Ghost Hunters Utilize Latest in Technology
Carrie Kirby
San Francisco Chronicle, US
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Before there were Ghostbusters there was Thomas Alva Edison.
The father of sound recording technology wanted to make a device that could record the voices of the dead, according to his diary. Since then, just about every recording and measuring technology invented has eventually fallen into the hands of ghost hunters, who stake out haunted houses, graveyards and other spooky locales to try to capture empirical evidence of restless spirits.
To this end, they utilize the latest in sound, video and still-image recording, as well as sensors that detect changes in temperature, electromagnetic fields and radiation.
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See Also:
Haunted? Call Ghost Hunters
Ghosts, ghosts everywhere in Utah County
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"We're looking for a ghost or spirit's influence on the environment," said Vince Wilson, author of "Ghost Tech, the Essential Guide to Paranormal Investigation Equipment." No one really knows what kind of influence a ghost might have on the environment, so ghost hunters try anything and everything. "If we're doing a full-scale investigation, it goes from the simple electromagnetic-field meters" -- handheld devices that have been ubiquitous on ghost expeditions since the early 1990s -- "all the way to digital video recorder systems with between eight and 12 cameras, depending on the size of the place," said Gloria Young, founder of the Santa Clara group Ghost Trackers.
Young also uses a Geiger counter, which measures radiation; motion detectors; barometric pressure monitors; and thermometers. But one of the most exciting of her apparent interactions with the beyond came to her via a simple handheld audio recorder. She was doing a radio show at the Winchester Mystery House, the San Jose mansion believed by many to be haunted, or at least seriously creepy.
She was making her own tape so she could listen to the interview later. When she played it back at home, there was a voice she didn't recognize on the tape. It said, "Get out!" "I still jump up and down when I hear it," said Young, who says she is not afraid of ghosts. However, she conceded that her emotions on hearing the recording were at least slightly mixed: "You're real happy that you got it ... but then you're going, 'There was somebody that close to my face.' " Young imagines the voice might have been that of the mansion's late owner, rifle heiress Sarah Winchester. But she has no way of knowing for sure.
As Lisa Butler, who runs the American Association of Electronic Voice Phenomena with her husband, Tom, put it, "It's like getting a phone call without caller ID." The existence of groups like Young's, spread throughout the country, is evidence of one thing:
Ghost hunting has grown in the past two decades from a little-known hobby to a much more popular pursuit. Ghost hunters say that, judging from the number of ghost-hunting organizations with Web sites, there are hundreds of groups with thousands of members in the United States.
And technology is a major force behind the trend, said Loyd Auerbach, director and founder of the Office of Paranormal Investigations in the East Bay.
Nov 01, 2005
Carrie Kirby
San Francisco Chronicle, US
_____________________
Before there were Ghostbusters there was Thomas Alva Edison.
The father of sound recording technology wanted to make a device that could record the voices of the dead, according to his diary. Since then, just about every recording and measuring technology invented has eventually fallen into the hands of ghost hunters, who stake out haunted houses, graveyards and other spooky locales to try to capture empirical evidence of restless spirits.
To this end, they utilize the latest in sound, video and still-image recording, as well as sensors that detect changes in temperature, electromagnetic fields and radiation.
_____________________________
See Also:
Haunted? Call Ghost Hunters
Ghosts, ghosts everywhere in Utah County
______________________________
"We're looking for a ghost or spirit's influence on the environment," said Vince Wilson, author of "Ghost Tech, the Essential Guide to Paranormal Investigation Equipment." No one really knows what kind of influence a ghost might have on the environment, so ghost hunters try anything and everything. "If we're doing a full-scale investigation, it goes from the simple electromagnetic-field meters" -- handheld devices that have been ubiquitous on ghost expeditions since the early 1990s -- "all the way to digital video recorder systems with between eight and 12 cameras, depending on the size of the place," said Gloria Young, founder of the Santa Clara group Ghost Trackers.
Young also uses a Geiger counter, which measures radiation; motion detectors; barometric pressure monitors; and thermometers. But one of the most exciting of her apparent interactions with the beyond came to her via a simple handheld audio recorder. She was doing a radio show at the Winchester Mystery House, the San Jose mansion believed by many to be haunted, or at least seriously creepy.
She was making her own tape so she could listen to the interview later. When she played it back at home, there was a voice she didn't recognize on the tape. It said, "Get out!" "I still jump up and down when I hear it," said Young, who says she is not afraid of ghosts. However, she conceded that her emotions on hearing the recording were at least slightly mixed: "You're real happy that you got it ... but then you're going, 'There was somebody that close to my face.' " Young imagines the voice might have been that of the mansion's late owner, rifle heiress Sarah Winchester. But she has no way of knowing for sure.
As Lisa Butler, who runs the American Association of Electronic Voice Phenomena with her husband, Tom, put it, "It's like getting a phone call without caller ID." The existence of groups like Young's, spread throughout the country, is evidence of one thing:
Ghost hunting has grown in the past two decades from a little-known hobby to a much more popular pursuit. Ghost hunters say that, judging from the number of ghost-hunting organizations with Web sites, there are hundreds of groups with thousands of members in the United States.
And technology is a major force behind the trend, said Loyd Auerbach, director and founder of the Office of Paranormal Investigations in the East Bay.
Nov 01, 2005
