From Our Viewpoint The January NewsJournal was completed nearly a month early in order to make time for a busy media schedule and increased new member activity in December. In fact we considered this “Viewpoint” to be finished, but here we are near the end of December and so much has happened in the last few weeks that we decided that we needed to use the “Viewpoint” as an update. In December, Universal asked us to prepare to be on the Maury Povich show, to be pre-recorded in New York City. When the producer called to talk to us, we found ourselves discussing the wonderful messages that several members have been receiving from their children, now on the other side. You can imagine our excitement when the producer asked if Martha Copeland and Karen Mossey might also be interviewed for a show. As it turned out, Martha and Karen were instrumental in making the show interesting and what we thing will be a big success. The show airs January 7, the day the White Noise movie is released. Thank you Martha and Karen for “dropping everything” to fly to New York and participate. Universal had finally arranged a screening of the movie for us while we were to be in New York. We did not have to sit through it alone, because Martha and her husband, Don, as well as Karen and her friend Maureen Wood, were able to join us before heading to the airport. As we exited everyone said they thought it was a good thriller. We were not sure what to think of the movie, as we were concentrating on what they were showing as EVP and how we would answer question about the movie from reporters. Our next stop was Los Angeles for two days of meetings with the media, and we knew that we would be asked about our reactions to the movie. Although the movie began with a fair representation of EVP, it quickly moved to showing motion Video ITC rather than EVP. Michael Keaton’s character uses a video recorder to record white noise video and audio generated by a computer program. The movie leads one to believe that messing around with this kind of communication is dangerous and life threatening. Even though we had been told the plot, we had hoped for something a little more uplifting. The movie is very scary but most who have seen it tell us that it is thought provoking. We hope that the public will be able to separate the “scary fiction” from the “reality.” The next morning, we were on a flight to Los Angeles to talk to members of the US media and then the International media about EVP and the movie. The meetings were called press junkets and experiencing them was quite a shock for both of us. The first session of the morning was called a radio round table. We were ushered into a room that held a large round table with nine or ten people sitting at it, waiting for our arrival. We were seated in front of at least ten microphones. After being introduced, everyone began asking questions at once, hoping to get their question about EVP answered. Our chaperon with Universal seemed pleased and surprised about the intense interest that this group had shown in EVP. We were later told that all of the people we would meet that day and the next, attended the press junkets every week for whatever was the next movie. Thus, it was something of a surprise for our handlers that they were so enthusiastic with us. Next stop, a room with a couple of high directors chairs, cameras and studio lighting. The first interviewers were allowed fifteen minutes to ask us questions. We remember shacking hands and hearing the names CBS, Access Hollywood, Entertainment Tonight, E! and others. Most Interviewers were very excited about the movie and very interested in EVP. Somewhere during those first four interviews it hit us. They had Michael Keaton in another room doing the same thing. EVP was as big of a celebrity as Michael. We really had not realized what we had agreed to and were in a state of shock at the idea that some of the video being made of us might show up on TV, along with portions of Michael’s interviews. The fifteen minute interviews were followed by over an hour of five minutes sessions—each reporter leaving with a “thank you” to us and a copy of the video. Many of these people told us that they had covered their eyes during the film or pulled their shirt over there head during parts of the movie. They seemed to love being scarred! Many wanted to know how to record EVP and others said they were too scared to try. With each one, we tried to explain that what the movie showed was more difficult to obtain than straight EVP while also explaining what EVP was and how to record the voices. We also found ourselves reiterating that White Noise was a movie and fantasy and that EVP was not at all frightening. As we write this, we think about how we can be made, through the magic of editing, to look like we are saying it is scary! That afternoon, we were also interviewed by Tracie Austin for her show, Let’s Talk … Paranormal. We had been on her show before and were happy to see that she was being included in the media day. The next day was the same but with members of the International media. We were able to tell them about groups in their own countries and they were surprised to hear about these groups. During both days, we cannot remember a single person saying that he or she had previously known about EVP, so we were pleased to know that each member of the media also left with our book. When not participating in the press junket, we were frantically trying to take care of the AA-EVP email. Television ads had begun giving out the AA-EVP website and we could tell by the increase in email. As we write this, the website is getting between 8,000 and 12,500 hits a day and the TV blitz hasn’t even begun. The Canadian distribution company told us that the Canadian magazine, Elle, has ranked White Noise as one of the top three movies to see. We might have a tiger by the tail here. There are not enough funds for secretarial help and so we have placed a note on the web page that email may not be answered and it does look like it is going to be impossible to answer all of the requests for information. We are concentrating on supporting you, who are already members, and answering messages from people who have lost loved ones to the Other Side. The AA-EVP has seen an increase of over seventy members in the past two and one half months. We sincerely hope that we can handle memberships after the movie is released. EVP and ITC researchers around the world take these phenomena very seriously, and we suspect that many will be upset with us for helping Universal publicize this movie thriller. The movie happened without us, and we believed—do believe—that the best way we could serve the field was to accept the opportunity offered by Universal and Gold Circle Films to try and set the record straight. We may all be required to set the record straight for a long time to come, so it is important that each of us learn how to talk about EVP in terms that will help people get past any fear the movie might cause. For instance, how can we answer the accusation that we are bringing evil forces into the world by recording EVP? If someone asks you to reach a loved one for them, you would be doing them a favor, my telling them it is important that they learn how to record the voices themselves. If they are afraid, learn how to tell them that EVP is not that scary. If they think you are a crackpot, learn how to explain how well researched EVP is. When they wonder why they do not find phenomenal faces in the TV noise, tell them to begin with EVP and work their way up. Prepare yourself. We are all spokespeople for EVP. Voice in Death Same as that in Life
Sonia’s friend, Cleusa, lost her daughter, Edna, during Carnival in 2000 when she was just sixteen years old. Edna was playing in the street and was hit and killed by a car. Sonia had facilitated phone calls between her friend and Edna several times and each time Cleusa had recognized Edna’s voice. On Edna’s birthday in 2004, as a gift, Sonia invited Cleusa to make another phone call to her dear daughter now on the other side. The phone conversation between the two generated seventy-eight replies and nearly all of them were in Edna’s voice. During these conversations, the families call Sonia on the telephone. Sonia is on one telephone set and leaves another extension off the hook for those on the others side to use. She records the conversation directly into her computer. As a sound source, she plays three compact disks (CD) with phoneme sounds, which are small segments of human voice that have no meaning by themselves, but from which words are formed. Sonia wrote, “Those phoneme sounds were placed so that no word in Portuguese may be formed. Playing only ‘sounds,’ it is absolutely impossible to form a full and coherent sentence that is meaningful and clear.” Sonia had Cleusa on the telephone line speaking to Edna. They had been on the line fifteen minutes or more and were about to finish the call. Sonia wrote, “All the time the sound source was playing. So to close the recording I thanked the Spirit Friends and said: “E estamos encerrando esta gravação...” (Translation: “And we are finishing this recording...”). Sonia then turned off the three CDs. Sonia continues, “While doing this a fantastic phenomenon happened: the entrance of a paranormal sentence, half modulated on the sound-source and half OVER NO SOUND AT ALL! Edna’s voice says: “Só não entendeu irmã, conta com o novo de reclamar!” (Translation: “Only you, sister, didn't perceive; count with a new (phase) due to complaining”). The ‘Só não entendeu irmã’ sentence was modulated over the sound-source while I was turning the CDs off. And the sequence, ‘Conta com o novo de reclamar,’ was recorded when all sounds were completely off. So, we had Edna’s voice speaking clearly over silence. “This paranormal sentence is fully coherent because during this recording both Cleusa and I had mentioned the financial difficulties we are facing to carry on the research, so in fact, I have been complaining to my Spirit Friends. In truth I had stopped with ITC research since February and started working with design; illustration of books. I just recorded this phone call for Cleusa because it was her birthday that day and I knew it was the best gift she could receive.” Cleusa had a recording of Edna’s voice when she was alive on an answering machine. Sonia copied it and sent it along with the sentence that she had received from Edna during the recording to Daniele Gulla for comparison. [www.laboratorio.too.it/] Daniele later sent us an excited Email stating that he had compared the voice using FBI pattern recognition software and that he had obtained, “One fantastic result!” The matching voice comparison was ninety-nine percent. The voice of Edna in life is compatible with the recorded paranormal voice!” The Video ITC of Lawrence Dean and Patricia Begley by Lawrence Dean John Lennon
A number of Video ITC images had been received that resemble the star, but these were not very clear. However, an image captured on the 8th of March 2004 is very indicative of how Lennon looked in the mid 1970s, clean shaven, with long dark hair and wearing glasses. If you examine the picture shown here, you should be able to make out a pair of eyes that are just under a bright area in the upper-right quarter of the picture. The bright area is his forehead. Just to your left of the man’s right eye, is a nearly horizontal line that extends from just under the eye, toward his right ear and into his hair. That line appears to be the arm of a pair of glasses. Even the lens frame can be made out when the original image is viewed in a computer. Voices deemed to be, or alluding to John Lennon, have also manifested on to audio tapes during EVP experiments conducted by Lawrence in Sussex and by Scottish EVP researcher Linda Williamson in Dundee. One such voice was recorded by Lawrence and then analyzed by Linda using computer software. The voice was found by playing the recording backwards. Lawrence is a trance medium as well and recent trance sittings conducted by Lawrence and Patricia have revealed that Lennon is involved with the couple’s ITC, and that he is hoping to establish two-way contact through advanced audio experiments they are now conducting. D. D. Home
Eleanor Sidgwick
Eleanor had a great interest in spiritualistic phenomena and was an enthusiastic member of the Society, being greatly involved in its meetings and administration. She died in 1936 [Editors note: You can find real life comparison pictures of Sidgwick and D.D. Home with the ITC pictures at www.alienandspirit.com/scientists.htm and Lennon at www.alienandspirit.com/lennon.htm] Thoughts from Members Sandy Colegrove wrote that the night her husband died, she began receiving all sorts of messages from him, “I had never heard of EVP, so I could not have made any of these things up. Later, being so confused about the messages left on my answering machine and later on my voice mail, made me curious enough to dig for information. Thanks to the group and to close friends in the group, I was able to learn how to record EVP and place them on the computer. I have received messages from beyond as to when a friend of mine who was seriously ill would die ... and was told the very night he would pass over. He did just as the message said he would…. I live in a small, very rural community and to talk of things like this means I would be classified as being satanic or crazy. Sometimes I feel like I am crazy because I cannot talk about these things to even my closest friends…. I have moved on with my life, but I also live between two worlds. It brings me so much comfort. I feel blessed that my deceased husband loves me so much that he still wants to contact me.” Giving up the Ghost! by Michael E. Tymn In his 1929 book, A Curious Life, George Wehner, a trance medium and clairvoyant from Detroit, Michigan, tells of his many mediumistic experiences and other paranormal observations, including the passing of his mother. “A misty blue-white form, the counterpart of my mother’s, but radiant, like a blue-white diamond’s flame, was slowly rising from her body on the bed,” he wrote. “This form lifted at an angle, the feet rising higher than the head, which remained attached to the physical head. The form now seemed to try to free itself, and after several tugs, the misty head separated from the body’s head, and the freed form righted itself in the air exactly as a log rights itself after it has been dropped into deep water. For a second, I saw several arms and hands materialize in the air and reach downward to welcome the new-born soul. Then, like a shadow, the spirit-form of my beloved mother glided rapidly upward through a corner of the ceiling.” “Letting go” or “giving up the ghost” is apparently difficult for many people, we are informed by a number of clairvoyants, including Gladys Osborne Leonard, one of the great mediums of the first half of the 20th Century. “A great deal of the apparent difficulty or struggling associated with death is caused by the inability of the etheric to dissociate itself from the physical envelope,” explained Leonard in her 1937 book, The Last Crossing. She devoted a chapter of the book to ways of helping the dying sever the etheric cord, also referred to as the “silver cord.” According to Leonard, drinking plenty of water strengthens the etheric body and enables it to more easily separate itself from the physical body. On the other hand, food is not necessary. “Even if they will take it, I am convinced that the dying do not need ‘nourishment,’ Leonard continued. “To ‘nourish’ the worn-out physical envelope, which the soul is trying its best to shake off, is only to create and prolong an unnecessary struggle between the two bodies. In many cases, it does not even strengthen the physical, because it can no longer make use of solid food, which only clogs the system producing more suffering.” The administration of drugs also hinders an easy transition from the physical to the etheric body, Leonard added, again stressing the need to give the dying person water, even if only a few drops at a time by means of a syringe. “Water is the one thing that the etheric body can make use of when trying to free itself from the physical at the approach of death of the latter.” Like many other mediums and mystics, Leonard points out that those who lack a spiritual understanding and fear death are more “fixed” in the physical, and thus there is much more of a struggle in the release. “It is, I think, partly a matter of temperament, and of physical and spiritual understanding,” she further explained, “but a consciousness of the existence of the etheric body, and a realization of its powers of dissociation or separate existence would go a long way to producing the phenomenon more easily than is possible under the present conditions in which human beings are only cognizant of one body, i.e., the physical.” In Letters from Julia, published in 1909, William T. Stead, the respected British writer of that era, recorded the following via automatic writing from a woman named Julia, who first explained that she had exchanged experiences with many others on her side of the veil. “With me, the change was perfectly painless,” Julia wrote through Stead’s hand. “I wish that it might be so always with all who are appointed to die. Unfortunately, the moment of transition sometimes seems to be very full of pain and dread. With some it lasts a comparatively long time; I mean the time of quitting the body. With some it is momentary. The envelope opens, the letter is released, and it is over.” Julia likens “death birth” to childbirth, tough for some, relatively simple for others. “The tranquil soul that prepares and knows need not feel even a tremor of alarm,” she explained. “The preliminaries of decease are often painful; the actual severance, although sometimes accompanied by a sense of wrench, is of small account.” Of her own transition in 1891, Julia recalled not realizing that she had died until she found herself standing next to her corpse. She felt quite naked at first, but then found herself clothed. “I do not remember putting on garments. There is just the sense of need, and the need is supplied.” Keeping the feet warm and a comfortable coolness (not cold or draught) at the head also facilitate, according to Leonard, the withdrawal of the etheric body from the physical. In helping her husband leave the physical body, Leonard felt drawn by an unseen force to make upward passes from his feet on past his head with her hands. These passes consisted of placing her hands, palms downwards, a few inches above his feet, and moving them steadily and rhythmically over the legs and body, and straight over his head. “At the finish of each pass, I ‘flipped’ my fingers in a direction away from his body, as if I was throwing off something from my finger-tips,” she went on. “Afterwards I learned that these passes were assisting the etheric body to leave the physical body more easily. It withdraws upwards through the head.” Leonard cautioned against whispered conversations with the nurse in the presence of the dying person, explaining that while the conscious mind may not be cognizant, the unconscious or subjective mind is gradually coming to the surface. This unconscious mind will find itself recording flashes of awareness as to what is happening to the physical body and it will both puzzle and disturb him. “At this juncture it is most important that whatever is being done or said, or even thought in the room, should be directed towards the patient to help him.” In The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, Sogyal Rinpoche discusses the Tibetan tradition called phowa (pronounced po-wa), meaning the transference of consciousness. Phowa can be performed by the dying person or by anyone attending the dying person. It involves visualization, meditation, and prayer techniques in which the dying person asks or is asked by those attending to surrender his or her soul to God. “Sit quietly with the dying person, and offer a candle or light in front of a picture or statue of Buddha or Christ or the Virgin Mary,” Rinpoche instructs, after detailing three different practices. “Then do the practice for them. You can be doing the practice quietly, and the person need not even know about it; on the other hand, if he or she is open to it, as sometimes dying people are, share the practice and explain how to do it. According to Rinpoche and Buddhist teaching, there are two things that count at the moment of death: what we have done during our lives, and what state of mind we are in at the moment. When the consciousness leaves the body, it goes through a series of states called bardos. “The problem, however, is that in the bardos, most people go on grasping at a false sense of self,” Rinpoche continues, “with its ghostly grasping at physical solidity; and this continuation of that illusion, which has been at the root of all suffering in life, exposes them in death to more suffering, especially in the ‘bardo of becoming’.” In The Challenging Light, a 1984 publication, Frances Banks, communicating through the hand of Helen Greaves, states that those making the change from material to ethereal do not recall any pain in the process. “If they experience terror, it is because they expected it,” explained Banks, an Anglican nun in her earthly life. “The lurid pictures impressed upon the soul-mind by mistaken teachings of hell and torturing agonies become real.” Banks further wrote that her own transition was very simple. She seemed to relapse into nothingness until she awoke refreshed. “The death of the human body should hold no terrors,” Bank offered, “and when this thought is allowed to be taught and understood by the various practicing religions of the world, a big bogey will have been removed in the onward thinking of the races. The Amazing Photo Album As many of you know, Karen Mossey has received several EVP recordings from her father. An experience that she had in August takes the word coincidence to a whole new level.
Ray had been very religious and there were many symbols of Jesus, crosses and pictures of angels. There was also a stack of old photo albums and Karen couldn’t believe that the family had left them to be thrown out. Some of the pictures were almost one hundred years old. Karen had decided that she was going to donate the pictures to the local historical society. Then, as she was glancing through the pictures of Ray, she noticed that he was wearing an old Sanders Associates Uniform. Fifty years ago, that was the name of the company that Karen works for today. It has since changed name and ownership several times. Karen had recognized the old uniform because her father had worn the same one. Continuing to go through the album, much to her amazement, Karen discovered that the last two pages of the last album contained pictures of Ray’s retirement party. There sitting at the table in two of the pictures was Karen’s father. Karen not only donated the albums to the historical society but took all of his religious items and donated them to a church. Karen wrote, “I believe my father wanted to introduce me to his friend who had recently arrived on the other side … I think I made my father and his friend, Ray, very happy that these things … were not thrown into the trash and forgotten.” Two New Books on EVP in 2005
We had a chance to read parts of the
draft for the book and we feel that it is going to be a page turner.
It will make you want to cry and rejoice at the same time. The book
is being published through AA-EVP Publishing and part of every sale
will go to the nonprofit Association. The book should be out the
first quarter of 2005. Keep an eye on the AA-EVP website and
Martha’s web site at
www.evpcommunications.com for the release date. We know that everyone is also eagerly awaiting the release of Sarah Estep’s new book Roads to Eternity. In the book, Sarah gives her thoughts on many different proofs of survival from deathbed visions and near death experiences to apparitions and possession. But of course EVP and ITC are extensively covered. A few of the chapters are: “Recording Voices at Home,” “Special Recordings,” and “Have Tape Recorder, Will Travel.” The book will also include a CD of EVP examples recorded by Sarah. We are told that the book is set to be on sale in January. Galde Press Inc. is publishing the book. We have had the opportunity to review the book and were honored to write a short forward for the book. We are sure that if you liked Sarah’s Voices of Eternity, you will love Roads to Eternity. The book can be preordered now at Fate Bookshop PO Box 460, Lakeville MN 55044 or by calling 1-800-728-2730. Promoting EVP and White Noise
Paul Brooks, Michael Keaton, Interviewer, Lisa and Tom In October we had our first meeting with Michael Keaton at a Comic-con convention in Dallas, Texas. We had never been to a Comic-con conference. They are quite large and there is a lot to look at. Many of the attendees were dressed as one of the characters from action movies and comic books. Everything having to do with action movie paraphernalia was for sale, and we noticed many Batman posters in the hands of the lucky one hundred people who were chosen to receive Michael’s autograph We really had no time to do more than
shake Michael’s hand before he stepped aside to talk with his friend
and producer of White Noise, Paul Brooks. The two of us,
along with Brooks and Keaton, were then led to a room seating about
a thousand people who had just seen the two White Noise
trailers. The person who interviewed the four of us in front of the
crowd was a film critic, and of course, was very interested in
asking Michael about all of his movies, leaving scant time for
discussion of the movie White Noise.
Keaton was great with the crowd and had them laughing and intrigued. The interviewer finally did ask Michael about White Noise and we were able to answer a couple of questions regarding EVP. The interview revealed that producer Paul Brooks is a real supporter of an approaching world mind change regarding the phenomena.
From the Comic-con event, it was off to the Dallas airport where we flew to New York for more EVP parties. We had never been to Manhattan and we must say that we were impressed with all that was there to do in the heart of the city. Most of our time was spent taking care of the Email correspondence being generated from the movie trailers but we did walk to the theater district, Central Park and down 5th Avenue. The weather was good to us and our walk in Central Park was on a sunny day.
The New York parties seemed to go very well. They were held at the celebrity popular Regency Hotel on Park Avenue, near the famous Central Park. We passed Larry King using a guest phone in the lobby. Alissa, our new friend and a VP in the Universal Marketing Group, whispered in my ear, “Look Larry King! Let’s get him while we have the chance!” This was of course in reference to him having us on the show to talk about EVP. It was tempting but we behaved ourselves. We were concerned that the media in New York might be a more difficult crowd then the Hollywood people but they were all very nice and seemed very interested. Again most EVP came at the beginning of the sessions and there was no Class A messages. There were so many people at the party on the second night that we were unable to go to each one and ask who they might like to reach. It simply would have taken too long to listen back to the recording. A couple of people from HBO and the Sci Fi channel introduced themselves to us, but other than that, we are unsure about what companies were represented in the group. The White Noise Trailers
The White Noise trailer begins with an image of a voice print and an announcer saying, “What you are about to hear is real. It has not been edited or enhanced.” Various images are flashed in quick succession and real EVP tracks are played. The announcer’s voice is heard again saying, “Electronic Voice Phenomena, EVP, is the process by which the dead, through sound and image, communicate with the living, through the static and white noise of modern electronic devices. What we all hoped to be true is in fact possible. Our loved ones can reach us … but if they can come through, who else can come through?” In October, what Universal called an “education featurette,” began appearing in theaters. Over ninety percent of this ad came from the June 2004 AA-EVP conference. The nearly three minute featurette begins in the exact same way as the first trailer, by defining EVP. It then shows, for over two minutes, AA-EVP members and Researches talking about EVP and how it can be used to reach loved ones. After this, the announcer’s voice is back saying, “Now a feature film explores the haunting questions raised by Electronic Voice Phenomena.” Scenes from the movie are shown and you see a man talking to Michael Keaton. The man says to the Keaton character, “Mr. Rivers, do you want to hear your wife?” Next is a scene of a woman shouting at Keaton, “It is one thing to contact the dead. It is another thing to meddle and you are meddling!” A series of quick scary images are then shown in succession and end with the announcer saying, “White Noise” and the message, “The Voices of the Dead are all around you,” is shown on the screen. This ad campaign increased the hits to the web site to an average of 5,858. The hits reached a high at 11,248 in one day. The correspondence also increased with most of it still coming from the curious rather than the serious, but we have received correspondence from those who are truly interested in trying to use EVP to reach a loved one. We have had seventy new members join this quarter and some of them are due to these trailers. Quite a few Emails have come from people calling us charlatans or crazy. A youth minister said that we were not talking to the dead but instead speaking with demons. We have given a few radio interviews, and a question that everyone seems interested in our answering is, “How is this movie going to change life for your organization and for others doing research in this field?” This is a difficult question for any of us to answer. The film portrays EVP as being a way to communicate with the dead, but it also shows EVP as a threat, arguing that when you work with EVP, you open a doorway that can let evil beings in that can harm you. Will the movie bring more people to EVP or scare them off? All of us are waiting to see. Considering the Family in Home Investigations by Rich Smith As members of the AA-EVP, a group with ever increasing exposure to the public, a critical issue has been brought up involving the increasing popularity and growing numbers of individuals who are offering their services as paranormal investigators. There is so much more to it than just identifying and documenting paranormal activity, and in particular, there are inherent dangers to be recognized when working with grief stricken individuals. On the editorial policy page of my website, www.paratexas.com, I take the time to make a clear distinction between what I refer to as “field trips” and “investigations.” If an investigator chooses to be admitted into the privacy of someone’s home, they have just accepted a huge responsibility (and liability, I might add ) and will be expected by the persons involved to professionally deal with the emotions, fear, and confusion that can surround the home and family. This is a serious undertaking that should not be pursued by the novice investigator without available assistance (if necessary) from professionals in the field of family counseling and psychology.
Many people who are experiencing genuine paranormal activity may be depressed, afraid, confused and desperate for an explanation. They are vulnerable. And likewise, we can unfortunately come across individuals who are delusional and suffering from mental illness. Symptoms of mental illness can vary according to the origin and various stages of the illness, but we need to be ready to deal with this occurrence. It is a guarantee that sooner or later it will happen to all investigators who are active in dealing with the public. My first step of prevention in this area is to inform the individual at first contact that the initial priority will be to visit with them in person and conduct a private interview. I explain that the purpose of this interview is to explore in depth the motivations and needs of the family or individuals in question. I take this early opportunity to explain to them the implications of paranormal investigations, and discuss the aspects of psychological considerations. I let them know, without pointing a finger at them, that all investigations are given careful consideration in these areas. As a result of this screening process, I can tell you that more than three-fourths of the interviews I conduct DO NOT result in a subsequent investigation into their lives and homes and into the phenomenon which they may be experiencing. One reason that a decision may be made to not investigate could well be a noted mental instability of the person being interviewed. This does not mean that such a person may be mentally ill. An investigator should familiarize themselves with common symptoms of depression, phobias, and the grieving process, as well as irrational or abnormal and delusional behavior. A further confusing complication can be that an otherwise normal individual may be thrown off balance by experiencing severe paranormal activity, and be showing considerable stress, but not be ill. A more frequent reason for declining an investigation into someone’s home may be that people just do not realize how invasive a paranormal investigation can be. People are conditioned to think of ghostly activity in terms of the “Hollywood” versions of the paranormal, and as a result they have not considered that frequently spirits appear in people’s lives because of their own personal indiscretions....moral issues, crimes, abuse etc. Electronic Voice Phenomena can frequently be instrumental in uncovering situations of abuse, (physical and sexual), infidelity and other serious family issues in the course of paranormal investigations. The investigator needs to be acutely aware of the potential for extremes of conflict in these areas, as well as the liabilities that come into play. In one case, the preliminary interview revealed a male apparition was appearing to a couple’s child at night and trying to coerce the child into leaving the house. Further questioning produced information from dreams from other family members, leading to further admissions, etc., and soon it became evident that a deceased male from a prior relationship, and a matter of deceit about fatherhood, became a part of this developing picture. Confronting the woman with my suspicion, she admitted the current father was unaware that he was not the real father. (And ... you guessed it...the real father is deceased!) This woman had naively assumed that they simply had a ghost of the “Hollywood/TV” variety in the house, and was shocked to find that there were issues extending deep into moral and spiritual implications of their own lives. This investigation clearly could have led to a devastating confrontation between spouses. Thus the “official” investigation never happened..... as a result of the interview only, it was decided to recommend counseling for the family, not a paranormal investigation. I am certain that if the family issues are resolved, the haunting phenomenon will go away. This is very common. The investigator must develop, (from study, experience, and professional association with family guidance counselors), their own methods of screening potential cases, before delving into the privacy of a home. I have found that EVP can be extremely revealing in some family or home hauntings. Again, while usually the entire “personal” connection of many of these “so called hauntings” may be missed by those family members involved, I have found in many cases that spirits were not at all reluctant to bring up details which would put the guilty party (infidelity, lying, etc.) out in the open, and you, the investigator, right in the middle of it all! I am not saying that haunting and paranormal episodes are always directly associated with personal aspects of someone’s life. It’s just that it is important that we watch for that very common situation.....lest we find ourselves “over our heads” in involvement with peoples personal lives and subsequently be called on the carpet legally to answer to allegations from a public which knows little to nothing about what we do. Faces in Moving Water Erland Babcock
Image captured by Erland Babcock that appears to be a man wearing a clown hat. We have previously reported on Erland Babcock’s use of Arthur Soesman’s, technique for finding phenomenal faces in light reflected from agitated water. Erland’s adaptation of the technique includes the use of a digital camera, rather than video, and a large amber glass jug and colored lights. The results have been both very phenomenal and very beautiful. Erland informed us that he will have an “art show” in the Burlington Town Library beginning January the third, with matted copies of many of his experimental pictures on display. The name of the show is, “A Study in the Reflection and Refraction of Light in Water that is in Motion” The pictures will also be advertised on the library web site and published in local papers. Edwina Bentinck
Image captured by Edwina Bentinck that appears to include two human-like figures. The version on the left is unedited. The one on the right has rectangular areas that have been enhanced to show the features. Edwina Bentinck became interested in what Erland was doing and began her own experiments with variations of the Arthur Soesman method. She recently sent us several examples, one of which is included here. We are impressed that Edwina has taken up the challenge so successfully. When several people work with the same technique, their collaboration can produce many advances in what we know about these phenomena. Arthur Soesman
Image captured by Edwina Bentinck that appears to include two human-like figures. The version on the left is unedited. The one on the right has rectangular areas that have been enhanced to show the features. Arthur has told us that he is still experimenting with the technique. His advice to others that might take up the challenge is, “Before capture images, take a long walk to clear the mind.” [If you are using video] “…set your web-cam or camera in a slow shutter-rate that is not higher than 1/50 of a second.” Light seems to have Intelligence Thanks go to Clara Laughlin for sending us an article from the Washington Times. The column was about an apparent ghost being captured on a courthouse security camera. Security personnel first saw the light while looking at a surveillance tape recorded earlier. But the next day they saw it live for over an hour. After noticing the light, a security officer, Mr. Price, walked up the stairs and didn’t see anything. But downstairs where a crowd had gathered to watch, the video monitor revealed the strange light moving ahead of the officer, stopping when he stopped and starting when he started. When those watching the video saw Mr. Price walk through the light, Mr. Price said he felt a chill at the exact same time. At that time of the year the stairway is warm and muggy. Officials are still trying to find a scientific explanation for the anomaly. From the Washing Times Aug 8 2004, “Courthouse camera captures a ‘ghost’, Videotape spooks Kent official
Orb Experiments by Don Watson I’m working with a family that has been photographing orbs, and we’ve been doing experiments with them. The family wishes confidentiality, so I’ll not disclose anything that might betray this. The orbs first appeared after their son was born following a difficult pregnancy. The orbs generally appear in the same space he occupies, and usually only when he’s awake. These spaces include his room, cars, restaurants, an airplane, a cruise ship and other people’s homes. One question is whether the orbs are artifacts of digital photography. Evidently they are not. Photos of the orbs have been made with (1) a digital camcorder with Hi8 tape, (2) a borrowed analog camcorder, (3) a digital camcorder with analog tape, (4) digital still cameras and (5) film still cameras. Most of the observations have been done with the digital camcorder, hand held. The orbs appear in the viewfinder and on the tape, but usually aren’t seen with the naked eye. On several occasions, orbs have been photographed near the videographer at the same time he is feeling faint brushing movements against his skin. Our next task was to test the “particles” hypothesis, which we did in several ways, including these three: First, particles must be near enough to the camera to be (1) unfocused and (2) large enough to be photographed. Observing several of the orbs during panning the digital camcorder showed that they were several feet from the camera, and that they were about an inch or so in diameter. Other orbs disappeared behind objects in the room that were several feet from the camera. Second, particles are expected to move with air currents, not against the flow of air. We set up a fan at the left of the room that moved air from left to right across the camcorder’s field of view. During the two-minute test, thirty-six orbs appeared, twenty-five of them moving right to the left against the air current, and eleven of them moving up and down. None moved with the air current. Third, dust particles aren’t expected to “know” whether or not the baby is awake or in the room. They would show up whenever and wherever they exist. These orbs behave as if they “know” when the baby is awake and present. Further, the baby is regularly observed to be interacting with them, and has been photographed looking directly at an orb, which is not visible to the adult observers. Interestingly, the baby was sleeping in another room when the experiment with the fan was performed. This raises the questions, “Are the orbs sentient?” and, “do they want to participate in experiments?” To answer these, the videographer suggested aloud, “I’ll ask some questions. If you want to say ‘Yes,’ move across the viewfinder, and if you want to say ‘No,’ stay out of sight.” He tried several questions, and appeared to receive intelligent responses. Obviously, we must make many more observations about this. In addition, we are now starting to use an audio recorder to listen for EVP phenomena. Finally, a medium I know well has offered one observation: At least one of the orbs appeared to her to be the baby’s grandmother, and she and the baby communicate with one another. Photographic Extras In photography, unexpected people in the frame are referred to as “extras,” especially if they are apparently phenomenal. Falice Masi, of the Italian Il Laboratorio (www.laboratorio.too.it) has been collecting examples of phenomenal extras in an effort to establish a sufficiently large database with which he might hypothesize about their cause.
A second media Masi has been
examining is extras in
More and more images are being captured in more and more different ways. We know that our etheric friends will take just about any opportunity to impress their likeness in our pictures. If you enjoy this form of phenomena, learn to watch out for extras in your pictures and let us know what you find. Email from Visitors to the Web Site We have gotten hundreds of Emails from the White Noise Trailers and wanted to share a few of them with you.
Recording Circle – Bridge to the Afterlife Group recordings take place every other Thursday at 8 pm EST. You can join the recording sessions from wherever you are by joining your thoughts and intentions with other members in reaching loved ones on the Other Side. By recording in a group, members are creating a contact field and building a bridge for communication with loved ones now on the Other Side who are also building a bridge to this side. Recording dates for the next few months are: January 14 and 28, February 10 and 24, March 10 and 24, and April 7 and 21. These are the directions that Martha Copeland sends out to those who participate in the group recordings:
Martha usually looks at each picture and asks that the person please come through for their love one here in the physical. Any type of recorder can be used and they do not have to be expensive. Speak into the recorder and ask questions while you are recording making sure to be quiet and leave time for your loved one to answer back. Think of your loved one perhaps looking at their photo if you have one. Record no longer than five minutes. End the session with a prayer of thanks and send healing energy throughout the universe. Then listen to your recording using headphones. EVP messages recorded during these sessions are shared on the AA-EVP “Idea Exchange” discussion board. If you would like to take a look at the messages on the board, members should login at http://aaevp.com/ideaexchange/ with their first and last name. The password for your first visit is 12evp34. After logging on make sure to set up a new password. A note about attaching EVP samples: save them as mp3 files, mono, Sample Rate = 11025. Try to reduce the sample to some of your voice and the EVP. This will make it easier for others to listen to them. There is also a Big Circle website at http://bigcircle.aaevp.com where your loved ones picture and information can be placed. For more information on recording with the circle or how to include material on the memorial web site, contact Martha Copeland. New Home for the Big Circle Martha Copeland and Lisa Yesse have teamed together to develop a new web site dedicated to the Recording Circle – Bridge to the Afterlife. This site is a subdomain of the AA-EVP web site at http://bigcircle.aaevp.com. The new site includes the same content for the memorial that James Jones had developed, and Martha is planning to grow it from there. There will also be examples of EVP and stories related to the experiences members are having in communicating with their loved ones on the Other Side. We wish to thank James Jones for all of the support he has provided in the early days of the Recording Circle. Lisa and Martha, thank you for taking on the challenge of developing and maintaining the new web site. Lisa, your work is very creative. Talk on the Board
News about Members We thank all AA-EVP members who work with the media in various ways and help to educate the public about Electronic Voice Phenomena and Instrumental TransCommunication.
EVP Experiment South Jersey Ghost Research Director, Dave Juliano, recently wrote us about a field experiment that his group conducted to test some theories on how EVP are injected onto the recording medium. Are EVP recorded by the microphone or are they imprinted directly onto the recording medium? David told us that, “For the two experiments, we brought a mini recording studio set up complete with multi-track recording capability. We placed microphones in various sections of the home and monitored the recorders live with headphones. Each microphone was recorded on its own track on the tape. We had the residents and investigators talk normally and waited to see if the sounds and voices that have been reported and observed here before, would be recorded by the hi-tech equipment. We also wanted to see if the sounds that were being heard real-time by the clients and investigators, would also be recorded on the tape. We found that all EVP recorded during these experiments only appeared on one track even though there were multiple microphones in the areas.” The results can be found at: www.southjerseyghostresearch.org/cases2/evp2003.html and www.southjerseyghostresearch.org/EVPexperiment2002 Happy New Year We wish each and every one of you, here and on the Other Side, a joyous and most productive New Year. We give special thanks to those of you who have supported the AA-EVP through volunteering your time, donations, articles and kind words. We also give a sincere thank you to those of you who teach others about EVP. Researcher’s Report
Building an Electronic Circuit for EVP? Keep up the good work. The Archive has much research and results information. Wonderful job to the ones putting it together. I use Web T.V., so am limited and no added filters Denoiser, etc., but have much E.L.F and V.L.F. parts to share with anyone doing same if anyone is experimenting in ultrasonic range. I enjoy building amplifiers, receivers, converters and antenna tuners in this frequency range. Robert Meyer By the Way … Mark Macy and Rolf-Dietmar Ehrhardt are developing an online library of important EVP and ITC literature. You can download the English translation of much of Instrumental Transcommunication. Author, Ernst Senkowski is credited for coining the term, ITC. A Way that You Can Help the Nonprofit AA-EVP In the last NewsJournal we mentioned that we had become affiliates with several book vendors and also with eBay. If you are going to buy a book or bid on something on eBay, please take the time to go to aaevp.com first and use one of the vendor links. When you do this the Association receives from two to five percent from each sale. We have affiliations with Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Abe, Alibris, and eBay. You will find a link for Amazon and eBay on the front page, and then others appropriately placed throughout the site, especially at http://aaevp.com/resources/evp_books.htm. Look for the Wal-Mart link as a text only link. As of early December, the Association had earned about $50 off of sales. This is small amount but its something! We have yet to earn anything through the eBay affiliation. We know that many members do buy things on eBay, so the next time that you do, please link to them through the AA-EVP web site, and in doing so, make a donation to the AA-EVP. If any of you know of other affiliation programs that would be of help to members and are in keeping with our Association goals we would like to hear about them. Radio Shack rejected our affiliate application and did not respond to our letter trying to explain how members often used their products, so if you know the president …. Don’t forget that you can donate directly to the Association! It’s tax deductible. |
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