Electronic voice phenomenon

[Ghoul]

Natural explanations

There are a number of simple scientific explanations that can account for why some listeners to the static on audio devices may believe they hear voices, including radio interference and the tendency of the human brain to recognize patterns in random stimuli.[31] Some recordings may be hoaxes created by frauds or pranksters.[31]

[Ghoul]

Psychology and Perception

Auditory pareidolia is a situation created when the brain incorrectly interprets random patterns as being familiar patterns.[32] In the case of EVP it could result in an observer interpreting random noise on an audio recording as being the familiar sound of a human voice.[31][33][34] The propensity for an apparent voice heard in white noise recordings to be in a language understood well by those researching it, rather than in an unfamiliar language, has been cited as evidence of this,[31] and a broad class of phenomena referred to by author Joe Banks as Rorschach Audio has been described as a global explanation for all manifestations of EVP.[35][36][37][38]

[Ghoul]

Skeptics such as David Federlein, Chris French, Terrence Hines and Michael Shermer say that EVP are usually recorded by raising the "noise floor" - the electrical noise created by all electrical devices - in order to create white noise. When this noise is filtered, it can be made to produce noises which sound like speech. Federlein says that this is no different from using a wah pedal on a guitar, which is a focused sweep filter which moves around the spectrum and creates open vowel sounds. This, according to Federlein, sounds exactly like some EVP. This, in combination with such things as cross modulation of radio stations or faulty ground loops can cause the impression of paranormal voices.[4] The human brain evolved to recognize patterns, and if a person listens to enough noise the brain will detect words, even when there is no intelligent source for them.[39][40] Expectation also plays an important part in making people believe they are hearing voices in random noise.[41]

[Ghoul]

Apophenia is related to, but distinct from pareidolia.[42] Apophenia is defined as "the spontaneous finding of connections or meaning in things which are random, unconnected or meaningless", and has been put forward as a possible explanation.[43]

[Ghoul]

Physics

Interference, for example, is seen in certain EVP recordings, especially those recorded on devices which contain RLC circuitry. These cases represent radio signals of voices or other sounds from broadcast sources.[44] Interference from CB Radio transmissions and wireless baby monitors, or anomalies generated though cross modulation from other electronic devices, are all documented phenomena.[31] It is even possible for circuits to resonate without any internal power source by means of radio reception.[44]

[Ghoul]

Capture errors are anomalies created by the method used to capture audio signals, such as noise generated through the over-amplification of a signal at the point of recording.[31][45]

Artifacts created during attempts to boost the clarity of an existing recording might explain some EVP. Methods include re-sampling, frequency isolation, and noise reduction or enhancement, which can cause recordings to take on qualities significantly different from those that were present in the original recording.[31][46]

[Ghoul]

The very first EVP recordings may have originated from the use of tape recording equipment with poorly aligned erasure and recording heads, resulting in previous audio recordings not being completely erased. This could allow a small percentage of previous content to be superimposed or mixed into a new 'silent' recording.[47]

[Ghoul]

Sporadic meteors and meteor showers

For all radio transmissions above 30MHz (which are not reflected by the ionosphere) there is a possibility of meteor reflection of the radio signal.[48] Meteors leave a trail of ionised particles and electrons as they pass through the upper atmoshere (a process called ablation) which reflect transmission radio waves which would usually flow into space.[49] These reflected waves are from transmitters which are below the horizon of the received meteor reflection. In Europe this means the brief scattered wave may carry a foreign voice which can interfere with radio receivers. Meteor reflected radio waves last between 0.05 seconds and 1 second, depending on the size of the meteor[50]

[Ghoul]

Organizations

There are a number of organizations dedicated to studying EVP and instrumental transcommunication. Individuals within these organizations may participate in investigations, author books or journal articles, deliver presentations, and hold conferences where they share experiences.[51] In addition organizations exist which dispute the validity of the phenomena on scientific grounds.

[Ghoul]

The American Association of Electronic Voice Phenomena (AA-EVP)[52] averages around 500 members in 47 USA states and 22 countries including the USA (current: 2007)."[53] and the International Ghost Hunters Society, conduct ongoing investigations of EVP and ITC including collecting examples of purported EVP available over the internet.[54]. The Rorschach Audio Project, initiated by sound artist Joe Banks, [35][36][55][56] which presents EVP as a product of radio interference combined with auditory pareidolia and the Interdisciplinary Laboratory for Biopsychocybernetics Research, a non-profit organization dedicated studying anomalous psi phenomena related to neurophysiological conditions.[57] According to the AA-EVP, it is "the only organized group of researchers we know of specializing in the study of ITC."[58].

[Ghoul]

Spiritualists, as well as others who believe in Survivalism, have an ongoing interest in EVP.[59] Many Spiritualists believe that communication with the dead is a scientifically proven fact, and experiment with a variety of techniques for spirit communication which they believe provide evidence of the continuation of life.[60] According to the National Spiritualist Association of Churches, "An important modern day development in mediumship is spirit communications via an electronic device. This is most commonly known as Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP)".[61] An informal survey by the organization's Department Of Phenomenal Evidence cites that 1/3 of churches conduct sessions in which participants seek to communicate with spirit entities using EVP.[62]

[Ghoul]

The James Randi Educational Foundation offers a million dollars for proof that any phenomena, including EVP, are caused paranormally. The prize remains uncollected.

[Ghoul]

Cultural impact

The concept of EVP has had an impact on popular culture. It is popular as an entertaining pursuit, as in ghost hunting, and as a means of dealing with grief. It has influenced literature, radio, film and television.

[Ghoul]

Paranormal groups and ghost hunting

Investigation of EVP is the subject of hundreds of Internet message boards, regional, and national groups.[63][64] According to paranormal investigator John Zaffis, "There's been a boom in ghost hunting ever since the Internet took off." Investigators, equipped with electronic gear such as EMF meters, video cameras and audio recorders, scour reportedly haunted venues, trying to uncover visual and audio evidence of hauntings. Many use portable recording devices in an attempt to capture EVP.[63]

[Ghoul]

Radio, film and television

    * The Sixth Sense, a 1999 film starring Bruce Willis. The main character, a psychologist, realizes that audiotapes of his former patient interviews include the voices of dead people, who have been haunting the patient.
    * Ghost Whisperer, 2005 TV series. In the episode "Voices", a dead woman tries to reach her son using EVP.
    * Supernatural, a TV series launched in 2005 which draws from many legends and paranormal phenomena, frequently uses EVP as a plot device.
    * White Noise, a 2005 film starring Michael Keaton, focuses exclusively on the phenomenon of EVP and the main character's attempts to contact his recently deceased wife through it. The filmmakers assert at the end of the film that 1 in 12 EVP messages received is threatening in nature, a figure disputed by many in the field.[65]
    * Bad Manners, a 1997 film in which a musicologist (played by Saul Rubinek) claims, to the suspicion of those around him, that a fragment of a medieval hymn can be found in a randomly generated work of contemporary classical music.
    * In the 1979 film "The Changeling", John Russell, the main character played by George C. Scott, hires a psychic to perform a seance at his house, haunted by a long dead child. In a chilling scene he discovers that the reel-to-reel tape recorder used during the session picked up the ghost-child's voice.
    * in 1979 the BBC TV series The Omega Factor episode "Visitors" centers around a potential EVP manifestation
    * Coast To Coast AM hosts George Noory and Art Bell have explored the topic of EVP with featured guests such as Brendan Cook and Barbara McBeath of the Ghost Investigators Society, and paranormal investigator and demonologist Lou Gentile.[66][67]
    * Lost Souls, a made-for-tv movie that uses an EVP to communicate with the spirits of 2 murdered children.
    * The SciFi Channel's Ghost Hunters TV series often features EVP as part of investigations conducted by Atlantic Paranormal Society members.[68]
    * The Spirit of John Lennon, a pay-per-view seance broadcast in 2006, in which TV crew members, a psychic, and an "expert in paranormal activity" claim the spirit of former Beatle John Lennon made contact with them through what was described as "an Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP)".[69]
    * In 2008, the History Channel television series MonsterQuest picked up two EVPs in the Lizzie Borden house, said to be the most haunted house in America.
    * An episode of Secret Saturdays had EVPs as a major plot point (Though at the end it was shown they were faked).