'Paranormal Investigator' Facing Charges after Firing Gun at Phantom Intruder
Christian J. Devaux, a self-described paranormal investigator living in Tolland, Connecticut, is facing charges following an incident in which he fired a gun at what he initially thought to be a home invader, reported the Journal Inquirer.
An affidavit filed in support of Devaux's arrest stated that he dialed 911 early on the morning of July 26th to report that a man wearing a hooded sweatshirt and a mask, and armed with a rifle, had broken into his home. Dispatchers heard Devaux yell "Hey!" and then fire two shots.
Investigators responding to the call said they found no evidence of an intruder or any sign that Devaux's home had been broken into.
Furthermore, although Devaux's sworn statement attested that he had fired over the phantom intruder's head in an attempt to scare him off, investigators found that the bullet holes corresponding to the event were only three feet high on the wall.
Neighbors reported that they had heard nothing unusual that morning, outside of the gunshots.
Devaux responded to the inconsistencies in his story by stating that “there are some things he just can’t explain, like seeing ghosts.”
He went on to tell state troopers that he has been a paranormal investigator for five or six years, and that he had recently encountered an apparition at the Mansfield Training School and Hospital; and although he did not want to be considered "insane," he had to allow for a paranormal explanation to the morning's events.
A trooper at the scene asked Devaux if he could agree that nobody had entered his home and what he had seen was a ghost.
"It had to be," replied Devaux.
State police said that the 25-year-old man made a very similar report of a phantom intruder in 2011. That investigation also turned up no evidence of any intruder.
Devaux was charged with illegal discharge of a firearm, making a false statement to police, second-degree reckless endangerment, misusing an emergency call, and disorderly conduct.
It's unclear if Devaux mentioned his recent paranormal excursion because he thought he was the victim of a spirit attachment, or if he has a history of mental illness.
Attachments are said by many paranormal investigators to occur when a person performing an investigation attracts a particular spirit to themselves; such attachments can occur for many reasons, including ill health, drug abuse, possession of psychic gifts, or emitting a certain type of 'energy.'
Signs of an attachment range from a feeling of being watched to visual apparitions to outright spirit possession.
Spirits that attach themselves to living people run the gamut from malevolent to benevolent, and can include everything from deceased humans to elementals.
Maintaining good physical and mental health, meditative practices, and certain religious prayers or occult rituals are said to all be ways to potentially ward oneself against spirit attachments.