EVP! Electronic Voice Phenomenon

Ghostly Voices

This site is not designed, nor is it meant as a comprehensive guide to Electronic Voice Phenomenon or EVP It is only meant, to give you, the visitor an overview of this fascinating and all important branch of paranormal research. And also as a means for me to express my personal views and opinions of this phenomena. If you would like more in depth detail and information on EVP and other forms of transcommunications then I would suggest that you visit this website Association TransCommunication. They offer, at least in my opinion, the most comprehensive and authoritative guide to electronic voice phenomena, the theories, best practices etc.

I do hope you enjoy your visit and if you would like to make any comments, suggestions or other feedback please feel free to contact me. If you would like more information about my theories about ghosts and the paranormal please visit my other site at www.areghostsreal.net

What is EVP

EVP is the acronym used for "Electronic Voice Phenomena" which is the recording of what sounds like human speech, words, phrases or other sounds onto audio recording devices, devices such as tape and digital voice recorders and other recording devices such as telephone answering machines etc. These sounds, voices and words are usually not heard by the human ear while the recordings are being made but are only heard during playback or with the aid of computer amplifications, enhancements or modifications.

Before about October of 2009 I was a hard core skeptic when it came to ghosts and the paranormal. I absolutely did not believe in ghosts, or any other paranormal type phenomena. But after some unusual events happened to me, in my own home, I became interested in the possibility that perhaps there was something to the paranormal and ghosts might really be real! I was not a total believer at that time, but my mind was beginning to open a bit to the possibility that perhaps there was something to the paranormal and perhaps ghosts and some other paranormal phenomena do exist. I even began watching some of the reality based paranormal programming on television like "Ghost Hunters" on the SyFy channel and "Ghost Adventures" on the Travel Channel. At first I was rather skeptical of their EVP and thought most of their EVP evidence were just random sounds or noises that sounded like words because of our human propensity to try and make sense of random sounds and even images; such as seeing figures in the clouds. This propensity is commonly refereed to as matrixing or pareidolia.

I have to admit that in the beginning of my EVP research I was rather skeptical of it being evidence for the existence of ghosts, until I went out and bought myself an inexpensive digital voice recorder and downloaded Audacity®, a freeware audio editing program and attempted several dozen EVP sessions in my own home. After doing just this small amount of research, I have come to the conclusion that EVP is, most likely evidence of paranormal phenomena and perhaps even evidence for the existence of ghosts and of the survival of our personalities after physical death. Because of the unusual experiences and the EVP I have captured I now believe that my own home is, most likely haunted! I do not believe that any ghosts or entities that may reside in or haunt my home are malevolent or malignant in anyway, but I do believe that there may be one or perhaps more that are pranksters and like to hide stuff, or perhaps it's just my own terrible memory, but ghosts can be a good scapegoat for a bad memory.

What the skeptics say

Most mainstream scientists and those that are skeptical of the paranormal in general, are also skeptical of Electronic Voice Phenomenon. Some of the reasons given by these skeptics is that the words or phrases are either the results of stray radio frequencies, fragments of cell phone conversations or some other audio or electronic contamination such as CB radio transmissions. Some skeptics also believe EVP may be the result of auditory pareidolia or apophenia, pareidolia and apophenia is the human propensity to try and make sense out of otherwise random sounds or visual stimuli.

They, the skeptics also believe that some EVP may also be the result of an outright hoax or fraud. Unfortunately there is always the possibility of a hoax, but I am also quite certain that the vast majority of persons and organizations that do EVP research are sincere in their desire to study and understand this phenomena.

One of the more bizarre skeptical theories I have heard is that EVP may be imprinted upon the recording media, by the practitioners own subconscious mind, projecting his or her thoughts onto the media itself. How some skeptics can believe in telekinesis, which is also considered paranormal, and controversial but not in the possibility that EVP may be an actual attempt of an entity to communicate with the living is beyond me. In my opinion this theory is even more fantastical to believe then the possible existence of ghosts or any other paranormal phenomena. I believe that this theory is all but laughable.

Classifications of EVP

EVP has been subdivided into three basic classifications. There are other classifications of EVP, but for the purposes of this website I only discuss the main three. The other classes are of such low quality that many paranormal researchers don't even consider them EVP. There are some who feel that some EVP may require either slowing down or even running the EVP clip in reverse to be fully understood. In my personal opinion, if it necessary to modify any EVP more than a bit of amplification or removing some background noise, then it probably should not be presented as evidence. If you have to go to these extremes to try and pull a voice or phrase from an audio clip then it probably does not exist, at least not in any way that should be considered evidence of the paranormal.

• The class A EVP is generally thought of as the most difficult to obtain and also the rarest. The class A EVP is the one that is most easily understood by anyone who may listen to it and there is generally no disagreement as to what is being said. Most paranormal researchers also feel that class A EVP offers the most compelling evidence for the existence of the paranormal and they also feel that the class A EVP is second only to the full bodied apparition as the holy grail of paranormal phenomena. The class A EVP also does not require any computer amplifications or enhancements to be understood, and can usually be heard without the aid of headphones. The class A EVP need not necessarily be loud but it must be clear.
• The class B EVP is the one that is most commonly obtained during an EVP session. The class B EVP is usually not as clear of the class A and there may be some disagreements as to what is being said. The class B EVP may also require some computer amplifications and enhancements to be understood. And the use of headphones is generally required or suggested.
• The class C EVP is the worst and generally cannot be understood by anyone. It is also not understandable, even with the aid of computer amplifications or enhancements. The only reason it is even considered an EVP is because it does sound like human speech mixed in with the background hiss, noise and static. But it is not understandable or discernible in anyway. In my opinion, it may be interesting but it should not be considered evidence of paranormal phenomena.