Divine Intervention

by Jeff P. Ulmer

I was compelled to compose this entry not so much because I was asked to, but because I needed to. A truly miraculous thing happened to me roughly one year ago. Prior to this event I did not believe in miracles, per say, nor was I very spiritual. I was raised in the church, but as I entered adulthood my faith was lost to reason.

One night, as I slept, I went into respiratory arrest. To this day, no one is sure how long I was “out”. Since my near death experience (NDE) I’ve read numerous books on the subject, and all accounts seem to differ. The one common thread I have found is that the person that experiences it is forever changed. My story is no different.

Unless you’ve experienced what I have, one cannot fully understand how difficult it is to describe with words. Many accounts report a beautiful white light, feelings of euphoria, and angels or family greeting them. Few report something different, something terrifying. My experience shook me to the core of my being. It was horrific, yet also empowering.

My personal ordeal was more of an intellectual one. I was shown truths about life and our interactions in this world. First was the terrifying part. I was shown my future should I choose to stay on the same path prior to the accident. It was a living hell. No joy. No satisfaction. It was a life full of constant want, pain, and sorrow. Needless to say, this got my attention.

Next, I was shown simple, absolute truths about life: Karma, or whatever you want to call it, is real. What goes around comes around. If I intentionally hurt someone or harbor ill feelings toward them, it’s like kicking myself. There are no exceptions. Somewhere, down the line, we are all related. Also, kindness and compassion are the keys to true happiness. Something as simple as a smile can change someone’s life. It will pay you back tenfold (again… Karma).

The last revelation was quite empowering. I was shown the choice is all mine. We get to choose who we want to be in this world. I can be a force for the good in this life, or the bad. But, there was no need to live the remainder of my days in a miserable existence. Although the majority of my life had been spent selfishly, it’s alright. God had already forgiven me and loves me unconditionally. How awesome is that?

I remember coming back to consciousness like I had been struck by a bolt of lightning! I will NEVER forget that first, deep breath of life. My mother was standing over me screaming, but I could not hear her. Fortunately for me, she is a medical doctor so resuscitation was nothing new.

It took weeks to fully absorb and comprehend the gravity of what had happened. As time passed, it dawned on me I had been given a wonderful gift, and that is the gift of certainty. Clearly, there are unseen, divine sources at work. No longer was there a need, for me, to question the existence of God or an afterlife. I KNEW.

"I saw also that there was an ocean of darkness and death, but an infinite ocean of light and love, which flowed over the ocean of darkness." - George Fox

The Beauty of Validation...

~by Jeff P. Ulmer

A side product of my paranormal adventures I enjoy most is validation. That is, validation from reliable sources that what I sense and/or experience was, in fact, true with no prior knowledge of a site. A time comes to mind of an instance in Alabama. I was there with friends on a trip to a paranormal event. My friends and I ventured off on our own during some down time from lectures and investigations to do some spirit searching of our own.

The three of us came across a dilapidated old brick building that stood out. It was one of those times I was drawn to a place for reasons I cannot put into words. I won’t divulge the whereabouts of this building as I did not have permission to enter, and I’m pretty sure a few laws were broken by taking part in this.

My friends were reluctant to enter, but of course, I found a way in. This building was most interesting. The first room we entered seemed to be some sort of office as there were a few small rooms adjoining and an entrance into an extremely large room that was basically a large, flat concrete slab. I walked around the office to get a feel for the place. I kept getting this overwhelming sensation as I got close to the entrance to the large room.

The only word that comes to mind to describe this sensation is “electric”. I backed away several times and approached again to evaluate if the large, open room was indeed giving off this energy. I had my friend (who I believe to be a medium but she won’t admit to it) see if she felt anything. The two others I was with kept insisting they felt like something dark had taken place in this room (such as a “black mass”). I recall wondering “What is this place?” I couldn’t shake the feeling that this building had some intense historical significance long ago.

We entered the room together. It was clear there was strange activity going on. We all noticed. As I walked further into the room, I could not shake the feeling that we were not alone. I cried out, “Who is here?” About a second later, we all heard a disembodied, female voice that sounded like it mumbled something to us. I looked at my friend to make sure I was not tripping, and she quickly turned to the door, shook her head, and stated, “Uh No!”

As we were leaving, my friend turned around to me, and I could tell something was up. She asked if I had touched her butt and then realized I was not in arms reach of her. As we left (upon their insistence) I walked around one side of the building alone to see what I “felt”. Not expecting anything, suddenly, I felt a wound under my left arm in my ribs that felt like a large, deep puncture wound. The odd thing about this “wound” is that there was no pain. In the car ride home, I got a wicked cramp in my neck that was unlike any I had experienced before.

Later, back at the event, we met two awesome chicks who said they had never had any paranormal experiences, but wanted to. I told them about this building, and we offered to take them there if they were down for it. Upon returning, we invited whatever entities where there to communicate with us. Boy, did they ever! One of the girls had her hair pulled, we had footsteps all around us, a visible orb we mistook for a flashlight at the time, and got knocks and bangs upon request. Interesting was the fact we had activity happening at more than one place simultaneously. It was most excellent!

We regrouped again later, and I asked a local historian if he was familiar with this building and what it used to be. He told me it was previously a warehouse, and that he was unsure of the building's origin. I thought to myself, “A warehouse? That makes no sense why this place would be so active and why I sensed multiple entities there”.

Later on that night, the town’s historical society put on a barbeque for the group. I was approached by two local women. They asked, “Are you the one that has been going into that building over there?” I thought, “Oh God, I am about to hear it for trespassing on these people’s property!” I told them I had gone in the building. They happened to be the daughters of the former owner. I asked what the building was. They told me it was, in fact, a warehouse. They also said they were interested to know what I thought as they had experienced unexplainable occurrences there before.

I told them, honestly, that I thought there were multiple human entities in the building. I told them about my interest in the historical significance of the place, and that I just got a “feeling” it was more than just a warehouse at some point in time. They said before there father bought it they were told it was a Confederate triage for treatment of soldiers wounded in the Civil War. I thought, “That makes more sense!” Obviously, to me, some people had in fact “checked out” in that place, and here was the validation I longed for. I noticed a confused look on my friends face. She told them that she had picked up on a black male in his mid-forties that was not of the Civil War era, but more recent. The two women looked at each other with dropped jaws. They told us he was the former supervisor of the warehouse, and they had suspected he may still reside there (postmortem).

The women said this supervisor was a voodoo man that wore some strange animal skull around his neck and carried a strange “brush” of human hair that he hexed workers with if they didn’t do what he asked. Their father had promoted him to supervisor because the workers were terrified of him and obeyed him. Also, they said he was a workaholic and had some nervous condition. I knew this was the negative feeling my fellows picked up on in the building. My friend asked, “He died there?” more like a statement. The women replied, “Yes! The voodoo supervisor was guiding a truck back and was crushed to death.” Whether that was intentional or accident remains for debate. I wondered if that was where the "phantom injuries" I felt from before originated.

Needless to say, the validation from these women was astonishing to say the least. It was one of the times I felt assured that these things were not all in my head. I am very fortunate and blessed to have experienced such great history, people, and paranormal mayhem.

“The logic of validation allows us to move between the two limits of dogmatism and skepticism.” ~ Paul Ricoeur

The Evolution of a Paranormal Investigator...

~by Jeff Ulmer

Because this is my first blog entry, there are a few things the reader should know about me in advance. First, I am not an elegant writer nor do I pretend to be. I am a scientist. My thing is numbers. Secondly, I voice my beliefs and speak my mind. I will not apologize for that. It is not my intention to harm anyone nor is it my place to convince anyone of the existence of ghosts or spirits. Believe what you will. This is America, people!
Often I am asked how I got into paranormal studies and investigations. This is not an easy question to answer. As a matter of fact, it is quite complicated. Ultimately, I chose to get involved to help people who suffer from the chaos I experienced growing up while seeking validation and answers for myself.
My first memorable experiences with the paranormal began with a move from Mississippi to Arkansas at age 5. In our new home, faucets turned on AND off, I often heard deep breathing, and just knew there were others around me. I could feel them! The problem was no other family member experienced these things. The activity only occurred when I was alone. I would run like a little girl crying to my parents. They did not know what to make of it. This went on for years.
I gave up on going to my parents with these things because they didn’t get it. One night, as I lay in bed, my mind drifting between conscious and subconscious thought, I started hearing audible voices. Not like “Jesus told me to run through town butt-naked and get him some cupcakes” voices. As a matter of fact, they weren’t even talking to me. It was just random conversation back and forth at an extremely slow (super creepy) frequency.
Of course, my mother, being a medical doctor, took me to get checked out by professionals. The doctor’s conclusion was that I had a “healthy imagination”. No schizophrenia. No mental disorders. Yet each night, the strange psychic phenomena continued. There was no person I felt safe going to with what I perceived. I worried what others would think of me. So, I chose not to believe. I denied it. Faith was not in my vocabulary. The scientific side of my brain took over. I had to “see” to believe. At times, I still do.
Years later, I was involved in an accident that left me unconscious and breathless. I had a near death experience. It was terrifying! I won’t go into great detail, but suffice to say, I was shown that without a doubt there is a great deal more to this world than what our human eyes perceive. I decided to quit questioning all the things I knew in my heart were real and true. Embracing these experiences as a gift was the only way. I wondered “perhaps this all happened for a reason? What if my ordeal could be used to help others who suffer?”
My journey in search of answers and validation had begun. The validation part came quick. “Seek and ye shall find”. The answers part is a different story. I have found that as the intensity of my paranormal adventures increases, so do my questions. I remain a skeptical believer with a profound and unshakable faith in God. The one thing I know in my heart is this is exactly what I am meant to do. I have met some of the most amazing people on my quest and we’re rocking this.