Recordings from Another Realm
Electronic voice phenomena, or EVP, represents one of the most fascinating mysteries associated with ghosts and hauntings. Basically, EVP is the reception of voice or other sound on an audiotape for which there is no known environmental source. The phenomenon is the subject of great debate within the paranormal community. Those who view the phenomenon as truly paranormal believe the recordings are either the voices of the dead trying to communicate or other residual sounds emanating from the paranormal realm. In Gettysburg, these might include cannon fire, gunshots, screams, and other sounds associated with the 1863 battle that have somehow been imprinted onto the environment and subsequently picked up on an audio recording. Skeptics, on the other hand, believe EVP recordings are nothing more than natural sounds falsely interpreted as paranormal.
Our experience with EVP tells us that both camps are correct, depending on the actual recording in question. On the one hand, many recordings capture compelling evidence of either attempted communication from the dead or residual sounds from past events. On the other hand, the human mind is the greatest puzzle solver in the known universe. Scott Flagg, a paranormal researcher and chief operating officer for the American Institute of Parapsychology, suggests that each of us must recognize our own mind’s ability and desire to piece information together. As a result, simple background garble can be interpreted as actual words or specific sounds by the brain, and many recordings can be misinterpreted as paranormal in nature when in fact they aren’t.
“I’ve personally stood around a circle of eight people listening very intently to a possible EVP recording and heard no less than eight different interpretations of what the purported voice was saying,” says Flagg. His advice: avoid manipulating audio except for removing background noise, adjusting volume, and isolating elements. This will minimize the mind’s opportunity to create something from nothing.
Theories abound as to how EVP might work. The Low Frequency Theory suggests that EVP occurs below the normal range of hearing (pressure waves from 0 Hz to 20 Hz) and that audio devices are somehow able to record in this range. The EMF Theory proposes that ghosts organize random electromagnetic fields to create EVP. If so, a TV set between channels or a radio tuned between stations can provide the static with which it is thought ghosts manipulate in order to “speak.” A new theory suggests that very low-frequency electromagnetic fields (0 Hz to 30 Hz) can stimulate a variety of small objects, including air molecules, into motion. This process creates pressure waves that can be heard by our ears.
Regardless of how it might work, people have been interested in its applications since electronic recording devices were first invented. As early as 1928, Thomas Edison started working on equipment he hoped would permit communication with the dead. Nobody seems to know for sure how far he got with his experiments because he died before he published any results. Over time, research organizations such as the Research Association for Voice Taping and the American Association of electronic voice phenomena were founded to further our understanding of this complex enigma. One of the great pioneers of EVP research was Sarah Estep, who recorded more than 20,000 voices that she claimed were other-dimensional, extraterrestrial, or from loved ones who had passed on. She developed a classification system for EVP recordings, which is as follows:
Class A: A clear and distinct voice that can be heard without the use of headphones and can be duplicated onto other tapes.
Class B: A voice that is sometimes distinct, fairly loud, and can sometimes be heard without the use of headphones.
Class C: A faint and whispery voice that can barely be heard and is sometimes indecipherable.
Although the focus of EVP tends to be on voice communication, we should never overlook the importance of residual or imprinted sounds that often are captured on recording devices. This especially applies to a place like Gettysburg, where specific sounds are intricately connected to the environment’s emotional blueprint. In fact, the frequency of EVP in the form of gunshots, cannon fire, hooves clopping, and metal clanging (military accoutrements) recorded at Gettysburg is much greater than that of communicative voices. This also applies to music, as some of the most compelling EVP I’ve ever heard are the sounds of music forever imprinted during the battle—“Dixie,” fife and drum music, and other period melodies.
Over the years, we’ve collected extremely compelling EVP during our investigations at Gettysburg. In addition to the EVP mentioned above, we documented several other accounts from the battlefield. The first is from a field investigator named Coby, who was boarding with the rest of our investigative team at the Baladerry Inn Bed and Breakfast when he recorded an EVP. The Baladerry Inn is located on the actual battlefield and was used as a field hospital both during and after the battle. Bloodstains can still be seen on parts of the wooden floors.
Here is Coby’s account, which was verified by team members after analysis:
In the early morning hours (approximately four a.m.) of May 7, 2004, two voices (a and b) were recorded from our room at the Baladerry Inn when we kept getting woken up for no apparent reason. Ellie took photos of the room when my K-II EMF meter started going crazy. At this time we were simply sitting up in bed talking. There are small orbs in the picture (confirmed). The voice recorder was located by the closet in the corner of the room.
a) Ellie (to Coby): We have to get that before we go …Voice (female—very matter-of-factly): How? … and then seconds later …
b) Voice (male—sighing or whispering): Okay
After analyzing the recording thoroughly, we classified this as a Class A EVP, as both voices were very clear and easy to make out. They also seemed genuine as opposed to residual, meaning some sort of communication was going on between the discarnate voices and the people staying in the room. This cannot be verified of course, but it constitutes very compelling EVP evidence.
The second account occurred during the same weekend investigation. While investigating at Spangler’s Spring on the evening of May 7, 2004, we coordinated various team members to establish secluded areas in which to conduct EVP experiments. We asked a particular field investigator named Heather to take her microcassette recorder and sit on a rock by the actual spring. Once there, she performed an EVP experiment during which she asked certain questions in twenty-second intervals, thus providing enough time for a possible response. Upon playback of her tape, she ran to us in a rather excited state and suggested she may have captured something. When we listened to the recording, we all heard the following very clearly at the midpoint of her questioning:
Heather: Do you like it here?
Voice (male—low but clearly audible): Hell no!
Once again, we classified this as a Class A EVP. The voice was male, and you could hear the words “Hell no!” very distinctly on the tape. It was most likely a genuine contact, as a form of conscious energy was clearly responding to her question. Unfortunately, in regards to Heather’s recording, the voice she captured mysteriously disappeared after a couple of weeks. At first we thought she must have accidentally erased it, but she was adamant about being careful with it. Plus, EVP mysteriously disappearing from magnetic tape is not unheard of. There are many instances of this happening, as if the sound was only audible for a short period of time.
EVP is a promising, yet frustrating, area of study within the world of paranormal research. There are only so many ways one can analyze EVP recordings. You can utilize sound programs to clean them up (eliminate background noise, etc.), and you can use computer programs to analyze sound waves and determine at what frequency these sounds are emanating. But as of now we have no way to determine if these recordings are from another realm or simply the result of our minds making sense of chaos.