Archive for October, 2008

Unusual energy

Saturday, October 25th, 2008

I was folding clothes tonight and enjoying a quiet evening after an event-filled day when I felt a funny energy down my spine. A tingling sensation that seemed to pulse as I described it to my wife.

“Do you feel that?” I asked her, wondering how anyone couldn’t feel it. I lapped it up, bathing in its power as it splashed over me.

What brought it on? Hard to say. It is Travis’s fourth birthday and we had a raucous party here earlier today. If that wasn’t enought, we became the new owners of a two-year-old rescue lab today. I’m also recovering from a cold, which may also affect my sensation.

Regardless of its source, I’m happy to enjoy it. Bring it on!

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Ghost in the machine

Saturday, October 11th, 2008

Last night the Rhine had a panel discussion on Electronic Voice Phenomena, or EVP. George Matthis, president of the National Society of Paranormal Investigation and Research, Inc. and Steve Baumann, Ph.D. with the Rhine Research Center presented some interesting examples of EVP.

What one hears in an EVP is subject to broad interpretation. A few examples were played for the audience and – while intriguing – opinions differed on what was actually being said. Many clips had that watery sound of early cellphones.

As I heard it I knew right away what is needed: better recording equipment! Many of the clips were recorded on handheld digital note-taking devices. These devices are designed to record voices perhaps a foot away from the microphone. They are also designed to compress as much audio onto their flash chips as possible. This severely distorts the sound quality, resulting in gobbledygook from even the live human beings they record.

While the sounds I heard suggest speech, it will take far better recordings to make a convincing case.

Posted in Ghosts | 2 Comments »