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In 1982, Sarah Estep founded the ] in ], ], with the purpose of increasing awareness of EVP, and of teaching standardized methods for capturing it. Estep began her exploration of EVP in 1976, and says she has made hundreds of recordings of messages from deceased friends, relatives, and other individuals, including Konstantin Raudive, Beethoven, a lamplighter from 18th century Philadelphia, PA, and ] whom she speculated originated from other planets or dimensions. Today, the nonprofit organization lists members in twenty countries and maintains a web site that offers techniques, concepts, and purported examples of EVP. <ref>, butler, T, Butler L, AA-EVP</ref> In 1982, Sarah Estep founded the ] in ], ], with the purpose of increasing awareness of EVP, and of teaching standardized methods for capturing it. Estep began her exploration of EVP in 1976, and says she has made hundreds of recordings of messages from deceased friends, relatives, and other individuals, including Konstantin Raudive, Beethoven, a lamplighter from 18th century Philadelphia, PA, and ] whom she speculated originated from other planets or dimensions. Today, the nonprofit organization lists members in twenty countries and maintains a web site that offers techniques, concepts, and purported examples of EVP. <ref>, butler, T, Butler L, AA-EVP</ref>


In March 2003, Scottish microelectronics expert{{fact}} Alexander MacRae conducted a series of recording sessions inside a room that was screened to some degree against external audio and RF interference. MacRae connected a human subject to a device of his own design (Known as ALPHA), which broadcast biofeedback, from the subject, to a radio tuned to a specific frequency. Recordings of the radio's output were then analyzed by MacRae. In an attempt to prove that different individuals would interpret the samples the same way, MacRae isolated the strongest anomalies found on the recording (those which most resembled human speech), and distributed them to 30 volunteers who were asked to complete a multiple choice ]{{dubious}} questionnaire. In March 2003, Alexander MacRae, who fancies himself a microelectronics expert, conducted a series of recording sessions inside a room that was screened to some degree against external audio and RF interference. MacRae connected a human subject to a device of his own design (Known as ALPHA), which broadcast biofeedback, from the subject, to a radio tuned to a specific frequency. Recordings of the radio's output were then analyzed by MacRae. In an attempt to prove that different individuals would interpret the samples the same way, MacRae isolated the strongest anomalies found on the recording (those which most resembled human speech), and distributed them to 30 volunteers who were asked to complete a multiple choice ]{{dubious}} questionnaire.


Based on the environment in which the samples were recorded, and the number of respondents providing the same interpretation for what the recordings said, MacRae concluded that the samples represented genuine voices whose origins could not be explained through conventional means.<ref name="macRae1">{{cite journal | last = MacRae | first = Alexander | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Report of an Electronic Voice Phenomenon Experiment inside a Double-Screened Room | journal = Journal of the Society for Psychical Research | volume = | issue = | pages = | publisher = Society for Psychical Research | date = October 2005 | url = | doi = | id = | accessdate = }}</ref><ref name=senkowski>Dr. Senkowski, Ernst (1995) "Analysis of Anomalous Audio and Video Recordings"</ref><ref name=feola>Feola José (2000), "The Alpha Mystery"</ref><ref name="fontana1"/> MacRae's work was published by the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research in 2005. Based on the environment in which the samples were recorded, and the number of respondents providing the same interpretation for what the recordings said, MacRae concluded that the samples represented genuine voices whose origins could not be explained through conventional means.<ref name="macRae1">{{cite journal | last = MacRae | first = Alexander | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Report of an Electronic Voice Phenomenon Experiment inside a Double-Screened Room | journal = Journal of the Society for Psychical Research | volume = | issue = | pages = | publisher = Society for Psychical Research | date = October 2005 | url = | doi = | id = | accessdate = }}</ref><ref name=senkowski>Dr. Senkowski, Ernst (1995) "Analysis of Anomalous Audio and Video Recordings"</ref><ref name=feola>Feola José (2000), "The Alpha Mystery"</ref><ref name="fontana1"/> MacRae's work was published by the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research in 2005.

Revision as of 16:30, 27 March 2007

Template:Totally-disputed Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) is a term used by paranormal investigators to refer to voices or voice-like sounds of alleged paranormal origin heard or captured on recorded media or through other electronic devices. Examples of purported EVP are typically short, usually the length of a word or short phrase, although longer segments have also been reported.

Paranormal explanations for EVP include communication from discarnate entities, psychic projections from EVP researchers, and communication from alien or trans-dimensional beings. Scientific and naturalistic explanations include cross modulation or interference from nearby radio sources or random noise mistakenly perceived as voices due to pareidolia, the human propensity to find familiar patterns amongst random stimuli.

The term electronic voice phenomenon was coined by publishing company Colin Smythe Ltd in the early 1970s. Previously the phenomena had been known as “Raudive Voices” after Konstantin Raudive, whose 1970 book Breakthrough brought the subject to a wider public audience. Since then references to EVP have appeared in pop culture such as in the Reality TV show Ghost Hunters, the fictional Supernatural and the Hollywood films White Noise and The Sixth Sense.

History

There is an urban legend that American inventor Thomas Edison was the first EVP researcher. In the 1920s, he told a reporter with Scientific American that he was working on a machine that could contact the dead, and the story was printed in many newspapers. A few years, later Edison announced that he had been making a joke at the reporter's expense, and that he had not been working on such a device. This later admission was not so widely reported.

Though Edison was not working on such a device, others have so attempted, published books or articles on the subject, or have founded organizations to promote EVP.

Pre-1980

Attila von Szalay (Sealay), who said he was a medium, was among the first to definitively claim to have recorded the voices of the dead. Working with Raymond Bayless, von Szalay used a custom-made rig; consisting of an insulated cabinet containing a microphone connected to an external recording device and speaker, to conduct a number of recording seasons. He then reported finding many sound on the tape that could not be heard on the speaker at the time of recording. He believed these sounds to be the voices of discarnate spirits. Von Szalay and Bayless' work was published by the Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research. in 1959. Bayless later went on to co-author the 1979 book, Phone Calls From the Dead.

In 1959, Swedish film producer Friedrich Jürgenson captured what he believed to be the discarnate voice of a man speaking Norwegian while he was recording bird songs. He went on to make many more recordings, including one that he believed contained a message from his late mother. Latvian psychologist Konstantin Raudive who worked in conjunction with Jürgenson made over 100,000 similarly natured recordings of his own, of which over 25,000 were said to contain identifiable words. Both Jürgenson and Raudive's recordings were said to contain sentences that were made up of several languages.

In an attempt to confirm the content of his recordings, Raudive invited panels of listeners to hear and interpret them. In many cases the "voices" in the recordings were said to be heard clearly, and Raudive believed that, as such, they could not be readily explained by normal means. Raudive's interpretations of his recordings have been criticized as being highly subjective, and for often being unrelated to questions that researchers posed to any sources of EVP that might be present.

Post-1980

In 1980, self professed medium William O'Neil, constructed an electronic audio device called "The Spiricom". The device itself was said to have been built to specifications received psychically by O'Neil from Dr. George Mueller, a scientist who had died six years previously. At a Washington, DC, press conference on April 6, 1982, O'Neil said that he was able to hold two-way conversations with the spirits of the dead using this device, and O'Neil provided the design specifications to researchers for free. However, nobody is known to have ever been able to replicate O'Neil's results using their own Spiricom devices O'Neil's partner, retired industrialist George Meek, attributed O'Neil's success, and the inability of others to replicate it to, O'Neil's "psychic abilities" forming part of the loop that made the system work.

Sound
info help
An audio sample recorded at the Thunderbird Lodge on the east shore of Lake Tahoe by the AA-EVP, who believe it is an example of EVP.

In 1982, Sarah Estep founded the American Association of Electronic Voice Phenomena in Severna Park, Maryland, with the purpose of increasing awareness of EVP, and of teaching standardized methods for capturing it. Estep began her exploration of EVP in 1976, and says she has made hundreds of recordings of messages from deceased friends, relatives, and other individuals, including Konstantin Raudive, Beethoven, a lamplighter from 18th century Philadelphia, PA, and extraterrestrials whom she speculated originated from other planets or dimensions. Today, the nonprofit organization lists members in twenty countries and maintains a web site that offers techniques, concepts, and purported examples of EVP.

In March 2003, Alexander MacRae, who fancies himself a microelectronics expert, conducted a series of recording sessions inside a room that was screened to some degree against external audio and RF interference. MacRae connected a human subject to a device of his own design (Known as ALPHA), which broadcast biofeedback, from the subject, to a radio tuned to a specific frequency. Recordings of the radio's output were then analyzed by MacRae. In an attempt to prove that different individuals would interpret the samples the same way, MacRae isolated the strongest anomalies found on the recording (those which most resembled human speech), and distributed them to 30 volunteers who were asked to complete a multiple choice false dilemma questionnaire.

Based on the environment in which the samples were recorded, and the number of respondents providing the same interpretation for what the recordings said, MacRae concluded that the samples represented genuine voices whose origins could not be explained through conventional means. MacRae's work was published by the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research in 2005.

Paranormal explanations

Various explanations for EVP have been put forward by those who have experimented with the phenomenon. Examples include

  • Discarnate entities: communications from discarnate entities that are unable to communicate verbally with humans, but are able to imprint information on recording media by an unknown method.
  • Psychokinesis: communications imprinted directly on a medium, by a living human, through an unknown form of matter/energy manipulation. Some EVP proponents say they have received messages from a sleeping colleague.
  • Extraterrestrial entities: Contact with nature energies, beings from other dimensions, or extraterrestrials.

Naturalistic explanations

Skeptics have put forward a variety of explanations to account for EVP. These include:

  • Interference: Certain recordings, especially those recorded on devices which contain RLC circuitry, represent radio signals of voices/sounds from broadcast sources. Interference from CB Radio transmissions and wireless baby minders, or anomalies generated though cross modulation from other electronic devices, are all documented phenomena. It is even possible for circuits to resonate without any internal power source by means of radio reception.
  • Auditory pareidolia or Apophenia: Auditory pareidolia is a condition created when the brain incorrectly interprets random patterns as being familiar patterns. In the case of EVP it could result in an observer interpreting random noise on an audio recording as being the familiar sound of a human voice. The propensity for alleged EVP recordings to be in a language understood well by those researching it, rather than in an unfamiliar language, has been cited as evidence of this. Apophenia, a related but distinct phenomenon, defined as "the spontaneous finding of connections or meaning in things which are random, unconnected or meaningless", has also been put forward as a possible explanation.
  • Capture errors: Anomalies created by the method used to capture audio signals, such as noise generated through the over-amplification of a signal at the point of recording, which is known to cause a variety of anomalies.
  • Processing artefacts: Artefacts created during attempts to boost the clarity of an existing recording through methods such as re-sampling, frequency isolation, and noise reduction/enhancement, until they take on qualities significantly different from those that were present in the original recording.
  • Hoaxes: A percentage of recordings may be hoaxes created by frauds or pranksters.

Skeptical explanations and published works

Of attempts to capture EVP, administrator of SkepticWiki and self-described musician and sound engineer David Federlein says:

...one website says to set the "sensitivity level" of the microphone to the highest possible setting as ghosts are apparently afflicted with laryngitis. Doing this raises what's called the "noise floor" - the electrical noise created by all electrical devices - creating white noise. If I were to filter white noise (the audible equivalent of watching the snow on a detuned TV) I could make it say just about anything. This is really no different than using a wah pedal on a guitar. It's a very focused sweep filter moving about the spectrum creating open vowel sounds. Was Peter Frampton channeling? I hardly think so, however his use of the "talkbox" effect on his guitar sounds exactly like some of these recordings. When you factor in other aspects of physics, such as cross modulation of radio stations or faulty ground loops in equipment, you have a lot of people thinking they are listening to ghosts when in fact it is nothing more than a controlled misuse of electronics.

Michael Shermer, founder of The Skeptics Society says:

...What we have here is a signal-to-noise problem. Humans evolved brains that are pattern-recognition machines, adept at detecting signals that enhance or threaten survival amid a very noisy world if you scan enough noise, you will eventually find a signal, whether it is there or not.

In 1997, Imants Barušs, of the Department of Psychology at the University of Western Ontario, conducted a series of experiments using the methods of EVP investigator Konstantin Raudive, and the work of Instrumental Transcommunication (ITC) researcher Mark Macy, as a guide. A radio was tuned to an empty frequency, and over 81 sessions a total of 60 hours and 11 minutes of recordings were collected. During recordings, the researcher either sat in silence or attempted to make verbal contact with potential sources of EVP.

Barušs did record several events that sounded like voices, but they were too few and too random represent viable data and too open to interpretation to be described definitively as EVP. He concluded: "While we did replicate EVP in the weak sense of finding voices on audio tapes, none of the phenomena found in our study was clearly anomalous, let alone attributable to discarnate beings. Hence we have failed to replicate EVP in the strong sense." The findings were published in the Journal of Scientific Exploration in 2001.

Current enthusiasts

Current enthusiasts of EVP include those dedicated to the pursuit of paranormal investigation (often known as ghost hunting) who populate hundreds of Internet message boards, regional, and national groups. According to paranormal researcher John Zaffis, "There's been a boom in ghost hunting ever since the Internet took off." Enthusiasts equipped with electronic gear such as EMF meters, video cameras and audio recorders, scour reportedly haunted venues, trying to uncover visual and audio evidence of hauntings. Many use portable recording devices in an attempt to capture EVP and a number of ghost hunting organizations feature audio files on their web sites. One popular ghost hunting organization, the International Ghost Hunters Society, states that it is "the largest ghost research society on the Internet" with over 1,000 "EVP ghost voices" on file.

Others represent members of various organizations dedicated solely to EVP and a related pursuit, Instrumental transcommunication. These individuals participate in investigations, author books, deliver public presentations, and hold conferences where they share experiences with other enthusiasts. Some groups, such as the Big Circle, maintain that their mission is quite different from those who wish to record spirit voices in reportedly haunted locations, saying, "It is our intent to establish contact with one or more individuals we know and love that are now in the spiritual world."

Also among those having ongoing interest in EVP, adherents of Spiritualism and Survivalism believe that communication with the dead is a scientifically proven fact, and experiment with a variety of techniques for spirit communications which they believe provide evidence of the continuation of life. According to the National Spiritualist Association of Churches, "An important modern day development in mediumship is spirit communications via an electronic device. This is most commonly known as Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP)" An informal survey by the organization's Department Of Phenomenal Evidence cites that 1/3 of churches conduct sessions in which participants seek to communicate with spirit entities using EVP.

EVP in popular culture

EVP has been been the subject of radio, TV, film, books and other dramatizations. Notable examples include:

Literature

  • Legion, a 1983 novel by William Peter Blatty. Written as a sequel to his 1971 novel The Exorcist, Legion contains a subplot where Dr. Vincent Amfortas, a terminally-ill neurologist, leaves a "to-be-opened-upon-my-death" letter for Lt. Kinderman detailing his accounts of contact with the dead, including the Dr's recently deceased wife, Ann, through EVP recordings. Amfortas' character and the EVP subplot do not appear in the film version of the novel, Exorcist III.
  • Pattern Recognition, 2003 novel by William Gibson. The main character's mother tries to convince her that her father is communicating with her from recordings after his death/disappearance in the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Radio, film and television

  • The Sixth Sense, a 1999 film starring Bruce Willis. The main character, a psychologist, realizes that audiotapes of his former patient interviews include the voices of dead people, who have been haunting the patient.
  • Ghost Whisperer, 2005 TV series. In the episode "Voices", a dead woman tries to reach her son using EVP.
  • Supernatural, a TV series launched in 2005 which draws from many legends and paranormal phenomena, frequently uses EVP as a plot device.
  • White Noise, a 2005 film starring Michael Keaton, focuses exclusively on the phenomenon of EVP and the main character's attempts to contact his recently deceased wife through it. The filmmakers assert at the end of the film that 1 in 12 EVP messages received is threatening in nature, a figure disputed by many in the field.
  • Coast To Coast AM hosts George Noory and Art Bell have explored the topic of EVP with featured guests such as Brendan Cook and Barbara McBeath of the Ghost Investigators Society, and paranormal investigator and demonologist Lou Gentile.
  • The SciFi Channel's Ghost Hunters TV series often features EVP as part of investigations conducted by Atlantic Paranormal Society members

References

  1. "EVP Question Time". Fortean Times. Retrieved 2006-12-01. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  2. ^ MacRae, Alexander (October 2005). "Report of an Electronic Voice Phenomenon Experiment inside a Double-Screened Room". Journal of the Society for Psychical Research. Society for Psychical Research. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  3. ^ Chisholm, Judith (2000). "A Short History of EVP". Psychic World. Retrieved 2006-12-03.
  4. ^ Alcock, James E. "Electronic Voice Phenomena:Voices of the Dead?". Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Retrieved 2007-03-08. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  5. ^ Baruss, Imants (2001). "Failure to Replicate Electronic Voice Phenomenon" (PDF). Journal of Scientific Exploration, Vol. 15, No. 3, pp. 355–367, 2001. Retrieved 2007-01-07. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  6. http://www.colin-smythe.com/authors/voices/voices.htm (08 Feb 07)
  7. http://parapsych.org/glossary_e_k.html#e Parapsychological Association website, Glossary of Key Words Frequently Used in Parapsychology, Retrieved January 24, 2006
  8. "Don't believe everything you read in a textbook!". Edison National Historic Site. National Parks Service. 2004-11-05. Retrieved 2006-12-01. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  9. http://www.debalie.nl/dossierartikel.jsp?dossierid=10123&articleid=40127
  10. Bayless, R (1959), Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, 53#1, 35–38
  11. Bjorling, Joel (1998). Consulting Spirits: A Bibliography. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. p. 68. ISBN 0313302847. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  12. ^ Fontana, David (2005). Is There an Afterlife: A Comprehensive Review of the Evidence. Hants, UK: O Books. p. 496. ISBN 1903816904. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  13. Raudive, Konstantin (1971). Breakthrough: An Amazing Experiment in Electronic Communication With the Dead (Original title: The Inaudible Becomes Audible). Taplinger Publishing Co. ISBN 0800809653. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  14. ^ Poysden, Mark (1999) This is EVP: A Look Behind the "The Ghost Orchid" CD, The Anomalist
  15. Smith, E. L (1974), "The Raudive voices–Objective or subjective? A discussion" Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, 68, 91–100
  16. "Electronic Voice Phenomena". Winter Steel. Retrieved 2007-03-08. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  17. Meek, George W (1982-02). "An electromagnetic-etheric systems approach to communications with other levels of human consciousness". The Metascience research team. Retrieved 2007-03-08. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  18. Meek, George w (1988), "Report from Europe: Earthside instrumental communications with higher planes of existence via telephone and computer are now a reality", Unlimited Horizons, Metascience Foundation Inc, 6 (1): 1–11
  19. Basic EVP Recording Technique, butler, T, Butler L, AA-EVP
  20. Dr. Senkowski, Ernst (1995) "Analysis of Anomalous Audio and Video Recordings"
  21. Feola José (2000), "The Alpha Mystery"
  22. |A Brief Discussion on the Origin of EVP Messages] Tom Butler
  23. "About the American Association of Electronic Voice Phenomena: What is the Survival Hypothesis?". American Association of Electronic Voice Phenomena (AA-EVP). Retrieved 2006-12-01. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  24. Bosack Josh (2004-10-26) analyzes paranormal activity
  25. Jahn, Robert G. (1987). Margins of Reality: The Role of Consciousness in the Physical World. San Diego, California: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. ISBN 0151571481. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  26. Tom, Butler. "About the AA-EVP". Retrieved 2007-03-08. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  27. Estep, Sarah, "Voices Of Eternity," page 144,
  28. ^ "EVP". Skeptic's Dictionary. Retrieved 2006-12-01. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  29. ^ Paul Tipler (2004). Physics for Scientists and Engineers: Electricity, Magnetism, Light, and Elementary Modern Physics (5th ed.). W. H. Freeman. ISBN 0-7167-0810-8.
  30. Wiggins Arthur W. Wynn Charles M. (2001), "Quantum Leaps in the Wrong Direction: Where Real Science Ends–and Pseudoscience Begins", National Academies Press, ISBN 0-309-07309-X
  31. Phaedra (2006). "Believing is seeing". The Skeptic Express. Retrieved 2007-03-08. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  32. Smith, Steven W. (2002) Digital Signal Processing - A Practical Guide for Engineers and Scientists, Newnes, ISBN 0-7506-7444-X
  33. Randi, James (2006-06-09), Just Where is Lou Gentile?,
  34. Carroll, Robert Todd, The Skeptic's Dictionary 2003, Wiley Publishing Company, ISBN-10: 0471272426
  35. Shermer, Michael (2005). "Turn Me On, Dead Man". Scientific American. Retrieved 2007-02-28. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  36. http://www.azcentral.com/ent/pop/articles/0310ghosthunter10.html
  37. http://www.ghostweb.com/
  38. http://aaevp.com/conference/aaevp_conference.html
  39. http://bigcircle.aaevp.com/
  40. http://www.cfpf.org.uk/impressum.html
  41. http://www.nsac.org/spiritualism/index.htm#THE%20PHILOSOPHY%20OF%20SPIRITUALISM
  42. http://nsacphenomena.com/concepts.htm#Mediumship%20via%20Electronic%20Means
  43. http://nsacphenomena.com/articles/the_churches.htm
  44. http://www.lonestarspirits.org/media6.html
  45. http://www.coasttocoastam.com/shows/2006/04/02.html
  46. http://www.coasttocoastam.com/shows/2006/04/15.html
  47. http://www.scifi.com/ghosthunters/episodes/season01/0101/

Further reading

  • Voices of Eternity, Sarah Estep, Fawcett (1988)
  • EVP, Cinderella Science, by Gerry Connelly, Domra Pub. (2001)
  • There is No Death, by Tom & Lisa Butler, AA-EVP Pub. (2003)
  • Roads to Eternity, by Sarah Estep, Fawcett (2005)
  • Experimenting With "EVP" - The Skeptic Express

See also

External links

Categories: