Conversations with a Paranormal Investigator ... Rob from PACT

21st October 2018. Reading Time: 10 minutes Conversations with a paranormal investigator, General. 1048 page views. 0 comments.

This week we are back in Sydney Australia talking to Rob from PACT.

I have known Rob for a few years now although we have never actually met in person. He has always been very interested and supportive of others and has a really fun energy that you just want to get to know. While we have a lot of common interests outside of the paranormal, one thing that immediately strikes you is his passion and love for paranromal. It is not just 'ghosts' but also venturing out into the crypto side of the paranormal as well. Not everyone wants to be a serious paranormal researcher and hit the books. Every week I meet people who are just out there because they want to experience something. There is not one one size fits all when it comes to the paranormal which exactly what I wanted this series to highlight. This is why it only fitting that I asked Rob to be a part of it. Meet Rob.

Please provide a short bio of who you are and what you do in the paranormal field:

I have always been a strange creature; always had a fascination with Horror, the macabre and bizarre. My fourth grade teacher Miss Pyke made my mother cry during a parent/teacher meeting because she told my mum that there was something seriously wrong with me & that I needed professional help, perhaps she had a valid point as all I did is space out & draw monsters, skulls & demons in class. As the years rolled on I always felt lost, misunderstood and lacked any adventure or direction in my life, that was however until 2010 where I filmed the Independent movie MYTH with my late best mate Justin Costello; it was about the Yowie (Australian Bigfoot) and was shot at Hazelbrook in the Blue Mountains.

We had some strange unexplained Yowie experiences during filming that lit a raging fire with-in me, I realized that Monsters could very well exist……I had finally found a purpose.
Since then I have been a part of a paranormal team & have witnessed & experienced some life altering paranormal & cryptid phenomena in Australia & around the world that defies logic and all reason.
Now, I have my own paranormal/cryptid investigation team called PACT (Paranormal and Cryptid Taskforce), & am the creator, editor & producer of PACT TV.

Where in the world are you from?

I currently live in the Hawkesbury region, NSW Australia. This is Australia’s Third Mainland Settlement behind Sydney & Parramatta, so I’m very blessed to constantly be surrounded by history.

How did you get started in the paranormal field?

My fiancé got me a ticket to a ghost tour in Mt Victoria (Blue Mountains) for my birthday back in 2014. There I met a team that also happened to be at this event as guests, I was asked to be a part of that team a short time after.
My first proper team investigations where held at the incredible Cockatoo Island.

What is it that draws you to the paranormal?

Like I’ve have previously explained, I have always been a weird unit, normality & the ordinary bores me to tears. It seems that a lot of investigators have had some profound paranormal experience during their life that has triggered an interest in the paranormal, propelling them down the “rabbit hole”…..well, I like to cheekily say that I was born in the rabbit hole, & because of that I’m not in this this for an explanation or answers, just the thrill of the ride.
The fact that I now know that there are things in this world that society & science claim shouldn’t be there, gets me real excited & thirsty for experiences.

Do any members of your family research/investigate the paranormal as well? (Does it run in the family?)

Nobody in my family are investigators or researchers, just have a few that like the paranormal shows. My uncle Henry however has a deeper interest in Cryptids as he & my Grandmother have seen the legendary Hawkesbury River Monster back in the 80’s, they witnessed a massive grey head the size of a watermelon come out of the water attached to a 2 meter neck, it opened its mouth & lowered back into the dark water. Just in case you don’t know, The Hawkesbury River Monster is Sydney’s version of the Loch Ness Monster….very cool & I am extremely jealous.

What is your area of expertise in the paranormal?

Can’t say that I’m an expert in anything really, forever learning, growing & evolving.

What do you believe a ghost is? Do you believe in ghosts/spirits?

Firstly, for me the word Ghost is more of a commercial term now, if you put “Ghost” in a title of an article, book, radio/TV spot or tour & the average Bob & Jill will connect with it, taps into people’s imagination, curiosity & fears, a lot more than if you use words like spirit or energy, so I guess the word ghost is essential.
In saying that I do believe that people who have passed on in the physical realm can & do communicate with & even protect us, I have seen & experienced way too much that can’t be explained. So I definitely believe in something, are they Ghosts, spirits or energies?.....Perhaps, choose a word.

What approach do you take in researching/investigating the paranormal? Spiritual, technical, theoretical, ect.

My paranormal journey is not research based, meaning I don’t have in interest in how it all works, & nor do I investigate to catch the best evidence ever; my focus is purely connection & experiences.
I feel that no matter what your interest or goal is in the paranormal, any paranormal investigation starts with you. I even believe that who you are as a person, your true soul dictates what energies you connect with & the results you achieve during an investigation. I live by a little principle that I call A.I.R (Attitude, Intent, and Respect). You could purchase thousands of dollars’ worth of the latest high tech equipment but if you enter a haunted location with the wrong attitude, intent & respect, you are most likely going to get two results….jack & shit.
For me, the equipment we use during an investigation are just toys for validation & communication, I believe that it doesn’t matter what you use, where it an Ovilus or a just a simple ping pong ball, if a spirit wants to connect, it will.

You also delve into the areas such as cryptozoology, how is that different to investigating spirits, etc?

Well I have a crazy theory that paranormal, cryptids & UFO phenomena could possibly be linked in some way, if you look at them in all as interdimensional that is, I’ve had witnesses tell me that they have seen a Yowie (Bigfoot) just disappear in front of their eyes & I have personally had Yowies extremely close by me in the pitch black without making a sound.
Tell me, if you are an 8-10 foot monster moving around in the dense Australian bush surely you are likely to make a sound right? No matter how well you know your habitat.
But to answer your question as to how a cryptid investigation is different to a paranormal one….well, if you have ever been deep in the bush at night & surrounded by creatures throwing rocks at you & making strange sounds, you will know that it is a very different feeling, there is an element of danger.

Which area of the paranormal do you enjoy investigating the most and why?

There is no one area that I like to explore, I simply just enjoy getting out there, meeting new energies/people, exploring new locations & finding ways for spirits to communicate & express themselves. I also get great satisfaction in seeing people new to the field experience there first real paranormal occurrence, having them try to process what they have just witnessed & question their previous beliefs, it’s something special to be a part of a life changing event like that.

How often do you investigate out in the field?

I try to get out as much as I can but unfortunately life gets in the way a lot.

How did you start your paranormal group?

PACT was formed from another group that was disbanded, we all wanted to keep the family together & keep investigating. The name PACT (Paranormal & Cryptid task-force) was actually the name of a web-series that Justin Costello & I were about to start filming before he passed away, so this group is extra special to me because of that.

What are the benefits of being in a paranormal group?

The team/family atmosphere, if you have the right people around you that you care about, trust & have a genuine connection with some great things can happen during an investigation.
All PACT members have different strengths & methods but it works & our bonded energy is power.

What sets you apart from other groups?

I don’t know if it sets us apart but we like to have fun & keep a positive energy when we are together, we are serious when needed but this is our hobby , love & passion, its meant to be enjoyable. I really do think that this also helps with getting results in investigations & connecting with like-minded people in the community and the afterlife.
We also put together quick 1-10 minutes videos called PACT TV.

When putting together your PACT TV segments how do you decide on the topic to discuss or location to visit and what makes it different to other paranormal podcasts/vlogs out there?

The truth is we don’t really discuss the topics much, PACT TV is very much random, every member of PACT is free to do whatever, PACT TV is raw & real. No schedules, scripts, pressures or deadlines, just another fun, creative outlet for the team.
We’re not trying to be different or better than other podcasts or vlogs, we are just being ourselves.

If you retired from the field tomorrow, what legacy would you want to be remembered for? (Achievements, tours, theories, experiments, attitude ect)

Well I’m just getting started so retirement is a dirty word right now, but hypothetically, I just want to be known as a positive influence to the living & the dead; I’m not interested in recording the un-gettable get to gain fame, or work out some ground breaking scientific theory. To be honest, I don’t think we are meant to work it all out; I just want to be known as a guy who left his mark with his positive energy, love & passion of the unknown & hopefully leaving some smiles on people’s faces in the process.

What advice would you give someone starting out in the field?

Watch your paranormal shows/doco’s, attend conventions, listen to lectures, read books & do tours…..but don’t take anything as 100% truth, get out there & learn by investigating yourself, everyone is different & have their own way of investigating, strengths & theories.
So in sort be true yourself, don’t let anybody else tell you how to do things or how to act, do what you feel comfortable in doing, you will get results & eventually build your own theories based on your own experiences.

Finally, we all want to know, how did you get the nickname Wolfman?

Well, it is a very old Nickname from back my days playing Rugby League as a teen, there wasn’t many “ethnic” people running around in those days so I was a bit darker & had more hair than all the other boys plus I could get a bit agro & feral on the field at times, my team mates all knew that I was a strange dude into all the Horror stuff, so some of them called decided to call me Wolfman.
I decided it was time to bring it back as sort of a paranormal alias,……..it’s just a fun “gimmick” I guess.

Plug yourself! Do you have any websites, Facebook pages ect- advertise them.

Everyone can find PACT & PACT TV on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/PACTime/
And you can catch all Episodes of PACT TV & some behind the scenes stuff on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCx4So7BckghGOPCm5AlmzZQ

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