Seeking Beyond Paranormal

Ghost Hunting Equipment

There are a multitude of tools ghost hunters use to aid their investigations. Some tools are repurposed, pre-existing items that operate on known scientific principles and detect naturally occurring phenomena, while other tools are tailor-made for ghost hunting and operate on the numerous theories about paranormal phenomena. Investigators use this equipment in two ways: To help debunk activity when possible, and to provide additional context for our experiences during investigations. Select each of the three categories below to see what we use.

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Flashlight — Yep. Just a regular flashlight, particularly the smaller, twist-on/twist-off style flashlight. This style flashlight is a common ghost hunting tool for getting interactive responses. The theory is, by twisting the flashlight so that it's just barely on and then backing it off a bit, a spirit can manipulate it easily to turn it on or off. Further, by establishing what on and off mean (i.e., yes and no), or by using multiple flashlights, investigators can have simple conversations with spirits. We got ours on Amazon, but they can be found anywhere that sells flashlights.

EMF Detector — EMF stands for Electromagnetic Field. A predominate theory in the world of paranormal research is that spirits need, use, or otherwise interact through manipulating various types of energy, particularly electromagnetic energy. These tools are the same basic hardware as electricians' EMF probes, but are typically repackaged in smaller, more consumer-friendly casings. Once activated, EMF detectors are able to detect nearby electromagnetic fields within a certain Milligauss range. Typically, ghost hunting EMF detectors have LED indicators on them, and some might also audibly buzz or beep. We got ours on Pro-Measure.com.

REM Pod — These are purpose-built pieces of ghost hunting hardware, though similar technology can be used for trip-wire sensors or similar functionality. The "REM" part stands for "Radiating ElectroMagneticity," and it is kind of the counterpart to the EMF detector. An antenna on the device emits a small EMF field around it, often only a couple inches in diameter. If anything (physical or otherwise) interrupts that field, LEDs on the device light up and a buzzer sounds off. We got ours on Pro-Measure.com.

Cat Ball — These are literally just cat toys that light up when they detect impact. The sensor inside is sensitive enough to detect fairly light impact, so they are ideal for kinetic energy types of testing during paranormal investigations. The theory behind it is that since the sensor is highly sensitive, it shouldn't take a lot of energy for a spirit to interact with it. They have become so ubiquitous in paranormal investigation that online shops are even beginning to market them as ghost hunting equipment. We got ours on Amazon in a 6-pack for fairly cheap.

Laser Grid — There are several form factors of this device available these days, but ours is the more traditional laser pointer style. The core element of the laser grid is a projected laser filtered through a cap that splits it into an adjustable grid of dots. These are used as a visual aid when watching for movement or filming an environment. Should something move around inside the space in which the laser is projected, the lasers will be interrupted and you'll see the laser dots move about in space. We got ours as a gift from a family member who works with the Wichita Paranormal Research Society, but you can find a similar one available at GhostStop.

Voice Recorder — One of the more famous pieces of ghost hunting equipment is the voice recorder. For decades, recording equipment of all types had been found to pick up unintended audio. Currently, the best voice recorder known for picking up EVP (electronic voice phenomena) is the Panasonic RR-DR60 from the late 1990s. When Panasonic put these out, users were finding "extra voices" in the recordings, audio that wasn't present at the time of recording. These users are thought have been unwittingly picking up EVPs of a paranormal nature. Panasonic then put out a "fixed" version, and the DR60 then became the rare, must-have voice recorder. You can find them on eBay for a few thousand dollars. We don't have that kind of money, so we got an Olympus WS-852 from GhostStop instead, as recommended by a family member who works with the Wichita Paranormal Research Society.

Spirit Box / Estes Method — You may find specific products called "Spirit Boxes," but the term refers to radio-derived devices used for purportedly picking up audio influenced by spirits. They originated as regular radios that had been modified to cycle through stations rapidly, and have since evolved into purpose-built, hand-held devices with tunable features. Much like the theory of spirits interacting with EMF energy, the theory here is that spirits might be able to communicate through radio frequency. Spirit Boxes can be used well enough with the built-in speaker, but in recent years the Estes Method has added a few more elements. The Estes Method was created by Karl Pfeiffer at the Stanley Hotel (in Estes Park, Colorado) as an alternate means of using a Spirit Box by integrating sensory deprivation. The idea is that the user can focus more fully on the radio static audio, and some investigators think the sensory deprivation helps induce a trance-like state where the user's perception of the audio is more effective. We got our Spirit Box from GhostStop with noise cancelling headphones and blackout sleep masks from Amazon.

XLS Camera — We've known about the SLS Camera for quite a while now, but we recently discovered there is an upgraded model. The earlier incarnation, the SLS Camera, operates by using the onboard Xbox Kinect camera hardware to detect human forms and track their overall body movements as it would normally in Xbox Kinect games. However, instead of providing controls/instructions from that tracked movement to the Xbox operating system, the SLS Camera software instead projects that form onto a visual, 2-dimensional slate that can be viewed on screen in realtime. As expected, it tracks humans wonderfully, but if it tracks the human form when someone is NOT in front of the camera, that's when it gets interesting. One major flaw, though, is that the SLS camera software can show false positives if the Kinect camera's IR beams hit a reflective surface. That's where this upgraded model, the XLS Camera, comes in. The XLS adds an additional bit of hardware and software, integrating a LiDAR feature that introduces 3D mapping into the mix. Instead of a 2-dimensional visual projection, the screen now displays a 3-dimensional space with depth data. Not only does the 3D mapping help in showing where a figure might be in better spacial context, it can significantly reduce the false positives that might show up on an SLS Camera by discerning whether the incoming IR data is a human figure or just noise across multiple surfaces. We got this from Horn Paranormal, and we even had them customize it with our name embedded in the 3D printed shell.

Seeking Beyond Paranormal