Chasing the Unexplainable: Paranormal Researcher David Glidden Investigates the Unknown

Most people don’t go looking for the things that might be hiding in the dark.

David Glidden does.

For more than two decades, the paranormal researcher has spent countless nights in abandoned buildings, historic homes, cemeteries and basements where people claim something unexplained is happening. Armed with cameras, audio recorders and a cautious curiosity, he and his team investigate the claims others are too afraid to confront.

Sometimes they find nothing.

Other times, they encounter something they can’t explain.

But for Glidden, the fascination with the paranormal didn’t begin in a haunted building or during a formal investigation. It started much earlier, with family stories, horror movies and an experience that would stay with him for the rest of his life.

“Growing up as the youngest of five boys, I was exposed to a lot early on,” Glidden says. “Horror movies and ghost stories were normal because my older brothers liked to try scaring me.”

His family wasn’t shy about discussing the unexplained either. Topics like hauntings, aliens and Bigfoot were just part of everyday conversation.

But when Glidden was 16, the supernatural suddenly felt much closer to home. One of his brothers died in a car accident. About a year later, Glidden experienced something that still stands out vividly in his memory.

“I had the most vivid dream where he visited me,” he shares. “In the dream, we talked and it was emotional, so emotional that I woke up crying.”

The experience didn’t immediately turn him into a paranormal investigator, but it left a lasting impression. Years later, a film about spirit communication called “White Noise” sparked his curiosity again, followed soon after by the rise of the television show “Ghost Hunters.”

Like many people intrigued by the unknown, Glidden and his friends decided to see for themselves whether any of it might be real.

One night, armed with nothing more than flashlights and curiosity, they drove to a cemetery rumored to be haunted.

“At first, we couldn’t even get to the place we had heard about because it was overgrown,” Glidden says. “So, we ended up going to another cemetery instead.”

They wandered around for about half an hour before deciding to leave. Nothing unusual had happened.

Then, as they were preparing to drive away, everything changed.

While Glidden was leaning down to grab something from the center console of his car, the rest of the group suddenly panicked.

“Everyone in the car freaked out and Mike started yelling, ‘Drive! Drive!’” he says.

The group later described seeing something strange approaching the vehicle: a smoky ball of light with a blue glow moving toward them.

Glidden hadn’t seen it himself, and the missed moment bothered him.

So, the next night, he and his friend Mike returned.

This time, Glidden witnessed the phenomenon with his own eyes.

“A yellow ball of light appeared about 20 yards away,” he says. “It swayed for about 10 seconds before collapsing and disappearing.”

Moments later, it appeared again farther down the path.

“Then instantly, the light appeared about 40 yards in front of us for about 20 seconds before going away for the rest of the night,” he says.

This time, he managed to photograph the anomaly. The experience only fueled his curiosity.

Soon after, Glidden began researching haunted locations online and eventually connected with someone in Neosho, Missouri, who had been investigating paranormal claims in a home. Within a week of that first encounter, he and his friend Mike decided to form a team and begin exploring the field more seriously.

Over the years that followed, Glidden’s investigations would take him into homes, businesses and historic sites where people believed something unexplainable was occurring.

He’s seen a lot: shadow figures, apparitions, events some people would even describe as possession.

But strangely enough, the experience that stands out most to him isn’t one of the eerie encounters. It’s one where the investigation uncovered something very real.

“We helped a family whose two little girls were being molested by a family member,” he says. “Often times, there are natural explanations for experiences. Sometimes people create the hauntings out of a cry for help.”

For Glidden, that case became the most meaningful moment of his career.

“I’m just glad that I got the call to investigate a haunting that led to helping those girls. That is the most memorable thing I’ve been a part of.”

Despite the occasional real-world explanation behind some claims, Glidden has still experienced moments that remain deeply unsettling, the kind that stick in your mind long after the investigation ends.

One night in Carthage, Missouri, he and his team were investigating a home that had reportedly experienced unusual activity.

The house’s basement was completely dark except for the glow of the camcorder’s LED screen. Glidden was recording audio while the homeowner operated the camera. Then they heard something.

“A sound in the corner got our attention,” he says.

Standing with the homeowner several feet behind him, Glidden began asking questions into the darkness. Suddenly, the homeowner spoke up.

“He said, ‘It is getting cold on my back.’”

Glidden turned his head to look. What he saw is something he says he will never forget.

“I was shocked to see over his shoulder, lit up by the camera screen, the face of a man,” Glidden says. “He had dark combed over hair, a thick mustache and piercing eyes.”

For a moment, the figure seemed completely real. Then it was gone. Glidden looked away briefly to collect himself and turned back.

Nothing.

When they went upstairs later, he described the face he had seen to the homeowner. The man’s response made the experience even stranger.

The description matched a figure the homeowner had reported seeing shortly after moving into the house.

Even now, years later, the image hasn’t faded from Glidden’s memory.

“That same night, as I drove home, I questioned, ‘Did I really see that?’” he says. “But it was there, and that face has stuck in my mind to this day.”

Despite the dramatic stories often portrayed in television shows, Glidden says paranormal investigations are rarely as exciting as they appear. In fact, most nights are quiet.

“A typical night starts with trying to recreate or prove the claims as natural occurrence,” he explains.

Investigators first attempt to rule out logical explanations - things like airflow, lighting conditions, structural sounds or environmental factors.

Only after those possibilities are exhausted do they begin attempting to capture evidence.

Most of the work happens in darkness.

Infrared cameras are used to record video, and investigators rely heavily on audio equipment to capture sounds that might not be heard in real time.

Even then, there’s often nothing.

“A large amount of investigations won’t have activity,” Glidden says. “Most places are only rumored to be, but sometimes you happen to be somewhere where circumstances line up for an experience.”

Glidden describes himself as a “skeptical believer.”

He believes there is more to existence than we fully understand, but he also approaches claims cautiously.

“While I do believe in the afterlife, I am skeptical when it comes to the claims of others,” he says.

For something to truly be considered paranormal, he believes every normal explanation must first be eliminated.

“A genuine experience will be something unexplainable. When you’ve exhausted all attempts to recreate it or explain it away with proof, what you’re left with is something unknown.”

Technology plays a role in many investigations, but Glidden is cautious about relying too heavily on gadgets.

“There are a lot of devices out there, and most are flawed to a degree and pretty much for entertainment,” he says.

Instead, he prefers equipment designed to record measurable data - tools like audio recorders, cameras and environmental sensors.

Even after more than 20 years in the field, the experiences haven’t pushed him away from the work.

Instead, they’ve made him more curious.

“Nothing spiritual has ever deterred me from continuing down this path,” he says. “If anything, it made me more curious.”

Along the way, his research has also led him into studying different belief systems, cultures and even theories related to quantum physics.

Exploring those ideas has broadened his perspective on what might be possible.

“It’s allowed me to be more open minded to different possibilities.”

Still, Glidden says the public perception of paranormal investigation is often very different from reality.

One of the biggest misconceptions, he says, is the idea that demonic activity is everywhere.

“I think the most misunderstood thing about the paranormal is that demons are everywhere,” he says. “YouTubers and network television promoted this idea that every place is crawling with demons, and that’s not the case.”

In reality, truly negative or dangerous cases are extremely rare.

“Coming across a truly demonic haunting is an extreme rarity,” he says.

For those fascinated by ghost hunting shows or curious about exploring the paranormal themselves, Glidden offers some unexpected advice.

Don’t jump in too quickly.

“If I were to give advice to someone wanting to do this, I would tell them don’t,” he cautions. “It may look fun and spooky and thrilling, but it’s not all fun and games.”

Instead, he suggests learning about the field first, attending public investigations and visiting historic sites before trying to investigate on your own.

Because once you begin exploring the unknown, you might find something you never expected.

For Glidden, the mystery is exactly what keeps him going. There are still questions with no answers. Still places where strange stories linger.

And sometimes, if the circumstances are just right, something appears in the darkness, if only for a moment, that reminds him how much of the world remains unexplained.

‍