EVP's - What Are They Really?

My guess is that a lot of recorded EVPs are stomach gurgles and clothing rubbing against itself. That, and the general, natural tendency of people to interpret strange noises as voices. The aural equivalent of being able to see rabbit and face shapes in the clouds.

There may also be some radio signals being picked up by the electronic equipment. I get radio sounds something through my electric guitar and amp. It can happen.

This is what Paul/Stanley has written on his YouTube page about the 'things' :

Took me 5 to 10 minutes to bring this page back up in order to delete what I'd copied and pasted from Paul/stanley's site. Obviously I did it incorrectly and it must have copied underlying content which was the cause of the problem. Hope this fixes it

He's described them many times. From what I remember of what he wrote several months ago, the 'things' made themselves known to him over a decade ago. At first, he thought his friends were responsible, but then realised this was not the case

He said the 'things' would torment him even when he was away from his home. Also, when he moved residence, the 'things' moved with him

When he was away from his home, i.e., out shopping or on a train, he spoke to the things and told them to leave him alone. It was very difficult for him, because he didn't want to draw attention to himself or be regarded as insane. He mentioned (I think it's on the Paranormal site I linked in the above post) that on at least one occasion, he witnessed a woman whom he realised was being tormented by the same phenomenon

He has a young son, who has appeared in several of his videos and Paul appears to be a normal and loving father. He (Paul/Stanley) apparently spent considerable time amongst Aborigines during his formative years and some have suggested this may in some way relate to the 'things'

When I first happened upon the paranormal site which was attempting to help him with the situation, Paul/Stanley was at a low ebb. He's picked up a lot since he's had others offering support and being able to post the 'things' on Youtube has obviously lessened his sense of isolation and helplessness

But you'll note in the quote I've posted above, that Paul/Stanley can hear these things. He believes they communicate with him -- to the point he's often said his sleep, what little he manages to get, is frequently interrupted by the voices. So, *if the phenomenon is genuine, it appears to be a combination of voices and manifestations resembling 'orbs'. Not the sort of thing most of us would enjoy


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[edit on 7-5-2010 by Dock9]

reply to post by Blue Shift


You may be correct

but did you read my post which included quotations and links to experments conducted in the well-shielded Pye Records recording studios ? The safeguards employed would seem to discount the possible explanations you've suggested

reply to post by Blue Shift


That may definitely account for some EVP's but not all of them. Some EVP's are quite elaborate and verbose and speak in direct context to that of the investigator.

IRM

reply to post by InfaRedMan


Just had a hair-raising ten minutes trying to fix up the mess I made by quoting Paul/Stanley's comments direct from his site. I've deleted it anyway


As regards orbs and your remarks re: same --- I agree. Realise I may be totally wrong, but at the moment at least, I'm most sceptical about 'orbs'

Should add though that Paul/Stanley's 'orbs' aren't the usual 'orb claims' we see so often. In fact, I don't think he called them orbs initially. I think it was the Oz paranormal groups which applied that label, because it was a handy shorthand to describe them

REason I introduced the Oz connection at all, was the fact Paul/Stanley has claimed from the outset (at least as far as I'm aware) that the 'things' communicated with him in a manner which he regards as verbal -- whether or not the voices/sounds are actually audible (or able to be reocrded) of course is another matter altogether

Just saw a thread about 'blank pages'. Seems many are having the same problems. So as it turns out, it's a site problem and I didn't need to worry or delete Paul/Stanley's description in quotes after all


Ah well, done now, so never mind

But he did say that the 'voices' are able to mimic anyone. He said they can sound exactly like those closest to him, those he knows most intimately

So I feel that if Paul/Stanley's claims are true, it could well have relevance within the EVP discussion. And could also involve what Islam describes as 'jinn', as used to be echoed by the Roman Catholic religion as regards the capacity of 'demons' to mimic the deceased. Which doesn't square with the alleged claims of the Vatican (quoted earlier in this thread) that we should/may now accept that EVP are the voices of our departed loved-ones

Okay, as requested I am going to post the links to my recordings but before before you download them... I want to post a little required reading which will be in the form of quotes from a few different posts of the thread that I created:
I Discernibly Hear Dead People!! **Recordings Added, Pg. 2**

First and Foremost:

DISCLAIMER: The following thread recordings contains material that could potentially be hazardous to your mind, body, and soul. I am posting this merely to share my findings in the research that I conducted. Paranormal investigation should never be attempted by any one that isn’t thoroughly educated on the subject and the potential danger and repercussions of said paranormal investigations.

Some of the replies throughout the thread suggested that Auditory Pareidolia is what causes one to hear certain voices in regards to EVP, more so, it was just my mind playing tricks on me.

My reply to those posters:

I initially shared the same view in relation to the poster that mentioned the Auditory Pareidolia effect. This was my thought too as I was initially researching the youtube videos on this subject. I was completely ready to debunk this as such. However, what I experienced was nothing of the sort. I know the mind is a tricky thing. This is NOT the case. I have forwarded the actual full recordings to a few different people without including the "what I heard" portion. There are undeniable voices in these recordings.

At this point a suggestion was made that I use a hosting service to upload the recordings to. So I did. I was quite surprised at how many people actually downloaded them. Then a peculiar trend started within the thread that suggested that the EVP's that I recorded were...well....haunted is about the best description that I can give. Here is an example:

Originally posted by DJM8507
I'm done with your EVPs.

I tried to download it on that link you provided and got one of those "fake virus scanner" Trojans that screw up the computer. Spent the next 30 minutes removing it.

Then I ran upstairs to get something and slipped on the final stair and now I'm pretty sure I broke my big toe.

There is something unholy going on with your EVPs.

Could just be coincidence though.

[edit on 27-3-2010 by DJM8507]

In which I replied:

Well as far as the files, I downloaded each one myself after I uploaded them, unzipped them, and played them with no problems just to be sure everything was in good working order. No virus warnings were generated, I use Symantec Corporate Edition. Apart from a few ads that pop-up when you download them (which I closed right out), due to being a free user, there was nothing that I would deem as threatening to my system that was going on.

Not sure how to respond to the "unholy" claim. Sucks about your toe though, just a friendly suggestion, but maybe you shouldn't run up the stairs and just walk instead. Seems like that would be safer and lessen the chance for "coincidental" injuries to occur.

Be safe!

I did receive a great deal of positive feedback as well. Not to take away from this thread, but I invite you to read through my thread at your leisure and you'll see that there were a lot of posters that heard legitimate disembodied voices by their replies.

Now to the nitty gritty. As opposed to posting a quote of the whole post that contains the recordings I decided to just post the link to the exact post that contains the recordings as well as the pics containing the set-up. So without further ado, Enjoy!

The Ghost Post With the Most

Good questions, OP. I've had many of the same thoughts and reservations about EVP's.

They are so widespread, it's hard to discount them. Can we call so many, many people liars and hoaxers? It's hard to just dismiss all them as hoaxes, isn't it?

On one of the ghost shows, there was an older woman who was almost "addicted" to EVP's. She would get up in the night after her family had gone to bed, and get out her "stashed" recorder. She had truly become obsessed with it, and had isolated herself within her home. It was affecting her life, and not in a good way. She had hours and hours of recorded EVP's. She knew none of the "ghosts". The show ended with the Host, convincing her to stop it, and she gave up her tapes and recorder.

So, it amounts to how much trust do we have in people? In the ghost shows? How good are we at determining veracity?

Now, not to insult anybody...but I'm kinda out on Franks Box, or Ghost Box. That allows for too much personal/subjective interpretation, for my taste, and I can't seem to accept it. It's radio interference, imo.

But as for the recorded EVP's....I do believe some of them are real. I have to. I can't dismiss mass amounts of people as delusional, or liars, or having faulty equipment. It happens too often to dismiss them all.

I will try it one day, I know I will. But it won't be in my own home. It will be in one of the haunted hotels, probably in La. or SC. But I will do it.

Originally posted by InfaRedMan
reply to post by Blue Shift

 

That may definitely account for some EVP's but not all of them. Some EVP's are quite elaborate and verbose and speak in direct context to that of the investigator.

IRM

There was an episode on one of the ghost shows (yes, I watch them all)....and they were in a hotel room where a genteel English woman had lived.

They asked "Can you hear us"? And the response on the EVP was:

"of course, but where are you?"

reply to post by ladyinwaiting

That allows for too much personal/subjective interpretation, for my taste, and I can't seem to accept it. It's radio interference, imo.

Before I conducted this I would have been inclined to agree with you. However, the peculiar thing about the recordings was that I didn't hear 80% of what I recorded during the actual session.

While recording the first session I was thoroughly unimpressed and was convinced that this was in fact a farce. Then I loaded the recording into a pretty decent audio editing program and that is when my view did a 180.

I stand firm that what I was able to record was not coincidental radio broadcast snippets. I was scanning up and down the AM band too fast. Not to mention there were voices that completed whole sentences in which I had scanned through a large portion of the AM band so for it to have been a broadcast snippet it would have had to cover a huge gap in the AM frequency.

I respect your view none the less, and when you do decide to perform your own sessions please make sure you've done all the research regarding safety measures.

reply to post by UberL33t


I will be careful, and thanks for your reply. I remember the first time I heard about Franks Box, I was amazed, thinking I wanted to try it.

I'm not at all saying it isn't possible. I just wanted you to know that.

As an interesting aside, re: EVPs:

read several times last night (while I was searching for material for the OP) that 'the spirits' had instructed a number of researchers to use a mirror on their EVP devices

In one of the sources, there was a bit of back and forth between some EVP-researchers, along the lines of: ' My voices told me to 'look into the mirror, look into the mirror' -- so I bought a mirror '

To which someone replied along the lines of: ' Mine too ! Don't know what it's about, but I bought a cheap mirror and now use it when I'm recording EVPs. Don't know what good it could do, but I figure it can't do much harm '

etc.


Which to me, could be interpreted at least two ways. As an aid, similar to the ghost-boxes ? Or are the researchers being told, gently, that the clue to the EVPs 'lies within' ?

reply to post by Dock9


Hmmm very interesting! It could be that the mirror is a metaphor for a parallel reality. We look in the mirror and see a world exactly like ours but there's a barrier we cannot break through to fully interact with it.

I don't know.. I only just got up so my brain is still unscrambling!

IRM

Just a note to UberL33t and Ladyinwaiting...

I have read your posts and promise to reply when I get back from this birthday bbq I have to go to this afternoon/evening. Very interesting!

IRM

reply to post by InfaRedMan

I don't know.. I only just got up so my brain is still unscrambling!

Know what you mean. Same here. I come on ATS to kick-start my brain, most mornings. You know, in the same way teachers used to wake-up the class by getting them to repeate the Times Tables for ten minutes

By 'ghost boxes', I was referring to those telephone-booth type things which were lined inside (where you sat) with mirrors. Something ' .... mantium'. Can't remember the word just now

Mirrors are so ordinary, but they're also a leeetle bit strange, sometimes. And I'm not the only person of that opinion (which is nice to know, or I'd have to worry ). Look up threads which discuss mirrors, for example ....

Anyway, IRM, if you decide to conduct some EVP research, you could always give the mirror a try. But try not to scream if you see someone/something behind you, in that mirror ....

(now for another maxi dose of Vegemite )

Ahh the confines of timezones. Where you're just waking I am off to bed. I as well have a pretty busy day tomorrow so as soon as I can get back to the thread I will. Looking forward to it. Have a great day ladies and gentlemen.

I will say nothing but This is my living room when no one is around........


and if you need more visual proof check out the next one especially the half torso in the final 1/4 of the film.



[edit on 8-5-2010 by DreamerOracle]

[edit on 8-5-2010 by DreamerOracle]

Originally posted by ladyinwaiting

There was an episode on one of the ghost shows (yes, I watch them all)....and they were in a hotel room where a genteel English woman had lived.

They asked "Can you hear us"? And the response on the EVP was:

"of course, but where are you?"

I think that was on one of the episodes of Ghost Hunters (season 3) when they went to England wasn't it?

IRM

reply to post by UberL33t


Just downloading your EVP Sessions now UberL33t. Have you made accompanying text files with time stamps and phrases you want us to listen out for?

IRM

reply to post by InfaRedMan


Just the one in Ghost Box.zip with the snippets from some of the full recordings. The other full sessions aren't accompanied with any as to let the listener see if he/she can hear anything other than what I did. There were quite a few that I apparently didn't hear that others were able to. Let me know how it goes.