Supernatural Summit & Ghost News
Supernatural Summit - wnyparanormal@aol.com Subject {Ghost Conference} NEWS: Jan 14 - Supernatural Summit & Ghost News The Otherside Newsletter The Official Newsletter of the Supernatural Summit Ghost Hunter's Conference And Western New York Paranormal, Inc. Visit us on-line at http://www.SUPERNATURALSUMMIT.com Vist us on-line at http://www.WNYPARANORMAL.com 14 January 2007 --- Welcome to the New Issue of the Newsletter! You thought you had plenty of time to prepare for the Supernatural Summit didn't you? Well, you do - but it's really not that far away. Before you know it April 13-15, 2007 will be here. So start planning to attend this year's Ghost Hunter's conference in Batavia New York. Reservations for this year's event are coming in quickly - and already we are well ahead of the numbers we had last year at this time. In 2007, we're expecting to have a record number at the conference. For those of you who like to wait until last minute, reserve your place now because it will guarantee you a place in the evening activities should you decide to join them. In addition to over 30 workshops on paranormal science, theory and practice, there's open forums, spirituality and psychic development workshops and more. The events for Friday and Saturday evening will officially be announced on January 26, 2007 so stay tuned. You can register at http://www.SUPERNATURALSUMMIT.com . Registration may be done on-line or downloaded and sent by snail mail. Groups of 5 or more e-mail us for a special link that receives you a 10% discount! And it's not just the conference that we are talking about in this new issue but also some other great articles from our members Contents for this Issue: * Supernatural Summit Ghost Hunter's Conference and Psychic Fair * Not All Orbs Are Created Equal By Ralph Esposito, RE Paranormal * Paranormal Consciousness By Christopher Bailey, Grimstone Paranormal * The History of Ghost Tech By Vince Wilson, Ghost Tech 2007 SUPERNATURAL SUMMIT GHOST HUNTER'S CONFERENCE - REGISTER NOW! Don't Miss out on the Supernatural Summit Ghost Hunter's Conference and Psychic Fair!! All the information you need to sign up can be found at http://www.SUPERNATURALSUMMIT.com. Reservations are first being offered to those working in the paranormal community. Beginning March 1, 2007 - tickets go on sale to the general public. You may also call 585-399-7765 for more information. About the conference: The 2007 Supernatural Summit Ghost Hunter's Conference and Psychic Fair, hosted by Western New York Paranormal, will be held during the weekend of April 13, 14, and 15 at the Holiday Inn in Batavia New York. This annual event is one of the quickest growing paranormal ghost conferences in the United States bringing the experts in field research together to share their information with you. This year's conference will again feature leaders in field research presenting over 30 workshops, lectures and other surprises. This event is specially tailored to let you pick your own area of interest with two different choices each hour to choose from on a variety of subjects. New this year, is a Friday night mixer and orientation with the speakers followed by a special paranormal event with special events also on Saturday evening. -------------------------------------------------------- JUST RELEASED: One evening event for the weekend will be "Ghost Stories of the Genesee." Ralph Esposito of the Rochester Candlelight Ghost Walks will be telling intriguing tales of the local area. From legends and lore of local haunted locations to documented cases of the region. This is a fun and interactive program for all ages. He may even attempt to speak with some spirits they may have walked in to hear the stories. Admission for this two hour event will be $15.00 per person. Reservations may be made at the conference but pre-registration is suggested. March 1, 2007 this event will be open to public registration so you get first shot at it! ------------------------------------------------------- Speakers for 2007 include: Conference Vince Wilson of Ghost Tech, Derek Bartlett of CAIPRS, Christopher Bailey of Grimstone Paranormal, Parapsychologist Mary Grace, Jeremy Hawthorne from ARC Paranormal, Joe Cetrone and Michael Puccerll from R.I.D.D.I.A., Richard Kimmel of the WW2 Paranormal Organization, Robin VanPelt of the United States Ghost Chasers, Ralph Esposito of RE Paranormal, Jenni Oneski of East Coast Paranormal, psychic Karyn Reece, and Dwayne Clad, Reverend Tim Shaw, Steve Salatino, Sarah Higgins, and Rich Eider of Western New York Paranormal. Ghostly Talk Radio will also be on-site with Scott and Doug all weekend. Registration for the 2007 Supernatural Summit Ghost hunter's Conference: Admission: $125 Per Person until January 30th (groups of 5 or more save 15%)-- Includes Friday night mixer, Saturday and Sunday Workshops with breakfast and lunch both days and admission to the trade show! Discounts are available at The Holiday Inn in Batavia by mentioning the Supernatural Summit. See More About the conference at http://www.SUPERNATURALSUMMIT.com ------------------------------------------ ALL ORBS ARE NOT CREATED ALIKE BY RALPH ESPOSITO, RE PARANORMAL Orbs are the most common paranormal events that are captured in photos by ghost hunters. They are pesky circles some bright some darker that look sort of like soap bubbles floating in your picture. They show up in both digital and film pictures, more common with a digital camera and when a flash is used. Going around to other paranormal site and you find a plethora of orb explanations. They are theorized to be everything from spirits to dust particles. To understand orbs one must understand the equipment you are using to photograph them. Also important is the physical properties of light. Let's look at light first. All light has a color; sunlight is actually bluer than a light bulb. Your eyes adjust to most lighting conditions and make the colors seem normal to you. The scientific measurement of light color called the color temperature and it is measured in degrees Kelvin. The higher the temperature the bluer the light and the lower the more yellow the light. We can see because most objects reflect light off there surface and into our eyes. The surface properties of the object determine what colors we see. If a surface absorbs all colors it will look black, if it absorbs all but red then it will look red. The exception is when we look at a source of light, then we see the light itself not a reflection. Some things act as light modifiers; glass, water, shiny surfaces and the atmosphere are good examples. Glass cannot only change the color and brightness and distort or focus light passing through it but can also cause reflections off its surface. If you have ever taken a picture with glass picture frames in them and see the reflections of the glass on the wall. Mirrors will do the same of course and if the glass has any fancy beveling that will further cause additional reflections. There are non paranormal explanations of orbs. Orbs can be caused by light reflecting off of dust. This is especially true of cameras that have there flash close to the lens. The flash will illuminate dust that is close to the lens and cause out of focus circles of light in the photograph. Snow, rain or mist can also cause "orbs" to show up in pictures. Other natural sources of orbs or orb like phenomena are the reflections of the camera flash or light off of a shiny object such as glass or metal directly in line with the camera lens. This will cause a bright spot and in most cases lens flare that can look like a halo and/or bright lines coming out of the spot of reflected light. When you can rule out the above reasons that there are floating orbs in your picture then you can start speculating if it is a paranormal orb. A good indication that you have something is if you take two or three pictures from the same spot one after the other and the orbs have moved or are not present in the other pictures. The next question is why orbs show up in film or digital pictures but not to the eye. Again science to the rescue! Both film and the imaging chip in a digital camera is sensitive to more of the spectrum than the human eye is. For instance if you point a infrared remote control at a digital camera and take a picture as you press a function the IR light (invisible to our eyes) is visible in the digital picture. The imaging chip sees the IR as well as visible light. The same is true for film, though the sensitivity will vary with film type. There is also some crossover into the ultraviolet part of the spectrum. In addition to the visible light the camera flash emits some IR & UV light. The million dollar question is why do orbs, if they are spirits or some form of spirit energy, show up in pictures at all? One possibility is that an orb doesn't reflect visible light but does reflect either IR or UV. Since the camera (film or digital) can see in those wavelengths and the flash is providing at least some IR & UV light the orb is captured on film or the image chip and shows up in the picture. Another possibility is that orbs absorb the light given off by the flash and re-emit the light on an IR or UV wavelength. This would be similar to the way some minerals phosphorus under UV light. Both of these explanations would imply that orbs have physical properties. Another topic for another time. The best orb picture is one in which the orb is partially occluded by an object. This would then indicate distance and size of the orb. These pictures are rare but the most valuable orb pictures. There are time you will get orbs in pictures that are just too unlikely a coincidence. One time a friend took a picture of someone using a pair of dowsing rods (the closeup picture of the orb at the top of the page). A side note - some people use dowsing rods to sense paranormal energy and "talk" to spirits. There was an orb on the tip of one rod! The orb seems to be in front of the rod in the picture. Conclusive proof - no, but it is darn interesting that an orb should show up just then and right by the rod. Spirits or dust orbs are fun to find in your pictures. Ralph is one of the speakers at the 2007 Supernatural Summit Ghost Hunter's Conference and Psychic Fair. More information about Ralph Esposito can be found at http://www.REPARANORMAL.com ------------------------------------------------------------------ THE PARANORMAL CONSCIOUSNESS ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD MATRICES BY CHRISTOPHER BAILEY Modern paranormal investigators have incorporated the use of electromagnetic field (EMF) meters in their work for the last decade in attempts to track discarnate spirits. These instruments are the most commonly used devices by ghost hunters today (Taylor, 2001). However many "ghost hunter clubs" have little idea what readings are significant or even why they have this collection of expensive electronics. They simply read off another ghost hunter's web site that they use this meter or that instrument and mimic what they see. Others, who dare as much research as reading a "Ghost Hunter's Guide", end up purchasing an instrument because it is what the professionals use. These EMF meters were originally designed for electricians for detecting hidden wiring, energy leaks, and other more conventional uses. Meters like the Tri-field Natural EMF meter were designed for detecting storms and atmospheric changes. However in the recent years, the EMF meter has been coined the "ghost detector" and countless ghost clubs use them all over the world. If a Google search is performed on "EMF" and "ghosts", there are over 11,000 hits. Most sites are either ghost clubs or articles about such clubs and their use of these instruments. However, there is little evidence on the web that correlate ghosts to magnetic fields. This leaves one to wonder where the hidden correlation lies. The answer could be within the scope of our own minds. In neuroscience, one logical extrapolation to the basis of consciousness is that all experiences of an individual must exist as subsets of determined complex sequences of electromagnetic matrices (Persinger, 1995). Conscious thought would be based on the retrieval rate of information from these matrices. This rate can be identified by the five classifications of brainwave frequencies. These are Delta (0.1 to 3.9 Hz), Theta (4.0 to 7.9 Hz), Alpha (8.0 to 13.9 Hz), Beta (14.0 to 30.9 Hz), and Gamma (typically greater than 36 Hz extending to 50 Hz) waves. Modern ghost theory suggests that these electromagnetic matrices continue to exist after the death of the physical body. The law of conservation of energy states that energy cannot be created nor destroyed within the environment of a fixed system (Nuclear, 2004). Thus, the ability of the electromagnetic matrices to be maintained outside a physical body would be dependant on the rate of decay of this energy to its surrounding environment. Since the energy associated with brain wave activity is relative small intensity and of low frequency, it would be more inclined to a longer dispersion time. Enclosed environments would offer better shielding to system changes and allow the matrices to be more easily stabilized. This environment could then be considered a classic haunting in which a deceased individual's conscious is in control of experienced phenomena. With identification of the brain's electromagnetic sequences, it would allow direct access to of the human consciousness from outside stimuli. This accessing of consciousness can be done through weak electromagnetic fields whose intensities are usually less than 10 milligauss (1 microT). Man-made electromagnetic sequences have been used on clinical test subject's temporal lobes in recent studies (Persinger). Determined results have included subjects being more sensitive to temperature changes or experience "chills", a feeling of an outside presence, and other visual or physical sensations. These effects are similar to those reported in many cases of hauntings and spirit activity. While the ability to manipulate a person's sensory perception by man-made EMF stimulation is in its infancy, this does not mean that the ability cannot be reflexive to an entity or spirit. In biochemistry, moving a simple muscle requires synchronization of thousands of chemical and neural processes. However, it is done almost effortless by most complex organisms with a simple thought. Trying to replicate such processes in a laboratory is staggering. Similarly, a spirit may be far more advanced than current technological field testing can replicate and it requires no large effort on its part. If a discarnate spirit is the released electromagnetic matrices of the physical body and thus can use EMF to manipulate its surroundings and communicate to others, this model would offer us an explanation to such related ghostly phenomena as apparition appearances, cold spots, unexplained sounds, and sensations. If the electromagnetic matrices that govern conscious in an individual remain at a consistent frequency upon death, this could also explain why ghost hunters and paranormal researchers who use EMF detectors in their work often get inconsistent readings. Most meters are calibrated to 50 or 60 Hz., and the lower frequencies, as associated with brain waves, are not always easily detected or able to be detected by the meters. Thus in order to use an EMF meter in the field of parapsychology with the greatest amount of success, a paranormal researcher needs to focus not only on intensity of electromagnetic fields, but the frequency of the fields generated. Ideal intensity levels for visual, auditory, and tactile sensations would be under 10 milli-gauss. Ranges higher than that would be more situated for physical manipulation of items by a discarnate spirit. Frequencies expected would fall under 50 Hz. Since conscious active thought is in the higher ranges (alpha, beta, and gamma regions), these frequencies would be the best candidates for classical hauntings where the lower ranges would be expected to be prominent during residual hauntings. As science gives us a better understanding of the human mind, the effects of electromagnetic fields on the living, and how to detect these fields, greater strides in paranormal research will be obtainable by allowing us to rule away natural caused phenomena from the conscious soul of the deceased. Thus, it will open new doors in spirit identification, classification, and communication. Christopher is one of the speakers at the 2007 Supernatural Summit Ghost Hunter's Conference and Psychic Fair. More information about Christopher Bailey can be found at http://www.GRIMSTONE-INC.com --------------------------------------------------------- The History of Ghost Tech By Vince Wilson It was about 550 B.C. that the first recorded paranormal experiment took place. King Croesus of Lydia, according to Greek historian Herodotus, wanted to know if he should attack Persia. So, he sent seven messengers to the seven top oracles of the day. He told the messengers to wait one hundred days after they left and ask each oracle what the king was doing that day. The king was making a big bronze kettle full of turtle and lamb soup a la Croesus. Well, five oracles got it wrong, one was almost right but only the Oracle of Delphi was dead on. I count the grains of sand on the ocean shore I measure the ocean's depths I hear the dumb man I likewise hear the man who keeps silence. My senses perceive an odor as when one cooks Together the flesh of the tortoise and the lamb, Brass is on the sides and beneath, Brass also covers the top. With the Delphi Oracle's clairvoyant accuracy assured the king asked if he should go to war. The Oracle replied, "...An empire will be lost that day." The king went to war, sure of his victory. To bad it was Croesus' empire that was lost. Doh! As mentioned in the story about Croesus of Lydia, paranormal science dates back to ancient times. However, it really wasn't until the 18th and 19th centuries that parapsychology became more than just an amateur's pursuit. Works such as The Secrets of the Invisible World by Daniel Defoe brought a logical and scientific aspect to ghost theory. There would be a lull in this outlook for some years with the coming of the spiritual movement. Say what you will about Harry Price, he is one of the people who helped bring paranormal research into the modern age. Price was the John Kerry or Ivana Trump of the paranormal world in the 1930's when he married into a lot of money. This made him what we all hope to be in this field - a researcher with unlimited funds at his disposal! Although well financed, his initial equipment list seems a little low tech by today's standards: · Felt overshoes · Measuring tape · Tape, electric bells, lead seals and other items for making motion detection tools · Dry batteries and switches · Cameras · Notebooks and drawing pads · Ball and string, chalk · Basic first-aid kit · Mercury for detecting vibrations Although the above list may leave the "ghost nerd" in you a bit unsatisfied it was a good start for the early 20th century. Harry Price may have been the father of ghost tech but it was Joseph Rhine who really brought science to paranormal research. Rhine was born in 1895 and conducted psychical research at Duke University beginning in 1927. He was the creator of the term Extra-sensory Perception or ESP and founder of the Foundation for Research on the Nature of Man (FRNM. Which was later re-named The Rhine Institute on the anniversary of his one-hundredth birthday). Although never involved in the ghostly aspects of paranormal research, Rhine nevertheless is greatly responsible for bringing a greater deal of respect to the field with his thorough and scientific methods. Working with colleague Karl Zener, Rhine developed the famous ESP card deck symbols. In the 1960's and '70's ghost tech started to take a more high-tech approach. A researcher and former secretary for SPR (the Society for Psychical Research) by the name of John Cutten created the first viable electronic ghost detection device. His "ghost hunter" used vibration, light, sound and temperature sensors to trigger a standard camera, an infrared camera and tape recorder. When one of the sensors was activated a buzzer would alert researchers. Groups like FRNM, SPR and the Psychical Research Society (PRS) would not only start a long-standing tradition of memorable acronyms in paranormal research groups but also establish paranormal research as a legitimate scientific field. A scientific field with cool gadgets too! In the 1980's and '90's researchers like Loyd Auerbach and Troy Taylor would revolutionize ghost technology with their research into electromagnetic field detectors, IR thermometers and the like. They and others would mark the end of 20th century paranormal investigating. However, it wasn't until the influence of a certain California town that the public really took notice and ghost tech was taken into the 21st century. That infamous town of course is Hollywood... Yes, yes, yes I will mention Ghostbusters in just a bit, but first lets look into the movies that established ghost hunting on the big screen. The Legend of Hell House from 1973 is one movie that stands out in my mind in that it is the first movie I can think of that used scientific principles (albeit a bit of stretch) to rid a house of ghostly activities. Then there was Poltergeist and The Entity in 1982 that took it to the next level. With their depictions of actual "paranormal researchers" the public was hooked. Universities across the country were barraged with requests by news agencies for information on any parapsychology classes they might have. Of course no one has ever caught a rapist ghost in a can of liquid helium or used a psychic to pull a family member through a TV. Other than that, the equipment at least wasn't too implausible. That of course would all change in 1984 with the release of (you guessed it) Ghostbusters! Ghostbusters was the movie that changed everything for paranormal researchers forever. With it's paranormal lingo ("...free-floating, full-torso, vaporous apparition.") and really cool, if somewhat dangerous gadgets the movie changed the public's perceptions of ghost hunters from background supporting characters to the stars of the show. Now, don't get me wrong, this is my all-time favorite movie. I can quote the film line by line. I am just getting tired of being asked where my proton pack is. Yeesh. Paranormal Research just became really cool overnight. Although nowadays I get compared to X-Files characters more often than Egon (whew!) I still cannot be featured in a news article without the Ghostbusters' theme song by Ray Parker Jr. playing in the background or someone saying, "who ya gonna call?" There simply are not any unlicensed nuclear accelerators, PKE meters or "ghost traps" for us to use. But, if you read Ghost Tech, you can find out what they do have though...What does the future of ghost hunting hold for us? A lot I hope! It is now the 21st century and there are a new generation of ghost hunters out there that are pioneering new techniques and technologies never tried before! A new technique being used by the Maryland Paranormal Investigators Coalition is utilizing biological feedback from the investigators themselves! We have hooked up both sensitive and non-sensitive investigators to a heart-rate/blood pressure monitor and a body voltage sensor attached to a standard Multimeter. The body voltage meter checks the electrical resistance of your body against any electrical current in the air. An external electric field will induce an electric field within our bodies. In this sense, our bodies act as antennas picking up fields from all kinds of sources. Delicate biological cellular processes (like brain function and heart muscle contraction) operate on the scale of microvolts. Simply touch this sensor with a finger and know instantly what effect external fields are having inside your body. I have been talking about how environments must be altered when affected by an outside stimulus such as ghosts. Well, what about the effects of ghosts on human beings? We have all heard of people being affected emotionally by certain kids of hauntings (i.e. feelings of dread, sadness, even extreme happiness, etc.), but how does a haunting affect someone physiologically? This is the purpose of this experiment. In the future I imagine using an EKG for this type of an experiment. An EKG (or Electrocardiogram) is a diagnostic test that analyzes the electrical activity of the heart. A brainwave monitor would also be great for this. These sorts of apparatus have been used in psi testing for years. In the 21st century I can see them being used for ghost hunting as well. Ta-da! Presenting the Ghost Tech Robo-Cam! I built it from all-terrain R/C truck parts. It has four-wheel drive, stainless steel spring-loaded shocks, all-terrain puncture proof tires, sensor array (compass, clock and temperature gauge), a 2.4-gigahertz wireless infrared camera and mounts for another camera or other peripherals. Its low profile allows going into places people couldn't otherwise go into. I used R/C truck parts instead of R/C car parts because car parts are less agile and go too fast. What good is a robotic surveillance device that drives around at scale 120 mph? You'll miss everything! The reason I designed and built this little guy (we consider "him" a member of the team and refer to him as a he) was to go into places that would be much too dangerous for a person to go into. Now, I don't mean the dark closet where Max Shrek's Nosferatu is hiding in and waiting to attack an innocent ghost hunter. I mean weak floorboards, small crawlspaces and unsafe mines. We have also built a Blimp-Cam to go on investigations where locations may be even to rough or inaccessible for the Robo-Cam. I got the idea for the Blimp-Cam from a location in Maryland's Ellicott City (not necessarily the most haunted city in the Mid-Atlantic area). The Patapsco Female Institute is supposed to be haunted by a little girl who died at the school. She is said to stare out the second story window with dark, sad eyes. However, as you can see from this picture, there is no second floor! A fire gutted the institute years ago. What better way to investigate a non-existent second floor than with a flying remote controlled video camera! We have only used it on the USS Constellation as of yet. A colleague of mine in Pennsylvania named Craig Teleshe has built his own robotic ghost hunter. Craig owns http://www.ghost-tech.com and has built a very impressive robotic monitoring system himself! Ghunter (Ghost +Hunter): the robotic paranormal investigator! "Ghunter started his life as a Hero Jr. robot, designed by Heathkit in the early 80s as a robotic companion. Unfortunately the processor of this Hero Jr. was fried when I received him, so all I was left with was a base with wheels and a drive system and a power supply board. He sat in my basement for a while till I came up with this grand idea! What if I could use the base and mount a video camera on top of it to be used ghost investigations. "After a few different design ideas, a dozen trips to Radio Shack and a months work, Ghunter was up and running. Ghunter has the following functions: o Digital Radio control at 433 Mhz o 8mm Camcorder modified to see in near darkness (infrared). o Digital camera, which can be activated via radio control. o Infrared motion detector, which can activate the digital camera. o A sixteen LED infrared emitter. (Creates a very nice bright picture) o Mini Pinhole camera for remote viewing of robot functions on receiver. o 2.4 GHz video transmitter hooked to the Pinhole camera. "The transmitter controls the drive system to move the robot, a button to activate the digital camera remotely, activates the infrared system, which will take pictures when motion is detected (don't want to be driving the robot around when this is active of course) and activates the infrared LEDs on front of the robot if lighting conditions are too low. "Ghunter's power system is 2 large 13-amp 6-volt batteries wired in series to produce 12 volts. These batteries will run all of the devices and the robot for about 6 hours which it plenty of time to conduct an investigation. I have not officially taken Ghunter out on and investigation yet, but his time is coming." Now Ghunter is a little too bulky for dangerous locations with weak floorboards and small crawl spaces, but it does serve another purpose: remote observation of locations without a human presence. Have you ever heard of a place that where more activity happens when the family goes out then when they were home? How about the family that didn't even know there was a ghost in their home until someone took a picture of the front of the house and saw a ghostly face in the window when the pictures were developed? It happens. The Ghost Tech Ghost-Cam, Blimp-Cam and Ghunter are the first in what is no doubt part of the future of robotic ghost hunting! Sometime a few years ago Stan Suho developed the Geophysically Equipped Instrument of Scientific Testing. Otherwise known as G.E.I.S.T. What Suho had done was design a computer-based monitoring system capable of monitoring, recording and testing the environment without the bothersome presence of human beings. Using a "polling device" Suho was able to attach multiple instruments (EMF meters, Geiger Counters, Thermometers, etc.) to a single laptop. Recently Justin Faulk of http://www.ghostgadgets.com has gone one step further. Justin developed ARCADIA or the Analog Reading Computer Aided Digital Input Analyzer. >>From Justin's website: "There have been several other scientific based groups that have interfaced computer logging systems to natural field meters before, but ARCADIA takes it a step further. All previous systems of its kind have only logged continuous streams of data, leaving hours of digital or analog data to sort through. Personally, I hate data review, so I have someone else do it for me - the computer, in real time. Data from each channel is sent through a device-specific algorithm, developed from hundreds of hours of control runs. With this algorithm, Arcadia can actively distinguish what should naturally occur in a given field (static magnetic fields, temperature, humidity, etc.), and therefore can ignore the data in a stable environment. When an anomaly becomes apparent to the system, Arcadia will log the data from the anomaly digitally, which can be further analyzed later." Mr. Faulk adds, "Now, Arcadia has been modified to log everything for specific time blocks, do various types of DSP on the data sets, and calculate statistical data for each block (standard deviation, mean, range, etc.). That way, a true mathematical analysis can be implemented, including probability values, etc., for submission to peer reviewed journals." The better groups of ghost hunters and investigators of the strange and unusual are pioneering new techniques and technologies to find the answer to the ultimate question. No, it's not 42. Are ghosts real? Keeping your information to yourself isn't going to help anyone. Not even you. You need to share. Also, you will need to keep very good notes and absolute control over your investigation. As I mentioned before, the Maryland Paranormal Investigators Coalition has developed some very good forms for cataloging data on hauntings. I strongly suggest that you download those forms (available at http://www.ghosttech.net ) or create your own. Forms and ruled notebooks will keep your notes nice and tidy. When I first started I used to wads of paper in my pockets with all my notes on them. Now I bring a tote bag with clipboards and extra pens. Some researchers into the paranormal are researchers in other fields as well. Recently I have been discussing techniques with a teacher of archeology and the techniques they use to document areas in digs and historical investigations. I hope that ghost investigating will become more commonplace and more acceptable. It would be great if more members of the scientific community would become interested in ghost hunting. Vince is one of the speakers at the 2007 Supernatural Summit Ghost Hunter's Conference and Psychic Fair. More information about Vince Wilson can be found at http://www.GHOSTTECH.net
Supernatural Summit - wnyparanormal@aol.com Subject {Ghost Conference} NEWS: Jan 14 - Supernatural Summit & Ghost News The Otherside Newsletter The Official Newsletter of the Supernatural Summit Ghost Hunter's Conference And Western New York Paranormal, Inc. Visit us on-line at http://www.SUPERNATURALSUMMIT.com Vist us on-line at http://www.WNYPARANORMAL.com 14 January 2007 --- Welcome to the New Issue of the Newsletter! You thought you had plenty of time to prepare for the Supernatural Summit didn't you? Well, you do - but it's really not that far away. Before you know it April 13-15, 2007 will be here. So start planning to attend this year's Ghost Hunter's conference in Batavia New York. Reservations for this year's event are coming in quickly - and already we are well ahead of the numbers we had last year at this time. In 2007, we're expecting to have a record number at the conference. For those of you who like to wait until last minute, reserve your place now because it will guarantee you a place in the evening activities should you decide to join them. In addition to over 30 workshops on paranormal science, theory and practice, there's open forums, spirituality and psychic development workshops and more. The events for Friday and Saturday evening will officially be announced on January 26, 2007 so stay tuned. You can register at http://www.SUPERNATURALSUMMIT.com . Registration may be done on-line or downloaded and sent by snail mail. Groups of 5 or more e-mail us for a special link that receives you a 10% discount! And it's not just the conference that we are talking about in this new issue but also some other great articles from our members Contents for this Issue: * Supernatural Summit Ghost Hunter's Conference and Psychic Fair * Not All Orbs Are Created Equal By Ralph Esposito, RE Paranormal * Paranormal Consciousness By Christopher Bailey, Grimstone Paranormal * The History of Ghost Tech By Vince Wilson, Ghost Tech 2007 SUPERNATURAL SUMMIT GHOST HUNTER'S CONFERENCE - REGISTER NOW! Don't Miss out on the Supernatural Summit Ghost Hunter's Conference and Psychic Fair!! All the information you need to sign up can be found at http://www.SUPERNATURALSUMMIT.com. Reservations are first being offered to those working in the paranormal community. Beginning March 1, 2007 - tickets go on sale to the general public. You may also call 585-399-7765 for more information. About the conference: The 2007 Supernatural Summit Ghost Hunter's Conference and Psychic Fair, hosted by Western New York Paranormal, will be held during the weekend of April 13, 14, and 15 at the Holiday Inn in Batavia New York. This annual event is one of the quickest growing paranormal ghost conferences in the United States bringing the experts in field research together to share their information with you. This year's conference will again feature leaders in field research presenting over 30 workshops, lectures and other surprises. This event is specially tailored to let you pick your own area of interest with two different choices each hour to choose from on a variety of subjects. New this year, is a Friday night mixer and orientation with the speakers followed by a special paranormal event with special events also on Saturday evening. -------------------------------------------------------- JUST RELEASED: One evening event for the weekend will be "Ghost Stories of the Genesee." Ralph Esposito of the Rochester Candlelight Ghost Walks will be telling intriguing tales of the local area. From legends and lore of local haunted locations to documented cases of the region. This is a fun and interactive program for all ages. He may even attempt to speak with some spirits they may have walked in to hear the stories. Admission for this two hour event will be $15.00 per person. Reservations may be made at the conference but pre-registration is suggested. March 1, 2007 this event will be open to public registration so you get first shot at it! ------------------------------------------------------- Speakers for 2007 include: Conference Vince Wilson of Ghost Tech, Derek Bartlett of CAIPRS, Christopher Bailey of Grimstone Paranormal, Parapsychologist Mary Grace, Jeremy Hawthorne from ARC Paranormal, Joe Cetrone and Michael Puccerll from R.I.D.D.I.A., Richard Kimmel of the WW2 Paranormal Organization, Robin VanPelt of the United States Ghost Chasers, Ralph Esposito of RE Paranormal, Jenni Oneski of East Coast Paranormal, psychic Karyn Reece, and Dwayne Clad, Reverend Tim Shaw, Steve Salatino, Sarah Higgins, and Rich Eider of Western New York Paranormal. Ghostly Talk Radio will also be on-site with Scott and Doug all weekend. Registration for the 2007 Supernatural Summit Ghost hunter's Conference: Admission: $125 Per Person until January 30th (groups of 5 or more save 15%)-- Includes Friday night mixer, Saturday and Sunday Workshops with breakfast and lunch both days and admission to the trade show! Discounts are available at The Holiday Inn in Batavia by mentioning the Supernatural Summit. See More About the conference at http://www.SUPERNATURALSUMMIT.com ------------------------------------------ ALL ORBS ARE NOT CREATED ALIKE BY RALPH ESPOSITO, RE PARANORMAL Orbs are the most common paranormal events that are captured in photos by ghost hunters. They are pesky circles some bright some darker that look sort of like soap bubbles floating in your picture. They show up in both digital and film pictures, more common with a digital camera and when a flash is used. Going around to other paranormal site and you find a plethora of orb explanations. They are theorized to be everything from spirits to dust particles. To understand orbs one must understand the equipment you are using to photograph them. Also important is the physical properties of light. Let's look at light first. All light has a color; sunlight is actually bluer than a light bulb. Your eyes adjust to most lighting conditions and make the colors seem normal to you. The scientific measurement of light color called the color temperature and it is measured in degrees Kelvin. The higher the temperature the bluer the light and the lower the more yellow the light. We can see because most objects reflect light off there surface and into our eyes. The surface properties of the object determine what colors we see. If a surface absorbs all colors it will look black, if it absorbs all but red then it will look red. The exception is when we look at a source of light, then we see the light itself not a reflection. Some things act as light modifiers; glass, water, shiny surfaces and the atmosphere are good examples. Glass cannot only change the color and brightness and distort or focus light passing through it but can also cause reflections off its surface. If you have ever taken a picture with glass picture frames in them and see the reflections of the glass on the wall. Mirrors will do the same of course and if the glass has any fancy beveling that will further cause additional reflections. There are non paranormal explanations of orbs. Orbs can be caused by light reflecting off of dust. This is especially true of cameras that have there flash close to the lens. The flash will illuminate dust that is close to the lens and cause out of focus circles of light in the photograph. Snow, rain or mist can also cause "orbs" to show up in pictures. Other natural sources of orbs or orb like phenomena are the reflections of the camera flash or light off of a shiny object such as glass or metal directly in line with the camera lens. This will cause a bright spot and in most cases lens flare that can look like a halo and/or bright lines coming out of the spot of reflected light. When you can rule out the above reasons that there are floating orbs in your picture then you can start speculating if it is a paranormal orb. A good indication that you have something is if you take two or three pictures from the same spot one after the other and the orbs have moved or are not present in the other pictures. The next question is why orbs show up in film or digital pictures but not to the eye. Again science to the rescue! Both film and the imaging chip in a digital camera is sensitive to more of the spectrum than the human eye is. For instance if you point a infrared remote control at a digital camera and take a picture as you press a function the IR light (invisible to our eyes) is visible in the digital picture. The imaging chip sees the IR as well as visible light. The same is true for film, though the sensitivity will vary with film type. There is also some crossover into the ultraviolet part of the spectrum. In addition to the visible light the camera flash emits some IR & UV light. The million dollar question is why do orbs, if they are spirits or some form of spirit energy, show up in pictures at all? One possibility is that an orb doesn't reflect visible light but does reflect either IR or UV. Since the camera (film or digital) can see in those wavelengths and the flash is providing at least some IR & UV light the orb is captured on film or the image chip and shows up in the picture. Another possibility is that orbs absorb the light given off by the flash and re-emit the light on an IR or UV wavelength. This would be similar to the way some minerals phosphorus under UV light. Both of these explanations would imply that orbs have physical properties. Another topic for another time. The best orb picture is one in which the orb is partially occluded by an object. This would then indicate distance and size of the orb. These pictures are rare but the most valuable orb pictures. There are time you will get orbs in pictures that are just too unlikely a coincidence. One time a friend took a picture of someone using a pair of dowsing rods (the closeup picture of the orb at the top of the page). A side note - some people use dowsing rods to sense paranormal energy and "talk" to spirits. There was an orb on the tip of one rod! The orb seems to be in front of the rod in the picture. Conclusive proof - no, but it is darn interesting that an orb should show up just then and right by the rod. Spirits or dust orbs are fun to find in your pictures. Ralph is one of the speakers at the 2007 Supernatural Summit Ghost Hunter's Conference and Psychic Fair. More information about Ralph Esposito can be found at http://www.REPARANORMAL.com ------------------------------------------------------------------ THE PARANORMAL CONSCIOUSNESS ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD MATRICES BY CHRISTOPHER BAILEY Modern paranormal investigators have incorporated the use of electromagnetic field (EMF) meters in their work for the last decade in attempts to track discarnate spirits. These instruments are the most commonly used devices by ghost hunters today (Taylor, 2001). However many "ghost hunter clubs" have little idea what readings are significant or even why they have this collection of expensive electronics. They simply read off another ghost hunter's web site that they use this meter or that instrument and mimic what they see. Others, who dare as much research as reading a "Ghost Hunter's Guide", end up purchasing an instrument because it is what the professionals use. These EMF meters were originally designed for electricians for detecting hidden wiring, energy leaks, and other more conventional uses. Meters like the Tri-field Natural EMF meter were designed for detecting storms and atmospheric changes. However in the recent years, the EMF meter has been coined the "ghost detector" and countless ghost clubs use them all over the world. If a Google search is performed on "EMF" and "ghosts", there are over 11,000 hits. Most sites are either ghost clubs or articles about such clubs and their use of these instruments. However, there is little evidence on the web that correlate ghosts to magnetic fields. This leaves one to wonder where the hidden correlation lies. The answer could be within the scope of our own minds. In neuroscience, one logical extrapolation to the basis of consciousness is that all experiences of an individual must exist as subsets of determined complex sequences of electromagnetic matrices (Persinger, 1995). Conscious thought would be based on the retrieval rate of information from these matrices. This rate can be identified by the five classifications of brainwave frequencies. These are Delta (0.1 to 3.9 Hz), Theta (4.0 to 7.9 Hz), Alpha (8.0 to 13.9 Hz), Beta (14.0 to 30.9 Hz), and Gamma (typically greater than 36 Hz extending to 50 Hz) waves. Modern ghost theory suggests that these electromagnetic matrices continue to exist after the death of the physical body. The law of conservation of energy states that energy cannot be created nor destroyed within the environment of a fixed system (Nuclear, 2004). Thus, the ability of the electromagnetic matrices to be maintained outside a physical body would be dependant on the rate of decay of this energy to its surrounding environment. Since the energy associated with brain wave activity is relative small intensity and of low frequency, it would be more inclined to a longer dispersion time. Enclosed environments would offer better shielding to system changes and allow the matrices to be more easily stabilized. This environment could then be considered a classic haunting in which a deceased individual's conscious is in control of experienced phenomena. With identification of the brain's electromagnetic sequences, it would allow direct access to of the human consciousness from outside stimuli. This accessing of consciousness can be done through weak electromagnetic fields whose intensities are usually less than 10 milligauss (1 microT). Man-made electromagnetic sequences have been used on clinical test subject's temporal lobes in recent studies (Persinger). Determined results have included subjects being more sensitive to temperature changes or experience "chills", a feeling of an outside presence, and other visual or physical sensations. These effects are similar to those reported in many cases of hauntings and spirit activity. While the ability to manipulate a person's sensory perception by man-made EMF stimulation is in its infancy, this does not mean that the ability cannot be reflexive to an entity or spirit. In biochemistry, moving a simple muscle requires synchronization of thousands of chemical and neural processes. However, it is done almost effortless by most complex organisms with a simple thought. Trying to replicate such processes in a laboratory is staggering. Similarly, a spirit may be far more advanced than current technological field testing can replicate and it requires no large effort on its part. If a discarnate spirit is the released electromagnetic matrices of the physical body and thus can use EMF to manipulate its surroundings and communicate to others, this model would offer us an explanation to such related ghostly phenomena as apparition appearances, cold spots, unexplained sounds, and sensations. If the electromagnetic matrices that govern conscious in an individual remain at a consistent frequency upon death, this could also explain why ghost hunters and paranormal researchers who use EMF detectors in their work often get inconsistent readings. Most meters are calibrated to 50 or 60 Hz., and the lower frequencies, as associated with brain waves, are not always easily detected or able to be detected by the meters. Thus in order to use an EMF meter in the field of parapsychology with the greatest amount of success, a paranormal researcher needs to focus not only on intensity of electromagnetic fields, but the frequency of the fields generated. Ideal intensity levels for visual, auditory, and tactile sensations would be under 10 milli-gauss. Ranges higher than that would be more situated for physical manipulation of items by a discarnate spirit. Frequencies expected would fall under 50 Hz. Since conscious active thought is in the higher ranges (alpha, beta, and gamma regions), these frequencies would be the best candidates for classical hauntings where the lower ranges would be expected to be prominent during residual hauntings. As science gives us a better understanding of the human mind, the effects of electromagnetic fields on the living, and how to detect these fields, greater strides in paranormal research will be obtainable by allowing us to rule away natural caused phenomena from the conscious soul of the deceased. Thus, it will open new doors in spirit identification, classification, and communication. Christopher is one of the speakers at the 2007 Supernatural Summit Ghost Hunter's Conference and Psychic Fair. More information about Christopher Bailey can be found at http://www.GRIMSTONE-INC.com --------------------------------------------------------- The History of Ghost Tech By Vince Wilson It was about 550 B.C. that the first recorded paranormal experiment took place. King Croesus of Lydia, according to Greek historian Herodotus, wanted to know if he should attack Persia. So, he sent seven messengers to the seven top oracles of the day. He told the messengers to wait one hundred days after they left and ask each oracle what the king was doing that day. The king was making a big bronze kettle full of turtle and lamb soup a la Croesus. Well, five oracles got it wrong, one was almost right but only the Oracle of Delphi was dead on. I count the grains of sand on the ocean shore I measure the ocean's depths I hear the dumb man I likewise hear the man who keeps silence. My senses perceive an odor as when one cooks Together the flesh of the tortoise and the lamb, Brass is on the sides and beneath, Brass also covers the top. With the Delphi Oracle's clairvoyant accuracy assured the king asked if he should go to war. The Oracle replied, "...An empire will be lost that day." The king went to war, sure of his victory. To bad it was Croesus' empire that was lost. Doh! As mentioned in the story about Croesus of Lydia, paranormal science dates back to ancient times. However, it really wasn't until the 18th and 19th centuries that parapsychology became more than just an amateur's pursuit. Works such as The Secrets of the Invisible World by Daniel Defoe brought a logical and scientific aspect to ghost theory. There would be a lull in this outlook for some years with the coming of the spiritual movement. Say what you will about Harry Price, he is one of the people who helped bring paranormal research into the modern age. Price was the John Kerry or Ivana Trump of the paranormal world in the 1930's when he married into a lot of money. This made him what we all hope to be in this field - a researcher with unlimited funds at his disposal! Although well financed, his initial equipment list seems a little low tech by today's standards: · Felt overshoes · Measuring tape · Tape, electric bells, lead seals and other items for making motion detection tools · Dry batteries and switches · Cameras · Notebooks and drawing pads · Ball and string, chalk · Basic first-aid kit · Mercury for detecting vibrations Although the above list may leave the "ghost nerd" in you a bit unsatisfied it was a good start for the early 20th century. Harry Price may have been the father of ghost tech but it was Joseph Rhine who really brought science to paranormal research. Rhine was born in 1895 and conducted psychical research at Duke University beginning in 1927. He was the creator of the term Extra-sensory Perception or ESP and founder of the Foundation for Research on the Nature of Man (FRNM. Which was later re-named The Rhine Institute on the anniversary of his one-hundredth birthday). Although never involved in the ghostly aspects of paranormal research, Rhine nevertheless is greatly responsible for bringing a greater deal of respect to the field with his thorough and scientific methods. Working with colleague Karl Zener, Rhine developed the famous ESP card deck symbols. In the 1960's and '70's ghost tech started to take a more high-tech approach. A researcher and former secretary for SPR (the Society for Psychical Research) by the name of John Cutten created the first viable electronic ghost detection device. His "ghost hunter" used vibration, light, sound and temperature sensors to trigger a standard camera, an infrared camera and tape recorder. When one of the sensors was activated a buzzer would alert researchers. Groups like FRNM, SPR and the Psychical Research Society (PRS) would not only start a long-standing tradition of memorable acronyms in paranormal research groups but also establish paranormal research as a legitimate scientific field. A scientific field with cool gadgets too! In the 1980's and '90's researchers like Loyd Auerbach and Troy Taylor would revolutionize ghost technology with their research into electromagnetic field detectors, IR thermometers and the like. They and others would mark the end of 20th century paranormal investigating. However, it wasn't until the influence of a certain California town that the public really took notice and ghost tech was taken into the 21st century. That infamous town of course is Hollywood... Yes, yes, yes I will mention Ghostbusters in just a bit, but first lets look into the movies that established ghost hunting on the big screen. The Legend of Hell House from 1973 is one movie that stands out in my mind in that it is the first movie I can think of that used scientific principles (albeit a bit of stretch) to rid a house of ghostly activities. Then there was Poltergeist and The Entity in 1982 that took it to the next level. With their depictions of actual "paranormal researchers" the public was hooked. Universities across the country were barraged with requests by news agencies for information on any parapsychology classes they might have. Of course no one has ever caught a rapist ghost in a can of liquid helium or used a psychic to pull a family member through a TV. Other than that, the equipment at least wasn't too implausible. That of course would all change in 1984 with the release of (you guessed it) Ghostbusters! Ghostbusters was the movie that changed everything for paranormal researchers forever. With it's paranormal lingo ("...free-floating, full-torso, vaporous apparition.") and really cool, if somewhat dangerous gadgets the movie changed the public's perceptions of ghost hunters from background supporting characters to the stars of the show. Now, don't get me wrong, this is my all-time favorite movie. I can quote the film line by line. I am just getting tired of being asked where my proton pack is. Yeesh. Paranormal Research just became really cool overnight. Although nowadays I get compared to X-Files characters more often than Egon (whew!) I still cannot be featured in a news article without the Ghostbusters' theme song by Ray Parker Jr. playing in the background or someone saying, "who ya gonna call?" There simply are not any unlicensed nuclear accelerators, PKE meters or "ghost traps" for us to use. But, if you read Ghost Tech, you can find out what they do have though...What does the future of ghost hunting hold for us? A lot I hope! It is now the 21st century and there are a new generation of ghost hunters out there that are pioneering new techniques and technologies never tried before! A new technique being used by the Maryland Paranormal Investigators Coalition is utilizing biological feedback from the investigators themselves! We have hooked up both sensitive and non-sensitive investigators to a heart-rate/blood pressure monitor and a body voltage sensor attached to a standard Multimeter. The body voltage meter checks the electrical resistance of your body against any electrical current in the air. An external electric field will induce an electric field within our bodies. In this sense, our bodies act as antennas picking up fields from all kinds of sources. Delicate biological cellular processes (like brain function and heart muscle contraction) operate on the scale of microvolts. Simply touch this sensor with a finger and know instantly what effect external fields are having inside your body. I have been talking about how environments must be altered when affected by an outside stimulus such as ghosts. Well, what about the effects of ghosts on human beings? We have all heard of people being affected emotionally by certain kids of hauntings (i.e. feelings of dread, sadness, even extreme happiness, etc.), but how does a haunting affect someone physiologically? This is the purpose of this experiment. In the future I imagine using an EKG for this type of an experiment. An EKG (or Electrocardiogram) is a diagnostic test that analyzes the electrical activity of the heart. A brainwave monitor would also be great for this. These sorts of apparatus have been used in psi testing for years. In the 21st century I can see them being used for ghost hunting as well. Ta-da! Presenting the Ghost Tech Robo-Cam! I built it from all-terrain R/C truck parts. It has four-wheel drive, stainless steel spring-loaded shocks, all-terrain puncture proof tires, sensor array (compass, clock and temperature gauge), a 2.4-gigahertz wireless infrared camera and mounts for another camera or other peripherals. Its low profile allows going into places people couldn't otherwise go into. I used R/C truck parts instead of R/C car parts because car parts are less agile and go too fast. What good is a robotic surveillance device that drives around at scale 120 mph? You'll miss everything! The reason I designed and built this little guy (we consider "him" a member of the team and refer to him as a he) was to go into places that would be much too dangerous for a person to go into. Now, I don't mean the dark closet where Max Shrek's Nosferatu is hiding in and waiting to attack an innocent ghost hunter. I mean weak floorboards, small crawlspaces and unsafe mines. We have also built a Blimp-Cam to go on investigations where locations may be even to rough or inaccessible for the Robo-Cam. I got the idea for the Blimp-Cam from a location in Maryland's Ellicott City (not necessarily the most haunted city in the Mid-Atlantic area). The Patapsco Female Institute is supposed to be haunted by a little girl who died at the school. She is said to stare out the second story window with dark, sad eyes. However, as you can see from this picture, there is no second floor! A fire gutted the institute years ago. What better way to investigate a non-existent second floor than with a flying remote controlled video camera! We have only used it on the USS Constellation as of yet. A colleague of mine in Pennsylvania named Craig Teleshe has built his own robotic ghost hunter. Craig owns http://www.ghost-tech.com and has built a very impressive robotic monitoring system himself! Ghunter (Ghost +Hunter): the robotic paranormal investigator! "Ghunter started his life as a Hero Jr. robot, designed by Heathkit in the early 80s as a robotic companion. Unfortunately the processor of this Hero Jr. was fried when I received him, so all I was left with was a base with wheels and a drive system and a power supply board. He sat in my basement for a while till I came up with this grand idea! What if I could use the base and mount a video camera on top of it to be used ghost investigations. "After a few different design ideas, a dozen trips to Radio Shack and a months work, Ghunter was up and running. Ghunter has the following functions: o Digital Radio control at 433 Mhz o 8mm Camcorder modified to see in near darkness (infrared). o Digital camera, which can be activated via radio control. o Infrared motion detector, which can activate the digital camera. o A sixteen LED infrared emitter. (Creates a very nice bright picture) o Mini Pinhole camera for remote viewing of robot functions on receiver. o 2.4 GHz video transmitter hooked to the Pinhole camera. "The transmitter controls the drive system to move the robot, a button to activate the digital camera remotely, activates the infrared system, which will take pictures when motion is detected (don't want to be driving the robot around when this is active of course) and activates the infrared LEDs on front of the robot if lighting conditions are too low. "Ghunter's power system is 2 large 13-amp 6-volt batteries wired in series to produce 12 volts. These batteries will run all of the devices and the robot for about 6 hours which it plenty of time to conduct an investigation. I have not officially taken Ghunter out on and investigation yet, but his time is coming." Now Ghunter is a little too bulky for dangerous locations with weak floorboards and small crawl spaces, but it does serve another purpose: remote observation of locations without a human presence. Have you ever heard of a place that where more activity happens when the family goes out then when they were home? How about the family that didn't even know there was a ghost in their home until someone took a picture of the front of the house and saw a ghostly face in the window when the pictures were developed? It happens. The Ghost Tech Ghost-Cam, Blimp-Cam and Ghunter are the first in what is no doubt part of the future of robotic ghost hunting! Sometime a few years ago Stan Suho developed the Geophysically Equipped Instrument of Scientific Testing. Otherwise known as G.E.I.S.T. What Suho had done was design a computer-based monitoring system capable of monitoring, recording and testing the environment without the bothersome presence of human beings. Using a "polling device" Suho was able to attach multiple instruments (EMF meters, Geiger Counters, Thermometers, etc.) to a single laptop. Recently Justin Faulk of http://www.ghostgadgets.com has gone one step further. Justin developed ARCADIA or the Analog Reading Computer Aided Digital Input Analyzer. >>From Justin's website: "There have been several other scientific based groups that have interfaced computer logging systems to natural field meters before, but ARCADIA takes it a step further. All previous systems of its kind have only logged continuous streams of data, leaving hours of digital or analog data to sort through. Personally, I hate data review, so I have someone else do it for me - the computer, in real time. Data from each channel is sent through a device-specific algorithm, developed from hundreds of hours of control runs. With this algorithm, Arcadia can actively distinguish what should naturally occur in a given field (static magnetic fields, temperature, humidity, etc.), and therefore can ignore the data in a stable environment. When an anomaly becomes apparent to the system, Arcadia will log the data from the anomaly digitally, which can be further analyzed later." Mr. Faulk adds, "Now, Arcadia has been modified to log everything for specific time blocks, do various types of DSP on the data sets, and calculate statistical data for each block (standard deviation, mean, range, etc.). That way, a true mathematical analysis can be implemented, including probability values, etc., for submission to peer reviewed journals." The better groups of ghost hunters and investigators of the strange and unusual are pioneering new techniques and technologies to find the answer to the ultimate question. No, it's not 42. Are ghosts real? Keeping your information to yourself isn't going to help anyone. Not even you. You need to share. Also, you will need to keep very good notes and absolute control over your investigation. As I mentioned before, the Maryland Paranormal Investigators Coalition has developed some very good forms for cataloging data on hauntings. I strongly suggest that you download those forms (available at http://www.ghosttech.net ) or create your own. Forms and ruled notebooks will keep your notes nice and tidy. When I first started I used to wads of paper in my pockets with all my notes on them. Now I bring a tote bag with clipboards and extra pens. Some researchers into the paranormal are researchers in other fields as well. Recently I have been discussing techniques with a teacher of archeology and the techniques they use to document areas in digs and historical investigations. I hope that ghost investigating will become more commonplace and more acceptable. It would be great if more members of the scientific community would become interested in ghost hunting. Vince is one of the speakers at the 2007 Supernatural Summit Ghost Hunter's Conference and Psychic Fair. More information about Vince Wilson can be found at http://www.GHOSTTECH.net