I wanted to talk about paranormal research. What is it and what are we doing by visiting these places. Research is just that, we are visiting places trying to see if we believe there to be paranormal activity and document it. Can we prove that there is paranormal activity in a particular location? Not yet, but that is what we are striving for. Each investigation hopefully brings us a step closer to what is happening out there.

None of the equipment used today by any of the paranormal research and investigative teams are made for paranormal investigating. They are made for other activities and are used in our research as a means to an end. The main ingredient that is believed to be associated with a haunted location is energy. Electro-magnetic energy to be exact, this type of energy is everywhere. So are ghost everywhere? I believe they are, it is only those that choose to let us know of their presence that we are aware of. 

So what of the equipment we use in a scientific approach to investigating, we use EMF detectors. What is an EMF detector; well it is a piece of equipment that measures the nearby electro-magnetic field. So why do we want to measure the nearby electro-magnetic field? It is believed that if a spirit is passing on by that it will cause a fluctuation in the electro-magnetic field and this we can measure. So what exactly do we measure, we measure using units of measurement called gauss. Named for German mathematician Carl Frederich Gauss, the gauss is a unit of magnetic field measurement. Often abbreviated as G when referred to in official publications and in scientific formulas, gauss is understood to equate to one Maxwell per square centimeter. The essential idea behind this measurement is to be able to quantify the amount of magnetic flux density with a magnetic field. We typically look for 2-7 milli-gauss anything higher we typically can trace to a something man made in nature.

What else do we use? We use Infra-red thermometers, Infra-red lighting for recording in the dark. What is so important about infra-red? What is infra-red? This a bit scientific, but here it is. Every form of matter with a temperature above absolute zero emits infrared radiation according to its temperature; this is known as characteristic radiation. The cause of this is the internal mechanical movement of molecules. The intensity of this movement depends on the temperature of the object. Since the molecule movement represents charge displacement, electromagnetic radiation (photon particles) is emitted. These photons move at the speed of light and behave according to the known optical principles. They can be deflected, focused with a lens or reflected from reflective surfaces. The spectrum of this radiation ranges from 0.7 to 1000 um wavelength. For this reason, this radiation cannot be seen with the naked eye. This area lies within the red area of visible light and has therefore been called “infra”-red after the Latin.

What does this mean? Basically we are looking for emitted electromagnetic radiation. This can be measured with a thermometer and therefore we have a way of recording a temperature drop. Then what caused that temperature drop? This is where you need to investigate. As investigators we would like to see a 5-10 degree temperature difference, but we need to understand what caused the temperature difference. Is it a window an air diffuser, an open door? We must first rule out all of the possibilities and then we are left with the passing of an object that has emitted energy which we were able to record. It is believed that this is a spirit.

What is the overwhelming flow of all this. There is one word that is repeated throughout here and that word is “believed”. So by visiting these haunted locations and private homes we are trying to rule out natural cause for things happening and we are saying we “believe” there to be something happening here. But mostly what we are doing is helping people better understand their own surroundings and teaching them how to live with what is happening. 

Until we can do laboratory experiments in a controlled environment we will never be able to remove the “believe” out of what we do. Never forget to believe you are helping people by doing what we do.