Some people are convinced paranormal activity isn’t real.
An Edmonton paranormal investigator says science isn’t asking if paranormal activity happens, but why it happens.
“We’re really under-educated as a population as to where science actually sits on this,” said Morgan Knudsen, who has been a paranormal investigator for about 20 years.
On Friday night, Knudsen is leading a tour called Creating the Paranormal, an outing through parts of Old Strathcona that she has investigated. She focuses on separating falsehoods from actual activity that can’t be explained.
A second running of the tour will take place on June 23.
“We’ve really found that people really want to understand the nitty-gritty behind the science of the paranormal,” she told CBC’s Radio Active Thursday. “A lot of people we find are past the folk-tale stage and they want to know what’s real [and] what’s not real.”
The tour hits various spots with lots of history, starting at the MKT bar, formerly the 1907-built Canadian Pacific Strathcona Station. The tour will also go to the Walterdale Theatre and the Telephone Historical Centre.
Knudsen says people want to know what’s real and not real when it comes to paranormal activity. (Morgan Knudsen/Supplied)
Knudsen has investigated all the stops on the tour. She said her great-great-grandfather was the founder of the first paranormal association in Canada, but she’d had paranormal experiences before knowing that fact.
She uses her experiences and studies the environment carefully while investigating any paranormal activity.
“We take a lot more of a scientific approach,” she said. “We really stick to evidence-based realities that are coming in the door.”
Knudsen said many people assume that only old, historic parts of the city have activity but that’s often not the case. She said there are plenty of spots throughout the city.
“Our river valley has some incredible activity,” she said.
Knudsen hopes to show people that science is also trying to figure out how and why some paranormal activity happens. (Morgan Knudsen/Supplied)
By taking a more scientific approach to paranormal activity, Knudsen hopes to show people that there are unexplained activities that happen — and how it’s hard to understand but easier to accept.
“We get a glimpse into things we were taught all our lives aren’t supposed to be here,” she said. “This stuff can be a wonderful, wonderful thing.”