What are EVPs?

EVP’s What are they?                                       Segment 3

EVP also known as Electronic Voice Phenomena. An EVP is a voice or voice like sound that is not heard with your own ears but will be heard on your recordings. Some EVPs are more easily heard and understood than others. They can vary in gender , age of person, tone and emotion. They usually speak in single-words, phrases and short sentences. Sometimes they are just grunts, groans, growling and other vocal noises. There have been recordings speaking in various languages too.You need to use a digital recorder to capture your evps. They can also be caught on your video camera’s microphone. In a perfect world you would be in a perfectly quite area. No cars, no bodily noise (ever notice when you want to be quite you stomach starts making noises?), no kids outside, no clocks ticking, etc. But we will never be in that perfect area. You should always label your evp sessions. Either with paper and pencil or by vocially saying “car drove by” “so in so going up stairs” if a outside sound happens that could be later misinterpreted as paranormal.
EVPs have classifications of how good they are.

Class A~This type of EVP is loud, clear, and of very high quality. The voice is easily heard and does not need enhancement or amplification. Class A EVPs are also often (but not always) a direct response to a question being asked.

Class B~This is the most common type of EVP. This type of EVP is somewhat lower quality than a Class A EVP but still very audible. Class B EVPs often do need some amount of enhancement or amplification to be heard clearer. The voice may not be clear enought to be understood or there may be a disagreement as to what it is saying. Class B EVPs are often not in direct response to a question.

Class C~This is the lowest quality EVP. With a Class C EVP even the best enhancements and amplifications may not be sufficient to make the voice audible or clear. There may even be debate on wether or not an EVP is actually present.

A brief look into the history of EVPs is explained below. As well as how our EVP research got to where it is today.

Through the 1960’s and 1970’s researchers, especially in England, claim to have recorded thousands of voices. In 1982 engineer George Meek and psychic William O'Niell built a device call the "Spiricom". They claim it allows two-way real-time communication with spirits. This claim is still under heavy dispute.
Today, with the advent of digital records and reliable, professional grade sound editing software, paranormal investigators around the world continue to record and analyze unexplainable voices.Thomas Edison is generally credited with being the first to conceive that a device could be created to hear and speak with spirits. In a 1920’s newspaper interview he said someday it may be possible to have such a device. This is considered a remarkable comment since Edison himself never really showed any interest in the paranormal or supernatural, nor express any deep spiritual beliefs. He was trying to create a way to communicate with his mother when she passed. She unfortunately did pass before he finished his work.
At the same time other great inventors such as Gueglielmo Marconi (wireless radio) and Nikola Tesla (famous for his work with electricity), perhaps in cooperation with each other, also began work on devices that they believed could communicate with the dead.In the late 1920’s through 1930’s several psychic researchers claim to have heard voices on recorded radio broadcasts that were not part of the broadcast not could be accounted for by anything in the surrounding area. During World War 2 Swedish and Norwegian radio operators reported hear unfamiliar voices. They assumed it was the Germans. But after WW2 when capture German records were searched no evidence of Nazi activity on those frequencies at that time could be found.The actual credit for having first recorded an EVP goes to Fredrich Jurgenson. In 1959 Fredrich Jurgenson, a Swedish film producer, was supposedly recording bird songs in the Swedish Alps (he would later admit he was out trying to record the voices of the dead). He claims not to have heard anything unusual during the recording but heard many voices upon playback. He claims to have heard his own mother’s voice calling his name (some accounts say he heard his mother’s voice telling him he is being watched!). Jurgenson recorded hundreds of voices over his life time and played them at many symposiums and conferences. His recording still remain unexplained to this day.

Evidence Explained

Evidence Explained  Segment 4

Some people may use acronyms to describe their evidence they collect. Just to clarify some things this will go over all evidence and what you can expect.

EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena) You will use your digital recorder to collect evps. An EVP is a voice or voice like sound that is not heard with your own ears but will be heard on your recordings. Some EVPs are more easily heard and understood than others. They can vary in gender , age of person, tone and emotion. They usually speak in single-words, phrases and short sentences. Sometimes they are just grunts, groans, growling and other vocal noises. There have been recordings speaking in various languages too.You can view our evp page to listen to ones we have collected.

EMF (Electromagnetic field) is a physical field produced by electrically charged objects. It affects the behavior of charged objects in the vicinity of the field. The electromagnetic field extends indefinitely throughout space and describes the electromagnetic interaction. It is one of the four fundamental forces of nature. You use a EMF detector to pick it up. First you want to do a EMF sweep in your area to get a baseline reading. You may have an area that has naturally high EMF levels. If the building you are in has no power fed to it, you should have a very low baseline and will help with your investigation. The things listed below can give you an EMF jump that you can confuse with a paranormal entity. Some of these things generate EM fields that surround the object and are a few feet thick so you do not have to be right on top of it to get a reading. Even a 2 - 7 milligauss reading can be given of by something natural so try to trace out a source.This is essential indoors.  These can interfere with your EMF readings.Computers
Clock Radio/digital alarm clocks
Microwaves
Electrical outlets
Electrical lines in walls, floors and ceilings
Lamps
Refrigerators
Some pipes, copper
Ballasts in fluorescent lights, even if light is off
Batteries - regular and rechargeable
Telephone lines
Power lines
Very high solar activity

Pictures You can catch many things in a photograph. You have to be very careful when reviewing your photos though. Camera movement, flashlight beams, reflections off of other objects, etc can cause false orbs, shadows, or other paranormal views. Photos are one of the ways you can “prove” you caught something. You can catch orbs, shadow figures, apparitions, item movement, etc. I will be devoting another segment to things you can capture in photos and videos. Our Photo EvidenceVideos In videos you can catch items moving, apparitions, shadows moving, emf jumps, temperature jumps. Pretty much anything you can see and some you cant see can be documented. You can also catch evps on your videos. Our Video Evidence

 Temperature If you have a set 77.2 degrees at a location you are at and you all of a sudden get a 10-15 degree drop you may want to call that paranormal. Entities can cause temperature changes when they use energy to try to accomplish something.

Why lights out? Why at night?

Why Lights Out, or at Night?                                       Segment 2
I have been asked many times, “why do you go at night?” or “why do you turn out all the lights”. These are some very good questions.

First off when you investigate you want to try to recreate the conditions the original complaint was made. Yes, paranormal activity does happen in the day, in light hours. But for the most part I would say it happens at night. At night it is already dark which goes with the lights out.

Nighttime is when the earth has the least amount of natural Electromagnetic Fields. As you know ghosts may manipulate or influence EMF to manifest themselves, at night we have a better chance of detecting and measuring paranormal EMF emissions during periods of low natural planetary EMF activity. Also at nighttime there is a less chance of having interference in your investigations. Noisy cars on the road, kids outside playing, screaming and making noises can easily interfere with your evp sessions.

At night time and with lights out you can also use different types of cameras that the entities may appear. You can use thermal imaging, infrared, night vision, and full spectrum cameras. We as humans do not have the ability to see at these levels of light. Admittedly, it is also very easy to be distracted by wall hangings, nick knacks on bookshelves, light coming in from a window, et cetera. With the lack of visual spectrum, like a blind person, investigators can become keener with their other senses like smell, hearing, and bodily sensations of being touched and becoming cold.

Some investigators believe that nighttime investigation is best because of the witching hour. (In European folklore, the witching hour is the time when supernatural creatures such as witches, demons and ghosts are thought to appear and be at their most powerful, and black magic at its most effective. This hour is typically midnight or the "time in the middle of the night when magic things are said to happen." The term may refer to any late hour, even without having the associated superstitious beliefs, as can be seen in the Webster's definition: "The middle of the night, especially midnight." The term "witching hour" can also refer to the period from midnight to 3am. At "3 a.m. [it is] the devil's hour, as opposed to 3 p.m., when Jesus was said to have been crucified") Definition Taken from www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witching_hour

What is a Paranormal Investigation?

What is a Paranormal Investigation?                              Segment 1
A paranormal investigation aka: ghost hunt is when a person or a group of people go to place that has had unexplained claims of things going on. i.e.: knocking, noises, objects moving, shadows, apparitions etc. You will collect evidence to prove or disprove the claims. Sometimes a noise etc. can be disproved as paranormal and be something as simple as the noise of a house settling or an object in the house making the noise.

Most investigators will use a number of tools to collect data. There are a number of things to use to detect a entity’s presence. There are a number of cameras that can be used, EMF detectors, voice recorders, thermometers, dowsing rods, and many more things. Ill do another segment just on equipment.

The actual investigation is just the first part of any investigation. Most of the time will be spent afterwards going over all your audio, videos, and pictures. That is where you will find most of your evidence. The investigation can be a long and boring process, but on that occasion you experience something it makes it all worth it. It amps you up and keeps you coming back for more.

Some general tips when investigating:

1. Never go alone You never know what you will find. There are some old building that you may investigate and it is very easy to get hurt. Also if you have two people that experienced the same things your claim is more substantial.

2. Always have permission to be there You want to have the owners permission to go on their property. You don’t want to get arrested for trespassing. Also if it is an actual haunted area, and you are there without permission, the owners could make it where no one in the future could come back. Don’t want to ruin it for everyone.

3. Know your area You want to know your area. There are always dangers in every area you will go. Make sure you look over the area in the daylight before you try anything in the dark.

4. Research Look into the history of the place you are going. Were there any deaths/murders? Any previous investigations? If you know who lived there or died there you can customize your questions that you will use in your investigation.

5. Flashlight Always have a flashlight with you. Again it goes with knowing your area. Safety is most important.

6. Have Patience Like I said before, the investigation can be quite boring. Just need to have patience and hope you caught something that you will find when you go over your evidence.

7. Have FUN! Most important is to have fun. Investigations are fun and exciting times!

8. RESPECT Always have respect for the property you are on. And for the potential entities you may encounter. They were people once and have feelings. You don’t want to make one mad or hurt their feelings. Just like your mom always told you, treat others the way you would want to be treated.

Welcome!

Here is where we will be posting our informational segments we write. If you have any questions or coments please feel free to express them. You can view our website at http://www.riverbendparanormal.com/

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