Earlier in the day, Trish and I had gone out and bought a TempurPedic Bed.  It was one of those adjustable beds, that the head and feet raise up on…. massage…. the whole thing.  Big ol memory foam mattress – the base alone must have weighed 300 – 400 pounds.  We hoofed it into the pickup truck I had borrowed from my next door neighbor and brought it home.  Pulling it off the truck, I noticed that my heart was burning… a lot of pressure.

I had felt this same pain for a while now – anytime I exerted myself, I would get this burning sensation in my heart.  It felt like when you really work out a muscle – like your legs when your running…. that tired burning feeling.  No mistaking the fact that it was my heart muscle, and it hurt everytime I exerted myself.  Now, having to hoof this bed into the house was killing me.  Trish and I would lift it and carry it about four feet, and I would have to stop and wait for my heart to stop burning.  About ten minutes later, we would drag it a couple more feet.  Finally we got it into place, took out the old bed and settled in upstairs to watch a movie.

A few hours later after we had finish the movie, I went downstairs to grab a quick shower before bed.  As I was chilling out in the shower, my heart started to ‘pump up’… as if I was running a marathon or something.  By the time I had dried off and made it to bed….  I was in a LOT of pain.  I laid down, trying not to alarm Trish… but she already knew something was up.  “Whats going on”?

I told her I was having chest pains…  and right when I said it – BOOOOM.  The only thing I can say is it felt like my heart just cramped.  I could barely talk… I could barely move… the pain was friggin holy cow wtf INTENSE.  Right in my chest.  I began to sweat waterfalls…. but I didn’t get that left arm numb thing at all.  Trish was already up and getting ready to call the ambulance.  I told her we could be at the hospital by the time one showed up – let’s drive.

We got to the hospital, and they immediately went to work; to make a long story short – they disagnosed me with Coronary Artery Disease.  The two main arteries that feed my heart were 95-98% blocked.  My cholesterol wa 263, and my triglycerides were so hard, that they could not calculate them.  They kept me overnight, and said that they would normally schedule a stress test… but not in this instance because it would trigger a massive heart attack.

Another long story short…. they peformed two operations to put stents in my heart.  A day of rest – and I was discharged.  Now, Im resting at home – the worst part of it is the bed sores on my ass from where I laid in bed for five days.  it’s…. not pretty : )

MORAL OF THIS STORY:  I came as clos as you can get to dying from a massive heart attack.  I knew something was wrong – but I didnt say anything, because it would come and go.  It got worse and worse… and worse… until I almost killed myself out of stupidity.  If you are experiencing chest discomfort, or pain in your chest upon exertion – then you and I both know something is probably wrong.  Listen to your brain telling you to get it checked out.  I wanna keep you around.  Go to your doctor, and explain what is happening.  My doctor told me that I was less than 24 hours away from a massive heart attack.  don’t let that happen to you!  A lot of people love ya – and want you to hang around : )

If you think something is going on, and you want to talk more about this – shoot me an email.  ALeave me your phone umbr, and I will call you and we can talk more about it.

Tim

Grant Wilson

Grant Wilson is a founding member of ‘The Atlantic Paranormal Society”, and one of two lead investigators of the most popular paranormal themed show on television.  Known as “Ghost Hunters”, the controversial series has been on the SyFy channel for eight seasons.  On the 2/15/12 broadcast of the program, Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson gathered the team together and dropped a bombshell that left everyone on the crew in shock; Grant announced that he would be leaving the show.  The surprise revelation has left the ghost hunting community both surprised and saddened, with a curiousity of wanting to know more about the circumstances involving Grant’s sudden decision.

In the past, I have been very critical of Grant Wilson, and his personal influence on the show.  Many of our “Encounters Live” broadcasts didn’t have a lot of kind things to say about the television show, or Grant Wilson.  I guess it was a feud that was started long ago, when I first heard him and Jason Hawes bashing a personal friend of mine on their now defunct radio program, “Beyond Reality”.  They were accusing an associate of mine of faking a haunting, which they felt portrayed and made a mockery of the paranormal community.  Quite frankly, after seeing their television program…  thats exactly what my friend and I thought THEY were doing : )

And so, my little personal feud between them and I began.  They were heavyweights in the paranormal community…  I had a much smaller but still somewhat recognizable voice at the time as well, courtesy of the radio program we were doing with Clear Channel radio.  It just personally pissed me off that they were accusing others of faking paranormal activity… yet doing the same thing themselves on a weekly television program, all the while labeling themselves and a team that was credible and honest in their research.  It hadn’t always been this way between us, but heck…. they started it : )  And even though I didn’t have nearly as strong a presence in the paranormal field – I decided to let them know that their “shit stinketh” in a lot of peoples opinions also.

Long before their television show began, I had met the T.A.P.S. team at Penn State University.  Ryan Buell (of Paranormal State fame) had invited George Lutz and I to a ghost conference he was organizing in 2000.  The T.A.P.S. team was also there, to teach a series of basic ghost hunting classes during the day.  I attended a few of them while I was there, and I really liked what I was seeing.  They seemed sincere, and had a real enthusiasm and passion about the field of ghost investigation.  Jason and Grant seemed intersted in what we had to say as well, and attended our presentation that evening.  They would later state on their radio show that they “walked out” halfway through the presentation, believing it to be pure fabrication.  A few years later, George Lutz passed away suddenly in Las Vegas, Nevada; Jason and Grant were less than kind in announcing it on their radio show.  Jason stated that he felt such fabrication of hauntings were a detriment to the field of Ghost Hunting… and that he wasn’t surprised than George was dead… ‘The guy smoked like a chimney”.  It personally hurt me that they would attack someone on their radio show, and then do the very same thing that they accused George Lutz of doing; in my opinion they were blatantly faking paranormal activity.

I struggled with that internally for some time, and finally decided to speak out against it.  From then until now… I have been pretty critical of them, and have taken every available opportunity to ‘poke them in the eye’ when possible.  It wasn’t particularly hard to do - in fact they made it pretty easy for me.  More and more over the years, the paranormal ‘evidence’ on their show came into question.  Some of the paranormal community began to doubt that what they were seeing on the show was genuine… in fact, they finally began to suspect that there was evidence of trickery at play here as well.

Grant Wilson, "CollarGate"

I would record their shows, and later play back a lot of the alledged ‘activity’ that was present as proof of the paranormal.  Small details began to uncover themselves as I analyzed the footage… things that I felt indicated deception on the part of someone involved with the show.  Others were doing it too - YouTube is now full of footage of ‘paranormal’ events on the show that has been analyzed by other investigators and found to be less than credible.  Probably the most famous incident became known as “CollarGate“, involving Grant Wilson.  During a live taping of their show, Grant claimed to have the collar of his jacket tugged at several times by unseen forces… it became the most hotly debated piece of ‘evidence’ on the show.  From that time forward, people began to question the validity of what they were seeing on the program.  There are now quite a few videos on YouTube that have possibly ‘exposed’ the show – a large amount of them seem to revolve around Grant Wilson himself.

Yet with all of that said… I sit here now, just having watched the episode of “Ghost Hunters” where Grant Wilson tearfully announces his decision to leave the show.  And I realize as I watch him talking to the rest of his team, I see a man who was clearly unhappy about his decision… someone who is experiencing a lot of emotional turmoil and regret about having to make this choice.  He stated that this was due to personal reasons… and I also noticed that during the episode, Grant did not appear to be wearing a wedding ring.

When I sat down to write this, I understood that we are no longer talking about the show; we are talking about a man who clearly has some personal issues that are affecting him and his ability to continue doing something that he loves.  The tears that began to well up in his eyes as he spoke came from a guy who was going through some tough times, and had to make some tough decisions in his life.  The tears were also coming from his friends, who were upset about seeing him go.

So for all the times that I was personally critical of Grant Wilson and his television show… I make no apologies for that.

However, I do feel an enormous amount of personal sympathy for someone who is going through emotional turmoil at the moment.  Television production is a tough road, and while most people may think it’s glamorous – it’s a lot of hard work, and a lot of time away from family.  Contrary to what most people think… the pay on the ‘talent’ level doesn’t compensate the amount of sacrifice and commitment it requires from a person.  I’ve said it before; we have seen more bodies in the wake of “Ghost Hunters” and “Ghost Hunters International” than the Titanic.  And now Grant Wilson is one of them.  At this rate, “Ghost Hunters” and “Ghost Hunters International” may be more cursed than “Diff’rent Strokes”.

Good luck to you Grant Wilson.  I wish you and the entire team the best in your future paths, and I pray that you come out of this healthy and whole in mind, body and spirit : )

Tim and Tom Yancey

Two Brothers, One Fate:

My brother Tom and I were approached by Warner Brothers Home Video to shoot some film for a documentary that was being released along with the hit TV show, ”Supernatural”.  It chronicles some of the paranormal events that took place in our home, along with commentary by Dr. Barry Taff, a psychologist who worked out of UCLA’s former parapsychology laboratory. 

Tim and Trish Yancey

Welp – Now that the old vacation is over, it’s time to gear back up and start making change : )  Trish and I have enjoyed our time away since the last broadcast of “Encounters Live”, and are eager and excited about evolving into the next level!  I personally guarantee you some exciting changes… and this website is the first step in the process.  Please pardon our dust around here as we throw out the old, and bring in the new : )  Some links will change here and there – but we should have the new look up and running soon!  Thanks once again to all of you for your patience while we get our new place on the web ready to go!

Encounters

In our final broadcast of “Encounters Live”, we say our goodbyes and pay final tribute to those that we love and admire in the paranormal community.  The series ran for several years with Clear Channel station WBZT in South Florida, and other affiliates around the globe.  In this last episode, we offer what we feel is good template for moving forward as a paranormal community, and we tip our hats to those that we appreciate!   Thanks to all of you who were faithful listeners, and to those of you who who gave of your time and talents to appear on our program.  We tip our hat to Jason Gowin, Matt and Tina Carreiro, Steve Ray, Steven LaChance, Rev. Ken Williamson, Dr. Susan Blackmore, Thelma Moss, Dr. Barry Taff, Nick Redfern, Hans Holzer, Ed and Lorraine Warren, Prof. Grover Krantz, the Booth Brothers, Keith Age, Jeff and Shannon Sylvia, Robb Demarest, Mary Pascarella Downey, Rosemary Ellen Guilley, Brian Harnois, Donna LaCroix, Lou Gentile, Shaun Jones, Florida Ghost Team, George and Kathy Lutz, Robbie Newman, ParaRock TV, and all of you who listened over the years : )

Broadcasting live with Ustream

Encounters

THE BEST OF ENCOUNTERS:  MARY PASCARELLA DOWNEY

Jason Goes Amityville

Jason Hawes from the hit television show “Ghost Hunters” contemplates going Amityville…..

Clown: The Movie

(c) 2006 NewGil Pictures Independent Film Group. All rights reserved.
Clown, the indie horror hit which premiered theatrically in Seattle in 2006, becoming a festival favorite soon after, is presenting for the first time, the entire film on youtube. This event is to celebrate, not only Halloween, but also to mark the 5-year anniversary of Clown’s theatrical premiere on 11/03/2011.

Starring: Breeun Johnson, Alison Monda, Brant Leslie, Jason Thayer, Peter Tobin, Jay Powers, and Ryan Parrish.
Written and Directed by Robert Newman. Produced by Tim Yancey.
Executive Produced by Eric Mueller, Robert Newman, and Michael J. Stowell.

Our friends over at “Who Forted” posted a fantastic article, discussing their viewpoints on the current state of the paranormal community.  I think you’ll find it very informative, entertaining and it just may change your mindset a little!

The Current State Of The Paranormal: A Call To Restore Sanity

Over the past 10 or so years, ghost hunting has gone from fringe counterculture to mainstream hobby. Somehow, paranormal turned “cool” and all the stylish people started doing it; some even managed to turn it into successful television careers. But through all the hype and popularity, the new high-tech gadgets like the Ovilus and full-spectrum camcorders, there haven’t been any major steps forward in understanding most unexplained phenomena from the viewpoint of self-proclaimed paranormal investigators. If anything, most superstitions and assumptions have only been reinforced and passed along as truths.

As author Mark Twain once said, “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it’s time to pause and reflect.” So what’s missing? What’s wrong with paranormal investigation, research, and exploration? What needs to be changed? No two people seem to agree. It seems there are two camps – “staunch skeptics” and “firm believers” – caught in a constant battle over who is right and who is wrong. I believe it is important to find some middle ground if people truly want to get to the bottom of phenomena associated with ghosts/spirits, poltergeists, and haunted places. Valid points do exists sometimes on either side. At the same time, die-hard personal beliefs often hinder progress.

So what is your average paranormal investigator to do? How can Joe Tech Specialist or Jane Sensitive take ghost hunting out of the ectoplasmic cloud of mystic pseudo-religion and into the realm of noble pursuit? Here are a few key rules of thumb to become a better investigator and restore some much-needed sanity to the search for weirdness in our wondrous world.

Embrace Skepticism. There is a severe lack of critical thinking and honest skepticism in the mainstream paranormal community. I’m not talking about trashing the paranormal; plenty of skeptics out there are just hecklers. But when you get a fuzzy photo or scratchy recording, don’t jump to ghost conclusions. Was that Native American tribal drumming or just a guy hammering a dent out in his Chevy? Was it a scream you heard or just an owl? Knowing your surroundings (and common nature sounds) is very important. Being able to form simple deductive conclusions and rule out experiences as natural, misidentified things doesn’t make you a party pooper; it makes you a rational person. This all involves following the next point:

Keep an open mind. And I mean that. Stop with the “but my orb is REAL ‘cause it’s not like those dust ones” garbage. Be willing to throw away your opinions if evidence proves otherwise. If you expect skeptics to be “open-minded” yet you refuse to be open to the possibility something might not be paranormal, you’re a hypocrite.

Educate yourself. If there’s something you don’t know much about, from physics to human behavior, there’s no excuse for not looking into it further before using it as an argument in your favor. Consult with experts. Read college textbooks or books written by people with a deep understanding of the world around us. You can even audit a class in psychology, sociology, or some other applicable discipline to gain free knowledge on any subject. This all leads into the next rule:

Read more; watch less. As the number of paranormal television shows increased, so did the number of viewers who – after a few episodes – suddenly became ghost hunters themselves. Watching Project Runway doesn’t make you an instant fashion designer. If you’re a devoted fan of (insert paranormal program here), that’s what you are: a fan, not an overnight expert. Pick up a book written by someone far more knowledgeable than a celebrity. This isn’t some brand-new field of study; a ton of work has been done over the past two centuries worth checking out. Television rots the brain. Stop learning everything from it.

Set religion aside. It might be hard with Demonology and angels being popular among ghost hunters, but in order to be scientific you can’t act like a fundamentalist at the same time. This might offend 99% of ghost hunters out there, but religions are belief without question; investigating paranormal claims calls for fact-based inquiry. It can be downright dangerous to fill minds with unsubstantiated claims without thorough psychological examinations and background checks. Telling a Catholic client that they need an exorcism isn’t helping someone, even if you believe there’s a demon in their house. You’re feeding them information they want to hear based on their (and, often, your own) personal beliefs. Believe whatever you want, but keep your beliefs out of actual investigating. It doesn’t belong there.

Fraud-check all psychic claims. It’s hard to find a ghost hunting group without at least one “sensitive” or “intuitive psychic” person on board. I don’t care what you call yourself, but if you’re involved in paranormal investigation, you must be willing to have your own claims called into question (since they too are paranormal or supernatural, after all). There is no such thing as a 100%-accurate psychic, but psychic claims have been studied for more than a century by scientists and parapsychologists. Have his or her claims tested or verified in lab conditions by an accredited parapsychologist or someone involved in scientific psi-related research. If that isn’t possible (or is met with too much protest), keep detailed notes on his/ her “hits” (correct assertions) and “misses” (incorrect statements) to determine his/her rate of accuracy above chance. Anything that cannot be verified by historical record or hard evidence is pure hearsay. If he or she wants to tell people when they’ll win the lottery or get hit by a bus, let him or her do so on his or her own separate time.

“When in doubt, throw it out.” It can be tough letting go of that creepy garbled voice you recorded or that spooky-looking fog in a photograph of an abandoned building. This and other so-called “evidence” can be used to scare your friends on a Saturday night, but don’t call it scientific proof of life after death. If every single person who listens to your electronic voice phenomenon cannot agree without being told what it sounds like, it’s too inconclusive to draw an opinion. Unless every single alternative possibility can be ruled out for explaining your photographic anomaly, it’s just a nifty souvenir. Other people will scrutinize your evidence carefully; you must be willing to do the same. You don’t have to literally throw everything out, though. Turn the photos into a cool scrapbook or online photo album. Save video and audio for YouTube projects and strolls down memory lane. Just don’t classify these things as concrete evidence.

Am I advocating the eradication of paranormal investigation, ghost hunting tourism, and television programs? Certainly not. I honestly believe that there are incidents which happen that have not fully been explained. To search for “things that go bump in the night” isn’t absurd, but if you wish to use terms like “serious investigator” and “scientific approach”, then you better well act like it. For far too long now, misidentification and misunderstood experiences have been pawned off as paranormal activity.Of course, if you just want to have fun with strange history, abandoned places, and haunted field trips, there is nothing wrong with that either, just do so responsibly.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Haunted Boy

Spooked TV and the unhinged, twin minds of The Booth Brothers bring you a startling documentary film!  THE HAUNTED BOY: THE SECRET DIARY OF “THE EXORCIST” DVD.  Our very own Tim Yancey is featured in this documentary!

“The Booth Brothers Score another Hit with This Paranormal Powerhouse” HAUNTED AMERICA TOURS.
“The Paranormal Evidence is Scary but the Real family is even Scarier, I was Blown Away” HORROR FILM NEWS
“A Must See for Paranormal and Horror fans” MOVIES ONLINE

THE HAUNTED BOY, The Secret Diary Of The Exorcist. (DVD/Uncut Edition) Spooked Television Releasing (2010). Unrated/Packed with Bonus Features. LIMITED EDITION: Order today and receive FREE, an authentic copy of the real Exorcist’s secret diary with your DVD purchase. Hurry while supplies last. This offer is not available in stores or at Amazon. THE HAUNTED BOY ((DVD/Uncut Edition) & Diary only $24.95 + shipping & handling (CA, MO, KY add state tax) USPS- USA delivery 2-5 business days.

HAUNTED BOY HIGHLIGHTS:*An investigative look into the hidden diary of the real Exorcist *Exclusive first look ever inside the actual Exorcist house and asylum.*The search and discovery of the lost Exorcism Room furniture (bed, desk, cross) said to be haunted and sealed in high security cold storage.*Decipher the Haunted Boy’s bed sheets containing devil’s messages and drawings including Aramaic writing and a treasure map of hell.*First time ever, paranormal investigation of the asylum and house where the Haunted Boy was kept during his possession and the rites of exorcism.*Paranormal evidence including shadows, EVP’s, hot and cold spots, light abnormalities and a cross shaped burn mark on one of the investigators.*Eyewitness reports and actual archive case files and family interviews.This is the untold-real story of “The Exorcist”, a chronicle of true events based on the actual priest’s secret diary the world was not to see, Until Now!

THE HAUNTED BOY: THE SECRET DIARY OF THE EXORCIST. Unrated/Uncut. (Spooked Televion Releasing) WARNING: Graphic language and intense depiction of possession. Audio contains Electronic Voice Phenomena (sounds of the dead) and actual recorded exorcisms. Intended for mature audiences and may be disturbing to some viewers. NOW ON DVD (Uncut) HAUNTED BOY DVD