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Shawn Kelly is the 45-year-old founder of the Pittsburgh Paranormal Society, a ghost-hunting group he began in 2006. Much like the popular A&E television show Paranormal State, Kelly’s group of a dozen scientific and spiritual investigators visit haunted houses, hotels and graveyards in Southwestern Pennsylvania, “help[ing] spirits cross to the other side.” Kelly, who works as a Giant Eagle meat-cutter by day, says he’s been examining spirits in various ways, including multiple stints as a psychic, for more than 20 years. His team, which does not charge for its services, has investigated more than 100 cases, he says, gathering evidence that spirits — both good and evil — exist.
What is the fascination with the paranormal?
The attraction is not knowing what’s out there. You know it’s out there, you know spirits exist, but once you get a picture, or once you get evidence on an EVP [Electronic Voice Phenomena, an audio recording of paranormal voices or sounds], … it just gives you a rush that is just so unbelievable.
Critics say you go into your investigations with the intent of proving your beliefs about the paranormal. Why should people believe you?
Say we went to your house, and you said your house was haunted. You would call me, and I would come out and interview you. At that time, I walk your house and see if there is something there or not. But you live in that house, you see shadows, you see things falling apart, furniture being rearranged. You live with it, so I believe what you see. Now, my scientific people don’t give a shit what you think. They want to see it on film. They want to see a full-fledged spirit. Sometimes we get something, sometimes we don’t.
Why are we sometimes haunted by spirits?
When you get killed, your spirit stays where it is because it’s confused. …You get shot, you’re dead: “Oh my God, where am I?” The only safe place they know is right there where they got shot, so they stay there. When you die, your spirit hangs around to make sure your loved ones are OK, and that everything is peaceful. It’s called “unfinished business.” … Say a child-molester got killed, and he was evil when he was alive. His body is dead, but his spirit is still there, and he still wreaks havoc on people.
Have you ever encountered a demonic spirit?
Oh my God, yes! The worst demonic spirit that I had was in Leechburg. One of my group members was getting harassed, and she felt very uneasy. This guy was pure evil. I saw [my group member], and I said, “What’s wrong?” She was being pushed, pinched, shoved. They get into your brain. If you show fear, they live off of that. She was freaking out. I said, “He’s here, isn’t he?” She said, “Can you please get rid of him?” And I did.
How do you get rid of spirits?
I use God. People would put me in Western Psych if I told you how I did it.
What do you hear most from skeptics?
“I need to see it on film.” I let them do their spiel. Then I tell them, “I will respect what you believe in just as long as you respect what I believe in.” That shuts them up.
On Paranormal State, the investigators sometimes find that clients are mentally ill …
Oh yeah, tons of people.
If that’s the case, do you abort the mission?
I’m not a doctor, I’m not a psychologist. But I can tell when you call me on the phone if there is something wrong with you or not. If I know that these people aren’t right, I try to be as nice as I can and tell them, “No, we’re not going to come. You need help.”
What do you feel when dealing with spirits during an investigation?
A lot of anger. A lot of sadness. … I can feel what they’re feeling, and it’s a lot of anger that they’re still here.
This article appears in Mar 13-19, 2008.
i have met these people and im sorry i think they need some help. they came in and said my house was infested with spirits. and after i did some research i found that the noises that where scaring my children where all natural things and this was provin to me from another team thank you tim
I have met Shawn Kelly at an ivestigation the did last year, He seem to me to be a little strange because he was talking about hunting vampires and dragon magic, that is just weird if you ask me, Shawn and his team is a joke.
I have meet the PPS group. They did my friends house and they were great. They captured evidence on film as well as on tape. Check out their web site http://www.pittsburghparanormalsociety.com and you will see all their evidence. Keep up the great work guys.
The PPS team came to my house recently, they were nothing but helpful and kind, they’re not “crazy”, although that would be nice. It would be nice if evil was something that existed only in movies and books, if all spirits were kind and benevolent, but that’s just not reality.
To people who don’t believe and who feel the need to attack those of us who do, I have two questions:
1. Do you know that people once thought the world was flat? It’s on oldie but a goodie as questions go. Fact of the matter is that we just don’t know everything. Scary thought, yes, but the truth. Deal with your lack of control some other way than with negative attacks.
2. I work all day with scientists and they will tell you that discoveries are not made by the timid, they are rarely made overnight, and there is rarely a time when you are in the discovery process when you get results 100% of the time. Once again, life doesn’t work that way. Proving things requires people who can be bold, people who aren’t afraid to be wrong because they know that means they’ll learn something. Don’t believe in ghosts? Maybe it’s just that you don’t know everything. If you do know everything, could you please drop me a line and tell me where my missing earring is?
See how silly it is to think you know everything?
I have nothing but good things to say about this group, they helped us and were kind and professional.
I have seen these people in action and I can tell you that they are very professional. Many people think that “ghost hunters” or paranormal investigators are weird or unusual. I can say that all the people at PPS are very normal people who hold normal jobs. This is something that they enjoy and believe in. No one makes a big deal when the “Furbies” (people dressed up as animals) come to town or make fun of people who go to Star Trek conventions or believe in UFO’s or people who are gay or lesbian. This is something that they enjoy, and they do one heck of a job. Back off….if you dont have anything nice to say, then dont say it. Way to go PPS…I know you will go far, and dont worry about the negative comments from others….dont knock it until you try it.
I had PPS investigate my property last year. Half of the PPS team were amazing. They were very dedicated, concerned and just wanted to get to the truth of what was going on. They used very high tech equipment and were very knowledgable. Shawn and a couple of others were just very odd. Shawn is an obvious fake claiming to talk to whatever “Spirits” are supposed to be there. However, the names of the “Spirit” kept changing without Shawn even realizing it. Having done further research on my property, nowhere in the home’s history were the names of Shawns’ imaginary friends. I have since kept in touch with some of the former members of PPS and to my understanding,they have left to start their own group who conduct scientific investigations. They rely on concrete evidence that they may catch on video, or tape recorders. To me, that is the best way to capture something that may be going on in someones’ home. They have a no BS approach to what they do. Shawn told me about respecting what he believes, apparently, that would be leprechauns, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy. Enough said. Thank you.
Hello,
I am a member of PPS. Yes it is true that former members of PPS have left the group. Unfortunately they have also decided to wage a smear campaign against PPS. Assuming that the scientific approach is the only approach.
Some clarification needs to be made. There is more than one school of thought in the paranormal investigation field. You can see this in the difference between the two popular shows “Ghost Hunters” and “Paranormal State”. PPS was founded and practices two approaches scientific approach and the spritual approach to the field. We have members with various beliefs and we respect everyones belief. In our investigations we attempt to gather scientifically provable evidence. We also use the spiritual approach. In the presentations we give we state the reason we use both approaches. According to Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary the definition of Paranormal is: Not scientifically explainable. Wordreference.com gives the definition as: not in accordance with scientific laws. Or Extrasensory, seemingly outside normal sensory channels. PPS believes that just because we find something unusual it does not automatically mean it is paranormal. We attempt to explain evidence scientifically or naturally. By naturally we mean commonly accepted reasons. If something can not be proven scientifically then it may be paranormal just by the definition of paranormal. Some individuals believe that the only approach to explain the paranormal is scientifically. If something is scientifically proven it is no longer paranormal. And we are all trying to find the answer to “what is it”. Pittsburgh Paranormal Society is open with all clients and they are told ahead of time that we use both the scientific approach and the spiritual approach. Some members as myself believe in the spirital side and each individual approaches that differently. Some members only investigate on the scientific side. We try to incorporate both and are open and up front about that. We would like to invite the City Paper to attend one of our investigations so it can be seen what we do. Remember we respect all opinions. That goes also to individuals, past members and other groups even though they do not agree with the approach our group takes. We respect you and do not stand in judgement of anyone.