Since its founding in 1972 the International Society for Paranormal Research, or ISPR, has continually impacted the science of Parapsychology and pioneered field research.
Dismissing the mindset and practices of those in scientific and academic circles and associations of the early 1970s, ISPR founding Parapsychologist, Dr. Larry Montz, was the first field Parapsychologist to take studies of Psi abilities (psychic abilities) out of a controlled environment (lab) and create varying levels of clairvoyant testing in the field on a daily basis. Other field Parapsychologists still work and conduct paranormal investigations on a part time basis.
Montz was the first Parapsychologist to employ the same personnel with enhanced Psi abilities (including clairvoyance, clairaudience, clairgustus, RV or remote viewing, psychometry, energy manipulation, physical mediumship, empathy, telepathy, etc.) and create the 'Team' concept by combining both scientific and clairvoyant methodologies. This led Montz to develop Enhanced Field Parapsychology or EFP. Decades later, results continue to prove that the professional ISPR Team, utilizing the original team model, has maintained a 95% accuracy rate in field investigations, both paranormal and criminal.
In the early 1990's, a six-year ISPR Research Study of paranormal activities in and around the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana, was undertaken. But the challenge of testing various Clairvoyants in the field was already won. This led Montz to push the envelope further - prove that people, who were not labeled as psychics, would demonstrate Psi abilities when placed in haunted environments. Under the name of Hauntings Today, Montz designed another first by the creation and implementation of ISPR Ghost Expeditions.
For the general public, Ghost Expeditions provided the first-ever-paranormal event in which a person could choose to participate. Ghost Expeditions participants could garner hands-on experience in actual and documented paranormal field research pertaining to ghosts and hauntings inside actively haunted properties. For the ISPR, Ghost Expeditions allowed the achievement of two primary objectives never before attempted prior by any individual or organization:
- A continuous long-term field study of multiple haunted locations
- The study of Psi Abilities of general public participants as involuntarily applied in the field without prior briefing which is considered a non-controlled control.
Ghost Expeditions opened for operation in the French Quarter of New Orleans in October 1994 and continued through November 1, 1997. By the end of 1996, Ghost Expeditions garnered the international attention of the mass media in print, radio and television and in turn, established Montz in the mass media as a pioneering authority in field Parapsychology worldwide.
Ghost Expeditions were offered in three different levels. The first was open to all. The second was a more sophisticated hands-on investigation of a haunted property. And the third, the Overnight Ghost Expedition, allowed paranormal enthusiasts to spend an entire night in a haunted property.
Some of the most popular Ghost Expedition sites came from ISPR investigations including the Supreme Court Building, Le Petit Theater, the Bourbon Orleans Hotel, the Omni Royal Orleans Hotel, Bacco's Restaurant, the Chart House, Café Beignet, Maxwell's Jazz Cabaret (now One Eyed Jacks), The Williams Research Center, the Napoleon House, The Pharmacy Museum, O'Flaherty's Irish Pub, the Andrew Jackson Hotel, the Pontalbla Buildings, the Jackson Square Cathedral, the Cabildo, the Presbytere, Royal Café, Antoine's, N'awlin's Cookery, Dauphine Orleans Hotel, the Ashley House, Crescent City Books, and many more.
Since 1997, ISPR's Ghost Expeditions continued mass media coverage around the world and became a sought after prize for a wide variety of promotions. Ghost Expeditions became Grand Prizes for promotions with MGM, the foreign release of the X-Files Movie, Bizarre Magazine, Sony Pictures Sweepstakes and the list goes on. At the same time, with rotating destinations of New Orleans, Los Angeles and England, Ghost Expeditions became annual prize packages for network game shows like Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy! and Hollywood Squares.
Beginning in New Orleans and continuing in Hollywood, Ghost Expeditions enjoyed the participation of literally hundreds of television writers, producers, directors, studio and network executives. Ghost Expeditions was the inspiration for a variety of television series including FEAR on MTV, World's Scariest Places on FOX Family then ABC Family and Europe's smash hit, Most Haunted, starring ISPR investigator Derek Acorah.
After concluding the ISPR six-year research study in New Orleans, the ISPR withdrew the citywide respected Ghost Expeditions from the French Quarter. As a result, over fifteen Big Easy ghost tours developed to fill the void, with most tour operators claiming to be ghost hunters and paranormal experts - all enjoying the New Orleans haunted status made known internationally through media attention bestowed on Ghost Expeditions and the ISPR.
Larry Montz, Ph.D., founded the International Society For Paranormal Research, (ISPR) in 1972.
With 33 years of professional field experience, Montz is recognized worldwide for developing and implementing the most innovative new concepts in parapsychological field work, rocking the foundations of Parapsychology, a science that was officially adopted into the Academy in 1964. Because of his own clairvoyant abilities, Montz became the first field Parapsychologist to develop studies of Psi in the field, as well as incorporate these enhanced abilities as additional methods of data collection (1970s). After revolutionizing paranormal field research, Montz has continued to stay far in the forefront of progressive research with his growing endeavors of blending scientific studies with the general public; works which have spanned more than a decade.
Montz became the first recognizable parapsychological expert in the early 1990s through a continuous variety of int'l television and radio programming in addition to int'l print. Montz was the first to bring together, for the first time in history, the most talented, widely accomplished and knowledgeable experts in the field of paranormal research on one team.
Born in Rhode Island to a military family, Montz learned strict disciplines early on. Educated in Catholic Schools for primary and secondary education, Montz questioned the dogma and information he was offered at every turn. His E.E. degree and post graduate degrees in Parapsychology pale when compared to his real life experiences, both professionally and personally. Dr. Montz has had his salary requirements met in many capacities, from Telecommunications Consultant to foreign countries, to developing and installing the first Fiber Optics Network, installed at the 1984 World's Fair in New Orleans, to a multi year deal with Playboy's Hugh Hefner as Telecommunications and Security Systems Engineer, Private Investigator and Personal Bodyguard for Hefner, and Playmate Promotions/Playboy Model Agency Photographer.
In 1990, Montz returned to New Orleans to implement a six year parapsychological research study of the city and the state of Lousiana. Montz is credited with establishing the Big Easy as 'one of them most haunted cities in America'. It was during this time that Montz developed and implemented what is known internationally as ISPR Ghost Expeditions®; another 1st in paranormal field research and the first and original opportunity worldwide, for the lay person to participate in such research.
In 1997, in Hollywood, he partnered with Daena Smoller in the four year parapsychological field study & restoration project of the Vogue Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard, part of the multi-billion dollar Hollywood Revitalization Project. The Vogue became a sought after filming location and screening venue for Indy filmmakers and high profile Film Festivals, as well as becoming internationally known for it's seven resident entities.
Montz is a published author and co-creator / producer on the award winning ISPR Investigates: documentary series.
ISPR®
International Society for Paranormal Research
Pioneering the Paranormal Since 1972
PLEASE VISIT THEIR OFFICIAL WEB SITE TO LEARN MORE www.ispr.net/ |
In 1997, the ISPR began offering a more sophisticated series of Ghost Expeditions in Los Angeles, utilizing the formerly haunted Vogue Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard, just two blocks east of Hollywood and Highland and the world-famous Grauman's Chinese Theater.
The extensive international multi-media coverage on Dr. Montz, the ISPR and Ghost Expeditions is credited for the birth of a new pop phenomenon - literally hundreds of internet-based ghost clubs, ghost hunters and group ghost hunts, worldwide.
In December of 2001, after black mold developed inside the property, the ISPR concluded its four-year study of the actively haunted Vogue Theatre and the ISPR Team subsequently cleared the property of its seven documented resident entities.
In 1999, the ISPR became one of the first parapsychological organizations to create and produce documentaries. The first two documentary efforts, created and produced by Montz and producing partner Daena Smoller in association with Dotted Line Entertainment, set a new standard and format for paranormal programming that followed. ISPR Investigates Ghosts of England (1999 Telly Award Winner) and ISPR Investigates Ghosts of Belgrave Hall (recipient of the 2002 Hollywood Screamfest International Film Festival's Best Horror Documentary Award), are used as additional teaching tools in universities around the world including UCLA, USC and the University of Edinburgh. These documentaries are now sold around the world in a variety of languages and are literally, the ghost hunting 'Bible" for amateur and proffesional ghost hunters.
Hollywood Celebrities are drawn to the paranormal and the ISPR's list of celebrity clients and celebrities who have participated in Ghost Expeditions and patronized the formerly haunted Vogue, is lengthy and includes such luminaries as: Anne Rice, Comedy Store owner Mitzi Shore, Producer/Director Bob Zmuda, ABC Television and NBC Studios, Scott Baio, Karen Black, Jim Belushi, Brandon Brooks, Delta Burke, Drew Carey, Robbi Chong, Sara Downing, Crystal Gayle, Miriam Gonzales, Tobe Hooper, Leila Kenzle, Lindsay Mckeon, Miller Lite Models, Steve Monroe, Matthew Perry, Brittany Petros, Amanda Plummer, Ricky Ratchman, Rachel Roth, Helen Shaver, Jeremy Sisto, Priscilla Taylor, James Van Praagh, Aaron Van Wagner and John J. York.
After several years of requests from the tourism and hospitality industries in New Orleans, the ISPR re-implemented Ghost Expeditions in the city in October of 2004. Unlike its predecessor, the new ISPR Ghost Expeditions were conducted outside of the French Quarter and exclusively inside non-commercial properties. Within weeks of it's re-opening in New Orleans, Ghost Expeditions reached sell-out status continuously and was heralded as the "IT" paranormal thing to do in Louisiana until Hurricane Katrina in August, 2005.
Today, Ghost Expeditions are back in Los Angeles.
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