Paranormal New Zealand

Unidentified lights in the evening sky

Reported on Stuff.co.nz – 17 October 2013 UFOs or Chinese lanterns? Strange lights have again been seen in the sky above Blenheim, prompting speculation of intergalactic visitations. Nathan Menzies said he saw a strange light in the sky from his home in Brewer Street, Blenheim, at 8.30pm on Tuesday. “I

EXIF is good, EXIF is our friend!

So already this article’s title is going to do one of two things: Make you nod in agreement -or- shake your head in confusion. If you’re shaking your head and don’t know much about EXIF, don’t feel bad, many people don’t! So what is “EXIF”? EXIF is the acronym for “Exchangeable

Friends and family farewell moa seeing mountaineer

By Jeff Hampton Friends and family have farewelled the publican and mountaineer who sparked an international media sensation when he reported a moa sighting near Arthurs pass. Paddy Freaney died of cancer, and several hundred mourners made their way to his mountain home for a service with, not surprisingly, some unusual

Erskine College, Wellington

History Erskine College in Wellington built from 1905 by the Society of the Sacred Heart, is a collection of Class 1 recognised historic buildings which include the Chapel of the Sacred Heart and the Main Block Convent. The premises served as a Catholic girls’ boarding school; Convent of the Sacred

Are Orang Pendeks Relict Homo Floresiensis?

When I first traveled to Sumatra for first-hand investigations of the orang pendek, I was working under the model that these creatures were simply a relict form of Homo floresiensis, the recently discovered “hobbit” species from the nearby island of Flores. However, the Orang Pendek Project has conclusively shown that

The Crying Child

We used to live in a house in Titirangi that was haunted and we had some very interesting experiences while there. It was my habit to start my day by getting up early and enjoying a peaceful early morning cuppa before the rest of the household arose and my busy

Bluestone Room

History In 1861, whilst the rest of New Zealand was being settled; a nondescript block building goes up in the thriving commercial centre of the far-flung British colony of Auckland. One hundred and fifty years later, the Bluestone Store resolutely remains anchored in Durham Lane, surrounded by high-rise apartments and

St Andrews Church

I decided to make one last visit to pay my respects and take a few photos of this grand old 1920’s building, in its final moments before demolition sees it gone forever.

Te Kowatu O Hatu Patu [The Rock of Refuge], Waikato

Te Kowatu O Hatu Patu also known as The Rock of Refuge. The rock stands at the roadside near Atiamuri, about 26km south of Tokoroa. The hollowed out rock was used by the legendary Hatupatu, a member of the Arawa tribe. When returning from exploring the forests he was being

The Vulcan Hotel, St Bathans

The former gold and coal mining town of Saint Bathans, lies deep in the heart of the Maniototo District in New Zealand’s Central Otago Region. The town was named for the Scottish Borders village of Abbey Saint Bathans by early surveyor John Turnbull Thomson; the Scottish village was the birthplace

“Pioneers in the field…. Leading the way with Paranormal Research in New Zealand” – Connor Biddle, Paranormal Encounters.

“I have much respect for the level of study Mark and his team have put into the paranormal phenomenon through the years. His work is interesting and very well researched.” – Murray Bott, U.F.O Researcher & NZ’s MUFON representative.

Paranormal New Zealand is the home of Haunted Auckland, a Paranormal Investigation and Research group.

Whether you’ve been following us since 2010, or just recently discovering us; WELCOME and thanks for joining in the fun, learning and adventures.

We are a dedicated group of paranormal enthusiasts, all having one thing in common – a passion and drive to find out as much as humanly possible about the mysterious and unknown field that is the Paranormal, as well as documenting New Zealand’s historical buildings and landmarks in their current state.

Paranormal (păr′ə-nôr′məl) adjective.
Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as beyond normal experience or scientific explanation. The term “paranormal” has existed in the English language since at least 1920. The word consists of two parts: “para” and “normal”. The definition implies that the scientific explanation of the world around us is “normal” and anything that is above, beyond, or contrary to that is “para”.

We’re always learning new things, so hope to pass that knowledge on to you all so that you might learn as we do, in this crazy but fascinating world of the paranormal.

Firstly a few things you should know about Haunted Auckland. We’re a small Auckland based team of friendly, dedicated, well seasoned and enthusiastic researchers with differing levels of experience, knowledge, skills and expertise and totalling around 100 years of experience. Our investigators are intelligent, honest, compassionate and possess critically thinking (yet wide open) minds. We’re also very good listeners.

We work closely with Property Managers, local Councils and Historical organisations to help preserve local histories, bring further awareness and raise funds by running public events.

Haunted Auckland has it’s roots deep and strong, going back to 1985, with a team formed by H.A founder, Mark Wallbank; making them NZ’s longest running Paranormal field-research entity.

What we aren’t: We aren’t Ghost Busters, Ghost Hunters, Exorcists, Mediums, Clairvoyants or Psychics and we don’t do clearings, blessings or the ridding homes of alleged demons. We don’t do prayers, rituals, or bring in any religious elements to our work. We aren’t mental health experts or sleep disorder professionals, though we do work closely with mental health professionals.

We aren’t “Believers”. We also aren’t blinkered, close-minded sceptics. We are happy to sit right in amongst it all and take the research wherever it may leads us.

While we are sceptical and doubtful of certain cases and ideas, we have seen and experienced enough in our time to realise that dedication to the research is definitely a worthwhile cause. Instead of blindly believing (or disbelieving), or just accepting what we are told is true and real, we prefer to seek out the answers ourselves through first-hand, “boots on the ground” investigation. Experimentation, observation and documentation. We don’t have all the answers and we don’t consider ourselves experts.

The team prides itself in being quite a bit different from other paranormal investigation teams out there. Our mindset strays from the popular culture train of thinking with regards to the paranormal, that is already rife with spirit boxes, phone apps and flashy, easily manipulated fad gadgets. Our goal is answers and evidence, not social media or entertainment popularity.

We don’t follow the mainstream, gadget driven mentality. Gadgets marketed to the naïve and gullible, claiming to detect and interact with ghosts.

We don’t however dismiss these gadgets until we have fairly trialled and experimented with them within our own investigations, before deciding whether they are worthy and valid to use within our research, or just more useless toys for the ever growing ‘’junk box’’.

Research time in these locations is valuable and a privilege, so wasting it on pointless flashy boxes that offer no accurate data in return or are vague and open to interpretation (as well as mis-interpretation) is counter-productive and a poorly used opportunity. Thinking outside of the ‘’box’’ confinements of the popular T.V and social media- lead mainstream is something, the team sees as important if the field is to move forward and gain any serious credibility or traction within scientific or academic circles.

The team utilises a combination of old-school thinking and techniques, coupled with a modern way of thinking. Simple and stripped back yet embracing current technology to work though theories and ideas that may find their way into our research. We don’t make claims we can’t back up with evidence or reliable data.

We don’t charge anything for what we do. The opportunity to investigate a location and hopefully further our research is its own great reward.

What we are, is “real world” researchers. Learning by doing. Walking the talk. Substance over fluff.

We follow the Scientific Method as closely as we are able to; though it’s not always easy to create a fully controlled environment and the fact that true paranormal activity is sporadic and very rare means we don’t always have a lot to go on. Still, we do our best with what we have to work with at the time and go wherever it takes us.

We go to where the stories come from in order to see for ourselves. We talk to the people involved to get their sides to the occurrences.

Our conclusions are never really final and we find multiple return visits yield the best results; so have built up trusting relationships with quite a few locations within the historical communities in this country. Our clean and respected reputation within historical circles is something the team prides itself on, as it has grown over the last decade and is based on well over 200 investigation sessions within that time.

For a full listing of References & testimonials, please visit our TESTIMONIALS page on this website.

Exploration – Observation – Experimentation – Documentation … Ultimately leading to Interaction, Understanding and Conclusion.

Please check out our website and don’t hesitate to make contact if you have any queries or would like to know more about what we do. We’re always happy to talk about spooks!