In the first half, George Noory welcomed paranormal researcher and hypnotherapist Peter Haviland for a discussion on common misconceptions about hauntings and the paranormal. Haviland said he became fascinated with studying the topic after he had his own unexplainable experience at 12 years old. "The room got really cold one night... I felt like somebody or something was watching me," he recalled, adding that he turned to see his deceased grandfather walking downstairs. Haviland described the familial entity as solid, like a living person, yet it made no sound as it moved through the house and disappeared through a closet door.
According to Haviland, natural occurrences are often mistaken for something paranormal by those with certain religious beliefs. For instance, mysterious knocking sounds caused by faulty plumbing might be ascribed to demonic activity by a person of Roman Catholic faith, he explained. If a house does exhibit actual paranormal phenomena, it is likely a residual haunting, he suggested, noting how "our emotional selves are usually imprinted into the homes" and can be tuned into under the right conditions. He covered the possibility of hauntings as RSPK (recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis) caused by a traumatic event manifesting itself in the environment.
Haviland shared how he uses forensic hypnotherapy for witness recall, which sometimes reveals that clients are being deceitful about their claims. He also spoke about his hypnotherapy work with children, including a 15-year-old patient whose performance in school has significantly improved after beginning hypnotherapy sessions with him.
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During Open Lines, Lindy in California shared a heartbreaking story about how her high-achieving son's life spiraled out of control from drug addiction. Lindy said her honor student boy joined the Marines to fly jets, graduated from Officer Candidate School and received the rank of second lieutenant at 23 years old. One day she received a call that he was rehab for oxycontin and had spent time in the brig for DUI. Lindy recalled the day she discovered her son had moved on to heroin and the devastation of learning of his overdose after spending several months at the Betty Ford Center. Lindy reported having vivid visitation dreams after he died which she said have provided her with some peace.
George also offered a special hotline for callers with intriguing mobile phone stories. Lola from Reading, California, shared an embarrassing story about how her aunt's phone fell into the waste area of the portable toilet she was using. She did not realize her mobile phone's unfortunate location until it started ringing, Lola revealed. John in Florida, recounted an amazing incident that happened to him, his wife and her parents while they were checking out at a Walmart store. According to John, his father-in-law swiped his credit card and the cashier thanked him, calling him by the name of his deceased son, Brian. Even stranger, the cashier received a call on her mobile phone from a man named Brian who said to let the credit card charges go through.
News segment guests: Jeff Nelken / Peter Davenport