About EVPs
An EVP, or electronic voice phenomena, are unexplained voices or audio captured on a recording device that isn’t audible to the human ear at the time of recording. It is theorized by those in the paranormal field that these are voices from the past or spirits that are trying to communicate with the present. EVPs have produced some of the greatest evidence captured of paranormal activity and have even been known to answer questions that have been asked allowed while recording. This method of gathering evidence is very useful to the paranormal researcher and can even be fun to the “weekend warrior” ghost hunter that TV shows such as Ghost Hunters have produced over the past few years. But what these TV shows do not tell you is that there are potential dangers associated with collecting, or even listening to, EVPs played back on any device. Remember that when dealing with anything of the paranormal there are “unknown” dangers. So, before you run off to play “ghost hunter” and attempt to capture EVPs, or before your interest peaks and you go surfing the web to listen to EVPs that other individuals have captured, there are a few potential risks you should be aware of.

The Dangers
Dangers of the paranormal are usually focused on things such as ouija boards, séances, scrying mirrors and other occult methods used to conjure up or manifest supernatural or evil spirits. Persons with in depth knowledge of the paranormal know that the dangers far exceed these methods. Even though the above mentioned methods are said to have a greater potential risk, there have been reports of the capturing or playing of EVPs inducing paranormal activity and even causing an increase in the activity in a location that is already experiencing it. They have also been known to manifest entities and activity that can become very undesirable. There isn’t, as with anything paranormal, 100% proof of this, but there are numerous personal reports to support this theory. 

Recommendations
Understand that playing these EVPs may even open up your life and home to such things which might be evil in nature. Regarding such theories, it needs to be understood that precautions need to be taken (and are not promised to be effective) before participating in any type of paranormal investigating or paranormal evidence review; even EVPs. First and foremost, it is a good idea that prior to pursuing any such interests; prepare yourself by praying or doing any such ritualistic activity to which your faith supports to protect you, your home and your family. It is a good idea to always wear a religious medallion or any protective icon you believe will keep these harmful spirits from attaching themselves to you and keep you safe. When listening for or playing back EVPs, please be sure to do so away from children, and to wear headphones or other listeneing devices that would prevent the EVP from being heard by them or surrounding entities if they are present, inviting them into your home.

Closing Words
Remember that dangerous and evil spirits do exist in the paranormal world and that your curiosity can make you a victim. It is better to leave the investigating to the professionals. If you or someone you know have been experiencing paranormal activity, call your local paranormal research team. There is sure to be one in or close to your area. Keep in mind that most reputable teams will offer their services to the public free of charge.

COPYRIGHT © 2009 Chance Lay – None of the content in this article may be reproduced without giving the author credit and linking back to the article.

Author: Unknown

More people are experiencing energy sensitivity as the presence of spiritual light strengthens on the Earth. As your body becomes more open to light, you are more affected by what is happening around you. Our physical world is composed of energy, and as greater light opens in our bodies, we become more capable of seeing, feeling and sensing what is happening at other levels of reality. Much of how you will experience energies is through your body, and through the experiences you have. Everyone has their own unique experiences, and so my examples may not be what you will feel, but are only for illustration purposes.

How we Experience Energy Sensitivity

You may also experience the energy in specific locations. Homes, places of business, streets, cities, towns and countries all carry a unique vibration, depending on who lives or work there, what they do and how they spend their time. The energy of a building can also be affected by the building materials used and the consciousness of those who created the space. You may also experience energies related to words and thoughts, and so the way you express yourself begins to change as you experience the impact of your word choices and of the thoughts you entertain. As you develop more sensitivity to energies, you may become aware of the energies carried within your clothing, bedding, and in your home and car. For example, you get out of the shower feeling great, but as soon as you put on that old, favorite sweater, you start feeling heavy, sick or uncomfortable. You take off the sweater, and you feel fine again.

Clothing, fabric and metals tend to accumulate more energies than other kinds of materials, and so you may find that you need to wash your clothing, bedding and jewelry more often as you become more sensitive. You may need to replace items that have become so saturated with energies that you no longer feel comfortable using them. If your purification process has been very accelerated, your body will change vibration many times. Each time you make a level shift, you will find yourself intuitively cleaning out your closet and rearranging your living space, to accommodate the new light that arrived. You may find that your 20 year old mattress is no longer a peaceful and comfortable resting place because it carries older energies that feel too dense for you now.

This experience can be challenging on many levels, including practically and financially. If your spiritual work includes a lot of intense, accelerated purification, it may be that you need to adapt your living or work spaces to accommodate these challenges.

Energy Sensitivity in Daily Life

You may begin to experience energies when you are communicating with people or near them physically. You may also sense the energy of a person through a telephone conversation, an e-mail exchange, or simply thinking about them. You may experience thoughts, feelings, images, or you may hear their voice or sense their presence. Another example; you may be feeling sad, upset or depressed, and you receive a phone call from a friend. You feel their love, and are uplifted. Your feelings of sadness decrease and you breathe a sign of relief.

• Ghosts of Anchor Bay
• The Ghost Hunters Guidebook
• Field Guide to Haunted Graveyards
• Strange Frequecies

A paranormal investigator’s primary role is to be a skeptic contrary to the label of ghost hunter we always hear. The objective of every investigation into claims of paranormal activity is actually centered on proving the activity is not paranormal. Only when all rational and scientific explanations have been eliminated will we declare a location as having paranormal activity.

– this process is called debunking.

Debunking is the act of disproving claims through the scientific method. Both during the on-site investigations and later while reviewing the collected evidence, we strive to find reasonable explanations for each claim.

These reasonable explanations can be determined through a careful examination of the environment surrounding the activity.

A common claim of paranormal activity is hearing unexplained voices, laughing, or talking while alone in a room. In order to debunk this claim, we search for rational causes. In some cases, we have found that sending an investigator into the area opposite the location and waiting to see if their voice carries into the room has reasonably proved the activity is not paranormal. It is simply the person experiencing another’s conversation without knowing they were there. We also research the buildings age, foundation, and material composition. This helps us determine whether the foundation itself is causing noises that may be interpreted as voices or whispers. Also, just using common sense, we check for the possibility of animals in and around the building (depending on the location, it could be a neighbors pet, a stray, or even birds or rodents). We have to consider this as a possibility and then determine whether these animals or the structure noises could be heard from where the person is experiencing the claims. Every scenario differs and requires the use of investigating techniques. Other claims have been debunked during our investigations through the simple act of finding explanations from the environment. Claims of cold spots or the sudden closing of a door are approached first by looking at the environment and finding possible causes for the activity. For instance, change in pressure or air flow could be caused through the intermittent start of the air conditioning. This event may create noises or a door to suddenly close.

In other events claimed to be paranormal, we look into claims that items fall from a shelf seemingly by themselves. We have been successful in debunking claims like these simply by duplicating possible causes such as bumping into the adjacent wall or examining the nearby appliances to see if they cause a vibration while operating.

Science has proven that high electro-magnetic fields (EMF) caused by electronics or exposed wiring can cause people to feel nauseated or to experience the sensation that they are being watched. It is through this rational and scientific evaluation that is responsible for debunking many misguided claims of paranormal activity.

Our skeptical examination of paranormal activity extends beyond the immediate environment into a detailed look at evidence collected from the investigation. During the time spent on-site, our investigators collect audio, photographic, and video evidence that is later scrutinized through the same debunking process to determine the validity of claims.

First, audio tracks are input into computer software and possible voices are isolated from the background noise. Then all possible sources for the voice are eliminated before claiming the voice as paranormal. We always preserve the original file structure and only filter so that we may hear better. All of our audio that we present to our client and to the public is unfiltered in order to uphold the validity of any evidence we do deem as paranormal.

Likewise, video and still photographs are scrutinized using computer software that allows investigators to view the evidence from many different perspectives. Each piece of visual evidence is viewed through various filters allowing for rational explanations such as lighting or reflections to come forward as the explanation other than paranormal. Although there have been many photos published to the web claiming to be paranormal, I can honestly say I have not laid eyes on more than ten that could not be attributed to something other than the paranormal. Most of the strange anomalies on photographs are actually common photographic errors.

When people experience an unexplained event they might jump to the irrational conclusion that it is paranormal. But usually it can be explained after investigators take a skeptical view of the environment and evidence gathered during an investigation. It is only after the claims have been processed with the goal of debunking them, that a location is then considered by SPARTA to have paranormal activity.

COPYRIGHT © 2009 Chance Lay – None of the content in this article may be reproduced without giving the author credit and linking back to the article.

Quartz and the Paranormal

Quartz is the second-most abundant mineral in the Earth’s continental crust. Citrine, Rose Quartz, Amythist, Smoky Quartz, and Milky Quartz are the most common forms of this mineral. Quartz is known to be found many other types of minerals but mostly Pyrite (Fool’s Gold). So what significance does quartz have in the field of the paranormal.

In the paranormal field there is a theory that areas with moderate to large amounts of quartz deposits are susceptible to hauntings and the quartz may actually be the cause of paranormal activity in that area. It is believed that minerals such as quartz can supposedly record moments in time in which there are large amounts of negative energy released during tragic events. In this theory the quartz interacts with the electromagnetic field while lithification is occuring and uses the negative energy released to encompass, or record, a particular event. Throughout time these recorded events are released repetatively causing what we consider in the paranormal field as a residual haunting. A residual haunting has no intelligence and is thought to have no intellegance or awareness of the current surroundings.

To learn more on quartz and the paranormal, you can visit these links:

http://paranormalstories.blogspot.com/2007/03/clear-quartz.html
http://www.liparanormalinvestigators.com/rocks.shtml

COPYRIGHT © 2009 Chance Lay – None of the content in this article may be reproduced without giving the author credit and linking back to the article.

Many people think the Ouija Board is just a game while others see it as a tool for divination. Some see it as a portal for demons. Using it isn’t without potential dangers, be it paranormal or psychological.

Ouija Board Dangers, Experts’ Warnings

Some psychiatric experts believe Ouija boards are portals that free demons from other dimensions to prey on humans.

Psychiatrist and parapsychologist Dr. Alberto Gonzalez of the Pan American Institute of Health believes demons exist and can possess people, causing nonviolent people to commit heinous crimes. This might happen when people use Ouija boards.

Dr. Marta Prohazka is convinced spirits can play frightening destructive games with human behavior. During her practice as a psychotherapist and psychoanalyst, she realized that many patients she considered paranoid schizophrenics might have been in touch with something invisible to her but discernible to them brought on by using a Ouija board.

Ouija Board Induced Hysteria

Police arrested seven people in El Cerrito, California after they used a Ouija board on March 7, 1920. One fifteen-year-old girl was found naked because she said it facilitated communicating with spirits. Later, the hysteria spread to others, including a police officer who shed his clothes and ran into a local bank. Officials brought in mental health professionals to examine the townspeople. To prevent future hysteria, Ouija boards were banned from town.

Ouija Board and Murder

In the 1930s, courts convicted Dorothea Turley and daughter Mattie of murder after the child killed her father with a shotgun. Fifteen year old Mattie testified how the Ouija, used by her mother, directed her to kill him.

The judge and jury determined the murder was more involved with a life insurance policy and Dorothea’s secret lover. She was sentenced to prison, while Mattie was sentenced to reform school. A higher court overturned Dorothea’s sentence three years after her incarceration. Mattie remained in reform school until she was twenty-one.

In 1935, seventy-seven year old Herbert Hurd of Kansas City told police he killed his wife, Nellie, because she received messages from the Ouija board claiming he had an affair and he had given his lover $15,000.

Nellie tortured Herbert by tying him to bedposts and whipping him. She burned him with a hot poker, stabbed his shins and forced a confession by holding a gun to his head. Herbert got the gun after Nellie left it on a nightstand. He grabbed the revolver and killed her. The court ruled the killing a justifiable homicide.

Carol Sue Elvaker of Minco, Oklahoma killed her son-in-law, then put her daughter and two grandchildren into a car and drove toward Tulsa. She slammed into a road sign trying to kill all of them. She managed to vault a median barrier, tear off her clothes and run naked into the forest with two broken ankles. Elvaker was charged with first-degree murder and found not guilty by reason of insanity.

Ouija Board and Demonic Possession

A Cottage City, Maryland boy began displaying bizarre behavior after he and his aunt used the Ouija in 1949. There were also paranormal phenomena. The Washington Post reported the strange incidents. The possessed boy was exorcised in St. Louis and was the inspiration for the book and movie The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty.

More can be found on the author HERE

Yes, you, the paranormal investigator is the most important piece of equipment in an investigation. All the technological equipment in the world won’t help a person who is a poor investigator and who doesn’t know how to use the equipment they have or is unable to analyze and interpret the data.

Remember, people have paranormal experiences. Without people, there are no experiences. Equipment can be used to detect, quantify, and qualify environmental anomalies at the time of a subjective paranormal experience, but they can’t tell you what that experience was to the people having it.

So, if you…

• Use your brain. Critical thinking skills are a “must have” in this line of work!

• Use your investigation skills

• Listen to what you are being told, who is telling you and how they are telling you.

• Use deductive reasoning to look for natural explanations for the phenomena experienced

• Analyze and interpret the data you collect properly

• Pay attention to your personal experiences and those around you

You will be the most important piece of equipment on an investigation.

COPYRIGHT © 2009 Chance Lay – None of the content in this article may be reproduced without giving the author credit and linking back to the article.

Are you afraid to tell your family and friends that you are interested in ghosts and conducting ghost investigations? Are you tired of psychologists and psychiatrists saying that every person who thinks they see a ghost needs therapy and drugs, or is on drugs? Are you tired of mainstream science saying there is no such thing as ghosts and they will never accept ghost research or parapsychology as a real science? That’s why it’s so important to maintain credibility in this type of subjective and uncertain field of research.

Of course, much of the criticism is deserved. There are many people and groups that call themselves ghost hunters or paranormal investigators that are an embarrassment to the field. They pick up one book on where the local haunted locations are, buy a cheap camera, maybe get an electromagnetic field (EMF) meter, pick up a flashlight then before becoming educated in the many aspects of paranormal research and investigation they are asked to take on a case and investigate a private residence. These ‘investigators’ show up, take a few pictures, wave their EMF meter around and claim there is a ghost. The evidence they claim to prove a ghost is present is a picture with an orb in it and one EMF spike near a fuse box in the basement. Now, they relay this to the homeowner who is now scared out of their mind because these ‘experts’ have concluded there is a ghost in the house.

Doesn’t sound very credible, does it? Well, it’s not and there are way too many people out there doing this. Now, don’t get me wrong, I realize that many of these people have very good intentions. The problem is that they are not educated enough in the paranormal field to have taken into consideration all of the possible natural causes for that picture and the EMF reading. Perhaps the orb was just a dust particle or pixilation from a cheap digital camera. The EMF spike could very well be from the fuse box itself. Did they interview the homeowners and other witnesses about the reported activity as to what was happening in the home? Did they know and use their equipment properly? Did they provide any useful information to the homeowner? So, how do we prevent this from happening and prove to people that we are serious and credible investigators?

Follow these simple steps for creating and maintaining credibility and you will be golden…

Believer vs. Science vs. Cynic
Keep an open mind or what we like to call healthy skepticism. We don’t believe everything nor discount all data that suggests paranormal activity. There is certainly no consensus on what a ghost is, but there is plenty of speculation. People certainly do have subjective paranormal experiences but what those experiences are and how they perceived them are certainly open to debate. Be willing to entertain the possibility that there is life after death. However, try to rule out every possible natural explanation first.

Scientific Methods
If you say you are science based, then use science. Science is not just using fancy electronic equipment and walking around taking thousands of photos. The hardcore skeptics have a field day with this. Being scientific involves much more and can be rather boring and dull at times. When trying to gain new knowledge of something, the scientific method or scientific process is basic to the investigation. You use observations and reasoning to develop possible explanations for the observed phenomena. This is called a hypothesis. Once the hypothesis is formed, you test predictions that come from the hypothesis by doing a variety of experiments. The experiments should be repeatable. Now, once the hypothesis has been confirmed repeatedly by experimentation and research, then it becomes a theory and new predictions are based upon it.

All aspects of the scientific method are subject to review by other researchers. Here is a general guideline to follow:

1.Define the question
2.Get information
3.Develop a hypothesis
4.Research/experiment/observe
5.Analyze the data
6.Interpret the data and draw some conclusions (which may lead to a new hypothesis)
7.Tell people about your results and let them analyze the data and try to replicate your results

Investigation Skills
You must have good investigation skills. This entails knowing how to interview people, knowing the right questions to ask, how to relate to people, how to know when someone might be stretching the truth, how to listen and paying attention to details. Another big attribute is patience. We have spent hundreds if not thousands of hours sitting and waiting for something to happen. Then you have to add in all of the time it takes to review the hours and hours of video footage, electronic voice phenomena (E.V.P.) recordings, environmental readings, and other data that you collected during the actual investigation. This may seem like a lot, but it isn’t really any different than what a police investigator or crime scene investigator does when working on a case.

Equipment Use
You have to know how to use the equipment, it’s limitations, how it works, what it measures, what the readings mean, and what types of natural things can give readings. Equipment should be used in conjunction with good investigative skills and witness testimony. The reason for this is there is no piece of equipment that is a certified ghost detector. Therefore, you can’t use equipment and it’s readings as proof of a ghost. There is data to which certain equipment readings have correlated with locations where people have experienced ghostly phenomena. This includes such things as transient ‘spikes’ in the electromagnetic field when an apparition is present, steady higher than normal background readings in the electromagnetic field in residual hauntings, drops and/or increases in the background radiation levels, and higher than normal positive ion counts. This is meaningful data, but only if you first rule out any natural things that can effect the equipment. The bottom line is that others will take you more seriously if you know how to use your equipment, know what it means, know what natural things can affect it, know it’s limitations, and know how to interpret the data.

Education
Be well versed in the literature. This includes ghost hunting, investigative skills, psychic/metaphysical, religious, environmental studies, psychology, perceptual psychology, anomalistic psychology, and parapsychology. Now you might be asking, why do I need to read about psychology and parapsychology? It may seem academic and boring but you will need to be aware of the theories, concepts, and terminology. It will also help you determine when someone is not having a paranormal experience and they are misinterpreting or misperceiving something. For example, it is a known fact in psychology that people who are under a lot of stress have a much lower tolerance for ambiguous situations and therefore tend to misinterpret things. On the other hand, if you are familiar with the parapsychological literature, you may think about a possible case of Recurrent Spontaneous Psychokinesis (RSPK) or what is typically called a poltergeist. Parapsychologists have determined that poltergeist activity is due to a living human agent that is under a lot of stress and they are releasing this stress subconsciously via RSPK. So, your knowledge of psychology and parapsychology would help you determine what might really be going on in the example above. I have found a variety of good materials in academic journals and books, magazines, and on the Internet.

Knowledge is power! It gives you the power to interpret and understand what might be going on and thereby make you very credible in what you do.

Client Care
Realize that if people call you to investigate their home or business they are probably looking for help. Of course it is good to collect all of your data and tell them what you found, but remember, nine times out of ten they are looking for help. They are looking for someone to explain what is going on, determine that they are not crazy, and/or make the situation go away.

Choosing Cases
The final thing you need to know in order to be credible is to know when to either not take a case or tell the client that you can’t help them and it might be better to talk with a qualified professional such as a doctor or counselor.

There are two main reasons that you may have to do this. The first one is that there is certainly the possibility that people are not experiencing anything paranormal and that they may have a mental disorder or another medical condition. Unless you are a licensed doctor or counselor, do not try to help this person. Besides, that sort of activity is illegal. This is both for their best interests and yours. It is also for your safety. People with mental problems can pose serious physical, mental and legal risks to you. The second situation in which you might suggest that they seek help is when there is paranormal activity in the home. People who see an apparition or experience a residual haunting are scared! The unknown can deeply affect people and when you can’t understand something you become afraid and the fear can lead to stress. Another paranormal situation would be that of RSPK. Parapsychologists believe that RSPK is due to stress and that stress is being released subconsciously via RSPK. Both of these examples show that people may need the help of a qualified individual in order to deal with their stress and fear. The hard part is finding a professional in the medical field that won’t immediately label them as “nuts” and start them on all kinds of medication. It is helpful to try to find someone who, at least, has a working knowledge of parapsychology and psychic phenomena. We have been able to get some good people to refer these folks to from the Parapsychology Foundation and the American Society for Psychical Research. If you don’t try to pretend that you are something that you are not and therefore don’t get in over your head, you have truly helped someone and maintained your much-deserved credibility.

You hear heavy footsteps in the upstairs hallway when you know no one is up there. Doors slam unaccountably. Commonly used items disappear and reappear without cause. The kitchen light turns on by itself. There’s the unmistakable scent of a strange perfume in the air.

These may be indications that your house is haunted. True hauntings are rare occurrences, and it may be difficult to determine whether or not any strange phenomena you are experiencing in your home might be due to a haunting. For one thing, no one really knows what a “real” haunting is – what causes it or why it starts. There are many theories, of course. But if you think your house may really be haunted, what can you do about it?

The Signs of a Haunting

The first step is to determine, as best you can, whether or not you truly have a legitimate case of a haunting. Not all hauntings are alike, and they may exhibit a variety of phenomena. Some hauntings feature a single phenomenon – such as a particular door slamming shut that occurs repeatedly – while others consist of many different phenomena, ranging from odd noises to full-blown apparitions.

Here’s a partial list of phenomena that might indicate that your house is haunted:

• Unexplained noises – footsteps; knocks, banging, rapping; scratching sounds; sounds of something being dropped. Sometimes these noises can be subtle and other times they can be quite loud.
• Doors, cabinets and cupboards opening and closing – most often, these phenomena are not seen directly. The experiencer either hears the distinct sounds of the doors opening and closing (homeowners get to know quite well the distinctive sounds their houses make) or the experiencer will return to a room to find a door open or closed when they are certain that it was left in the opposite position. Sometimes furniture, like kitchen chairs, are perceived to have been moved. Very rarely will the experiencer actually witness the phenomenon taking place.
• Lights turning off and on – likewise, these events are seldom seen actually occurring, but the lights are switched on or off when the experiencer knows they were not left that way. This can also happen with TVs, radios and other electrically powered items.
• Items disappearing and reappearing – this phenomenon, which we have dubbed “the DOPler Effect” (DOP = Disappearing Object Phenomenon), has been examined in the article “The DOPler Effect.” Others have called this “the borrowers” phenomenon, and it’s the familiar experience of not being able to find a regularly used item – say, your set of car keys – which you believe you placed in a spot you routinely place them. But they’re gone and you look high and low for them with no success. Some time later, the keys are found – in exactly the place you normally put them. It’s as if the object was borrowed by someone or something for a short time, then returned. Sometimes they are not returned for days or even weeks, but when they are, it’s in an obvious place that could not have been missed by even a casual search.
• Unexplained shadows – the sighting of fleeting shapes and shadows, usually seen out of the corner of the eye. This phenomenon has also been referred to as “Shadow People.” Many times, the shadows have vaguely human forms, while other times they are less distinguishable or smaller.
• Strange animal behavior – a dog, cat or other pet behaves strangely. Dogs may bark at something unseen, cower without apparent reason or refuse to enter a room they normally do. Cats may seem to be “watching” something cross a room. Animals have sharper senses than humans, and many researchers think their psychic abilities might be more finely tuned also.
• Feelings of being watched – this is not an uncommon feeling and can be attributed to many things, but it could have a paranormal source if the feeling consistently occurs in a particular part of the house at a particular time.

Those are some of the most common experiences of those who think their houses are haunted. Yet even stranger things can happen…

Stronger Evidence

The following phenomena are more rare, but could be stronger evidence of a haunting:

• Mild psychokinetic phenomena – hearing a door open or close is one thing. Actually seeing it happen is quite another. Similarly, actually seeing a light go on or off by itself is greater proof that something unexplained is happening. Do you see the TV or radio turn on? Or perhaps you’re present when a child’s powered toy begins to operate on its own. Doors and windows are locked or unlocked. Some people report that when they

are in bed they can feel and/or hear something sitting on the bed.

Rarer still are more extreme phenomena, some of which have been called poltergeist phenomena, and can be quite strong evidence of a true haunting:

• Moving or levitating objects (severe psychokinetic phenomena) – dinner plates sliding across the table; pictures flying off walls; doors slamming shut with great force; furniture sliding across the floor.
• Physical assault – scratches, slaps and hard shoves. This kind of personal assault is extremely rare, but obviously highly disturbing.
• Other physical evidence – unexplained writing on paper or walls; handprints and footprints.
• Apparitions – physical manifestation of a spirit or entity. These phenomena are also very rare and can take many forms: human-shaped mists or forming mists of some indistinguishable shape; transparent human forms that disappear quickly; and most rarely, human forms that look as real and solid as any living person, but that disappear into a room or even while being viewed.

Rule Out Rational Explanations

A person who has experienced some of these phenomena might have cause to believe that his or her house is haunted. But maybe not. In fact, according to most experts, probably not. The human mind and human senses (as any magician will tell you) are easily fooled. And people can often mistake explainable (if unusual) occurrences in their homes for the paranormal.

Before you decide there’s a ghost in your house or move out from fear, do your best to find

rational explanations for what you are experiencing. Virtually all of the phenomena listed on the previous page could have perfectly natural causes:

• noises could be house settling, plumbing or even vermin such as mice and squirrels
• opening and closing doors could be faulty hinges or caused by drafts
• DOPler phenomena could just be carelessness and forgetfulness
• shadows could be just that – shadows caused, perhaps, by a passing car’s headlights
• as real as some of these things might seem to you, they really could be just products of your imagination

Of course, the more extreme the phenomena, the harder they are to dismiss. And, as noted above, if multiple witnesses experience the same phenomena, they are likely to be taken more seriously.

Get help in finding rational explanations for the phenomena. A plumber might help you find the cause of that banging. A carpenter can fix that door from closing on its own. A friend or neighbor might be able to look at your particular experience in a different way and offer a reasonable explanation for your “haunting” that you might not have though of. In short, make every possible effort to prove that your house is not haunted.

Keep A Journal

If you feel you have ruled out rational explanations for the phenomena that are taking place in your house, and they are still occurring on a more or less regular basis, document them. Keep a journal of the phenomena as they happen. For example:

• June 2, 2002; 10:30 p.m. – Was sitting watch TV when the bathroom light switched on by itself. Went in and turned it off again.
• June 10, 2002; 9:14 p.m. – Was in the kitchen and heard the footsteps crossing the upstairs hallway again. No one was up there. Went up to investigate and could find no cause.

A journal such as this could help with any formal investigation of the phenomena by experts.

If you hear unexplained noises, attempt to record them with a portable tape recorder. If there are physical phenomena of any kind, photograph or videotape them. Keep your journal, recording and camera equipment readily available so you can document the phenomena as it happens.

Call the Experts

When should you call a paranormal investigator? Only when you have ruled out any rational explanations for the phenomena you are experiencing and are thoroughly convinced that your house is truly haunted should you contact the experts. Of course, if the phenomena are extreme and you feel that you and your family are in any kind of physical or psychological danger, you should call for help right away.

Who are the experts? There are hundreds of paranormal investigation organizations across the U.S. and Canada, although I cannot vouch for the expertise of any of them. Most certainly, they vary in expertise and in the degree of their practical experience, so you should be careful in your choice.

Despite whatever strangeness you are experiencing, your house may not even be haunted. But if it is, perhaps it is a benign spirit or phenomenon that you can live with. Usually, it is something you need not fear.