EVP contamination and the Ghost Hunters

It will probably come as no surprise that my wife and I enjoy watching the hit Sci-Fi show Ghost Hunters when we can manage it. One of the more interesting pieces of evidence they often capture is called an "EVP" (Electronic Voice Phenomenon). They are often able to produce one or more spooky voices saying this or that (or nothing in particular at all) even when they have had no personal experiences or caught anything on video. (I can only imagine how sick Jason, Grant, and Steve are of explaining the idea behind EVPs to the camera in their headquarters from fifteen different angles for each show.)

I came across an interesting point on this subject in one of Phillip Imbrogno's book's: While investigating an interesting EVP, he was able to recreate the phenomenon by using a radio transmitter hidden in the vicinity of his analog recorder. He notes that this method even added a strange and spooky tone to the recording (and probably mucked up TV reception for a whole block).

Now, I understand that this is nothing new, and it seems to affect both analog and digital recorders. The idea of RF contamination of EVPs is something I hadn't encountered before though (grad school tends to keep one away from the most detailed of paranormal reading). Some researchers are now actively countering this concern with experiments and safeguards, such as constructing RF proof containers for their equipment. To the credit of the researchers and the EVP phenomenon, voices and sounds are still being entered into evidence, even in RF free environments.

I find it strange, though, that TAPS has yet to even mention RF contamination as a possible problem, and certainly has taken no obvious steps against it (I've seen every episode through the first half of season four). The only hint of concern I've thus far been able to detect was a very minor one. I noticed recently that in the episode where they first introduce their technical development man (Ron Milione, I believe) that he demonstrates a new EMF meter. If you look on the meter itself, you can see that it also has a setting to detect RF. This was never demonstrated nor discussed, and I noticed that those particular models seemed to disappear from the show in relatively short order.

I would think that they would be concerned, since the opportunity for hoaxing is obviously a real issue. In fact, if I knew that they were going to be in my area, I would be tempted to rig up a device similar to Imbrogno's and have some fun. I would love to see the look on their faces when they heard "Dude! Run!" or "We're from TAPS, we're here to help!" or “Jason Hawes wears women’s underwear!” appear on their recorders.

There are two points in particular that lead me to think TAPS should be more cautious: First, presuming the best and most noble intentions on the part of each individual TAPS member, there are still plenty of people who would definitely gain from successfully hoaxing them. From simply members of the public wanting attention to "haunted" tourist traps (i.e. the Moss Beach Distillery and the Queen Mary) to the show's own producers, many people have every motive to hoax TAPS right out of their pants. Second, since TAPS doesn't have the ability to completely control or even fully examine the environment in which their investigations take place, subtle hoaxing would be quite practical. I believe that it would even be possible to hoax the all-powerful "responsive EVP" using equipment available on eBay and of course at Radio Shack.

(A "responsive EVP" is the Holy Grail of EVP work. It involves a hidden voice on a recorder responding directly to the questions or actions of an investigator. This would obviously, in theory, virtually rule out the possibility of random contamination or misunderstandings.)

So, if I wanted to pull it off, how would I do it?

I would need access to the premises and a map of the location (I'm presuming it would be a house or other modern structure with drywall and hollow walls.). I would hardwire small boom microphones into several "haunted" locations. The fine art of hiding microphones has been well developed, and as for the wires, they would need to be run through the walls and under the attic insulation (a very easy job for anyone with even the slightest electrical experience). I would also use telephone wire, which would be even less noticeable. Since I've yet to see any member of TAPS knock down any drywall, there would be no fear of discovery. Hardwiring the mikes would prevent any chance of TAPS own equipment picking up on their transmissions.

Next, I would need to develop a way to get my phony EVPs onto the TAPs equipment. (Here, I get a little fuzzy, since this is definitely not my area of expertise, but since when has expertise mattered in the blogosphere?) One answer to this would be to wire in one or two of the many small, portable RF transmitters that are available. I would open up an obscure section of drywall, place the transmitter inside (wired near an existing electrical item, like an outlet box, that could obscure or explain away the transmitter's EM signature), and close it up again. If I didn't want to risk that (or if they cut the power), it might also be possible to construct a powerful single direction RF transmitter that could be used to focus on a single room (I'm not sure how this would affect their walkies). I believe it might even be possible to gut an old stereo and modify its circuitry to transmit instead of receive. If wired properly, it could just sit in the room transmitting when told to, and go unnoticed.

All of these wires would be collected at a sensible point and routed through a small trench to either a locked outbuilding (with its own power supply, independent of the main house) or even over to a neighbor's property. As long as you aren't digging up grass or breaking concrete (in which case you would have to leave more time before TAPS arrived), one hard rainstorm would obliterate evidence of your digging.

It’s vague speculation, but I would guess this part of the hoax could be pulled off for as little at $200. That would be money well spent for people who make their living from owning and promoting a “haunted” location.

There would still be a little more prep work for the paranoid at heart: I would watch the various episodes of Ghost Hunters to identify what type of equipment they use, especially the equipment I don’t want to affect (i.e. IR cameras, walkie talkies, phones, etc.), and test my set up on each of them. That would allow me to fiddle with the transmission frequency so that I would be most likely to get hits on their recording media, without interfering with their communications and thereby making someone suspicious.

So, how would it work? It would be a simple matter of waiting for the TAPS EVP sweep to come through, hearing the question posed through the mike, and then responding appropriately. If the transmission was garbled or incomplete, so much the better. In theory, any odd EMF (electromagnetic field) readings would be blamed on bad house wiring, which at worst would cause them to toss out their EMF evidence (the weakest, in my opinion) and best would have Steve and company chasing my transmitter signal around the room only to be amazed when it disappears entirely. With an extra dose of luck, it could become an “EMF spike” and taken as further evidence that the house was haunted.

Presuming I leave nothing obvious lying about (like the box for the transmitter) there are only three practical ways for TAPS to catch me, that I can think of:

• If my signals bleed over into the transmission and reception range of other equipment, TAPS or otherwise. I think that would just be a risk that I would have to accept, though I would do everything I could to minimize it.

• TAPS suddenly becomes much more invasive in their investigations than they have heretofore been. They would need to go digging in the yard, demanding entry into locked buildings, knocking into walls, or ripping out insulation at random places. Given the need to maintain their reputation, this just won’t happen. After all, who would invite a ghost hunting group that would destroy any location they visited?

• Finally, they would need to keep detailed time logs of significant EMF spikes and EVPs. Upon comparison, it might be possible to connect the EMF spike from my transmissions to the recorded EVP. To date, I’ve seen no evidence that they even keep specific logs of either phenomenon, or try to compare them. They might, but maybe that’s a deleted scene.

My guess is that TAPS knows full well the implications of their EVP gathering techniques. Apparently, these contamination issues have been discussed and argued in the field since at least 1975, so I find it hard to believe they’ve just missed it, like I did. But after all, whatever its origins, TAPS is now a dual purpose group: They accumulate paranormal evidence and they provide fodder for a series of TV shows that people will only watch if interesting things happen.
At least some of those things must be paranormal.

At the same time, I hate to think ill of them. After all, there's only so much technical jargon you can bring in and still keep the show interesting. I do hope, however, that they at least mention how they address this somewhat gaping hole in their EVP credibility.