Throughout her childhood, Laurie witnessed her father’s consciousness-expanding experiences as a part of her every day life. She was one of the early subjects of Mr. Monroe’s "sleep learning" research. Laurie believes that the primary benefit the Hemi-Sync® process brings to humankind is the knowing that we are more than our physical bodies, and that in this knowing, our quality of life will be enriched here and beyond.

We believe that the research findings of the Monroe Institute are consistent with the apparent experimental evidence from EVP that the person is an important part of the recording circuit and functions as a medium. One of TMI’s initiatives is the study of EVP, and we are looking forward to hearing about the results of this work.

Other Things to do in Atlanta: You may want to stay an extra day or two when you attend the AA-EVP conference in Atlanta. There are things to do and see and the Westin Hotel will give you the same wonderful conference rate for as long as they have rooms available. So make your hotel reservation early by calling 1.888.627.7211 or use the link at aaevp.com!

The newest attraction in Atlanta is the Georgia Aquarium which opened last November. It is the largest aquarium in the world and features over 100,000 animals from over 500 species in over 8 million gallons of water. The Aquarium site states that, "From two amazing whale sharks, the largest fish on earth, to five striking beluga whales, around every corner you’ll see things here you’ve never seen anywhere before."

The Aquarium is open everyday from 9 AM to 6 PM. The Westin Shuttle can take you to the Atlanta Airport where you can catch MARTA (Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority) for a ride that will cost only $1.75 each way; aquarium admission is $22.75. The Aquarium is a short walk from either the CNN Center MARTA stop on the East/West line or from the Peachtree Center stop on the North/South line. CNN also gives tours. See www.cnn.com/StudioTour/.

The Aquarium is across the street from the Olympic Centennial Park, with its many beautiful fountains, which is another place people might like to see. For information on all Atlanta attractions, go to www.atlanta.net . For more information on the Aquarium and to purchase tickets, see www.georgiaaquarium.org. For information on Marta, go to www.itsmarta.com.

Please Help the Association! We need members to help us get information about the conference out to the public. If you have a web site, or are a member of a group with a web site, please mention the AA-EVP 2006 conference "Life After Death: The Evidence With Special Consideration to EVP and ITC" There is a link to the registration form that can be pasted into your web site, located at aaevp.com. If you have a place to hand out brochures on the conference we can email you a brochure that you can copy. A heartfelt thanks for your help.

If you are going to the conference please bring your camera if you can, we would love to have several people taking pictures we can us in the July NewsJournal.

We need people at the conference who are already recording EVP, to help out those who have questions about recording, software and editing. This workshop will take place on Friday evening at 8:30 PM.

Based on currently paid for attendance fees, the conference will be a net financial loss for the AA-EVP. Of course, we expect more people to sign up, but we are trying to find corporate sponsors for the conference.

We would put the sponsor’s name, logo and catch phrase on the back of the program for a $1,000 tax deductible donation. We would also thank them in the July NewsJournal and on the AA-EVP web site. Can you help us find possible corporate sponsors?

And last but not least, when you are going to purchase something through Amazon please link to Amazon from the front page of aaevp.com. A small percentage of your purchase goes to the Association.

Donation in Memory of: Have you noticed the donation from Mary Babcock that is shown on the second page? We have decided to make the "in memory of" notice a regular feature to commemorate any special occasion related to a loved one. If you would like to do this, simply make a donation to the AA-EVP and tell us who it is in memory of and if there is a special occasion you would like us to list.

Tom and Lisa

Shortly after his return home form a modeling job in Europe, Teri Daner introduced her son, Geoff, to Kay Rosaire, a famous animal trainer who provided homes for unwanted lions and tigers. Teri thought it would be a good photo opportunity. Geoff met three of the young tigers during that meeting and fell in love with them. That was a turning point in Geoff’s life and Kay became Geoff’s second Mom while she taught him how to train big cats.

Geoff began performing with the Shiners Circus and had two performances on April 14^th. The tigers in his act performed exceptionally well that day. Teri wrote, "He was extremely close to the cats. They were like his kids."

On April 21st, after the memorial service, Geoff’s Dad, Dave, and Teri were walking through the Tiger and Lion Barn. Teri writes, "Dave was carrying Geoff’s ashes in an urn. I had a small J300 recorder. We were giving the cats closure. I recorded as I stopped at each set of cat cages. I recorded the cats puffering and talking to me. Tigers are very personable if you have been around them since they were young, and if they know you as a caregiver. After recording the cats on more than one occasion that day, I put the recorder away with some jewelry that my son was wearing the night of the accident. I did not listen to this recording until I returned home to New Jersey.

"Geoff was our only child, and we are having a very difficult time. After returning home I was having a bad day and I got out the little recorder and listened to all the cats puffering and roaring. To my amazement, I heard, "Hi, Mom." It was Geoff my son. I was so excited. Happy would not express how I felt. I called everyone that knew Geoff to have them listen to the recording. I guess it was too much for me to take in as I ended up in the emergency room that day. My husband and my best friend came to the house after hearing me on the phone; they knew something was not right. I had a mental break and did not remember my trip to Florida or the memorial.

"I know now that if I had not received the gift of "Hi, Mom" I would have had an even more difficult time coping. As it is now I am having an extremely difficult time coping. I love my son so much. He was the stars and the moon. I know now that he is in a good place and that one day I will join him there, God willing. I hope this helps those who have lost a loved one.

"Geoff’s tigers are at The Big Cat Habitat and Gulf Coast Sanctuary in Sarasota, Florida. They are there with many other tigers and lions that Geoff knew and loved. His dream was to help the wild tigers and to make The Big Cat Habitat and Gulf Coast Sanctuary a success and a home for unwanted tigers. The tigers in Geoff’s act were unwanted and given homes at the Habitat by Kay Rosaire."
 

Gold Circle Films is moving forward with White Noise 2: The Light, a sequel to the original horror hit. Unfortunately, or for some of you fortunately, the sequel will apparently not deal at all with EVP.

White Noise, produced by Gold Circle and distributed by Universal Pictures, grossed $57 million when it was released in January 2005. In the sequel, scripted by Matt Venne, a man's family is murdered, and he is brought back from the brink of death. The man realizes he has changed and can now identify those among the living who are about to die. When he tries to save people from their fate, he discovers there is a price to pay for interfering with the natural order. The making of White Noise 2 was slated to begin the first-quarter of 2006.

by Michael E. Tymn

(originally published in the ARPR Bulletin)

In Induced AFTER DEATH Communication, recently published by Hampton Roads, Allan L. Botkin, Psy.D., a clinical psychologist, tells of a new therapy for healing grief and trauma. The book is filled with dozens of fascinating stories about patients who have seemingly communicated with deceased friends and loved ones by means of the induced after death communication method (IADC), discovered by Botkin while he was working in a Veterans Administration hospital in the Chicago area.

Botkin and R. Craig Hogan, Ph.D. explain that IADC is an offshoot of EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapy, which was discovered by Dr. Francine Shapiro. While focusing on the therapist’s hand, the patient is asked to move the eyes left or right rhythmically and focus on a disturbing thought, feeling, image, or sensation. In IADC therapy, people grieving the death of someone or otherwise disturbed by someone’s death, are asked to focus directly on their sadness during eye movements. The typical IADC involves the patient reporting having seen a deceased person and that deceased person having told him or her that everything is OK and not to grieve. In a number of cases, the deceased person relates information previously unknown to the patient. The patients included atheists and skeptics as well as believers and the religious.

I recently interviewed Dr. Botkin by e-mail.

"I discovered IADC by accident in 1995 while working with psychologically traumatized combat veterans at a VA hospital. Our patients, who served in WWII, Korea, Vietnam and Desert Storm, came to us after reliving the horrors of war in their minds for many years. In 1995, I and my colleagues had been using EMDR for a few years and we had found that we could routinely and rapidly accomplish psychotherapeutic outcomes with EMDR to a degree that we had thought was not possible. In short, we were able to eliminate the reliving component from their memories. I then experimented with a number of variations of EMDR, and I found that a few changes made the standard EMDR technique even more efficient. Once I began incorporating these changes, I was very surprised when about 15% of my patients reported after death communications during the procedure. Since these patients appeared to resolve their traumatic grief to an even greater degree, I went back through my case notes to find out if I had done something differently when these experiences occurred. I saw that indeed I did do something differently. In the cases in which the experience occurred, I provided an additional set of eye movements without providing any specific instruction to the patient. This additional set of eye movements induced this natural experience. The additional eye movements enhanced what I now call the "receptive mode."

"It is my belief, along with other professionals who are trained in both hypnosis and EMDR, that the two actually involve very different mental processing. Hypnosis induces the patient into a relaxed and focused state of mind. EMDR, on the other hand, increases information processing in the brain. When we dream, our eyes shift back and forth, and that is why dream sleep has been called rapid eye movement, or REM sleep. During REM sleep our brains process information at a more accelerated rate than when we are awake. It has been believed that this increased processing that occurs during sleep causes the eyes to shift in a rhythmic fashion. The discovery of EMDR appears to indicate that if the therapist has the patient move his or her eyes in a similar rhythmic fashion when fully awake, we put the patient’s brain into this higher processing mode. People in a hypnotic trance are also very susceptible to suggestion, and "false memories" that occur while in a hypnotic trance do not seem to be a problem with EMDR. In fact, as mentioned in the book, false memories can be corrected with EMDR."

"The first time I intentionally induced an ADC in therapy, I was working with a man named Gary. He had lost his daughter, Julie, when she was 13 years old. She had been severely oxygen deprived at birth and never developed mental abilities beyond those of a six-month-old child. Gary loved her dearly and included her in as many activities as he could. One evening, Julie suffered a severe heart attack and was rushed to the hospital and placed on life supports. After a few weeks, Julie showed some signs of being able to breathe on her own, so Gary and his wife made the difficult decision to take her off the respirator. Soon after she was taken off, she struggled to breathe, but then died in Gary’s arms. Tears rolled down Gary’s cheeks as he told me his story. I explained my new procedure to him and asked him if he wanted to give it a try. He said he was willing if I thought it might help, but he was convinced it wouldn’t work for him because he was an atheist and didn’t believe in such things. After I took him through the entire procedure, he closed his eyes. When he opened his eyes, he had a look of amazement. He then said, ‘I saw my daughter. She was playing happily in a garden alive with rich and radiant bright colors. She looked healthy and seemed to move around without the physical problems she had when alive. She looked at me and I could feel her love for me.’ We then talked about his experience. Gary was convinced that his daughter was still alive, although in a very different place. Gary’s look of amazement, however, then shifted to a look of sadness, and I asked him what was wrong. He said he still felt sad because he missed her. I administered another set of eye movements and asked him to keep that thought in mind. He then closed his eyes and sat quietly for a few moments.

"When Gary opened his eyes, he was smiling. He said, ‘I was in the garden again and I could see Julie looking at me. She said to me, ‘I’m still with you, Daddy.’’ He paused and looked at me. ‘That was really wonderful. You know, she couldn’t talk when she was alive.’ Gary left the session feeling joyous and reconnected to his daughter. I followed up with Gary a year later over the phone. He continued to feel reconnected to his daughter. He was also convinced that, ‘People don’t really die; they just take on a different form and live in a different place, which is very beautiful.’"

"The IADC procedure works equally well for people experiencing little or no grief at all. It should be pointed out, however, that although some people report having no lingering grief associated with a death that occurred many years in the past, rather frequently, EMDR ‘pulls up’ significant residual sadness the patient was not aware of."

"The answer is ‘no.’ In fact, there is a tendency for the opposite to be true. When I first began using IADC, I was working with patients in a VA hospital who came to see me to work on their traumatic memories, and they were not aware of IADC. When I explained the procedure to them during the course of therapy, a vast majority were very skeptical. Under these conditions, my success rate was 98%. When I retired from the VA and went into private practice, I actually considered offering the guarantee to my clients that they would have an IADC. I figured I could survive financially by not having 2% of my clients pay for their sessions. I was shocked and dismayed when my success rate among people who came to see me for an IADC, and who were not at all skeptical, dropped to about 70%. I am convinced at this point that people who have strong beliefs about the experience have a more difficult time achieving an ADC because their expectations interfere with the receptive mode. ADCs that occur spontaneously come as a surprise to people at times they are not expecting it. A similar psychological state is necessary for an IADC to occur. Of course, the fact that 70% of people who come to have an IADC still have one, indicates the power of EMDR to assist one in achieving this naturally receptive state."

"The most compelling evidence is that all people who have IADCs report them to be very different from all other experiences. Technically, hallucinations are perceptions without corresponding sensory input, which means that hallucinations are all in one’s head and have nothing to do with any reality that exists separate from us. Hallucinations generally have a very negative content, vary considerably in content from person to person, and are thought to be a symptom of a severe psychological disorder. It is clear, however, that IADC content is uniformly positive, very consistent in content from person to person, and very healing psychologically. Another observation that indicates that IADCs are related to some reality that exists separate from us is that we have some strong evidence that two people who do the IADC procedure at the same time can have the exact same experience. I have called this phenomenon, ‘shared IADCs.’"

"Not at all. As a psychologist who is primarily interested in healing people who suffer so profoundly, I have taken the strategy to not engage in arguments about beliefs. Believers and skeptics have been waging this battle for some time. I believe that if I take a side and get placed in one camp, it will be more difficult for me to get help to those who need it. In addition, from a logical point of view, my neutral stance can only affect my patients’ responses to IADC to the degree that it affects their own beliefs about their IADC experiences. But, it is very clear that patients are healed by their IADC experiences regardless of what they believe, both before and after their experience. It just makes no difference. Although a vast majority of patients believe their IADC was real, even patients who don’t are healed to the same degree. The IADC experiences heals, and it appears that beliefs are completely inconsequential."

"So far, all of our data is based on a few thousand clinical observations made by myself and my IADC trained colleagues. To date, all clinical follow-up data indicates that IADC holds up extremely well over time. Of course, scientifically controlled studies are needed to verify these clinical observations. Professor Jan Holden and her colleagues at the University of North Texas have begun to investigate these clinical findings in a more rigorous and formal way. It is my hope that other university departments will also contribute to our understanding of IADC."

"When I first began to make IADC available to the general public and to the professional community, I expected some harsh criticism from professional colleagues. Although this criticism may yet be forthcoming, so far professionals have been extremely supportive. Many EMDR-trained professionals have become interested in formal IADC training because some of their clients spontaneously experienced an ADC during the course of EMDR therapy. Grief therapists and hospice workers, who are very aware of the healing associated with spontaneous ADCs have also been very supportive. I suppose die-hard skeptics, who are entrenched in their own rigid belief systems, will eventually take a shot at me. When they do, it will be OK, because I am prepared to respond to their criticism.

"Since finishing the book, interest in IADC has come from a number of people. In addition to the research that is underway at the University of North Texas, perhaps the most significant development is that two movie producers, Patrick Wells and Craig Rice, have begun the process of making the IADC discovery into a documentary film. I also recently had the opportunity to work with my first 9-11 survivor, who experienced a very profound IADC. My primary job at this point is to get help to people who need it, such as combat veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, and survivors of Katrina and Rita. To accomplish that, I need to first make this information available to the largest number of people I can. This interview is one important step in this process."
 

Provided by Paolo Presi who is a researcher with the Italian Il Laboratorio (www.laboratorio.too.it/). Paolo Presi will speak at the 2006 AA-EVP conference.

The fact that the information received through ITC is not mere illusions perceived by the human brain would be of great interest if confirmed by adequate research. This is especially true because an important feature of the paranormal voices seems to be that they are direct communication with a higher plane of consciousness without the need of mediums.

This approach to studying these phenomena may remove some of the methodological barriers that, so far, have prevented a general scientific recognition or systematic scientific investigation of paranormal phenomena related to postmortem survival. It is evident that, in view of the important possible contribution of ITC to psychical research and the worldwide interest in these phenomena, a properly conducted scientific investigation is urgently required.

Il Laboratorio includes a Transcommunication Department, which is dedicated to EVP/ITC research and lead by Paolo Presi. Within the Transcommunication Department, Presi is personally managing a program named, "Sfinge Project." The objective of this program is the scientific investigation of EVP/ITC phenomena with particular attention to documenting the evidence of a life after life. The methodology used in the Sfinge program is the analysis of the electroacoustic structure of the allegedly paranormal voice patterns that are produced by some skilled Italian EVP/ITC top experimenters under controlled experimental conditions.

This step is meant to identify the existence, if any, of anomalous acoustical features. The existence of properly documented acoustic features in the paranormal voices that are inconsistent with normal human speech would strongly support their paranormal source.

In addition to the detection of anomalies in the voice examples when the communicator is a discarnate entity, a comparison between "living" and postmortem voices of the same person can be performed in order to ascertain the same identity. Such investigation is currently performed using several dedicated professional software programs for speech analysis and speaker recognition. Thus far, highly significant cases of high percentage of similarity have been detected. For instance we have seen 95-98% similarity between "living" and postmortem voices.

Once such anomalies are localized, identified and properly documented, the second step concerns attempting to reproduce them artificially in the laboratory to determine if they can be thought of as non-falsifiable events, therefore considered to have a high probability of being paranormal. Analysis results are fully documented by the research team and made available to other researchers.

Daniele Gullà is the electronic engineer performing all of the instrumental analyses for the Sfinge program. He specializes in electroacoustics and currently collaborates with the experts of the Italian Court of Justice and Police, in forensic analysis in biometrics (audio and video), and with the University of Bologna, Department of Biophysics.

All of the results are discussed with, and approved by, the Director of the Research Section, Dr. Michele Dinicastro. The Final Test Report containing the results is then approved and released by the General Manager of Il Laboratorio, Dr. Enrico Marabini.

The acoustic spectrum (i.e. the range of measurable sounds) of the human voice is the most expressive and complex of all animal voices, and unlike many musical instruments, the human voice can also vary its timbre at the larynx and by altering the size and shape of the resonant cavities.

Preliminary investigations revealed some frequently recurring anomalies characterizing the paranormal voices. Such anomalies could be summarized as follows:

More information about the work of Il Laboratorio will be discussed by Paolo Presi at the June AA-EVP conference in Atlanta, GA.
 

Marcelo changing into Ceasar

Sonia Rinaldi had three couples in her lab, all of whom had lost children. She was filming Marcelo Hippe, who lost a son named André, six years ago. André had appeared two years ago in a previous experiment.

Everyone was able to see the changes on Marcelo’s face in real time during the experiment. However, at the end of the video session, everyone realized that the young man’s face that transfigured Marcelo’s features was not that of André. The parents did not recognize the boy and in fact no one present had any idea of who this young boy was. In the audio recording of the session, André confirmed that a friend would appear in his place.

Sonia suggested that the mother, Luiza, print the picture out to show to her friends who had also lost young boys, in the hope that someone would recognize the picture. For one week, there was no news, but then as Luiza was entering her building, she met a neighbor named Alice who had lost her son a few years ago. Luiza asked what the boy had looked like and the mother replied: "My son was beautiful with very special eyes that looked like an eagle." This was enough for Luiza who immediately asked to see a picture of Julio Ceasar who had died before Luiza had moved into the building. Alice and Luiza were sure that it was Ceasar who had transfigured Marcelo’s face.

Sonia wrote, "I am so glad for Alice, who was so surprised. She did not even know that Luiza, her neighbour, was involved in something like this and was astonished to see Julio Ceasar reach out to her in such a surprising way.

The Helene Reeder Fund has announced the availability of grants for small and medium sized scientific research projects concerning the question of Life after Death. Grants will be awarded in the range of EUR 500 – 7000 maximum.

Applications should be received not later than the 30^th of August, 2006. The HRF plans to deal with the applications and to make a decision regarding the grants by the end of November. Applicants will be notified by email after the decision and the grants will be payable during December.

Every other Thursday at 8:00 PM EST, members come together to record for EVP and then share what they received on the Idea Exchange under the "Recording Circle – Bridge to the Afterlife" topic. Many members can’t record at that exact time but do record as close to the group recording time as possible.

Book your room early if you are going to the AA-EVP conference because there are a limited number of rooms. Call the Westin Atlanta Airport Hotel at 888.627.7211 and identify yourself as an attendee of the American Association – EVP.

Cost for the rooms at the Westin begins at $89 but that rate will go to $130 after May 17. The cost to attend the conference goes up from $200 to $240 after May 8. Its going to be a once-in-a-lifetime event with wonderful, like-minded people. Don’t miss it

by Sarah Estep

From Chapter 10 "On our Way: The Journey Continues."

Many individuals, upon learning that the other side appears to communicate with us through tape recorders, computers, telephones, and televisions, opt for their television set. Skip the mundane recorder. They don’t have a computer, and if the telephone rings, they will answer. Meanwhile, they'll go and turn on their television, sit down and wait for the great show to begin.

Sadly, they’ll have a long wait. Establishing a road to the other side is hard work, more difficult for some than for others, but none of it comes easily. I described in the previous chapter my own beginning efforts. The fact that I received my first word, "Beauty," on the sixth day after over twenty hours of work, places me in the fortunate category. Some people work almost daily for six months or more before having their first contact. Others achieve their goal the second or third time they sit down. One never knows whether they’ll be one of the fortunate when starting to tape. It has been suggested that the reason I received my first message in a relatively short time was because the other side telepathically picked up my thought that I was only going to tape for a week. They knew if they were going to speak, they’d have to hurry up and do it or I’d be lost to them forever.

Why should we go the way of the tape recorder instead of jumping into the infinitely more exciting world of television? They have told many of us that the road to them is a tape recorder.

There are several important reasons. As I suggested in Chapter 9, the invisibles need to learn about us. They need to become familiar with our energies and vibrations so they can adjust their own energies and vibrations to ours. They need to know our psychological and spiritual make-up. Are we good for the long haul? Why do we want to communicate with them? Is this a passing fancy that will quickly be laid aside before we go on to something else? Are we willing to pay our dues?

Through the tape recorder we can learn worlds of information about other dimensions. Yes, it would be exciting to see Aunt Suzy on television, and eventually we might. But even if that happy day comes, she’ll be able to communicate little, if anything, verbally. Two or three individuals have spoken through television but their utterances have been brief. While more and more people around the world are having television contact, it’s still probably less than five percent. Each of those people first had outstanding success with tape recorders…

Not everyone accepts that the voices are coming from spirits or any other dimension. They think they originate right here on the earth plane. You will always have skeptics who will never be swayed by any evidence that is contrary to their ironclad beliefs. They should consider what Sigmund Freud wrote: "If one regards himself as a skeptic, it is well from time to time to be skeptical about one’s skepticism" There is nothing wrong with holding a skeptical attitude, depending on its severity and how it affects your life. I certainly don’t accept everything that comes down the pike. You have to be willing to consider all evidence and then decide what is right, what is truth for you, and go on from there.

Why is there skepticism? What reasons do skeptics give for saying it is impossible to have contact with other-world entities? Many don’t believe there is life beyond planet Earth. Some feel if there is life, it would not be able, or have the desire, to speak to us through tape recorders.

A number of parapsychologists wish the voices would go away. They are too unscientific, too emotionally laden. Raymond Bayless wrote in a July 1978 magazine about, "The incredible refusal of the majority of para- psychologists to give a fair hearing to taped voice phenomena."

There are those who think atmospheric sounds are the culprits. They feel nothing is ever lost, including all the words we speak. I can’t conceive how the words needed to answer the many questions others and I ask can come whizzing back at the appropriate moment from the Great Beyond.

Some skeptics claim there aren’t any voices at all on the tapes. It is only the imagination of the experimenter. Sadly, they are often correct. I have listened to more unsolicited tapes than I care to remember, sent to me by people who promise I will hear all sorts of marvelous things on their tapes, including Elvis Presley singing and God talking to them personally. (I’ve heard neither.) In the large majority of cases I’ve heard nothing, or just a faint Class C voice that I can’t be at all sure about. In the Rorschach medley of sounds, one can hear almost anything one has in mind to hear. Ninety-five percent of the tapers think their results are better than they truly are. Unfortunately, many of these people send their tapes to the media, or play them for individuals who hear little, if anything and what they do hear is of such poor quality that they think all of us working in the field are wasting our time.

We have more than enough tape recording maestros in this country and abroad, to show we are in serious communication with other worlds. As William James said, "It takes one white crow to prove not all crows are black."

Roads To Eternity, Galde Press, 2005,

800-728-2730 ISBN: 1-931942-23-44

Don’t miss your chance to see Sarah at the AA-EVP conference!

by Cindy Sabo

When we asked Cindy Sabo how she had managed to cope with the death of her husband, Rich, she sent us this email. It is a wonderful story about her experience and we thank her for allowing us to share it.

Rich has been gone now for a little over 2 years (08/08/03). I guess I am very strong willed and will not allow "death" to conquer me. Instead I find myself picking up the many pieces that were left behind. At the time of Rich’s death, Rich and I were having massive reconstruction done to our home.　　(It was a dream we both shared since we owned this home.) Rich was a mechanical engineer and was able to make a pile of junk transform into a functional work of art. Long story short, he drew up all the drawings to re-make this house.　Basically he was able to　fit fifty pounds in a ten pound bag, and he guided our contractor, Dan, to do the impossible. I have to say that Rich was the happiest I have ever seen him in the thirty-one years I was married to him. The house was beginning to pull together the week he died, and he was extremely excited about the bathroom downstairs, as it was initially just a powder room. With his design work and Dan’s skill, he fit a shower and a huge sink in there. The toilet was just installed and he yelled upstairs to me to see if I had seen his toilet and he dropped dead. (He was dead before he hit the floor.) The whole ordeal was "awesome!" Being medical, I did not know much about the world of engineering and just stood there. I really did not know what to do.

My motivation was to bring the house back the way Rich and I wanted it, so the construction did not stop. Dan pulled this place together for me as he knew I just wanted to come back home. (I was staying at our shore property, but then moved into my son’s condo as it was closer to my home.)

So, I guess making our dream happen for the first three or four months following Rich’s death kept my mind occupied. Was I mad? Yes! Was I making deals? Yes! But then reality struck and I finally got a grip on the mess … and met up with "acceptance."　I did not take meds because I don’t believe in them. I did not seek out counseling other than in the form of prayer. I basically managed this ordeal with myself and God. I had to emotionally　support my three children ages 30, 27 and 25 at the time (they had all　moved out).

Also, while all of this was going on, I was taken for a ride with the cemetery where I first put Rich’s remains. I was told that a new mausoleum was being built and that Rich would be placed in a permanent vault within six months. To make another long story short, I have had to move his body three times since his death. The last move was last December to an entirely different cemetery. I finally have closure with this; however, there is a pending lawsuit against the first cemetery, which has been on hold, as they are trying to get out of it. So, here I am still playing around with a dead body. GREAT!

You really have to look at my situation and say, "WOW"! However, it is one day at a time. Now, have I made any recordings? Yes. Do I think I had any contact? Yes, however, it could just be my imagination. I put the recorder in Rich’s bathroom downstairs and I swear on one recording I heard "Help me." Again, it could be my imagination. I have not been doing the recordings for a while, as time has not allowed me to do so.

I turn the television on in my bedroom at 7:00 while I am getting ready for bed, but it turns off by itself at 8:11. It never did this before. (Way back when, Rich always turned it on.) I even checked to see why this is going on but there is no real explanation. I also have been awakened out of a sound sleep, even though I was not dreaming of anything in particular. When this happens, I look at my alarm clock only to find that it reads 11:18, which would be our wedding anniversary. This has only happened a couple times since his death. Have I dreamt about Rich? No. I do get gut feelings about checking things out to see if they are okay. For instance, I had an urge to check the ice maker the week　before my son’s wedding, and found that　the motor was dead. Had I not emptied the tray, I wouldn't have known until the guests arrived. I have no idea if this is a contact from Rich. I would love to believe it is.

Where I stand on religion: I am extremely close to the boss (God) and Jesus, but I do believe that EVP exists.　It is　proven by Jesus talking with Mary and the Disciples after his Crucifixion.

Another thing that I call myself is a swan and not a widow.　 The week before Rich died, a swan was swimming in the lagoon across the way.　 Rich was working outside and I asked him what was going on with the swan.　 He came in and we were watching the bird. I took it upon myself to go out and feed him some bread.　 The bird was huge. He came over and seemed depressed as he only sucked in the bread very slowly.　 After he had a few pieces he slowly swam away.　 When I came in I told Rich that I thought the bird was depressed.　 Rich started to laugh and told me I was being "hormonal."　 A few days later, I found out that the swan had lost its mate.　 To this day, when I am down at the shore house, and missing Rich, the swan will show up and I go out and feed him.　 It is almost a magical bond between the two of us.　 So, I call myself a swan: one love, one mate.　 For me, a widow is one who is looking for another mate.

Karen Mossey and Mike Sullivan celebrated Erland Babcock’s birthday, on February 20, by adding Erland’s picture to Mike’s "Door." Mike has set aside a room for ITC experimenting, and he has placed pictures of ITC pioneers on the entry door. In the picture shown here, you can see Erland’s wise face to the right of Jürgenson, Raudive, Meek, O’Neil and Mueller.

Karen recorded for EVP as part of the ceremony, and reported that she got, "Erland is with me," "A very good day" and in response to Mike saying, "Goodnight Erland," they recorded, "Thanks for being here."

Mike records many phenomenal features in reflected light. Here you see an apparent face reflected from a glass bottle (right) in a picture that he took during the session. You can see the bottle on an old radio, below.

As we reported in the last NewsJournal, longtime ITC researcher, Erland Babcock, made his transition to the other side October 2006, and since then, several members have reported receiving EVP messages from him. Ali Fant has reported that she has found Erland’s ham operator call sign in her computer. She wrote, "Before Erland passed over, we had talked extensively about an idea of using ham radio weak signal protocols when either he or I transitioned."

January 6, 2006, after reading about Erland’s transition Ali told us that, "… I hurried home preparing to initiate the protocol Erland and I had agreed to. While still in my car, I asked out loud if Erland would go to my computer and leave a message. The time was 11:45 PM.

"I powered up my computer at 12:10 AM and did a Right Click, START, Find text: K1GPH anywhere on my hard drive. The machine found thirteen files with Erland’s call sign embedded in them. Nine of the files were last accessed back in August/September 2005. Four of the files (DBX format) showed a last modified date/time of 1/6/06 11:45 PM. This occurred when the computer was powered off! I checked the computer clock time against my accurate WWV Time Signal clock. The two clocks were exactly in synch—as they should have been.

"I urge other AA-EVP members to do a quick search for Erland's ham call sign on their computers. Erland and I had agreed on ham call signs for communication because they are unique in the world."

We encourage you to conduct a search in your computer for files containing "K1GPH." Erland was proud to be a ham radio operator, and so his call sign, which is like his name in ham radio world, may carry quite a lot of emotion—just the thing to communicate easily across the veil. We also recommend that you "call him in" for a time before the search. Also consider setting up a text file specifically for him to use for communication.

In behalf of the board of the VTF (the German ITC group), Jutta Liebmann informed us that, "It is with great regret that I have to officially inform you of the transition of Mr. Theo Bleitgen. As you certainly know, Mr. Theo Bleitgen had been the elected president prior to Mr. Jürgen Nett [current president] during an extremely difficult and critical conversion period for our association … to push back the deep isolation and standstill of the VTF. He introduced new technical knowledge as well as open mindedness for contacts abroad. In this connection, he had specially supported my first steps in establishing initial contacts with international EVP associations by means of his valuable advice and steady encouragement."

We regret that Theo will no longer be with the VTF in the physical, but we know that physical death often enables us to do even more from the other side. Our best wishes to Theo Bleitgen and the VTF.

When Debra Caruso saw an ITC photo that Kathleen Griffen had posted on the Idea Exchange, she immediately saw the image of her son and his best friend, Lenny. (See the original in Kathleen’s post titled, "These are images recorded back on February 26^th during the Big Circle," in the Video ITC forum.) As you may recall from the last NewsJournal, Debra’s son, Joey, died while they were on vacation in Mexico. The doctors gave Joey anesthesia before setting his shoulder and he died from asphyxiation by choking. He was sixteen years old.

Lenny and Joey attended grammar, middle and high school together, and were very good friends. They had been together February 14, 2004, the night before the family left on vacation.

Because Debra’s daughter, Alex, was in critical condition she was unable to bring her home from Mexico until April 3. Lenny died tragically on April 4.

When Lenny came home from Joey’s funeral, he told his mother that he liked the casket and would want one like it. He also told his mother that he had three dreams in a row in which Joey had been sitting on stairs waiting for him.

Kathleen Griffen is the member who took this photo. She has loved photography all of her life. Her mother used to drive her around when she was ten just so Kathleen could take pictures. She was very close to her sister, Cheryl, and was devastated by her unexpected death when, while caring for her ailing parents, she drowned in their pool. Cheryl was fifty years old and the rock of the family; the big sister who knew how to take care of everything. She had gone to Florida to help with her mother with their ailing father.

Kathleen learned about EVP and had recorded voices in a local old settlers burial ground, so after her sister’s transition, she recorded at her sister’s home and at her gravesite. She says that, "having heard these voices actually helped me through the healing process."

Being known as a person with a camera attached to her body at all times, it is not surprising that Kathleen became interested in Video ITC. In this experiment, she had set up a video feedback loop with her television and made a video recording. She then played the video on her television and took still camera shots of some of the screen.

Apart from a few notable exceptions, C. D. Broad was one of the very few professional philosophers of his day to take a serious and active interest in psychical research. He identified three important questions which need to be asked when investigating any claim of a supernormal event.

1. Did the reported event really happen, and is the description of it which the witnesses gave completely accurate?

2. If so, can it be accounted for in terms of the already known laws and properties of matter and of mind?

3. If it really did happen as reported, and if it cannot be accounted for normally, can we suggest any plausible supernormal explanation of it? And can we test our explanation by further observations or experiments?

From: www.survivalafterdeath.org/news.htm

by Lisa Butler

During our EVP/ITC sessions, we have asked the members of the Big Circle if they would work with us by putting their pictures in our Video ITC experiment. We have recorder messages telling us that it was difficult but that they were going to try. In an experiment in January, we asked for Martha’s daughter, Cathy, to appear. On the second frame of the video experiment, I saw a set of eyes gazing back at me and immediately felt that it was Cathy. I was certain that Martha would think that I had lost it because Cathy is known for not liking to have her picture taken. To our surprise, Martha came back the next day with an email and said that she was sure it was Cathy. She sent back the picture of Cathy that you see below, which is beside the ITC picture of her eyes.

In the next experiment that we conducted with the Big Circle recording group, we called on Braden and asked him to appear in the Video ITC experiment. A face appeared on the very first frame, and although distorted, it looked like Braden’s friend, Jim. We sent the picture to both Vicki Talbott, Braden’s mom, and Mary Jo Gran, Jim’s mom. Both of them agreed that it was Jim.

Jim and Braden died together March 11, 2001, while kayaking. Braden began leaving messages on Vicki’s answering machine about five months after they passed. Vicki wrote that, "The first message was, ‘Whaddup,’ and the second was, ‘Ehhhhhh...,’ a sound he used to make in mock embarrassment, especially when I refused to answer the phone. The third was simply, ‘Mom?’ as if to ask me if I were listening and the fourth was a rap.

"Mary Jo came over to my house and was happy yet sad to hear Braden’s voice but not Jim’s, so we sat down and prayed for Jim to come through. I never answer the phone, so I let the machine pick up when it rang a half hour later, and it was Jim saying, ‘I'll come again.’"

by Phyllis Delduque

For some time now, researchers of ITC images have talked about capturing the phenomenal images using mirrors and aluminum-plated paper. I have resisted accepting those methods, mainly aluminum-plated paper, because there is a certain difficulty at the moment of researching the paranormal images. We know that we should differentiate a paranormal image from an engraving or any other effect. Also, in photographs using mirrors, we want to pay close attention so as not to allow the inclusion of any local image, images from our room or from ourselves.

In this article I intend to show the technical information on how I obtained the ITC images shown here. Please see http://paginas.terra.com.br/educacao/portaltci/ , which has more examples of our work for those who want to begin such research.

First of all, I have considered that the creator of the video feedback method for ITC images, Klaus Schreiber, sometimes used aluminum plated paper. When I used this method, I discovered that one of the factors for the success of this method is the light. Klaus used several types of lamps, including ultraviolet, infrared and common household lamps.

All of the images shown here were recorded directly in the computer, rather than using a feedback loop between a television set and a cassette video recorder. My computer has a video capture card, which is necessary for this technique because I also used an analog, color webcam. For light, I used a 100 watt and a 60 watt incandescent lamp. In some experiments I just used one lamp, leaving the room a little dark.

Stretch a new sheet of aluminum foil or aluminum covered paper over a flat surface, such as a drawing board or cutting board, taking care not to bend or wrinkle the aluminum; otherwise there will be engravings in the aluminum that will confuse the results. The result should be a dim mirror. I shine the 60 watt lamp directly at the aluminum surface. I then place the mini camera as close to the surface of the foil as possible (using the zoom) while adjusting the contrast, brightness and color controls in the capture card software to obtain the effect of a tunnel on the computer display. The phenomenal images are captured by watching the display and using the video capture when possible images appear.

Here are examples of my aluminum mirror experiments:

EVP is not about religion and the AA-EVP is not a religious organization. We find ourselves saying that a lot. We also find ourselves explaining what has been learned from these phenomena. The problem is that the things we say that people are learning sound a lot like we are talking about a religion. This is no wonder when such subjects as life reviews and communicating with "dead" loved ones keep coming up.

So what if the AA-EVP was a relig … ? No, don’t even go there! What if members of the AA-EVP codified what is being learned into a … well lets call it: "Articles of Agreement." Based on the evidence, what would we list as things we feel comfortable in accepting into our worldview? Here are some of the more obvious "results" that are at least partially supported by the evidence. The parts written in italics are clearly speculative:

Even though the AA-EVP addresses very tangible proofs of personal survival and helps people learn to reach loved ones across the veil, interest in the AA-EVP has traditionally been from a few people who are willing to face that scary prospect that long dead Uncle John may not be so dead after all and may even be coming by to say "hi."

Part of our conclusion is that people want to, even need to be inspired. I for one talk in technical terms that are about as inspirational as a stick of wood. Making the AA-EVP a religion would be missing the point of EVP, but is there a middle ground? The Big Circle shows us that there may be. People must be inspired after hearing some of the Big Circle recording results … if they understood the implications.

So the task then is to learn how to communicate the facts in a more inspirational way without straying too far from the evidence. In religion, instead of saying "There is a greater reality," one might say, "There is a heaven." Some Spiritualists say that we find ourselves in "different atmospheres and awarenesses," while some refer to the other side as "Summerland." Jesus said that there are "many mansions." What if we learned to say something like, "There is a continuum of existence to be experienced beyond this lifetime"?

Implicit in the Articles of Agreement is that there is a purpose for the existence of the greater reality, and therefore a personality with purpose and who cares about the results. That is not directly supported by experimental evidence, but if you are willing to accept the notion that what you will experience after transition has some relationship with what you experienced here, then it is also reasonable to expect that this order is governed by some form of intelligence. It is not necessary to go this far with the Articles, but being inspirational could include the acknowledgment that ours is not a clockwork reality.

Taking this one step further, a benefit of religion is that, for better or for worse, it teaches its congregation how to live in accordance with its tenets. Is it possible for us to let the things we know to be true, things that we can prove, guide us in how we live? Of course, each of us must make the decision as to whether or not we will let this knowledge guide us—or even if we are going to believe these things. But the next time someone asks you what good EVP is, or what you have learned from studying EVP, do not hesitate to tell them that we have articles of knowledge, not matters of faith.                     Tom and Lisa Butler

The Helene Reeder Memorial Fund for Research into Life After Death, (HRF) awarded grants for EVP research last December to Paolo Presi and Alexander MacRae. The grants were for EUR 7,000 ($8,360) each for their research project using communications through EVP to investigate the possibility for post-mortem survival.

AA-EVP member Edgar Muller was instrumental in convincing the board of the HRF that EVP was most suitable for scientific research. Edgar wrote, "It is possible to create serious protocols for the experiments; both prospective and retrospective experiments can be carried out; it is possible to use external neutral persons and sophisticated software to evaluate the results, and so on."

"The HRF will be awarding these grants each year. Anyone can apply, the only limitation being that the application be filled out in English. [See "Announcement for Grant" on Page 6.]

"The objective of the fund is to support research into life after death, so there will be competition between various other fields of research such as NDE, reincarnation, mediums, ITC and others."

Lisa and I once recorded for EVP in Alcatraz. Our expectations were that we would record EVP from "local" entities and ones who were clearly not local; however, the entire modern history of the island involves tremendous negativity, and we were not sure if our theory would hold up. As if to prove to us that our etheric communicators had followed us there, we recorded many very positive EVP, including one with the name of Italian researcher, Paolo Presi, and Scottish researcher, Alexander MacRae.

We posted the EVP example in the Idea Exchange with a poll inviting people to tell us whether or not they heard the two names, and at last check, 60% of listeners did. The example is also in the public pages of aaevp.com.

There is not enough information to make anything more of the EVP than to think that the utterance was a demonstration, but as you can see above, we talk a lot about both researchers. One can only marvel. •

Although the movie, What the Bleep Do We Know!?, was turned down by traditional movie producers and mainstream movie houses, it became a hit through word of mouth at independent film venues. The movie won five independent film awards. The sequel, What the Bleep Do We Know!?: Discovering the Endless Possibilities for Altering Your Everyday Reality, is due out spring 2006.

We have always maintained that it is up to the individual to learn to use EVP to reach a loved one. Yes, others can sometimes do this for a person, but recording for EVP is pretty easy to learn and the person’s desire to reach a loved one is an important factor for success. The real problem we see is that the person offering to help may have difficulty spending the necessary time to make the contact and gather meaningful messages that the person can hear and understand. These are uncharted waters, and the actions of a few can reflect on all of us. Our concern is seeing someone try to earn money doing EVP for others. Of course, we would rather see people earn money teaching others how to do EVP for themselves.

With that said, we have been slowly edging into the use of EVP for information gathering, such as finding lost people. For instance, Rob McConnell of the Canadian, ‘X’ Zone Radio Show, sent an email asking "psychics and mediums within the ‘X’ Zone family" to help find their missing producer. We posted the request in the Prediction Registry of the Idea Exchange. Within twenty-four hours, Debra Ann, Margaret Downey and Chris Kennedy had recorded EVP that were appropriate for the circumstances.

Of course, we wanted the best for the missing producer, but darn it, he was found before we could contribute the messages and McConnell simply said he was found and closed the subject to us. We sent McConnell an email with the information we received, but he did not respond. Based on the EVP messages, we suppose it was a little too embarrassing for the family to talk more about the incident, but it brings up a second issue.

If you ask for help, it is only ethical to provide feedback when help is offered. That is how we who communicate across the veil learn to improve. If you offer to help, it is only ethical to do so in a way that is sensitive to the victim’s feelings. For instance, if you know of a missing child because of a news report, we highly recommend that you do not go to the family with EVP messages unless asked. Odds are very good that the very idea of EVP will offend their religion, and also, odds are very good that you will have more misleading messages than helpful ones unless you have established a relationship with your communicators. And that brings us to a third concern.

We are pretty sure that AA-EVP members can learn how to use EVP to help the public. In fact, AA-EVP member, Liz Rieger, is currently working with police on cases with apparent success. The Idea Exchange offers an excellent tool for people to learn how to use EVP for collecting that kind of information, but we need cases for which we have involved investigators who can give us feedback as to the meaningfulness of the messages, and perhaps ask specific questions of our etheric communicators. If you know of people in law enforcement who would be willing to support this learning effort by telling us about cases and judging our results, contact us and we will work with them to establish ground rules that would help us and keep us from interfering with their investigation.

"Starting off the New Year Right" was the theme of a field trip for a group of members to Tortilla Flats in Merrimack, NH.

Tortilla Flats was built in the 1700s as a private residence and is now a restaurant. Its original owner, Zachariah, was active in the Underground Railroad and slaves were often hidden in the basement. Zachariah ended his life in the house by hanging himself. No one is really sure why he did this but it is obvious that he felt there was no way out of some situation. He left a wife and two children.

The room that Zachariah hung himself in would have been the first room you entered when going into the original house. The door is the original door and opens to this room now used as a dining room. Some of the books in the original room were found when the place was converted to a restaurant. The group was able to go into the room, now called the "Hanging Room," and record for EVP. Karen asked if Zachariah was present and got an EVP saying, "I’m here." She also recorded a, "Help me," that sounds like Zachariah, as well as a man’s voice saying, "I found those over here" and a women saying, "Oh yes."

There are other ghosts that haunt the restaurant and its notoriety as being haunted has attracted customers. Karen says that the staff is very open in talking about the history of the place and notes that they have good food, as well!

We would like to remind you that we cannot always answer questions or comment on things members say in the Idea Exchange. The forum moderators will help as they are able and they have our full support. If you have a specific question about membership, the Association or nonphysical phenomena, please contact us at  or AA-EVP, PO Box 13111, Reno, NV 89507.

This is a good time to ask once again that you let us know at the above address if you have an article or interesting recording results that you would like to share with others in the NewsJournal.

from the Nevada State Journal, July 6, 1926

At 11:15 o’clock Sunday night the voices of four former United States presidents were carried through the air to millions of listeners and three of them, Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and Harding, are dead. Mr. Taft is the only one of the four living.

Those three voices of the dead, recorded on talking machine cylinders and now heard through the microphone, prove that with the aid of science men can do whatever they can imagine. For 100,000 years men have imagined hearing voices from the dead. Now they actually hear them. (Thanks to Janice Oberding)

Thanks to George Wynne for sharing these extracts from a Der Spiegel interview with Pope Benedict XVI, published in October under the above headline.