Theresa Byess
IRG Director

Theresa Byess is the Founder and Director of the Intranormalology Research Group (IRG), a division of the Fayetteville Paranormal Research Association (FAYPRA), a non-profit organization specializing in paranormal-related scientific research and development.

Born alongside the dusty bright lights of Las Vegas, Nevada, she has spent the better part of 17 years conducting her own personal research into faith and spirituality.  What started off as a simple quest to better understand her Christian-based spirituality has since turned into a passion for teaching others all that she has learned over the years about faith, spirituality, and what has become known as the paranormal.

Many who get started in the field of the paranormal, all too often, have had remarkable claims of profound experiences leading them to want to better understand that which they had experienced.  Theresa is one of the few who did not get started in paranormal research as a result of such a claim.  To date, she has never conducted what many would refer to as an “official paranormal investigation”, nor does she claim to have had any experiences that she could justify, beyond a shadow of a doubt, was paranormal in nature.  Still, she continues to read, learn, and share all that she can with others in an effort to promote a better understanding of that which we currently do not.  While she does not boast to have experienced anything (yet) of a truly “paranormal” nature, she firmly believes there is ample evidence to support such claims.

Theresa is a widowed mother of one son and is currently engaged to former United States Army soldier, J.R. Ivy, who is also the Co-Founder of IRG.  They have shared a close friendship for more than 15 years, having only become a couple in 2011.  They are currently living in the town of Fayetteville in North Carolina.  Both are currently working toward Bachelor’s degrees in different fields.

Ms. Byess and the members of FAYPRA started an almost destined close partnership beginning about 3 years ago, about the same time she moved from her hometown in Georgia to North Carolina, when she was seeking assistance with her group’s newest project called The Gateway EVP Project, a two-tiered study and experiment based on hypotheses surrounding EVPs.  Since then, the relationship between IRG and FAYPRA has blossomed incredibly, feeling more like family than a “paranormal partnership”.

Today, she works in close partnership with FAYPRA in all facets of operations, including client investigations, spiritual advice, and educating the public regarding the various topics surrounding the field of the paranormal with her primary role acting in a research and development capacity.

Theresa considers herself a “student of Life”, constantly seeking knowledge, truth, and understanding of the world around her.  Motivated by the strong desire to learn and help others.  Some consider her empathic, possessing an uncanny ability to sense the emotions, feelings, and thoughts of others.

In addition, Ms. Byess also considers herself a true skeptic, wherein she doubts but does not deny.  Believing emphatically that anything is possible but perhaps all too often exaggerated from a lack of understanding or misinterpretation.  However, she remains nonjudgmental and unbiased when others seek advice, or in providing advice, listening with a tentative ear and an open-heart and mind.  To her, knowledge and understanding are the powers of the heart, mind, body, and soul.  Power that can be used to obtain a deeper sense of spiritual enlightenment, freedom, and peace.

Having never claimed to experience anything profound of a paranormal nature but also blessed with what she commonly refers to “divinely-granted knowledge and understanding”, she wholeheartedly believes she is in the perfect position to act in an unbiased capacity regarding the paranormal and its research.

Her goal is not to “prove” or “disprove” that existence of the paranormal as a whole.  Her goal, and indeed the goal of IRG, is to scientifically explore the plausibility of the various aspects, hypotheses, and theories of the paranormal.

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