Category: Uncategorized

“The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd.” – Bertrand Russell

Within the paranormal community, there are ample opportunities for opinions, as widely held as any religious dogma, to be taken for granted, and all with no more critical examination than that of a toddler accepting the erroneous advice of his older siblings.  The very purpose of this paranormal community is to seek the truth; at least it is on the surface.  Unfortunately, there is a preponderance of unqualified and wholly incorrect assumption being spread around as pseudo-fact with regard to some of the more common paranormal ideas.

What is a ghost?  How does EVP and orb phenomenon relate to ghosts? And how does demonology fit into the mix?

These are the common questions that most paranormal researchers endeavour to answer, though in contrast to their ‘ghost hunting’ colleagues, whose goal seems to be rooted in the same ideology as the California gold rush of 1848, the researcher tends to be more interested in what the phenomenon means, rather than what it looks or sounds like.

To dispel some of the unfortunate myths about ghosts and their paranormal companions the following is offered; no one on the planet, now or in the past, has any concrete idea of exactly what a ghost is.  The evidence is, at its very best, entirely inconclusive.  I’m sure many will read that and question with conviction the idea that no one knows what a ghost is, but I assure you, if there were verifiable information that demonstrated exactly what these mysterious and fleeting entities are, the world would have heard about it, and loudly I might add.

As the venerable Bertrand Russell so eloquently pointed out, the fact that a great many people believe a thing, by no means makes it the truth; and this applies perfectly to the idea that ghosts are the ethereal manifestation of human souls in some sort of intersecting afterlife.  While a comfortable idea, and one that has become perhaps the widest held incorrect assumption in the paranormal community at large, there is no evidence to make that claim a fact.

But, as I’m sure a great many readers are now preparing to rebut, very few people are claiming that idea to be fact.  They tend to be quite careful, when pressed, to admit that there is no certainty, while at the same time many use that idea, almost exclusively, as the basis of their methodology and focus in seeking out evidence of ghosts.

Case number one in that point, is the orb photo.  Only in the amateur paranormal enthusiast arena could such an easily explained and common photographic issue become so closely tied to the existence of ghosts.  Though most in the community already dismiss such notions as the fancy of those who know little about either phenomenon, but even in the case of the occasional orb photo that defies explanation, what do we really have?  When reduced to its common denominators, the idea of an anomalous artefact showing up in a photograph, while interesting, is not indicative of any other phenomenon; meaning, an orb is just an orb.

This same logic can and should be applied to the mystery of Electronic Voice Phenomenon.  EVP is an especially interesting subject of study and in recent years has actually become its own discipline within the realm of paranormal research.  It holds many secrets and is equally worthy of study along side any other paranormal subject, however…as with orbs, there is no cause to connect EVP with ghosts.

It seems though, that an uncomfortable majority of paranormal enthusiast accept these ideas as, well, gospel.  What is a ghost?  We don’t have an everlovin’ clue!  What are orbs?  The world be damned if we know!  What causes the eerie voices on EVP results? Your guess is as good as mine!

And that’s the point of it all.  We, meaning the collective knowledge of the entire world, don’t know what these things are.  There are those of us who hold pet theories as to what they might be, and some of those theories are more easily reconciled than others, but the sad fact that so many otherwise learned and credible people fall prey to these erroneous assumptions, is growing more and more troubling.

The issue of mediums bolstering the idea that ghosts are human souls, in some form of purgatory or otherwise trapped state, aside from being entirely anecdotal and dependent on the credibility of the medium in question, is not evidence for or against that theory or any like it; especially since ESP, clairvoyance and telepathy are, in and of themselves, entirely mysterious as well.  I’ve often said, you can’t solve one mystery, by placing another mystery on top of it.

In the end, where do we stand?  No further ahead and no further behind, but we have clarified a few things, though I suspect this one paper will do little to dispel the various assumptions and accepted myths that litter the paranormal community.  Hopefully though, it will cause a few people to ask ‘why’ a little louder.

I have been told for many reasons that I am different.  Most of which are because of my sarcastic sense of humour, however we’ll talk about that later!

I remember my childhood very clearly, and from a very early age.  I can remember being in my crib before my first birthday, being given baths, and the sound of my Poppa (grandfather’s) voice.  I remember my mother being pregnant with my sister who was born 22 months after me. I remember the time while my mother was at the hospital and my Grandma stayed with me, until mom and my new a baby sister came home.  I was so mad she left me for 2 nights; I hid when she came in the back door!

I have very vivid recollection…and remember that autumn that I fell into the pool with all my clothes, coat and shoes on.  My father scaled the deck fencing, jumped in and pulled me out of the cold water, but I was fine.  I remember it like I was there watching, but also saw him jumping in from the bottom of the pool, it was odd.  Thinking back, I cannot recall if the people started before then…but it was after then that I remember them.  Some say it is a near death experience that starts the visits, but I can’t say for sure.  Sometimes I speculate, but I don’t have the answer to that and don’t consider myself an authority on the subject…I am learning every day too.

We lived in an old house.   It was a semi, and my grandparents and aunt lived in the other half of the semi.  My Poppa told me that when they first built that house it was used as a rooming house.  Was it? I don’t really know, but from my perspective it was a busy place!  I had a “visitor”, who would sit in the chair at the end of my room, and he would laugh for hours.  He was an elderly man, thin, partly bald, and sort of…emaciated.  He didn’t look scary, but his laugh combined with how he made me feel, was.  Some say that that wouldn’t be scary…but I was 4 and it was scary!  I didn’t talk much about this man to my Mom; I just went to her room a lot at night saying I had bad dreams.  I got the impression (although it was never discussed), that my “visitors” was not something that everyone was going to like…so it became my private thing.

The “people” came intermittently…the old man in my chair was almost always there, even after I moved the chair; the person in the dark that would tickle me, till I almost peed, and the one who used to look in on me when it was nearly daylight.  I didn’t sleep much, for I always had the feeling of missing something if I closed my eyes for too long!  I acted up/out during my childhood, I guess I was more confused about the subject than I thought at the time, and gravitated towards older people in general as a comfort.  The majority of the “visitors” at the age I was then were older people.  They seemed like older family members in a way.  This began my fascination with elderly people…and I still think they are amazing.  I went to the nursing home with my Poppa a lot, to see my Great Grandma, and would keep all the other people in the hallways amused while my Poppa visited his mom.

Maybe that is why I had such an insurgence of elderly “visitors”, I don’t know.  They all wanted to see me when they “visited”, and sometimes they talked to me, but none of it was a scary thing, and none of them seemed to need help, like the popular TV shows.  I sometimes wonder if what I have came in stages or not…or if I just didn’t understand enough then.

When I was about 6, there was a motorcycle accident out in front of our house, and the rider was thrown quite a distance from where he was hit.  He was hurt pretty badly, but he didn’t die; I could feel the death trying to take him.  The feeling of what I saw and felt gave me nightmares for a while after that, but I came to understand what it had meant for him, and I saw a difference in the people who came to “visit” me versus the regular people around me.  Something that is more of a feeling from the “visitors” than regular people….they seemed much more concentrated.  It made figuring out regular people sort of difficult for me at the beginning…but reading or figuring out the feelings that regular people give me now is much easier to interpret, it is just more subtle.  I think the “visitors” don’t care anymore, so it’s all out there, but the real people hide it and you have to concentrate a little harder for it.

I had dreams, as a child, dreams that still haunt me to this day.  Some not so much bad as upsetting, like the one of my Great Grandpa passing away, and hearing about it from my parents the next day. I responded with “I know” when I was told, and from the look I got, I didn’t say things like that any more.   I dreamt of my Aunt Lolly the same way, to the same result from my parents the next day after her passing too.  This concludes the majority of what I have told my parents over the years.  I was perceptive in their reactions and saw that they had a lot going on in their lives…I didn’t bother them with much if I could help it.

Nightmares for kids that see the dead are a little more like an adults scary movie…so as you get older scary movies hold more reality than thrill.  I get scared more I think because I know how possible some of the things are.  Poltergeist was the first one for me…a little too close to home I think.

Spell casting, divination, telekinesis, clairvoyance and maybe even riding brooms in pointy hats; I could find a position behind nearly any of those.

Alright, well maybe not all of them -telekinesis is a little far fetched if you ask me- but of the countless variations, afflictions and gifts in the psychic realm of possibilities, astral projection is the one so-called ability I have to draw the line on.

Let’s all gather ‘round the glowing computer screen and learn a little something about this fraud of the absentee kind.

Specifically defined, Astral Projection is out-of-body travel in unfolding environments other than the physical world, hence the “astral” part of the term, and is also commonly known as an Out-of-Body Experience.

Most commonly, this phenomena (and I use that word lightly, since I’m hardly convinced it isn’t an imaginary figment) is experienced during or as a result of near death experiences.  This in and of itself should be an automatic flag on the play; the chemical processes, or lack thereof, going on inside the body and more specifically inside the brain during a near death experience can be seriously disruptive, damaging and in the very least are a-typical of normal brain function.  Some would use this fact as ammunition for the other side of this argument, but unfortunately for them, that round is a blank!

The very fact that most out-of-body experiences are so closely related to periods of neural stress, indicates less of a likelihood for actual ethereal projection beyond the confines of the body and lends a great deal of weight to the correcthypothesis…hallucination.

And here’s where the slope gets slippery.

New age metaphysical trends support, not only the possibility of astral projection, but also advise on intentional methods for inducing out-of-body experiences.  I have a problem with this for one simple reason; it is entirely unquantifiable.  No matter how profound and convincing the experience is for the one involved, the only evidence that can be presented for the case is anecdotal at best.

Meditation, guided visualization and, in some extreme cases, narcotic assistance are used to achieve this so-called astral projection intentionally, but what is more likely happening, is an intense dream state brought on by almost overuse of the subconscious imagination.

Coincidence, subliminal observation and deductive reasoning can easily account for the claims of knowledge of things that occurred during the persons “away time”, and in the face of passionate rebuttal, no such reasoning will be accepted by the astral projector.

I realise that my view is more on the sceptical side of things, and that by voicing this opinion I elicit the criticism of those who practice and or experience astral projects, and to those persons, I further invite accounts of your experience to prove that this phenomena is real, though I warn you, I will examine your evidence critically and without clemency.

As is the trend in much of my other commentary, I will not be offering you a how-to guide for astral projection; as such a guide coming from me would likely resemble the following:

Step 1) Lay head on pillow

Step 2) Close eyes

Step 3) Fall asleep

Step 4) Dream

Instead, feel free to browse the information posted at About.com, I’m certain they will be more accommodating than I on this subject.

Happy dreams!

As I got to school age, I got a little more social, with real people.  I learned from one or two small comments from neighbourhood kids and a classmate that nobody else saw the “visitors”.  My sister and I talked about it a little (I did mention her in the first of my chronicles), but she and I never got too into it, as I didn’t really want to get found out by my parents.  She was the golden child, who was never in trouble for anything, so if she said something they would have listened.

I saw some kids at school from all walks of life and religions, I later learned, and none of them ever mentioned seeing anything I saw.  I felt sort of alone.  But sort of special…I liked to have this secret.  (I had a lot of things I couldn’t tell people so I guess this is why I am so bad with secrets now)

My Grade 2 teacher had a lady that followed her all the time and she smelled like a flower I still can’t put a name to.  She was sweet, and I think it would have made her sad if I told her.  I also made a friend the first grade who had a man that came once in a while, to look in on her you might call it, he wasn’t there all the time.  I found out about a year or two later that her dad committed suicide when she was 3, but she didn’t remember him.

I stayed over at that friend’s house occasionally…and sometimes he was there, but mostly not.  We became very close, and I asked her about him once or twice, but she didn’t really know very much about him, since she was very small when he left them.  Her family of course barely mentioned him, and her mother was on husband # 2 and had no time for questions like that.

He was sad about what he’d done and though he never spoke directly to me, I always heard the words in my head: “I’m sorry for what I did to your mother; I know it will make your life hard”, and years later, I came to know what he meant.  Her mother was pretty messed up, and shut my friend out of her life for being too much like her father, though that would never be the reason she’d admit to.  It of course made little sense when I was that age, but I still remember it all.  Ask me what I learned IN school?  Not a clue.  But the other stuff stayed with me.

I got bigger and my sister stayed cute and small, and the neighbourhood kids I played with gradually became interested in other things.

When I was in grade 5 or so, the elderly man who lived down the street passed away. (I mentioned being taken with the elderly before.)  He used to let my sister and I in his yard…he yelled at all the other kids in the neighbourhood, because they behaved badly, but we were not like them he said.

He used to let me help him take care of his roses, and he got me to pull out the thorns he always seemed to have in his hands…his daughter made us tapioca pudding when she visited, and we brought him strawberries and green & yellow beans from our garden.  He treated us as though we were his own grandchildren, played his violin for us, and on one occasion he actually gave me some his late wife’s jewellery.  I knew my mom would think it was too much, but she actually let me keep it.  I still have it, though I can’t bring myself to wear it, it still holds a feeling that I’m unable to bear for any length of time.

Back to his passing, he had been in the hospital for some time, and we wrote him letters and sent him a Valentines Day card, and I heard from him a short while after that.  He came to visit me after school when I was doing my homework in my room…and told me thank you for the letters, they made him remember his roses, and his house, and my sister and I.  He said that he was with his wife and how he’d missed her all this time…and that he hoped we stayed well, and that my mom was a special soul for letting us visit him the last few years.  I knew he was gone and a day or so later his daughter called to let my mom know.

The next year…I discovered how much I liked boys my own age.

About my height, and aloof…he walked with the look of someone that was at school because he was forced to be, but still managed to have an air of dare-me-to-punch-you-in-the-head-ness; I was in awe.

His hair was a little too long to be called short, and he wore tight jeans.  He had on biker boots and a black hooded sweatshirt.  He was alone, at his locker and doing his thing, but he looked like I felt; lonely, like no one understood anything that he was going through.  I longed to talk to him, and wondered if this attraction was just the result of my high school girl hormones, or if this feeling of instant connection was real.  And with that thought he was gone around the end of the hall, and I realised I had been standing stock still in the middle of the hallway, as though I had lost the ability to move.  This had never happened to me before.  I had other thoughts as I began to remember how to use my legs and moved along to class, but the one that stuck out the most was the feeling of already knowing him.  This was sort of new for me with the living, as opposed to those already passed on.  I mean, you can know someone and how they are, and then they pass away.  For most people it ends there, but for me, when I’d see them again they can appear younger or “changed”, appearing as they internally envisioned themselves, or sometimes they look the way they did in the time they felt happiest.  But I know them, personal and familiar…and that is how it felt, watching this high school guy from afar.

I was compelled to look for this guy again as often as I had time.  I wouldn’t say I was a stalker or anything, though most stalkers would deny that accusation too, but I began to take notice of who his friends were, and if our classes were near one another`s.  I learned he was a grade above me, and that he skipped class occasionally to play cards in the school cafeteria with a loud and harder looking crowd that I will admit, scared me a little.  I was still in the 9^th grade and was a bit of a dork admittedly, and he and his friends seemed much older and intimidating.  However different he appeared compared to the crowd of friends I hung around with, I had this pull to be near him, to talk to him.

An impetuous friend of mine, who was outspoken and boy crazy herself was with me in the hall one day his path crossed ours, and since she knew I was a little ga-ga over him, but had never even approached him, she took it upon herself to call out to him and asked him to come over.  She loudly introduced me to him and explained my interest in him, in the only terms she could relate to.  She was somewhat insistent that he give an answer at that very moment.  As my jaw was on the floor and I prayed that the earth would swallow me up and end the humiliation, but in that instant, he looked at me in a different way, and responded with “I don’t really know her…and I’m not really awake right now, can I give you an answer tomorrow?”

As I found the question pointed at me, I said “sure”, and then quickly walked away to my locker and proceeded to chew out the friend who had humiliated me and, so I thought, had killed off any possibility of ever knowing this guy for real.  Despite my deep desire to run home and lock myself in my closet, I went to class for the rest of the afternoon, and I happened to see this guy later on as he walked to the front of the school.  He waved to me as he got on a yellow school bus, and I went home to bury my humiliation in my room

The next day came as I had hoped it wouldn’t and I was forced to go to school hoping all the while he would think it was a big joke, and that I wouldn’t see him, though my hopes were futile in the end.

I saw him at lunch that day; he walked right up to me in the hall at my locker and said that he would “go out” with me.  Knock me over with a feather.  I went to lunch in the cafeteria with him and I started to get a sense of how popular he really was, everyone knew him, and they all seemed to like him.  The people I knew gave me looks of confusion and bewilderment.  It was a weird sensation.

I knew nothing about this person, and he knew nothing about me.  He apologised for being “rude” the day before and said he had been up most of the night working for a farmer in his area, catching chickens as a part time job.  I had no idea if he was serious, about the chickens or about being rude…since he knew nothing about me at all and owed me no explanations.  I thought this whole situation to be weird and awkward and felt very bad for having him be on the spot like that, but he did say yes and there we were.

That feeling of knowing him already, the connection, grew quickly the closer I was to him and this was interesting.

So I did the one thing I had been training myself to avoid, I had tried so hard to ignore and block the visitors, and for a brief moment I let myself feel and see them right there in the cafeteria.  Keeping a straight face, while I focused on my new boyfriend and not former student who had been killed in a drinking and driving accident 25 years ago was not as easy as I had hoped for.  I wanted to see if there was anything the visitors had to add to this boy in front of me, but to my surprise, they had nothing to say; it wasn’t them…it was just HIM.  This was even more interesting.

 

In this thing we do, this thing called the Paranormal, there are certain things we each come to expect with a little less than a welcoming eye, and in the end we chock those things up to misplaced enthusiasm.  Some of us take these things with a little more charity than others and some of us subscribe to one or all of these things as either a pet peeve or a staple of investigative interpretation.

I am of course talking about the amateur ghost hunter’s prized evidentiary trophy, for in our minds, we each hold one of these three possible issues close to our chest, and either loath its very meaning, or praise its capture and use in any forum.

Orb photos, EVP recordings and Eye witness testimony.

Orb photos tend to be the most overused, misunderstood and entirely misinterpreted form of paranormal evidence used today.  So much so that many credible investigators automatically discount the phenomenon as anything but a feature of cheap photographic technology; but this is not what this piece is about.

Eye witness testimony is by far the most unreliable, though fantastic, form of evidence available to an investigator, whether of the paranormal or of more mainstream interests.  Investigators who understand the fallacies and faults of anecdote and memory, often use testimony as an intermediate tool in focusing the direction of an investigation, though many less experienced gum-shoes fall prey to the fancies of a witnesses own excitement and self-delusion, and always to the detriment of their evidence; but again, this is not what this piece is about.

This bit of space is reserved for a particularly touchy subject among paranormal enthusiasts, a pet project for some, a ridiculous waste of time for others, and still yet, a fantastic source of credible evidence for a growing number of researchers. But I’ve become uncomfortable with this phenomenon, I shy away from the evidence and I look accusingly at those who tout its efficacy. I do this for a specific reason, though maybe not for the reason you’re thinking.

EVP, or Electronic Voice Phenomenon, is the practise of using a recording medium -anything from an analog tape recorder to a state of the art digital voice recorder- to capture the so-called voices of the dead.  Its history is rooted in the Spiritualist Religious Movement of about the turn of the century, and since that time has been regarded with varying levels of respect, awe and in some cases, sheer terror.  In recent times, and with the help of popular television and sub-culture celebrities, the anagram EVP has become synonymous with what is considered the standard for basic evidence of an other-worldly presence.

I, however, grow nervous of a popular assumption that is becoming increasingly common in paranormal research circles of late.  That assumption, which on the surface seems innocent and even justified at times, holds the potential to ruin whatever value EVP work might have held, in much the same was as it has for the Orb photo.

While I would hope that most investigators remain vigilantly aware of the influence of Pareidolia on their own perceptions, I am certain that a great many amateur enthusiasts are not only unaware of that influence, but would be prone to discount any fallibility on their own part, in favour of such EVP evidence.  Though the issue of wanton misidentification is both rampant and severe, that is not the issue which fosters such nervousness in my own observations; at least it isn’t the only issue.

No, the issue for which I am becoming increasingly wary is one of misinterpretation, as opposed to misidentification.  Some may be wondering if there’s really any difference between the two, and I’ll agree that any variance boils down to semantics, but in this case, those semantics are significant.

EVP, having become a relatively cheap and easy way for enthusiast to participate in the research of their favourite reality TV personalities, is now the most accessible form of “spiritual communication” in the world.  Recordings are captured, manipulated, shared, uploaded, enjoyed and discussed, but how much of it is really examined in any critical way?  There are countless websites and blogs dedicated to the phenomenon, untold gigabytes of storage data are used to house the endless supply of sound bytes, which may or may not present evidence of some paranormal activity.  The real problem arises when such enthusiasts and investigators make that final leap of faith, to declare that the so-called voices they hear from beyond are those of the dearly departed.

I don’t intend to debate whether or not those voices are real or imagined, what I want to call attention to is the idea that most EVP researchers either assume that EVP’s (now the common term for an EVP recording) are a direct communication with ghosts (by definition), or fail to state the opposite to their patronage.  There is a fact that must be realised, a fact that is only relevant by default…we do not know what causes the faint, muffled and statically interspersed voices on these recordings.

In reality, there are near-endless possible explanations for electronic voice phenomenon, some rooted in natural science, others based on metaphysical philosophy and still some touting intergalactic interference.  The point to keep in the back of your mind is that EVP is just as much a mystery as the ghostly phenomenon we’re all out here trying to quantify.

And therein lies the real problem with EVP research; the results achieved through any EVP session are at best a quirky display of vocal interaction with some unseen element in our environment.  At worst they are an imaginary figment of our powerful subconscious brain in its attempt to make sense of our strange and ever changing universe.

Electronic Voice Phenomenon is not evidence of ghosts.

That’s a bold statement, one over which I’ve been taken to task for several times in the last few weeks, and one I’m prepared to back up with long winded and highly semantic argument.  Though with a little verbal persuasion most would eventually agree that this is a true statement – at least in so far as there is no information known currently to prove that the above is false.

Electronic Voice Phenomenon is not evidence.

Another bold statement and one I’ve made on more than one occasion, almost always inciting some form of group argument over the fundamental purpose behind EVP research.  Though this one is much more difficult to gain acceptance for, but I am willing to try.

If you were to poll the entire Paranormal Community, meaning every person and group invested in the study of paranormal phenomenon (providing you could even find an accurate enumeration of the community), you would find that the vast majority of investigators, most of whom would call themselves Ghost Hunters, view EVP as a basic tool for investigating haunted locations.

There’s a contradiction there though, one that’s obvious to me but not to most others it seems.  If EVP is not evidence of ghosts, then why is it thought to be both synonymous with ghostly phenomenon and a tool for measuring such phenomenon?

EVP is not evidence.  Say it with me…EVP is not evidence.  For those who would argue against me, I ask, if it is evidence, then what does it prove?  I agree, this is a little simplistic, even if entirely correct, and the issue is not as easily summed up as that question would suggest.

The very nature of what EVP is, tells us that it is not evidence; it is at its best an undefined and unexplained phenomenon in-and-of-itself.  Among the proponent arguments for using EVP as an investigative tool, there are those that claim the historically popular link between EVP and ghosts is sufficient to continue viewing its use (meaning the collection of EVP results) as a tool for the overall investigation of ghosts.  Others suggest that it is as good a tool as any in the face of such unknowns  – what a ghost is, why and where do they exist, and how do they communicate – touting that there is no real reason to not think of EVP as connected to ghosts.  My purpose here is to layout an argument for clarifying and adapting our thinking when it comes to Electronic Voice Phenomenon.

EVP is not evidence, but it is worthy of continued study.

Within the study of such ideas and phenomenon, which is ostensibly the underlying purpose of any such group or person involved in the paranormal community, there have been very few advances in thinking or in methodology.  Those notions and assumptions that were held 100 years ago, are largely still held today, though there have been a few casualties along the way.  Séances, spirit trumpets, ectoplasmic research and many other ideas have fallen by the way side; all the while other ideas have flooded in and taken their place.  The modern ghostly enthusiast is just as convinced in the efficacy of EMF meters and tape recorders as evidentiary tools for proving ghosts exist, as spiritualist Séance sitters were of the tipping table and entranced Medium’s spirit voice a hundred years ago.

What’s the difference?  Well, for one, with table tipping and non-direct voice mediumship there turned out to be much too wide a margin for deliberate hoax, and ultimately the hoaxers ruined any value these early investigatory tools might have had.  In contrast, while there still remains a strong possibility in some cases for trickery and hoax, the vast majority of EVP samples are considered to be genuine, but ‘genuine what?’ is the question I ask.

As I alluded to earlier, this argument is largely semantic, meaning that I would be satisfied with a change in wording rather than a complete change in thinking, but I admit that I seek the latter with much more enthusiasm.  And here I get to the nuts and bolts of the argument…

EVP cannot be considered evidence, since it is not known what causes it.

If I were confident in the idea that most investigators are actually conducting two separate feats of experimental research when they embark on an investigation; the first being an attempt to document, and possibly explain the so-called ghostly phenomenon that originally drew them to that particular location, and the second being an independent collection of EVP data in an effort to explain what EVP is and how it works; I would be content to leave the issue be, but as it stands this is not what is happening in most cases.

As is proven by the surprising number of self-proclaimed paranormal investigators who publish their “findings” online, touting each audio clip as evidence that the location they attended was indeed haunted, the above separation of methodologies is certainly not the norm.

Quite simply, if I cannot prove without doubt that a particular EVP recording was caused by a specific ghost or spirit (by whatever means one might do so), and in turn was not caused by the host of other possibilities, then it is not evidence of ghosts…this is easy enough to understand.  What I propose here is that since we have no current hope of making that declaration, why don’t we reign in our ghostly enthusiasm a tad and start looking at EVP as an independent and exciting phenomenon that can and should be studied all on its own?

It strikes me that the current popular notion that EVP is somehow caused or created by ghosts should require that we test this hypothesis against the possibility of capturing EVP results in locations that are not reported to be haunted.  And herein lays the real problem…

We do not know what ghosts are, we cannot define why a particular location may be haunted while another is not; we know so little that we cannot even be sure that there are non-haunted locations.  So in the face of all this uncertainty, is it helping the cause any to subscribe to using an unknown and unexplainable idea such as EVP to measure, describe or prove the existence of another unknown and unexplainable idea?

It’s been said by some that my argument is all well and good, that it is one thing to suggest that we all need to change our thinking, but unless that suggestion comes with an idea of what we should change it to, the argument is moot.  And in answer to that statement, I offer the following.

For too long the paranormal community has looked at their study in macro fashion, classifying and defining whole entities rather than individual phenomenon.  We have presented volumes of data and “evidence” intended to support big ideas and big assumptions.  I think it’s time to compartmentalise, to separate issues and begin looking at various ideas and phenomenon independently, and where better to start than with the cheapest and most accessible field of study?  EVP!

Yes, I called EVP a field of study, as it rightfully should be viewed.  There are enough mysteries hidden inside the idea of Electronic Voice Phenomenon to warrant several lifetimes of independent experimentation and scrutiny.  EVP is a phenomenon unto itself, and though it may ultimately be connected to ghostly communication, the current thinking and use of the idea is unlikely to get us to that understanding.

In the spirit of this revolution of thinking that I propose, I offer the following experimental opportunities in the independent and direct study of Electronic Voice Phenomenon.

Faraday Shielding Experiment –

Construct a Faraday box to house your recording device

Place your recorder inside the box ensuring that the recorder is insulated from vibration through the box from its operation (to eliminate clicking etc. from the mechanical parts inside the recorder), resting the recorder on a piece of carpet inside the box would suffice.

Use an EM shielded remote microphone, rather than the built in recorder microphone, to further reduce those same ambient mechanical sounds.

Conduct your EVP session as you normally would and compare to results achieved without the use of the Faraday box.

Vary the experiment by switching from a d/c power source to an a/c power source, and even introduce various sources of EM interference (in this instance be sure to document EM field measurements from both a baseline and throughout the experiment).

As a control element for the experiment, use a second identical recording device set up in the same manner but left outside the box.

The purpose of this experiment is to determine if there is a direct relationship between electromagnetic interference and EVP (which we know there is), vary the experiment further, according to your own findings, to explore the extent of that relationship and other factors.

Multiple Recorder Experiment –

Utilise multiple recording units (5 or more) over a series of EVP sessions, begin by placing the units in close proximity to each other.  The units should be identical (brand, model etc.) or as close to identical as is possible. Again, take all steps to ensure the reduction and/or elimination of ambient mechanical noise from the device and from the environment if possible.  Vary the experiment by increasing the distance between the units and even by creating physical barriers between units.

As a control, place one unit in a predetermined location, central to all other units and do not move it as you vary the position of the other units.

The purpose of this experiment is to determine if it is possible to achieve the same EVP result on multiple recording devices.  From this point, there are numerous variations that could be undertaken depending on the results found over several sessions.

Microphone Variance Experiment –

Conduct a series of EVP sessions using multiple identical recording devices, and use different types of microphones, i.e. Electret, Condenser, Carbon, Dynamic, Fibre Optic etc. and compare to results achieved with a control (standard Electret microphone).

Alternately, use each various type of microphone independently over time (rather than as a series of experiments with multiple recorders at one time) and compare those results.

The purpose is to determine if there is any difference in the quality, quantity or type of result achieved with any other the various microphones.

These may be elementary experiments and each is indeed intended to require a great deal of patience as they are carried out over time, but they outline my earlier point.  Neither experiment is necessarily tied to a particular location and thus is not dependent on the notion that the location is “haunted”.  It would be prudent for the study to undertake the same or similar experiments in locations that are reportedly haunted, but as a function of independent EVP experimentation and not as a function of an investigation of the location.

You may or may not agree with my point of view, you may or may not have subscribed hopelessly to the idea that EVP results are the voices of the dead, or you may think the entire thing is a little too woo-woo for you.  In any event, there is much to be learned from the study of not only EVP, but also of the many varied elements of the typical haunting.  I suggest we stop chasing ghosts and start seeking to answer some of the smaller questions involved.  For those answers may lead to some big discoveries.

Guest Author Lura Ketchledge is a self described “Accidental Psychic” and author, she has written a number of books on hauntings, spirits and ghosts and is an inspiration to those sensitives who find themselves reluctant to come forward with their own accounts of psychic phenomenon and ghostly encounters.

The following is one of her experiencs:

This morning I was jolted awake, not by my alarm clock, not the dog barking or the phone ringing, but a spirit hovered near my bed five feet or so from my body.  I wasn’t scared; I didn’t jump out of bed and run down the hall screaming like a mental patent.

You call it a spirit a ghost or a dead person trying to make contact with you.  This soul that came to me was in the shape of a bubble or ball.  It was white and somewhat transparent in color although I knew it was dense.  As I spoke to this soul it floated, almost glided ever close to me.  It was above me, not far from the ceiling, maybe two or three feet above my body.  This ghost or spirit wanted to be seen, it wanted me to know he or she was there.

It had been a month since I had seen a ghost.  That’s a long time between visitations for me.  I usually see one a couple times a week.  It was also a disappointment because this spirit did not identify itself to me, and I didn’t have a clue as to who they had been when they were a live.

The last ghost encounter at my farm didn’t go so well.  About four or five weeks ago, a ghost tried to come in through my bedroom window.  He looked just as human as you or I, except all the pigmentation on his body and clothing was gone and he was all white!  The man was tall and lean with an angular face, and he was old.  The first thing he said to me was ‘Let me in’.  As I tried to prevent him from coming inside my bedroom, my heart was beating out of my chest.  It was past three am, pitch black outside and I was home alone.  The next thing the ghost said broke my heart; he said ‘When can I go back to work?’  Right then and there my fear dissipated and I knew the poor man was lost and confused.  I told him I would come outside to talk to him.  He walked in a circle on my lawn just outside my window then he faded away.  I would like to say that I bolted out my door to come to this poor ghost’s aid but I did not.  I sat in bed for an hour before I ventured outdoors with my flash light and a very sleepy dog at my side.  There was no ghost; no trace of who I had seen, except for the realization that the ghost did not know he was dead!

I am a skeptic by nature, a person who thinks twice before believing anyone living or dead. The cold hard facts of this is case is that I have seen sprits “ghosts” on my farm for the last seven years.

I have taken my personal paranormal experiences and par laid them into three novels. My stories are peppered with my first hand paranormal knowledge. At the same time I finished my third novel I decided to sell my farm and move to Florida. With the housing market in a slump a friend of mine suggested I list my home as haunted .It is listed it on eBay under ‘Haunted Kentucky Horse Farm For Sale’ (where else can you list haunted property!) I five weeks I have had 6,000 people view my farm!

I did not contact the Kentucky Spirit Seekers they found me in early August!

For many years I have been a closet queen so to speak about my own paranormal experiences. I have not watched the ghost hunters on TV or know any of the lingo in the paranormal world.

I didn’t know what to think about the Kentucky Spirit Seekers. Were they nice honest people who happened to research ghosts or were they a group of weirdo’s that needed to be locked up?

Before the group even set foot on my farm these people had already done their home-work. After the phone interviews with me they researched my property.

I built my home seven years ago, it is not old its new. Right after I moved in ghosts made a house call sorts, a welcome to the neighborhood kind of thing.

The night the ghost hunters arrived everything was going in my favor. The weather was warm but not to humid, the phone wasn’t ringing for once and the horses were well away from the house and being quite.

As the team of ghost hunters came to my door I was impressed .They were polite, educated, well dressed and most of all ready to help me. After introductions they got right down to work and started setting up their equipment. I didn’t know there was so much work setting up microphones, cameras and performing sound checks.

I made sure I did my part turning everything electrical off including the air-conditioned. Next I went outside while the team took pictures asked questions aloud with no one in the room. An hour later I sat with two members of the team while the first set of investigators went outside to take more pictures.

I have to say sitting on my bed answering paranormal questions about where the ghost came in and what they looked like made my heart race. It was the first time I opened up with anyone face to face concerning ghosts and it felt good telling these people.

The Spirit Seekers don’t ask for a dime they are not looking for publicity or to sell a book. What they are is a team of reputable paranormal investigators that help folks like me.

After the cameras microphones and all the equipment was packed up they explained to me that it would be a couple of weeks for them to go through all the data they had collected.

True to their word two weeks later two members returned to my home to present their findings. In several pictures were balls, I guess you might call them orbs. In the video there were darting lights in my master bath. Why it was in the bathroom and not in the rest of the house I can’t tell you! I was fine with all the results but one. In some of the audio were answers to questions that had been asked. Most of it was garbled some of it was not! It sent shivers down my spine when I heard a name I knew in the audio. A name of a person that was dead!

To say I was impressed by the results of the investigation is an under statement! I am the type of person that only believes what I see and hear only. Since I have seen ghosts I know they are real that’s a given even if I never met any ghost hunters. When someone else confirmed that ghostly visitations happened right in my home it confirmed what I all ready knew. The only thing I am at a loss to explain is the darting flashes of light shooting through a room in my house. This phenomena is still a mystery to me. When all was done and said the Kentucky Sprit Seekers gave me copies of the pictures and audio.

Just the other day it happened again a ghost came into my bedroom around 8am . I didn’t know who they had been when they were alive although I had a guess. What I did know was that my ghostly visitations aren’t slowing down!

In Northern California there is a well known Toys-R-Us store.  This Toys-R-Us is located at 130 El Camino Real East, Sunnyvale, approximately 40 miles (65 kilometers) south of San Francisco.  The reason that it is so well known is that it is haunted.  In doing my research I found that there were many details of the story that couldn’t be clearly confirmed, however the basics of the story are very much the same.

The Toys-R-Us building was built on top of an old orchard in 1970.  The orchard was owed by either a Martin Murphy Jr. or John Murphy Jr. in the 1800’s.  Since his first name couldn’t be confirmed we will call him Mr. Murphy.  During his ownership of the land Mr. Murphy hired a man named Johnny Johnson, who is the true focus of this story.

Johnny Johnson was a Swedish immigrant who came to work on the Murphy Ranch after being stuck down with an illness.  Johnson originally lived in Pennsylvania before moving west to California to become a circuit preacher.  During his time as a preacher Johnson became ill with encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) which left him mentally handicapped.  His mental illness resulted in the locals calling him “Crazy Johnny”.  Since Johnny could no longer perform his duties as a preacher he sought out miscellaneous work.

Johnny was hired as a ranch hand by Mr. Murphy (dates unknown) and while working on the ranch he fell in love with Mr. Murphy’s daughter Elizabeth.  It is not known if the feeling were mutual.

One day while chopping wood Johnny swung the axe and missed the wood accidentally cut himself with an axe.  It hasn’t been confirmed if he cut his leg, or his wrist or his neck, regardless he cut himself and slowly bled to death.

Elizabeth eventually married an East Coast Lawyer and became Elizabeth Yuba Murphy Tafee.

When the Toys-R-Us store opened in 1970 employees and customers started claiming to have had strange supernatural experiences.  A lot of the activity seemed to be coming from specific locations.  Stories of aisle 15C and other back aisles reported boxes being thrown from the shelf, bikes being ridden up and down the aisle with no one on them, toys suddenly turning on when no one was in the store, balls bouncing out of the tall cage and continuing down the aisle without slowing down.  Another location in the store that was experiencing a lot of activity was the women’s restroom.  In the restroom the faucets would turn on and off when a woman was in the bathroom.  There were also reports of the drinking fountain being turned on when people walked by.  The most common experience was that most women in the store shopping claimed that they could feel someone either brushing their hair or tapping them on the shoulder.

In 1978 a local writer Antoinette May became interested in the story of the “Haunted Toys-R-Us”.  She enlisted the assistance of psychic Sylvia Brown and a photographer to join her in an investigation of the haunting.

The story of the investigation goes like this; while they were investigating, Brown confirmed that the ghostly presence was that of Johnny Johnson.  Some had previously thought that it might have been Mr. Murphy.  He told Brown that she should move unless she wanted to get her feet wet.  It was later confirmed that where Brown had been standing at the time was where a well used to be when the ranch was still intact.  Brown preformed a séance with several guests that had also joined the investigation.  At the beginning of the séance, Brown stated that they had an additional guest, a tall lanky man standing in the door way of the room, with his hand in his pocket.  The photographer took a snap shot of the area Brown pointed to.  When the picture was developed sure enough there he was.

While Brown was talking to Johnny’s spirit she confirmed much of the above information and asked him why he was there.  He told her that he was waiting for the love of his life Beth.  When asked who Beth was Johnny confirmed it was Elizabeth Murphy.  Brown told Johnny that Elizabeth was no longer there, that she had passed on a long time ago.  She told him that Elizabeth had married and moved on to live her life else where before she had passed on.  She informed Johnny that it was ok for him to move on.  He told her no, he was going to continue to wait and that he enjoyed being in the store and playing with the children and the toys.

Since that visit, stories and reports still come out of the Toys-R-Us of ghostly encounters, and the legend of Toys-R-Us still lives on.  To our knowledge, no other medium, psychic or ghost hunter has ever conducted a follow up investigation of the site.  So, if you ever get the chance to visit Northern California be sure to make Haunted Toys-R-Us your ghostly destination.