EVP - Phenomenal Phenomena In June 1965, Latvian Psychologist Dr Konstantin Raudive embarked on series of spirit communication experiments that were to change the lives of many. It was through reading a book by Swedish author Friedrich Jurgenson that Raudive's interest was captured. Jurgenson claimed that whilst out recording bird noises, he had recorded the voice of his deceased mother relaying a message to him. For the next 6 years after reading Jurgenson’s book, Raudive took up the search and began experimenting and recording voices successfully through his own recording methods, which he claimed were the voices of the dead. Many of the messages that Raudive recorded were received in polyglot (a mixture of different languages). It has to be noted that Raudive was fluent in four different languages and he was able to understand each message received in this way. Electronic Voice Phenomena was born. Throughout his research, Raudive claimed to have recorded messages from many different famous people including Hitler, this ultimately contributed to his downfall. To many people who were coming round to the idea that we could communicate with the dead through electronic means, this was a step too far. EVP in the year 2006 has moved on somewhat from the image of a scientist sitting in front of a reel to reel recorder for hours on end waiting for a disembodied voice to break through. The digital age is upon us and technology is providing us with many more options by which to conduct our experiments. Many current researchers still prefer the use of analogue recorders to further their research, believing that the voices are imprinted on the tape electromagnetically instead of being an acoustic noise. The use of analogue recorder seems to provide us with clear voices, but not as often as we would like. The introduction of digital recorders has definitely widened our scope for research with voices being picked up far more often, but the voice quality has suffered with many of the digital voices being somewhat distorted. It is important however, to research both analogue and digital methods in the quest to advance EVP recording to new levels. Various types of microphones can be used when researching both analogue and digital methods with particular emphasis on low frequency microphones. EVP is believed to be occurring at very low frequencies, in the levels of infrasound, well below that which the human ear is capable of hearing. There are many paranormal investigation groups out there who do not dedicate enough time to the attempted recording of EVP during their research. Throughout our own investigations EVP has consistently provided far more evidence than any other aspect of paranormal investigating. One extremely notable EVP file was captured during an investigation at New Lanark World Heritage Site. We had spent 3 frustrating hours conducting vigils and experiments hoping to experience some level of paranormal activity in the house of Robert Owen, usually a very paranormally active location. Robert Owen had pioneered New Lanark and was responsible for improving the lives of hundreds of families almost 200 years ago. We were about to leave the house at the end of our investigation with no findings whatsoever when, through frustration at the lack of activity, I decided to set up one last experiment. We commenced audio recording using 3 digital recorders and proceeded to ask questions. On playing back the audio files, we were shocked to find that a voice had broken through directly after our request for a name, it said “Robert Owen” in a raised voice. The voice had a very distinctive Welsh accent, we later found out that Robert Owen was indeed Welsh. During an investigation earlier this year at Dornoch Castle in the North of Scotland, we attempted some EVP recording experiments in the lower part of the castle. The room was in silence and we continued to record for approximately 5 minutes. On playback of the recorders we were shocked to hear the sound of a dog barking followed by a very clear voice saying “quiet dog” in a Northern Scottish accent. A series of unusual events occurred in my own home last year. I was consistently met with a barrage of verbal abuse every time I ran my recorders and couldn’t seem to get any clear messages, just abusive and foul language that was screamed at me. This went on for a period of two months before I made one last ditched attempt to rid myself of this apparently abusive screaming entity. One evening myself and a fellow EVP researcher decided to conduct a recording session in an attempt to clear whatever was there. We quoted a long spiel about moving on from this world to the next which was met with one last angry comment, “you’re an arsehole”. This was the last time that I heard from my screaming friend and subsequent recordings returned to ‘normal’. We often receive messages containing abusive and foul language during our investigations which consistently appear to be very clear. I believe that they stand out due to the amount of emotion behind the words. My friend and colleague Nic Capaldi has been conducting his own personal research into EVP for almost 30 years and to this day is still working on new methods of recording. Through the years, Nic has amassed a startling amount of EVP evidence, some of which would convince the most hardened of sceptics. During a recent bike trip, Nic had experienced a flat tyre on his push bike and he proceeded to stuff the tyre tube with grass in order to allow him to pedal to the nearest train station. On his arrival home, he decided to attempt some audio recording to attempt to capture some EVP and was startled to hear the first voice breaking through on his recorder, “you have a grass wheel”. Quite controversially on another occasion, after feeling frustrated at recent terrorist bombings in the middle east, Nic decided to commence recording and ask if any suicide bombers would care to step forward to explain their actions, “we had to kill the people” was the reply in a very distinctive middle eastern accent. The EVP files that I have spoken about only make up an extremely small percentage of the evidence that I have recorded during research but are listed in order capture your attention and to make you aware of the results that can be achieved with EVP recording. As researchers, we need to sit on the fence with regards to our beliefs, but there is something most convincing about EVP. It is our responsibility to continue to develop recording methods and to look even deeper into this phenomenal phenomena for years to come. So what are you waiting for? Go out, get yourself a voice recorder and join the search. When recording EVP, don’t be afraid to attempt something new, no matter how ridiculous it sounds, it may just work…… email: mark@ghostfinders.co.uk |