Paranormal Underground Interview

Interviewee: Cheryl Knight of Paranormal Underground Magazine

Your name: Paul Dale Roberts

Your team name: Halo Paranormal Investigations aka HPI International

Location: Elk Grove, CA

Your Website: www.cryptic916.com/

Please tell us a little about yourself, both personally and professionally.

Answer:  You are probably wondering why I am so gung-ho, when it comes to the paranormal.  When I was a child, I lived in a haunted house and the entities of that house centered their attention on me.  They scared me to no end.  As I got older, I started wondering if I actually witnessed the paranormal or was I having night terrors?  I started reading everything I could get my hands on, that dealt with the paranormal.  I started reading Brad Steiger books, later in life I would find my articles in Brad Steiger's books and we became close friends.  I was in the military from 1973 to 1976 and worked with the US Army Criminal Investigation Division - DST (Drug Suppression Team).  I was an undercover MP. My code name was Porkchops and I traveled throughout Germany singling out drug dealers.  That is where I got my investigative skills from.  Then in 1979 to 1986 I worked as a 97 Bravo- Intelligence Analyst with the PIC-K (Photo Interpretation Center - Seoul, Korea *Military Intelligence.  My code name was: Hollywood.  Later I received my H Identifier (Instructor course) and taught the Soviet Threat to elite troops in all military branches.  I would wear a Soviet uniform and ski mask and pretended to be Corporal Dowbowski (a Soviet defector).  When I got out of the service, I dabbled with being a private investigator and started my own company called Silhouette Enterprises and also dabbled a bit as a Bounty Hunter.  I was unsuccessful as a private investigator and Bounty Hunter and called it quits.  I worked in several California government jobs, including working as a firefighter for the California Division of Forestry and working with the Department of Justice.  I still work for the government and soon, I will be retiring and I can go full time working paranormal cases that come across my desk.

When was your team founded?

Answer:2004. 

Other team members: 

Answer:  I don't actually have team members per se. We allow many people to learn and try their hand in ghost hunting.  Many people that went on paranormal investigations with us, learn the trade and start their own group.  My wife Deanna Jaxine Stinson and I, are the co-owners of HPI and we are the actual core group.  I do have certain individuals that volunteer to go with us on our investigations many times over and they do a real great job investigating. They are good in gathering evidence or debunking paranormal claims.  I will give them a shout out, they are:  Alaceo "Big Al" Rosatano; Nick Asevedo; Heather Colburn; Matt and Michelle Mesa; Mike Ouilhon and Laurie R. Garza.   Many people that we come across will give their right arm to go on a ghost hunt.  Well, HPI does one better, we actually invite people to go on our hunts with us and if they make the grade, we allow them to go on more ghost hunts with us.

Talk about your paranormal group and its mission.

Answer:  HPI is an open door and anyone who wants to learn how to ghost hunt and conduct cleansings of homes, can join us and learn.  Deanna teaches the volunteers on how to conduct metaphysical cleansings.  I teach the volunteers how to conduct a Roman Catholic house blessing.  We also embrace other religions and when the client wants a Native American cleansing, Greek Orthodox, Hindu, Buddha, we have experts in these religions that will assist us on a moment notice.  When clients have a demonic attachment, we provide a full submersion baptism to get rid of the demon and we are very successful with our baptisms and cleansings.

HPI will investigate ALL paranormal claims.  We are Fortean Investigators and will investigate all things paranormal from ghosts to demons to UFOs to cryptids.  Our main goal is to seek answers and help our clients with professionalism and honesty.  We provide cleansings and full submersion baptisms when needed.

How did you become interested in the paranormal and founding a paranormal investigative team?

Answer:  One of the questions I get the most is…”why did you become a paranormal investigator?” Well, it all started when I was a little boy living on Effie Street in Fresno, California. The year was 1962. We lived in an old duplex on Effie Street, it was a corner house. I experienced horrible things at this house. I will describe the paranormal horrors that occurred in order as they happened.

1. The first experience I had at this home was hearing a woman’s serene voice calling for me. She was saying…”Dale, come here.” She was saying this over and over again. All my life, my parents would call me by my middle name Dale. This female spirit was also calling me Dale. I went towards her voice and looked out a window that allows me to see an orange grove. The voice was coming from the orange grove. I could not see the woman and got scared and ran to my mother.

2. I was riding my tricycle down the street. I stayed on the sidewalk and went about 6 houses up the road. I stopped at one house and looked at the front door. A man steps out to the porch looks at me and draws a shotgun on me. I got scared and went home as quickly as possible. I told my dad and my dad went up to the house and it was discovered that no one lived there.

3. On one night I heard the sound of something rolling on the sidewalk, this sound was at a distance. The sound kept getting closer and closer. Finally the sound was right at my bedroom window and it stopped. My bedroom window opened up half way on it’s own. I looked towards the window and saw a black tea kettle with 4 rollers on the bottom of it. The black tea kettle had a snout and the snout slowly turned towards me and a spray came out. I was covered in the spray and started hacking and coughing. The very next day I had a bad case of bronchitis.

4. Another night, winged skeleton heads flew into my room, there were about a dozen of them. I started screaming and my father came into the room and he also had a skeleton head. Finally he calmed me down and the winged skeleton heads disappeared and my father’s face became normal.

5. I was so scared of all the things that were happening to me, I started carrying a bible with me all the time. I went to the neighbor’s dog that was friendly with everyone and started petting him. All of sudden the dog’s features changed and from a friendly dog, he became a vicious dog and severely bit me in the hand. I was bleeding all over the place. I ran from the neighbor’s house through the orange grove to get to my house. While running through the orange grove, I could hear the sound of a woman maniacally laughing.

6. On another night, the winged skeleton heads came back in my room and I yelled and started hacking and coughing. My mother came in half asleep and gave me a teaspoon of poison. She thought she was giving me cough syrup and had me throw it up. It scared her to death, she thought she had poisoned me.

7. The final incident I was walking in the living room and something came up behind me and pushed me into the heater hard. I had burn marks all over my legs from this incident.

My dad received a promotion and before I knew it, we were moving out of the home on Effie Street and moving into a home on Simpson Avenue in Fresno. The incidents stopped. As I got older, I wondered if I experienced childhood night terrors or actually experienced the paranormal. I started reading everything on the paranormal and read many Brad Steiger books. Little did I know that the knowledge I would gain from Brad Steiger’s books would eventually help me become a successful paranormal investigator.

This all lead me to having my own paranormal investigative team.  

What interests you most about the paranormal?

Answer:  I am fascinated with the unknown, I seek answers.  I want answers to what happened to me when I was a child living on Effy Street in Fresno, CA.

What different types of locations has your team investigated?

Answer:  I have a whole list.  Some of these places I had investigators with me, other places I investigated by myself.  Here is that list. 

Area 51

Superstitious Mountains

Mount Shasta

Skinwalker Ranch

Tower of London

East End - Jack the Ripper and Kray Twins crime scenes

OK Corral - Tombstone, Arizona

Old Tucson Movie Studio - Arizona

Stonehenge

The Bridge over River Kwai - Thailand

Parkin Murder House, Lodi, CA

Cabin 28 - Keddie Murders

Manson Hideout House Stockton, Ca (Manson Clan kills James Willit)

Cecil Hotel - Los Angeles, CA

Billy the Kid's grave site

Oakland Cemetery - Black Dahlia grave site, Rev. Jim Jones Guyana victims grave sites, Hell's Angel's grave sites.

Napoleon Bonaparte's grave site.

Burma's Ghost City of Naypyidaw - Myanmar

Richard Trenton Chase aka the Vampire of Sacramento victim's homes.

Dorothea Puente Home (Serial Killer)

Prague, Czechoslovakia - Headless Knight's Templar

What equipment do you usually take with you on an investigation?

Answer: Digital Recorder for EVPs; Sound Enhancer for the EVPs; Kinect; EMF Reader; temperature gauges; our psychic medium Deanna Jaxine Stinson; laser grid; night vision goggles; dowsing rods; video cameras; digital cameras. 

What methodologies do you use during investigations?

Answer:  Everyone knows that orbs can be either dust, skin flakes, lint, light refractions, dew drops, etc.  But what we try to prove with some orbs is if they have intelligent movement.  For an example, at this one house, the ghost named Emily was known to drain the energy from the occupants.  One of my investigators was complaining that his energy was drained.  I asked Emily if she was listening, to go ahead and kiss the investigator on the lips.  With 3 cameras, we captured an orb on his mouth.  Then I asked Emily to sit on his lap and we capture an orb hovering over his lap.  With this orb, we can deem as paranormal, because it obeyed my commands and showed intelligent movement.  I will at times place my hand on the wall and ask the entity to appear by my hand.  The photo taken may show an orb on my hand, again that is intelligent movement.  Then we have designer orbs, that have intricate designs inside them and when you enhance the photo of the orb, there may be a face in it.  On one investigation, I asked the occupant what she had in her backyard and she said "orange trees".  I said..."what else?"  She said her 2 dogs were buried back there.  I showed the occupant the designer orbs and she started crying. I asked her why she was crying, and she said, those were her dog's faces in the orbs.  Something like that I can deem as paranormal. 

We also do "quick and dirty" EVPs.  I will say something simple into the digital recorder like..."is there anyone here?"  I will pause, allowing the entity to talk and then play back.  We usually will pick up an EVP pretty quick, if the home is haunted and we show our evidence right on the spot to the occupants.

Deanna will pick up on an entity and when she does, it's up to the investigators to prove that something is there, by either getting an EVP or some kind of photographic evidence.  Deanna is really good in picking up on entities.

What is the most important part of a paranormal investigation?

Answer:  If the home has negative energy, the most important part of the investigation is the cleansing.  If the occupant has an attachment, the full submersion baptism.

What case(s) will you remember the most and why?

Answer:  Probably a case in Citrus Heights where I heard with my own ears a little girl giggling and when I placed my head towards the area where I could hear the girl giggling, I said "hello" and with my own ears, I heard the little girl say...:"hello".  My mind was blown.  I have been on over a thousand investigations and have seen with my own eyes 4 full body apparitions.

What is the most compelling evidence of the paranormal that you or your team has captured?

Answer:  I took a picture of a ghostly cowboy with cowboy hat on and he was riding a ghostly horse.  The photo was shown on the Biography Channel's My Ghost Story.

Talk about common misconceptions about the paranormal field that you’ve encountered?

Answer:  Where people think that all ghosts are demons.  We have come across many ghosts that were very peaceful and have assisted the family that they are haunting, usually they are ghostly family members.  If they were demons, they would not be so peaceful and loving.

Whose work in the paranormal field do you respect the most and why?

Answer:  I have a list:

J. Allan Hynek - a great Ufologist and I had a chance to speak with him on a 1976 UFO case in Sacramento.

Brad Steiger - became great friends with Brad and contributed many articles for his books.

Nick Pope - another great UFOlogist and he has endorsed one of my books.

Timothy Green Beckley - great researcher and many of my articles on in his books.

Tim Swartz - great researcher and I have contributed articles in his books.

Nick Redfern - great researcher and he has quoted me in his books.

Joshua Gates - paranormal investigator and adventurer extraordinaire!

Zak Bagans - Worked with Zak and his team on some of his episodes.

Erich von Daniken - he showed us our ancient history and how we are connected to ancient aliens.

What locations do you have on your wish list to investigate?

Answer:  I still need to do a UFO investigation at Roswell and Dulce.  I would also love to investigate for UFO bases at Antarctica and investigate the mysterious deaths of the hikers at Dyatlov Pass.

What words of wisdom would you offer beginner paranormal investigators?

Answer: In the beginning, take easy steps into the unknown, gain the experience and then when you are a seasoned investigator, go after the larger steps.

What else should our readers know about you and your team?

Answer:  We have conducted international investigations in places like Belize, Morocco and other places, but we mostly just cover Northern California.  We have worked on many television documentaries and you can see some of the documentaries we worked on by simply googling:  Paul Dale Roberts IMDB.

Where can readers find you on social media?

Answer:  Sacramento Paranormal Help
www.facebook.com/HaloParanormalInvestigations/

HPI International

NABS: North America Bigfoot Sightings