Ghost Hunting & Paranormal 411

Paranormal: Is often described as being impossible to explain scientifically or being unable to understood in regard to scientific knowledge. It is within the realm of occurrences and phenomena.

Parapsychology is the research and study of the paranormal relating essentially to psychic abilities (e.s.p., telepathy) and spiritual phenomena.

EVP'S (Electronic Voice Phenomenon)
Keep in mind, some EVP's are recorded in different languages at times. Even with interpreters, it is sometimes very fuzzy and confusing to understand.
One of my most disturbing EVP's was captured while visiting an old cemetery in Chicago. It consisted of what sounded like a little girl or boy who in our final conclusion and analysis, we think was saying, "Can you help me find my daddy?" After research of some of the graves, there was a very young girl, around the age of 6 at the time of death and a grave of her father years later who died about 19 years later and were both buried there. Now, this led me to believe that it was possible that either the little girl never crossed over (she's a ghost) or that she is still waiting for her dad to come and get her. It's very sad and this is just one of the examples of what can be so depressing of such experiences of the paranormal.
We use a digital voice recorder because it seems to be the best device for the most accuracy and clarity. We don't have to worry about using tapes and it can filter out white noise. It is also easier to upload on to a computer to further analyze and possibly share with others.

Spirit Rescue:
Attempting contact with entities, intended to alleviate the entities' distress and aid them in the resolution of their conflicts, and in "crossing over" to the Other Side which is a higher, spiritual plane.

Matrixing: This is a bit of a paranormal pet peeve of mine. Matrixing is common among untrained, inexperienced ghost hunters and general, non-ghost hunter people. It is the natural tendency for the human mind to interpret sensory input. It's what is perceived usually visually as something familiar or more easily understood and accepted. Basically it is mentally "filling in the blanks." Perfect examples are pictures of fire and windows. Did you ever play the game "what do you see" when looking up at the clouds in the sky? You can see a horse, a heart, the shape of an angel, a pig, and, well, you get my point. You can basically see whatever you want. This is a hairy topic because yes, there may be a ghost or spirit peaking out the window but unless it is analyzed with great scrutiny, such as checking all possible reflections, sun directions, etc., it is difficult to determine. The picture attached to this segment is an example of window matrixing.

Ghost: The image of a person witnessed after his or her death, reflecting the appearance of the living, physical body yet less substantial. These forms often seem to exist in a dream-like state of semi-awareness. At times though, it is not always cognizant of their human observers. If it is, it doesn't care. read on to the next segments for more information on how ghosts interact and "think."

Poltergeist: German for "noisy ghost." This is an extremely rare occurrence where random objects are moved and sounds are produced by an unseen force. the sole purpose of which seems to be to draw attention to itself; usually in a violent manner. The phenomenon always involves a specific individual, frequently a child or adolescent, and sometimes the land or enclosure involved. They are angry entities with a mission. Usually dark souls.

Floating Orb:
Spherical image, usually translucent white, though sometimes of a reddish or bluish hue, which inexplicably registers on photographic film and videotape, also known as a globule.
An Orb or "Globule": An anomaly where-in floating, circular forms appear on photographs or videotape, which seem to indicate spirit activity. Globes are a natural containment formation, as in bubbles containing gas. It is possibly the mixture of energy and a quasi-physical substance produced by spiritual manifestations which results in a similar effect because of the globules being the actual enclosure of energy. Other possible causes are moisture, light refraction or mixture of seepage, etc. These causes must be considered and unfortunately, are most often the cause. That isn't to say that orbs are hardly ever captured because they are. It is just that they are difficult to catch. When we rule out all other possible causes, it is very exciting for us!

Moisture
This is a little bit easier to spot (no pun intended! LOL) A so-called orb caused by moisture will tend to have angular sides to it and its make-up tends to fade from solid to transparent. It has no border and like the dust particle which I will explain next, moisture can appear in one photo and not in another that was taken immediately before or after that shot.
The larger the moisture the less angular it will look. A picture of rain drops will yield very little angularity at all. In fact it will produce small solid looking object that can easily be mistaken for orbs. A fine mist will produce angular sides.

Dust particles
In my opinion, are one of the biggest misconceptions of being an orb. Often times, the tiniest dust particle can reflect the flash of your camera or the infrared light of a digital camera producing an eye-catching orb that most investigators would drool over. Many who think they have caught an orb claiming it is not dust will often say, "But, all the other images had no orbs in it." That is an understandable explanation but here's the bubble buster! The reason it was in only one picture is the particle of dust is most likely in the other photos but it is just not at the right position or angle to reflect the light of the camera flash again.
**Below is a picture of DUST!!**

So, how do we know when it is dust and when it is a true orb? Dust tends to refract in a perfect circle with little "noise" in it and no border. This means that the orb does not look like a cell under a microscope. Its structure is pretty much a solid color without a defined border or outline to it.

Object Reflection
Ok, I must say that this is the most common mistake made and usually the easiest to spot. If you have an image with multiple orbs in it and one is more intense than the other, you are probably dealing with a reflection.
What happens is when light reflects off of an object, it produces many circular flares in an picture. These are usually located within a straight line emanating from the source, which is usually some small object in the background. This is something that is sometimes uncaught by the investigator when reviewing.
A helpful suggestion is to take the image in question and run its gamma to near max. You will see that the orb will have the same gamma signature as the object from which they are emanating.

PAY DIRT!! Genuine Paranormal Energy
Finding it is like hitting the jackpot for ghost hunters! Woo Hoo! Once you have eliminated the above possibilities, it is time to take a long, close look at the orb itself. What you are looking for in "orb" activity is a solid object that emits its own light. It will usually show up on film looking like someone just threw a ping-pong ball across the screen. If the orb has signs of movement, such as a blurred trail behind it, then you've got some rather solid evidence. This is what we call a tracer (along the lines of what people saw while on acid LOL) or an ecto trail. However, be cautious when analyzing because it is also possibly a bug flying by! Oh, I know. Another bubble buster, huh? Sorry, but it's true. See how it intricate can be?!

The color of an orb is also a consideration when analyzing. True orbs are colored in the "cool" end of the spectrum such as white, blue, or green. Any red, yellow or orange colored orb is most likely dust, a light refraction or camera error.

Keep in mind that an orb is just a collection of energy and not the manifestation of a spirit. While orbs are usually present during paranormal activity, you can have orbs show up without paranormal activity or provoking spirits. Spirits and ghosts are around regardless if there is a spirit calling or ghost hunting activity at the time!

Many people are open to the sixth sense and other worldly beings and phenomenon. If you don't believe we're alone in the universe or in this realm, (which I don't because that's just arrogant to think) then why haven't aliens made contact with us yet? Just because they haven't (yet) you may still believe they possibly exist. In my opinion, it is seemingly a bit absurd for the absolute non belief of any type of paranormal.
Just because someone can't or won't see it, touch it, smell it, etc. does that mean it doesn't exist? "Science" is also defined as "Knowledge, esp. that acquired through experience" Science is also an ever-lasting, on-going art; until something can be proved OR DISPROVED. Everything remains open to a new finding. (Just an added FYI, many paranormal activity has been documented "scientifically proven.") I bet you've experienced many things so far in your life that if you told someone the story about "this one time" or "that time" and they didn't believe you, it would be quite frustrating, right?
Now just for the record, I am never out to prove myself to anyone because, well, I don't care to and I don't want to waste my time. But, I can say that many skeptics that have seen what I and other authentic clairsentients or clairvoyants do in person and those whom have just had personal experiences have changed their minds. It's a bit like trying to convince someone that bungee jumping can be a great experience. They are dead set against it, but finally try it and love it (or even try it and hate it) but now they can make that honest judgment. IF one is closed-minded; in a set belief, then they are not willing to try to be disproved.

Also, many that are die hard skeptics of any type of paranormal will many times not have an experience because it's not whether you can or can't...but most likely because you will or won't. Remember, God will never give more than the soul can handle. That is certainly not to say that a skeptic or any believer can't "handle" it. It just may be that in their subconscious mind, they actually don't really want to have that experience, any spirit from the Other Side has simply not attempted to make contact, or they just haven't been in a location with spiritual activity at the time.