Dear Reader,

Most of you are familiar with Mr. Davis Peck who has been involved for a number of years, in research on the Electronic Spirit Voice Phenomenon or EVP as it has come to be known. Mr. Peck, a Biophysicist, is one of the very few legitimate scientists who have worked with the phenomenon. We recently received word from Prof. Uphoff that Dave is in very bad shape as a result of a very serious accident. No further details are available at this time. For those who may wish to contact Mr. Peck, his address is: Box # 15271, Phoenix, Arizona 85060

Several years ago, Mr. Peck, who is from Arizona, moved to the Eastern seaboard in an attempt to raise the funds for a comprehensive research effort on the EVP. Unfortunately, due to lack of interest on the part of individuals and organizations who are in a financial position to fund this kind of research, Mr. Peck was unsuccessful even after considerable effort during the course of which he exhausted most of his own resources.

During this time Mr. Peck was involved in the organization of the Survival Research Foundation and also became Editor of the Survival Research "Hotline" newsletter. Unfortunately due to financial and other problems, only four issues of the "Hotline” were published. However even those few issues were of considerable value as an information exchange to those of us who are seriously involved in EVP research.

It is the author's contention that in order for significant progress to be made in the field of EVP research, some organized means of information exchange is imperative. To the author's knowledge no such newsletter dealing specifically with the EVP, is in existence at the present time, at least not in the English language. For this reason, it is the author's intention to initiate an EVP newsletter to be known as The Spirit Voice, of which this is the first issue. 

This letter will deal specifically with electronic communication from non-ordinary sources, including audio and video communication which appears to originate from the Spirit World, and audio and video communication which appears to originate from extraterrestrial or other non-ordinary sources. Although emphasis will be placed on the EVP and possible methods of improving EVP reception, other subjects, closely related to the EVP will also be included.

The Voice is conceived as a means of exchanging information, theories, experience, methods, etc., among those who are seriously interested in EVP research. The Voice is not intended to supplant the Hotline newsletter, which we sincerely hope Mr. peck will revive. Most fields of endeavor have several periodicals and we believe there is ample room for several such publications in the field of EVP research.

Due to the author's occupation, which requires an average of 50 to 60 hours per week, plus ordinary home and family obligations, etc., time to engage in this activity will be limited. For this reason it will not be possible at this time to publish the Voice at regular intervals, although it is the author's intention to publish a new issue every two to three month depending on available time and available material. For the same reason it will probably not be possible to answer each letter personally. However each letter received will be carefully studied and either printed in the next issue of the Voice or filed for future reference and possible future publication. Unless the author deems certain material in letters received to be of personal or confidential nature or unless ask to hold certain information in confidence, the author will consider all material relative to the EVP and related phenomena to be suitable for publication. 

The first three issues of the Voice will be complimentary, after which a subscription fee of $5.00 for the first year will be requested. This fee will be both to help defray the costs of printing and postage, and for the less obvious reason of keeping our mailing list clear of those who, for one reason or another, are no longer interested in EVP research. 

Bill Weisensale

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From Sarah Estep, Maryland USA, Sept 1980

(In part) 

I thank you for your detailed letter and the adapters you sent. After I came back from New Jersey, Charlie read your letter and studied your drawings carefully. He reconnected my system again with your filter and I am now able to hear through both earpieces of my headphones, which delights me. Since I have a slight hearing loss in one ear, I need to be able to use both earpieces on playback. I hear everything much better now. While your filter cuts out some of the background noise--which is good, and as I understand it, it is supposed to do, my own voice is somewhat distorted. The interesting thing is that the paranormal voice is not at all distorted. I think this might be significant of something but I'm not sure what. 

(And) 

The most exciting thing that has happened with my unseen friends occurred the end of July. One evening, about 8:30, when I was sitting in my office reading (where I sit every evening) I saw a. round yellow object about the size of a basketball, drifting slowly down outside my office window. It was in view for three to four seconds. The first three messages on the enclosed tape are, I feel, related to the incident. The first, "We look like yellow," as you will hear came after I ask space friends if they had seasons in their world. I thought they were telling me, with the message, that the predominant color in their world was "yellow." In the second recording you hear me ask this, and their reply, letting me know my idea was wrong. "Say! I say, say not." The following morning, Number 3 on the tape, someone said, "We'll sit, sit by the window." It was the next night, about sixty hours after the message, "We look like yellow," was received that I saw the object. What was it? I have no idea. It certainly did not look like the typical U.F.O. In the past I have read reports from individuals who said they saw round yellow objects, which they felt came from space, and so I guess this falls within that category. My attempt to learn more about the object has not met much success. They have confirmed that it came from space and that "We see there” We can see after her. Yes. Look after her." (Number seven on the enclosed tape, which came through the following morning.) It was all so obviously planned and carried out on their part that I am more impressed than ever with their capabilities. They also knew where to find me and when. I have to wonder though, since it was much too small for any sort of physical body to ride in, just what it was. Was it perhaps a vehicle in which their consciousness was riding; a manifestation of their consciousness; or perhaps a purely mechanical device, which their consciousness was directing? There is an interesting sidelight to this experience.  I had a rose in a vase sitting on the windowsill, directly in front of the object. Up until that time, each rose I placed on the windowsill would die within three-four days, the color would fade, the petals fall off, until finally I threw it away. The rose I had there the night all of this happened—is still there! It did not (has not) deteriorated like the other roses. In fact it stayed fresh looking for over ten days. I kept wondering why it didn't die like all of the others and it was not for almost two weeks that I had the thought that perhaps the light from the object had helped preserve it. After 10-12 days, it started to dry up slightly, but it has never lost a petal, and the deep red color remains. I also have never added water to the vase, and the rose has not shown any change for almost two months.

How good of them to let me see a manifestation of this nature! You know from the previous tape I sent to you, that I said I would like to see them. The fact that they then worked to bring "something" down to me gives us some insight into what they are like psychologically. My belief that they are kind and thoughtful, which is an outgrowth of the taped messages, was certainly strengthened by what they showed me the end of July.

When I went to New Jersey I took along my TEAC cassette tape deck, small amplifier, speaker and so on. Each morning I would record from my apartment for about an hour and a half. The voices showed no difficulty in making the switch to a new location. In fact, the average number of daily messages received was the same as I get at home, and quality wise they were also the same. It was while I was in New Jersey that they referred to "the light" for the first time. They have mentioned this light numerous times since then, not only in New Jersey, but also back here in Maryland. I have tried to discover the source of the light but am not at all sure from where it originates. They answered in a clear voice when I ask what the light permitted them to do, with "We get to know you." My thought at that point was perhaps they see my aura, but I am not thoroughly convinced this is it. Another thing I have noted recently that occasionally when I am supposedly talking to space they will repeat one of the words in the message--such as Number 2. This doesn't happen frequently, but when it does I have been communicating with the space world. It still remains very difficult, however, to know with what world I am talking. As I have written before, I suspect there way be some crossover going on between spirit world and certain parts of space. How little we really know when we get down to it. 

(And)

I am not sure if I made it clear in previous letters, but in any case, I do not plug my Patrolman radio into any part of my equipment. I understand this is one way to record and I tried several unsatisfactory recordings with it several years ago. Since then, all I do is simply turn it on to air band (Sarah records at 132 MHz. -Ed.) with the volume a little below halfway.  When the volume is reduced, unfortunately the loudness of the paranormal voices is also reduced. This further suggests, however, that many of those who speak, do actually come through the radio.

Reply

Again we would like to express our appreciation for your very interesting tape and letter. In our opinion you are making an important contribution toward greater understanding of the EVP. 

Just why a voice band filter distorts our own voices more then it does EVP voices, is a question I cannot answer. However, since this distortion is due to the fact that the filter eliminates the very highest and very lowest harmonies from our own voices, and since the EVP voice seems to be less effected, we might speculate that the EVP voice therefore has less harmonic content or that the harmonics are restricted to a narrower frequency range. I believe it was Joe Lamoreaux who at one time suggested a variable filter in which both the lower and upper cutoff frequencies could be independently adjusted so that the filter could be "tuned" for each individual voice. I think this is an excellent suggestion. This would require an "active" filter of a totally different design then the passive filter we are working with now. I agree with you that this question of difference in distortion may be of importance. A great deal more work needs to be done in this area. 

You had mentioned in a previous letter that although the filter is of benefit to you, it does not help those to whom you send copies of your recordings, as they do not have filters available. Might I suggest that in making copies of your recordings, the copying recorder be connected to the output of the amplifier rather then directly to the playback recorder. (See diagram.)  In this setup the signal will be passed through the filter and your copies will be filtered.

When making your copies, during those portions where you are talking, if you switch the filter to "out" your voice will sound normal. When an EVP section begins switch the filter to "in" in order to filter the voice. By switching the filter in and out you can filter the EVP voices and at the same time have your own voice sound normal. 

The yellow object you described reminded me of the "FOO Fighters" of WW 2. These objects, usually described as lights or small balls radiating light, were observed by many of our combat pilots who believed them to be a German secret weapon. In comparing notes after the War it was learned that German pilots had also reported these objects and believed them to be an American secret weapon. It now seems probable these objects were some kind of extraterrestrial remotely controlled observation devices, perhaps very similar in design to the object you observed. 

I was interested to note that at one time you had tried to record by connecting the radio to the recorder via patch cord rather then with the usual speaker/microphone, and that the results were unsatisfactory. In one of my experiments I used a sound source recorder and the same audio carrier tape that I sent you a copy of, together with one speaker, one microphone and a stereo cassette voice recorder. (See diagram.) The audio carrier signal was split with one side going through the speaker and microphone and then to the "right" recorder input. The other half of the signal went directly via patch cord from the carrier recorder to the "left,” input of the voice recorder.

The voice recorder is equipped with manual level controls and level meters. On a setup run, before requesting communication, I very carefully adjusted the recording level of each channel to the same level. After doing some voice recording and playing back the tape, I found that several voices had appeared simultaneously on the two channels but that there was a noticeable difference in quality of reception with the right channel (speaker/microphone) being the better. 

This is a definite indication that the speaker/microphone coupling is one of the places where the voices enter our equipment. There seems to be several of these entry points and voice quality improves as we string entry points together. In other words the effect is accumulative in series. For example, we know that a tape recorder alone (no microphone) contains at least one such entry point because it will receive voices, although very weakly.  If we add a microphone as in the open microphone method, the voices are somewhat stronger.  If we add a third entry point by adding a radio receiver the voices are usually stronger still. (We know that a radio receiver also contains at least one such point of entry because some of us, yourself included, can on occasion hear the voices directly through the radio speaker before they are recorded, even through they usually cannot be understood.) 

This brings us to an interesting question. What would happen if we were to add a fourth entry point?   Suppose for example, instead of connecting the microphone to the voice recorder as we normally do, we should connect the microphone to an audio amplifier that was in turn connected to a speaker. Suppose we then used a second microphone for the voice recorder as in the diagram. 

There is, of course, a certain problem involved in that by using two speakers and two microphones both microphones would pickup sound from both speakers. Because of this some method of isolating the two speaker/microphone couplings would have to be used, such as placing one of the couplings inside a soundproof container.

From Prof. Walter Uphoff, Wisconsin USA,             Sept 1980

Reading the letter from Sarah, it sounds like she has been having some new and mind-boggling experiences with the contacts. There are a lot of pretty serious philosophical questions raised by her messages, if they are genuine and not of the "mischievous" kind. Manipulation of television sets has been reported by others, too. We honestly have not known quite what to make of them. Not that we do not grant it to be possible but so far we haven't gotten it incorporated into our field of experience. 

Reply

Several years ago when we first began getting reports of extraterrestrial communication within the EVP my own inclination was to believe we were more likely dealing with mischievous spirits then extraterrestrials. This despite the fact that I am convinced Earth is under observation by extraterrestrials, primarily as a result of being personally involved in a radar UFO sighting and having had several visual sightings over the years. I have no doubt whatsoever that they are up there. What I did at first doubt is that they would imitate EVP voices.  I could not see any reason why they should do this since they could easily come in loud and clear on any radio or TV. 

However, Cass, Estep, and McKee (that I know of) seem to be convinced some of the voices they are receiving are of extraterrestrial origin. These people have a great deal of experience with the EVP and I think we have to give their opinions very serious consideration. I have personally heard some of their recordings and I agree with their conclusions. Also some time ago I spent the better part of one whole day studying one of Sarah's tapes on my oscilloscope. A few of the voices, notably some of those claiming to be from "space” exhibit a certain technical characteristic (background dropout) which indicates the presence of a very weak but otherwise normal radio signal. This effect is not present in ordinary communication from the Spirit World, but it is the kind of thing we would anticipate in communication with extraterrestrials. 

Also, and I cannot be certain of this, but several of these voices give the impression of being mechanical or artificial, that is, created by computer controlled voice synthesis rather then by human means. Now a voice synthesizer is obviously not the kind of thing we would anticipate finding in use by the Spirit World, but it is exactly the sort of thing we could anticipate in extraterrestrial communication, especially if for one reason or another the race doing the communicating had vocal cords unsuitable for pronunciation of human words. 

My opinion at this point in time, is that there is a high probability that at least some of this communication is in fact of extraterrestrial origin. It is still a mystery to me why they should communicate in this manner when being more technically advanced then we are they could obviously transmit clearly through any ordinary radio or TV. However since they have apparently had Earth under observation for a long time without making open contact, this means of communication would seem to be in keeping with what appears to be a policy of non-interference. Perhaps they are waiting for us to grow up before making open contact.

From David Lothamer, California, Sept 1980

I am an EVP experimenter and am writing in behalf of our "fledgling" and struggling group, which for lack of a better name calls itself the California Society for Electronic Voice Research. At the moment we are very small. At this time other than myself, I am writing on behalf of Dr. Stanley McNail, Mr. John Turner and Mr. Patrick Budd.

(And) 

Perhaps it would be best if we first explained our equipment and our approach. We use the open microphone recording method in a similar manner to that used by the late William Welch.  However, inasmuch as Patrick and John feel that full mike recording level could lead to some distortion, we use from 40-70% microphone recording level.

Equipment

SONY TC28O 3 speed Reel-to-Reel tape deck with two microphone inputs with volume controls.   (Stereo with manual recording level -Ed) 

Realistic 40 Watt Amplifier, with two channels, 20 watts per channel 2 good sized 10" woofer speakers. 

We have three microphones, a Sony dynamic, and a Marantz superscope both in the $13.00 to $20.00 range and 1 Electro-Voice D054 dynamic omni directional with wide range frequency response with uniform response from 50 to 20,000 Hz. 

However, one of the best voices I ever received was on a cheap portable tape cassette, cheap tape and a five dollar microphone. And my offhand opinion at this time is that though the "voices" can be received on standard tape recording equipment, the expense and quality of the equipment may not be a critical factor. Whatever we are picking up (and I tend to think that at least some of them are discarnates) can be received under certain conditions on standard tape recording equipment. But I wonder if standard tape recording equipment as it is now designed is really not the ideal apparatus.

One of the problems I have is that I have only heard the “voices" of Dr. McNail and my own (paranormal-that is). The one other I heard was that recorded by a Mr. Chester Schertyl of Walnut Creek Ca. And it responded to an inquiry as to his identity with a very human sounding voice: I'M A POLTERGEIST! 

I'm afraid that I would have to describe well over 95% of the voice attempts which I evaluate as being "paranormal" - as being whispery and blurred, with consonants and consonant blends (Blond, CReam, CLose) being nearly absent. However, I may be being super critical and perhaps my "voices" are par for the course. There are the exceptions of course, which tend to have some degree of clarity. 

Now, - concerning "mediumship" ... what a question!  I have been an independent psychic investigator for some 25 years and I have never considered myself mediumistic. In fact, I stayed away from this particular EVP research because I was sure that I was not a medium (and I have my doubts about 99% of those people running around giving past life, aura and energy readings). When I think of mediums, I think of D.D. Home, Florence Cook, Mrs. Piper and the great trumpet mediums such as Leslie Flint and the not so well known today MATERIALIZATION MEDIUMS studied by the early researchers. 

Mary Jo Uphoff notes that a number of European investigators ardently believe that this is a form of "the direct voice" mediumship. Now, I have noted that I have only a couple recordings of very weak voice attempts when I have been out of the building and have purposefully left on the tape recorder. 

Our group however has concurred in one main observation. - NOISE MODULATION, that is - environmental noises made within the recording room immediately prior the manifestation of the "voice" recorded on the tape.  We however, do not hear any of the EVP voices during in the room during the recording sessions. Some of the EVP thus produced extend substantially beyond the moment of preceding noises. I have observed that shuffling of clothes, walking across the floor which creeks, the sound of couch springs (really quite a low level and environmental noise phenomena which have a sustained cracking nature) ... these seem to release an energy, kinetic energy as Patrick puts it - which is somehow involved in the production of the voices. 

And as I stated to Harold Sherman (via letter) I do not imply that these are as "psychic tea leaves," sounds on which we can build our fantasies interpreted by imagination. The voices "build around" the environmental noise have a character and body apart from the noise. Gilbert Bonner alludes to noise modification factors I believe when he discusses the radio-microphone method, - which I do not understand and have not been successful in utilizing. John Turner who has an understanding of radio, having been an army radio technician feels that this method could be utilized and that perhaps a weak signal would be easier for "them" to deal with than would be a strong one. We have not however really experimented in this area. We are currently rather attracted to this noise modification factor which appears to be a factor in voice production and he and Patrick Budd have discussed the possible construction of a generator or frequency modulator which could serve as a more consistent source from which to work. 

We would be very interested in your reflections upon this "noise" production and utilization concept. It does run contrary to the simpler approach where we remain as silent as possible in order to most clearly receive and hear the EVP voices. However, as before stated, the occurrence of the EVP voices for us seem to be highly correlated with some sort of noise, our voice or environmental factors which occur almost immediately prior to the phenomena.

Jon and Patrick f eel confident that they could follow design plans which others have successfully developed and employed. I feel that this is a good approach, because, our finances are not great and to duplicate (at least at first) efforts, which have not proven successful, could sap our few financial resources.

We are very serious about this however and earnestly request your advice. If we stick together and share our findings we may not suffer the ignominious fate which has befallen the work and memory of earlier psychic researchers and mediums, whose contributions have been trampled and ignored by a new generation of parapsychologists, whose concern for their standing in the conservative scientific community has virtually brought psychic research to a halt in the twentieth century. 

Reply

First of all I would like to welcome you and your group to the EVP effort. There are other organizations very interested in the EVP, but insofar as I know yours is the only group attempting to organize exclusively for this purpose. You certainly have our best wishes.

I disagree with the Europeans on the matter of mediumship.  It is not necessary to be a medium in order to have EVP reception, although I believe those who get the very strongest reception, such as Estep and McKee and a few others, are in fact mediums in the presence of a tape recorder. I am certain the rest of us would not get the same results they do even if we used their equipment.  These rare individuals probably make up less than 5% of EVP researchers.  For the rest of us the voices are, in most cases, very weak and must be studied repeatedly through earphones in order to be understood at all. 

It is my hypothesis that what has happened and what is happening is this: When radios and especially phonographs and wire recorders were invented, those in the Spirit World, through their own experimentation, came to realize that these instruments were so sensitive they could be effected by thought.  That is, through concentration, the signal level in these devices could actually be slightly changed or modulated by psychokinetic energy.  The Spirits found that by doing this they could actually cause their voices to appear in the output of this equipment.

This effect, however, was (and is) extremely weak.  To weak, in fact, to have ever been noticed at all here on our side.  The problem in the Spirit World was to find some means to bring the EVP possibility to our attention so that we would begin efforts to develop equipment specifically designed for EVP reception. Their method of doing this was to pick certain individuals in the Spirit World who were selected for their exceptional psychokinetic ability.  (Sarah tells me the people who speak to her must first go through an "agency.")  These individuals were assigned to work with certain rare individuals on our side who also had exceptional PK ability. As a psychic investigator you know that the EVP effect was first reported by individuals in this country who were, for the most part, very psychic persons. 

It was the task of those selected in the Spirit World, to look for opportunities when psychic individual here happened to be cutting a phonograph record or using a wire or tape recorder, and then attempt to cause their voices to appear in the recording. This, of course, they succeeded in doing. 

After Jorgenson published his book on the subject and thus brought the EVP to public attention, other researchers who were not psychic became involved. It is at this point that the real work of developing a Spirit Voice Receiver, usable by anyone, actually began.  (When I once ask which is the most important factor in voice reception --- the operator or the equipment, I was told "equipment!")  This work has been spread over many years and has involved many researchers. Progress has been painfully slow, but in time such a Receiver will be developed which will make it possible for anyone to carry on a normal conversation with their friends in the Spirit World, very much as one now talks with others on a CB radio. When this happens, tape recorders will no longer be used in EVP reception except in those cases where, for one reason or another, it is desirable to make a permanent record of the conversation. In the mean time it is that handful of rare individuals who are mediums in the presence of a tape recorder, who are carrying the torch by keeping the EVP alive and bringing it to public attention. These people deserve our deepest gratitude.

EVP reception occurs as the result of voice modulation of a multifrequency or random frequency, voice band carrier signal, which must be supplied from here on our side.  This is true of 'all methods of voice reception, it is true in all cases there are no known exceptions.  This signal is referred to in the following discussion as the audio carrier.

In EVP reception there are probably as many variations of methods and techniques as there are EVP researchers. Generally my advice would be to try as many of these variations as possible until you find out what works best for you. If there is a secret to EVP reception, it is to experiment, experiment, experiment. In the following discussion I will attempt to describe some of these methods and how they are applied, which I hope might be of some help to you. (The list is by no means exhaustive.) 

The first is the open microphone method with which you are already familiar. There are three variations of this method.  In the first variation no microphone is used. In this case the audio carrier is the greatly amplified sound of electronic noise generated within the first stages of the recorder's audio amplifier.  It is this electronic noise that is modulated by the voice entities and it is this noise that you hear on playback of the tape. Reception by this method is generally weak. 

In the second variation a microphone is used and reception is generally somewhat better. In this case it is again the greatly amplified sound of electronic noise in the recorder, plus whatever miscellaneous background sounds are picked up by the microphone, that forms the audio carrier used by the voices.  (It hardly needs to be mentioned that our Spirit friends do not sneak up and whisper into the microphone. If such were the case any background noise would drown out their voices instead of helping them to appear.) 

In the third variation, a deliberate attempt is made to supply a suitable audio carrier rather than relying upon the recorder's internal noise and miscellaneous microphone sounds. Possibilities along this line are without end.  One might request communication while recording the sound of surf breaking on the beach, wind blowing through the trees, the soft hiss of a gas pilot light, water in a flowing brook, etc.  For example, Joe Lamreaux has had good results while recording the sound of water pouring into a container. 

In all of the following methods a speaker is used in one way or another, either built into or attached to a radio, an audio amplifier or a second recorder. When recording from a speaker, set the microphone about one to two feet from the speaker and pointed directly at the speaker. The sound from the speaker should be adjusted to a comfortable or soft listening level. 

The first of these methods is what we might call the "amplifier" method.  In this method an audio amplifier is connected to a speaker and the recording is made by placing the microphone in front of the speaker. 

On some amplifiers the gain factor is high enough at full volume (on certain settings of the input select switch) that the electronic noise generated within the first stages of the amplifier is brought up to recording level at the speaker.  If it does not, than an external diode noise generator can be added to the input of the amplifier to bring the volume up to the necessary level. 

In the taped audio carrier method the carrier is supplied by playing back a tape on a second recorder while the voice recording is made.  

For this purpose a special audio carrier tape is prepared. (You might ask your friends in the Spirit World to please not try to come through while you are recording the carrier.)  Here again the possibilities are endless.  All of the previously mentioned sounds and more could be recorded as a carrier.  As one example, you might take a portable recorder to the beach and make a recording a half hour or hour long (without requesting communication) of the surf breaking on the beach. Later you can play this sound back through the speaker of your carrier recorder while you request communication and record with your voice recorder. Some of the sounds that have actually been recorded and used in this fashion include: Between station static from a radio receiver (This is not the radio method which is something different), the sound of running water, electronic noise created by a diode noise generator, music - especially organ music, and even human speech played backward. 

The last major method in use at this time is the radio method about which I have mixed emotions.  In general, reception has been of better quality by the radio method than by any other method in use. Unfortunately however, (for EVP reception radio receivers pickup radio signals, a fact that EVP skeptics take great delight in repeatedly pointing out. They say, of course, that we are simply misinterpreting weak voices from distant radio stations. We who have personal experience with the EVP know that distant radio stations do not call us by name and answer our questions.  However, if we ever succeed in proving the EVP to the scientific establishment, it will probably not be with the radio method.

There are also other complications involved. One of these is that in some cases the EVP voice actually is a distant radio voice, i.e., the voice from a distant station has been changed into an EVP voice in much the same way that music or background noise picked up by the microphone is changed into a voice. 

Another very important complication is that there is a very strong possibility some of our radio method communication is not paranormal, but rather extraterrestrial in origin, and thus normal radio signal communication from a very non-normal source. If we are using any method other than the radio method and contact entities who claim to be extraterrestrial, then we can suppose they are deceased or out-of-body and in either case are therefore communicating by the same paranormal means, as do our other friends in the Spirit World. On the other hand, with the radio method, if we have contacts who claim to be extraterrestrial, we do not know if they are out-of-body and using the radio in a paranormal way as do Spirit entities or whether they are here in our own material World imitating EVP voices with a weak radio transmitter aboard an unseen UFO.

In any case in using the radio method the radio is tuned between stations and the volume adjusted so as to bring the station to a comfortable listening level.  It is this static, of course, that forms the audio carrier. (Unless it is a weak radio signal from a UFO.)  The microphone is placed in front of the radio or external speaker in the usual way, and the voice recordings made. The best quality voices have been recorded on radios that have an air band. Mr. Cass records at 128 MHz, Sarah records at 132 MHz and I have recorded at 130 MHz with good results. Sarah uses a Patrolman “6” (Radio' Shack).  I have a Patrolman "50" which is the current version of the “6”.  I would recommend you try this method, even though there is some confusion as to where and how radio voices originate.  I do not believe the make of radio is particularly important nor is the exact frequency.  But I do recommend that you try recording from the air band in the neighborhood of 128-132 MHz. 

The equipment you have is good. (You happen to have the same model Sony I have.)  You will probably need a portable cassette recorder (which does not have to be expensive) to use in copying tapes and as an audio carrier recorder. (If you wish to try this method.)  The quality of the recorder and microphone has little or no effect on reception.  Although I have several recorders, two of which are stereo, I prefer to do most of my recording on a Realistic portable monophonic cassette, primarily because of its automatic recording level feature, which keeps the recording at an even volume level. A good set of earphones is an asset.  Don't worry about the frequency response range of the earphones, or of the recorder, or microphone, or amplifier for that matter, because almost any audio equipment will work well in the voice band region (300 Hz to 3,000 Hz), which is the only range you need be concerned with in EVP research. The important thing about earphones is not frequency range but comfort!  If you do any amount of work you will use phones frequently and unless they are properly made after a while they will cut into the top of your head or make your ears numb. 

In your letter you ask for the design plans of devices, which others have successfully developed and employed.  Unfortunately, with the exception of the voice band filter, which does help playback to a certain extent, no such devices exist.  This is not to say that no such circuits are under experimentation.  The fact is that there are numerous concepts and devices being experimented with by various researchers, and some of these devices and circuits show promise of improving the quality of reception. However, at this point in time there are none that 

I could put my finger on and say, "Here build this - this will definitely help you."  It is one of the main purposes of "The Spirit Voice" to exchange information about concepts and circuits that may lead to reception improvement.  Future issues will contain discussions of this nature, beginning with a discussion of voice band filters in the next issue.