Below is a list of some of the equipment we use to gather data: |
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Personnel Equipment:
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Support Equipment and programs:
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As part of our research, we rely on many different types of gear from basic flashlights to infrared digital video recording systems to help us collect data. The equipment allows us to collect more than just stories. While personal experiences are important during research, what the client wants is more than just new stories to add to their situation. They want evidence they can hold, review, and share. If we can capture on video a shadow that a client has been seeing, it serves as proof to the client that they are not crazy. You can tell someone about what you've seen but nothing beats being able to show it to them. Click the links to examine the reasons we use different types of equipment. |
Below is a list of some of the equipment we use to gather data: |
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Personnel Equipment:
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Support Equipment and programs:
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So, why all this equipment? What is it used for and why is it used? Various types of equipment are used in the search for the paranormal. This equipment helps provide evidence of events and lends more credibility to accounts of phenomena. As with anything, skeptics can and do find ways to discredit anything presented as evidence. But then, before the Wright Brothers, human powered flight was as absurd a thought as ghosts, to nearly every scientist of the day. It is possible to be blinded to the truth by skepticism. Elbert Hubbard has a quote that perfectly justifies the pursuit of paranormal evidence. "The supernatural is simply the natural not yet understood." There are many things today that we take as common that were once ridiculed and scoffed at as absurd. However, who is more absurd? The fool who chases ghosts or the fool who refuses to allow the possibility of ghosts? The equipment used in this valid pursuit is various and often, easily obtainable. In fact, the average home has at least one piece of equipment used in paranormal research.
Whether video, film, cctv, digital, or webcams, cameras are easily the most vital tools used in paranormal research. Cameras help provide easily distributed visual evidence of paranormal phenomenon. There are many theories regarding the types of evidence cameras can capture. Orbs, light rods, vortex, mists, ectoplasm, shadows, even full bodied apparitions have been caught on camera. This evidence is and should be open to discussion as, often; natural phenomenon can cause similar anomalies. A responsible paranormal investigator should rule out all possible natural causes so that the unnatural explanation is all that is left. Video cameras come in a variety of formats and sizes. Even when simply considering your average consumer camcorder, you are still looking at VHS, VHS-C, SVHS-C, Hi8, 8mm, MiniDV, DVD, Digital8, and a few others. Some brands offer infrared night vision capabilities such as Sony's Nightshot capable camcorders. Camcorders offer portability, ease of use, and their lightweight design allows investigators to look as quickly and accurately with a video camera as they can with their eyes. Then there are the full professional rigs that most paranormal groups do not use due to price and size. Another type of video camera used is the Thermal Imaging Camera. Thermal imaging systems work most often in the infrared range, detecting temperature changes and displaying them in different shades. This type of camera system, while expensive, offers investigators a very valuable tool to locate hot and cold spots. This allows them to see if that noise at the end of the darkened corridor was just a cat, person or something else In between the still cameras and video cameras lie the CCTV, webcams, and surveillance cameras. CCTV (closed circuit television) is most often used in businesses, banks, and yes, paranormal investigations. These are camera systems that are either wireless or wired to a central recording device. It is most often a digital video recorder (dvr) or a VCR. These types of systems can either shoot video or still shots on a specific timer. Webcams can work in the same manner, offering video or still shot capabilities. The advantage of the CCTV DVR systems is the cameras are often small, portable, and many offer infrared capabilities. The Infrared DVR systems prove most useful to paranormal investigators because they are easy to operate, expandable, and the video is easy to transmit, display, and convert. One thing to remember is to try to avoid the cameras with IR led light sources embedded around the lens. This can illuminate dust or bugs as it passes in front of the camera and ruin any evidence you might actually capture. Still cameras are the most common type found in paranormal investigations. They can range anywhere from the $5 disposables to the $3000+ professional rigs. As far as formats go, there is also a huge range of formats under two categories. Digital cameras come in all price ranges and offer the user the ability to see the photos as they are taken. This gives the paranormal investigator the ability to almost instantly see a photograph and help guide an investigation in real time. Because the pictures are in a digital format, they can be quickly transferred to computers and the Internet. The caveat of digital cameras is the ease in which the photos can be manipulated. This leaves the door wide open for skeptics. Film cameras offer a variety of formats. While 35mm is the most common type, there are other types including the decreasingly common 110, the large and medium format cameras such as those made by Sinar or Hasselblad, and the Polaroid cameras. Film cameras offer two things that prove valuable to paranormal investigators. Firstly, a negative is produced. The negative is very hard to manipulate so this can often serve to further placate skeptics. Secondly, you are not limited to specific types of films. You can shoot color, black and white, infrared, ultraviolet, x-ray, and several other formats. To change types, you simply need to change film rolls. Film also offers a logarithmic response to light so it has a higher dynamic range than most digital cameras. So, in the end, you can see that there is a variety of camera types available that fit almost any budget. One thing of interest is that, when it comes to skeptics, the cheapest disposable cameras often prove to be most useful because they do not offer features that can be used to manipulate photos such as double exposure, aperture adjustments, and lens/filter effects.
Since the invention of recorded audio, people have been trying to communicate with the other side. Today, paranormal investigators use devices to record audio during investigations. What they are most commonly looking (or rather listening) for are voices that are not heard by the ear, yet seem to be picked up by audio recorders. This is known as Electronic Voice Phenomenon or EVP. There does not seem to be a specific set of audio recorders that capture EVP's. Any type of recording format can capture them. Digital recorders are used most often today because of the ease of use, light weight, and long recording time. However, researchers also use magnetic tape recorders such as cassettes and reel to reel recorders. Microphones can also be plugged into computer sound cards to record audio into audio programs such as Adobe Audition or the freely available Audacity. Recorders range in price from approximately $10 to $500 and up. However, the only advantages a more expensive recorder will give are options and quality of sound. You do not need a $200 digital recorder to capture EVP's. All you really need is a $15 tape recorder. It is suggested to use an external microphone with these devices as the small condenser mics built into them are usually not very good. Not to mention, if you are walking around carrying the recorder, your hand messing with the buttons or simply sliding around the outside of the recorder can sound like a herd of elephants running over the recorder.
ElectroMagnetic Field (EMF) meters are used to detect fluctuations in the electromagnetic field. The theory is that spirits interact with us using energy. EMF meters pick up this energy. If you are reading 0.05 mill gauss in an area, then the meter suddenly jumps to 3 or 4 mill gauss, paranormal activity might be present. However, the electromagnetic spectrum is huge so the spike in the meter could be caused by electrical noise from a refrigerator, light from an infrared beam or camera, power lines, or any other electrical device. Strong directed radio waves from a cell tower or radio tower can also interfere with your meter. It is up to the user to determine if a natural cause for EMF fluctuation is deflecting the meter. EMF detectors are fairly inexpensive, ranging in price from $25 to $500+. The meters most commonly used by paranormal investigators range from $40 to $200. The Tri-Field Meters are probably the preferred meter but other meters are starting to gain popularity such as the inexpensive KII meter and the "Ghostmeter" from Alternative Technologies.
If you aren't fortunate (or rich enough) to own a $10,000+ thermal imaging camera, thermometers are your best option for picking up temperature changes caused by paranormal activity. The "cold spot" is an area of significantly colder temps believed to be caused by spirits drawing energy from an area in order to interact. Your average outdoor and medical thermometers are not responsive enough to pick up these changes in time. So, investigators often use handheld thermometers to detect these readings. The most common type seen in use is the laser thermometer. Laser thermometers, as they are commonly called, often use a laser to help aim the thermometer. They use infrared detectors to pick up the temperature of objects. They are sometimes called non-contact thermometers because they do not have to contact the surface which they are reading. The disadvantage of these types of thermometers is that they only read the surface temperatures of objects. They are not able to read cold spots in the air. However, many offer the ability to use a K-type probe which allows for the detection of ambient air temps around the probe. A laser thermometer with a K-type probe is suggested because of its ability to detect air temperatures as well as surface temperatures. Our group also uses a thermometer which plugs into a laptop and interfaces with TLog, a program which logs temperatures on a chart. This allows us to remotely monitor an area for temp changes with need for a person to be present.
So, you are walking around in the dark looking for paranormal activity but you would rather not walk into a wall or trip over a couch, right? The obvious solution to that is a flashlight. However, that can be a little more complex than you might think. An ordinary, white light flashlight is great for most situations. The downside to an ordinary flashlight is that it destroys your night vision. The human eye takes a little while to get adjusted to the dark, typically 30 minutes. The human eye is composed of rods and cones. During the day, the red, blue and green cones provide much of your vision. They are less sensitive to light than the rods. Rods are more sensitive to motion than cones and are primarily responsible for peripheral vision during the day. However, at night, cones shut down and rods start taking over as your primary vision receptors. The interesting thing is that rods cannot detect red light so they do not react to it. Rods are primarily concentrated in the blue spectrum. So, green light also doesn't affect them much either. What does this mean? If you shine a regular white light flashlight after your eyes are adjusted to the dark, you not only hurt your eyes, you cause the rods to switch off and cones to reactivate. This essentially kills your night vision and will require time for your eyes to readjust to the dark. But, if you use red or green filters or LED lights in the dark, your night vision is preserved. Our team uses red and green filters on white lights and bulbs/LED's on flashlights and headlamps You can also buy or even build infrared flashlights for use with night vision cameras. These lights will not help you very much since human vision is only slightly sensitive to the infrared spectrum but can be as bright as the sun for an IR camera.
Motion sensors are also sometimes used by paranormal research groups. These can be simple IR motion detectors, laser trip beams, laser grid detectors, or a motion detector trigger used to fire a camera shutter. They can serve to both debunk and confirm paranormal activity when used in conjunction with other devices such as cameras. A plain, old compass can also prove quite useful. Not only can it be used to determine direction, it can pick up strong magnetic fields or even allow a spirit to point things out or guide you. Which leads us to the next section...
Since we are dealing with spirits, metaphysical tools are also used by some paranormal researchers. One should be cautious when using these tools as an inexperienced user or improperly protected user could cause more harm than good. Dousing rods are believed to react to and help pinpoint ley lines, geomagnetic effects, find things underground such as water, oil, ore deposits, and also detect the presence of spirits. Some even believe that spirits can communicate through dousing rods. Pendulums are another method used to communicate with spirits. In one method, the user dangles the pendulum and asks the spirits to help them determine the direction of swing for yes, no, and maybe. Once directions of swing are identified, the user then asks yes/no/maybe questions and waits to see the answer. |
