some tips and guidelines you may want to use. A lot of the following I am able to share with you because I
have gone through it. Maybe I can help you avoid some of the mistakes I have made.
First, I say newbies, because let’s face it...everyone was once a newbie. You can gain knowledge through
experience and you are obviously not going to have folks with a haunting problem calling you if you have
only been doing this for 3 minutes. We all have to start somewhere. These are just a few suggestions and
resources to help get you started.
*Research
Rather than driving around and happening up on an abandoned house (which is dangerous and not
advisable), use the tools that are available to you..
If you're reading this, you obviously have internet access. Use it. Do a virtual ghost hunt.
Try searches with key words such as “your city and or state” + haunted + graveyard.
Or paranormal + “your town” or check surrounding areas. Just have fun with it.
I have found some very interesting places this way.
There are an abundance of books on the paranormal, haunting, tours, and much more. There are more
and more books written these days, because more people are starting to take a genuine interest.
Check your local library and you might be surprised at what you find. I will list more resources at the end
of this article that will help you further.
*Urban Legends VS Credible Hauntings
Years ago, when I started ghost hunting, I wanted to see it all. From every crybaby bridge, to every
haunted tunnel. You know the places. Honk your horn once and blink your lights 3 times, and the ghost girl
will get in your back seat. Or run around the old abandoned church 6 times & the Devil himself will appear.
My opinion… don’t waste your time. When you do your research, try to get credible facts.
*Respect
Once you have found a location you would like to investigate, please, be respectful. I have visited many
graveyards, where the stones have been destroyed and litter is scattered all over the place.
*Permission
It is simply the best idea to get permission. If there is a graveyard, for example, that you would like to
investigate, and it’s late at night , you are obviously going to look out of place. Before even driving to the
graveyard, get permission from the local law enforcement. This will do 2 things. One, you have let them
know what you are doing, thus covering your butt. Two, they appreciate it. One time around midnight, we
gave a heads up to an officer who we found at the local convenience store. Once he knew what we were
doing, he not only gave us directions on how to get to the remote area, he also suggested another
graveyard that was also supposed to be haunted, and told us how to get to that one as well.
*Expectations
The odds of going out on your first investigation, and getting a picture of a full-bodied apparition are
extremely low. Patience is a valuable tool. Give it time, you might go many places before you see
something, or catch something on a media source. So, do expect to use a lot of film, and spend a lot of
time, and don’t expect results right away, if at all. But definitely keep an open mind.
*Orbs & Mist
So, you went ghost hunting last night, got your film developed at the local one hour photo, and BAM!
You got an orb! Don’t do the happy dance just yet. Before you go sending it out to the family in a Halloween
greeting card or submitting it to different paranormal websites, just remember a thing or two.
Orbs are abundant on the internet, as well as mysterious smoke or fog. I can only imagine the megabytes of
space used to show orb and mist pictures.
It is hard to prove an orb as an “orb”. An orb could be anything from dust in front of your lens, to a bug
flying by. They are constantly debated. A fog or misty smoke etc… could be anything from cigarette smoke
to exhaust from your vehicle, and is also, in a constant debate all over the World Wide Web. This also, I
have learned through trial and error. But, there amazing things out there that have been photographed,
and cannot be debunked (disproved) so, Do Not Give Up!
* A Few Tips on Photography
If your new at this, you may just want to start off with a camera, or video camera if that’s available.
If you're going to use a “throw away” camera the kind you just send in the whole camera, try to get the 800
speed film as opposed to the 400 speed, unless you enjoy pixilated pictures. This is assuming you are
taking night time shots. Again, I learned this the hard way. Once, long ago, we drove over 200 miles to an
alleged haunted location, used 400 speed film, and when we got it developed it was awful. There goes over
400 miles for nothing. But it is ideal to use your own decent camera with a flash. Also, use the best film you
can.
Digital cameras are great, but I would recommend a regular non-digital camera as well.
One other related point. A camera captures a moment in time. A video camera interprets what is thinks it
sees as a moment in time, and generates it to video. So, if you are using a camera as opposed to a video
camera, that’s great. You are capturing a true moment in time on film.
Okay, you're walking around checking things out, taking pictures aim, shoot, aim, shoot right? No.
Try taking random shots. For example, say you're walking North in an alleged haunted location. Turn the
camera around, lens facing you, lift it above your head, and quickly snap off a shot South. Make sure your
fingers aren’t in the way. Once we had the opportunity to investigate the basement of an old store with lots
of reported activity. We (my husband and I) snapped off several random shots, each on our own camera.
When we got the film developed, one of the rolls was nothing but thumbs. I say it was him, he says it was
me.
A few things to remember:
*it is a great big no no to smoke when you are trying do take paranormal photos or video. That way, smoke can be ruled out if you
capture anything unusual. Make sure there are no other sources that emit smoke as well.
* Make sure your camera strap is out of the way. You will find false positives all over the web where someone may think they had a
paranormal photo, but it was just a camera strap.
I will give some links with examples of false positives at the end of this article.
For that same reason, if you have long hair like me, make sure it is securely tied back.
As I already have mentioned, make sure your fingers are out of the way.
EVP:
From Wikipedia:
Electronic Voice Phenomena (or EVP), refers to "spirit voices" that are said to manifest themselves on
audio recordings.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic%5Fvoice%5Fphenomena
If you are trying to capture EVP, these are a few suggestions. Most definitely not the only way, just a few
things that we do. You might want to start off by just using a simple voice recorder. Preferably something
that you can transfer the audio to your PC. You may even pick up EVP on your video camera speakers.
All over the web, you will find examples of EVP. Sometimes, for example, a couple of folks will be talking,
and they capture a 3rd voice in the background when they play the tape back. Some investigators simply
ask a question, give a reasonable amount of time for a response, then play the tape back. Keep in mind as
well, that EVP is also highly debated.
These days, there are so many tools you could add to your inventory. There are tools that gauge
temperature, infrared equipment, and voice recorders that detect high pitch sounds that the human ear
cannot detect. The list goes on. I don’t know many people that start off with all of this, but, for
convenience and reference, I will also list some links where you can purchase additional equipment.
Paranormal Investigations can be very exciting, but sometimes...not so much. However, its is almost
always a really neat experience. Just have fun, use your common sense, and you’ll do great!
TRACEY H.
PROOF Paranormal Staff Writer
PROOF Articles
Some resources for you to use:
See some great false positives at :
http://proofparanormal.com/falsepositives
This is a site I have used for a very long time. It lists many supposed haunted locations
State by state
http://theshadowlands.net/places/
Just for fun, here’s a cool site I found out of the UK
http://paranormaldatabase.com/index.htm
More tips on capturing EVP…
http://www.ghoststudy.com/evp.html
There are many guides and books that offer as well as free articles that explain how to use paranormal investigation equipment. A
couple of good places to look if you are interested in adding some to your inventory…
Ghost hunting at Ebay…
http://search.ebay.com/ghost-hunting_W0QQfromZR40QQfrtsZ50QQfsooZ1QQfsopZ1
The main page for haunted Ebay
http://search.ebay.com/paranormal_W0QQfromZR40QQfsooZ1QQfsopZ1QQssPageNameZWLRS
I could name lots of links where you can buy equipment. It is readily all over the web.
Here is an interesting article about EVP. Also discusses Thomas Edison’s role in contacting the dearly departed…
http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/evp.html