Have you ever been woken up by a bump in the night?
Or, maybe, you have experienced strange happenings in your home you cannot explain.
That is when the Deeside Paranormal Investigators can step in to help.
The Aberdeenshire-based group travel across the country to investigate potential paranormal events – and provide explanations for curious residents.
“A lot of people are just looking for answers,” co-founder Julie Reid shared. “They don’t understand what is happening or why.
“Our purpose is to help them understand.”
Introducing Deeside Paranormal Investigators
Julie and her partner, Ian Pennington, first met through work and quickly bonded over their shared fascination with the paranormal.
After catching “the bug” at some group events, they decided to set up Deeside Paranormal Investigators.
“We help people in their homes or businesses where they have things happening they can’t explain or are uncomfortable with,” Julie said.
“We have various bits of equipment, including K2 meters which monitor electromagnetic fields and digital recorders to capture disembodied voices.
“There’s also rem pods and dowsing rods – spirits can communicate quite easily through the copper.
“And, then we have Zoe.”
Zoe the Medium joins the group
The group’s very own medium reached out to Julie and Ian about a year ago to offer her help with their investigations.
At every outing since, Zoe has been “bang on” with her information.
“I amaze myself,” she laughed.
Julie said: “I think fate brought the three of us together.”
People from across Deeside and further afield have reached out to the group for help.
Julie and Ian will set up a video call with them first and then head to the location to get the lay of the land.
He said: “We are shown the hotspots where people may have seen or heard things in certain rooms or corners and set up the cameras for the night.
“We’d then tell Zoe to make her way to the area and then give her a call to to direct to the house.”
The medium knows nothing in advance of arriving for the investigation.
“I’ll walk around the house, sniff the air, touch the walls,” she said. “I’ll really try to get a feel for the property and what might have happened there.
“Once I’ve got an idea of the vibration of the home, I’ll ask the client what they’re happy to hear.”
Is it paranormal?
Deeside Paranormal Investigators aim to help people without a financial burden – offering all of their services free of charge.
“I’m really lucky I have this ability,” she shared. “It means I can bring comfort, love and joy through messages from loved ones.
“I’m not entitled to keep their messages – and I’m not entitled to charge for them.”
There have been times the activity has stopped after a visit from the investigators, or Zoe has stepped in to help the spirits “cross over”.
“We’re very skeptical though,” said Ian. “If wee see or hear things, we’ll try to debunk it.
“If we’re all sitting in somebody’s living room and feel a cool draft we’ll try and find a rational explanation.
“Is there a window open? Is it coming down the chimney? And, then if we can’t, we’ll put it down as ‘unexplained’.
“We don’t automatically presume it is paranormal.”
“But it also could be,” Julie added.
Alford is an ‘absolute hotspot’
The team have had investigations in the past where they have not been able to pick up anything.
Unfortunately, the spirits do not come on demand.
“99.9% of the time you can be twiddling your thumbs,” Julie said. “It can be a very long night.
“But that 0.1% keeps you going.”
The group have travelled across the country to carry but the location which stands out the most is close to home.
“As soon as I step into Alford I can feel an overwhelming tingle through my body,” Zoe shared. “It’s alive with energy.
“It’s an absolute hotspot – it’s very impressive.”
“There’s something magical about the Alford area,” Julie added.
After carrying out some research, the trio discovered a number of homes in the Aberdeenshire village were built on a former battleground.
Zoe continued: “You can feel the soldiers walking around and the energy that comes with that.
“The residual spirits you can see going about their business – they’re not a threat to anyone.
“It’s completely out of this world.”
