Into the Night

People don’t often consider the common camera when thinking of parapsychology tools.  After all, we’re looking for unseen things, right?  So how does something that records images see something the human eye cannot?

To understand how the camera can capture paranormal images we can’t see with our own eyes, you must first understand that the principle of the camera is to capture light.  It doesn’t capture “sight.”  It’s not influenced by the filtering devices our eyes are — mental blocks, skepticism, or personal feelings.  It simply translates light and radiated energy onto a medium such as film or digital image.

Most paranormal entities, and especially spirits of the deceased, are comprised of energy that manifests in much the same way as electricity.  While we see the byproduct of electricity in a flash of lightning or a lit up lightbulb, we don’t actually SEE the electricty itself.  However, if you were to look at a photograph of a lightning storm, you notice a faint aura of extra energy around the streak of lightning.  This is the electric energy, translated onto film.  The same theory works with the paranormal.  Any being, whether corpreal or ethereal, emits a level of energy.  The camera picks up this energy and creates a form with it.

So, how does one take photographs of the paranormal?  Well, it doesn’t work quite the same way as taking a picture of a friend would.  You can’t focus the camera on a point, because most investigators can’t actually SEE the spirit/entity.  Instead of approaching a suspected site of paranormal activity like a crime scene investigator approaches a murder site (taking specific, detailed pictures), a paranormal investigator enters a site and begins randomly snapping photographs, following strange sounds, those brief glimpses, and gut feelings that may lead them to photo evidence.  Over the course of an investigation, a paranormal investigator may take literally hundreds of shots, depending on the size of the location and the amount of unusual events that take place.

All in all, the camera is an indispensable part of any paranormal investigation.

Today’s offering is piece from my upcoming release from Aspen Mountain Press, the second book in my Project Prometheus series, HOPE OF HEAVEN.  So, without further ado:

            Mud flew up around the horses’ hooves as Aztec and Topaz pounded toward the hidden hillock, urged on by their desperate riders.  Crouched low over Topaz’s back, Hope glanced at her companion, and suddenly, she saw what his enemies did.  A grim warrior on a shadowy horse, he looked like an agent of Hell itself, fury carved in the planes of his face.  Strangely, the image calmed her, and bolstered her inner strength, and her hope.  She stormed the gates of Hell with a dark angel at her side.  Nothing would dare harm her, or her innocent son.  At their heels ran a hellhound, his hackles raised and his black eyes wild.  Cain had been shut up in the barn by whomever took Jimmy, and now he was on the scent of the man who imprisoned him and hurt his family.

            As they neared the cairn, Peter pulled Aztec to a halt, and signaled Hope to do the same.  With a glance up at the sky, Hope breathed a grateful sigh that the storm, at least, had stopped.  The freezing winter air, however, was far from comforting, though Hope praised her own foresight in putting Jimmy to bed in his thick fleece sleeper, tonight.

            Hope sat upright on her mount with a small gasp as a thin, plaintive cry reached her ears.  “Jimmy!”

            “Aye.”  Peter glanced her way.  “We go in on foot from here.  I have no idea what McGuire has waiting up there for us, so stay close to me, and do exactly as I say.”

           She nodded, bowing to his expertise on this matter.  He was the one trained for night infiltrations, after all.  She trusted him to get her safely through to her son.  “Cain should…  Peter, where’s Cain?”

            Peter, in the process of dismounting, met Hope’s eyes just as a shot echoed through the valley below them, followed by a yip and a whine.

            “No!”  Hope breathed in distress as she swung down from Topaz’s back.  “Peter, we have to find him—“

            “No.”  Peter stopped her with one hand on her arm, and her gaze flew to his grim face.  “Cain’s not stupid, love.  He wouldn’t give McGuire a clean shot unless we were in danger.  We have to concentrate on Jimmy, right now.”

            “You’re right,” Hope murmured glumly, even as she said a quiet prayer for the life of the canine who appointed himself her personal protector.

Want more of Peter and Hope?  Look for HOPE OF HEAVEN, coming from Aspen Mountain Press this spring.  And read the EPPIE finalist book that started it all.  IN HER NAME is now available at http://www.aspenmountainpress.com/in-her-name/prod_73.html or http://www.fictionwise.com/eBooks/eBook50824.htm?cache

One of the standard methods of collecting data and evidence during a paranormal investigation is through use of a voice recorder.  This can be either a digital voice recorder or a standard cassette tape recorder.  Both are equally effective, though the digital voice recorder has the advantage of not having to turn over or change tape.

So, what are these devices used for?  Well, put simply, they’re used as a means of communication.  While spirits/entities communicate more effectively and completely through a trained medium or psychic, they can and will still communicate with the average investigator, if the means are made available to them.

Raudive voices, as these imprints on tape are referred to (more commonly known these days as Electronic Voice Phenomena or EVP), are voices speaking in a fairly distinct pattern on a recording, but which cannot be explained by the presence of any living party in the room.  Often, the impressions are made in response to a question or comment from an investigator, so be careful what you say!  While most spirits are benign and simply wish to communicate, provocation of the wrong variety in an area where negative occurances have been known to happen can result in an investigator being hurt, tormented, or possibly even possessed.  Provocation is a technique best approached situation to situation, and with different emphasis in every case. 

EVP work takes a great deal of research on the location/subject at hand.  There are a great many things to filter out of a scene, sometimes — background noise from the street or another part of the building, any rodents or animals which might be present in the building, and, if you’re working as a team, the voices of fellow investigators.  EVP work is best done in a controlled area of a building, such as a single room at a time, and I don’t recommend trying to collect EVPs outside, unless the location is known to be remote and unvisited, as voices travel long distances outside, where echo is an issue.

Another research factor to take into account before deciding on using this means of communication is the type of activity known to the location.  Has it been harmful/malicious, or merely an annoyance or oddity?  If the latter, EVPs are likely to be a safe and effective means of communicating with a spirit.  If the former, however, approach EVP work with a great deal of caution.

Also, being aware of the type of activity also lets the investigator know what kind of tools might be a waste of time to use.  If you have a classic haunting (refer to my section on hauntings vs. apparitions), you can try EVP work, but it most likely won’t net much, because there is no sentient spirit to communicate with.  However, if you’re dealing with an apparition, EVP work is certainly recommended, and you might even consider doing the EVP work in the presence of a medium or psychic.  With the presence of a medium, I’ve personally noted high levels of EVP in an investigation, before.  Again, my only point of caution is that if it appears you might be dealing with an infestation, I would tred very carefully in the use of EVP during the investigation.