T M P R G

During the course of my time spent doing paranormal research and investigations I’ve gathered a lot of recordings of EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena) and EAP (Electronic Audio Phenomena). There’s also been more than one time where, during reviewing the recordings, I wasn’t too sure if I actually was hearing something or if I was listening too hard and hearing something that wasn’t there. Don’t laugh, it happens, it’s called pareidolia.

Until this past year I had never heard of this. Wikipedia has the only definition I could find online:

Pareidolia is a psychological phenomenon involving a vague and random stimulus (often an image or sound) being perceived as significant. Common examples include seeing images of animals or faces in clouds, the man in the moon, and hearing hidden messages on records played in reverse. The word comes from the Greek para- (“beside”, “with”, or “alongside”—meaning, in this context, something faulty or wrong (as in paraphasia, disordered speech)) and eidolon (“image”; the diminutive of eidos (“image”, “form”, “shape”)). Pareidolia is a type of apophenia.

I also checked out the Webster’s online dictionary and could not find a listing.

Having discovered the wonderful word and learning what it meant, I was horrified to think that maybe the EVP/EAP I thought I had captured weren’t what I had thought they were! How could I tell?

Fortunately, the Baystate Paranormal Center located in Taunton was offering some classes specifically on the subject of EVP/EAP and how to determine if they are actual EVP/EAP. In particular we were introduced to some software developed for speech therapists that actually breaks down the recordings you have and allows you to view the formants, pitch, pulses and intensity of the vocalizations you have recorded. I’ve been using this software for a year now and have incorporated it into my review process. I don’t know how I’d gotten along without it. While I still have much to learn regarding the software; it has allowed me to discount certain recordings almost immediately.

If you’re interested in the software just do a search on “Praat” or use this link: http://www.fon.hum.uva.nl/praat/ you’ll be looking for the phonetics by computer software. I highly suggest using this to determine the validity of any EVP/EAP you think you may have captured. There are also online users’ manuals and a few groups that are dedicated to the use and interpretation of this software as it pertains to phonetics and speech patterns. Give them a look over too. The information will be over whelming at first and very technical. Practicing with the software and incorporating the users’ manuals backed up with a mini course or two in EVP/EAP are the way to go.