Paranormal investigator and documentary filmmaker Steve Shippy joined guest host Ian Punnett (Twitter) to talk about his new Travel Channel series, Haunting in the Heartland. Over the season, Shippy visits Midwestern towns that have been traumatized for generations by hauntings. Through eyewitness accounts, town archives, and his own paranormal toolkit, he explores theories until a full picture of the town’s ghostly protagonist appears, and a peaceful resolution can be formulated.
Shippy provided background into his own paranormal experiences living in a haunted house. "My childhood home was definitely haunted," he said, noting his family saw shadow figures and objects moving on their own. "It got to the point where there was some scratching, pushing, stuff like that... it was effecting myself and my siblings too much, and it had to be over with at that point," Shippy continued. It felt like the entity terrorizing the home was malevolent or angry, he added.
He commented on the first episode of Haunting in the Heartland which explores mysterious happenings in the small town of Merrill, Michigan. According to Shippy, a family there suffered through months of unexplained banging on the walls so intense various law enforcement agencies were called in to investigate it. On one occasion the town's sheriff was inside the house when the inexplicable pounding began. He radioed officers stationed outside who reported hearing no banging sounds except through the sheriff’s radio, Shippy revealed. After numerous spontaneous fires the family was forced to leave the house, he added.
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Open Lines followed in the latter half of the program. Kevin truck driving through Idaho said he has driven trucks all over the United States and been through numerous swampy wooded areas, especially in Florida and the South. He wondered why eerie feelings come up when passing by creepy, run down houses. Is it only because these places are in ruins or is there something (paranormal) going on?
Joe from Monterey, California, talked about haunted people and objects. He warned about potential issues with objects purchased from antique stores. "Some of the objects hold that energy, some of the objects were probably used for black magic too," he explained. Ian suggested some paranormal ideas (such has haunted objects) are the product of pop cultural influences. Ian also pointed out he has never had a problem with any of the secondhand objects he has purchased.
Michael in Virginia Beach admitted to falling asleep during the first half of the show and having a vivid dream guided by the voices of Ian and guest Steve Shippy. Michael was curious about why the discussion seemed to match the images in his movie-like dream in which he found himself in a convertible with three coworkers driving in the country near his parents' house. He speculated about the nature of dreaming with auditory input and whether or not it could provide a deeper meaning about the topics of discussion.
News segment guest: Tim Binnall