H.R.P.R.G. Members Area
Information for Ghost Hunt Leaders
As a ghost hunt leader you will make decisions for your team. Your team
will have four to six members. You can choose when and where your
ghost hunts will be held. In the past we have held ghost hunts on Saturday
evenings and about once a month but if you or your team would prefer a
different night or to have ghost hunts more often that is your choice. Just
remember that you are the leader and you make the final decisions. It
won't be possible to please everybody so don't allow team member A
to talk you into changing your chosen night to another so they can attend
because chances are team member B will have a party to go to and will
want it to switch it to this date. In other words your chosen date and time
is not negotiable. If someone can't make it then tell them you hope they
can make the next event. Something we have had success with in the
past is scheduling events on a regular basis such as the first Saturday
of every month or whatever you choose.
Safety
Please always remind your team members that H.R.P.R.G. is not
responsible for accidents or injuries that may occur on ghost hunts.
We are a not for profit group and therefore cannot afford to carry
any insurance. Team members are responsible for their own safety so
ghost hunt at your own risk. Again, we have never had a problem in the past
but falls or injuries are possible when people are walking around cemeteries
in low light conditions. Also, remind your team members that the vast
majority of the time we do not have any special permission to be at the sites
where our ghost hunts are held. We have attempted to secure permission from
some places in the past but it has never been given. This is why when ghost
hunts are being held in cemeteries it is best to schedule them to take place
at dusk. In the state of Virginia it is considered tresspassing to be in a
cemetery after dark. There are some public places where you can go to
when it is dark. Again, this isn't something we have had a big problem with in the past. We have been told to leave a few cemeteries if we were there after dark but we haven't had any major problems. In other words, no one has ever been arrested.
Group Website
Each ghost hunt group will be given two pages on our website. One will be for
public display of paranormal evidence obtained on ghost hunts and the other
will be for news and announcements and will be for team members only. Each
ghost hunt leader is responsible for submitting their own information for these pages.
Equipment
The basic equipment that is needed for ghost hunts is a camera and a recorder.
We prefer the use of 35mm cameras but we do allow the use of digital cameras
that are atleast five megapixels however we do not accept digital photos as
submissions for the website. As for recording devices, we have found digital
recorders to be far more efficient than analog (tape) recorders. If you choose
to use a tape recorder you will also need an external microphone. You may also
choose to use an external microphone with a digital recorder but we have
had great success just using the built in mics on digital recorders. We do
accept digital recordings for the website. Of course you will also need to
have flashlights and it is a good idea for someone to have a cell phone handy.
Any other equipment you may choose to have is optional.
Gathering and Reviewing Evidence
There are some rules to follow when conducting ghost hunts to ensure that
any evidence you obtain is not contaminated. Let's start with EVP.
1. When recording audio the first thing is to always "tag" your recordings.
You do this by simply stating who is doing the recording, who is present,
where you are at and the date. If you turn off your recorder and then resume
again later on you need to tag again. That should be the first thing on each and every recording you make. Every team member should make sure that
their audio is properly tagged.
2. When audio recording is in progress instruct all team members to speak
in a clear voice and never whisper when they talk. Most often EVP's are very
low and if you have a whisperer you can spend hours trying to decide if this
is an anomalous voice you have captured or member C whispering. It is not
neccessary to try to maintain silence when recording but do keep talking to a
minimum. You will want to ask questions and give ten to twenty seconds in
between in case you recieve an answer. Other than that normal discussion
is acceptable. Very often we have gotten anomalous voices that have
responded to things we have said just in normal conversation.
3. Spend some time becoming familiar with the voices of everyone who is
present at your ghost hunts. This is obviously for comparison when you
review your recordings so that you can pick out any voices that don't sound
familiar. The most important thing is that everyone speak in a strong, clear
voice when they speak.
4. If you hear anything other than the members of your team talking say so
so that you will not have any confusion when reviewing your recording. For
example, there is a dog barking, a car is going by, a plane is passing ect.
Also note if you hear people talking who may be nearby but not with your team.
EVP is one of the most exciting aspects of ghost hunting. The majority of
the EVP we have captured has been during ghost hunts rather than on
investigations. Don't get discouraged if you don't get EVP on a ghost
hunt. Sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn't but if you are
consistent and take care not to contaminate your recordings you will
record EVP. Cemeteries are a very good spot for obtaining EVP.
Also note that most EVP's are very low and often sound like a whisper
or someone mumbling. These are called Class B EVP's and that is why
it is best to review your recordings through a good set of headphones. It
may also be very hard to understand what the voice is saying. You may
have to listen several times before you can even guess what is being said.
This is completely normal and is not caused by any fault on your part.Less
often the voice may be at a more normal level and easily understood. These
are called Class A EVP's. Normally there is a certain sound to EVP's that
you will pick up on once you have become accustomed to listening to them.
Often the "voice" will sound strained or almost robotic. These "voices"
often place emphasis on different parts of a word than a normal person
would when pronoucing the word. For examples of this you can listen to
the EVP's on our website. As stated before there are exceptions, you may
record a "voice" that sounds just as loud and clear as everyone else on
your recording.
Photography
The guidelines for photography in ghost hunting are very basic. You want
to avoid people taking photos at the same time because if you catch someone
else's flash it will ruin your photo. To keep this from happening simply call
out "flash" before you take a photo. Inform your team members to do the same.
You also want to avoid photographing reflective surfaces such as many of the newer style grave markers and windows or anything with glass. If you are using any other equipment such as an EMF detector or temperature scanner then obviously you will want to photograph if you get an anomalous reading such as a "spike" on the EMF meter or a drop or rise in temperature. If you are not using any detection devices then just try to cover the site randomly and that works just fine. You have nearly as good a chance at catching something paranormal in a photo when not using any other eqipment.
If it is cold enough to see your breath outside then you'll need to hold your breath while taking a photo to prevent false "mist" photos.
Do not allow anyone to smoke.
Keep things out of the way of the camera lens such as camera straps and fingers.
If you have long hair it is best to wear your hair up to keep it from blowing in front of the camera.
Conducting Ghost Hunts
When you arrive at the site where your ghost hunt is taking place the first thing you want to do is to begin filling out your ghost hunt log. Only the ghost hunt leader will need to fill out a log. If you don't have a thermometer using the current readings from the weather channel or another local weather source before you leave home is acceptable. Plan how you want to conduct your ghost hunt for example do you want to stay in one large group or split into smaller groups. Never allow anyone to wander off alone. For safety reasons always stay in atleast pairs. Also, decide how much of the area you want to try to cover on that hunt. In a large cemetery for example you may want to start on one side and save another side for another hunt. Let your team know if there are any areas where you do not want them to go. Basically it will be your call on how you want your ghost hunt to go like do you want to keep recorders running the whole time yout there or do you want to have some EVP only sessions. Do you want one person to ask questions orcan anyone call out a question? The same for photography, let everyone know if they can take pictures any time or do you want to specify times.You may want to try different things until you decide what works for you.
Logging
The log is pretty self explanatory. I have already explained about the weather
information. We also keep track of moon phases and you can get this information from the front page of our website. The biggest problem you'll have with the logs is getting your team members to report their data to you and thats simply because some people take longer than others to go through their evidence and then you will run into some who will never want to report in. If they refuse to share their results then just note in the log that Team member B got unknown results. Once your log has been completed we ask that you send a copy in either by e-mail or regular mail.
Always meet your team members at the event site. It's not a good idea
to ride share or anything of that sort until you get to know your team
members well and are comfortable with them. Never let anyone talk you
into meeting them somewhere other than the designated site. Always
remember we do not do any sort of background checks on people
who apply for membership so everyone must take appropriate
precautions to protect themselves. So far, we have not had any
bad experiences with people we have taken on ghost hunts in the past
but that doesn't mean it will never happen. If at anytime you have any
problems with a team member please let one of our investigators know
as soon as possible so that we can deal with that person appropriately.
This includes anyone who is disruptive on a ghost hunt, anyone who tries
to give orders or "take over" a ghost hunt, anyone who behaves inappropriately,
or anyone who isn't respectful of the site where the ghost hunt is being held.
Also, all of us have people that we just don't like for whatever reason. If you
have a team member that you just don't care for please let us know and that
person can be assigned to another team and will never be told the reason.
I don't want anyone to feel like they have to work with someone that they
aren't comfortable with.
Things like EMF detectors and temperature scanners can be used but are
not as accurate for outdoor conditions. We have also had success using
camcorders on outside ghost hunts in the past. We have captured "mists"
on video as well as EVP using a Sony camcorder with the nightshot feature.
In the nightshot mode these cameras use infrared to record in extremely low
light conditions. At this time Sony is the only manufacturer who has this feature. If you choose to invest in a camcorder or you already have one available you may consider having one team member being the videographer to document your ghost hunts. Again, this item is purely optional as there is a considerable expense invloved.Every team member is responsible for obtaining their own equipment. Ghost Hunt Leaders are not required to provide any equipment ,film, tapes or batteries for anyone but themselves. Believe it or not we have been asked in the past if we provide these items and the answer is "no".Some people may choose to concentrate on photography only or to record audio only and that is fine but if they show up with no equipment there is really no point in participating. You can explain to them that our purpose is to conduct research not to hunt for thrills.This should not be a problem as everyone who contacts us about membership is advised that they need to have whatever equipment they intend to use.
If you or one of your team members records an EVP you may e-mail them
to us to be included on your team's public page on our website. Please
include when, where and by whom the EVP was obtained in your e-mail.
We are also able to "clean up" and amplify any Class B EVP's you record
and e-mail it back to you at your request. If you would like information and
instruction on software to clean your own EVP's please speak to any of
our investigators.
When reviewing photos taken on ghost hunts the most common thing you are going
to see are what's commonly known as "orbs". I won't go into great detail about the ongoing debate about orbs here but I will give some basic information. We know for a fact that many natural conditions cause orb like images. Rain, snow and dust will appear like orbs in photographs. In the past we have done experiements about the effect of high humidity when photos are taken since that is a condition we experience quite often in Virginia but our results were inconclusive. We still make notes of the humidity level and the number of photos taken and how many contained orb like images in our ghost hunt logs. Those using digital cameras will have a higher occurence of orb like images. This does not mean that digital cameras are better for photographing paranormal events but rather the opposite. It appears that digital cameras have an extra cause that produce orb like images. In low light conditions digital cameras often have unfilled pixels and the resulting effect often
comes out looking like a circle that may or may not appear bright.
The rule is suppose to be that true orbs emit their own light. That is to say there is nothing in the photo that may be reflecting light. A true orb also may cast a shadow of itself. Orbs are generally believed to be the results of energy present in the environment. The jury is still out on whether this energy is produced by nature, living people or spirit energy. The bottom line is we do not know what orbs are or what causes them other than the natural things I have already mentioned. Some other common mistakes you want to avoid are:
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