Paranormal Attention Seeker Mark Vernon Reveals True Motivation On Daytime TV.

Paranormal attention seeker, Mark Vernon's (left) latest appearance in the tabloid media has left him covered in less than glory. This week Vernon appeared in the dock on ITV's daytime television show Judge Rinder, a show with a format similar to the highly successful US show Judge Judy. I wouldn't normally comment on such shows and matters, but in the show Rinder, an ex-barrister, absolutely nails the issue I had with Vernon and his approach to investigating the homes of private individuals. The show clearly calls into question the ethics of some paranormal investigators and Vernon in general.

Watch the clip here. The footage is shared for the purpose of criticism and review.

Vernon and brother Darrell were brought on the show by Tracy Proctor in relation to an "investigation" Mark conducted in her home. Vernon sold images and the story to news sources across the world, making by his own admission "thousands of pounds" from the tale. One particular iteration of the story particularly offended Tracy as it described her as a grandmother and implied that the "spirit activity" in her home having had an impact on her sex life causing her embarrassment. In fact, Vernon was so proud of this story he even attempted to direct my attention to it!

Bear in mind, he posted this comment on a post when I had accused him of being an attention seeker whose interest in the paranormal stemmed predominantly from selling stories to the tabloid press. Vernon didn't deny that accusation. Nor did he deny that his approach to investigating in private residences was disrespectful and unprofessional. He just wanted me to write about the story. Obviously, that's the reason I didn't. I don't take requests.

The most pertinent part of Vernon's encounter with Judge Rinder was for me his admission that he investigates homes in order to generate stories to sell to the press. Vernon attempts to tell Rinder that he travels the country "helping people" but Rinder is having none of it.

Rinder: "How do make your money from this?"
Vernon: "I sell the footage I get to the newspapers."
Rinder: "In other words, you have a vested interest in there being ghosts.... newspapers and other outlets online will buy this. How much will they pay?"
Vernon: "In UK, £500."
Rinder: "But if they're on the right site, you can make considerably more. Correct?"
Vernon: "Yeah, this one has."

Now, I wouldn't put it past Vernon and Proctor to have arranged this appearance on Rinder were it not for Proctor's instance that she never gave permission for the pictures to appear in the news. She says she only gave in permission to feature the images on his website and Youtube. Proctor denies she gave permission for the images to appear in the newspaper. Something that doesn't exactly ring true as in addition to talking to journalists, she posed for several photographs copyrighted my Mercury Press that appeared with the story!

Proctor's issue with Vernon seems to stem from the fact that she was unaware of just how far the story would spread, and possibly just how much money Vernon seemed likely to recoup from the attention. I would guess that if Vernon had have offered her a cash incentive it would have been mentioned in his defence.

Whilst the show is lightweight, and Rinder pokes fun at the frankly embarrassing "evidence" Vernon presents, there's a worrying undertone: Vernon lied to Proctor. He gave her no idea of his true intentions. He concealed his desire to profit in claims to wanting to help her. He exploited her. Proctor doesn't strike me as particularly vulnerable but plenty of others are.

Unfortunately, Vernon is not alone in exploiting the tabloids desire for paranormal clickbait. The tabloid press in the UK has discovered paranormal investigators and ghost hunters are a cheap source of "ghost" evidence. I've counted several separate stories in the tabloid press over the month or so, that feature ghost hunting groups passing laughable evidence to the papers for financial reward. More than I've seen since I started this blog.

We've had haunted RAF bases provide by Paranormal tourist group UK ghost hunts: Dad captures spooky footage of 'RAF pilot ghost' haunting abandoned corridor in deserted air force base which gives details of video footage of the alleged ghost of a RAF airman captured at Manby Hall, in Lincolnshire, by UK Ghost Hunts member Steve Wesson, earlier this year.

Here's the footage:

You're probably thinking "I don't see any reason this can't be a person walking down the hall." Steve protests this cannot be the case. He tells the Mirror:

"It is a former RAF base then it was an old people's home and now it is closed and only security have access to the building. However there are many ghost stories about the hall.... It was definitely not one of us four and there was definitely no one else in the building."

Hmmm.... "one of us four"? We only have Steve's word for it that there were only three members of the team and a security guard present. A quick look at the photos taken at investigations on the team's facebook group shows there are normally more teammates in attendance if indeed this isn't one of the team's public investigations, at which there could be any number of people present. Even if we could conclusively show that this wasn't another team member, various shots in the Manby Hall episode show copious amounts of graffiti inside the Hall. Clearly, it hasn't always been particularly secure. Can we be certain no one has wandered in after the team?

It seems pretty clear that whoever walks down the corridor, flashes a torch as they're doing so. You can even hear an audible "cl-CLICK" as they do so!

In addition to this, we've had least three teams file reports and "evidence" from 30 East Drive, including scouse medium Lillyanne and crew. The Black Monk has been busy.

Silent Voices Paranormal told the Star (31/03/17) that they had caught the image (below) of a mummy stalking the halls of Torquay Museum in Devon. The Egyptians had tobacco, right?

There were many more, equally vapid, examples to chose from.

It seems inevitable that at least a few of these teams will realise that these stories are easy money and that there is an unending requirement for them. Couple this with a complete lack of standards of evidence and we have a situation fit to breed hundreds of paranormal "cash for crap" brokers, just like Vernon. Meaning we also face the prospect of thousands of vulnerable, frightened believers being exploited like Proctor.

Judge Rinder will have his work cut out for him, as will we.