Paranormal Investigation Training Tips

The first thing I want to do is list some basic steps to doing a paranormal investigation and then go into a bit more detail and elaborate on some of the ins and outs.

1. When you show up at someone's home or place of business, arrive there with an open mind. This doesn't mean arrive there expecting that you are going to find evidence of a haunting. Odds are strong that you won't -- even if there is a haunting -- just because this isn't "ghosts on demand." A place can be haunted or not, and you may or may not get evidence on any given visit or series of visits.

2. Explain the procedures of your paranormal investigation to anyone present, meaning residents, visitors, neighbors, etc. Anyone who is sticking their nose into the business at hand should have some idea of what to expect, how they are expected to behave, and guidelines. The preference is that no one be around so there is less chance of interference -- both unintentional and intentional. (Intentional interference could be someone who wants ghosts to be around; it might not even be conscious behavior.)

3. Plan the investigation. This should be done mostly in advance. Who is handling what portion of the technical duties; who has what equipment; how are teams divided up; who's on what story/in what rooms; how are you communicating; where is the central hub located; who is in charge?

4. What knowledge do you have going in? Who has done interviews with eyewitnesses, residents, etc.? Who knows the content of the interviews; who wants to 'go in blind' and so on. When does the information become open to all team members? Is that prior to a follow-up investigation? Probably. That's when you will want to concentrate on hot spots of ghost or other activity from the owners/residents and hotspots that you may have located any preliminary hunt.

5. Research - probably should have been #1 on this list. Has any other paranormal group investigated the property? Does it have known history of haunting/deaths/murders/illnesses and things of that nature? Designate someone to be the research point person who can do both online research plus hit the local libraries, courthouses, museums, historical societies and other repositories of information. All information should eventually be shared with the team.

6. Coordinate the ghost hunt with historical data. Has activity been on a regular basis? Is it mostly on Thursday nights between 2 and 3 am? Have the owners kept any kind of journal of paranormal occurrences? Conduct your investigation during known windows of activity if possible.

7. Report Back. You have to do reveals for all your paranormal investigations. This doesn't mean it has to be in person. If nothing has been found, a reveal over the phone can be enough, but most people prefer a face to face, even if there is nothing to report. Don't get the reputation as the paranormal investigation group that never returns. That sort of behavior will come back to haunt you -- and not in the way you would like.

Now here are some other rules that we follow. They are meant to keep team members safe and to make the investigations as productive as possible. Violating these guidelines/rules can contaminate evidence or cause injuries, so please adhere to them.

First, never go into a location without the permission of the owners or their authorized representative(s). This is called trespassing and can get you into serious legal trouble. Generally, we have enough paranormal investigations on our agenda that we don't even have to consider action without permission, but seemingly abandoned properties may be tempting. Owners of these properties can be found or contacted through records at local city halls or tax bureaus, so there is no reason to trespass.

Once permission has been granted and a release has been signed by the property owner, we generally try to get background information on the property. We have volunteers who are willing to do this research, so this step should not be omitted.

The next step is getting the owners/inhabitants (the living ones) to complete our preliminary paranormal investigation survey. Generally, when we are doing an initial investigation, it is not a prolonged visit to a property. There is a tendency for people to "cry wolf" and want us to come in to investigate things that creep them out or make them nervous. These things, in most cases, tend to be explained through loose pipes, animals or other natural causes.

During initial paranormal investigations, some investigators prefer not getting any preliminary information. They may prefer to investigate a property without any bias, thereby being able to confirm or deny information coinciding with the owner's statements about their own paranormal experiences. Having the information independently confirmed gives more credence to the possibility of paranormal activity.

What does that mean exactly, and how do we know what may or may not be paranormal? We don't -- but hunches, heavy feelings, hair raisings, etc. can all give an indication that something may be worth digging into more in the future.

While walking through on an initial paranormal investigation, it is a good idea to have a pocket notebook of some sort to write down any feelings you may have in any given area. By writing down feelings -- instead of voicing them -- you are not influencing anyone else's experience on the initial walkthrough.

Once that portion of the investigation is complete, all paranormal investigators will compare notes. Areas that seem to have high levels of interest will be noted, and cameras and other ghost hunting equipment will concentrate more on those areas during a full investigation -- or those areas may confirm or contrast the owner's experiences. Either way, we like to see what sort of a "feel" team members have for a new property.

As team members do an investigation, they are in groups of either two or three members. One member of each group will have some sort of two-way communication device (e.g. walkie-talkies), and there will be one member either outside of the property or in a set location inside the property (a control hub, for lack of a better term).

Each paranormal investigative team will be equipped (minimally) with a video camera, still camera and an audio recording device in addition to the communication means.

If the structure to be investigated is multi-story, team members are not to investigate on sequential floors, so that noise, footsteps and voices are not construed by another team as paranormal in nature. (Simply put, if there is a basement, 1st and 2nd floor, teams should be in the basement and 2nd floor, leaving the 1st floor vacant. When the first floor is to be investigated, the lower level and 2nd floor should be vacated.)

This brings up the point of confusing other team member activities with paranormal activities. One thing that we stress time and again is do not whisper! Talk in a normal voice at all times. If you hear someone else whispering, remind them (gently) of this rule.

Whispers can easily be mistaken for electronic voice phenomenon. This is not a good thing. We have had a few instances where we thought we caught paranormal voices and later had to debunk those as team members whispering.

I will admit that whispering is easy to do. We are trying to be as quiet as possible in all other aspects, yet with this one we remain at normal volume.

I find myself whispering as we wander around quiet, spooky mansions, and it seems logical and normal -- but we aren't going to scare any ghosts away by speaking normally, and whispers will just confuse you during the evidence review process. OK enough of that.

On to more quiet-time guidelines ...

Wear rubber-soled shoes, boots or sneakers. My gosh, the one time I my husband, Rob, wore hard-leather-soled motorcycle boots, I thought people could hear his footsteps in the next county. In the silence of the late night, hard-soled shoes sound like tap shoes. (You are not TAPS.)

Announce when you bump into a table, cough, burp or make any other noise. Announce a car driving by or people talking outside the residence. Announce a plane flying by or a bird chirping. Announce . . . I think you get the point.

Any noise made that you can readily identify, please, please, please, make the evidence review easier and let the reviewer know that when you clear your throat it sounds like little girls giggling. (Just kidding, hopefully it doesn't.)

If you turn off your camera and it beeps when you do that, make a note of it. Everything should be recorded by your digital recorder. Those things can hold umpteen hours worth of audio. Don't be afraid to turn it on and leave it on the entire time. It gives you a record of what is happening in a play-by play, minute-to-minute manner. Perfect.

As you are walking around, announce where you are. "I am walking up the stairs to the second floor. That squeak was me opening the door to bedroom #1. I am in bedroom number one." etc, etc. A running commentary announcing transitions will help to match video recordings, audio recordings and still photos. The cross-match may help to debunk something -- or to prove something.

Speaking of numbering rooms; if there are multiple second-story bedrooms (or first story, for that matter), rooms are numbered clockwise as you enter the space. So if you walk in the front door and there is a bedroom to your left, that is bedroom #1. If there are no more bedrooms on that floor, and you proceed upstairs, the first bedroom to your left is BR2, then, going clockwise, BR3, etc.

This can be made easier by someone (team leader) drawing a rough map of the house and the property. This should have been covered by the owner on the preliminary investigation request form, but it definitely should be done by someone on site, if you don't already have one from the owner. Also check the owner's diagram for accuracy. Just because they live there doesn't mean they have drawn their house layout correctly.

This is what you see many times on ghost hunting shows. The host will say something like "Is there anyone in this room with me?" and then look expectantly at the K2 looking for flashing lights.

Sometimes you get results like this; other times, nada. Keep asking questions, and remember you are also recording on a digital audio device and will be reviewing (listening to) that recording later at an increased volume. Keep questioning, but remember to leave space between questions for answers.

To make this sort of evidence more than hearsay, have the session recorded on video. This will also give you another source of audio to listen to to confirm what you may get from the digital recorder.

On to the series of questions. Now these are just general guidelines. Depending on what kind of response you get, you may veer into an entirely different direction, but you gotta start somewhere, so here is a generic beginning:

"Is there anyone in the room with us?"

"You can communicate with us by passing near the device that is holding (the K2). You can light the lights, and it won't harm you. It will just let us know you are here with us. We are also recording this and will review it later, so if your voice is soft, we will be able to hear it then."

"Are you here with us now?"

"Can you light up a few of the lights for us to let us know? "

"Thank you. That was fantastic." (Always express appreciation if you get any results.)

"What is your name?"

"Are you a man?"

"Are you a woman?"

"Are you a child?"

"Did you just light that up?"

"Can you do that again?"

"What year is it?" (This may give you a time frame for their life. Don't ask when they died or indicate their death. This might negate the desire to communicate by bringing up unhappy memories.)

Talk about objects in the space or about the space itself.

"Did you live here?"

"Did you play with that doll?"

"Did you warm yourself at this fireplace?"

If you are not getting any response, try:

"Do you want us to leave? If you want me to leave, light the lights two times and I will go."

This may bring out a response, but isn't antagonistic. Some groups like to try to antagonize or 'bully' ghosts into communicating. Our team generally doesn't think that's a good idea.

Most communication of this type will be light up the lights once for yes, twice for no, or something of that nature. You can explain this aloud to the ghosts, or just say "light up the meter for a yes." This will cost them less energy, and they might be more inclined to communicate.

Try to relate to them. If there is supposed to be a girl or woman in the property, maybe have a woman talk to them. Or, as a father, Rob will say something like, "I have two daughters I don't get to talk to much. Won't you please talk to me? I miss talking to my girls." Or something of that nature.

If someone is ex military or died in a war (e.g. Gettysburg), have someone with a military background talk to them if you have someone in your group like that.

If you think the spirits may be Hispanic, it helps to have someone along who speaks Spanish. Same with any other language. Of course, you can't cover all bases, but if you get some EVPs that sound foreign, maybe you might want to stop by the local high school or college and see if a foreign language instructor/professor can help you to at least identify the language and move on from there.

There are many types of digital cameras out there, and we are not going to dictate what cameras people use on hunts (though we'll highlight some of our choices within this lens along with other equipment we use on a regular basis). That being said, cameras must be capable of taking pictures with a degree of resolution that enables close-up review of any pictures which may contain items of interest.

Cameras should also be of a type that can be downloaded to a computer for sharing. You are going to want more than one set of eyes during the review process.

Photos should be taken on an ongoing basis during an investigation to allow study of before and after photos should an anomaly occur. This means -- in plain English -- take lots of photos!

If you are working in low-light situations, announce "Flash" prior to snapping the picture so team members can close their eyes for a second or two so they don't lose their night vision. If your group is also working with a video camera, your verbal announcement will also be recorded to alert you to explainable flashes of light during review of the video portions of your ghost hunt.

Don't limit your picture taking to a particular height or position -- get ceilings, floors, doors, etc.

Are you getting the idea? Lots of photos! Even if you don't see anything with the naked eye, many times, upon review, more may be revealed later -- but only if you snap freely. Photos can always be deleted if they contain nothing of interest.

As a general rule with digital photos, more is better; and don't limit yourself to the inside of a property. Try to cover every angle of the exterior of the building plus views of the property both looking out and looking in.

If there is a large piece of land surrounding the building, don't forget to take pictures out there and of any outbuildings, garages and vehicles. You never know what is going to turn up.

If your camera comes with a strap, make sure it is not in front of the lens when you snap your shots. Straps, thumbs, loose long hair and/or the back of someone's head could potentially obstruct an interesting photo, be mistaken for paranormal presence or activity, and at the least will make the photo mostly useless.

General Specs for Cameras: Minimum 10 megapixel with removable SD card for easy sharing.

This is the camera I personally use.

Nikon Coolpix S560 10MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Vibration Reduction (VR) Zoom with 2.7 inch LCD (shown in Graphite Black)

Obviously for the more serious photographer. Our team member, Phil, uses this one!

Canon EOS 40D 10.1MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)

Video cameras also come in a variety of flavors. When purchasing a camera, make sure it has night vision capabilities! Very important!

The camera should either be a MiniDV or contain a hard drive (preferred) for recording purposes. Hard drive files are much easier to transfer to a computer for review and editing purposes. At this point, most of our cameras are Sony cameras. You may want to follow this tradition, as power cords and batteries are somewhat universal if you stick to brand.

While recording, start the recording and announce time, date and place. Say this information in a loud, clear voice. Also announce as you enter and leave rooms, so you can track your progress as you do reviews.

External Microphones

Some cameras have jacks for external microphones. Those aren't necessary, but can be useful if the camera will be used to set up in a stationary position.

Infrared Lighting

Sima SL-10IR Infrared Night Vision Video Light for Digital Camcorders
External infrared lighting sources can make a huge difference in what you capture. Current lighting used is the SIMA 9 L.E.D. Infrared which comes with a charging unit.

We have found that low-end digital recorders work best. Higher-end digital electronic recorders tend to have filters to remove background noise. Background noise is most often what we are interested in.


Make sure you get/use recorders that can be directly downloaded onto a computer. Some recorders are meant to be used as voice memo devices and don't have downloading capabilities.

When using digital recorders, announce the time, date and place when you start the recorder. Announce when you enter and leave particular rooms. Announce when you make a noise (even the slightest noise) so it can't be mistaken for paranormal phenomenon.

Examples: "That was me coughing." "I just bumped into a table." "I just whispered to Joe." Which brings up another point.

Don't whisper. Communicate in normal voices, enunciating clearly, so it isn't mistaken for a paranormal communication. We realize this happens a lot to all of us. Walking around a strange house alone with someone at night or during the day, we tend to whisper so as not to disturb the peace. Get over that!

Most times when we debunk noises or voices, the source is identified as one of the investigators or video crew. Please try to stay aware at all times and not have the voice be yours.

There are many different brands of digital recorders available, and the prices are all over the place. If you get anything that costs more than $40 or $50 dollars, you are mostly just throwing money away needlessly. Your call, obviously as it is your money.

Yes, we are talking about measuring temperature here. Most of what we use is digital, and some come with other options as well. One of the choices is an infrared device. These also come with an ambient probe (needed for sure).

The trouble with an infrared is that the temperature is only going to be measured on the surface that the beam hits, rather than air temperature. The probe will measure the air temperature, so although this seems pretty cool in theory, the laser really doesn't do us a whole lot of good.

EMF meters detect low levels of energy suspected to indicate the presence of spirit energy. Downside - these meters will also detect man-made electrical fields. Be cautious to check for electrical wiring, appliances (refrigerators, microwaves, etc.) as well as electronic gear - TVs stereos, clocks, etc.

Digital Electromagnetic Field and Extremely Low Frequency Meter

Provides EMF detection; accuracy is greater than
other meters (K2 or Ghostmeter) due to the digital readout.

This is the meter our team members use.

K2 EMF Meter


Provides the same functionality of detecting electro-magnetic fields, but indicates strength through a series of lights, five lights being the strongest field.
K2 meters are often used in attempted communication with spirits - using yes/no questions. Example: light up two times for yes, once for no

When using K2 meters for questioning, it is considered more likely to get a better response by asking questions in a manner that doesn't indicate what state the spirit is in.

Ask questions like: Is it the 1900's; Are you a man (a woman, a boy, a girl)? Not "What year did you die?" They might not realize they are dead, and that could make them sulk.

We want the dead folks happy, so they stick around and answer questions for us, K?

In order to have some reasonable way of finding digital files, we have to have a standard way of labeling them. After diligent research, we have decided to follow the national standards established by the Digital Media Association of America. (I just made that up, but it certainly sounds official, doesn't it?)

Here are the rules (don't worry I will convert them to English right after I list them)

Standard Naming Conventions For Electronic Records: The Rules

The conventions comprise the following 13 rules.

1. Keep file names short, but meaningful.

2. Avoid unnecessary repetition and redundancy in file names.

3. Use capital letters to delimit words, not spaces or underscores.

4. When including a number in a file name, always use a two-digit number, i.e. 01-99, unless it is a year or another number with more than two digits.

5. If using a date in the file name, always state the date 'back to front', and use four-digit years, two-digit months and two-digit days: YYYYMMDD or YYYYMM or YYYY or YYYY-YYYY.

6. When including a personal name in a file name, give the family name first followed by the initials.

7. Avoid using common words such as 'draft' or 'letter' at the start of file names, unless doing so will make it easier to retrieve the record.

8. Order the elements in a file name in the most appropriate way to retrieve the record.

9. The file names of records relating to recurring events should include the date and a description of the event, except where the inclusion of any of either of these elements would be incompatible with rule 2.

10. The file names of correspondence should include the name of the correspondent, an indication of the subject, the date of the correspondence and whether it is incoming or outgoing correspondence (except where the inclusion of any of these elements would be incompatible with rule 2).

11. The file name of an email attachment should include the name of the correspondent, an indication of the subject, the date of the correspondence, 'attch', and an indication of the number of attachments sent with the covering email (except where the inclusion of any of these elements would be incompatible with rule 2).

12. The version number of a record should be indicated in its file name by the inclusion of 'V' followed by the version number and, where applicable, 'Draft'.

13. Avoid using non-alphanumeric characters in file names.

So here's what all that means:

Anything we find in 2009 will start with 2009 in the file name, followed by the two-digit month and two-digit day. Example: May 5, 2009, would convert to 20090509 to start the file name.

That will ALWAYS be followed by the name of your group (or an abbreviation) our example will be for PA Paranormal, so we use "PAPA" and then the name of the investigation, person doing the recording, and then (if there are multiple parts) P1, P2, or named parts LoudBang followed by the file type, for example .doc or .wav, etc.

This sounds more complicated than it really is. Here are examples of file names for an investigation done at Spooky House. Investigators are Phil and Rob, and they each did a few recordings on June 23, 2009

EXAMPLES

20090623PAPASpookyHousePhilPart1.wav (Phil's digital recorder, part 1)
20090623PAPASpookyHousePhilPart2.wav (Phil's digital recorder part 2)
20090623PAPASpookyHouseRobFloatingOrb.avi (Rob's video of an orb)
20090623PAPASpookyHouseRobPart1.wav (Rob's digital recording part 1)

This may seem like a lot of technical information and more typing than you'd like to do to name a file, but what it does is make it easy to find things that happened on the same date at the same place. The newest files will always be at the bottom of the folder you put them into. Long term, this will make things tremendously easier.

This same format, done for our minutes, would be something like:

20090603PAPAMinutes.doc

Or our treasurer's report:

20090603PAPATreasurerReport.doc

_______________________________________________________________

Special thanks to the University of Edinburgh's Records Management Section (http://www.recordsmanagement.ed.ac.uk) for providing the basis for this system, although I don't know if they developed it or 'borrowed' it, like I did.