Where To Find Ghosts
Homes
Many private residences, and not just old ones, have a tainted past that might include murder, suicide or some other tragic event. Many times, these events cause a place to become haunted. The location can become haunted because of a spirit being drawn there by these events or because one has stayed behind because of them. These spirits can be positive or negative and haunted houses boast all kinds of different phenomena. Private homes are also much harder for a ghost hunter to gain access to than public buildings but can be very rewarding if you can get an invitation.
Cemeteries
Cemeteries seem to offer the ghost hunter an excellent chance for strange phenomena and spirit photos, perhaps because of the theory involving "spirit portals" and "doorways" in many burial grounds. Cemeteries with unmarked graves, where desecration has taken place or where tragic events have occurred often become haunted. A search through historical records can often point a researcher to a haunted graveyard.
Theaters
The entire range of the human emotion is expressed inside of a theater and this seems to attract spirits who use this energy. The theater also stirs a great love from many people who work in them and many have returned after their deaths. The saying goes that "every good theater has a ghost" and many theaters are prime locations for all kinds of spirits.
Churches
A church also contains a lot of spent human emotion and can attract ghosts. It is also possible that some churches could have been built on the site of a place that many considered "evil". This would drive away the so-called "evil spirits"...although it is possible that the place was simply a haunted one. While churches seem like they would be a great place to conduct investigations, the same type of narrow thinking that labels ghosts as "demons" usually keeps the ghost hunter out of these locations.
Schools & Colleges
Many schools have had tragic events that attract ghosts, either from former students or staff members or from all of the energy given off by having so many young people all clustered together. The best way to pursue ghosts at a college is to pass the word to a student or two that you are interested in hearing their stories (they almost always have them) or by talking to someone on the security or maintenance staff. Talk to a teacher or a custodian at the local high school or elementary school....l don't recommend hanging around the playground and asking the students.
Hotels
Thousands of people pass through your local hotels and motels each year, so it isn't a far reach to think there might be a ghost or two around. You can do a little investigating into the history of older hotels and even find that a suicide or murder could have taken there. Asking at the front desk about ghosts wouldn't do any good but the maintenance staff or the housekeeping workers might have a good story to tell. Be prepared to spend some money though...you can't investigate a haunted hotel without spending the night there.
Battlefields & Crime Scenes
These two types of locations are linked because of the tragedies that have taken place at both of them. These locations deal with a sudden loss of life and this can sometimes cause a spirit to linger behind in confusion. The tragedy and the trauma involved can also lead towards a residual haunting as the terrible events replay themselves over and over again.
Hospitals & Nursing Homes
These are places often overlooked by ghost hunters but I will guarantee that these places will be the hardest ones to get into for an investigation. It will even be tough to hear the stories and anecdotes from the people who work there. I personally know of four hospitals and nursing homes that have resident ghosts, from phantom nuns to spectral patients, but it is unlikely if any of these cases will ever be brought to light. The administrators of all of these places have forbidden the workers to talk about the strange events there. The workers that have talked anyway, have done so under the strictest confidence.
Prisons
Prisons are great places to find ghosts. Old prisons, penitentiaries, and reformatories like Eastern State, Mansfield, and Alcatraz are a few of the most popular paranormal hot spots around and they have been investigated many times with excellent results for paranormal evidence. With so much negative energy and violence that alot of prisons hold they are the perfect setting for ghostly activity to inhabit. One thing to keep in mind while investigating one of these places is that ghosts of violent inmates may still carry on in the same way as they did in life. I have heard of investigators being attacked by unseen hands especially if they are left alone (which should never happen in a place like this, always try to stay in groups of 2 or more people). You will never get into a prison that is still in use for an investigation but many old prisons that no longer house inmates may be considered landmarks or tourist attractions, so if you find one that you would like to check out you can ask staff members who work there or someone from the local historical society for permission.
Keep Searching
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.
Urgent Advice For New Investigators
There seems to be an upswing in Paranormal Research organizations. They appear to be popping up everywhere all around the globe. It is exciting to see such an interest in the paranormal but I have to admit that it also scares me a little. Most people don't know this but before I started the NLPS I studied into the ministry. I have always been proud of my Christian beliefs and I am acceptable to other people's beliefs as well. I had many of my own paranormal experiences throughout my life and back in those days paranormal research was not like it is today and was basically unheard of unless you were willing to seek out somebody who claimed to be a qualified professional and even then they were usually hidden under a veil of secrecy. Now all you have to do is turn around and you may be standing face to face with a ghost hunter. Television shows such as Ghost Hunters, Paranormal State, and Ghost Adventures are interesting and exciting to watch and yes you can learn a little from them but none of them tell the whole story of what it takes to be a real paranormal investigator. The groups you see on these shows are legitimate but the networks that televise these shows cut out some of the most important aspects of investigating and they also fail to point out the dangers. There is a lot more to investigating than walking around in the dark with video cameras and voice recorders. First off, do not investigate anywhere without permission to do so, it could land you and your team in jail for trespassing if you aren't careful. If you do get permission to investigate make sure the structure is safe by checking it out beforehand in the daylight. Check the entire structure of any buildings you might go in to and make sure they are safe. Check for any obstructions that might get in your way, they are easy to see in the light but not so easy to see in the dark and can cause serious injury if you aren't careful. Always have clients fill out preliminary paperwork before your investigations authorizing you to be there and to protect you from any legalities if something goes wrong. Client interviews are also important. You have to know what you are looking for before you can investigate it. Listen closely to your clients stories, find out if the claims are something that may be natural occurances that can be debunked. It could be more than just pipes making noise in the walls or high EMF readings, it could be reactions to prescription drugs or non-prescription drugs in some cases. It could be caused by undiagnosed mental issues. There are many factors that can cause people to believe they are having paranormal problems but many times they can be explained away with a little background research. Now let me get back to the hidden dangers of paranormal research. One thing you have to keep in mind is that you are treading into a world apart from our normal realm. Ghosts will make contact with you but they are not always friendly and many of them do not want to be bothered and will lash out at you in anger. They are here for a reason that we may not ever know. Some of them appear to be people who's life was cut short for some reason, murder, suicide, accidental etc. Some don't seem to realize that they are dead and seem to be confused while others appear to be vengeful and out to get anyone who crosses their path. There are the occasional spirits who almost seem hospitable and are usually eager to be heard by anyone who will listen. I have even had some who seemed to be protective of my team in a home where a malevolent force was present in a very big way. Now that I have strayed to the subject of malevolent forces I can finally get to the point of this article. The one thing that you all have to keep in mind is that you are investigating on a spiritual level. Too many investigators that I have seen rely too much on their equipment and not on their senses. You must keep in touch with the physical level you are investigating at the same time as being aware of the spiritual level that ghosts exist on. You will most likely be touched by a spirit at some point in your career or you could also be slapped, scratched, pushed or even shoved down by something you cannot see with your eyes. You may have objects thrown at you or equipment ripped right out of your hands by an unseen force. Many inexperienced investigators think that type of activity sounds cool and seem anxious to experience it firsthand but I guarantee that many of them will not know how to handle the situation when it arises and it could potentially scar them for the rest of their lives. Another point that I would like to discuss is something that the NLPS team has personally experienced out in the field and that is a demonic entity. I will eventually share the whole story in our personal experiences page but for now I would rather not think about it too much. All I can say is that demonic spirit caused my team and the family who we were investigating for a lot of problems in which I feel we are still dealing with the aftermath. I was physically scratched and burned by it and another team member was mentally tormented by this thing causing him to take time away from the NLPS to get his life and faith back in order. Things got so bad for the family living in this particular home that they eventually had to move out of the home and away from the town as well. Fortunately it doesn't seem to have followed them to their new home and the family finally feels safe. We were able to catch quite a lot of evidence of this demonic presence including growling and manipulation of objects along with pictures of physical injuries on myself and one of the homeowners. We eventually had to call on John Zaffis for help on this case when one of the family members became partially posessed and the family pets were killed by an unseen presence. This was a very dangerous case for us, I am happy that we were able to help the family out of what I feel could have caused them a lifetime of torment had they not called on us for help. We learned a lot from that case but it also taught us that we still have a lot to learn and I don't just mean my team, paranormal research as a whole still has a lot to learn and there has to be further study into not only ghosts and spirits but also demonology. Please do not take on a case that leans towards a demonic entity, and if you have done your homework like all investigators should, you will recognize traits of a demonic presence. These cases should only be investigated by a professional demonologist or religious leader or at the very least have someone you can call on if you get in over your head because it can very easily happen. These cases are extremely dangerous and will break you down either physically, mentally, spiritually, or quite possibly all of the above. Please head my advice, I wish someone had shared this knowledge with me before we encountered it...Be careful and happy hunting ~Johnny
