Two articles about P.R.IS.M. a group in Adelaide which investigates paranormal events:
PARANORMAL RESEARCH GROUP
BS
(Investigator 64, 1999 January)
"It was weird; it freaked me out," said Sarah describing a cluster of coloured lights observed in the night sky. "My mother actually ducked because one was coming toward us."
Sarah narrated her experience at the December meeting of Paranormal Research Investigation Services & Monitoring (P.R.I.S.M.), a non-profit group started in 1982.
A pamphlet of the group explains:
The aim of P.R.I.S.M. is to advance the study of the paranormal (e.g. ghosts, UFOs, psychic phenomena) and bring to public attention some of the unusual phenomena that take place on our planet. Membership is open to anyone who has a genuine interest in the paranormal and relating fields.The current leader, Laurie Pearce, recalled a night spent in a haunted house in 1983: "There were noises we couldn't explain such as a ship's whistle and cards being shuffled."
Mr Pearce said that the most spectacular paranormal event of his experience involved the original founder of P.R.I.S.M., Arthur Holden.
In about 1980 Mr Holden took a camping trip near Mannum (SA). He was watching police stopping a man from drowning himself in the river when he saw a small orange light among nearby trees. He went over to investigate whereupon the object spun around him. The police saw it too.
Next day Mr Holden's left side was red as though by severe sunburn. Thereafter Mr Holden felt compelled to return to Mannum every year on the date of the incident and on that date two triangular markings would appear on his left arm.
Said Mr Pearce, "We saw them appear. Next day they would vanish."
Another group member, Boban, described lights which zigzag in the night sky and even meet up with each other at Myponga, south of Adelaide.
"It happens every summer," he said. "Every time I went fishing they've always been there."
Others, of the eight people present at the meeting, explained these lights as car headlights beyond the horizon influenced by temperature inversions.
Besides swapping experiences and recalling the past the group examined two recent negatives of a UFO on a roof-top and also a photo of a stain, closely resembling a cat, which appeared on a laundry floor.
Pas Cutri said, "My opinion is that it's bleach."
He later added, "I’ve never experienced any paranormal activity that I think needed investigation."
PARANORMAL
RESEARCH
GROUP
B S
(Investigator 70, 2000 January)
Paranormal Research Investigation Services & Monitoring wants free advising as a "community service" but can't get it. Explained P.R.I.S.M.'s president Laurie Pearce: "When we tell them we look for ghosts they think we're a bunch of loonies."
The aim of the group is to study and investigate paranormal phenomena such as ghosts, UFOs and psychic phenomena, and bring these to public attention.
Eleven attended the November meeting at the home of psychologist and skeptic Laurie Eddie to discuss recent investigations and plan further ones.
They discussed haunted churches, haunted houses, a man who allegedly makes water come out of rocks, and a house in Maitland, York Peninsula, where poltergeist phenomena are daily occurrences.
Mr Eddie, the psychologist, stated, "Whenever someone makes a claim, however dubious, it deserves to be investigated. Even pink elephants in pink tights."
Sue, a 36-year-old, then described behaviour of her neighbours that she considered inexplicable and said, "My neighbours are very strange. I think they're aliens."
Colin Mitchell, a university student, raised the possibility of renting a haunted house so that the haunting could be studied closely. However, this got vetoed because P.R.I.S.M.'s bank account funds were only about $80.
Jacquelin Cliff described a long ago trip to Mount Gambier during which she thought a UFO was chasing her: "It was low to the ground and it really seemed to be following me." Subsequent information from a UFO organization convinced her that the "UFO" had been the morning star.
Forty-year-old barmaid Karen Roberts produced a six-page letter from Maria Duvall a medium. The letter mentioned the medium's "exceptional Gifts", her work with police, press and hospitals, and claimed 19 instances of locating missing persons where search crews and search dogs failed.
The thrust of the letter was: "Fate…has decided to grant you another 68 days filled with opportunities to pursue Luck, Happiness and Love." However, the medium's guidance was essential because she has "psychic powers."
Pas Cutri – quoted in Investigator No. 64 as saying "I’ve never experienced any paranormal activity that I think needed investigation" – was also present again, and still skeptical.
The group discussed Jasmuheen of the Self Empowerment Academy who claims she can live indefinitely without food or drink but can survive solely on air and sunlight.
Laurie Eddie explained why Jasmuheen's followers don't desert her: "When they try it they get thirsty and lethargic after a few days like everyone and go back to eating and drinking. But they don't blame the teaching – they blame themselves. They argue, 'I didn't have enough faith. If Jasmuheen can do it, I could too, if I find more faith.'"
The evening concluded with Sue doing a tarot reading for Karen and apparently not getting much right for Karen kept saying, "No, no that's not me at all."
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