Attitude is everything. Attitude is an expression of our worldview, and it is our worldview that we use as a mold to build our personal reality.

We have had a number of people ask us about the dangers in seeking to communicate with our friends on the other side. Some have expressed great concern that they might leave themselves open for attack from angry entities or that they might inadvertently invite a disruptive force into their home. The words, “demon” and “low levels” have come up more than once. We think a better term might simply be “less spiritually evolved entities,” as this is what they are. However, “low level” seems to be the term that is most used and understood.

Harold Sherman, in an article written for Psychic Observer & Chimes, recounted a friend’s distressing experience in trying to reach his wife and running into what he called “low grade discarnates.” When the man lost his temper and told them to go away, it only seemed to increase their interference. Sherman listened to some of the recordings and called it pure drivel.

Sherman came to the conclusion that the mental attitude of the experimenter played an important part in what was recorded. He wrote, “It is as though low grade intelligences come in on the emotionally disturbed ‘wave length’ of the operator. Unless the mind is prepared through prayer or a spiritually motivated meditative period, one is apt to invite the wrong kind of communicants.”

Some researchers, who have occasion to address the public about these phenomena, will include a strong warning that there are potential dangers and that the prospective EVP and ITC experimenter should use caution. Others seem to wonder what all of the fuss is about because they have never had a problem.

In the Summer 1988 AA-EVP newsletter, Sarah Estep ran a brief review of the CETL newsletter written by Jules and Maggie Harsch-Fischbach in Luxembourg. The couple believed that experimenters could attract positive as well as negative contacts. They quoted a comment made by pioneer researcher Dr. Konstantin Raudive. Raudive said, “Transcommunication is not a hobby for people who can’t cope with the realities of life.”

We believe that working with EVP and ITC is fundamentally safe. It is difficult to find a single example in which an individual has been harmed because of their communication across the veil. Yes, people have occasionally been “bothered.” It is known that the time we spend carefully listening to hard to hear EVP examples seems to enhance our clairvoyant and clairaudient senses. To many people, this is exciting and something they want. To others, it can be disturbing. This enhanced sensing has been reported to fade if one takes a break from EVP or other development work.

In the heyday of Spiritualism, people sat in groups trying to communicate with the other side. One of the important benefits of these groups was that they provided a safe place for mediums to develop. When people were working on, say for instance, trance development, they could feel open and safe, in that they had an experienced medium to assist them if they should run into some sort of trouble. By the way, many Spiritualist churches still have development groups and classes and we would recommend these or any other good development groups or classes to EVP/ITC experimenters.

Many EVP experimenters work alone and do not have the benefit of a group of more experienced EVP researchers. We wish that everyone who experimented with EVP had a strong metaphysical or spiritual background, because it is important to have some basic knowledge about the other side and its workings. Since the experimenter is part of the bridge between those on the other side and the EVP or ITC equipment, it is important for the experimenter to have a strong sense of self, accompanied by a positive attitude and spiritual outlook on life.

In the Fall 1989 newsletter, Sarah Estep wrote, “Obviously, no one starts taping, automatic writing or playing with the Ouija board, thinking they will become possessed or obsessed. But it can happen. As I wrote on page 196 of Voices of Eternity, The difficulty is in ascertaining who is susceptible… I am not trying to frighten people who are thinking about beginning to tape… Working in the field can bring some of the most rewarding, enriching experiences of your life. It would be amiss of me, however, not to caution you about the darker side of Psi. Experienced tapers will tell you not to believe everything that comes through. You have your liars on the other side, as you have here. The more they realize they are getting you upset, the more they will continue. Human nature being what it is, we may imagine certain messages are there, when in fact, there is nothing. The important thing though is, if a person believes a message is on tape, that person will respond to it for better or worse.

“If you, at anytime, think you are in contact with low level entities, leave your tape recorder. Remain in control at all times. Anyone can sit down to tape. It takes much more inner strength to pull the plug and walk away.”

Negative thoughts, such as fear or hate, are powerful forms of energy, and this energy can accumulate and do harm.

It is as if this negative energy is an anti-particle that neutralizes positive energy and dissipates it from our use. We also believe that negative energy is not as sustainable as is positive energy because it is not consistent with the fundamentally positive nature of reality. Thus, as entities gain in spiritual maturity, they become less able to sustain fear or hate.

We advise people who are fearful of the unknown or who might have trouble keeping the voices in perspective, to pass on EVP. Our concern is that a person's fear might tend to be amplified by a close encounter with an entity. The entity could be perfectly friendly, but because of fear and because the encounter is so fleeting, a fearful person might see the encounter as a reason to be more fearful.

Experimenters are responsible for creating a positive contact field for the other side. This includes expectations. You are responsible for your own life, and who and what you let into your environment and consciousness. Protect your personal environment and maintain a field of positive energy around your home and all that you do.

We want to make sure that people do not feel that something is wrong with them if they do encounter one of these less spiritually educated entities. Many researchers have had this happen. If you are one of them, you are not alone. Discarnate entities are attracted to people in the flesh who seem to be supportive of them in some way; someone who might be sympathetic about their plight. So, if you have attracted an angry entity, you are not necessarily an angry person. For example, if the angry entity is afraid to go on because of some dastardly deed committed in a past lifetime, and you are knowledgeable about why the entity should not be afraid, then it may very well be attracted to you as a potential source of guidance.

It has been made clear, via just about all of the forms of spirit communications, that Spirit entities are always with us. They may be in our home at any time, whether we see them or not. A group we have communicated with, the Imperator Group, has told us that they do not watch us, and that they only come to us when we call on them or when we need help. We are certain that this group is not earthbound. It may be that earthbound entities do watch us. With that said, we believe that EVP researchers can request privacy and can tell earthbound entities to go away if they are being bothersome. An entity certainly does not have to be in your home to initiate EVP.

It is common for an EVP experimenter to ask for help from the other side to improve communications. To our friends on the other side, this is probably equivalent to asking them into our house for a visit. If you are seeking phenomena—and you are if you work with EVP—then we would think that you would greet these visitations as a new form of communication. What a wonderful proof!

These entities are people. In time, they could be you. How would you like to be treated? They deserve to be treated with respect. If you are not living in a haunted house and if you find that you have entities in your home, odds are this is because you have called them in some way, or they have a need to communicate with you. After all, many of us have come to EVP out of a need to communicate with one of them. Can you imagine how frustrating it might be if entities in your house believe you can help them communicate with a loved one (perhaps with you) and all you do is request that they leave? You have the right to tell them to go, but you have the opportunity to greet them and find a way to communicate.

Tom and Lisa

Success

A Letter from Alexander MacRae

It’s happened! We were right all along! About 11 a.m. on the morning of 03-03-03, EVP was recorded in a lab in California that was shielded from all electromagnetic radiation - such as radio waves or laser beams - AND ALSO - the lab was shielded against all acoustic waves - sound, infra-sound or ultrasonic waves!

So - there is no way known to science that the recorded utterances - and there are plenty of them - could have gotten into the lab by any physical means. So don’t take any more guff about picking up stray radio broadcasts - you are working on the fringe - dealing with the non-physical - facing the unknown.

But now we have to be even more careful, even more honest, even more conservative in our claims. The one thing that can set us back now and ruin all the hard work and investment that went into this, is for wild claims to be made, which when found to be untrue, will harm the reputation of us all.

I'm not sure yet which utterance to pick for independent analysis - they all sound a bit “squashed” - but it could be “Larry - having a swell time.”

 

Increased Size of Newsletter

We had so many items for the newsletter this time that we added four more pages. Doing so, of course, increased the cost of printing and mailing. We would like to be able to increase the size, as it allows for longer articles with more information and the addition of a membership form on the last page. Will it be permanent? We don’t know. We will have to consider the AA-EVP funds as well as continue to have enough articles to do so. We want to thank those who wrote articles and sent us information this time!

 

The New Work of the Scole Mediums

Most of our members know about the Scole Experiments. The four members of the Scole Experimental Group (Sandra and Robin Foy and Diana and Alan Bennett) sat over a period of four years. The Spirit Team at Scole was prolific, using a new spirit-world technology that did not require the use of ectoplasm for the production of physical phenomena. Phenomena included solid spirit beings and fifty small objects received as apports. People, such as psychic researchers from the SPR, witnessed physical phenomena including pictures, handwriting, symbols and messages that appeared on factory-sealed unopened photographic film.

The phenomenal success of the group and their Spirit Team resulted in the book, The Scole Experiment, by Grant and Jane Solomon and 32 issues of The Spiritual Scientist Bulletin, a quarterly magazine, which was temporarily retired with the Winter 2002 issue.

With the sadness of seeing the last publication of the Bulletin also came excitement. The Scole mediums Diana and Alan Bennett have been exploring their own particular interests in psychic phenomena and healing. They felt that they owed so much to those in the higher realms and knew in their hearts that they would continue to experiment in one way or another. Alan wrote, “I have always seen in my mind’s eye, a phoenix rising from the ashes with renewed vigor to live through another cycle. Diana has always had that wonderful gift of ‘far sight’ and receiving guidance in her dreams, so it was no surprise when she told me that she had ‘seen’ the two of us working together again. She was told how we should take the first step in the form of a shared experience. We followed her vision of a simple experiment using a crystal, where the two of us linked together mentally and shared a journey of exploration.

“This experience was incredible; as we were both shown such wonders and places. We were guided by a sentient being through a wonderful ‘magical mystery tour’ where we met another being whom we conversed with. Through several other forms of communication, we were shown how to set up an experiment that would, they explained, enable us to glimpse into other worlds (dimensions). We found that it was necessary to continue to follow our intuition, and to be ‘guided’ by them, if we were to achieve satisfactory results. It has required total dedication and perseverance as well as an open but still discerning mind.

“Before I continue, I would like to mention one very important factor, and that is that old chestnut ‘total darkness.’ We were ‘guided’ to do this new work in full light. After so much criticism in the past regarding physical phenomena obtained in total darkness, we decided that we would only continue to work as mediums in full light. This has proven not to be prohibitive in anyway whatsoever, as we have achieved very encouraging results.

“These experiments are primarily attempts to see into, and capture, visions of other dimensions of existence. To be more precise, these visions are more like frozen images or pictures, of different moments in time as we look into these dimensions.”

Since that first experiment, the Bennetts have conducted many more experiments, progressing and building on what they have learned. Alan told us, “It seems that the possibilities are endless, as we modify and introduce other equipment into the experiments. The experiments are based on the idea that there are dimensions not only beyond our own but within them also. By using a combination of electronic and photographic equipment coupled to image enhancement computer software (for magnification purposes only), we have been fortunate enough to obtain fleeting glimpses into these ‘other’ dimensions during our experimental sessions. The experiments also require focused visualization by the two of us to create a central focal point for the experiment.”

Diana writes, “The images pictured here were obtained with the use of an ordinary camera and a good lens (not digital). The process requires us to strategically place crystals, according to instructions given by spirit. (This varies with each experiment.) Light is focused over the crystal area, some through mirrors, colored filters and/or reflective surfaces. We intuitively know when it is the optimum time to take the picture. When the pictures are developed, they are digitized, enlarged and then examined using Photoshop. As you can see, the images and colors are fascinating. Sometimes, the images take up most of the frame sometimes only a small part.”

What excites Alan is that, “this new approach is only now possible with the advancement in electronics and the related computer technologies. Therefore, where will we be and what will we discover in the years ahead?”

We are very excited to be able to report on Diana and Alan’s work and thank them for sharing some of the results that they have achieved. This article and additional pictures, all in color, can be seen at aaevp.com.

Extracted from Winter 2002 The Spiritual Scientist Bulletin

 

Children Together on the Other Side

Martha Copeland and Karen Mossey know that not only are their children together on the other side but that their children are also responsible for the friendship that has formed between them. Karen told us that Martha had just lost Cathy, “I cried reading her Emails on the AA-EVP Egroup. I wanted to reach out to her and there was a driving force that I had to know about Cathy. It was stronger then just emailing each other; we began to talk, finding we shared so much in common. We found that our children were in fact very much alike.”

Karen asked her son Rob to send her a dream. He did send a dream, but not to Karen. Instead, another of Karen’s friends, Judy, who did not know either Cathy or Rob, had a dream about Rob, as did Martha.

Martha’s daughter, Cathy, came to her in a dream and told her that she had a new friend named Rob and that he liked to fish all of the time. In her dreams, Martha had normally seen Cathy in a meadow near the ocean. However, with the news of Cathy’s new friend, Martha began seeing her in a log cabin. She just could not understand this, as Cathy was very much connected to the ocean in real life.

As Judy related her dream to Karen, “Karen, your son came to me in a dream last night. I have never met him but I know it was him.” Judy said that, in her dream, Karen and Judy were managing a small store with another friend. Karen and the friend had to leave the store and the minute that they did, Judy saw a bright flash of light and then Karen’s son, Rob, appeared with a young woman. Judy said that the girl was Rob’s girlfriend and she had blonde hair. (Cathy has blonde hair.) Rob told Judy, “Tell my mother I am happy and that I have found a new love.”

Karen wrote, “This was such a confirmation for Martha and I that Rob and Cathy would come through together to a stranger, my friend Judy, who did not know either one of them. Judy believes that I am still too fragile to receive Rob in person and that is why I needed to be taken out of the store and why the message had to come through her.”

Karen continued, “I immediately called Martha because she had just told me about her dream in which Rob and Cathy were in the fishing lodge and Rob was cooking fish. He was always cooking fish! Rob’s passion was fishing.” We learned that Rob’s head stone even has a picture of him fishing, with Karen and the rest of the family having a picnic. “Gone fishin” is etched in the Black Marble.

As even further proof, one night Karen called Martha and told her that she had remembered something. She had been given a little log cabin bird house when Rob died. She sent a picture of it to Martha and Martha immediately recognized it as the log cabin in her dreams.

Karen next began to have a repeated vision of Rob and Cathy dancing, which she felt that she needed to paint. Martha and Cathy loved dancing. Rob, on the other hand, was not very fond of dancing. A week later, Martha called Karen and said that she had another dream. Rob and Cathy were in the log cabin again. Rob was sitting with two of his friends. (Karen wrote that, “Ironically Rob had two very good friends, Brandon and John, who passed on before Rob—as with Cathy and Rob, because of auto accidents.”) In Martha’s dream, the boys were watching TV. Also in the dream, Cathy told Martha that Rob had sent the vision of them dancing to Karen to let her know that he is happy. Rob also told Cathy in the dream that, “My Mom is an awesome artist.” These are the exact words he used to tell Karen this, before his transition.

Martha told us, “I had another strange thing happen regarding Cathy with Karen. Karen had wanted to paint a picture of Cathy and Rob dancing. Cathy had a very nice wooden artist studio box that had been missing for some time and I wanted to give it to Karen.” Martha had repeatedly looked in Cathy’s room but the box was nowhere to be found. She wrote, “I kept hearing Cathy's voice in my head telling me to look in her room. She seemed to be saying, ‘Mom look in my room one more time.’ When I did, I found the artist set placed in the middle of her bed. I guess Cathy wanted the box sent to Karen, too!”

As most of our members know, Martha has been receiving many communications from Cathy via EVP. In Cathy’s picture, on the left, you will see a couple of Cathy’s pets on her shoulder. Martha wrote that her sister, Ginny, took the rat named Elanely after Cathy’s death. Martha, an animal lover, just was not that keen on rats, but Ginny has become very fond of Elanely. She feeds her snacks and gives her a kiss before going to work.

Recently, Ginny was using her daughter Rachel’s computer. Rachel was in the room studying for an exam. Ginny did a recording on the computer and then played it back using the Cool Edit software. Both could hear Cathy singing on the recording saying, “Elanely, I miss my rat, Elanely!”

Karen is also getting EVP messages about Rob but is not yet sure if the EVP are coming directly from him. Karen said, “One message lately was, ‘Robbie, you’re needed here,’ so somebody was talking to him.”

The two feel that their meeting has been a miracle that was set into motion and very much meant to be through their membership in the Association, and Cathy and Rob working together from the other side, to make it happen.

 

Telephone ITC

By Sonia Rinaldi, Edited by Lisa Butler

Sonia has been kind enough to send us another Telephone ITC case. She is now working with Dale Palmer and his Foundation, Noetics Institute, Inc (NII). She had made 170 phone calls before starting the collaboration with NII. She has now made over 29 calls for the NII documentation project. This is call number 9.

Jesus Arias Millian is very interested in ITC and traveled to Brazil to meet Sonia to witness an experiment. They were not expecting special contacts but were surprised by what was received. Jesus’ questions were in Spanish but were perfectly understood and answered in Portuguese. They did not realize they had recorded voices until after the first test.

As they listened, they heard a clear voice say, “He is Cristina,” and Sonia asked Jesus if he knew any Cristina (a female name). Jesus said that he could not think of anyone. However, he emailed Sonia with supporting information when he returned home. You can see his astonishing comments about “Cristina” at the end of the transcript.

Another important occurrence in the recording was the voice of an older female. Jesus immediately recognized her as his grandmother. She used a word only known in an old dialect that is now in disuse, but was typical of the area of Aragon, where she lived.

Jesus was surprised that the voices recommended that he move from his present house so that he could create an ITC station. This was something that he very much wanted to do. However, he had not told Sonia. Jesus presently lives with his father who does not accept the idea of paranormal things occurring in his home.

The Demonstration Phone Call

Sonia: “We have a visitor”

Male spirit voice: “We wish to greet him!”

Sonia: “Would it be possible for you to say something?”

Jesus: “I would like…”

Male spirit voice: “to hear us!”

Jesus: “… to know if it is possible… is there...”

Male spirit voice: “Yes, there is…!”

Jesus: “… anybody who speaks Spanish?”

Male spirit voice: “I can hear you.”

Male spirit voice: “He is Cristina!”

Male spirit voice: “These are contacts.”

They stopped to talk about the sound source. Sonia demonstrated the sound and then showed Jesus how it is mixed via telephone and handed the phone to Jesus saying, “Listen to what I will use as a sound source.”

Male spirit voice: “I will use, not you!”

Jesus: “Hi, is there anybody who may speak to me?”

Male spirit voice: “We have Spanish people here.”

Jesus: “Is there anybody who knows…”

Male spirit voice: “We may call her up.”

Jesus: “… the grandmother of my friend Dolor.. ?”

Male spirit voice: “Please cut it.”

Sonia: “A kiss and bye!”

They restart another test call.

Male spirit voice: “I can confirm.”

Sonia: “Are you seeing that we have company here in the room?”

Sonia: “Hi friends.”

Male spirit voice: “Go ahead.”

Sonia: “Jesus, a friend from Spain, has a question for you.”

Jesus: “I want to know if anybody may speak to me.”

Male spirit voice: “Yes I can!”

Here an unexpected female voice says in old dialect from Aragon,

Female voice: “Galán!”

Jesus: “I would like to know if I can record ITC contacts from my house in Barcelona to establish contacts. Thanks.”

Male spirit voice: “Try to move first. Then you can!”

When Jesus returned home he wrote back saying, “I forgot something VERY important. ‘Cristina’ is a name which I always liked, I don’t know why. So, I chose it as my password in many places like the Internet and Bank access. ‘Galán’ is such a personal word. My grandmother used to call me, ‘Come Galán.’ (In English Galán would be similar to “guy.”) The voice sounded like her and reminded me of her way of speaking.

“In regards to the comment that, ‘I should move.’ I was shocked. I think of this a lot, but have never mentioned it to anyone, as I had not mentioned it to you. Yes, my dream is to leave my father’s house and live on my own and record ITC contacts. It is incredible that our Spirit Friends have perceived this.”

 

The Voice of a Loved One

Two years after my mother’s death I recorded her first EVP message. While listening back to the recording, I was very shocked to hear her voice. I played the EVP for Tom without telling him what was up and he immediately said, “That’s your mother’s voice.”

Martha Copeland has commented, “I have received, many messages, from Cathy (Martha’s daughter now on the other side) but her voice still seems the same. I thought it would change since she does not have a body. Many people have listened to my recordings, and even before they have been told what to hear, they point out the area where her voice is speaking.”

Tina Laurent said that she had received EVP from her first husband and an Uncle. She wrote, “Both of their voices were recognizable to me even though they only spoke a few words. I know it shouldn’t be possible since they are not wearing their physical bodies, but since it happened, and not the first time, either, then it must be possible and they are in accordance with some law of which we are unaware.

 

Movement!

Luis de la Fuente and Estrella Fernández of Madrid, Spain, have been conducting research in Instrumental TransCommunications (ITC) since December 1989. They use a video feed-back loop connecting the television (without antenna), video camera and a VHS video recorder into a circuit. Luis writes, “We see the television screen looking at the viewfinder of the video-camera. At this point, and by means of the video-camera zoom, we obtain electromagnetic oscillatory, ‘clouds.’ We then record on the video for one minute. We rewind the video and study the tape frame by frame.” The two call this series of four frames, “Gordita.”

In other experiments the two have turned the video camera to a 45° or 90° angle, or they face it downwards and record through a mirror. They have experimented with using several color filters in front of the camera. They have recorded in broad daylight, with a tungsten light, infrared bulb, 160w black light, and in total darkness. They always use the video feedback method with all of these. Their TV is an old valve [tube] model. 

Luis wrote, “In short, we don’t know how it is possible to obtain a moving transimage because “Gordita” and a few others are rare exceptions. Change? An effort from the other world?”

 

Video ITC Update

Tom and I have collected some interesting images in the last few months. Sometimes we are frustrated and we wish that the pictures would come in clearer and with more detail. However, it is obvious that our partners on the other side are trying new things.

We were excited to see the man in images 1 and 2 on one frame, and then again on the next, but closer to the front of the picture. His face is lost in the light, but he appears to be a soldier in medieval dress, complete with shield. Another unique aspect of this, and several other images, is that the man was the only thing on the frame. Normally, we have to find the image among noise and other images.

A new development is that the transpartners seem to be working with a single face in profile (image 3). We have gotten many of these. In this picture if you look to the left you will see a large face in profile. On the right of the picture is a person in a tall hat, I somehow imagine that he has a carriage with four horses just around the corner. Another interesting profile picture is image 4. If you look at the middle dark area you will see a profile. Now, look at the white area on each side for two other profiles.

We have been receiving EVP in the audio of the video. Last January, we were given the words “One, Twenty Two.” We wondered if this could be the date of January 22 and did an experiment on that day. It was a good experiment with some promising images that are more like photographs, one with a group of people in front of a forest scene. We can see what they are trying to do but the quality of these images is not there to be able to print them.

Another interesting type of feature is the images we have collected that appear to be a priest (image 5). We have received the image of what may be the same man from the beginning and now have four or five pictures of him. At this point, either his name is being given in another language and we aren’t getting it, or they are simply not saying who he is. Neither of us have any experience in the Catholic Church, but we are trying to figure out when they wore a black hat that looked like a sailor hat with a knob on top.

Our time to conduct experiments is very limited with our workload and we have only been working with this for thirteen months, so we are always hopeful of further improvements.

 

 

 

 

Noise Reduction Software

Mike Sullivan mentioned two software tools, “Clear Voice Denoiser” and “Amazing Slow Downer.” A free demo copy of Clear Voice Denoiser, a noise reduction program, is available at www.speechpro.com . The free version has a size limitation and one can only load short segments, but many in the group have had very good success with the software. Mike says that Amazing Slow Downer is excellent for pin point speed and pitch adjustments and comes with a basic equalizer. See www.ronimusic.com for the free demo of this program.

 

Life after Death

“Do you believe in life after death?” the boss asked one of his employees.

“Yes, sir,” the clerk replied.

“That's good,” the boss said. “After you left early yesterday to go to your grandmother’s funeral, she stopped in to see you.”

Rosie

By Ann Longmore-Etheridge

In the late 1980s, my mother was a food service worker at a Virginia elementary school. She wasn’t fond of many of the students, but I heard a lot of anecdotes about a girl named Rosie. My Mother described her as a friendly dark-haired child who was half Asian, with a quick wit and a lot of pluck. One day, my mother told me tearfully that Rosie had been kidnapped. In the Washington Post, I read that the child had been abducted by a man who hid behind a stand of bushes and grabbed her as she walked home.

I have been psychic since I was a child, and have communicated with discarnate entities through automatic writing as well as clairvoyantly. However, it is pertinent to this story to know that at the time of Rosie’s abduction, I had grown skeptical of my psychic abilities and would not accept as evidence of life after death any of my psychic impressions. In my depression and anxiety, I’d asked “the powers that be” to send me incontrovertible evidence of survival. I had read Sarah Estep’s book, Voices of Eternity, and at the time Rosie disappeared, I had been taping with limited success for perhaps six months. I had not yet received a Class A voice and was becoming frustrated with the faint whispers or voices that might have come from the untuned radio I used as a sound source.

Out of sympathy for Mom, despite my disenchantment with my psychic abilities, I decided to ask my spirit friends to look over the situation and report to me on Rosie. I was told through automatic writing that Rosie was dead and was now in the care of a woman who may have been a relative, that her transition had been difficult and she was very glad when it was over. Her body was found in a ditch the next day. She had been strangled. Police later tied her murder to a string of killings by a sexual predator.

 Within a few days of her death, Rosie herself put in an appearance through automatic writing, asking me to tell her parents that she was still alive. I explained that I couldn’t tell them because they would think I was crazy. (I’m sure I looked crazy arguing with a black space in my living room.) I felt that Rosie was frustrated and I believe that what followed was her attempt to convince me to reconsider.

I had never heard a child’s voice among the EVPs I had received. The first time I did was soon thereafter. I had announced that I was about to turn off the tape recorder, and a young girl’s voice replied, clearly, “I knew it.” Then, after a beat, “Goodbye!” Not many days later, I taped what sounded like a room full of people talking. I thought I could pick out a child’s voice saying, “That’s amazing Spanish, Harry.” This thrilled me because I did, in fact, frequently call on an entity named Harry. I also often asked to hear from another spirit named Francis. Several days later, I was taping with a friend named Lata. I called on Francis and when we played the tape back, we were startled by a voice that was louder than my own. Lata and I were so frightened by the unexpected volume that we clung to each other, shaking. It was a little girl calling, “Francis!” as if she summoned him to speak.

I would hear from that little girl again soon, although not by the mechanism of the tape recorder.

My family has been part of the congregation of Washington, D.C.’s Spiritualist Church of Two Worlds for multiple generations. I was baptized there in 1963 and would marry in the church only a year or so after Rosie died. A few months after I received my class A voice, the church was playing host to the Spiritualists’ annual conference. One night during the event, as the finale to a special church service, a crowd jammed the beautiful Victorian building to hear four respected mediums give messages. Because of time constraints and the huge audience, it was announced that each medium would give only about a half-dozen messages; therefore, out of a crowd of about 250, around twenty-four people were going to get a message from a departed loved one.

I had arrived late and was sitting in the very last row of pews, in a dark corner. Despite this disadvantage, the first medium—a gentleman whose name I don’t remember—stood up and pointed to me. He began by mentioning a long list of people who were there for me, including my beloved Uncle Carl and Aunt Helen. As I was trying to commit to memory all these names, and marveling over my relation’s appearance, the medium described a dark-haired girl with oriental eyes who was out in front, demanding that I acknowledge her. In a moment of what I’ve heard John Edward call “psychic amnesia,” I drew a blank and shook my head. “She says you know her,” the medium stressed. I just shook my head. Seeming quite frustrated, he told me to remember what he’d said, and then he went on to give other messages.

When he had finished, the second medium took over. She was the Reverend Anne Gehman, who participated in The Afterlife Experiments, Breakthrough Scientific Evidence of Life After Death, as chronicled by Gary E. Schwartz with William L. Simon’s 2002 book. She stood up, swept across the podium in her long white gown and pointed straight at me. “Who is ROSE?” she demanded, jabbing her finger at me to stress each word. “She’s telling you to recognize her. WHO IS ROSE?”

I remember my mouth falling open and saying something to acknowledge my sudden understanding. Gehman nodded and said, “Good, because she’s not going to give up until you get it.”

Although I felt Rosie’s presence in the months that followed, I never heard from her on tape again. In time, she seemed to move away into the new world that was her home. Sadly, I still failed to work up the courage to give Rosie’s parents her message. I often feel bad about that now, because Rosie gave me the best evidence of survival that I have ever had—proof that I could not ignore or rationalize away. She brought back my hope, at a time when it was low. I wish I had done half as much for her.

 

Drained Batteries

For whatever reason, it seems that paranormal occurrences can cause new batteries to become worthless. New member, Marcella Regal, mentioned that she keeps hearing something about batteries on her recordings and wondered if those in spirit need batteries or if they are trying to tell her to reinstall them.

Eddie Beloate said that he could not remember ever recording anything about batteries but that entities had used batteries as a power source to make themselves known. He wrote, “The first example that enters my mind was our trip to Shiloh, TN at the Civil War Park. We were at the Sunken Road, which was the site of a very large battle. I was setting up for an ITC recording when my TV would not work. My friend who is very sensitive to her surroundings, didn't want to stay around the area much longer. Things didn't ‘feel’ right. As we were loading up the equipment we heard voices and other sounds. We got into the truck and started down to the dead end to turn around when we saw a figure standing ten short feet from the driver’s side window of the truck. When we turned around the figure was gone.

“All the batteries we had in our equipment were drained, even though we had just replaced them less than an hour before. This happened to the flashlights, both cameras, my DR60 and my video camera. We came to the conclusion that the power was used to help the entity in showing himself to us. Other people have had the same thing happen to them as well.”

Danny Williford often experiences batteries going dead after hearing a bump sound. He wrote, “Usually they get to whatever is not actively being used, but sitting in a standby mode. A great example is the bedroom of my friend's son. She has a resident spirit, and once he said to her, “I'm here” (she says it was audible). She turned to see a blue glowing shape in the corner of her son's room ... just a vague blue glow that didn't seem to cast light. It lasted for a second or two then just faded out. All of the battery operated stuff in her son's toy chest, which was in the same corner as the blue glow, had been drained. She is particular that the toys work so that she can avoid any issues with her son.

 “I have recorded EMF spikes during EVP reception, orb occurrence, and when people reported ‘feeling’ that something was in the room. Electrical power must be tied into their appearance in our world. How can we use this as a tool to see theirs?”

 

Batteries were Okay … but no Picture

Karen Mossey wrote, “When my grandson was baptized, I sensed many spirits around including my son Rob. I just knew he was at his nephew’s baptism. When the pictures came back there were three amazing orbs all around the minister. We videotaped the whole event and when we played it back we found nothing but static.

 

Internet Answering Machine

Charlotte Claypool relayed an experience she had in a house where a voice unexpectedly came through over the computer speakers. She wrote, “I listed a house near Baltimore last summer that the sellers claimed to be ‘occupied’ by the previous owner, a gentleman, who had passed away in the upstairs bathroom. They and their children had experienced a lot of typical poltergeist phenomena, mostly with lights, TV, etc. It was great to have customers to share ghost stories with!

“One day, I sat down at their computer to search for some real estate information. Just the wife and I were there. She booted up the computer, as it had been turned off, and I got the information as we chatted. She was standing a couple of feet away, and as I started to get back up so she could turn her computer off, a very loud, clear and absolutely lovely woman's voice came booming from the computer speakers: ‘I Heard That!’

“I jumped back and looked at my customer whose eyes were as big as saucers and we both said "Oh my God!" I asked her if that had ever happened before and she said no. To this day, I cannot get over the clarity, volume and quality of that Spirit's voice. It was as though she was standing right next to us (as she probably was). Subsequently, my customer reported that the same lady spoke through her computer speakers two additional times at that home before they moved. They have had no Spirit activity in their new home (as of yet).”

Charli realized that the family was using an Internet answering machine and said, “The family was not actually receiving a normal phone call/message at any of the times that the voice spoke. No ringing tone sounded, nothing showed up on the screen and there was no indication that the Internet answering machine was engaged, the voice just spoke.

The service and software can be seen at www.callwave.com . The software is free and Charli feels that the pay service might not be necessary, as “you are just creating a direct connection from your phone line to your speaker.” She wrote that when you go to the above web site, “…bypass the page where you sign up for the call forwarding service. Then on the third page, it tells how to use it without any service.” Charli has been experimenting with it and hopes to get direct voices. Those on the other side have certainly shown everyone that they can use phone lines!

 

Address Change

We have moved our mail service for the AA-EVP to a post office. Please change your records for The AA-EVP address. The new address is:

Tom and Lisa Butler, AA-EVP

PO Box 13111

Reno, NV 89507

USA

A Look at IC Recorders

By Mike Sullivan

There are many digital recorders on the market today and all of them are capable of capturing EVP. In this article I will not attempt to determine which type is better at recording paranormal voices, because to be honest, I don't know for sure. I have a preference for Panasonic IC recorders but other members of the group have gotten excellent results using digital recorders from Sony, Olympus and Radio Shack. By the way, “IC” stands for the “Integrated Circuit” that is in most of these recorders. Some people know them as “digital note takers.” The focus of this article will be on IC recorders in general.

It really wasn't all that long ago that the audio cassette recorder replaced open reel units as the recorder of choice for EVP. Now the digital recorders are quickly making audio cassettes a thing of the past for EVP. And how could they not? There are so many advantages to recording with an IC recorder over a cassette unit, from the tiny size to greater reliability. Even the smallest micro cassette recorder is larger than an IC recorder and cassette recorders eat batteries and sometimes cassettes.

With IC's, there is no tape and hence no preparation, just hit “record” and your session has begun. Another advantage of the digital units is a feature that allows the user to play back the recording with a touch of a button, immediately, without having to rewind a tape. Like cassette units, IC recorders start a new recording each time “Record” is pushed, but unlike cassettes, the IC's begin each recording as a separate file, saved in numerical order. The files can be erased with the push of a button or locked to prevent accidental recording and can be played back immediately by scrolling through the numbered files. The IC recorders also display the time and date the recording occurred, which is important for EVP.

There are a few advantages that cassette recorders have over the IC’s. One is the ability to remove an audio tape when it has reached capacity. You can’t do this with IC recorders except for the models that use a memory card. Even though new models are being introduced with longer recording times, the fact remains that eventually a digital recorder will run out of storage space, leaving the user with no choice but to erase files or stop using the recorder until the files can be downloaded into a computer.

On playback, the fidelity from most cassette units is far better than that from the tiny speakers of the digital recorders. When you want to really hear that amazing EVP you just captured, with a cassette, it's as simple as dropping it into a quality cassette player. Do you want to pass out copies? With cassettes, no problem but with a digital recorder it's back to the computer to load the files onto the hard drive and then distribute them by email or Compact Disk (CD). That's not a problem for many of us but for some, it makes it impossible to share your EVP without having to play it back on the IC recorder itself.

There is one area where cassette and digital recorders do share something in common. The use of an external microphone has been a necessity when using a portable cassette recorder due to the mechanical noise generated by the drive mechanism. Digital recorders have no moving parts and are generally not considered noisy but they are very sensitive. Pressing the record button and putting the unit down in a desired location almost always results in unwanted sounds being recorded at the beginning of the session and again at the end, when picking it up and turning it off. Using an external microphone eliminates this problem as well as providing a better quality recording due to the superior quality of the microphone in comparison to the one built into the recorder. However, because there are no moving parts, using an external microphone on an IC recorder is an option you might want to save for a serious investigation. In general, all the digital recorders deliver clear soundtracks using the built-in microphone, so if you suddenly get the urge to hit the record button on a digital unit, don't feel like you have to stop and attach a microphone. Just do it.

As I mentioned earlier, to some, the biggest drawback to using a digital recorder is the need to download the EVP into a computer in order to clear space, better hear the recording and to share EVP with others. But actually, this “drawback” is a strength, because it's given us the ability to send our EVP captures all over the world via Internet without having to send a CD or audio tape through the post office. In addition, it allows us to edit and filter the EVP we record, greatly enhancing the quality and often times drawing out faint voices that otherwise would not be heard. This can be done with cassette recorders, but rewinding and fast forwarding to find the exact spot before recording into the computer is a tedious task.

Here's a little information on recording EVP into a computer. Some of the more expensive digital recorders include software and a USB connector that connect the recorder to the USB port of the computer. For those who are so equipped, the next few steps won't be necessary. However, if you have multiple recorders, than more than likely you'll be using the method I'm about to describe since the majority of IC recorders, including some of the most popular, are not equipped with a USB connector.

The first thing needed to connect to the computer is an audio cable available from any Radio Shack. Here are the part numbers from their catalogue:

PN: 42-2420A—6 foot Audio Cable (1/8 mono plugs)

PN: 274-327C—Mono Plug Adapter (1/8 mini phone plug to 3/32 sub-mini phone jack)

Almost all IC recorders and cassette recorders use the 1/8 mono to 1/8 mono plugs listed above. The Panasonic RR-DR60, uses a sub-mini phone jack, so if you have one, you'll also need to order the adapter which plugs into the headphone jack of the recorder.

You can record onto both channels by adapting the mono cord to the computer with PN: 274-374 (1/8 mono jack to 1/8 stereo jack). The computer jack is stereo.

Once you have the cable, the last step is to connect the cable to the recorder and the computer. Unfortunately, there isn't enough space to write a step by step guide on how to accomplish this but hopefully these general instructions will help get you started. If anyone has additional questions or would like my help, I'm always available through the AA-EVP Egroup.

To connect the cable, plug one end into the headphone jack of the recorder and the other end into the “Line in” jack on the back of the PC next to where the speakers and microphone are connected. Next, double click on the “Speaker” icon in the system tray in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. This brings up the volume control panel. You'll want to be sure that the “Line In” control is present and not muted. Then click on OPTIONS, then PROPERTIES and select RECORDING. Be sure that “Line In” is checked in the box that opens below. Lastly, click OK and then select “Line In” by checking the “Select” box below the volume control.

You should be ready to record using the basic Windows Sound Recorder or by downloading the free Audacity at http://audacity.sourceforge.net/windows.php) or other sound editing programs available online.

 

Document Archive – A Beginning

Thanks to donations from AA-EVP members, we have been able to proceed with the Archive. The first twenty AA-EVP newsletters published by Sarah Estep are in the Archive today and the rest will be included as we are able to proofread the scanned text and format it into web pages. The year 2000 and 2001 newsletters we have published are included, as well.

Bill Weisensale was an EVP researcher who published the Spirit Voices newsletters containing technical information about EVP. We have been given permission by his wife, Mary, to include Bill’s work in the archive. Three are their now, and the rest will soon be added.

Our work on the archive will continue as our other duties allow. Also, we will be looking for other ways to add to the archive in the future.

EVP and ITC have a history. Many of the questions we hear asked about EVP today, have been asked and answered in the past. We believe that a searchable archive of historically significant documents about our field will allow researchers, and people new to the field, to learn from the past, thus enabling them to begin where others have left off to push the frontier forward for all of us.

The new web site requires an annual maintenance fee, but we feel confident that your support will help us meet this new obligation. Toward that end, we have decided to reserve the Archive for dues paying members, as it is you who have made the Archive possible. Perhaps this will also bring new members to the Association.

Archive Access: Go to http://archive.aaevp.com. If it is your first time to the site, you will need to click on the REGISTER hyperlink below the fill-in fields of the login page. Follow the instructions in the next screen. Please use the name you gave us on your membership form. You will then receive an email notifying you that you have been registered and can log into the Archive. After registering, you must input the name you used and your password the next time you go to the Archive, so record this information somewhere.

Well, that is it. We hope that you find the archive useful. We are personally delighted to be able to make the Archive available to you. And again, we wish to thank all of you who have donated to the AA-EVP. We hope to show that your contributions will be used for the good of the field of EVP and ITC, and the AA-EVP membership.

 

News from Members

• Bill and Nancy Washell, of Maine’s Paranormal Research Association, will be holding their 2003 Ghost Conference in Salem, MA June 6 to 8.

• Karen Camus provided a presentation on EVP to the Orange County Society for Psychic Research on February 8. Karen had called on other members of the group and asked for quality, Class A EVP recordings to use for her talk, and several people pitched in to try and help out. Karen told us that the presentation went well and that the audience was able to clearly hear the EVP samples that she presented.

• Michele Hardison has been asked to write an article for the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary where she works. (www.bestfriends.org/) They have a monthly magazine that has a worldwide circulation. The article will be on ghost and animal spirits. Michele wrote, “Never thought I’d be doing ghost stories that featured animals.”

• Susan Bové, co-founder of the South Jersey Paranormal Research group, wrote that they recently hosted a workshop, “Developing Your Psychic Ability” featuring Robert Egby. She said that, “Even though many of us had a psychic ability, we felt his workshop was excellent and taught us many new skills to apply during investigations. It is definitely a skill that can be honed and sharpened. I don't think it is a coincidence that, since we have attended Robert's workshop, many of us have audibly heard more EVP than we ever have! We have also gotten more interactive EVP!”

Susan has told us that they will hold more workshops. Robert Egby’s web site is www.robert-egby.com for information on his work and workshops. Robert also writes a column in Britain's Psychic World monthly newspaper and writes the monthly Emailed Parapsychic Journal.

 

Thoughts from Members

• Gary Nixon wrote, “If a spirit is able to directly affect our reality at will, it also seems that we, at this end, would have the ability to affect the spirit’s reality as well. I suspect we do this all the time and don't realize it. Also, we may be doing this to a major extent when attempting EVP and other spiritual endeavors.”

• Clara Laughlin’s daughter Barbara was on the phone talking to a friend and got a loud spirit voice. Barbara had just asked the friend, who was having radium treatment, how long the treatment would be effective. A woman’s voice broke in with “the seeds are good for seven years.” Clara wrote that, “the voice was loud but the other person didn’t hear it. Barbara said it was probably Madame Curie eavesdropping!”

• After reading about the precursor sound in the Summer 2002 newsletter, Lance Payette wrote, “Your article about the ‘pop’ noise preceding EVP contact brought to mind famed Boston medium Leonore Piper, who was the focus of intense study by the Society for Psychical Research (SPR) and American SPR in the late 1800s and early 1900s. She disconnected from her trance state with a ‘snap.’ She used to ask sitters, ‘Did you hear the snap?’ and sometimes would actually say, ‘Snap!’ as she came out of the trance state.”

• Edgar Muller, of Sweden, wrote that he and his wife run EVP experiments five or six times a week. Ninety percent of their recordings have knocking sounds of varying quality and duration.

• Loyd Bradshaw said that he was hanging curtains and made a joke about not being a housewife, just a guy trying to do his best. He wrote, “As I’m standing back against some drawers checking the level of my work, my mother’s spirit semi-materialized, walking through the room door past me to look at those neat curtains!”

 

Donations

AA-EVP membership dues for USA members have not been increased since the 1980’s. Meanwhile, we have added an Egroup, the web site with an online membership and PayPal features, and two to six pages in the newsletter. We have also incorporated the AA-EVP to assure its continuation as Directors change. We have now introduced the Archive.

The annual membership dues essentially cover the cost of the newsletter. We feel that it is important for people who do not have the elective funds for increased membership dues to have access to this important information on EVP and ITC and its message about the nature of reality. Thus, it is important for the dues to remain the same. This will only be possible through your continued donations.

We now have a Board of Directors, as noted at the bottom of page two. We also have strict financial reporting requirements to the IRS. All of this, we believe, establishes a level of accountability that will assure you that your tax deductible contributions will be used to support the AA-EVP.

Clearly, there has been a sizable increase in labor and cost of operating the AA-EVP. There is also an attendant need to provide more public presentations and to maintain the AA-EVP office equipment, including a badly needed printer and computer upgrade. Along with meeting these needs through straight donations, we are researching what would be required to set up an Endowment Fund. This has been suggested to us by a number of members. An Endowment Fund allows for larger donations of cash, securities, life insurance and property. Normally only the interest or a fixed amount is spent, keeping the principle in tact. This assures the person making the donation that their gift will continue to support the Association.

 

Tapers Report

• Jutta Liebmann, of the VTF, has been corresponding with us regarding the digital note taker recorders (IC recorders). She tells us that several VTF members have been successful in buying some of the Panasonics that are no longer manufactured. She has had good success with her digital recorder (Scott model) and says that she recently recorded an 18 word message. She says that it was not very loud, but accentuated, and could be clearly understood. She wrote, “The entities seem to like this type of recorder (digital note taker), as they called it, “…with a golden chip.”

Jutta also mentioned that many members in the VTF often record the name of the well-known EVP pioneer, Dr. Konstantin Raudive. She feels he is often helping EVP beginners. She recently received an EVP saying “Jurgenson-Center” and said that she had earlier asked which EVP station would be responsible for their contacts. Friedrich Jurgenson, as most of you know, is the famous Swedish EVP pioneer.

• One of the members of Susan Bové’s group recorded some EVP in a photography studio that they were investigating. The person recording had clipped the microphone to a pocket of her apron. Her movements created a large amount of noise on the recording but this also resulted in some interesting EVP. First a male voice said, “… Len, you have to go.” Another voice responded, “No.” The first male voice is then heard saying, “Lenny, you have to go.” A male answers, “I don't know where to go.” This is followed by another voice, “Where is it, Joe?” Then you hear the first male voice say, “I don't believe in her,” and then, “I don't want to go ... but, she goes.”

• Susan’s member reminded us of Carol Barron-Karajohn. Carol often experimented with excellent results by recording while rubbing two pieces of Blue Jean material together. She also had great success with noise from her steam iron. When we ran the story on Charli Claypool and her “haunted” coffeepot, we received many comments regarding ambient noise. Clara Laughlin has a motorized baby swing from which she has recorded good voices. Another person recorded every time she filled the Jacuzzi and felt that it improved the voices. Tina Laurent deliberately puts her cassette recorder around her neck like a necklace, when she is doing field recordings. It will rub and create noise and she feels that she gets better results by doing so.

• Stefan Bion, German VTF, prepared an “Online EVP session” via Yahoo Messeanger, in which a few people participated. In a test, an EVP voice on his recording said, “Does he now have Internet?” Another voice on the same experiment said, “Stefan, I love you. Stefan, do you hear?”

We questioned Stefan about how he conducted an Online EVP session. He wrote back, “We used Yahoo Messenger for a ‘Voice Chat.’ Every person had a microphone and speakers connected to his/her computer. One person played back some noise (the ‘raw material’), and everyone recorded this noise on his own cassette recorder or with Cool Edit, etc., while questions were asked. After the session, everyone analyzed their recording and then presented the results to the others in the group.”

• Ron wrote saying that he had received a very strange message on his cell phone. When you listen to the recording it sounds like someone made a call and then decided not to leave a message. There is a lot of fumbling noise as if the phone was being moved around. Perhaps they were trying to hang up while driving and had difficulty. EVP can be heard within the noise. A voice says, “It has to be ... tape recorder” After more noise, “Your right.” It sure sounds like his friends on the other side have figured out the voice mail-answering feature on his cell phone!

• Palah Sandling, a friend of Karen Camus, is doing an investigation at the Glen Tavern in Santa Paula, California and hopes to sell a video of the investigation as a pilot for a TV series. If she succeeds, she will put together a team of investigators for the weekly series. The team would travel around the country investigating haunted sites

Karen told us that she had loaned one of her DR60 recorders to Palah. Karen then listened to the recording for her. In the recording you hear Palah say, “I hope you're doing well.” Immediately after this you hear a very faint spirit voice say, “Tell her yes!” Then, after a slight pause, you hear a louder spirit in the forefront, say, “Yes, we're happy on the other side!” Karen wrote, “Wow, this blows me away! Not only are the spirits responding to Palah's expression of concern for them, but the response specifically indicates it's coming from the other side!”

• David Vee, of Ghosts-UK, sent us an interesting EVP recording. It was recorded on a mini disc in one of England’s most haunted castles. On the recording, you hear people speaking in what sounds like Medieval Latin and then you hear the definite sound of a drawbridge being raised (or lowered). The site did have a drawbridge but it was removed in 1550!

• Keli Adams was a guest on a Yuma, AZ talk show. Keli is a psychic and medium and was connecting callers to their departed loved ones. In listening back to some of the phone calls that had been recorded, EVP were discovered. In one three minute phone call from Eva, voices are heard saying, “Hello Eva” and “Talk to the dead.”