Rachel Decker
The Paw Print
Many believe that there is little to no science behind paranormal investigation, but that is far from the truth. Many professional investigation teams, including the ASU Paranormal Discovery Club, use a science-based approach to obtain evidence and test out claims that are made.
One of the most common-knowledge pieces of evidence in paranormal investigating is EVP’s, or electronic voice phenomena. EVP’s are recordings taken in haunted areas that are then analyzed for voices or noises. The PDC here at Adams State takes several EVP’s every investigation session, and they are often used as the major leading point of evidence.
“Several of our EVP’s contain voices and sounds that I can confirm for a fact no one in the club made,” says club president Rachel Decker. “One of our most popular EVP’s was taken during an overnight investigation. There were only six people in Richardson hall- three girls and three guys. It was three in the morning, well after all the janitorial staff had left for the night. To add to that, the building was secure, and no one was able to enter from the outside. We left my Macbook running up on the third floor with our voice recording software going, and we stayed in the basement of the auditorium. We caught inhuman voices and noises that I can confirm were not made by any living beings in Richardson Auditorium.”
The PDC members run through the audio several times, making notes of where unusual sounds and voices are caught. Once they have it all marked, the audio is passed to everyone and it is analyzed thoroughly.
“There are some noises you have to get used to in Richardson—the upstairs bathroom doors shutting, the pipes turning on and off on a timer, and the heater, to name a few,” says club vice president Becca Paez. “One of the coolest moments for me was when a male voice was caught on an EVP taken when only females were in the vicinity. We can’t explain that away, and I do say that it’s very credible.”
Wavelengths of the sounds are also a key factor. Human voices register with notable spikes on the audio playback. It is easy to see where Rachel, Becca, and other members speak. What is impressive, though, is catching a loud, audible voice and not having it register on the wavelength reader.
“Our most popular EVP is the voice of one of our ghosts, Sans, saying ‘You came back’,” says club secretary Emily Clark. “On the EVP you can see my voice register in the wavelength, and even Rachel’s voice picks up from across the room. Sans’ voice is louder than mine, right next to the computer, and no wavelength is picked up.”
Many times, the voices of entities are not captured on playback like human voices because their speaking frequency is much lower than living beings. To capture clear voices with no playback is credible scientific evidence.
The Paranormal Discovery Club has several EVP’s up online for others to listen and comment on. To find the links to these, as well as investigation videos and picture evidence, visit the PDC’s website at paranormaldiscoveries.blogspot.com.
What’s Been Said…