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| Paranormal Photography |
| Q: What are orbs? |
| A: Orbs can be many things; one of them we believe is spiritual activity. Orbs can also be dust and water particles in the air. This is why UGRI takes our photography very serious, and make sure to follow our protocol. You cannot see orbs with your naked eye, only in the photographs. Sometimes, rarely, you can see a flash or moving "orb" light in the distance when ghost hunting.. these are amongst the same thing, except they are called Ghost Lights and you can see these with your naked eye.. but they are much more rare than orbs. |
| Q: How can you see orbs in the pictures but not with our eyes? |
| A: We believe that the reason you can capture orbs in photos are due to the Infrared Sensor(s) on cameras. Cameras these days have Infrared Sensor(s) on them for use in Auto focus... the Camera sends out an infrared beam and it beams back, and it can judge where what is, etc. We believe that spirits aren't passive with infrared... which means it reflects off them and back to the camera instead of passing through them like normal light (due to the frequency the light waves travel on). UGRI uses a HP 620 Digital Camera as one of the main cameras for our photos. This camera only has one infrared sensor. We got great results with orbs. However, when we brought someone else along with us that has a Canon PowerShot G3 that has three infrared sensors, we had an increase in orbs, and they were more defined. This further leads us to believe that orbs are the infrared beams reflecting off the spirits. |
| Q: You said orbs can be dust and water, how do you tell the difference? |
| A: Well, to be 100% honest there is no sure way to tell the difference. This is a belief in conflict between UGRI members. Some of the members believe if the photo is covered in different size orbs/transparency/color (20+) that they are dust/water particles in the air. Others believe it is just really active spirits. The reason for this complication is we have taken photos in areas with lots of dust/water particles and gotten these types of photos. However, we have also gotten the covered orb photos standing still for several minutes, with no wind blowing, not near any water and still gotten the photos. We have also not gotten the photos when really close to rivers and or walking around with dust in the air. UGRI is going to conduct some tests and theories in the future, and will update this section once the results are in. |
| Q: What is ectoplasm? |
| A: There are many different theories about ectoplasm if you read around the internet. Some believe ectoplasm is "something" oozing or leaking from the ghost that allows them to interact with the living (the feeling, doors slamming, etc). Others just believe that it's a gaseous cloud. In simple, Ectoplasm appears as a light cloud/mist. Normally white or blue in color. |
| Q: What is a vortex? |
| A: A vortex normally appears in a photo as looking like a white tornado. One thing Ghost societies have to be very careful about is to remove their camera straps. Camera straps, when they move in front of the camera and a photograph is taken can appear to be a vortex. You can normally tell the difference between a vortex and a camera strap. Camera straps usually have serrated edges where vortexes normally have soft, fading edges. This is why in UGRIs protocol we make sure to remove all straps from cameras prior to hunts. |
| Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) |
| Q: What does EVP mean? |
| A: EVP is an acronym for Electronic Voice Phenomena. What does it mean? The recording of a voice that was not present during the recording. Simply, the recording of a ghost/spirit. You cannot hear them speaking to you when you were there in person, only when you listen to the recorder. |
| Q: Why can you record ghosts but not hear them? |
| A: There are a lot of theories (yet again, everything in ghost phenomena is a theory with research behind it). Most people who have been into ghost hunting for some time tend to develop a theory among the same lines. We mostly believe it's the electromagnetic fields in the air that are caused by the spirit. Ghost hunters also use a device called an EMF detector which monitors the Electron Magnetic Fields within the air. Soon to come is our explained theory on EVP and how it is captured. |
| Q: What type of equipment do you record and capture EVP with? |
| A: Your simple Voice Recorder. They sell these at any large supermarket like Wal-Mart, ShopKo or K-Mart. Also at many electronic stores. I'm sure you have seen them, and if not remember in Home Alone how he uses the little recorder to alter his voice? Same concept, except it doesn't alter the audio that is recorded. There are two types of Voice Recorders; there is an analog voice recorder and a digital voice recorder. The analog voice recorder uses those little mini-tapes that were used in old answering machines. Digital voice recorders record the audio digitally onto a chip in the recorder, like the new now day mp3 players. What is the difference/benefit between the two? With an analog recorder, you must have an external microphone when conducting recordings or you will record the internal motor moving inside the recorder. Also, with an audio recorder you must use a new tape for every investigation so you don't get bleed over... with old magnetic tapes (the type used in the recorder, and the same technology used in cassette and vhs tapes) records the information onto the film magnetically. With doing so, if you reuse tapes you could get bleed over from other recordings that it didn't properly wipe. A good example of this would be if in the old recording there was a loud voice, someone said "Hello!" (An actual person) and you rewind the tape at a new investigation and on the same part of the tape, it is very silent then the loud hello! Is stronger than the pure silence and when you listen to it, you could hear a light "Hello" and mistake it for a ghost. The optimal recording time is about 30 minutes, any longer than that and there's too much audio to sift through and can get very tiring/boring and then you won't pay attention like you should. |
| Q: When you record EVP, do you have to be really quiet or totally silent? |
| A: No! You do not want to whisper when recording for EVP, or you can easily mistaken yours or someone else's voice for a spirit. Ghosts know you are there, whether you whisper or talk normally... they know what your thinking, so no reason to whisper. Also, in most cases you need to communicate with the ghosts for them to talk back. When you're recording you want to ask the ghost questions that you would like answered... like asking what their name is and then pause so they they can respond and your voice does not blare over their voice. |
| Q: Do you have to talk to record evp or can you be quiet can record ghost voices? |
| A: We have gotten ghost voices just by leaving a tape recorder in a location for 20 minutes, then returning to pick it up. Ghosts are just one of us, who have passed on. Ghosts are intelligent just like they were before they passed, so when your there, they know it. When you are recording them, they know it. Most people get better responses when asking questions because it gives the ghost something specific to talk about and answer to. |
| Q: If you have a lot of background noise, how can you hear the EVP? |
| A: We use computer software to clean up the audio so that we can hear what is really there, and clean out the wind or whatever background noise is there. |
| Other Frequent Questions |
| Q: Do you only conduct your investigation at night? |
| A: No, investigations can be conducted at any time of day or night. The reason why most ghost societies conduct their investigations at night is that it is much quieter at night. There is not all the noise of the city and surroundings to conflict. |
| Q: How do you find haunted locations? |
| A: Mostly by word-of-mouth. Someone we know telling us about this place that is suppose to be haunted� most of the time, these stories are true. You can also conduct investigations at nearly any local cemetery. |
| Q: How do you know which cemetery is haunted, or which is the best to research? |
| A: Well, just about every cemetery has spiritual activity, since it is the resting place of the dead. You will normally get the most results by the oldest cemetery's with the most people buried in them. The more burials, the more of a chance to find an earthbound spirit. |
