The Brave Mortal's Guide to Ghost Hunting

by Alex Matsuo

  On a different subject, I want to address a concern with the Ovilus. Because the Ovilus is preprogrammed with a word bank, you may find yourself falling for a common trap, where you hear too frequently words like, "demon," "death," and "darkness." To avoid this, we use the Ovilus in reverse phonetic mode, meaning that the readings are going backward, and the noises that come out are more similar to a bunch of vowel sounds instead of actual words. We have heard a ghost counting to ten at the Old South Pittsburg Hospital in reverse phonetic mode. Our team members also heard the names of their children, nieces, and nephews while in this mode.

  Story Time: I can't tell you how often I will hear weird responses to casual conversations during a paranormal investigation. I think this is because spirits want to feel normal and alive once again. How natural would it be to talk to living people and be able to joke and tell stories? I can't imagine how redundant and boring it gets to only get the "standard" ghost hunting questions on a regular basis. Other stories I've heard have similar experiences. Ironically, I've also found that there is some sort of response to silliness and bodily functions. Yes, that includes burps or farts. It's classic and immature comedy that we might not be proud of, but we all secretly enjoy it.

  I tend to let my bodily functions go all out during investigations because I don't want the sound to be misinterpreted as a growl during evidence review. There have been times I've been the center of laughter because of this. I'm not the only one. During an intense investigation at the Old South Pittsburg Hospital, one of my teammates really needed to fart. This part of the investigation involved us talking to the negative spirit of a person who was grossly misunderstood in life. As the conversation continued to get tenser, my teammate said they needed to let the gas go. I told them to go ahead and do it.

  As the gas sang upon its release into freedom, we all started laughing. But what made it even funnier was that the Ovilus we were using, in reverse phonetic mode, managed to spell out the word, "Embarrassing." Perhaps spirits have a sense of humor.

  CHAPTER fifteen:

  after the ghost hunt

  After your ghost hunt is over, you're certainly not done. The next part is to go through your data and see if you caught any "evidence." I tend to shy away from using the word evidence because it implies that there is a bias that the location has been proven to be haunted. I like the word, "data," because it's a collection of experiences and information that can help us solve a puzzle.

  You will want to study your data with care. Remember when I said ghost hunting can be boring and takes patience? Well, at this point in your investigation, you’ve only just begun. The data review process is at least as long as the investigation, and often longer. If you went on a four-hour investigation and you brought one recorder, that means you have four hours of data to review. But if you brought in two recorders, then you have eight hours of data to review. Think of how many pieces of equipment you brought, then multiply your investigation time by that number, and that's how many hours of review you have.

  I recommend you set your mind to a thorough review of your data and don’t rush the process. You may think you saw or heard everything that happened in the investigation, but I think you’ll be surprised. Cameras and audio recorders pick up much more information than a person does, and you won’t want to miss any of it.

  The Long Process

  Once you have more experience with data review, you'll come up with your own shortcuts. If I'm in a crunch for a deadline, I make sure to write down timestamps during the investigation so I can focus my initial review on those moments that stood out the most. However, you will want to make time to review all of your data because there might be something you missed while you were ghost hunting. When you're focused on the communication aspect, it's not uncommon to miss other things happening around you. This is partly why I'm so against staring at a screen for an entire ghost hunt, especially since that is data you'll be reviewing afterward, and you might be missing out on communication opportunities.

  Unless you're working a residential case or you've given yourself a time frame of sharing your data, you don't have to rush this. I know many ghost hunters who have years of data that they have yet to review because there were other projects that took priority.

  After you've reviewed your data and found the spots where you think you might have caught a ghost, next up is to share this information with people you trust. Many will post their findings on various social media websites and get feedback from their peers. I recommend you ask open-ended questions in this process. Something like “What do you make of this?” will get you more genuine responses. As you I’ve mentioned, the power of suggestion is powerful, and if you ask your reviewers, “Do you hear the ghost saying ‘Yes?’” you are likely to get false positives. On the other hand, you may choose not to share your data. As I mentioned earlier in this book, ghost hunting is a personal experience, and you can do what you need to do to make it as fulfilling as you'd like.

  If you decide to go public with your data, be prepared for someone to debunk it. This might be one of the hardest things for people to accept in the paranormal world, especially when you think you've caught the Holy Grail of data. My rule of thumb is that if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Even though this isn't a perfect science, we can still detect and debunk something that causes the "perfect" event to take place.

  There was a famous TV show that seemed to have caught a full-bodied apparition on their surveillance equipment. It appeared to be the perfect video-- but also, too good to be true. When the crew tried to recreate the event, they were wearing their regular clothes. The issue with this was that they were not recreating the conditions of how the apparition was seen. The apparition was barefoot and wearing a white nightgown. When recreating a paranormal, it is critical to be as exact as possible because you want to see if the conditions can be replicated.

  This is key when you want to prove your data as legit. If the conditions can be recreated to make the perfect event happen, then your data is explainable.

  Practice Makes Perfect

  Luckily, plenty of people on the internet post their findings. This is a great practice to look at how data is captured. If there are problems with the footage, look at how it can be improved. Should the camera be on a tripod? Was the lens clean? Are there images or videos of the area before the investigation took place?

  This also goes the other way. If there is something that you liked about someone's footage, take note of what they did and see if you can implement those tricks into your presentation. If you need advice, send that person a message and ask if you can pick their brain. Networking in the paranormal field is crucial if you want to continue learning.

  Even if someone's hypothesis in debunking your data is clearly incorrect in their argument, I recommend you don’t get into an online discussion. I know it’s tempting, but the back-and-forth in a typed format (whether it’s email, social media, or text) does not work well for this task. Too often, the anonymity of the medium and the way people dig into their arguments just means a drawn-out, upsetting, and unproductive waste of your time. I encourage you instead, to thank them for their time and move on.

  Audio Review: EVP vs. AVP

  As you go through your audio data, you will find that you'll be hearing a lot of different sounds. One of the first things you should know is that not all anomalous data is electronic voice phenomenon, better known as EVP. In the past ten years (at least), EVP has taken center stage, making it so that whatever noise you hear, it's automatically determined as EVP. There is also something known as Acoustic Voice Phenomenon, also known as AVP. Although some people will call it "Audible Voice Phenomenon." This is a lesser-known term that is vastly different from EVP. AVP can be heard by the naked ear and microphone.

  Since there is a lot going on during a paranormal investigation, we might assume that AVP is actually EVP because we don't hear it in real-time. But there are so many noises that can happen during the investigation t
hat it could simply have been missed. For the sake of complete transparency, there have been a few times where we thought we caught an EVP, but it was actually AVP. Even more embarrassing, there have been times we have heard a ghostly voice with our ears and still labeled it as EVP, when it was actually an AVP.

  Another important note to make is that AVP doesn't necessarily mean voice. Yes, it sounds misleading since we do have the word, "voice." But the same could be said for EVP, as the noises don't always have to be electronic. And we wonder why paranormal people can't agree on any definitions or standards. It's not surprising that a lot of data comes from acoustic echo, which is something that is not a characteristic of any electrical fields or something directly coupled into a system.

  To further confuse us all, there are also different categories of AVP:

  Voice: This category is dedicated solely to hearing a voice of some kind. Usually, this is a disembodied voice. This is a tricky thing because you have to be aware of your environment and everyone around you. Just because you don't hear someone talking in real-time in your investigation, it doesn't mean that there isn't someone in your group talking quietly and the mic on the recorder picked it up. This can be especially true when you're using equipment that consists of strong microphones.

  Percussive: This category is related to the bumps, knocks, crashes, and other non-vocal noises you might hear during a ghost hunt. When someone is asking the ghost to knock or make rapping noises, this isn't EVP, this is AVP! It makes sense because these are not electronic noises. They are happening in real-time, taking up the acoustics in the environment.

  Musical: This category can combine with vocal under certain circumstances, specifically in the realm of singing. Whistling is often heard by investigators on the site, as well as music that might be played where there is no distinct source.

  If I had to choose which type of audio I would rather capture, it would have to be AVP. This is because if it is heard by other investigators, it is easier to prove or debunk. We can move and try to find the source of the sound. If a source can't be found, and our audio recorders were on, that's another piece of the paranormal puzzle that we have. AVP is also more interactive and can help progress the conversation. Plus, they are usually louder and clearer than regular EVP and are easier to analyze in post-review.

  I became aware of AVP thanks to Jim Brown of Jim's Destinations. He has written a few articles for my team, and I also get a plethora of information with every conversation I have with him. While becoming an expert in sound isn't a requirement to become a paranormal investigator, it is certainly helpful to know a bit about how sound works. Or, do it like me and make friends with people who know more about sound and offer dinner or drinks in exchange for checking out some audio for you.

  What Happens When I Hear Something Weird?

  As you listen to your audio, and you start to hear that weird snippet that you can't get out of your head, the first thing I recommend is to look into downloading an audio analysis program. Free programs like Audacity can help you get a basic understanding.

  Whichever program you’re using, you’ll want to first, isolate the sound by highlighting only the waves you're interested in amplifying.

  From there, you'll want to make that wave louder. Under the effects category, you should find some sort of setting to slow down the sound. Be careful that you don't also lower the pitch from slowing the audio down. Even if this is something you want to do intentionally down the road, I recommend you put it off until later.

  Once you have amplified and listened to your selection again under different circumstances, you'll want to listen to a few minutes before the sound and a few minutes after the sound just to make sure that someone didn't tag it.

  If you have video footage that goes alongside with your audio, check the video to see if your camera's microphone also captured the sound. If there were any other voice recorders around, touch base with your friends or team members to see if the sound could be heard on their devices. This is why it is critical that you sync up all audio and video devices at the location so you can sync up time stamps.

  As you have your people listen to your audio sample, you do not want to tell them what words you think you heard, nor should you tell them when the anomaly starts and stops. You want to get fresh ears on the audio sample, and you might quickly find out that no one else heard what you heard.

  If you decide to tell someone what you heard and when you heard it before you hear their assessment, then you'll have tainted their perspective and they can't help BUT hear what you told them.

  I also recommend taking a break from the audio for a few days while your ears "reset.” Sometimes, your brain will play tricks on you and have you hear things that aren't really there, and then you can't help but hear the same sound over and over again. But walking away for at least a few days can help you relisten to the sample and be able to listen objectively during your review.

  Video Review

  Video review can also be exceptionally tedious to review, especially when you're watching a video of an empty hallway in night vision and there's no action for several hours. Most people will review their video by speeding it up and then pausing and replaying should something seem off. Just like with audio, your brain can make you think you've seen something, especially after reviewing for several hours at a time.

  When you see something weird, you'll want to rule out any sort of dust, bug, lights, or moisture that could cause that same effect. Similar to photography, the camera wants to find light. If you're using an infrared setting, anything shiny can reflect infrared light. This can commonly be mistaken for something paranormal, like an orb.

  Time stamping weird events is key. Also, this comes back to syncing up all of your data once you push the record button. When we use a surveillance system, we will usually have someone monitoring the video and watching and keeping an eye on anything weird going on. Once the tech monitor notices something weird happening on video that no one else is acknowledging, they should take notes in a notebook as well as alert the team via walkie-talkie. This will help take care of not having to sit through dozens of hours of footage.

  Granted, there's always that possibility that you might miss something that wasn't blatantly obvious. If you have more than 10 hours of footage, your best route is to divide and conquer and split up sections of the video. Of course, these will all vary on different levels depending on how involved you want to be for your data review.

  CHAPTER sixteen:

  Ghost tourism

  I don't know if the paranormal community would be where it is today if we didn't have ghost tourism. Anytime I'm traveling or on vacation, I'm always looking to see if there's a ghost walk or a ghost tour somewhere so I can learn about the local legends and ghost stories.

  Ghost tourism is basically the plethora of ghost walks, tours, and investigations that are now available year-round. If you were to go back to major historical towns just twenty years ago, you won't find the vast selection of ghost tourism that there is today. I think because the paranormal has become more widely accepted by the mainstream since paranormal reality television took to the airwaves in the early 2000s, people are now wanting to have their own experience as they see on screen. Also, our views on religion as a society are constantly changing, and we've become more curious about death as of late.

  Death scares a lot of people because we really don't know what is waiting for us on the other side. Sure, plenty of people have had near-death experiences or NDE, but because the experiences aren't universal and experienced by everyone, we always have that seed of doubt. Scientists have theorized that NDEs are actually a defense mechanism triggered by the brain as it enters death. Plus, there are theories that the drug, DMT, creates a hallucination that is very similar to an NDE. The consistent stories with these experiences include seeing a light at the end of a tunnel, seeing loved ones who have passed, seeing angels, and even seeing Jesus Christ. Given the consistency of these stories, perhaps th
ere is something to it. Maybe our family appears to help usher us over to the other side? We have no way to know for sure. So many theories abound, and so many people have explored, researched, and written about death, we can certainly agree that humans have questions about our afterlife. I think this fascination with death is a driving factor in the ongoing popularity of the paranormal.

  Thankfully, because we now see more open-mindedness to the paranormal, more people are willing to come forward to share their experiences and stories. This has all contributed to the boom in ghost tourism. Ghost tourism is now so acceptable that it is no longer looked at as something that only "weird" people do.

  You can find lots of ways to get your feet wet in the world of the paranormal thanks to ghost tourism. You can dip your toe in, or you could go into a full cannonball and jump all the way in. What I do like about ghost tourism is that it makes it a little more "normal" for the general public.

  When you decide that you want to go out and explore the paranormal, several options are available to you. Many cities are now embracing their paranormal histories, and businesses are booming because of it. Take a look at Gettysburg as a prime example. Most of their paranormal companies are on the same street, and they all offer some sort of tour or investigation. You'll find that these tours regularly sell out, and people will just go down the street to the next shop and hope for an opening. While there are many options out there, not everyone is aware of what they are buying and end up confused or disappointed when they get the finished product.