Gary Galka: From Electrical Engineer to Ghost-Hunter

Paternal care doesn't end with the grave. Gary Galka has the natural instincts of any good father.  He wants to know that his wife and children are all okay; and that includes the one who died.

Melissa Galka (pictured) was just seventeen-years-old when she was killed. Her car span out of control and collided with a tree.

Her father was summoned to the scene by distraught friends of his daughter. He held her hand, reassuring her as she lay dying; only getting out of the way when fire-fighters needed to use the Jaws of Life to free her.

Afterwards, during the whole grieving process, he said that one of the worst things of all was not knowing if she was alright.  Wherever she was. As her father, it was a question which haunted his mind.

Then things took a decidedly supernatural turn.

Gary told his story to Dave Juliano and Marti Haines, on the Paranormal Straight Talk podcast show (Sept 21st 2012).  (It's available from the iTunes store, free of charge.)  He explained how his other daughter would frequently see Melissa sitting in her room, brushing her hair.  How he and his wife would be awoken in the night by an unseen finger poking their shoulders. How the doorbell would ring with no-one there; or the TV channels turn over on their own.  He felt his bed depress, as an invisible someone sat on the edge of the mattress.

The Galka family did not need a medium to tell them that Melissa was still home.  They could sense her presence all around them.

As a good father, beset with the need to check on his child, Gary turned to what he knew. He set about inventing a device which would allow communication with his daughter. He succeeded.

The ghost hunting gadgets that Gary Galka produced have since become legendary within the sector.

It is his equipment which is used by famous teams, like Zak, Nick and Aaron from Ghost Adventures, and Dave and Marti from Paranormal Straight Talk.  They have all testified to both its accuracy and effectiveness out in the field.

Initially, Gary applied his engineering knowledge in his work-shop solely for personal reasons. He was well aware that his daughter was trying to reach him, but it was like trying to make a call without a 'phone. 

As time went by, it was pointed out to him that other bereaved families might benefit from his growing catalog of ghost hunting devices. Not to mention professional ghost hunters too. He agreed to sell them on the basis that he could make money for several charities that had provided assistance to himself and his family, in their hour of need.

Even today, with an international reputation for excellence, the Galka family still put aside a third of all profits.  That goes into bereavement counselors, scholarship funds for disadvantaged children and a host of other charities too.

By going commercial, with D.A.S. Distribution Inc.,  Gary knew that he would leave himself open to censure.  What he didn't realize was quite how bad it would be.

On Paranormal Straight Talk, Gary Galka spoke about the personal attacks, upon himself and his family, since he started manufacturing his ghost hunting devices.

The situation became much worse after they were featured on Ghost Adventures in April 2012.

One of the most distressing moments came when a blogger, taking her cue from a website, tried to discredit the whole story. Her issue was that Melissa Galka had been drunk when she crashed her car.

That simply wasn't true.  She had been at a party and alcohol was consumed, but post-mortem tests proved that she was below the legal drink-driving limit. It took legal action and a court injunction before the slander was removed from the internet.

However, the damage had been done. Suddenly Gary found himself publicly berated for not using his public platform to speak about the dangers of drunken driving. People openly yelled at him for channeling his energies into the paranormal, when he could have been leading a moral crusade instead.

I found this incredible. Even if Melissa had been paralytic at the wheel, what did that have to do with communication from beyond the grave?  She would still have been on the other side.

Others took umbrage at his apparent 'cashing in on his daughter's death'.  This deeply upsets Gary.  He listed the charities that would do without funding, if he was to stop right now.  He also pointed out how often he gives his equipment away for free, if poverty stricken individuals show promise with the technology.

There was yet a third common criticism, which was that he gave false hope to grieving families. When they 'think' they can hear their lost son or daughter through his EVP recorders, then they believe them still close by.

And the problem is?  Gary got all defensive at this point, reeling off endless stories about how bereft parents had thanked him. 

Personally, I don't think he should have even addressed the point.  He gave hope to grieving families! If they even believed enough to seek out his devices and services, then such matters factor into their worlds. 

I hate fundamentalism in any way, shape or form.  That includes those so entrenched in their own certainties - that there is no afterlife and no way of contacting it - that they wish to trash all hope and all belief.

But Gary isn't taking all of the attacks lying down. He's challenged any scientist to allow him into their labs with his paranormal investigation equipment. He is so confident that he'll be able to reproduce his results under test conditions, that he's slapped down a $10k bet against it. The money, of course, will be donated to charity.

So far, no-one has taken up that particular gauntlet.

Obviously no-one would have wished that tragic accident to have occurred in 2004.  That it did, and so profoundly affected a man with such technological genius, can only be a boon to the world of paranormal investigation.

The ghost hunting gismos are just a small part of what D.A.S. Distribution Inc. creates, in that little workshop in Connecticut, USA.  But it's enough to keep six people in work during a time of recession.

Gary told Paranormal Straight Talk that he has plenty of ideas for yet more equipment, but he doesn't know if they will ever be produced. He's so busy with his ordinary work!  But that which has made the leap from his mind to his workbench has been guided by Melissa.

He knows what his little girl needs and, as her father, he still wants to provide it for her.  That's how the paranormal investigation devices came into being; and what would cause future ones to be made too.

At the end of the day, he just wants to be sure that his daughter is alright.