Evaluation of the Fire Fly Device

SQUID (Superconducting Quantum Interference Device) or what we call firefly were used during our last two paranormal investigations. Let me first talk a briefly about SQUIDs. Imagine an array of detectors close to the head of a patient suffering from focal epilepsy picks up tiny magnetic-field fluctuations, pinpointing the location of the lesion in the brain responsible for the disorder. A five-ton aluminum bar suspended in a vacuum chamber at a temperature near absolute zero awaits the minuscule disturbance that would signify the arrival of a gravity wave from a supernova.

Each of these disparate measurements is possible by an instrument called the SQUID, short for superconducting quantum interference device. I believe The SQUID, which picks up changes in magnetic field, may prove to be the most sensitive detector of any kind available to paranormal investigators. Only inherent quantum effects set its limits. Scientists have used SQUIDs since the late 1980s with the revolution in high-temperature superconductors enabling SQUID development. A SQUID measures extremely weak signals, such as subtle changes in the human body's electromagnetic energy field. Some SQUIDs can detect a change of energy as much as 100 billion times weaker than the electromagnetic energy that moves a compass needle.

After reading an article in Scientific American magazine, I wondered if SQUID technology could be applied to paranormal investigation as a way of detecting quantum fluctuations that we hypothesis accompany a paranormal energy eruption or bubble; an early warning device of sorts. After conducting internet research and talking to my buddies at the local Radio Shack our team acquired the necessary components to build four rudimentary SQUIDs which we lovingly call Fire Flies. We named them firefly because of the light emitting diodes that flash on and off when the device detects a minute electron flow nearby. The first two Fireflies we built burnt up during bench testing, the second generation passed our bench testing using static-electric bubbles produced by rubbing a PVC tube across natural wool. The Fire Fly detected the static bubble at six-feet away.

On Friday, November 9, 2007, we took our two operational fireflies along on a follow up paranormal investigation at a local house where we had detected possible paranormal activity during our initial investigation in September 2007. In our process of validation by repeat paranormal signals, we set one firefly in a static location, along with a digital recorder, and two investigators, then trained an Infrared camera on area to record any fluctuations. The second firefly went mobile with a roving team. Early in the investigation we learned not to wear synthetic clothes or brush up against static producing surfaces. The static charge immediately triggered the fireflies. Once we debunked the firefly actuation as a false positive reading caused by natural static electrical discharge we adjusted our techniques to avoid creating static discharge.

Three other investigators took a firefly, an Infrared thermometer, digital recorder, and digital camcorder into an area of the house where we believed paranormal activity probability was high. In three out of four events the firefly detected activity prior to cold-spot evolutions. More remarkably was that the firefly also gave what we thought was a false positive detection but, during our video review we see what appears to be static electrical discharges in the background similar to small ball lighting discharges. On a second investigation conduct out-of-doors near the sight of many flood deaths and Wild West gunfights, killings, and drowning, the fireflies only actuated once. During post investigation review, we discovered only one paranormal event in the form of an EVP that occurred near the time of the firefly activated.

Despite what appears as successful tests of the fireflies under field conditions, I am not ready to say that they are yet reliable tools for the paranormal investigator for two reasons. First, they require many more field-test where we have two or three back-up verification events, (hear, see, or detect by other means). Second, I am not convienced that investigators did not inadvertently create our own false positive readings because of the clothes we wore or surfaces we contacted. For these two reasons we will continue to refine the fireflies and train our team members to dress in all natural fiber clothes and shoes and be aware of contacting surfaces near them which might generate a static burst.

Having made these observations I do think that in the very near future the SQUID, just as the digital recorder and Electromagnetic field detectors revolutionized paranormal investigation, so will the Fire Fly become a valuable tool in our investigations.

If you cannot hear or down load the EVP from this page, go to www.westtexasparanormal.org and select the audio visual library link. We have begun to populate this back room web page with images and audio clips from previous investigations. You can listen to the EVP as you read a narrative of the incident.

Tantalon.

I also once had a somewhat similar conversation with an ex-girlfriend (present at the time) about why I was so interested in paranormal investigations. I was 18ish at the time and really began to distance myself from high school friends due too in large part, my un-christian beliefs and lifestyle. I argued to her that I was more so interested in the facts that a paranormal experience would provide.

I had a hard time just believing words from a book which I found flawed and biased and needing something more. I wanted to believe in God or a "god" but couldn't just confirm in faith alone. My point was that I wasn't trying to stir the dead as much as gain factual evidence in something that proved an afterlife. To me, the moment when your faced with something that shakes your core beliefs down to their roots should be sought after. How else could I believe in a heaven or hell if I had nothing more than faith and testimony from others?

We only get one life to live so why not try to understand all aspects of it?

Why can’t you let the dead rest in peace?

Recently while talking to an acquaintance, I mentioned being interested in paranormal investigation. Instantly the other person asked, “Why can’t you let the dead rest in peace?”

The comment caught me by surprise but I remained silent. I believe my friend responded from a theological paradigm. Some well-meaning people erroneously view paranormal investigation as a new-age occult ritual or activity veiled in the guise of science. A mind-set that some paranormal investigators will eventually encounter and might benefit by preparing for the question, “Why can’t you let the dead rest in peace?”

World cultures and theologies have differing views about communicating with the spirit of the dead. Judeo-Christian theology condemns the practice of spiritualism, mediums, occult, and psychics (Leviticus 20:27; Deuteronomy 18:10-13). Conversely both Zen and Tibetan Buddhism subscribe to the Bardo Thodol (Book of the Dead) which contains instructions the lamas chant to the dying or dead. These instructions are designed guide the spirit as it navigates an otherworldly maze for almost fifty days. A maze of tunnels filled with light and darkness, terrors and delights. A wrong turn or inappropriate response, the Bardo Thodol cautions, may trap the spirit in turmoil thereby preventing either the spirit’s reincarnation or enlightenment. Likewise in the Hindu faith, an eleven-day ritual called shraddha helps ensure the safe journey of the spirit during its passage to Yama's realm. Many people of Asian background cling to the idea of ancestor worship, where the living ask the departed for guidance and help.

Sometimes there may exist conflict between what people say in public and what they believe in private. Most western cultures practice the ritualistic ceremony of burying and erecting a monument to their dead. Up until the late 1920’s it was commonplace for families to picnic and play in the local cemetery along side the gravestones. Today such behavior would be shunned as an occult practice. Even today in the 21st Century people still place fresh flowers at the headstone of a departed loved one. Humans seem to possess an innate need for connection to the otherworldly. In the deep recess of our being some people do not believe that existence ends at the demise of our corporeal body. To ignore the signals or signs of an existence that resides along side our own, out of fear because the answer might make us reevaluate our paradigm only amplifies that fear. The universe did not come apart at the atomic level because of the discovery that the Earth was not at the center of the universe. Scientific exploration of the unknown leads to understanding. If I take a picture and in the photograph appears a redbird, does this mean that I somehow compelled the redbird to have its picture taken?

To assume something exists without benefit of evidence is the stuff of legends and folklore. If legends and folklore is your thing, then go for it, but this is not paranormal investigation, and here lies my argument’s proposition for the importance of paranormal investigation. Paranormal investigators do not disturb the dead or try to prove the existence of life after death. A paranormal investigator uses technology to investigate, document, and analyze events that appear paranormal. Just as Copernicus used his telescope and documents to show the earth orbiting around the sun, paranormal investigators use tools and documentation to expose those things that seem paranormal and then allow the evidence speak for itself.

“Why can’t you let the dead rest in peace?” We do not disturb the dead; we collect evidence on unexplained events as it presents itself to us.

[size=medium]Electronic Voice Phenomenon

An Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP) is a big point of discussion in paranormal investigations. A good investigator understands the nature of an EVP. What is an EVP and how do to distinguish an EVP from ordinary background noise? I hope to help shed some light and create discussion on this touchy subject in this article.

The science of paranormal investigation is still very new. Most of what we know is simply best practice methods that we learn or share with one another in this burgeoning field. New technologies create new opportunities for paranormal investigations. I can recall in the early days of the Gulf War in 1991, fighter pilots went to Radio Shack and bought radar detectors to carry in their cockpits to use while in hostile air space. Because the radar detectors would alert them when anti-aircraft radar painted their airplanes with energy prior to firing. This moment or two advanced warning saved many a pilot. This prime example shows that the people who do the job, quickly learn what devices serve them the best. Paranormal investigators have learned that digital voice recorders capture EVP at a far better quality and fidelity then analog. Why?

Analog recorders, those that use tapes, versus digital that use flash memory, are prone to temporal distortion (artifacts) and mechanical anomaly noise. That is to say an analog recorder uses iron oxide dust on a Mylar tape. When the tape passes below the recording head(s) of the recorder it captures whatever zigzag pattern the head creates on the tape at that very moment, which includes the hum of the machine. Imagine you are drawing a straight line on a piece of paper with a pencil and when someone bumps your elbow, the bump to the elbow creates a spike on the paper. Now imagine that someone comes along erases the spike on the paper. We can still the imprint but the erasure distorts the line image, this is a temporal distortion. We may hear a sound from another time under a second pattern.

Digital recorders use FLASH memory wafers. That is to say, each part of the signal is coded as a one or zero then placed into its very own tiny electronic box. Then the box lid is closed tightly before opening the next box. Without getting too technical, this opening and closing boxes is done through transistors. Once a sound enters a digital recorder is goes into a box and cannot be affected by the next noise or sound. After the recording is discorded each box is filled with a zero. This accounts for mechanical distortions and false EVP interpreartions, but makes for a high confidence EVP you ask?

I have found that EVPs don’t manipulate. One benchmark that I have discovered about an EVP is that I cannot increase its volume, normalize it to background noise, or synthesize its pattern. An EVP seems to have a one-dimensional quality where normal sounds have an attack and decay quality. A normal human or mechanical sound presents itself as starting at one frequency range, rising, and then decreasing. An EVP erupts at one frequency and maintains the frequency for the duration of the capture.

Imagine a “BANG!” The bang starts loud and then decays into silence. On the other hand an EVP starts and ends at the same volume. No matter what I do with sound enhancing software, I have learned that the EVP remains constant. Surrounding normal noise will change with my manipulation but the EVP remains constant. Why?

I do not know why EVPs sound different than mundane sounds. I have a theory that mundane sounds flow on the temporal wave created by whatever force we know as time. Time erupts into our universe much like gravity, it is a wave flowing upward into our universe like a spring flowing from the earth into a pool. We float atop this energy we call time, always flowing away from the wellspring –the reason why all objects in the universe appear to be speeding away from one another at a constant rate. EVPs come from a source not bound to time and space like beings of matter such as you and I. I theorize this non attachment to the temporal paradox (time-flows forward) may account for why humans do not hear EVPs at the moment they occur. The big bang still makes a sound even after 13.5 billion years so say the top cosmologist of our day. Tune your radio in between broadcast station and you hear static. It is this static that is the echo of the big bang.

In conclusion, a paranormal investigator should strive to understand that EVPs may not be constrained by the physics of the material (matter based) world. EVPs may be able to move forward and backward in time like the echoes of the big bang. Digital recording equipment reduces the chance of artifact contamination from older recordings. When analyzing recordings place an added value on those sounds which defy manipulation and tend to remain constant in volume

Beginning, Middle, and End of an Investigation

A good project should have a beginning, middle, and an end. In paranormal investigation this means planning, conducting, reviewing, and reporting. Conducting, that’s the middle part, the good part. The end, reviewing, validating, and reporting the findings, that’s the hard part. Sometimes it is easy to forget this in paranormal investigations. What distinguishes a good paranormal investigation is whether or not the team completes all three steps. This reminds me of the story about the little red hen.

In the children’s story of the Little Red Hen, none of the other farm animals would help the hen plant the wheat seed, cultivate the garden, harvest the wheat, grind the wheat, or bake the bread but, everyone was eager to eat the bread. Paranormal investigation can be like the Little Red Hen’s predicament everyone is eager investigate, but when it comes to reviewing the hours of material, that takes self discipline and team work too.

If seven investigators comb a house for two hours with video cameras, infa-red systems, and voice recorders, the work creates twenty-one hours of material to review. If all seven take a part the review is done in three hours. That's about two pizzas, and soft drinks at someone's house If only one person does the review it takesl twenty-one hours, but no matter the task takes 21 hours. After analyzing the evidence for relevance (unexplained events) the selected parts are placed into a draft review format for internal audit. Sometimes our investigators inadvertently add something that may appear paranormal.

Creditability. May I say that again? CREDITABILITY, is like an eggshell, once cracked it is very hard to repair. During the review of revenant material everyone should have a critical eye and ear. If a piece of video or audio clip could have a mundane explanation, cut it from the final step. Creditability is damaged as paranormal investigators if we err on the side of our own prejudice. That is to say, we want to prove that ghost exist, ergo, we allow material into the final product that supports our prejudice. To prevent destroying creditability we must be our own debunker. Finally after hours of review and we finally select those parts of the evidence that past our internal litmus test, what now? We must convince our client.

We have to present our evidence in a clear, concise, and formal manner to the client. The client is a person, a stakeholder in our endeavor. The client is someone who allowed us the privilege to come into his or her home or business to conduct our investigation. I think we owe our client a good final product that includes and audio video out brief of our findings and a written report. Think about it, if you hired a private investigator to solve a crime and that investigator kept the information to him or herself or did not give you a final report how would you feel?

At the end of a paranormal investigation we owe our client a final report. A final report should contain an audiovisual presentation of the findings and a concise narrative written report. Following the client's debrief obtain the client’s permission to publish your findings. The client takes a personal and professional risk at inviting a paranormal investigating team into their home our business. Even though we live in an enlightened country, perceptions cannot be discounted. What people think can ruin a reputation or business. Never publish a report of findings until you have a release from the client. Make sure the client knows you intend to publish your findings and who may read or view the findings. This simple action helps build creditability.

Having a beginning, middle, and end to your investigation separates a professional paranormal investigation from a “Snipe Hunt.” In business there is a credo, “Always strive to become that which you pretend to be.” If we represent ourselves as paranormal investigators then we must adhere to accepted investigation rules and codes. To do anything less or different dooms a team to failure and cast disparity on all paranormal investigators. If we accept an investigation invitation, do so in a professional manner. Know your roles and play them well and professionally. Do the homework, review the material and prepare good drafts. Get a peer review before presenting your evidence to the client. Give the client a polished final product. Beginning, middle, and end.