For this week’s Deep Dive Series, we are interviewing Clapper creator and paranormal investigator, @502ParanormalCrue!
@502ParanormalCrue (or Shannon! Or Charley Chainsaw, depending on the time of year!) is a seasoned paranormal investigator. On his profile, he shares videos of his investigations, of the beautiful crystals he comes across, and all things spooky. There was so much we wanted to ask him, but we had to limit it just to his paranormal encounters! In this interview, we talked about how he got involved in the paranormal, his favorite paranormal encounter, his advice for beginners, his tips for new creators, and so much more!
Keep reading this Deep Dive to find out more about this creator’s inspiring story. Make sure to tune in every Thursday at 5pm CT on our @ClapperCreator account to listen to the bonus questions that will only be available on our live radio show: Clapper Talks.
Not everything that you catch is always paranormal. Just remember that one rule right there. If you can remember that rule, you’ll be a great paranormal investigator.
Tell us a little bit about yourself. What does a day look like in your life?
A day in Shannon’s life is: wake up and go take care of my pops. When he’s sleeping I’m on Clapper welcoming new people and helping people in my Lives. I spend time with my grandson when he’s able to come over, and for a while I did security work up at the Family Dollar. I’m also an Android game tester for for the company I work for, but yeah, that’s what I do. I test games, I’m constantly on Clapper, and I take care of my pops. That’s my 3 daily chores, I guess you could say.
Obviously, based on your name and your content, you’re really involved in the paranormal community! For those of us that don’t know, can you talk a little more about what your work in the paranormal field entails?
I prepare myself 2 – 3 days before I go into an investigation. Especially if it’s a private investigation and I know there’s some kind of dark entity that they’re dealing with. Because if it’s a peaceful spirit, they’re not going to throw things at you, catch stuff on fire. I do some private investigations that I’m not allowed to talk about since I follow the HIPA laws and keep everything confidential. There’s a couple of liaisons I can go to for certain help, and ask them for either spiritual guidance or how to handle certain things. I started going Live here, reaching out to people and hearing their stories, seeing if I can help them virtually, see if that was another avenue for me.
I really don’t like messing with electronics during investigations. They can mess with EVPs (Electronic Voice Phenomenon) and will throw off all signals. That’s why I always carry a voice recorder with me. When I’m recording the video, I’m also recording on my recorder. I use holy water, I do blessings and everything before I go, after I leave.
How did you get involved with the paranormal? What made you want to pursue this?
My mother. My mother, from the day I was born, pretty much. When I was able to ask questions and start talking about seeing certain things, she knew what I was going through. She went through it herself, and so did my grandmother and my great-grandfather. And my great-grandfather was telekinetic: he could move things with his mind. I’m empathic and can feel others’ pain; it gets really emotional sometimes, so I don’t go out in public a lot. Me joining the Clapper Affiliate program is giving me an avenue to get myself out there more and talk to more people.
Can you tell us your favorite personal paranormal encounter? It can be the scariest, the first, the most emotional, whatever you’d like.
My favorite was probably where I had the most contact, which was when I got “slimed” by a spirit. I have COPD, which means I have fluid build up in my lungs all the time, I’m constantly in pain, and can aspirate in the night. My mom’s house was haunted and still is, and one of the spirits they named Sarg. And I’m sitting there, in a dream, still asleep, and I feel like I’m being held down. I feel somebody bounce me , as if to wake me up. And when I did wake up, the fluid in my lungs had been pumped out of me. I walked in the front room and ask if anybody tried to wake me up; they said no. I told them their spirit had saved my life. And I could breathe better than and for the next three months than I ever had before.
My favorite place to investigate would probably be Waverly Hills. That place has got so much emotion there. As soon as you start pulling onto the drive, you can feel the emotion of all the bodies that were driven down that road. They have records of 10,000 – 15,000, but a lot were destroyed. Waverly Hills is probably one of my para-passions.
What advice do you have for listeners that might be interested in exploring the paranormal?
Do a blessing. Go in with no fear in your heart. And if you experience anything – something touching you, something whispering in your ear – don’t show fear, don’t let your heart start pounding. Just be very relaxed. That’s why I always prepare at least 3 days before an investigation. I’ve got to be in a certain vibe before I can really go there and be 100%.
So, when did you join Clapper? How did your journey as a creator begin?
I joined Clapper January 9th of last year, so I’ve been on here about 15 months or so. I’ve grown quite a bit on here, because the old me y’all really wouldn’t have liked! But I was wanting to get away from TikTok because I had too many people coming at me the wrong way. I came over here with about 15 people and we all kind of stuck together. Now they’ve all gone their separate ways, but @2010ParanormalCrue’s pretty much hung with me the whole time. He’s not only a really good friend, but a brother. His daughter calls me her uncle, and I kind of stuff to heart. And Clapper’s been like a really big family to me. There’s a lot of people that have helped me along the way and I can’t thank them enough.
What made you want to start sharing your paranormal experiences on social media?
Well, everybody else was doing it! I’ve been a paranormal investigator practically my whole life, but I got seriously into it in 1998, when 502 first formed. But coming to social media with the paranormal wasn’t for clout or anything; I was just wanting to share my experiences. I’ve got other social media outlets that I put my paranormal stuff out on, but mostly what I like to put out is cemetery videos. I like going to cemeteries a lot. They’ve very peaceful, really good place to recharge.
What do you enjoy most about Clapper? In what ways do you feel like Clapper needs improvement?
I’m able to meet really good people on here, and those people become family. There’s a lot of really great people out there and I’m in every community. I’m not just in the para-community: I’m straight, but I’m friends with and follow the gay community, I follow the people who cook, the veterans. And Clapper has given me other outlets to reach out to people, which is something my mom always taught me. Clapper has given me a major outlet – more of an outlet than any other social media outlet that I’m affiliated with now. I promote Clapper on all the other outlets, and this is the only place where I create content.
And part 2 to your question…I’ve been seeing a lot of kids on here. Kids shouldn’t be on here and I understand we’ve got a real big influx right now. And I have met some great people on here, but I’ve met some trolls. I would say the app needs more age verification – that would probably alleviate a lot of weirdos, too. Because I have run across a lot of weirdos on here, male and female. We could also have the option to either be in portrait orientation or landscape on Live, because we’ve tried it before and it works great but the comments don’t turn. That would be great and show more background. And more fun games to play on Live other than the PK Battles!
What advice would you give new users that want to be successful on Clapper?
Just be real, be who you are, and don’t sugarcoat anything. Create great content, go Live a lot, and don’t think that everybody is out to get you. Because a lot of people on here are actually here to help you. And if there’s any new people listening, welcome to Clapper! I hope you make the best of it and not the worst of it, because it’s a great platform.
We hope you enjoyed getting to know @502ParanormalCrue. For our latest deep dive on @Sundancer05 read here.