Para-Tech: Cool Tools of the Trade

When it comes to paranormal shows and movies a must-have are the nifty gadgets and gizmos that light up, beep, have dials and readouts, and measure all sorts of fancy-named things.

By flashing pictures of folks on screen using these, and of course making sure they yell when they do happen to beep, it adds that bit of suspense for the viewer and leaves you wondering when, and if, they are going to go off. And when, and if, they do… that surely means that a ghost is present, right? If that’s what you like to believe, read no further. But if you want the real answers (which are, in my opinion, more interesting) than read on!

Now, I’m the first to admit I’m a technology aficionado (also known as a “techie” or, plainly, a “geek”) and I love experimenting with and getting my hands on any of the high-tech “toys” that might be useful in paranormal research. Let’s face it, who doesn’t want to have the opportunity to walk around with night vision goggles, or get to view things using a thermographic imager? Yes, it may not be as cool sounding as a Ghostbusters “Proton Pack,” or a “Psycho-Kinetic Energy meter” that runs on “giga-electronvolts,” but it’s the closest thing we have to “ecto-goggles.”

And there are certain positive parts to using something that’s not “carrying an unlicensed nuclear accelerator” on your back. So while the tools of the trade that we do have might not be as fancy-dancy-sounding as those Hollywood creations, they are in fact pretty interesting and far more practical - not to mention, reasonably affordable.

The most important thing to understand about the equipment we use on investigations is that, despite many claims online (including “Ghost Hunting Stores” that sell these items) nothing in our toolbox was ever invented specifically for paranormal investigations. There is no “ghost meter” or “UFO detector” produced or marketed by any [real and legitimate] companies. And actual researchers wouldn’t use something that claimed to be for that purpose, as we know there’s no such thing.

What we can do, however, is employ equipment that has been invented for other purposes which can be applied to examining paranormal claims. This equipment detects the known, rather than the unknown, but that helps us to rule out other possibilities. Additionally, if equipment detects an anomaly somewhere that it shouldn’t be, or that there is no explanation for it, than that is something to consider as potentially unusual.  

There are really three aspects of technology we use: documentation, detection, and analysis. Documentation involves recording activity at a location, which is uses everything from video, to photographs, to audio. This involves night vision cameras, thermographic imagers, time-lapse cameras, digital and analog recording devices, etc.

When you get to detection, you get into the gadgets that most people see on TV with the blinking lights and beeps. What this equipment identifies are changes or anomalies in things such as the electric, magnetic, and radio fields. Why is this important? Well, many paranormal experiences (be them ghost, UFO, or even psychic claims) are associated with unusual happenings such as electronics going haywire, the feeling of “hair standing up on the back of your neck,” and more. Some of this is believed to be attributed to changes in the electromagnetic (EMF) or radio frequency (RF) fields. And that’s something that we can detect using equipment.

And, lastly, you have the analysis technology. This is something you rarely see demonstrated on TV because of the amount of effort it takes. It’s not enough to just get a strange photograph, a recording of an unusual sound, or even video of something that appears out of the ordinary. These things need to be analyzed closely, and to do that we use software and hardware used by the television, music, and radio industry.

If all of this doesn’t identify a paranormal event, than what does it show? All of these fancy meters detect existing forms of energy, but when they demonstrate unexplainable fluctuations in places that there shouldn’t be, it makes us look a little deeper. As an example, many people who claim encounters with ghosts say they feel sudden cold spots when activity seems to occur. Using thermometers and other thermal detection devices, we can identify if there are cold spots at a location, and if so, if there is any explanation for them. Even if a thermal change is identified, it doesn’t mean that it is in fact a ghost, but it gives us another thing that we are able to cross of the list of being checked for.

And that’s what all this sophisticated equipment allows us to do – eliminate the “knowns.” If we can eliminate the things that may be causing activity that seems unusual and can be identified, but yet that activity remains, than it is far more worthwhile and intriguing to consider that perhaps there is something more at work than simply a draft in a house, exposure to electromagnetic fields, or other easily-rationalized issues.

Likewise, if we are able to identify a non-paranormal cause to a claim of unusual circumstances, than we feel equally validated. So, while our tools of the trade may not be as spiffy as Hollywood had imagined, and it involves a lot more scientific and technical know-how that is depicted on TV, the things we have are still fascinating and helpful (and are enough to keep any geek happy for a few moments at least).