From Our Viewpoint

Participants should come with questions and topics they wish to raise with their guides. Time will be left for questions and answers. Participants will receive Robert’s workbook which he gives to students attending his mediumship development classes. You can find out more about Robert at his website www.robert-egby.com. Participants should bring open minds and a good senses of humor—necessary prerequisites for psychic mediumship development.

Sarah Estep

When Sarah was a child her grandparents owned a funeral home. Seeing lifeless bodies so many times in her youth convinced her that there was little hope of heaven or hell. For her, death was a casket, and her convictions on this did not change for over forty years. She read many books on parapsychology hoping to find something that would change her mind. One day she read Handbook of PSI Discoveries by Sheila Ostrander & Lynn Schroeder. Two chapters in the book were devoted to recording the voices of the dead through a tape recorder. Sarah had never heard of such a thing, but decided that if she could get taped voices of the dead, that would change her belief of over 40 years. The rest of the story is history. Sarah became a EVP pioneer in the United States. She authored the book, Voices of Eternity, which bravely chronicled her EVP research and founded the American Association of Electronic Voice Phenomena in 1982.

Abstract of Presentation: My Experience with EVP

Sarah will share many of her taped messages and experiences. She has taped thousands of messages from “dead” friends and relatives as well as the famous and not so famous. Konstantin Raudive came through many times the first year that she recorded, and later, she received several phone calls from him. She has also received many musical notes, and singing from spirit. Beethoven is one of those that came through to her. She will share some of these incredible contacts with the audience.

The voices that Sarah records speak on both sides of her recordings—forward and reverse. She has over 25,000 voices on files. Most are from spirit, but she thinks that probably 1,000 or more are from space aliens and possibly parallel dimensions.

Workshop: How to Record the Paranormal Voices

Sarah will share her immense knowledge on how to record EVP, offering ideas and suggestions on the best methods for capturing the paranormal voices. She will then work with the group in doing actual recordings.

Dennis Hauck

A dedicated explorer of consciousness, Dennis William Hauck has conducted considerable research into “exceptional human experiences,” which is a term used to describe a wide variety of paranormal and mystical phenomena. He is the author of the best-selling guidebooks, The International Directory of Haunted Places and Haunted Places: The National Directory. Dennis has been interviewed on nearly four hundred radio and TV programs. See www.haunted-places.com/ for more about Dennis.

Abstract of Presentation: Alchemy of the Paranormal

In this slide lecture, Dennis relates his best cases from over 25 years of paranormal research and reveals the deeper aspects of so-called “hauntings.” In fact, these experiences often seem to initiate a process waiting to unfold in every one of us. Common, everyday people are forging contact with another level of reality that is causing real changes in the human spirit, and it may be that paranormal encounters are part of a more fundamental transformation that is taking place right under our noses. Dennis will discuss how to get to the truth behind paranormal experiences and access this hidden level that is part of all genuine cases. He will show how to see through all the mistaken identities, frauds, money-making schemes, rampant egotism, and just plain wishful thinking, to reveal the surprising core of spiritual truth that cannot be denied in a significant number of paranormal encounters.

Workshop: Alchemy for Personal Transformation

In this inspirational and unique workshop, Dennis will divulge the secret principles of the ancient art of alchemy. He will guide you through ancient meditations used to achieve higher states of consciousness. He will show you how to enter the sacred space of the inner laboratory to create the “Philosophers Stone, an incorruptible state of consciousness that can exist on different levels of reality.

Mark Macy

Mark was an agnostic until a brush with death by colon cancer set him on a spiritual search in the 1980s. Then he learned about the miracles of ITC—personal letters planted mysteriously in computers by invisible hands, images from other realms flashing across television screens, and actual phone calls from angels. And when a voice from Beyond came through a radio with a long, personal greeting, Macy’s skeptical mind had the proof it required to believe. Author, Miracles in the Storm; ITC Researcher; ITC historian; and, ITC Pioneer. Learn more at www.worlditc.org

Abstract of Workshop: Resonance, verification and contact field theory.

In the late 80s, scientists and researchers from various countries began to use technical equipment to open miraculous communication bridges to the “worlds of spirit.” They began to experience spirit phone calls and two-way, real-time dialog via radio, and they received clear images from the other side through televisions and computers. Then in 1999, those bridges began to close down. So what’s the next step? How do we rebuild bridges for enhanced ITC contacts? Mark will describe the Resonant Working Group, a team of about thirty researchers from around the world, the progress they are making and the techniques they are using. These include the concepts of resonance and fields of consciousness.

As mark explained, “We’ll examine the difficult barrier between science and the human spirit. We’ll observe hard evidence and verifications gathered by ITC researchers around the world in the form of spirit phone calls, computer and television images from the other side, and more, received in ways that strongly support the premise that we are indeed in touch with spiritual beings.

“Finally, we’ll try to get clear pictures of spirit friends on Polaroid film by using the ‘Luminator,’ a subtle energy device that seems to ‘melt away’ some of the barriers between our world and the other side, allowing spirits to get ‘up close and personal’ in the pictures we take.”

Mark will take a few pictures of volunteers for his files; then he will take pictures of any and all participants for $2 each, and participants can keep those pictures.

More Workshops

Analyzing Sound Files with Sound Editors presented by Mike Sullivan. Do you want to learn how to hear your EVP better? Mike will show workshop participants how to use sound editors, like Audition and the Clear Voice Denoiser, to improve the clarity of their paranormal voice recordings.

Downtown Reno History and Ghost Walk presented by author, Janice Oberding. Learn about the history, ghosts, and legends of the ‘Biggest Little City.’ Bring a flashlight for the Thursday evening event. The number who can attend the ghost walk is limited so sign up early.

Field Recording Techniques presented by Karen Mossey. Karen knows that it takes a trained ear to hear EVP in recordings. She will help participants learn how to listen to recording to locate possible EVP. Karen will also discuss techniques and guidelines for recording EVP in haunted locations.

Grief Management Using EVP presented by Martha Copeland and Karen Mossey. These two women are reaching across the veil and communicating with their children who are now on the other side. They have taken bereavement groups to a new level by helping people move away from the past and reach toward of future of a continued relationship with a deceased loved one via EVP. Learn about the techniques that have been successful for them, as well as the important basics, before you even pick up the recorder.

Photographic and Video ITC presented by Erland Babcock. Video ITC pioneer Erland Babcock was part of George Meek’s group during the Spiricom days. Learn about his many years of ITC experiments, the equipment that he has experimented with and see many of the paranormal pictures that he has received.

Spoon Bending presented by the Rev. Barbara Thurman. Barbara will demonstrate the power of psi. Is Psychokinesis mind over matter? Whatever it is, things do happen which are not dependent upon one’s strength.

Tom and Lisa Butler

Many have asked us over the past few years to have a conference and we have done our best to put together a great lineup of presentations and workshops. Of course we will also be participating by conducting a presentation on EVP and ITC as well as a workshop on Video ITC. We thank our wonderful speakers and workshop leaders for agreeing to make presentations. We especially thank the many members of the AA-EVP who have volunteered their services to help make the conference a success.

Connections

It is said that we are all connected. For us in the AA-EVP, we can say that we are all not only connected to each other in this world but also to those in the next.

• In March 2001, Vicki Talbot lost her son, Braden, along with his best friend, Jim, in a kayaking accident in which their bodies were never found. Both were twenty years old. Braden began communicating with her through the answering machine about five months after he died. Both Vicki and Jim’s mother, Mary Jo Gran, joined the group in February, many months after AA-EVP members had started the “Recording circle–Bridge to the Afterlife.”
  
  January 19, only two weeks before Vicki joined the AA-EVP, Martha Copeland recorded the name Brad and wrote to the group saying “My nephew is Brad—but this is not intended for him. Someone in spirit is trying to get a hold of Brad. Does anyone know who Brad could be?”
  
  January 23, Mike Sullivan wrote back to the group saying, “On your ‘Hey Brad’ clip, I heard it as ‘It's Brad.” Maybe he’s someone on the other side who’s trying to reach someone unknown to our group. I mean, he may have joined the group on the other side in the hope of reaching someone special to him but not associated with the group. It would be interesting if he continued to come through and could provide more details.
  
  January 26, one week before Vicki joined, Martha wrote, “I picture Brad as a young man (late teens) who has heard about our group sessions, and I feel you are right about him wanting to reach out to a loved one here in the physical world.”
  
  After Vicki joined and the group learned her son’s name was Braden, Mike Sullivan went back and listened to the clip with the name Brad on it. He wrote, “I went back and listened to the clip again and the name could very well be ‘Braden.’”
  
  Before joining the AA-EVP, Vicki had the opportunity to speak with two outstanding mediums. Both told her that her son was saying, “Cathy.” Vicki wrote, “I don’t think he knew a Cathy when alive and when I told the mediums, they both just said that he was very clearly saying, “Cathy,” and that he was confident I would figure it out. (I hate it when they say that!) When I found out the role Martha’s daughter, Cathy is playing in the connection between those of us here and those of us there, it made sense. He seems very interested in keeping up contact, had probably already met Cathy and friends and was probably hoping I’d end up here!”

• Martha Copeland was out working in her front yard when she heard her deceased daughter, Cathy’s voice in the backyard calling for her dog, Doja. Doja heard it too because he began barking his special bark. “It’s the one that he uses when he greets someone he likes,” Martha wrote. “It freaked me out but I ran into the house and turned on my recorder, but did not get anything.”
  
  A short time later while in the garage, a black mixed puppy appeared and Martha put him in the back with Doja. Don, Martha’s husband, would not let her keep him and she went door to door trying to find the owner, but no one claimed the dog. The dog was so well behaved that Martha felt that she just had to find him a home, so she got in her car and drove around again trying to find the owner.
  
  One of the neighbors told Martha that their dog had just died and that they wanted to take the dog. Martha was happy that she had found the dog a good home. The neighbor, Kerry, called first to say how happy she was with the dog and how he had slept with her boys. She called next to say that she was taking him to the veterinarian. (Unknown to Kerry was that the veterinarian she mentioned was the one that Cathy had worked for. In addition, Cathy had been on her way to work at his office the day of her fatal accident.) Next, the Neighbor asked Martha if she felt that Cathy had sent the dog to them!

Face on Television Screen

Jan Hornback recently sent a message to the AA-EVP Egroup regarding her husband, Gene, who is now on the Other Side. She wrote that she just could not believe what happened. “I was over at my best friend, Janet’s house with her 23 year old son, Jason. I said, ‘Let’s record! It's time, and I want to talk to Gene.’ I felt his presence.

“Jason got out a plain old recorder, pushed the button, put the TV on a ‘non-channel with static,’ and turned the light down to a darker color on the TV so it wouldn’t be so bright. We lit candles, and started talking. We each said something very short like ‘Gene, can you hear me?’ ‘Where are you?’ and ‘How are you?’ for about ten minutes.

“When we finished recording, Jason went in front of the TV screen and snapped three photos with his digital camera. When he hooked the camera up to the TV, and showed the pictures, Gene’s FACE was captured! It was definitely, positively him. It was a close-up.”

Gene Hornback in life is on the left. Look for a pattern of darker bits in the TV snow at the right. Gene’s head is facing up so that you see under his chin. His head is tilted toward his left shoulder. The dark area in the lower-right is a shadow cast by his head from a light source in the upper left.

Investigating Ghosts in Front of the Camera

by Janice Oberding

The reality of ghost investigations can be downright boring when compared to what Hollywood portrays. Where a real investigator might spend long tedious hours in the field with little or no results, his Hollywood counterpart always encounters phenomena.

In a recent movie, a parapsychologist decides to investigate a haunted mansion. She begins her investigation late at night; daylight ghost hunts seldom suit Hollywood’s purpose. Alone and undaunted, she steps into the library and is immediately besieged by strange noises, ghostly forms, flickering lights, and wisps of cold air. That’s entertainment all right! But it is seldom reality.

As ghost investigators, we are well aware of this. So what happens when a television production company calls and wants you to do a “real ghost investigation?” First, cross your fingers and hope that you can somehow achieve a balance between what they think a ghost investigation is, and what it actually is. Think entertainment, but strive for reality. It’s as easy as teaching your cat to fetch your slippers.

My first foray into the world of television’s ghost investigations began three years ago with a very friendly email. At last, my fifteen minutes of fame were there for the taking. Of course I wanted to be on television! Who doesn’t? The site chosen for the investigation was to be selected by locales in Virginia City.

Suffice it to say that it didn’t work out. I was credited as a coordinator for the show, but the producers decided against using me on camera when I admitted that I couldn’t talk with ghosts. Certainly anyone can talk with ghosts. But carrying on long conversations in front of the camera? Now that’s a different matter entirely.

Another show came calling next. We emailed back and forth, and finally a location was decided upon; the Goldfield Hotel in Goldfield, Nevada.

The hotel had been closed for nearly fifty years but we were promised that the honor of sleeping in Nevada’s most haunted hotel would be ours, just for taking part in the show. I contacted my friends and fellow investigators in Las Vegas and yes, they wanted to be part of the show. Our team was ready. My husband and I packed our equipment and our sleeping bags and we headed south toward Goldfield and our fifteen minutes of fame.

The director was friendly, but convinced she knew best how the ghost investigation should go; her way. When she called for action, she meant action. Who cares if a real investigation takes hours? This was to be a twenty-minute segment; the investigation would be compressed into the allotted time. Time’s wasting! Hurry up and find a ghost or anything paranormal.

With the director and the cameramen following on our heels, we scurried through the dusty dark hotel. Meter readings were high in a certain room long suspected of being haunted. We stepped into the room. Someone’s flashlight gave out. A feeling akin to electrical energy rushed through us. There was definitely something in that room! Before we had time to analyze just what that might be, one of our team members became distraught and suddenly broke down in a fit of loud crying and screaming. The director was impressed. “Cut!” She ordered. Then turning to the nearest cameraman, she demanded, “Get a close-up of her!”

“Now,” she said to the crying investigator, “Show us how scared you are. And scream like that again, only louder!”

Once the investigator’s fear was captured on film, we were allowed to move on through the hotel. That might have been just another showbiz outing to the director and her crew, but for those of us who had never been permitted entrance to the hotel, the night was a thrill. Certainly, the shoot went quickly; but we had discovered the haunting stories weren’t all hype. There was indeed some sort of energy in the building. With any luck, we would be able to return someday for a full-fledged investigation.

When the filming was completed, we were informed that plans had changed; we would not be permitted to sleep in the hotel after all. Safety issues and the threat of lawsuits were probably the deciding factors.

To those who would argue that this type of investigation is more showbiz than anything else, I would point out that while working with television film crews, I have been able to gain access to places otherwise off limits to the general public, and ghost investigators in particular.

If given the chance, should you participate in television ghost investigations? Absolutely! Think positive, there’s probably a cat somewhere that can fetch its owner's slippers.

Janice Oberding is author of many books about Nevada’s most haunted locations, including the book, Haunted Nevada. She will be our guide for the AA-EVP conference ghost walk in downtown Reno. You can read more about her work at http://hauntednevada.com/

 Castle Ghosts like British Media Attention

First there was quite a fuss made over a figure caught closing a pair of fire doors on closed-circuit security cameras at Hampton Court Palace. The media either were given or chose to run a poor image of the person in period dress closing the fire doors. In the still photograph, the figure’s face seemed very white and very spooky. The media loved it and the story of the “Palace Ghost” circled the globe. Later, closer examination of the ghost’s movement on video made it pretty obvious that the ghost was someone in period dress; someone who was still a part of this world and not of the next.

Now comes a report of a spooky EVP from a BBC Radio 4 show called Excess Baggage while they were doing a broadcast from Ireland’s haunted Leap Castle. Right before presenter Sandi Toksvig says, “Your beginning to make a believer out of me,” a whispery male voice with a decidedly British accent says, “I died.”

The Excess Baggage crew was made aware of the ghostly whisper by one of the show’s listeners. Toksvig said that the whisper was not made by them or any of the guests and that there was simply no explanation.

Alexander MacRae wrote to the program offering his services but had not heard back from them as this NewsJournal went to print. Alec looked at the recording with a sound editor and found a relatively long empty space before the EVP is heard. Alec wrote, “Nowhere else in this sequesnce do you find an empty space of that length.” He then deleted the ghost voice and replaced it with the same duration of silence. “Now when you hear the delay between him finishing (the guest) and her starting (the presenter), it does not sound at all real.”

A Master of Obfuscation

In an attempt to clarify a point to a defense department meeting, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said that, “Reports that say that something hasn’t happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns—the ones we don’t know we don’t know.”

Erland Babcock and Video ITC

Long-time ITC experimenter, Erland Babcock, recently posted a number of examples of the phenomenal features he is collecting in his Video ITC experiments. Each example he sent was interesting, but as is often the case with this form of phenomena, only these two would print.

In the first example, you can see a person who is facing to your left. The person’s hair is visible, as is a possible wrap around the person’s shoulders.

In the second example, there appears to be a man facing to your left. He seems to have a long flowing beard.

Video ITC features are not photographs, and in fact, are not often well enough defined to permit printing. They are formed by transfiguring optical noise that has been created in a video feedback loop, and often, they are at least partially obscured by that same noise.

The examples shown here illustrate another characteristic of Video ITC features. If you look closely at the apparent beard of the man in the second example, you should be able to make out yet another face. Close examination of the originals show that the faces will tend to appear wherever there is suitable optical energy.

Update on Video ITC

We continue to squeeze in a Video ITC experiment now and then between our other duties. Like Erland, we are always tweaking our equipment in an attempt to find the right combination of camera position and settings for the best images.

In the picture to the left, you should be able to make out a young woman facing to your right. She has long flowing red hair, and is wearing a white dress.

The second picture is of a woman, again facing your right. She has a high forehead and prominent cheeks.

An Article about EVP in the JSPR

An article by Alexander MacRae was published in the January ‘04 Journal of the Society for Psychical Research. The article is titled, “A means of proving the Electronic Voice Phenomenon Based on Electro-Dermal Activity.”

Alec’s article was reviewed by a panel of experts who judged his work for reasonableness, amongst other criteria. The SPR has been less than friendly toward EVP and it was no small feat for Alec to have his article accepted.

Alec told us that he had hoped to avoid a straightforward article about EVP by writing an article that talked about accepted physical principles that indirectly applied to EVP. Here is the abstract of his article:

“This paper concerns a device that produces anomalous speech products similar … to the Electronic Voice Phenomenon (although it was not intended to function in this way), and its purpose is to describe the characteristic behavior of this device and its products, and to consider possible alternative explanations. For example, could what is happening simply be a case of stray pick-up—either electromagnetic or acoustic? To answer that question, experiments were carried out with the equipment relocated in an environment where communication in Spanish rather than in English was normal. Another possible alternative is considered: that these voices exist only in the mind, like an ‘audible Rorschach test’ interpretation. An objective process for assessing the most probable meaning of the information contained in an anomalous speech product is outlined, with the conclusion that such products are real and have characteristics of communication.”

An article that discusses some of the main characteristic of the “device that produces anomalous speech products” is “The Alpha Mystery” by José Feola. Read it at www.llewellyn.com/bookstore/article.php?id=38 .

A Loved One’s Visit

My brother and his family were down at their hunting camp. My brother got up early to go hunting and let his wife and two children sleep in. About 9:00 am, Marion and the kids were eating breakfast when J.J., my three year old nephew, got all excited. He saw a man with an orange hat and jacket looking in the window. Marion looked over at the window and saw no one, so she got up and looked outside. No one was there. Then she opened the door to look around, saw no one and no footsteps in the new snow. J.J. said the man was making a funny face and made his eyes big like he was trying to make J.J. laugh. (My father did this to my two sons when they were little. He passed away in 1990, J.J. and Marion never met my dad so neither one would know this).

When my brother came back to the camp at noon for lunch, Marion told him what happened. J.J. told Bob what this man looked like, so Bob (who is skeptical) got out a picture of my dad, and sure enough, that is whom J.J. saw. My Dad and Bob used to hunt together there quite often.

                                                       Heidi Armbruster

A Testable Hypothesis Explaining EVP Formation in Digital Recorders

IC recorders, such as the Sony ICD B7, have become well-known for their effectiveness as a tool for collecting EVP. This disparity between the effectiveness of digital and analog tape recorders offers an important opportunity for analysis; specifically, what is the active mechanism in IC recorders that is not present in analog recorders?

AA-EVP Member, James Jones, has recently offered a possible answer that is both technically insightful and very testable. If his hypothesis is shown to be correct, it provides a substantial proof that EVP are formed of noise and that they are formed within the electronic components of the recording device.

In IC recorders, the analog input signal is converted to digital information to enable processing and storage. This analog to digital (a/d) conversion is based on a sample rate in which the amplitude and frequency of the signal is converted into a series of digital words that are suitable for processing in the digital circuit. In a hypothetical digital word of “01101,” the last “1” is the Least Significant Bit (LSB). The LSB represents the lowest level of sound that can be accurately represented by the a/d converter.

James Jones contends that the error in accuracy of the a/d conversion between the analog input and the digital output introduces a chaotic electrical environment (noise) within the recorder as the a/d attempts to find a best fit for the incoming signal. The fewer the bits in the digital word (probably smallest in inexpensive recorders) the greater the noise associated with a/d conversion. This a/d induced chaos is conducive to EVP formation.

As James has noted, “Noise plays an important part in the encoding process. By strategically introducing noise, it is possibly to encode signals that are smaller than the LSB or less than one step of quantization.” Externally supplied low volume noise will allow the a/d to process signals that would normally fall below the LSB, thus reducing internal noise. Supplying extra noise is referred to as “Dither.” See http://www.earlevel.com/Digital Audio/Dither.html  for a tutorial on the subject.

 “Mike Sullivan tested this theory by tracking the number of EVP collected with and without the addition of white-noise. According to the theory, the amount of error and distortion allowed into the output of the recorder would be decreased with the addition of white noise, and therefore, the chaotic conditions necessary for the creation of EVP would be diminished. In fact, he recorded fewer to no EVP while supplying external noise when using an IC recorder.”

This theory proposed by James Jones possibly represents one of the first “smoking gun” analyses of where and how EVP is formed within a digital recorder that answers the current evidence. We would like other researchers reading this NewsJournal to consider similar experiments, and as always, we look forward to reports that we can include in the NewsJournal.

A Possible Means of Studying Orbs

David Sircom recently sent us a photograph saying that, “As an insurance adjuster I take hundreds of photos each week. I have many with the standard, stationary orb(s). But this one is a first for me.”

As you can see in the photograph, it appears that a sphere of light has moved across the scene while the camera’s shutter was open. Where the sphere changed direction or hesitated, the trail is brighter. Thus, it appears that the sphere has come from your right to left and has doubled back a little as it turned to move directly toward the camera.

It can be seen in the original that the trail of light is actually a series of overlapping circles, as if the sphere were rapidly pulsing light and dark as it moved. Such “string of pearls” patterns are a common characteristic of orbs in motion as caught in photographs.

Based on this example and others, it appears that whatever these spheres of light are, they are turning on and off, moving in and out of physical reality or vibrating at a very rapid rate. (Any one of these possibilities could cause what is seen here.) They move very rapidly and they sometimes exhibit intelligence by appearing when it is reasonable that an etheric entity might be present and responding to requests that they “Go to someone” or in some way move on command.

The entire issue of orbs is still too ambiguous to safely argue that they are etheric entities without more evidence or a better database of field observations. With that said, the “string of pearls” type of orb does offer important, measurable parameters that could be studied. In some instances, it should be possible to extrapolate the orb’s speed of movement by measuring the length of the light trail and relating that to the shutter speed. For instance, the shutter speed for this photograph was probably 1/60^th of a second. However, the trail is not fully visible and it is foreshortened by a change in direction, so this example may not be useful for evaluation. We recently saw one example that would suggest the orb moved at better than 600 feet a second. That is about half the speed of sound.

In some examples, the number of pulses can be counted, and when considered with the shutter speed of the camera, the pulse rate can be determined. There may be other measurements available in these photographs as well.

If such data were collected and included in a database, data analysis should show trends, which if a genuine phenomena is being observed, should suggest common characteristics of the orbs—information we lack today.

Please let us know if you decide to undertake such a study. Alternatively, we are interested in receiving other examples of this type of orb.

EVP gets some Media Attention

In January, Michael Tymn wrote a wonderful review of “There is No Death and There are No Dead” in the Academy of Religion and Psychical Research Bulletin. Frank Joseph reviewed the book in the February Fate magazine and Jutta Liebman did an excellent article regarding the book in the German VTF Journal.

We had submitted an EVP article to Fate magazine in mid January, hoping that it would be printed before the AA-EVP conference in June. We found out, by way of an email from Sarah Estep telling us how wonderful our article on EVP was in the March Fate magazine, that we succeeded. The article is over seven pages and they enlarged the pictures that we had included. The article could not have been presented better. Fate did an exceptional job and EVP and the Association received very positive attention from a national magazine.

In the past few months, we have written three articles for national magazines, two of which have been printed. We have also appeared on several radio shows; Rense, Cybercity and Ghostlytalk to name a few. An interview written by Melanie Billings, regarding our book is posted at http://spiritkeep.net/ghosts/ghosts_index.html. The interview was chosen by About.com Paranormal guide as a top pick. For the most part, each and every person who has interviewed us has treated us very well. All have been interested and intrigued by the phenomena and each has asked us to come back on their program.

In January, we worked with Janice Oberding and the BBC Twofour production crew on a British television series called, Dead Famous. The Twofour crew spent several months in the US trying to reach the spirits of the famous. Our location with them was at the Cal Neva Resort at Lake Tahoe, Nevada. It was owned by Frank Sinatra at one time and was a hangout for not only the “Rat Pack” but also Marilyn Monroe and even the Kennedys.

We are making plans for the coming months and in early April we will appear on Tracie Austin’s award winning cable television show, Let’s Talk Paranormal. We have also agreed to make a presentation at the International Conference on “Current Research into Survival of Physical Death, with Special Reference to ITC,” which will be held at the Cultural Centre in Vigo, Spain, on the 23rd-25th of April 2004. The conference is hosted by Anabela Cardoso who is the director and editor of the ITC Journal and Professor David Fontana, past president of the Society for Psychical Research. See www.eureka.ya.com/cadernostci/congresotci / for more information on the conference.

As you can see, we have been keeping ourselves very busy. The book has gained attention from the media, giving us a platform to talk about EVP. We have done everything we can to take advantage of this opportunity and to spread the word about EVP and its message of survival.

Bridge to the Afterlife Recording Circle

The group recording sessions first initiated by Martha Copeland and Karen Mossey are continuing. Recently, new member, Patti Newell, sent an email to the AA-EVP Egroup, asking for more information about the group. Here is Karen’s response:

Karen: Welcome to our world Patti, I will try to answer some of your questions.

Patti: I am absolutely fascinated with the idea of getting a group of people together specifically for the purpose of recording EVP. For those who are currently sitting in such a group, could you give me some information about your group: Where do you meet?

Karen: We have a meditation Circle which we call, “Recording Circle—Bridge to the Afterlife,” which is all over the country and involves a coming together of anyone in the group [AA-EVP Egroup] or family/friends who wish to record or meditate in an effort to reach our loved ones through EVP or meditation.

Patti: Do you change locations?

Karen: Location is wherever you are and can participate. Martha has hers in a Darkroom which her husband Don built for her. It is similar to a psychomanteum.

Patti: Do you meet at a set day and time?

Karen: Usually every other Thursday at 8:00 PM EST

Patti: How many people are there in your group? How many usually attend a session? WHERE DID YOU FIND THEM???

Karen: No set number. Just whoever wishes to participate. Participants are AA-EVP members and their relatives or friends.

Patti: Do your sessions have a set order?

Karen: We begin at 8:00 PM EST and record/meditate for ten minutes and then usually do a brief review and then one more ten minute session.

Patti: Is there a designated leader for the session?

Karen: Martha Copeland founded the Session but we are all part of the Circle. I will generally send an email reminder a half hour before the session begins.

Patti: Does this change for each session? How many people are taping during the session? When do you review the tapes?

Karen: No, unless indicated. Sometimes we have to change the day or time but we try to be consistent. I believe the spirit world appreciates this consistency as they are working to a schedule as well and since they have work to do just as we do, it is a time they can plan on.

Patti: Anything else I should know???

Karen: Join us if and when you are able. We would benefit form your energy, especially considering your expertise and field of study and practice. Follow the e-mails. A most warm welcome to you.

Patti: I just want you to know how very, very glad I am to have found you!

Karen: And we are glad to have you. :)  Love, Kare

A Discussion Board is Coming

The state of the art for Internet discussion boards has vastly improved since we last explored the use of one for the AA-EVP, and we think it is time to take advantage of the new features.

To help maintain the best possible level of communication amongst the members, we will inaugurate a member’s only discussion board on aaevp.com sometime during the summer. Members with an email address in our records will be added to the board with a beginning password of “1234.” Keep an eye on the aaevp.com front page for notification that this new service is available.

The new board will have special subject forums with moderators, the capability of attachments, spell-check and very good security. A feature we are excited about is the search capability. In time, it will make old posts a valuable learning resource for new and old members alike.

Taper’s Report

• Several people have written that they have taped us on various radio programs and wind up getting some unexpected EVP. We think that’s great. Those in spirit want the world to know that the so called dead are not very dead at all! We chuckled at one listener who wrote us concerned about an EVP that she recorded that said, “Come and join us.” EVP has never been for the faint of heart!

• Steven Beresford had not recorded for awhile but had a dream indicating that he should. He went to a ravine in the wilderness and wiped out the memory on his DR60 and placed it in a Faraday cage. He meditated and then recorded for about a minute. On playback he found a remarkably clear female voice saying, “So glad we loved you.” The voice was very similar to that of Steven’s departed wife Carmelita; very beautiful and melodic.

• Susan Bové picked up several very clear EVP during an investigation in January. She had just started recording in a small room off of the client’s kitchen. It had a wall full of books and so she was saying that they should probably call it “the library” when they captured a clear female voice saying, “What does it matter?”

• Andrea Carr met a very nice woman who lost her husband in one of the planes on 9-11. She made a recording at the woman’s home and got, “Little Kitten I love you,” in the basement where the husband’s workshop had been.

• Martha Copeland asked her daughter, Cathy, if it was more difficult to contact loved ones from heaven than the spiritual world? Cathy’s reply was, “No, the spiritual world and heaven are the same, it’s the same Mom.”

• Roddie Eubanks was awakened by a telephone call at three in the morning. A weak female voice said, “Hello,” and then the dial tone came back on. Roddie felt that it could have been her deceased daughter, Lynette. The caller ID said, “Anonymous caller.”

• Harry Flagle went to a very old cemetery in Delaware to prove that EVP was a hoax. He called out the name that appeared on a head stone two times, “Alvin Daisey.” There was a pause and a voice replied, “Alvin Daisey.”

• Jan Hornback called on her husband, Gene, and asked him to do whatever he could to reconnect with her. She recorded, “Eagerly.”

• Cheri Kussavage got some EVP that she did not understand until a little later. She recorded these messages; “He didn’t do it…I did it,” “Go to the Light” and, “Your welcome…no problem.” Cheri had been trying to help her friend’s terminally ill mother and was not sure how she could do this. She only knew that she had a strong desire to help. Cheri wrote, “I ended up helping her forgive herself and others who had hurt her over the years (the confession). We talked about all the wonderful possibilities about who might be waiting for her as she heads through the light. She thanked me and I knew just what to say, ‘You’re welcome, no problem.’”

• Clara Laughlin’s letter mentioned many wonderful EVP confirmations. She wrote, “My brother-in-law, Jack, thought I was a crackpot. I’ve had a loud, clear message from him, ‘Clara, I’m so sorry. We miss you.’”

• Kathy Malone, along with many other recorders, participate in the Thursday evening Bridge to the Afterlife recording sessions. In February, she recorded her son Lance saying, “Its me,” “I’m fine” and “Love You.”

• Karen Mossey sent the group an EVP saying, “This is my first EVP off my new Sony ICD-B7. This Sony is a super recorder for EVP. It does very well at it. My sincere thanks to Harry and Richard for introducing this recorder to our group. I think what you will hear in this clip are two spirits talking. One is advising the other. The first voice say’s, “Put it behind you.” Then the second say’s, “I know.” And then the first spirit voice speaks again and say’s, “That solves everything.”

• Jutta Liebmann, of the German VTF, wrote that her EVP contacts were not strong in January and February and that she did not know why this would be, but that in the beginning of March, she received a wonderful personal message. The personal EVP brought her comfort over problems that she was having at work with some colleagues. The EVP was 13 words (translated from German) “For the wounds (insults) we say prayers. You will be happy again. This will pass quickly.”

• Richard Shenk sent a wonderful story about his contacts from his grandmother. He says that one of the first words that he ever spoke was “Nanny.” He sent a recording to the group from her that says, “Your Nanny loves you.”

• Rich Smith recorded “I’m in Hell” in a old railroad caboose and says that he frequently gets EVP that do not seem to be oriented to the particular location

• Rob Smith wrote that his girlfriend had to have an operation. During this stressful time, many group members offered their prayers and support. Rob also got support from those on the other side and had recorded messages from his Mother and his Maternal Grandfather and Grandmother. One message came before they got the diagnosis. It was from the Grandfather saying “Tough luck I say … Robert!” Rob wrote, “Seems the other side knew before we did.”

• Vicki Talbott deleted the first two messages that her son, now on the other side, left on her answering machine because she thought that she was going crazy. Then a couple of weeks later, he left a message that simply said, “Mom?” She saved this message and one that came from his friend who died with him. Jim's mom (AA-EVP member Mary Jo Gran) came over to listen to the messages from Braden and prayed right then and there for Jim to leave a message too. Not more than a half hour later, Jim left one that simply said, “I’ll come again.” Vicki says that the boy’s voices “sound just like they did in life.”

• Scottish member, Linda Willaimson sent us a lot of information on one of her favorite places to record, St. Andrews Castle. St. Andrews has a bloody history and a lot of people lost their lives there. One EVP that Linda captured says, “I Hung Them.” Linda also included a VCR tape of a moving orb that she recorded in the underground mines of the Castle.

News from Members

• Many members from all around the country are taping together on Thursday evenings at 8pm Eastern in The Recording Circle - Bridge to the Afterlife. Many loved ones names and messages have come through during these recordings. The list of names of people on the other side that members are trying to contact has grown to 31.

• Karen Mossey is the EVP expert for an investigation team that does a live radio broadcast called "The Ghost Chronicles" every Friday from 5-6 PM EST on WCCM 1490 AM Lawrence, MA. You can listen on Fridays via the internet at http://www.1490wccm.com/nfff.html.

• Members started mentioning that a person on EBay was out bidding everyone and driving the price up on all Panasonic RR-DR60s. The buyer would then put the recorders back on Ebay with a “buy it now” price of $199.00. Of course, this is a ridiculous price to pay for any recorder and new members Harry Flagle and Richard Shenk mentioned that they were getting excellent EVP on the Sony ICD-B7 that is available at Walmart or Office Depo for under $50.

• Clara Laughlin sent a clipping that talks about a movie called, White Noise, staring Michael Keaton. He plays a widower who receives messages from his dead wife. The movie is billed as a thriller.

Donations

We want to thank each and every one of you who have been able to donate to the AA-EVP. Your donations have allowed us to keep the membership dues the same while doubling the size of the Newsletter. In fact we now proudly call it a “NewsJournal”! Please do not forget how important your donations are to the AA-EVP. Donations provided the Association with 1/5 of its operating expenses in 2003. However, at the end of 2003 the Association was in the black a mere $832.00. So you can see that the Association is running right on the edge. As you know we do not take a salary and we donate all of our time. As a matter of fact our book, There is No Death and There are No Dead, paid for itself and actually brought in $1,573 in income for the Association. Please help us keep the Association going and growing by continuing to donate to the Association. Every donation is Tax Deductible.

Notice

We will be unable to pick up mail April 5-7 and 21-27. If you send in your conference registration during that time, know that we will register you the minute that we return. Be sure to get your registration in before May 1^st to save!

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License

Contact the AA-EVP