Electronic Voice Phenomena

by Christopher Orapello

Electronic Voice Phenomena, or EVP for short, is the occurrence of anomalous voices or sounds found in a recording which were not heard when the recording was being made. Whether or not the recording media is audio, digital, or video based, the potential for the documentation of an unknown voice is still a distinct and perplexing occurrence. Modern paranormal researchers often use this technique as a means of communicating with the deceased as it is believed that these mysterious voices are the voices of those who have passed on, but who continue to dwell amongst the living. The voices are 'believed' to be those of the deceased because it can't be proven to be so, but enough consistancies in occurences and information provided by the voices suggest that these voices are based in some form of reality, whether they are actual deceased individuals who are present during a recording or are the result of environmental imprinting, has yet to be determined. Regardless of what the case may be, the occurence is still fascinating and demands scientific attention and with the advances of audio forensic technology, good EVPs can be proven to be human voices as they contain vocal patterns and elements that specialists can identify as being human based, though their origin is still indeterminable.

The practice of recording EVP is not new and in fact has been around since the 1920's. The origin of this technique is sketchy, but some associate it with Thomas A. Edison who was allegedly pursuing a device to record the voices of the dead, but he unfortunately died before his idea came to fruition. The first EVP is believed to have been captured years later on a phonograph in 1936 by American photographer Attila von Szalay.

Through the rest of the 20th century this technique has been pursued and developed by many individuals and remarkably as technology advanced, and our understanding of technology grew, we are still able to capture these mysterious disembodied voices debunking any claims that these voices are a result of faulty equipment or interference with other forms of technology.

After 50 years the study of EVP's have become extremely popular, so popular in fact that in 1982 Sarah Estep founded the American Association of Electronic Voice Phenomenon (AAEVP). The AAEVP was founded specifically for the study and proliferation of EVP research which grew into a more advanced practice which allows individuals to directly communicate with those who allegedly passed on. This other practice is referred to as I.T.C. or Instrumental Trans-Communication and the research associated with such practices is often referred to as Survival Research.

Who are they? What are they? In all reality we do not know who or what creates this anomaly, but what we do know as researchers is that this occurrence is well documented and extremely fascinating. The various theories addressing this phenomenon include entities (that these are indeed the voices of the dead); psychic projections of the researcher that are caught by the recording device knowingly or unknowingly; residue from a residual haunting which is a type of haunting that is believed to have been recorded by the local surroundings that plays over and over like a recording; or for the overtly religious types, the last known theory says that Demons, intentionally sounding like humans, are the source for the EVPs. Oh No, Not Demons!

Now, integrating EVP work into an investigation can yield some very provocative evidence. There have been times where an EVP has provided one with information, such as a name, that could be researched further to verify the haunting and validate the evidence obtained. Times like these are rare, but have occurred and serve the pursuit of the researcher to draw connections to the past through evidence obtained during an investigation.

For one to perform EVP work, simply enter into an area that is believed to be haunted while recording the session using some piece of equipment like a digital voice recorder and begin asking questions, in a loud and clear tone, with the understanding that you are asking someone who is present in the vicinity. Allow 8 to 10 seconds between questions to allow for any vocal response. Sessions such as these could last anywhere from 10 minutes up several hours! During the session be sure to state out loud any known sounds or occurrences heard in or outside the space so as not to later mistake them for EVPs or other anomalous phenomena during your review.

Upon reviewing the recording, use headphones and turn the volume up as loud as you are able to stand to enable you to better hear any background voices. Most EVPs dwell in the background and are not mistakable, but some are so loud and clear that they sound as if they were standing right next to you!

There is no official system of the classification of Electronic Voice Phenomenon, but the most popular is the Estep EVP Classification system which was developed by Sarah Estep, founder of the AAEVP. Her system, involving a three tiered system of A, B, and C, is the most practical approach.

As far as research goes Class C EVP's do not make good evidence to the dedicated researcher. They are highly questionable because most Class C EVP's need to be manipulated in order to be understood by the listener. And if this is the case then any pursuit of science has been eliminated from the process due to evidence manipulation causing the evidence to become something that it may not actually be. If manipulation is done, be sure to document what was done to the file in order to produce the current result. Proper analysis and documentation is everything in this field.

The obtaining, documenting, and sharing of EVPs are vital to paranormal research as they allow us to actually hear the voice of someone or something who was unknown to us during the time of the recording. Telling us that there is more to the world than what we can see with our eyes or hear with our ears. Informing us that what we can't see or hear, can most surely hear, see, communicate and respond directly to us as we work unknowingly in a space or location. The undeniable quality of the anomalous voices that EVP work provides is one sure way that any skeptic may find it hard to deny and may, in turn, second guess there own assumptions about life and the world beyond.

 

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