Reflections in the White Noise

As the release of the movie WHITE NOISE is almost here, it is time for some reflection and thought before finally seeing that which started me off on this wild adventure in the first place. I can't believe the day that once seemed so distant is already here; my journey to this point has gone by so fast.

Sick Thoughts?
I ran across a discussion post on a movie fan site listing me as the "Guy's sick blog about why it's not possible" and I thought WHOA did they miss something or did I? Are my thoughts and observations sick? I didn't mean to offend anyone and I never said it was not possible! After inquiring with a 15 year old member of the house, I was assured that "sick" means good and that they enjoyed the site. Cool!

But it got me to thinking about what I do believe is possible, what I now think about EVP and what people might take away from my thoughts and commentary here.

Studying the Electronic Voice Phenomenon and writing the EVP Recordings has changed my life to no small extent and continues to be a lot of fun. With the new year here and the release of the movie, this is a good time to think about why I did this, where I've been, what I think now and where this will all go from here.

Why did I do this?
Originally I did this to start my experience with blogging. I figured it would be a good way to keep notes for myself and give me an excuse to write while looking into something I find quite interesting; a few bloggers or some friends might swing by and find my commentary suitable to kill a few minutes or get a laugh or two.

I never dreamed it would turn into this! I now have a fascinating new hobby to pursue and many fine folks like you to join me on the way while adding their comments and thoughts for everyone to learn from. I never imagined the support I would get from around the world and I certainly never fathomed how engaging this whole EVP blog thing could be.

Where have I been?
I've been fortunate during the holidays to have the time to visit dozens of evp websites and listen to literally hundreds of EVP samples of various quality or believability. I've learned much of the history of Instrumental TransCommunication and Electronic Voice Phenomenon and about the many various theories as to the cause.

I've looked at all the available experimental data I could find so far and I've talked over the web with dozens of ghost hunters, evp researchers, people with real life experience and die hard skeptics alike. I've read many serious papers, books and articles and I've spent literally hundreds of hours over the last few weeks learning all I can about this strange phenomenon and the people who study or report it.

I tried ITC for the first time and saw something move in my video. Four others confirmed there was something moving, but it could just be pixelation from an inexpensive video camera stimulating our active imaginations. I've had strange things happen to my computer while listening to EVP samples or trying to post my thoughts but that's not uncommon when using Mr. Gate's monster. I've felt cool breezes and cold spots descend on me during some listening sessions and during others I've received unexplainable sudden feelings of horror, discomfort, contentment and joy or even gratitude that quickly came and then faded away. Could be the late hours in a cold office with nothing to eat.

Or it could all be spirits stopping by to see what I'm up to. Interdimensional web surfers, so to speak. I'm not one to get spooked easily or feel like people are looking over my shoulder when I'm writing or researching anything; usually the living have to poke me with a stick to get my attention when I'm working. But there were definitely times when I swore someone was out of bed and standing behind me or there was a group of people near, only to find myself all alone in an empty room.

So, what do I think?
I write my thoughts and commentary as honestly as I can while trying to examine everything presented to me with an open mind and a skeptical attitude. I've seen, heard and felt too many unexplainable things in my life to discount the paranormal entirely, but I have also had many "paranormal" experiences that later turned out to be nothing out of the ordinary at all. I guess I'm in the middle between full believer and full skeptic and that's fine with me.

I always treat the views of others with the utmost respect from a sincere desire to hear their honest thoughts and views so I can learn from them. We all have our own beliefs, theories and experiences to share. Yet I ask everyone to explain their theories or prove their claims and stand ready to debate on the issues if necessary.

I try not to play favorites with any point of view and seek only to learn the truth, not prove my own theories. As a fairly spiritual creature, I remain open to all the various possibilities and believe such fantastic things as ghosts, recording the dead or transdimensional communication may be possible.

I may use the terms "ghost" and "spirit", but I'm by no means convinced that is what lies at the root of EVP. I admit there are some recordings out there that give me the heebbie geebies and may be supernatural or alter dimensional in origin, but there are also other possibilities to take into account before running off claiming I know ghosts exist. I don't believe it's all demons and I don't buy what the skeptics feed me about radio waves and mass psychosis or that it's all simply impossible either.

Nothing is impossible. History documents many "impossible" things and their strange inventors thought totally batty by their contemporaries for the strange things they studied or dared imagine whom we now hold in high regard. Our religious texts also tell of amazing beings of light, angels from heaven and messengers of God sent to the world to help and advise us in times of need as do our ancient myths and the oldest stories of all civilizations. People everyday experience things that are unexplainable but quite possible when experienced first hand!

I just can't join the many who simply turn away or ridicule ghost hunters and believers in the paranormal because they don't share their convictions or find them unable to completely prove their experiences using modern science. We may not yet have the science. It was not that many years ago when splitting the atom or controlled nuclear power were thought impossible by many too; even those working to develop these very technologies.

If there is one thing my life has taught me, it's that we keep furthering human knowledge and sometimes that means rewriting what we may have already thought was set in stone. Many scientists today claim to be on the verge of altering our complete understanding of physics with such amazing things as string theory with it's many alternate dimensions and more than a few things have changed in the high school texts since I read them a short two decades ago.

Conclusions
So far, I see no proof either way as to the cause of EVP. It seems there is very little controlled scientific study going on. The information that is available is scattered and often hard to find, out of print or outdated to begin with. Research efforts stall because many skeptics claim there is no point in researching the impossible and many believers claim science can't explain it or don't have the skills or funding to collect serious data themselves. So, after three quarters of a century since it's discovery, no one really knows what causes this electronic voice phenomenon.

I find the people who study this phenomenon, those who experience it and the ghost hunters who attempt to document it to be fine people with little motivation to fool humanity. So far they have been very open to me and my constant questioning and I thank them for taking the time to help me out so generously.

The many stories I've read on websites and discussion groups or from people who have sent me samples seemed genuine and sincere. I've chatted with some of these people and debated with others for days on the many discussion groups about evp. I'm no stranger to internet communications and have learned to never fully trust anyone I have not checked out pretty well first. Most believers and skeptics are well respected in their communities, intelligent, educated and logical people with no obvious agendas or mental illness. I find their testimony to be valid and have no reason to doubt what they say in most cases.

The scam artists are easily spotted and the EVP community works quickly to debunk obvious fakes and ban those people responsible from all the many different online groups. They take their own reputations and that of the groups and communities they belong to very seriously. It seems everyone is really trying to find the truth with reason, science and logic. Sometimes their individual perception may be clouded by their strongly held beliefs, but that happens to the best of us at times, particularly when we are convinced we are right.

But the final conclusion boils down to this: I have no idea what causes evp or itc and have no clue how voices that respond to questions or very clear pictures of the dead can appear in modern recording devices. It's a fascinating mystery to me.

Where do we go from here?
Well, I'm not one to turn away a fascinating mystery so I'm going to stick with it and learn all I can! It seems I've just scratched the surface of this amazing phenomenon and there is much more to learn and experience. I think many of the theories out there can easily be proven or debunked with proper experimentation and cooperation while the answers may hold great meaning to our collective futures and mankind's understanding of the true nature of existence. The truth is out there. But can we find it?

I'd like to go on a real live ghost hunt and participate in a controlled experiment. I'd like to chat more with the experienced researchers and skeptics alike. I'd like to experiment on my own and further analyze some of the better documented samples. I will listen to more of the samples available and read the many books, websites and information I have not yet found the time to and the great many more I have yet to uncover.

My journey, it seems, has just begun.

I hope you will join me by bookmarking or subscribing to this blog in your news readers or online portals. I pledge to find you the best EVP samples and information out there from all the various points of view. I'll present what I find with my own honest commentary from an open mind and a little skepticism too. I'll ask the hard questions of those in the know and bring you what I discover each and everyday.

Save time and skip all the hours of searching, chatting and downloading of audio files. Learn all about the amazing paranormal world of the electronic voice phenomenon as you browse along with me after I find the best stuff out there. You can be the judge. You can listen to the evidence and look at the findings. You can contribute your own views and comments so together we can finally reveal the secrets behind EVP!

Bookmark me today!