal in West Wales. From spooky spectres to mysterious lights in the sky over West Wales: we're interested and we want to know about it all.

Also, if you're interested in becoming part of the team let me know: email me with your contact details at andy_chandler_824@hotmail.com if you can see yourself becoming part of an open minded team of investigators searching all across West Wales for the paranormal.....

Until next time

Andy @PB :)

ORBs - Paranormal or not?

Hi,

Well I am going to talk briefly about a subject which has recieved a number of different views -ORBs.

mist or orbs?

Many people believe they are spirit manifestations, apparitions etc. And a growing number of people are totally convinced they are normal phenomena which can be explained scientifically.

Here at Pembrokeshire Beyond, we don't want to make your mind up for you, however we do want to present you with as much information as we can on any subjects we cover.

I have been reading a number of peoples research with regards to creating orbs and have listed links to a couple of sites which cover the phenomena in great depth. The aim of this blog is to give you a brief outline of what I have discovered, allowing you to research it in more depth if you require.The main bulk of the research can be basically summerised as follows:-

The location of the photo's does not seem to effect the presence of Orbs, i.e 'Haunted locations' don't have massively increased ORB photos than none 'haunted' locations.  This suggests that the presence of a 'haunted environment' makes no difference.

35mm cameras capture significantly less ORBs than digital cameras.

Photos with an enhanced 'depth of field' provide significantly more ORBs than phtos using a more standard depth of field

When a flash is closer to the camera, more ORBs are generally observed

When a flash is used more ORBs are shown then with a none flash used photo.

In summary the number of ORBs in photos changes dependent upon 'mundane' factors, rather than haunted or paranormal which seems to suggest that ORBS are a phenomena not caused by paranormal conditions.

So does this mean ORBs are dust??  well yes and  no, ORBs are not dust but seem to be caused by 'dust'. The general consensus is that orbs are 'Circles Of Confusion', basically light reflected from dust particles, or parts of them when shot out of focus dependent upon the depth of vision being used by the particular camera at the time. When this reflection is then combined with the way some digital cameras 'fill' spaces when taking certain pictures, it enhances the ORB size and shape.

Picture from The ORB zone

As I have said this is not research carried out by us at Pembrokeshire Beyond, however is collated from multiple sources on the internet.

Para.Science, a group of scientific paranormal researchers, have conducted some groundbreaking research into the phenomenon and I would recommend reading their evidence. Using a camera with 2 lenses, they have taken photos which show the ORB being picked up on on one lense, though not on the other, which would confirm the views of dust reflection, etc.

I would also recommend visiting The Orb Zone, which is another good reference point for the scientific explanation of ORBs.

However it is for you to decide what you believe, many people still say that 2-5% of ORB pictures cannot be explaned by the science....What are your thoughts?

Taken during a light drizzle

Happy hunting :)

Shaun

Is Empathy a power??

Hi all, team member Siobhan here!

Most of the human race feels empathic towards friends and family, some even feel empathy to those that they feel are being mistreated or disrespected. But the question here is empathy a power?

I don’t mean the common empathy that is built into us as a race, which we used in the dawn of time before words. I mean the empathy that allows people to feel things that have passed. Don’t look like that, I’m serious. Some (and I can’t say how many) people “feel” things that may have happened. Walking into a derelict hospital that is in ruin, most people think about the sick people that were there and some even think about the operations and tools used, but how many of us can say they feel the dread collecting in the waiting rooms? Or the joy? The excitement in the maternity ward? Obvious feelings due to the locations, I know. But could you tell the difference between the contentment of successful procedures and the pain of the terminally ill, in the same room?

Just because the maternity ward is for expectant and new mothers, why is it all happy thoughts that surround people? Why is there never any evidence of the reluctant mothers? The Grandparents-to-be that are furious with their child for “being foolish”?

Many people that believe in the paranormal believe that Empathy goes hand in hand with a Psychic ability.


So I ask, is this kind of Empathy a power?

In my humble opinion every person feels empathy in one form or another. Some have little empathy and others have greater empathy, but I think that some are much more empathic to the extent that they can feel this that have long since passed. I can walk through a field and feel children playing, people fighting and sometimes a settling feeling that can only be found in a dwelling. I can be suddenly overtaken by a calm, serene feeling in the middle of a shop in a small town, possibly because it was once a home. I can walk a town wall and feel complete pride and importance. Stand at the edge of a cliff and feel like I can keep walking forward and no harm will come to me from falling (this is not a god complex). But I cannot say I have had any psychic experiences myself.

So. How empathic are you?

Life with a medium!

Hi there,

this is the first of many blogs detailing the experiences of those involved with the Pembrokeshire Beyond Paranormal Investigation group.

An introduction first then; my name is Andy Chandler and I'm one of the lead investigators of our group.  I'm a long time believer having seen and experienced a vast array of odd goings on.

A few of my experiences revolve around my time working as a companion to my sister, Emma, an ex-medium with the Pembrokeshire Paranormalists.  She was in contact with spirits, I have no doubt of this in my mind whatsoever.

She did a reading for my wife, Felicity, and talked about events and people she couldn't have possibly known about.  Her amazing gifts, while being impressive from the outside, really did seem to torture her, she said she was in constant contact with spirits (even in her sleep) and had no way to shut it down or close her third eye.

My job as companion to her was to try and centre her and calm her down when situations got over-emotional.  At a previous investigation at Margam Castle she was being overcome by a particularly nasty spirit who seemed hell bent on possession of my sister.

She fought him off but needed a calming influence to shake him entirely.  What happened next was bizarre,  my way of calming her was to place my hand on her forehead to cover her third eye.  As soon as I placed my hand on her forehead she flew backwards like a truck had hit her.

Seconds later I was at her side and she seemed unconscious.  Other members of the group rushed to our aide and, with the help of Andy Taylor, she regained her composure and was able to carry on with the investigation.

This was not the first time my role as companion let me get a rare insight into the minds of those who claim to speak with the dead,  I spent a lot of time in the company of Andy Taylor and still consider him a firm friend to this day.  What I was able to witness was the aftermath of a reading, investigation or an emotional communication session, and what I saw wasn't always nice.

Often my sister would lock herself away for days after an investigation in an attempt to deal with what her experiences meant to her, she was in awe of her own powers and knew what the ramifications were.  She knew there was a life after death and struggled to get her head around what this meant, not just for her but for the universe.

Many nights would be wasted helping her try to come to terms with her gift.  Ultimately it was wasted as, after a battle with mental health issues she lost all mediumistic powers but, in her own words "you're only given things you can deal with"

So, there's a little insight into living with a medium.

Thanks for taking the time to read our musings on the paranormal!

Andy Chandler

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