How we go about investigating -- from initial contact, research and physical investigation to evidence review and presentation.
2. A typical investigation begins with a phone call or email.
3. After we decide that a case will be looked into, we will make a preliminary visit to your site. At this time we will interview you, and the interview will be recorded. We may also want to interview anyone else at your site who has experienced an unexplained event related to your possible haunting.
4. During the preliminary visit we will also conduct a walkthrough. We will take base EMF and temperature readings, and look for anything that might naturally explain what is going on.
5. We will then set up a date with you to come back for the investigation. We will do the investigation at your convenience day or night, but for best results we would prefer to do it when the most activity is reported. Depending on the size of your investigation, we may be there a minimum of three hours or as long as an entire evening (or more). The length of our stay is pre-arranged with you.
6. Before your investigation, we will gather whatever historical data about your site that is available.
7. We approach investigations scientifically, which means we don't use psychics or run on "feelings", and we try to correlate any data or personal experiences with other data. We do not simply show up with cameras and voice recorders and call that "science". If, for example, you report a shaking bed we will check the bed, the floor, nearby windows, etc. We will then hypothesize what could make the bed shake. We will try out various hypothesis, record it on video and note the results. If we can find a natural explanation, we will present it to you (and sometimes demonstrate). If the rest of the investigation yields no "paranormal" events then we will conclude that there are a number of naturally occurring factors combining to create a false haunting. If we cannot come up with a natural explanation, we file it under "unexplainable". At the end of the investigation, if we have a large amount of unexplainable events, along with audio/video evidence we lean towards paranormal.
8. We will set up equipment around areas where activity is reported. We use video cameras, digital cameras, voice recorders, EMF meters, temperature readers, and motion sensors. When we record for EVPs we always have two voice recorders running at
the same time so we can cross reference, and we have a video camera
recording us with everybody sitting so they're in frame and facing the camera. We begin every investigation by allowing a half an hour of controlled
silence so that we can document the regular sounds the building makes, then when we're ready to start recording we sit together and have everyone identify themselves into the recorder. If anyone makes a sound or hears something that could later be mistaken as an EVP, we say "that was a stomach" or "that was me shifting" into the recorder. When we get an unusual EMF spike or temperature fluctuation, we look for where it's coming from. We try to eliminate all the possibilities, and if we can't find the source we don't jump to conclusions, we just make a note of it. We also do not present orbs or mists as evidence and we are familiar with the different kinds of camera defects.
10. Please only have one or two people there including yourself or your representative. Do not invite your friends or neighbors to observe us as there really is nothing to see, and if there are extra people it tends to get in the way. If there are too many unnecessary people or distractions, it makes it impossible to do a proper investigation and we may pack up and leave early.
11. We may ask you to stay in one area for the duration of the investigation and not walk around or have people come and go, because we will have motion sensors and other equipment set up.
12. We will be recording for EVP and we need everybody to be quiet, so we will ask you to please keep talking to a minimum. If you need to say something, please talk at your normal volume and never whisper. Whispers can be mistaken for EVPs.
13. Please do not have any children present as paranormal investigations may frighten them or they may get in the way.
14. Please no smoking during the investigation.
15. We will ask that you turn off cell phones and unplug any electrical appliances you don't need to have on. These things give off electromagnetic readings that can give us false positives on our EMF meters.
16. If there is any taking of illegal substances during our investigation, we will pack up and leave the premises immediately.
17. If we find evidence of a hoax, tricks or a prank, we will leave immediately and will not even mention your site as something we investigated.
18. After your investigation, over the course of the next several days we will analyze our data and go over and compare video and audio recordings. We will get back to you usually within about two weeks and set up a date for us to come back to do a review. We will give you a written report and a CD containing copies of any findings.
19. If you (the client) are having us investigate your property so that you can promote it as being "haunted", we are *not* going to state that it is haunted when we feel it is not. We are in this field because we care about honest paranormal research, not because we want to help promote a business. If we feel a place is haunted, we will say so. If we feel a place is NOT haunted, we will also say so.
20. Often one visit isn't enough to make a final conclusion, and we may request one or more follow up visits.
21. We do not do "cleansings". If you decide you think you want a cleansing, we will help you find someone.
22. We reserve the right to share any evidence recorded publicly as long as we do not give your name or where the evidence was obtained.
If you are interested in having a paranormal investigation conducted at your site, please visit our contact page. We look forward to hearing from you!