As of 10/15/10, the Northern Utah Paranormal Society has merged with the Paranormal Investigations Team of Utah, the TAPS family team for Utah.  The PI-Team’s long time Director, Michael Zimmer has stepped down to concentrate more on his writing, and recent very exciting developments for him.   I have considered Michael a friend and mentor for the last couple of years, he was always willing to give me advice, encouragement and invite NUPS on joint investigations.

While I am thrilled for Michael with this new opportunity he’s been given (I don’t want to say too much because I don’t know how much he wants to publicize!), and I’m so happy to merge two absolutely awesome teams, I’m sad that he had to give up what I know is something that he absolutely loves doing.

In the upcoming weeks/months things on the NUPS website will start to disappear as they are moved to the PI-Team site.  I’ve enjoyed every minute of NUPS from its inception at the Layton library until now.  I think I can speak for all of the NUPS members when I say that we are so excited to move foward as the PI-Team and hope that all of our fans will continue to follow our adventures!

-Jennifer ~ Founder

Anyone interested in the paranormal will have at some point heard the phrase, EMF or Electromagnetic Field. But what is it really? What does it have to do with anything paranormal? How can you use a EMF detector to help in your paranormal investigations?

EMF by its technical definition is a area of electrically charged particles. Changes in the electromagnetic field are quite common and can be caused many different things, including common things found in your house. Power outlets in your house, especially your circuit breaker can cause large fluctuations in the EMF level. Especially if your house is older and is using unshielded wires. Electronics, such as televisions, computers, microwaves, and cell phones can all cause fluctuations in the EMF level as well. There is some debate, and on going research into the possibility of harmful effects of high levels of EMF radiation. While no conclusive studies have been done, some people report effects such as headaches, anxiety, nausea, and depression. For the most part, they are not something to worry about. You don’t come across high enough levels in your average day to cause any harm.

But what do EMF levels have to do with anything in the paranormal? A common theory among paranormal researchers is that spirits tend to feed off of energy. Many times when investigators are experiencing paranormal activity, they will experience a phenomena known as battery drain. A fully charged, or mostly charged set of batteries will suddenly go dead. So what does this have to do with EMF levels? Well EMF levels and energy are directly related. A fluctuation in the residual energy of the area will also affect the level of the magnetic field. So one way to measure localized energy fields during an investigation, is to measure the local magnetic field. Sudden fluctuations in the field could potentially mean the presence of some type of paranormal activity. By using an EMF detector, we can detect real time changes in the magnetic field, and in conjunction with other experiences and evidence, can help to verify and confirm the potential presence of a ghost. EMF detectors are a relatively cheap, and very important piece of equipment used in the study of the paranormal. So the next time you are looking for some new gear to help in your studies, be sure to check out some EMF detectors!

We are contacted frequently by people who think their house or workplace is haunted.  Often times there are reasonable non-paranormal explanations for what they’re experiencing.  Here are some tips to help you figure out if you should call in paranormal investigators or not.

• Keep a log of your experiences including date, time and a brief description of what happens – This will allow you to notice any common factors such as time of day, time of year, or location of the activity.
• Try to find reasonable explanations for the activity – Do you have noisy pipes or drafty windows/doors?  Are noises you hear possibly coming from outside or through your air vents?
• Research your location – Although usually you won’t turn up anything eventful, it’s still a good idea to see what you can find and can give you useful info on previous owners.
• Examine your personal life – Are you under a lot of stress at work or home?  Are there family problems that are causing contention in the home?  Have you been ill lately?  Are you taking any new medications?

After you’ve kept a log for a given period of time, and occurrences are still happening that you can’t explain it might be worth contacting a paranormal group to see if they can help.

With Cameras being the major tool of the paranormal investigators kit, it’s important to recognize common anomalies as well as paranormal anomalies.   In this article, I will go over the most common types of Common anomalies i.e.: false positives you’ll encounter while on an investigation.

Let’s start with orbs.   First, most paranormal groups feel about orbs the same way, and a lot of groups have adopted the TAPS reasoning behind them. (For information about the TAPS belief on orbs, read this article)

Dust:

Photo Credit: Mike Bench

As you can see, this picture has countless orbs.  How do you tell the paranormal, from the normal?  Most often a true paranormal orb will emit a light of its own, be iridescent, perfectly round, and semi transparent.  When using a flash on your camera, you will almost certainly drown out any self radiant orb’s light.  That is, unless you catch its light reflecting off of another surface.

Photo Credit:  John

In the picture above, you should be able to pick out more dust orbs.  You can start to see the difficulty involved in identifying true orbs.   Some tricks include taking a series of photographs in succession of each other.  This will help produce a movement path to the orbs.  But again, you need to pay careful attention.  If the orbs all move in the same direction, chances are they are dust, but if one orb out of a group moves in an opposite, or different direction, then you may just have something.

Moisture:

Compare the following pictures:

Photo Credit:  John

In the above image, you’ll notice how vibrant and bright the orbs are, either I had the gates to purgatory open in my kitchen, or it’s raining.  In the following picture, you’ll notice just a couple orbs, nothing like the above image.  Both pictures were taken near simultaneously, with two different cameras; the above was taken with an Olympus point and shoot, the other a Pentax Isl/dsl camera sporting an 80-75mm lens.

One way to reduce the number of false positive orbs is to use a camera that has an interchangeable lens, or has the ability to use a remote flash.  The reason behind this is that the closer the flash is to the bare end of the lens, the more false positives you get.  The difference between these two photos?  The point and shoot only had 1 and a half inch distance between the lens and the flash, where as the Pentax had a good 6 inches plus between the flash and lens.

Photo Credit: John

By using a remote flash, you increase the distance between it and the lens, that way the flash, when it goes off, isn’t illuminating the dust and other particulates directly in front of the lens itself.

Here is another example of moisture captured on camera:

Photo Credit:  John

While where on the topic of moisture, be aware that many factors can go into a false positive, variations on hue’s and tones of the subject,  fire or smoke damage can change the color of paint and cloth,  so can water as evident in the next image.

Photo Credit:  Jennifer Doane

Moving entities:

Every so often you see a pic of a moving entity, or orb on a paranormal site.   It makes you wonder if any debunking was tried at all. In this picture, you’ll see what looks like a bright moving orb when in reality it’s just hair.

Photo Credit:  John

Often you’ll see this same effect in other pictures, Spider webs for one, when unfocused and a picture taken up close will have a multi-orb movement path effect. Same with hair, here is another example of Hair in the way.  You can see that it really does look like an orb in flight.

Photo Credit:  John

Mirrors:

Mirrors often pose a lot of problems when photographed, they cast light reflections, smudges show up and imperfections in the glass and silver layering on the back of the mirror shows up.

In this Image, you can clearly see the smudges, but also the imperfections in the mirror.  Notice in the lower left the light reflection being cast, and the lens flare.  Too often are these categorized as paranormal when in reality they are anything but.

Photo Credit:  John

In the next image, you can barely see some dark smudges.  These are actually located between the glass and the silver coating.

Photo Credit:  John

Lens flare & Camera glare:

This is another common cause of false positives.  Reflections of the flash can come from anything semi-glossy to mirrored. Look at this example.  The shape of the orb has some pretty straight edges. Same as the red outline around it. And the orb to its left also carries the same shape.  Because of its hex shape we can safely assume that it’s a reflection.

Photo Credit:  Suzie Berg

What causes this shape?  It is caused by the shape of the iris in the camera lens.  As the glare passes into the lens, it’s partially blocked by the edges of the iris, producing this shape.  This hex shape can vary in width; it may be elongated, squashed, short, fat, tall, or thin. It may appear as a really bright orb, or in this case, a faded orb.   Most often if you notice more than one of these particularly shaped orbs, you can track them back to its source, in this case there are two orbs of the same shape, so by tracking backwards from the largest orb to the smaller, we can safely say that the plastic wrap on the lamp shade is what caused this lens flare.

Black Vortex:

A lot of images like this come up, with varying degrees of transparency, and contrast.  And in this image it even looks as if it’s casting a shadow on the ceiling.  All it is in reality is the camera strap; most often times you can actually make out the pattern made by the threading in the cords.

Photo Credit: John

There are many other types of false positives out there.  Most importantly, getting to know your camera and adjusting its settings for the conditions is critical.  Often times a long shutter delay will be used to capture the most light in a dark situation.  Though this can produce some high quality photos, often times a tripod is needed to reduce blurring items not in the focus zone of the camera (this can lead to a person in the background appearing as a flesh colored blur while the subject of the photo is in focus) on the other hand, a fast shutter speed, reduces the quality of the shot, but eliminates the need for a tripod.

In short, when photographing during an investigation, it’s important to know your environment, make note of the weather conditions, check the pollen counts for the area, and do a little debunking while at the scene.  Often check your pic’s for anything out of the norm, and if you spot something, try and do a little on scene debunking.   Hopefully this little guide will help reduce the number of false positives that are often seen in the paranormal scene.

Ever wondered how the investigative process works?  Curious as to how NUPS handles an investigation from beginning to end?  Check out our Investigative Process to learn more.

If you’re interested in the paranormal, you’ve undoubtedly come across various photos that claim to be paranormal.  The problem is how to determine a picture that is truly paranormal from one that just looks spooky.  Out of the hundreds or even thousands of spooky looking pictures, I can guarantee you that very, very few are actually paranormal.

When I am looking at a purportedly paranormal picture the first thing I try to determine is what about the picture is the person or group claiming to be paranormal?  Is it an orb, a shadow, or maybe even a ghostly looking figure?

The most popular type of paranormal pictures are those that contain orbs.  While some orb photos might look spooky, the vast majority (if not all) are most definitely not paranormal.  In order for NUPS to deem an orb paranormal it must be visible by the naked eye.  We have been actively investigating for over 2 years and we have only experienced this phenomena once.  During a recent investigation two of our investigators witnessed small, colorful balls of light moving through the air inside a building at separate times.  These most certainly would’ve qualified to us as paranormal orbs, but unfortunately there weren’t captured on film.

Smudges on the camera lens can also cause spooky pictures.  Most often smudges cause a smoky or mist like effect.  While this may or may not be easily discernible by someone who is simply looking at the pictures on the Internet, it is easily caught by the person taking the pictures.  When taking pictures while investigating a location, you should always take a series of three or more shots.  This serves as a type of control.  If you have an anomaly show up in all of the pictures it is most likely something explainable like a lens smudge.  However, if out of four shots the anomaly only shows up in one or two, it could possibly be paranormal.  Another way to tell if your anomaly is caused by something on your lens is to see if it is in the same location in every shot.  You would be surprised how a tiny hair or speck of dust on a lens can make a picture look creepy.

Another explainable cause of smoky/misty forms are obvious.  Was someone smoking nearby when the picture was taken or was it cold outside and you’re seeing their breath?  Whether done to purposefully try and fool people, or not, most smoke and mist in spooky pictures have normal explanations.  This is one reason why it is very important to make sure that no one is smoking during an investigation, and that you make sure to note the weather conditions.  If you capture a mist outside in the middle of August on a clear night, you might have something paranormal.  But if it’s January and five below, it is most likely the photographer’s breath.

That leaves us with pictures that contain ghostly looking people or shapes.  Shadows are often captured in paranormal pictures, as seen in the image below.  This picture was captured while NUPS conducted an investigation of an old medical clinic that was being used as a store.  We were down in the basement where a lot of activity was reported holding an EVP session when one of our investigators reported feeling suddenly sick to her stomach and feeling as if something touched her neck.  Another investigator took a series of three shots directly above her.  While all three contained the dark shape, this shape changed with each shot.  We have ruled out the possibility of a lens smudge because the investigator took approximately 200 shots that night and there were no anomalies in the other shots.   We have ruled out the possibility of this being a shadow because there was nothing else in that area that could have cast such a shadow and the density of the shadow itself is just odd.

Dark black mass located in upper left hand corner of picture.

One of the tools used by a lot of paranormal investigators is EXIF data.  EXIF data is “Exchangeable Image File” data, and tells you a lot about the photograph.  You can view the EXIF data by right clicking on the photograph and choosing “properties”, you can also use an EXIF viewer, Firefox has a great one.

Here is what the EXIF data looks like for the above photograph:

Exif Sub IFD

* Exposure Time (1 / Shutter Speed) = 1/30 second ===> 0.03333 second
* Lens F-Number / F-Stop = 45/10 ===> ƒ/4.5
* Exposure Program = normal program (2)
* ISO Speed Ratings = 800
* Exif Version = 0221
* Original Date/Time = 2006:02:09 12:04:22
* Digitization Date/Time = 2006:02:09 12:04:22
* Shutter Speed Value (APEX) = 4906891/1000000
Shutter Speed (Exposure Time) = 1/30 second
* Aperture Value (APEX) = 433985/100000
Aperture = ƒ/4.5
* Exposure Bias (EV) = 0/10 ===> 0
* Metering Mode = pattern / multi-segment (5)
* Flash = Flash fired, compulsory flash mode
* Focal Length = 18/1 mm ===> 18 mm
* Colour Space = 65535
* Image Width = 3008 pixels
* Image Height = 2008 pixels
* Image Sensing Method = one-chip color area sensor (2)
* Image Source = digital still camera (DSC)
* Scene Type = directly photographed image
* Colour Filter Array (CFA) Geometric Pattern = 0×02,0×00,0×02,0×00,0×00,0×01,0×01,0×02
* Custom Rendered = normal process (0)
* Exposure Mode = auto exposure (0)
* White Balance = manual (1)
* Focal Length in 35mm Film = 27
* Scene Capture Type = standard (0)
* Contrast = normal (0)
* Saturation = normal (0)
* Sharpness = normal (0)
* Subject Distance Range = distant view (3)

The reason that EXIF data is so useful is because it can tell you things such as the time and date of the shot, what type of camera was used (point and click vs. 35mm), how long the shutter was left open, etc.  If you have a photograph of a light anomaly, using EXIF will be able to tell you if there is a possible natural cause to the anomaly such as a slow shutter speed.

As you can now see there are quite a few ways to logically think about possible paranormal photographs.  NUPS would much rather try to come up with a reasonable, non-paranormal explanation for things than to just immediately declare something paranormal.

As paranormal researchers, we are often used to strange looks when we talk about our interest in ghosts. However interest in the paranormal is growing, with many studies say one out of three people believe in ghosts. All of us involved in this research have at one time or another gotten questions about why we believe ghosts exist. Many of us have different answers; whether it is from some personal experience, from our upbringing, or just from personal beliefs. Many people out there are very skeptical about the possibilities of ghosts, and rightfully so. It’s hard for people to believe in things they can not see or hear. However there are many reasons to believe in ghosts.

For example, roughly three out of four people believe in God. Many organized religions preach about a soul, or spirit of the human body. And many of those religions talk about an afterlife, where the spirit is supposed to go after death. But what if those spirits are somehow trapped here on Earth? There are many theories about how this can happen. They range from the spirit getting trapped here by attachment to people, places, or objects. Some say the spirit leaves a lasting “impression” on a place or object. Some say that they are trapped because of some business they needed to complete before moving on to a final resting place. Even that they are trapped here because the spirit refuses to believe that is has died, and will not fully pass on.

However these theories are tied into a strong belief in God, a soul, and an afterlife. What of the other 25% of the world that doesn’t believe in God? Is it still possible to believe in ghosts? Absolutely, and here is a possible scientific explanation as to how ‘ghosts’ might exist. The ‘law of conservation of energy’ states that the total amount of energy in a system remains constant. Therefore, energy cannot be created or destroyed. Tie that in with Einstein’s ‘theory of relativity’, which shows that energy is associated with mass (the famous e=mc²), and you get an interesting idea. Our bodies are just a big bunch of energy. Between the our bodies mass, and the energy constantly present within our bodies (everything you do in life is constant energy, from your brain firing of synapses while reading this, to your heart beat, and everything in between), its safe to say we are literally full of energy. And if that energy can not be created, or more importantly in this case, destroyed, then it’s safe to say that some of this energy can possibly carry over after the body dies. What we are experiencing when we have a ghostly encounter, is the remnants of that energy. Whether the energy maintains its form, transforms to leave an imprint, or any number of other possibilities is hard to say for sure.

That’s why it’s so fascinating to research this phenomenon. Maybe, someday we will have all the evidence we need to prove once and for all the existence of ghosts. But until that time, we will keep searching for answers, searching for evidence, all the while remaining skeptical of what we find. Because if we are not skeptical in our research, we will only discredit the real evidence that we find.

On an investigation, one of the most important things a person can do is track information. Track information? Sounds like work, and a kill joy. The reason I bring this up, is that if the thousands upon thousands of paranormal groups out there tracked their data from each investigation and had a common place to upload it to, then someone out there would be able to make use of that data, thus possibly leading to new equipment that is better tuned for ghost hunting.

You don’t need to track everything; just some key vital bits of information. When a noticeable temperature drop takes place, record how much the temperature dropped from the norm, and record where it stopped. (Its always a good idea to try and rule out as much environmental factors as possible when it comes to temperature, ie: leaky windows, vents etc etc) Big temperature fluctuations are a very key point of data that needs to be tracked, many common theories suggest a cold spot is a spirit trying to manifest. And then there is a few who say a hot spot is a spirit manifesting, burning off its energy to do so.

Another item that should be tracked is weather. Popular theories suggest that threatening weather, stormy weather, or very dry conditions can cause ionization in the atmosphere, wich leads to more environmental energy that spirits can use to manifest with.

Another is the Moon. What time did it rise? What phase was it in? A few theories point to full moons being a night when spirits are more active.

Time. Date and time of anything you do should be tracked. When you start an EVP session, record the time, date and investigators present when conducting one. Also make sure you note on the recorder anytime someone that’s present makes a noise during the evp session (any type of noise, from a slight movement, to a sniffle, to outright talking by an investigator, as these can easily be mistaken for spirits on a recorder) if you have the gear, it may not be a bad idea to have a camcorder record the evp session as well, just make sure your investigators are in view of the camera.

Any type of unexplained phenomena should be recorded as well, from knocks to unexplained sounds. Record the date and time these items happen and possibly the temperature.

If you are a large enough group and you send in two or more groups into the haunt your investigating on the same night, make sure each group has a person designated to collect the data. It helps tremendously when trying to piece together events of the night.

EMF/ELF information should be tracked as well, when you have a session of high EMF activity that cant be explained keep track of it, and the time. You can simply do this with a digital recorder, and audibly track the emf info by voicing it aloud.

When listening back to your evps, and using software (such as Audacity), you can have it show you the spectral form of the recording. In spectral format, it gives you a ruler where you can make note of its Hz frequency range. This is important as spirits are often thought to only speak in certain Hz ranges. Audacity also allows you to view it in Waveform (dB) dB is the decibel range of the recording, and this may also be a key factor.

Also, at the start of the investigation it helps to keep a log of what gear is being used. This is mainly more for the group, as it helps keep track of items, so you don’t leave any behind.

If we keep to a common protocol for tracking and recording data, and sharing it with other groups, we can decipher this information and use it to our gain. It can help lead to better equipment, and better our chances of catching a place when its most active.

It also isn’t a bad idea, that If you have some timeframe between making an appointment with a haunted spot, and actually investigating that spot, to have the people keep an event diary. Any notepad would do. They could use it to make note of any unexplained event, the time and date, and temp when it happened. This is something they can do long after the investigation as well, as it should give them more insight around the happenings they are experiencing.

Written by Jennifer

When people hear the term ghost they often think of what they see in movies. That is either a giant green glob of slime, some wispy, billowing human-like figure, or even someone covered with a plain white sheet. What many people don’t realize is that paranormal investigators like to classify (or try to at least) each and every ghost that is reported or encountered. Not only do they classify them, but most paranormal investigators believe that each different type of spectre has a specific reason for looking and acting the way it does.

So how many different classifications are there you ask? Well at a minimum we believe that there are 5 main types of apparitions, with some variations among those types. These types are: Ghosts (Intelligent & Residual), Shadow People, Demons, Poltergeists and Non-Human Entities.

Ghosts both intelligent and residual, are probably the most common type of apparition we run across. Ghosts are usually the disembodied spirits of those who have passed on before us. Sometimes these ghosts are considered intelligent in that they can interact with the living and often respond to things that the living has done. An example is asking questions during an EVP session and on playback you get a direct response. Residual ghosts are more difficult to explain and understand. We look at residual ghosts as a playback of a past event, often times that of an emotionally charged event be it happy or traumatic. An example of a residual ghost is when you see the ghost at the same time of day, or when you see the ghost it doesn’t deviate from it’s path, or acknowledge your presence. While an intelligent ghost is the actual spirit of a once living person, a residual ghost is not.

Shadow people are more complex, and not as well understood as ghosts and other types of apparitions. Shadow people are usually described as being in the vague shape of a human, completely black or dark in color, with no discernable facial features. There are two main trains of thought among the paranormal community regarding shadow people. One is that they are simply ghosts that do not have enough energy to take a more detailed form, and the other is that shadow people are not ghosts at all but their own type of apparition, such as an egregore . The notion of an egregore has been around since biblical times and is best described as “group thought” which eventually takes on a mind of its own. Another hallmark of shadow people is that they are usually seen out of the corner of the eye for very brief periods.

Demons are probably the easiest to describe and cause the most misunderstandings. A lot of people mistakenly assume that all types of paranormal activity is evil in nature and caused by demons. This could not be further from the truth. Demonic hauntings make up a very, very small percentage of all reported paranormal activity. NUPS has only had one possibly demonic haunting case out of all of the investigations we have performed.

Poltergeists are interesting in that their effects are seen without actually seeing the poltergeist itself. I’ve listed the poltergeist as a type of ghost, even though poltergeists are invisible and are believed by some to be caused by subconscious psychokinesis, often times by adolescents, especially females.

Finally we have the non-human entity. When NUPS refers to a non-human entity we are referring to the ghosts of animals. There are many instances where people have experienced seeing the ghost of their dead cat, or dog.

While all of these different manifestations can be referred to as “ghosts” it makes it easier to understand what you’re up against if you can get a good idea of what type of “ghost” you’re experiencing.