How To Hear and See a Ghost

More of this Feature • Part 2: How to see a ghost    Join the Discussion "I can see the dead and in some people their spirit within a mortal shell. This is only if the person is slightly special or has a very special gift. In astral objects, yes I can see them sometimes but I have never a person's body.  Even if I did I wouldn't truly recognize them due to that people's images change when they astral and all humans look the same to me." Respond here     Related Resources • The Haunted Painting • The REAL Monsters of Halloween • Contacting the Dead in the Electronic Age    Elsewhere on the Web • Audio and Video Evidence • Impossible Voices

If you thought you'd never see or hear a real ghost, think again. This Halloween you might get lucky. Explore these websites to hear what might be a ghost calling out from the void, or see one passing among the shadows. Then try the techniques presented here that could allow you to make contact in your own home. Happy ghost hunting!

How to Hear a Ghost

For decades, paranormal researchers have been recording enigmatic voices on audiotape. Called electronic voice phenomena - or EVP - these strange-sounding voices have been captured using ordinary tape recorders and cassette tapes. Often these researchers venture out into cemeteries or allegedly haunted houses. Sometimes the voices seem to respond to questions asked by the researchers, but often they are unprompted. In every case, however, the voices are not heard at the time they are recorded. Oddly, it is not until later when the researchers play the tape back - often with amplification or filtering - that the voices can be distinguished.

Are they ghosts? Voices from another dimension? Something else? What they are exactly is a matter of debate, but there's little denying that they are there - and completely unexplained.

On the Web
A number of paranormal organizations and other researchers have posted sound files of their EVPs on the web where you can easily hear them. Your browser will need RealAudio and Windows Media Player plug-ins to hear them all. You should know that EVP voices don't often sound like normal human voices. They usually have an electronic or otherworldly quality to them, and you have to listen carefully to hear the message. So turn up your volume and listen to these spooky samples:

• GEISTweb has several EVP samples, including "Get out!" and a young girl yelling "Mommy!"
• Ghost Investigators Society has four galleries of EVPs, including "I know who it was" and "So is the dead."
• International Ghost Hunters Society offers several dozen EVPs, including "I walk around talking to people" and "Help me, David."
• Utah Ghost Hunter's Society has many EVPs from all over Utah, including "I'm not buried here" and "Get out. Get out of my house."

Do It Yourself
If you'd like to experiment with EVP, all you need is a portable cassette tape recorder and some new high-quality cassette tapes. Make sure you use new tapes because you want to avoid any possibility of having voices or noises previously recorded on the tape.

World ITC offers these tips for successful EVP:

• Use an audiocassette recorder with an external microphone and a source of mild white noise, such as a radio tuned between stations. (Or, as other researcher have done, you can also experiment with the quiet of a cemetery or house; just be sure it is far from traffic noises that might interfere with the recording.)
• Place the microphone a few feet from the radio.
• Turn on the tape recorder and introduce the session. For example: "Good morning. It's Tuesday October 31, 11:59 p.m. I welcome all spirits." Then ask three or four questions.
• Replay the taped sequence and listen closely. A set of earphones can help make the short, faint voices more audible.

While some people are lucky enough to get a clear EVP on their first try, others might find that it takes several weeks or even months of experimenting to achieve success. World ITC says, "As you conduct voice experiments on a regular basis, the voices might get louder and clearer as your contact field (the field of thoughts, feelings and life energies between you and your spirit friends) grows stronger. It requires a clear mind, focused intent, positive thoughts, and a balanced temperament to ensure the best possible results." The World ITC website also provides information for capturing EVPs on computers and minidisc recorders.

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