The Center for Paranormal Research and Investigation

EVP Series by Jim Hale

GHOST DETECTIVES
By: Jim Hale, EVP Expert - VGHRS

Last week I watched a program on one of the cable channels called "Ghost Detectives". A group of four investigators were looking into reports about a haunted lighthouse where visitors sometimes see the apparition of a young woman wandering the halls and stairways. One of the curators of the lighthouse (now a museum and tourist center) spoke of sometimes hearing mysterious footsteps and other inexplicable sounds, and often "feeling a presence" when no one was there to be seen. The team of ghost detectives, all armed with impressive academic credentials as well as an array of the latest in high-tech sensor equipment, went forth to see what they could find.

Using EMF (Electro-Magnetic Field) meters, infrared video cameras, thermal sensors, ultrasonic motion detectors, etc. - plus a lap top computer capable of correlating and analyzing all the data from the various sensor inputs - the investigators were not having much luck until finally, in one of the lower more secluded areas of the lighthouse, they found a real "hot spot". Suddenly their meters were off the scale and all their sensors registered in agreement that something very unusual was going on behind an old and rather large door that appeared to lead into a seldom used underground chamber. The curator was summoned to bring a key, and excitement mounted as the investigators waited for that massive door to be slowly opened revealing -- a room full of air conditioning equipment and electrical power generators.

Now if these people had stopped by Radio Shack on their way to the haunted lighthouse, for about $5.00 they could have purchased a little device that would have told them in an instant just what it was all their other gadgets were sensing. It might even have spared them from looking like a bunch of geeks on their television debut. I'm talking about Radio Shack's item #44-533. Called a "telephone pickup", it's a small wire coil built into a suction cup attachment (designed to stick on your telephone handset) with a cable that plugs into an audio amplifier or tape recorder. This "telephone pickup" can actually be carried anywhere and it will pick up all sorts of electronic signals which are converted into audible sounds by the amplifier / recorder. With a little practice, someone using one of these devices can easily learn to recognize the variety of EMF noises characteristic of motors, lights, computers, TV sets, etc.

You can use the "telephone pickup" with a tape recorder for real-time listening if your recorder has a headphone jack that allows you to monitor what you're recording. Usually you will have to insert a tape and set your recorder to the "record" mode in order to monitor anything. (Setting it to "record" and then pushing "pause" should also let you monitor while saving on tapes.)

Something a bit more convenient than carrying around a tape recorder for EMF listening "on-the-go" would be Radio Shack's mini-audio amplifier #277-1008 which lists for $11.99. These pocket sized amps are great for all sorts of projects. A few years ago, it occurred to me that people into recording bird songs would probably be experts on portable electronic listening equipment, so I did a little web searching and turned up a site that recommended exactly two products for in-the-field bird call listening. One was a fancy European unit with all the bells and whistles costing several thousand dollars. The other was this mini-audio amplifier from Radio Shack which the bird call expert said was nearly equal in audio quality and much more convenient to use, besides being so much easier on the wallet.

The #277-1008 has a small built-in speaker, but gives best results when used with earphones. Since the earphone output jack is mono only, and most earphones are set up for stereo, you will only hear sound from one side unless you can find an adaptor plug, or better yet, ring Radio Shack's register once again for their "monaural communications headset" #20-210 priced at $9.99.

Now I'm not getting any kick-backs from Radio Shack (unfortunately), and I certainly don't have anything against the sophisticated electronic gear that's become so fashionable in paranormal investigations. But the fact is we can't all have access to that high-tech / high-dollar equipment - which by the way seems to be notorious for yielding either confusing data or no results at all during high profile investigations. On the other hand, most of us can afford to drop $25 bucks or so at the neighborhood R.S. and come away with some nifty gadgets that will enable us to begin exploring the invisible dimension of electro-magnetic activity as well as any ghost detective this side of The Discovery Channel.

If, like me, you suspect there is a yet-to-be-understood electro-magnetic link between this world and "the next", I highly recommend you make the effort to do some EMF listening with the readily available and affordable materials described in this article. By learning what is "normal" when it comes to electro-magnetic noise, you will be better equipped to distinguish it from the "paranormal" when there's something strange behind that door.

In future articles, I'll talk about how to make an improved version of the basic EMF listening device, and discuss some possible applications for paranormal research, EVP recording, and ghost detecting. Feel free to e-mail me with any questions or comments and meanwhile, happy EMF listening.
You can email Jim at jim@virginiaghosts.com

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