Eyewitness Interviewing-Tips

Last Sunday at THE Ohio Bigfoot Conference I gave a short and sweet presentation on eyewitness interviewing. I know, I know, you are upset that you missed it, lol! Well just for you I will share it here. :) I gathered the information from a few sources such as Steve Kulls and members of the BFRO.

Not everyone operates the same way or conducts an interview the same way, but there are certain key elements that must be consistently observed based on proven interrogation techniques.

The most important piece of information in any Bigfoot investigation is the eyewitness interview. It is imperative that you absorb every possible detail you can from the incident.

Your first action should be to obtain a “written” report. Be sure your reporting form contains questions that will allow the witness to give as much detail as possible. If the eyewitness refuses to leave a phone number or an email address, or expresses no desire to speak to you, you might as well file the report and save it for a rainy day when you are bored with nothing better to do!

The written report will act as your baseline for when you follow up with a telephone interview. Leading eventually to a face-to-face interview.

Of course we will begin with the basics:

1. Date and time of day
2. Weather conditions
3. Are there any other witnesses
4. Describe what happened
5. Describe in detail the height, weight, color, sex, any other distinguishing features or actions of the creature
6. What was the duration of the sighting
7. How far away was the creature
8. Were any drugs or alcohol involved
9. How did this make you feel?
10. Have you had an interest in Bigfoot research?

After you have read the written report, it is best to follow-up, hopefully within a week or two with a telephone call or preferably a face-to-face interview. Ask the witness questions that differ from his answers on the written report just in case they have memorized what they had written. Try to be unbiased towards the witness. Make him/her convince you that the event actually occurred.

When interviewing a witness, always tape record or video tape the interview. (with their permission)

DOCUMENT DOCUMENT DOCUMENT! And always cover your butt! With the written report, and a well documented interview, you will be able to look for inconsistencies (if there are any) or similarities within the report.

At the location take lots of pictures.

I have been on many interviews where it became apparent to me that the witness was either lonely or seeking attention. Be wary and be careful!

Feel free to download this Eyewitness Report .pdf
EYEWITNESS REPORT
me and es

Paranormal Activity

I’ve been friends with Grace since junior high school. We’ve kept in touch over the years and Facebook makes it so easy to stay connected. Last week Grace posted, “My ghost is back”. She then proceeded to tell me about the strange occurances taking place in her home.

I have never gotten into the ghost hunting but I knew the perfect guys to come investigate.
Alan and Jesse from Fathom Frontiers. Within minutes Alan eagerly agreed to come out with Jesse and their gear for a fun night of paranormal activity.

We arrived at 8:30 on Saturday evening, March 9, 2013. The guys set up their cameras to start the interview with Grace and her husband George. The following is the re-telling of their experiences.

The house they live in was a new construction built in 2005, they and their 3 children have been the only inhabitants of the house.
On September 25, 2012 they were all sound asleep whan at 3:20 a.m. they were awakened by a loud crash that sounded as if it came from the kitchen area. They ran downstairs to see the damage, they couldn’t find anything. They had assumed that a picture window had smashed or that a kitchen cabinet had collapsed sending all of the china and crystal shattering to the hard wood floor. After searching the entire house including the basement and garage they went back to bed. Not more than 20 minutes later they then heard a loud thud coming from the downstairs which sounded like a, heavy piece of furniture had been abruptly slid and dropped. They were certain that there was an intruder and immediately called 911. The 911 operator told them to gather the entire family into one room and close the door and wait for the police to arrive.

After a thorough inspection of the property, it was determined that nothing was out of the ordinary but the family was very perplexed.

There have been other subtle but notable things taking place since that day such as Grace hearing someone in the other room when she thought she was alone, she called out hey whose there? assuming her husband or sons had come in while she was engrossed in Words With Friends ;) . The youngest child, 14 year old Grayson was watching television in her room before bed. She got up to brush her teeth and walked to her bathroom and when she returned the television was off and her bedroom door was ajar. She immediately ran into her parent’s room and slept there.
The most recent event which is why we decided to investigate occurred on Tuesday, March 4, 2013. The family was fast asleep when at 12:20 a.m. they were once again awakened by the sound of something scraping and sliding down the wallthen crashing to the floor. They ran downstairs and found nothing out of place. That’s when they decided something paranormal was going on and they wanted to get to the bottom of it.

THE INVESTIGATION
We then toured the entire house which is pretty much a small mansion. Jesse and Alan went room to room taking EMF and temperature readings. Only one area showed any spikes in readings and it was in the general vicinity of where the sounds seem to eminate. Grace, George and I then retired to the kitchen and let the Fathom Frontiers get to work. They spent the next hour taking pictures, and readings with all of their high tech equipment.
It was now around midnight when we all assembled in the family room to try to communicate with any spirits using a device called a “spirit box” which is a device used for contacting spirits through the use of radio frequency.spirit
Alan adjusted the device to a certain radio frequency where white noise eminated through the speaker. We all took turns asking questions and asked for names. We got several responses that made the hair on my chest stand on end! The guys were also videotaping the session to see if anything was manifesting in the room with us. They then asked the spirits to quit bothering the family and the box went quiet.

Alan and Jesse are reviewing all of the data they collected and will follow up with their findings!
alanjesse

The Sasquatch Field Guide

field guideDr. Jeffrey Meldrum has compiled the Sasquatch Field Guide. The guide which is waterproof and foldable, outlines credible witnesses cite encounters with large man-like creatures, or their sign, in North American forests. The “wildman of the woods” is portrayed in tribal art and oral traditions. For many the sasquatch are part of the natural and cultural landscape– a rare, reclusive, non-confrontational species of primate. This guide will aid in distinguishing the telltale signs of sasquatch from those of common wildlife. It will instruct in the proper identification, documentation, collection, and preservation of evidence– and will advise whom to contact to report evidence of a sasquatch encounter.
http://www.amazon.com/Sasquatch-Field-Guide-Waterproof-Folding/dp/193719695X/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1362529061&sr=8-11&keywords=sasquatch+field+guide