Ghostly Voices?

I have to admit, even before I became a horror writer I was interested in things supernatural and investigating whether they exist. As I’ve mentioned, my uncle was a “psychic minister” and for a short period reigned over the Church of I See Dead People or something or other. He also worked on a number of alien abduction cases as a hypnotherapist and age regression “expert.”

So as much as I would like to state outright this stuff exists I really am not convinced because I haven’t had definitive experiences myself or seen evidence from credible scientific sources that unequivocally makes me believe. I need more if I am going to accept the supernatural as something other than fodder for my stories. I lean towards some, yes, but I haven’t fallen off the fence yet. This is not like religion to me, which falls more into the realm of faith (though I am fascinated by the search for Noah’s Ark and that sort of thing, too and there is an over-lap). This is something I want to experience for myself and see real proof for. And in this day of digital photo altering (Lord knows I do enough of that myself when I create book cover art) and easily faked recordings, I find it even harder to accept what I “see” from some TV shows.

I enjoy Ghost Hunters and some of their evidence looks damn titillating. I want to believe it, but often I wonder about their test parameters and actual scientific accuracy. Now, I have never accompanied them on an investigation to see how they operate without the enhancements for drama the show editors obviously employ (come on, it’s a ratings-driven TV show and just how many ghostly orbs can you debunk as specks of dust or fluttering moths before nobody’s watching?) but I would like to know just how controlled their investigations actually are. I am guessing not very, but don’t get me wrong, I am a fan. The St. Augustine investigation had chills dancing down my spine.

At the same time I have to wonder about some kinds of “proof”, not only presented by them, but by any investigator of the paranormal. In particular, I’m leery of EVPs. Electronic Voice Phenomena. These are sounds electronically captured that resemble or are supposedly voices of the dead. Some are barely audible, and I think what your mind wants to hear. Others are more distinct and make you wonder. Creepy, certainly, but what exactly are they?

Obviously, I don’t have an answer, but I have a hard time accepting they are the voices of the dearly or not so dearly departed. Captured errant TV or radio signals? Glitches in tape or digital equipment that merely mock voice or words? Transmissions through quartz or other conductive substances? Fakes? Subliminal attempts by Britney Spears to take over the world?

Needless to say I have let a tape player run before, hoping to hear something. Nada. And I automatically discount anything heard in the white noise of a TV set, because that’s just too easily explained as signal bleed. Of course, if something reaches out like in Poltergeist I’m running like hell.

I guess I would need to hear a voice in my own house I recognize to accept EVPs. At the moment for me they have only slightly more credibility than orbs, which I will discuss in another blog.

So what about you? Do you believe they are the voices of the dead? Or just natural phenomena mistaken for something otherworldly?