Anyone believe in E.V.P. (Ghost Voices on Recordings)?

[jasond]

The fim WHITE NOISE deals with the subject and the DVD shows people how to record the dead.  But maybe these are just noises being recorded and not actual ghosts contacting the living people?

[intergalactic]

I think of you looked hard enough and recorded long enough that you would get noises that sound like someone is saying a word or words. If you were a ghost why would you waste your time whispering something why not just jump in front of a camera.... or if your a ghost and think your having a bad hair day why don't you just say hey I'm so and so and died at what ever date by what ever way. I bet some guy will come on and say they don't have enough energy or they don't know they're dead or some other stuff the kind of stuff you here psychics say when you ask why they won't prove themselves to science when you would think the first thing they would want to do is further the whole worlds knowledge instead of being selfish and keeping the truth to themselves the old why don't they with the lottery question pops up. If you had real psychic powers and wanted to help people wouldn't you win the lottery just so you would have plenty of money and wouldn't have to charge people for your services? Or the big ones say "I've tried to prove it to science they just don't want to believe it" Then you film yourself doing something that is 100% beyond the realm of possibility and put it on TV with your millions of dollars or something people will listen to the truth eventually they stay vague and slippery so you can't pin them down people believe in them because they want to not because there is any evidence for it. I would. Sorry about the ranting but this spiritual stuff really gets under my skin sometimes.

[NickJW]

Apparently the TV antenna isnt hooked up so you couldn't be getting faces from anywhere else. Hardcore enthusiasts also say when they record the sounds they are in secluded places where they measure to make sure there is no other radio signals in the area, or they use devices such as casette recorders which don't pick up radio transmission.

I wouldn't know whether it is real or not since I have never experiemnted with this, but as far as I know science has yet to come up with an explanation other than the Survival Theory (which means there is no death).

[Rob]

I have done some experimenting with EVP on a computer and it would seem to be valid.
Intergalactic your objections:
1. "I  think of you looked hard enough and recorded long enough that you would get noises that sound like someone is saying a word or words"
In which case the noises being mistakenly interpreted as words would be random and have little bearing to the questions being asked to the spirits. This is not accurate, even my own limited testing has determined this.

2 "If you were a ghost why would you waste your time whispering something why not just jump in front of a camera"
They do. Generally, spirit activity appears to be seen as orbs, which usually are only detected on digital cameras (still and movie), often with very impressive results. But if you were a ghost, why would you not want to exploit any and every means of communication to the physical?

3. why don't you just say hey I'm so and so and died at what ever date by what ever way
I think there have been cases such as you example. There have even been recodings of EVP from murdered individuals identifying their killer, the motive, and the location of their body, before the police had figured any of these things out. I wonder, how much research have you done on the subject to deny that this is the case? Or are you relying on belief and its associated assumptions?

4. If you had real psychic powers and wanted to help people wouldn't you win the lottery just so you would have plenty of money and wouldn't have to charge people for your services?
I have personally predicted random future event with a combined probability of over 1:500,000 - not quite the lottery, but close. Once I did what you said, dowsed out lottery tickets, but then I divined what the outcome would be should I be successful in winning, and it didnt look a pretty picture. I never bought the ticket. I think you are missing something rather major here...it is something of a catch 22 situation....
I should add that if someone was successful in winning using divination, do you REALLY think they would admit it? A minor point, but IMO unlikely. And if they did, it would prove nothing to the sceptics. How many other people are dowsing the numbers? They would say it was only a matter of time before some crackpot won it. And again, are you sure this has never occured? Or is this another assumption?

5. people believe in them because they want to not because there is any evidence for it.
Reasons for people believing what they do aside (remember, both scientific and spiritual circles suffer from exactly the same problem here), your implication that there is no evidence for psychic phenomenon is a gross inaccuracy. There are mountains of evidence supporting parapsychological claims. Ironically then, I would guess that the reason you have not found this data is because you have never properly applied yourself to finding it. The reason for this? Because your beliefs are based on what you want to believe, not on what the evidence actually shows maybe?...... ....lol

I would suggest that the best way to test anything like this, is not to sit around all day wondering why it cannot be true, but to actually get out there and test it for yourself.


I would like to relate to you a little story I read in the newspaper a few weeks ago. Its about the guy who is running against belusconi I think his name is, the current premier of Italy. This guy is the main competitor, and belusconi dug up this tory to try and discredit him.
About 30 years ago I think it was, the then prime minister was kidnapped, I cant remember the reasons for this. Nobody could find him, but his kidnappers were making ransom demands, saying they would kill him in a month if these demands were not met. The person this story relates to, was at the time a minister working underneath the then PM, and was naturally concerned by the situation. He decided to take the crazy and desperate measure of doing a quija board with some scientists in the hope it may tell them where this guy was being held. The responce was, if I remember correctly, a name they did not recognise, followed by the name of the city this PM was kidnapped from. But they didnt recognise the first. Eventually they pinned the name down to a small town in Italy, tipped the police, who swarmed the place entirely but found nothing. Eventually the PM was found dead in a car boot I think. His location? The unidentified name, thought to be the name of the small town, was in fact the street name he was being held in, a street in the city as named by the board. Whats interesting about this, is that in the newspaper which was relating this story, the reporter was utterly incapable of even considering the fact that the info was provided by a quija board. The "obvious" conclusion the author came to was that the politician had a source, and called the claim that the info had come from a ouija board a "silly lie" to protect this source and himself from the ramifaction of having such a source. One of the lamest excuses I have ever heard, which simply pushes the possibility of psychic phenomenon straight out the window, into the nearest bin, never to be considered ever again.

As is life.  

[intergalactic]

We can clear this up right now How about I ask you 10 questions and you give me the answer. If you get them right I'm a believer. In fact I'll challenge any psychic to answer 10 questions correctly I'll bet not one could do it.

[NickJW]

uhhhhh... I thought we were talking about EVP... not psychics.

[Rob]

We can clear this up right now  How about I ask you 10 questions and you give me the answer. If you get them right I'm a believer. In fact I'll challenge any psychic to answer 10 questions correctly I'll bet not one could do it.

No. I am 24. I am young, inexperienced, and still not confident or developed enough to answer your questions. I know people who could but, given the "prove it" attitude, I suspect most would not be interested. I can think of one who would, and would proably blow your mind, but she charges. Sorry!!!
The thing about the spiritual, is that its primarily not a scientitific discipline. Its a spiritual thing. Its above the idea of "proof", that is, its something which is inherently personal, and orientated towards spiritual enlightenment, not scientitific proof. I have seen some *AMAZING*things, but none were given purely as a low scientific proof. Thats the bounds of sceptics, people who cant get beyond their doubt, and as such can never honestly investigate any subject touching on metaphysics. If they could, they would find a lot of amazing stuff, and would no longer be skeptics, and their minds would open up,  and then they would start experiencing amazing stuff for themselves.....ultimately, its your choice, not anybody elses. Sorry if this seems like a "get out" clause, but its true, and IMO a big reason why the scientific and spiritual can have such difficulty with eachother.

[Kodemaster]

I believe in EVPs and have heard some very convincing ones.

Jen

[NickJW]

The problem with trying to scientifically prove psychic phenomena is that there is a lot of fake psychics out there. I'm not saying there are real psychics, and I'm also not saying that they are all fake, but if scientist test some psychics, who's to say they aren't just testing the fake ones. I'm a pretty big fan of metaphysics, but I would rather not be opinionated on issues like these, as there could be some evidence for it and against it. So I'll keep an open mind on these things and stay opinionless until science can either prove or disprove psychics.
(However, psychics like John Edwards are deffinitly fake, and I know this now thanks to Penn and Teller)

[dingo]

We can clear this up right now How about I ask you 10 questions and you give me the answer. If you get them right I'm a believer. In fact I'll challenge any psychic to answer 10 questions correctly I'll bet not one could do it.

Dude this is beside the point. This topics about EVP not all-round 'psychics' skillful at everything. If you dislike unconventional points of view then why are you here?

[laiana]

this spiritual stuff really gets under my skin sometimes.

"This spiritual stuff"?  I think you are grossly over-generalizing here.

[intergalactic]

Sorry for taking this off topic. Scientifically proving something should be all your goals if you truly believe what you are saying and it makes me very suspicious when you go the other way. Where were the powerful psychics on September 10th? Where are the psychics to find the cure for cancer? Where are the psychics to further all of mankind? WHO CARES IF YOU CAN TALK TO SOME DEAD GUY THAT NOBODY ELSE CAN TALK TO IT'S JUST A TRICK A FUNNY LITTLE GAME IT ISN'T REAL. I'll tell you who believes this stuff gullible people that aren't ready to let go of a loved one. There is a reason we have Doctors with X rays a reason why we need to cut you open to heal you a reason why we use harsh drugs because it is the best we have, Your telling me your powerful psychics don't care about sick people in pain?  If a psychic proved themselves to be true imagine how the world would change they would go down in history the whole world would change there thinking of the universe and imagine the psychic would most likely be filthy rich and have not a care in the world. Don't try and tell me a psychic wouldn't do that if they could. Bring me one real psychic please I beg you please give me just one that cane prove themselves I wold love to be proved wrong but you need to prove it to me. I'll tell you what I'm not here for, this.

Inguma she charges? Unless it is in the millions I would think she would just win the lottery ask her why she doesn't lol seriously this is funny what does she charge exactly? She driving a new Ferrari?

laiana I did make an over generalization didn't mean to make anyone angry.

[dingo]

Again, you're using the label 'psychic'. I hate that label. It's a word imposters use to trick people into thinking they are uberhumans. There are no all-round powerful skillful psychics in the world. There are only normal humans trying to learn talents that are rejected by common belief.

Scientifically proving something requires an open mind. Unfortunately these are a rare commodity. Look how you dissed EVP before even giving it a chance. I would love everything to be scientifically proved or disproved (in fact, I'm doing my own statistical study of the RTZ in OBEs, in the hope I can prove that something you see in an RTZ OBE is at least usually accurate). But, before we can simply 'prove' something you have to play around with it, learn a bit through experience, and attempt stuff that sounds stupid.

"Only those who attempt the absurd will achieve the impossible."
~ M. C. Escher

I'll tell you who believes this stuff gullible people that aren't ready to let go of a loved one.

I don't personally believe in EVP, but I like to keep an open mind. I agree that there are far too many 'gullible' people that too readily accept an idea without questioning it at all. But I'm still left defending this topic because there is the potential that at least some part of EVP is true, and until it is discussed, and experimented with, it will never be proved right or wrong.

There is a reason we have Doctors with X rays a reason why we need to cut you open to heal you a reason why we use harsh drugs because it is the best we have, Your telling me your powerful psychics don't care about sick people in pain?

Again, you're somewhat correct, but ignoring a lot of things. I don't think there is a single healer in the world claiming to be able to heal everything. And if there is, they are probably lying. But, there have been studies that show that unconventional 'healing' practises work with at least some illnesses. There was a big televised study in the UK recently, that showed acupuncture affects an area of the brain that increases tolerance to pain.
I think most people will agree that any kind of 'healing' is a supplement to the kind of medicine a doctor will give.

If a psychic proved themselves to be true imagine how the world would change they would go down in history the whole world would change there thinking of the universe and imagine the psychic would most likely be filthy rich and have not a care in the world.

Indeed, but they'd make more money if they claimed to do tricks, and started a TV series like Derren Brown. Lol.

[Rob]

Intergalactic you make some OK arguments but the majority are just weak. However right now I dont have the energy to argue them apart so I will simply reiterate your own accusation from earlier that people here only believe in what they want to believe, yet it is now quite obvious you have no experience in this field. So you are shooting yourself in the foot. Also, you say you find it suspicious that people wont take you up on your wanting to prove this stuff is real, but why should we bother, especially when you dont? I dont find it suspicious that you are unwilling to try testing simple stuff like EVP yourself, as this is the lazy route 99% of pseudo-"skeptics" use when they are comfortable in their own beliefs and dont want to change.
But if you really want to live up to your words, DO IT YOURSELF, like the rest of us here. Do the work yourself, test it yourself, or check your soapbox, assumptions, and accusations at the door.

ps person I mentioned is a trained remote viewer. Now that you mention it, I have heard of such people making large amounts of £££ in casinos. The reason she charges to is filter out people who are not serious, ie it keeps the time wasters away. Otherise she gets more requests than she can fullfill, most of which come from the idle and the curious, but only a few from honest and open minded seekers.

pps there are even simple psychic tests you could do on yourself, which when done en-masse will show tedencies to not hit the random average. Simple tests like this have been done extensively by Rupert Sheldrake, former head of biology at cambridge university. Google him. Good guy, got many good positive results. Even did telepathy tests infront of and using an entire year of cambridge biology undergraduates. And yet the world is still here eh, same as ever? btw.........people who step beyond the norm like this tend to be harshly punished, not rewarded. To think otherwise is to simply not know your history and to be very naive.

[laiana]

intergalactic - do you lump healers in the same categories as "psychics"?

Are you telling me that the healing that I perform on my mother, which she can definitely feel (She feels the exact same thing that I feel, and I always ask her first so she can't get an idea of what I'm feeling) is all a bunch of baloney?

Its quite funny.  I used to want people to prove such things to me.  Show me, prove to me, etc.

Until I started learning for myself whats out there and whats real and not.  And now that I'm doing so, I have absolutely no desire whatsoever to try and prove such things to other people.  No desire at all.  I want to learn for myself, and I want to use the small healing gift that I have to help my close friends and family.  That's it for now.

[intergalactic]

Some simple searches turned this up.

I'm no expert. I went to a higher power, Google!

http://salon.com/people/feature/2002/06/13/probability/
John Edward debunk

http://www.valleyskeptic.com/psychic.htm
Police psychics debunk


And to the LAPD's credit they have even done a study to determine if psychics could help in solving crimes, this study was done by Martin Reiser, director of Behavioral Sciences Services for the Los Angeles police, Susan Saxe, police staff  psychologist, and Detective Philip Sartuche, Robbery-Homicide Division, it stated that:

"Contrary to some statements, the LAPD has not employed psychics in criminal investigations. The same situation appears to be true for most police departments contacted. In several well-publicized major cases where individuals who claimed psychic powers volunteered information to the department about the crime, the information has not proven useful to the investigation.  The study also concluded, "Since the psychic group produced approximately 10 times as much information as either of the two comparison groups, it is more likely by chance alone that their data would produce more "hits."Despite this statistical advantage, the psychics were unable to produce information that was significantly better than the two comparison groups. It is important to note that no information that would have been investigatively useful, such as first and last names, license plate numbers, apartment house locations, etc., was accurately produced by any of the subjects.  Statistically, the data fit a pattern that could be expected by chance." Another part of Dr. Reiser's experiments involved weapons that were used in homicide cases.  These were mixed in with other weapons that were not used in crimes to be used as controls, and it was found that the "psychics were unable to tell the difference, go figure.

found this also
http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/evp.html
Electronic Voice Phenomena
Voices of the Dead?

This is from the voices page but I think this is the root of much of this

How can someone who has heard the voices be persuaded to be more critical and to examine more mundane possibilities?

A rational, deliberative discussion is rarely helpful because clear evidence or logic is not involved. Believers are reporting an experience that was highly meaningful and perhaps highly emotional to them – not something that is easily challenged by logic. Moreover, there is a self-selection of people predisposed to believe – the voices are compatible with their belief system.


Psychic Predictions 2004
http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/predictions-2004.html

now this is kinda funny come on admit it!
http://www.randi.org/sylvia/index.html

Dowsing
http://www.randi.org/library/dowsing/index.html


Please read this stuff I'll read something proving your claims if you want.

[dingo]

Only the third link has any relevance to this topic. If you want to discuss the authenticity of 'psychics' start a new topic.
I'd also steer clear of Randi, as much as I would any other biased source - the reason being that he has a million dollars riding on his bet that there is no 'paranormal' or 'supernatural' 'psychic phenomena'.

[intergalactic]

That's all you have to say?

[dingo]

That's all you have to say?

That's all I need to say. I'm trying to promote open-minded scepticism, not prove the existence of so-called 'psychics' and EVP. I don't believe most psychics are real, and I don't think I believe in EVP either. What I do believe however, is that we should be open-minded about these things.

[Mazzierose]

Hi everyone, I believe in EVP, I've been on 2 ghosthunts, they were overnighters at the same place "The Villisca Iowa Axe Murder House", 8 people were killed by a man weilding an axe in 1912, there were 2 adults, and 6 children murdered.  On the video I shot, were several things, lots of orbs, ectoplasm, the doors opening and closing, balls rolling across the floor, there was also a creepy mans voice that you can hear plainly, he said "Go Back Home", I also have children giggling, and other mens voices.  I was totally spooked the first time, something followed me home, and it was over a week before it left, I had a terrible accident right before it disappeared, I had life threatening head injuries.  

You don't have to be pshysic to pickup voices on recorders.  Another interesting thing on my video was, at the very end, I said "look at all of that blood"  my niece who is 7 pointed it out, I never said it, at least I don't remember ever saying that.

My sister got several EVP's on her recorder, she was at the overnighter too.  

If we believe in things like Astral Travel, why is it so hard to believe that there are spirits roaming this earth, my mind is open to all possiblilities.

Mazzie Rose

[WarpedReality]

If i can find it, I recorded an EVP while trying out a ghost hunt. It was cool because what the ghost says in the EVP corresponds to a picture I got of same ghost/orb thing.

[Mazzierose]

Hi Warped, I will try to do the same with my EVP, thank you for your reply!

Mazzie Rose  

[rave_master_naruto]

do you have an example of EVP?   a link?