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Issue No. 22 — Autumn 2024 · Founded 2003

The Town Square for Working Paranormal Investigators.

Twenty-two years of case files, EVP analyses, and debunked hoaxes — traded in 312 moderated sub-forums by 84,000+ verified researchers across 67 countries.

Recurring column

From the Case Desk

Four threads surfaced this week by our section leads — each one cleared the 9-Point Evidence Integrity Standard before reaching the feed. Investigator handles, timestamps, and evidence counts are rendered exactly as filed.

Open the live forum index →

House rule, since 2007

The 9-Point Evidence Integrity Standard

Every post that reaches the live feed is reviewed against the points below by a trained section lead. Adopted as a reference by 14 U.S.-based paranormal investigation teams, this is what separates the PJ Star Forums from an unmoderated Reddit thread or a noisy Facebook group.

  1. 01

    Identified Investigator

    Every case post is filed under a verified investigator handle. Anonymous ghost stories don't pass the desk.

  2. 02

    Stated Methodology

    Authors disclose equipment used, time on site, controls run, and who else was present at the investigation.

  3. 03

    Baseline & Control Data

    Any environmental or instrument anomaly is paired with a baseline reading taken before, during, or after the event.

  4. 04

    Raw Evidence on File

    Photographs, audio, EMF logs, and spectral captures must be uploaded in their original form before any analysis is posted.

Read the full 9-point standard

Average moderator response on flagged posts: 4.7 hours.

By the numbers · Verified Q4 2024

Twenty-Two Years of Continuous Operation.

  • 84,312 Verified investigator members
  • 67 Countries represented
  • 312 Active regional & topical sub-forums
  • 1.4M+ Cumulative case threads archived

2.1 million monthly unique visitors · 14.6 million monthly pageviews · Average moderator response on flagged posts: 4.7 hours · Similarweb, Oct 2024

Signed column

From the Desk of Maria Vance

I started this forum in 2003 because I was tired of ghost stories with no methodology, and skeptics with no fieldwork. Twenty-two years later, the proposition is unchanged: if you bring your case files, your timestamps, your baseline readings, and your disagreements, we'll give you a fair, moderated place to publish them. We don't promise to prove anything, and we won't let anyone claim to either.

If you're new here, browse the Evidence Standard first. Read a few threads in your region. Then file your first post. We'll catch you on the review queue.

— M. Vance, Peoria, IL · October 2024

Featured in

  • Skeptical Inquirer — March 2022 cover feature
  • Fortean Times — Issue 412, field-methodology roundtable
  • Atlas Obscura — "11 Essential Paranormal Communities," 2021
  • Paranormal Research Association Hall of Honor — 2019 induction