PRISONS

Besides these sites, there are also many out there which do not fit into any category at all, including caves, roadways, forests, mines... etc. Just remember that for any location that has seen life, and death, over the years... there is probably another just like it that is probably haunted! Another important thing to remember is to always get proper permission to conduct an investigation, never trespass on privately owned property, it is against the law and you can and will go to jail for it and destroy the credibility and reputation of your group not to mention it is just plain rude. Good luck to all who follow this advice and happy hunting.

How To Record Electronic Voice Phenomenon (E.V.P's)

Electronic Voice Phenomenon or E.V.P for short is one of the most common occurances in paranormal research. E.V.P's are disembodied voices or sounds captured on audio recording devices that are not heard at the time they are recorded but are heard upon listening to the recording at a later time. E.V.P's are usually short words or phrases and sometimes are quiet and hard to hear and understand to the untrained ear but there are other instances where E.V.P's are quite loud and clear and have a much longer message than normal. Anybody can capture E.V.P's on any type of audio recorder but the results may not be very good without using the proper techniques and decent recording equipment. The NLPS have recorded alot of great E.V.P's you can listen to on our E.V.P page here on our website and here are a few of the techniques we use on our investigations to get them.

Choosing An Audio Recorder 

The first thing you will need is a decent audio recorder. You can purchase a recorder at most electronics stores or online. We use Sony and Olympus digital recorders on our investigations but many groups prefer to use analog recorders that require tapes. Analog recorders will work fine to record E.V.P's but you will have to make sure to use new tapes every time you use them so you don't wind up hearing the sounds of previous recordings that are embedded on used tapes and mistaking them for E.V.P's. Another thing you may want to do if you prefer to use an analog recorder is to use a seperate microphone with a cord instead of the one on the recorder itself. The reason for this is because if you use the built in microphone the recorder will record the sounds of the tape reels turning which can be quite noisy and will sometimes muddle the sounds you are trying to capture or cause sounds that can be mistaken for E.V.P's such as squealing, moaning, or clicks. Digital recorders on the other hand record directly to a built in memory bank and are saved in digital format. They can record for hours without interuption or having to change tapes and can later be downloaded into your computer for further editing with an audio editing program or sharing with others. The recording sound on most digital recorders is also usually very clear and most of them have different settings for quality of recordings but you will have to sacrifice the amount of time they can record if you use this feature. Even though the recording sound on most digital recorders are better you still may want to use an external microphone with some of the lower quality recorders because you may pick up the sounds of digital transmissions inside the unit itself that may be mistaken for E.V.P's. Another thing you will want to do if you decide to use a digital recorder is to back up your files regularely because once they are deleted they are gone forever.

Techniques For Recording E.V.P's

Ok so you went out and bought yourself an audio recorder and read through the owners manual that came with it and now you are ready to capture some E.V.P's. One thing you need to keep in mind when you go about trying to capture voices from the other side is that you will not be able to hear an E.V.P with your ears. If you do happen to hear voices or sounds with your ears and you cannot find any explaination as to what caused them, they are just disembodied voices or sounds but you are eliminating the electronic part of the term "Electronic Voice Phenomenon". Since you cannot hear E.V.P's with your ears you will not want to take chances of corrupting them with your own voice or the voices of the other people in your group. The best way to remedy this situation is to make sure that everyone keeps quiet while conducting an E.V.P session and especially "no whispering". Most E.V.P's are hard to hear and sometimes come out in a whisper type form and if people in your group are whispering you could get false results. Before going into a haunted location to try to capture E.V.P's it never hurts to do a little research on the place to find out who you might be talking to while you are there. It makes it a little easier if you have names or some background information on the people who may be haunting the location you are investigating. The best way to get positive recordings is to ask direct questions and allow approximately 10 seconds between questions for the spirits to answer you. I usually ask for the name, age, and gender of the spirit. Sometimes I even ask personal questions like how they died or what their favorite color is, that way if you get a direct answer to the questions chances are you have captured a legitimate E.V.P and they are a little harder for people to dismiss as something else. At first you may feel a little foolish talking to people you cannot see or hear but after you review the recording you might be very surprised to actually hear this phenomenon with your own ears and hopefully have a little more understanding about it and how it works.