„For success, the scientist needs: mind, patience, money and luck.“
-- Paul Ehrlich (1854-1915)

Cold spots: When temperature suddenly drops!

A frequent phenomena in paranormal sensations are the so-called “cold spots” (also cold drafts). A sudden, unexplainable, temperature decrease in the range of several degrees. If an area of a room suddenly becomes rather chilly, this might be a sign of a spirit’s presence or a manifestation building up. The explanation for this phenomenon is that spirits need energy to manifest or become visible. Therefore, they drain nearby energy from their environment. This can be thermal and/or electromagnetic energy. In this context it is often reported that fresh batteries suddenly run empty in the presence of a paranormal apparition, causing a malfunction of electronical battery-operated devices, e.g. camcorders.

Tools for detecting cold spots include rapid-reading digital thermometers as well as thermal imaging devices. The latter work by collecting the upper part of the light spectrum (e.g. infrared radiation) which is emitted or reflected as heat by objects. Hotter objects, such as warm bodies, emit a higher level of infrared radiation than cooler objects (e.g. buildings, furniture, etc.). Infrared scanners and thermal imaging cameras are frequently used for detecting spirits.

In some cases subjects have the feeling of coldness, but the thermometers do not render any proof. This subjective feeling is likely based on their emotional or psychic reactions towards the paranormal or to them being in the presence of a spirit dwelling around.

On the other side, skeptics say that cold spots may often be explained by natural temperature fluctuations.

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EMF spikes:

An AC EMF-meter measures fluctuations in the electro-magnetic field (with a frequency above 0 hertz). As ghosts are said to consist of energy they can also be located with an EMF-meter. They disrupt the electro-magnetic field and the EMF-meter then gives higher than normal readings. Before starting an investigation one has to do a base reading to make sure that the EMF-spikes aren’t caused by natural energy sources such as microwaves, clock-radios or fuse boxes.

-- Lucia & Frederik

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Electronic voices:

EVP stands for electronic voice phenomenon.

One of the first reported discoveries of ghostly voices on tape was made through the Swedish artist and opera singer Friedrich Jürgenson in 1959. He tried to record birds’ voices, but also captured human voices, which addressed him with his name and knew things only he could know. From this time on he studied this phenomenon and captured many more EVPs. He showed his discoveries to Hans Bender, the head of the institute for parapsychology at the university of Freiburg, Germany. Together they made a few experiments in the years 1964 and 1970. They could basically prove that this phenomenon exists, but couldn’t go into depth with it, because the out comings didn’t stand the test of the strict analytical methods. In 1967 Jürgenson published a book on the topic (ISBN 3-4421-1727-5). Since then EVP has become one of the most popular and definitely most modern ways of spirit communication.

On our investigations we use both digital and analog recorders. When using an analog recorder it’s necessary to have an external microphone to avoid recording the noises of the tape turning inside the recorder. Digital recorders don’t need an external microphone.

There are many discussions going on about the benefits of digital and analog recorders. Some people say that digital recorders require a white noise generator to give good results (see equipment section). That already implies that there are many different methods of recording spirit voices.

We usually ask a question and then wait a few seconds so that a possible ghost has the chance to answer it. Sometimes we also leave a recorder running and leave the room. Both methods usually give good results.

Most of the time, the voices can only be heard on tape, but not during the investigation. The recordings sometimes have to be filtered and enhanced with special programs. An explanation could be that ghosts don’t have an unlimited amount of spendable energy and “speaking” to us probably uses a lot of energy. That’s why the outcomings are usually quite faint and sometimes can only be heard when enhanced.

Skeptics think that the recorded voices are caused by interferences of radio waves or CB. There are also theories stating that they are caused by electromagnetic pollution (immission), previously magnetified tapes or a certain kind of pareidolia (the brain interpretes unclear sounds as familiar noises or words.)

Needless to say, whenever you start a recording, say who you are, where you are and it would be a great idea to say the date and time out loud as well. You won't know what you're listening to when tapes or cd's dissapear into the archives and are dug out again in the distant future.

-- Lucia

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Orbs on pictures:

Orbs are globular mostly semi-transparent objects that seem to be free-floating in the air. In recent years thousands of orb-pictures appeared in various paranormal fora and on websites, in books etc. It seems that orbs are the modern version of ectoplasm.

But in spite of many believers in the paranormal stating that orbs are spirit energy, we think that orbs are only dust-bunnies, which are enlightened with a flash or other sources of light. They are mainly captured with digital cameras, though they sometimes appear in pictures taken with analog cameras as well.

-- Lucia & Frederik

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