Evidence: The Key to a Paranormal Investigation

                                                               Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash

When I first became interested in the Paranormal I read every book and website I could find on the topic. Even though I am not big on reading, I could finish an entire book in two days. I just couldn’t get enough information to quench my desire for knowledge on the subject.
During a visit to my local library I came across a book that I thought was about ghosts and the paranormal. The title was very deceiving. I took it home anyways not really knowing what it was about.

As I read through the book I began to realize that the intent of the author was to discredit the paranormal. He wasn’t interested in entertaining the idea that it was possible that ghosts actually existed. He also wasn’t interested in attempting to capture any evidence to establish any kind of claim or attempt to use that evidence to debunk it. He would simply visit a location that was reported to be haunted, walk around for a couple of hours, and if a ghost didn’t jump out at him and say, “Boo!,” that location wasn’t haunted. By the end of the book, the author came to the conclusion that there were no haunted locations, just “haunted” people. In other words, those that believe are making it up. I will never get the two days back that I spent reading that book!

Today, there are tons of paranormal shows on TV and the internet. A majority of the shows collect evidence during their investigation, but some don’t. Some are based solely on one persons "special abilities" to detect if a location is haunted or not. Not one bit of evidence is collected to support their claims.

One such show, which I will refrain from mentioning the name, involves an individual going to different locations and telling the owner what they sense. It’s usually a demonic entity, which drives me nuts! I will save my disdain for those that believe demonic entities are hiding around every corner for another blog.

I have watched this show several times. If I don’t know someone or if I can’t point to any evidence that can back their claims, I am a little skeptical of their “abilities.” A famous politician once said, “trust, but verify.” I always refer back to that statement in cases where I find myself a little skeptical.

So, several of the episodes involved locations I have never been. Since I have never been there and I don’t know the history of the location, I remained skeptical, but had nothing to go off of. One episode involved a location that I knew very well! They went to the Amargosa Hotel and Opera House in Death Valley Junction, California. I had investigated and researched the heck out of that location.

After spending some time walking around, the star of the show sat down  with the caretakers of the hotel and explained what they felt was happening at the hotel. Everything they talked about was the same information that was common knowledge and you could find on every website about the history of the hotel or legends that had been passed around throughout the years. Some kind of evidence would have been nice to back up their claims. Without evidence, they were simply repeating the stories they have heard and these stories were not based off of any kind of physical proof.
Our team basis our investigations off of physical evidence, pictures/video/audio. We need something physical to present to the client so that they can see or hear for themselves that there is possibly something there. Without that physical evidence, we just have personal experiences that can’t be backed up.

I am sure many would say to themselves, yes, but evidence can be faked so what does it really matter? That is true and all you have to do is look at social media and you can find many instances where people put out fake videos, pictures, or audio in order to go “viral” and gain interest. Apps have also been created where you can insert a picture of a “ghost” into any picture to try and fool people to think that a picture of something paranormal was captured.
For those of us investigators who have reviewed 100s of hours of video and audio and 100s of pictures taken during an investigation, spotting a fake is rather easy. We take spotting fakes seriously. Every fake that comes out damages any credibility real investigators have and makes a mockery of the work that we do.

There is no way that we, as investigators, can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that our evidence is paranormal. There is no method to prove it. Most of what we go off of is based on theories by those that came before us. It would be wonderful if we had scientific proof that our evidence was paranormal. That is why we try to caveat our evidence as "possible" or "probable" when we refer to it. If all other reasonable explanations for what that evidence can be is debunked, then there is a good case to be made that it is probable that we have captured paranormal evidence. How else can one explain capturing a voice on audio that doesn’t match anyone that was present in an area or capturing a voice in an area where no one else was present?

Even though we can’t prove the evidence is 100% paranormal there are ways that we can verify the integrity of our video, photographic, and audio evidence. There are specialists in these fields that can review the evidence and certify that the evidence hasn’t been altered in any way. While this is a good method, it’s not always practical to send out every bit of evidence for every investigation to be verified.

Video, Audio, and photographic evidence is the key to a paranormal investigation. While personal experiences like seeing or having a direct encounter, sensing the presence of something paranormal, and the ability to communicate with ghosts is great, it doesn’t provide a client with the possible proof they are seeking unless something they can hear or see can be presented with the personal experience.

Watching a clients face during a review of evidence says it all. We can talk for hours about our personal experiences and you can tell that a client just isn’t as impressed. When we play a class A EVP for a client, the excitement that they have been validated is obvious. We have even had clients invite their neighbors over to listen to our evidence because they are so excited. It’s this reaction that proves that this form of evidence is the key to a paranormal investigation.

A Hazard of being a Paranormal Investigator

  Paranormal investigating is a hazardous hobby. Wondering around in dark homes, dilapidated buildings, or buildings being renovated can lead to bumps, bruises, cuts, and more serious injuries. All those things can be prevented if you are safe, cautious, and watch out for each other. There is another hazard of investigating. That hazard is attachments. Attachments are when the energy or spirit of a dead person/entity “attaches” to someone and usually shows up at home.

  Ask any paranormal investigator about attachments and they will probably tell you stories about the activity in their own homes. Attachments are an unintended consequence of paranormal investigating. It seems even if you take precautions by saying prayers before investigations or do smudging afterwords, they will sometimes find a way to come home with you.

  I have had strange activity going on in every single house I have lived in since I started investigating. Over my ten years of investigating, I have lived in seven different homes in four states. I always think that when I move, I can just verbally demand that whatever is there stays behind. It never does. Once we get settled into our new home, the activity starts right up again.

  One would probably think that since I am a paranormal investigator and experienced a lot of crazy stuff that activity in my own home wouldn’t really bother me, but it does. It does a lot! It’s one thing to go into someone else’s house, have some experiences, and then go home. It’s something completely different being woke up in the middle of the night by something you can’t see! I guess the only benefit of this is that I am able to understand exactly what our clients are going through.

  The activity started after I conducted my first couple of investigations. It was subtle at first. I would hear footsteps in the house, noises around my bedroom at night that couldn’t be explained, and a general feeling of being watched. Over the years, and during certain periods, the activity has increased. In the last ten years since this all began, I have heard voices of women and children, been poked in the back while I am going to sleep, heard knocking on the walls, and had drawers and other things open and close at night. The activity only happens in the bedroom and only takes place once the lights go out and I am trying to go to sleep.

  After every night of increased activity, I share with my wife what happened. She always thinks it’s just my imagination, even though I see her wake up and react to whatever is going on. She already thinks I am crazy enough going out looking for ghosts. Lately I have been able to get her to take it more seriously. One night I was working a night shift and she was in bed reading. She started feeling like something was moving around at the end of our bed. Thinking it was the cat, she looked down and saw nothing was there. As she stared at the end of the bed, she could see the sheets moving. A couple of minutes later a blanket we had at the end of the bed moved about four inches, while she was watching it. She believes me now!

  The activity continues no matter what I do. When it picks up, I just tell it to knock it off. Well, I sometimes use a little bit harsher language than that! If it is really causing me problems with getting sleep I will use some sage and try out a prayer of protection or removal. It usually helps for a little while, but than it’s back again.

  One common thing we hear on every investigation is the client saying that they don’t want us to think they are crazy or they want us to help prove that they aren’t crazy. My response to them is that we don’t think they are crazy at all and that they should come check out my house! There isn’t a person on our team that doesn’t have some kind of activity going on in their house. At this point, I would think it would be strange if they didn’t!

  So, if you are an investigator, thinking about being one, or you just like to visit places that are reported to be haunted, be careful out there and at least try and take some precautions to protect yourself before you go! You may be bringing home more than memories from your investigation or visit.

Tech Review: Ovilus 5b

The Ovilus 5b

A tech review by ALPS investigator Jennifer Furgerson

There have been many types of Ovilus' made over the years since it made its on screen appearance on the television show Paranormal State in the year 2008.

 It was created by Digital Dowsing.

Blow are some examples of the most popular models:

The most resent in the line of Ovilus' is the Ovilus 5b:

This device has a dictionary mode just like the others that came before. It has an easy to find on off switch and is rechargeable. Both nice features in any device used in the field for paranormal investigations. Just like the Ovilus 4 the voices sound real compared to the robotic voices of past models. The model 5b has the same modes as the 4: Dictionary, Draw, True/False, Phonetic, Proximity, Energy and Motion. The Ovilus 4 is 12 x 10 x 6.5 in and 3.75lbs and the Ovilus 5b is 7 x 5 x 3 in and 0.6875lbs. This makes the most recent model lighter and easier to stand upright on is own. With a touch screen on one side, the speaker, the rest of the features remain the same except two. The Ovilus 5b is rechargeable (as I mentioned before) and has on internal SD memory card (no need to remove the card, just plug the device into your PC) and this will allow you to download the dictionary log from a session before you clear the memory of what was said in dictionary mode (it will not wipe the dictionary that was programmed into the device).

The Ovilus 5b Mode Review:

Dictionary ~ (most used) the words are clear in female and male, and clear in English and Spanish. Best results come not holding the device as where holding it tends to feed off of our personal naturally occurring energies.

Draw ~ (still testing) tends to lend to the pareidolia effect (when you brain tries to make seance of the shapes it sees in order to form a picture). the lines being drawn can be adjusted in the settings to move faster, draw bigger, draw smaller...yet it is all done through pixilation. 

Energy ~ (still testing) it works similar to that of an oscilloscope ( an instrument in which the variations in a fluctuating electrical quantity appear temporarily as a visible wave form on a display screen). best when not held.

Motion ~ (used on occasion) this simply picks up vibrations. best used when not held. 

Phonetic ~ (used on occasion) parts of speech to be used to help form whole words, but using it while being held works great to generate random white noise. for better results to spit out whole words, let the device be placed on a flat hard surface. 

True/False ~ (hardly used) hard to tell if it is feeding off of naturally occurring static or an entity. results have been too random to be used for any feedback as actual answers.

Proximity ~ (still testing) responds to static and emf fields that are generated around the device. looking for spikes in its sonar like display.

My Total Review:

The Ovilus 5b, when used correctly can be an effective paranormal investigation tool. Where I do prefer to use the Dictionary mode the most, I have learned that once it is turned on, one must let it sit for a couple of minutes due to the device responding randomly. Patience is required when using this device. Rushing or assuming answers from the device, and/or any mode will lead to false positive conclusions. I recommend the use of the Ovilus 5b, like any other Ovilus, to not be the only device used to gather information during a paranormal investigation. The length of time to be used during an investigation will depend on the investigator. I have been using it between 15 and 30 mins, but no more than an hour in any one mode. When switching modes, allow the device to sit for another minute and try not to touch any part of the Ovilus unless you need to reset or turn it off. This device is not cheep by any means, so I do not recommend going out to buy one unless you have researched the device yourself, listen to many reviews, and if you are lucky enough to be able to use one before buying. My point: learn about the gear you tend to use before you buy. Not all paranormal equipment is for everyone. For me, I tend to like gadgets and love to test them in the paranormal field. 

I give the Ovilus 5b... a complete thumbs up!

Check out Digital Dowsing website for more information

Digital Dowsing

The Queen Is Elegant

When you are an enthusiast for paranormal places and happen to be visiting Southern California, pretty much the main hotspot you will find in any online search is the Queen Mary- a luxury ship that has been docked in Long Beach for decades. Now a hotel and museum with classy rooms, timeless hallways, and so many exhibits to see, there is plenty of room to get lost and find yourself... or something else.
Music from an older era plays in the lobbies, helping to lend an antique feel to the environment. Stairways and corridors go on for hours, and one can easily find themselves in places they did not expect.

Some of us leave with fantastic experiences to store in the memory banks. Others leave in the middle of the night.




The lights of Long Beach are incredible from the bow. There is plenty on the surface to discover.  Preserved quarters of the captain and his mates, along with old communication rooms can be found in random places along the deck. There are perfect locations to watch sunset, smell a cool ocean breeze, and see where past ceremonies have occurred- such as this pavilion near the rear of the ship.

But upon further searching, I found that the room in which I had the least interest became the spot where I felt the most overwhelming energy.
A sense of fear pervaded my mind and body the moment I stepped into that darkness. A dim, greenish light shined in water down below where you could see the large propeller at rest. Around it were coins and floating dollar bills, as if people considered the room to be a wishing well. Perhaps it was my phobia of enclosed areas filled with water, or perhaps the stories of men who died in the propeller's grinding twist are not legends after all.
The moment I went around to the next entryway and exited back into the museum, I felt immediate relief.

Although the entire ship is said to be haunted in one way or another, the area where most evidence has been recorded would be the first class pool- said by some to be a gateway for entities. Now off limits for safety reasons, it was saddening to not be granted access and witness this area in all its eerie glory. The pool is currently under renovations to be returned to its original state and may open some time in the next year. Fingers crossed.
In the meantime, all we have to indulge our fascination is the locked doors leading inside.

I explored all night and could not decide if I should be happy or worried that people seemed to disappear after 1AM. When I finally did retire to the room I woke up hours later in one of the most chilling cold spells I have ever suffered. My travel companion had to wrap around me to stop the shivering, and even she became frozen trying to warm me.

What an amazing feeling when it subsided.

The next day we were allowed access to the infamous B340- a room surrounded by rumors and no shortage of paranormal tales involving death, poltergeist tampering, and activity so prominent that guests are no longer privileged to stay. We found a gutted, empty room. And we were not allowed to hang around long.

The paranormal tour was intriguing. It included the tale of a security guard who still works his shift there, even after a small child held up its arms then walked right through him.  The tour guide also mentioned ghosts in a front lobby area, the aforementioned propeller room, and the spirit of a man who was crushed in the engine room #13 door.

  It wasn't just the comfy accommodations and their cool portholes that allowed me to leave smiling the next day. It was not the surreal experience of a place that has long been on my bucket list. It was the thought and further realization of this strange world that, many times, the most elegant and gorgeous places also have plenty of ghosts to hide.

Have you visited the Queen Mary? We'd love to hear your experience.  Comment below to tell us all about it....

Nyctophobia: A Paranormal Investigator's Worst Nightmare

 

Nyctophobia is a fear of extreme darkness or extreme fear of the dark. Normally this is a fear that one may find associated with a child. The child grows up and the fear disappears. Not in my case. It followed me into my adulthood. My name is Jennifer Furgerson and I have Nyctophobia.

Symptoms of Nyctophobia

"If you have a phobia of the dark, you are likely to become nervous in any darkened environment. You may sleep with a nightlight. You might be reluctant to go out at night. You will likely experience an increased heart rate, sweat, shake and even feel ill when forced to spend time in the dark. If your nyctophobia is severe, you may attempt to run away from dark rooms and avoid being outside at night. You might become angry or defensive if anyone tries to encourage you to spend time in the dark."

about phobias (Nyctophobia)

I am uncertain of when my fear actually started. Most fears are created from an event or an object. I can only assume that somewhere in my past I had a traumatic experience being in total darkness. I must have been forced into total darkness. I am now 38 and I deal with this every night and any place I go that is completely void of light. So why am I a paranormal investigator? One would think that I would never seek this line of work and stay in the light as much as possible, and yet, I have been doing quiet the opposite. I take cave tours, and I star gaze. I joined a paranormal team. 

Nyctophobia can be mind paralyzing. My mind races, and attempts to make sense of what it cannot see. My mind blanks of any rational thought, my heart starts to beat rapidly, and I begin to panic. I tell myself, "nothing is there which is not there in the light", but my brain plays tricks, and my ears become more sensitive to the sounds they may hear. At times I feel helpless and alone. I kept my fear to myself for many years always afraid to tell anyone why I may freak out, or not be comfortable in a darkened room. 

When I first joined ALPS, I made it quite clear that I had Nyctophobia. I figured it was not the time to be shy about it. Each member since I have joined have been more than understanding with my fear. The first time we were on the USS Hornet and my fear reared its ugly head to my fellow teammates. We were in a part of the ship in which the only light came from the flashlights. We decided that we would go dark (all lights off) and sit in the silence before conducting an EVP session. I stood with my back against the cold metal wall. I thought, "I can handle this, its just the dark, and my team is near by". Instead, my mind began to close down, and the panic began. I felt paralyzed and venerable. No one until that time had any idea how bad my Nyctophobia was. Thankfully teammate Anna was near me and was able to talk my mind into logical sense of thinking. I remember thinking, "someone understands, and I can get through this."

 There were a few other places that I thought my fear would get to me, and I thought I would not be able to do my job as a paranormal investigator. In Tonopah, Nevada I had my teammate Jim next to me while we were sitting on a cold wooden floor. In this case there was more light, but it was dim and inconsistent. At times I had trouble discerning pitch black with the light dimming in and out. I thought for sure my Nyctophobia was about to play tricks on me, until Jim said he saw what I was seeing. Poor Jim, I was gripping his arm so tight I had thought I may have tugged it right off. 

I am not afraid to be in a haunted location. I am certainly not afraid of the ghosts that may reside there. What I am afraid of is not knowing what else could be in a vast amount of darkness. After getting back from Tonopah, I decided that I need to rid myself of this fear and asked the help of my teammates. I no longer wanted this fear to control me. 

Over the two years that I have been with ALPS I have a better grasp on my Nyctophobia. Its slowly getting easier. I even find myself laughing instead of being pinned in fear. I started out making sure I had night vision with me no matter where we went. Yet, as it was recently pointed out, that I have not had it with me on the last few places our team had been. I also used to keep my flash light on, but covered in my hands. This gave me a sense of comfort. This too has changed, the flashlight is still with me, but off and in my pocket. Over time I have had help from all my teammates. I used to have to be right next to one of my teammates, but now if they are within hearing distance, I know they are not far away. They have become my other sense of comfort. 

Nyctophobia is a fear that I plan to conquer, and I know it will take time. Looking back at how far I have come, and how silly I may have seem to those who had no idea I held such a fear in my mind, makes me realize that this fear is just that, a fear to shed from my mind.

So what's my next step? Eventually I would like to be able to be in a dark (void of light) alone and to be able to either be the first in or the last out of a dark place we have been investigating. By forcing myself into this darkness, I have already taken the step in attempting to control my fear.

For those wanting to now more about Nyctophobia please feel free to check out the links below.

 Wikipedia on Nyctophobia

 Nyctophobia and sleep

 Fear of the Dark

 more on Nyctophobia

 



The MEL Meter: An EMF Detector with a Touching Story

I was first introduced to the MEL Meter when I was a relatively new investigator with my first paranormal group, Vegas Valley Paranormal, in Las Vegas Nevada. Our founder and director, Barrie Berry, had just purchased a new piece of equipment and he was eager to share his new purchase with me. Barrie was always eager to share his new equipment with me which helped me learn and grow as an investigator.

At the time, my knowledge on EMF (Electro Magnetic Field) detectors was rather limited. My first EMF detector was a cheap $20 “ghost detector.” It was simple and I didn’t really know, at the time, that it was not really that useful. It was one of my first pieces of equipment and it made me feel like a real investigator.

Barrie also had a K2 meter that I used from time to time. Compared to my “ghost detector” I thought the K2 was high tech. Maybe it was the instant satisfaction I got when the meter lit up when it came into contact with any source of EMF.

What I didn’t know at the time, and didn’t find out until much later, was that the K2 is very unreliable when it comes to determining the difference between natural EMF and something that may be paranormal. Don’t get me wrong, The K2 can be useful during an investigation, it’s just not the most reliable EMF detector on the market.

So, we are on an investigation and Barrie hands me this new device that he just bought. I had never seen anything like it. Barrie explains to me how to use it and what it does. It measures EMF and display the value on the screen. It also measures the temperature and can detect minor amounts of vibration where ever it is placed. My mind is blown! Wow, this thing can do all that? Oh, and unlike the K2, the Mel Meter can filter out things like appliances giving you a much better confidence in a reading being natural or unexplained.

I fell in love with the MEL Meter on the spot! Any time we did an investigation it was the first piece of equipment I would grab out of Barrie’s equipment box. It was my favorite piece of equipment and still is today.

I didn’t find out until many years later that my favorite piece of equipment and what I consider one of the most innovative pieces of paranormal equipment, had a story behind it that was incredibly touching and made me love it even more. It’s a little known story that many in the paranormal world don’t really know.

The MEL Meter is the creation of Gary Galka, an electrical engineer from Granby, Conn. Gary wasn’t a paranormal investigator. Actually, he had nothing to do at all with the paranormal, but his creation, was truly a labor of love.

Gary had a nickname for his daughter, Melissa. He always called her “Mel.” One night Melissa was driving home, around midnight, and for an unknown reason she swerved off the road and hit a tree. She sustained horrible injuries which left her on life support for four days. Melissa was eventually taken off life support and passed away, the worst nightmare for any father.

Shortly after Melissa’s passing, Gary and his family began to experience strange activity in his home. The TV, radio, and lights would come on by themselves and then turn off. TV channels would mysteriously change as well. The family could even smell the perfume that she would wear. They believed that Melissa was reaching out to them in order to help them heal.

Six months after Melissa’s passing, Gary and his wife began to reach out to other families who had lost loved ones in the form of grief counseling. Gary also began to research the paranormal to try and better understand what he and his family were experiencing.

After reading books and watching paranormal TV shows, it became apparent to Gary that investigators were using mainstream devices that were intended for totally different purposes. Gary wanted to create something that was designed specifically for paranormal research.

So, using his 30 years of experience as an electrical engineer, Gary created the very first Mel Meter. He call it the Mel-8704. “Mel”, of course was for his daughters nickname, 87 was the year that she was born, and 04 was the year that she died.

Not only did Gary create a device to, “give the paranormal community a push forward,” he also created a way to further help grieving families. A majority of the proceeds from the sales of his Mel Meters are donated to grief support charities. 

The Mel Meter has morphed into several different variations. Today’s versions include shadow detection, hot /cold spot alarm, and one version even creates its own electro-magnetic field which is believed to help develop paranormal activity. 

The next time you are out on an investigation and you pick up your Mel Meter, remember how a father’s love for his daughter helped improve how we investigate.