Atrans C.Org Website Preservation Project Book 5

Why Preservation Civilization began with the ability of citizens to reserve community understanding and to convey that understanding to the next generation. The needs of the paranormalist community are no different. Unless we are able to convery what we have learned to the next generation, we are doomed to the fate of religions rather than the progression of science. While we are not saying the future needs what we have learned via the Association TransCommunication and its members. We are saying that we have an obligation to the future to at least make lessons learned available. These five books represent a digest of what we feel will be most useful to the future. When we grow too old to continue, the Association will go away, along with the website. Until then, use the website. After then, we offer these books. ATransC.org Website Preservation Project Compiled by Tom Butler With enabling support from Lisa Butler We are Association TransCommunication Directors First Edition, 2021 Websites ATransC.org ISBN: 9798594197701 Cover design by Tom and Lisa Butler Logo: Sharing – composite from pixabay.com/images/search/user:geralt/ Published by AA-EVP Publishing, ATransC.org Editing Note: Website pages have not been proofread. While some cleanup was done while compiling this book, errors do remain. We are always happy to receive error correction input. Use License © 2021 Tom and Alisa Butler This book is intended to be used as an educational source. We reserve our rights under the copyright laws of the United States. Unless the Creative Commons rules noted

below are followed, no part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, including Internet usage, without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. However, we offer limited use of this work under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. 2020 by Tom and Lisa Butler. See creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ With the Exception of material specifically marked with ©, you may: Share: Copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format. Adapt: Remix, transform and build upon the material with proper attribution. Under no conditions, may the entire book, sections or chapters be reproduced without written permission. About ATransC Preservation Books Ownership of the material and prior permission to use The original authors of material on ATranC.org retain copyright authority. Including work produced by the Butlers and Sarah Estep, the authors have given permission to the Association for public outreach under the AA-EVP or ATransC banner. Authors retain ownership. In the event an author of material included in the Preservation Project wishes to withdraw permission for its use by the Association, that material can be removed up to the time the Directors are still able to edit the books. After that, provisions will need to be made with the new owners. This book is part of a set containing the Association TransCommunication website pages. The set has been compiled to preserve contents to help assure that future paranormalists will have access to the material. The website includes study

and research reports, examples of ITC, techniques for collecting ITC, Best Practices and personal stories about ITC-related reunions. Most of the articles were first published in the ATransC NewsJournal. The 129 quarterly newsletters published by the Association are in the NewsJournal Online Archive at atransc.org/category/archive/. We are still trying to find a way to preserve them. If these books work out, we may publish them as a different set of books. The combined newsletters produce a 1500, 8.5” x 11” page PDF file of 44,519 KB. That would be at least four books if we converted them to fixed format PDF books of a manageable size of, say, 400 pages. Change of State Lisa and I tried a number of times to attract people who could help us manage the Association and perhaps take it over in the future. Every effort failed. Part of the problem has probably been our personalities. While we want to serve, we are not social by nature. We depended on the rewards that come from a well-run organization as motivation for people to help. That was not enough. We are also sticklers for rational, evidence-based treatment of the phenomena. In that regard, our studies have shown that, what has become the dominant techniques for recording EVP probably does not actually produce EVP. That has put us at odds with the majority of people interested in ITC. In the end, the work involved to produce the newsletter, member support and website maintenance has not been balanced

by the occasional “thank you” or “you helped me” comment from members. With increasing grief from members about technique, and in view of our Pledge to truthfully report about the phenomena, we changed from a member supported organization to a publicly supported one in 2014. The NewsJournal was replaced by the ATransC Occasional Update Email. We still support the Idea Exchange and our public outreach continues. This ATransC Website Preservation Project is part of that outreach. As it is today, when we die, the Association will die with us. Our intention is that Sarah Estep’s legacy will continue in the form of easily accessed information that has been previously provided by the Association. Archive Requirements Here are the requirements we set for preserving ATransC material: The material must be easily accessible to everyone. Ideally, it would be online. However, even if we paid the server company several years in advance, there is a constant stream of maintenance items that need to be taken care of. And then there are the occasional hacks—the next thing you know, there are nude pictures on the site. The material must be reasonable inexpensive to access. We use the Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/) for the material we control. We use what little income the books produce for operations and outreach. An archive book would be priced as low as Amazon allows. The material must be stable. It is important to us that the material on the website is not corrupted with the

introduction of newer material. At this time in our community, it is a virtual certainty that we would disagree with any new material added by people who use radio-sweep, think EVP are caused via wormholes or that they are a radiofrequency phenomenon. The name and material must not be resurrected. A trend today is to use a famous person’s name for the name of a group. Predictably, the result is confusion by future historians about what is that famous person’s work and what is contemporary. The archive should not cost the person or organization that agrees to keep the material. People have their own work to do and interests to pursue. While they may agree to keep the material, it seems clear now that it must not cost them to do so. Ideally, there will be a revenue flow, albeit minor, that will benefit the person organization. The guiding objective is public outreach. In our opinion, parapsychologists have failed to communicate what they might know to the public. I answer Quora (quora.com/profile/Tom-Butler-79) questions, often about parapsychological issues. I have yet to encounter a parapsychologist also answering questions. There is an Academic-Layperson Partition which is exaggerated by parapsychologists failure to communicate in a Plane English manner. The ATransC material helps to balance that dearth of information. Solution (we hope) Other than a dedicated website, Amazon is perhaps the most important means of public outreach available to the average citizen. We use Microsoft Word for composing. With a little careful editing, conversion

of MS Word to Print-On-Demand (POD) ready text is a relatively easy process. The same can be said for MS Word-to-eBook format. Amazon does not require a catalog fee, as does Lightning Source and IngramSpark. Lulu also does not require a catalog fee and they accept fixed-format books which is best for the NewsJournal. All of ATransC.org pages except those under the FAQ, Links and Resource Tabs have been converted to MS Word text files and will be published in Amazon in the paperback POD and eBook formats at the minimum cost to readers. The website will be maintained, we hope, for years to come. While we think the book format will be convenient for readers, the reason we are publishing now is to protect the material against unseen accidents or heath issues. If useful, articles may be added. For instance, we continue the ET Visual ITC Study at et-visual-itc-study.atransc.org/. If we receive a sufficient number of responses from readers, we may be able to produce a useful report. The Preservation Project books will be updated accordingly as new Editions. Material under ten menu tabs is being preserved. That means content of some categories will be combined in each book to reach our target of around 200 pages per book. All proceeds from sales of the books are used for maintenance, public outreach, and where possible, research. This is true of the book written by Tom, as well. Our intention is to transfer ownership of all of ATransC and our

intellectual property and other ATransC assets to a similar nonprofit as part of our will. Again, The ATransC books have been published to assure the material’s availability after we transition. Not knowing when that will be, it is prudent for us to publish the material now. While buying the books supports the ATransC mission, you need not buy them to access the material until after the website is closed. ATransC.org Website Preservation Project Category: Articles Articles Index 2006 AA-EVP Conference About the AA-EVP An Interview with Paolo Presi Becky Estep’s Eulogy for her Mother Sarah Estep Bill (Dutch) Weisensale Returns Home Comparing Paranormalist Organizations Excerpt from Martha Copeland’s I’m Still Here Forever Family Foundation 2013 Conference In Memory of Sarah Estep, an ITC Pioneer ITC and its Role in Survival Research ITC at the Parapsychological Association’s 2006 Convention in Stockholm Konstantin Raudive Larry Dean and Patricia Begley: ITC Sarah Estep and the Government The Electronic Voice Phenomena The Instrumental Transcommunication Work of Marcello Bacci The Mystery of the Roses White Noise, the Movie Techniques Report on the 2006 AA-EVP Conference Tom and Lisa Butler 2003 Erland Babcock ITC “Ocean Bay” (The name of the association has since been changed from AA-EVP to Association TransCommunication) The conference was a complete success by all accounts. All of the speakers we present and prepared, the attendees were attentive, and the media was out in force. By one account, the conference was the “International ITC event of the year.” The Presentations AA-EVP Directors, Tom

and Lisa Butler addressing conference attendees The Thursday Evening session was led by Tom and Lisa Butler. “EVP 101” is the title of the workshop Tom and Lisa teach. Portions of that were presented by them Thursday night. Should they decide to teach an Instructor Certification Course, EVP 101 would be in the core suite of lessons. The presentation included a discussion about the characteristics of EVP presented by Lisa Butler, followed by a discussion about the basic “how to” for recording EVP. Experience has shown that individuals develop a personal, often unique way to record for EVP, but that it is best for people new to the field to first learn a way that is most likely to produce EVP. The instructions on the website provide the essence of those procedures. See Basic EVP Recording Techniques Friday morning opening comments for the conference were especially important to Tom, because he managed to surprise Lisa with a new HP Palm Pilot, which would replace her often folded yellow paper “Personal Data Assistant.” Tom pointed out in the presentation that the conference would not have taken place were it not for Lisa’s initiative and hard work. Debbie Caruso was a fellow conspirator in helping Tom surprise Lisa. Sarah with her daughter, Becky Estep. Becky made it possible for Sarah to attend the 2006 conference. [Photograph for Becky Estep] Al Rouber (left) Sarah and Garrett Husveth. [Photograph for Becky Estep] Carol Peterson, Jim Stonier with Sarah. [Photograph for Becky Estep] Sarah Estep

presented a brief introduction about her experience with EVP and then some of her best EVP examples were played, ending with a one- minute EVP containing music thought to have been originated by Ludwig Beethoven. Listen at: atransc.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/c1988estep-beethoven.mp3 At the conclusion of the presentation, Sarah was given a Lifetime Achievement Award. Sonia Rinaldi described her work with EVP/ITC, in which she uses a computer and a video camera operating in a mirrored mode. We were all fascinated by the faces she is finding in the optical noise, as they are unlike any we are seeing from other researchers. This new site ipati.org Sonia Rinaldi explaining how she is now receiving images along with here telephone-based EVP Laurie Monroe brought the attendees up to date about how The Monroe Institute is learning to apply Hemi-Sync technology to improve human potential. One slide, in particular, seems to tell The Monroe Institute story: “The Monroe Institute proposes to introduce, at all levels of human endeavor, an ability of mental and spiritual functioning that will constructively change humankind’s direction and destiny.” monroeinstitute.com Laurie Monroe Paolo Presi presented the work of Il Laboratorio. To our knowledge, this is the only organization in the world that is organized and dedicated to the study of trans-etheric phenomena with the use of clinical/forensic quality tools. His detailed presentation illustrated how the voices of EVP might sound like the voice of the person while still in the physical, but that the formation of the voice is sometimes impossible to

produce with a human voice apparatus. On a similar note, he also described how face recognition software is able to help certify that the face found in transcommunication is the same as the face of the person while in the physical. See The Work at Il Laboratorio (atransc.org/presi-il-laboratorio) (Book 2) for the transcript of Presi’s Il Laboratorio presentation. Paolo Presi Paolo Presi later translated the documentary video of Marcello Bacci, the man who continues to conduct two-way, real-time communication with people on the other side with a shortwave radio. Bacci even brings family members into his home to speak with their discarnate loved ones. See The Instrumental Transcommunication Work Of Marcello Bacci (atransc.org/pressi-bacci) (This book) for the transcript of Presi’s Bacci presentation Mark Macy gave an overview of some of the astounding communications that occurred in Europe during the late part of last decade. This included reports of telephone conversations he has had with Konstantin Raudive after Raudive’s transition. Mark uses a device known as a “Luminator” to take ITC pictures. The device is believed to modify the subtle energy environment near it and was initially used as an aid for medical diagnoses. Mark has found that he will sometimes find “extras” in Polaroid picture taken of peoples standing in the field. worlditc.org Mark Macy Dr. Allan Botkin’s Induced After Death Communication (IADC) presentation produced a number of points that have to be further investigated. For instance, he told the attendees that he saw evidence that too much grief could

block an IADC. He also said that it seemed very much like an assistant had shared an IADC with the patient. His IADC success rate had been less for patients who knew about the process beforehand, and that he sometimes needed to “sneak up on them” to make the induction. His success rate also seemed to be much greater if he doodled while with the patient. Gary Schwartz told us that many mediums doodled, which suggests an entirely new direction for research. induced-adc.com Dr. Allan Botkin Lisa Butler presented a number of success stories that are considered to be important role models for others to follow. Tom and Lisa Butler, ATransC Directors Tom Butler followed with the observation that it is time to standardize the way phenomena are described and suggested “Unique Event” for experiences with none other to compare, “Indeterminate Event” for “true” phenomena that cannot be distinguished from the mundane and “Established Event” for phenomena such as EVP. He also gave an overview of the forms of visual phenomena being reported to the AA-EVP. He finished with a description of the 4Cell EVP Demonstration, explaining how effective a protocol is for EVP research. Long-time EVP researcher Alexander MacRae gave the audience an overview of how he became an EVP researcher and how he has evolved his research tools. It was easy to see why his work is so often quoted by us. Alexander MacRae speaking at the 2006 AA-EVP Conference Alexander MacRae, Tom Butler (middle) and Lisa Butler

Diana and Alan Bennett were instrumental in the successes of the Scole Project and have now turned their attention to visual forms of spirit communication with very impressive results, which they shared with attendees. We will try to include an article featuring the Bennett’s work in the next NewsJournal. Their technique is easily replicable in a mechanical sense, but Diana and Alan reminded the attendees how important it is for the person to make contact with the entities via meditation and respect. Sonia Rinaldi (left), Alan Bennett, Lisa Butler and Diana Bennett. [Photograph for Becky Estep] Alan and Diana Bennett Martha Copeland presented for the Big Circle and played many EVP examples. She invited Vicki Talbott and Debra Caruso to join her at the podium to describe their success with EVP. The fact that three mothers were able to tell the attendees about continuing their relationships with children now on the other side provides an important role model for all of us. About their talk, William Deluca wrote, “It gave me reassurance that what we are doing is for real and comforts us when we really need it.” Martha Copeland Big Circle Web Master, Lisa Yesse (left) with Martha Copeland Debra Caruso (left) and Vicki Talbott The final presentation was made by Dr. Gary Schwartz who described his early work with survival researcher, Susy Smith, and the events that led to the development of his current research protocols. Gary’s study of mediumship is producing an important, evidence-based map of what

might be thought of as “organic” spirit communication, as opposed to the technology-augmented spirit communication practiced in EVP and ITC. His work has produced some of the most substantial evidence of postmortem survival of the personality available today. Dr. Gary Schwartz Dr. Gary Schwartz (left) and Tom Butler [Photograph for Becky Estep] Those of you who have followed Gary’s work will recognize that the 4Cell EVP Demonstration protocol has been inspired by the protocols he has developed in an effort to answer the critic’s questions. We should note that the media was well represented at the conference by four documentary crews Lisa Huston 1Tom Butler (left) Paolo Presi, Dr. Alan Botkin and Dr. Gary Schwartz. [Photograph for Becky Estep] Unless otherwise noted, photographs were taken by Jim Stonier Figure About the AA-EVP by Tom and Lisa Butler, 2001 This article was initially published in The Spiritual Scientist, A magazine of the Spiritual Science Foundation (more commonly known as the Scole Group). The Scole Group has established a substantial presence in the world as a confederation of small development groups who follow the Scole method for mediumship and group development. If you are interested in starting a home circle for séances and mediumship development for spirit communications, please take a look at the Scole Group website (thescoleexperiment.com) The Butlers had just assumed leadership of the AA-EVP when they wrote this article. Much has been learned since. Introduction Many of you have heard of the American Association – Electronic Voice Phenomena (AA-EVP).

It is an Association founded by Sarah Estep in 1982 in the USA as her way of helping people learn about and experiment with EVP. Sarah asked us to assume leadership of the AA-EVP in May of 2000, almost exactly eighteen years after the Association was founded. The AA-EVP publishes a quarterly newsletter designed to keep members up to date on what other members are learning about and receiving through EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena) and ITC (Instrumental TransCommunication). The newsletter provides news about EVP/ITC activities from around the world. The Association now has a web site at aaevp.com to help the public learn about EVP/ITC and an email distribution service, in which members can exchange emails as a group. The web site has sample EVP voices that can be listened to as well as transimages and Spirit Photographs that researchers have gotten. The Association reports on people who hear from and capture images of those on the other side through all kinds of electronic devices. Long gone are the days that messages and pictures were received only on simple tape records or cameras. Today reports are received from people who get EVP by recording directly onto their computers. Messages are received on answering machines, digital note takers and all manner of recording devices. People also still report the phenomena of receiving a phone call from someone who has died. Many people are still capturing spirit photographs with their cameras, but now more and more people are using their video cameras

to receive what is called “transimages.” The digital camera was bound to not be far behind and we have now seen transimages captured in this way. Erland Babcock of the USA has made the change from experimenting with video ITC to working with a digital camera. The interesting thing about his digital camera work is that, unlike the use of a feedback circuit in video ITC, Erland depends on background colors, textures and intensities to provide the needed optical energy. One thing that is for certain is that those in other dimensions want to communicate with us and are using all manner of technology to do this. As we make technological advances, they are quick to use them to communicate with us. Many people use EVP/ITC to reach and communicate with loved ones that have passed into the next plane of existence and there are many interesting and wonderful stories that are shared. One member received an EVP message from her dead husband, but she did not believe it. He told her to take her camera, turn on the TV and take a picture. She did and could make out that it was indeed her husband. Another member consistently hears from two sisters who have gone to the other side. They tell of how wonderful it is to be free of their physical bodies that were old and filled with disease. They speak of being in a beautiful place. Still others have reported receiving messages from those whom they did

not know on earth but who tell them that they were related in a past life. Researchers have even described both messages and transimages that come from those who claim to be what we would call extraterrestrial. One of the interesting speculations AA-EVP members have discussed recently is that some EVP messages may actually be coming from the thoughts of living people. Members have reported recording messages that seem to come from a person that is still on earth. We recently ran a sleep experiment in which we tried to reach Sarah Estep while she was sleeping, and she did the same with us. Messages were recorded that indicated that we were both receiving messages from the other experimenter while they slept. Several experimenters receive loud EVP messages without using any background noise. However, most EVP experimenters provide background noise while recording. Simple noise generators, such as a fan in the room or a radio turned off station, are commonly used. Special noise generators are also used, such as the germanium device that is often referred to as the Scole Device. It is thought that the entities modulate this energy into intelligible phrases. Adding noise seems to increase the volume at which the EVP are received. Sometimes, even the words spoken by the experimenter are changed to form EVP messages. Central to EVP research findings is energy—both physical and etheric. For instance, in a séance, the energy brought to the room by the participant’s sense of community and great expectations

can be compared to the energy of the sound noise just discussed. The entities seem to use all kinds of energy to communicate. This may be communication through a medium as a spirit greeting or through devices as are used in EVP experiments. This idea also suggests that direct voice in a séance may be facilitated with the addition of sound energy in the room. It would be interesting to see if this is true. There is some evidence that the experimenter is part of the recording circuit. That is to say that the experimenter’s mediumship or psychic ability may have an influence on the quantity and quality of EVP messages and transimages. There is disagreement about this as some successful experimenters do not believe that they have mediumistic abilities. Also, members with a science background would like this concept to be better researched before such statements are made. Experimenters have reported that they have better contact for a while when they try a new recording technique. It appears that the experimenter’s enthusiasm is shared by the entities. However, once the newness of the approach wears off, the quality of contact often returns to “average.” From this, researchers are beginning to conclude that it is important for them to experiment when they are “fresh” and interested, rather than when they feel they have to record to maintain a schedule. AA-EVP members have varied interests. There are many that are active in recording EVP and ITC. Others belong to the Association

because they are interested in keeping up with EVP/ITC and want to support the effort to improve the understanding of this phenomenon. There are also members who are actively involved in EVP/ITC research. Alexander MacRae of Scotland has focused on the acoustical properties of EVP with a device that has given him good results. Alec is well aware of the need for good science in EVP and continues to devote much of his time to research, education and documentation. Mark Macy of the USA is a long-time contributor to EVP and ITC. His authoritative work is published around the world. Mark is currently experimenting with a Luminator (Bioluminator developed by Patrick Richards). As Mark has told us, “For ITC, I like the fact that the Luminator seems to melt away some of the subtle barriers between our physical world and the spiritual worlds that are superimposed over our reality.” Photographs taken of people setting in the Luminator field seems to show the presence of nonphysical entities. Tina Laurent is an active researcher in the UK. She has been involved in this research for 20 years and personally knew many of the people who originally made the phenomena of EVP known to the public. She regularly lectures on the subject and many of you have probably read her article on EVP that was published in The Spiritual Scientist. Anabela Cardoso is receiving excellent communication from those on the other side who say that they are part of the group, Timestream. She

publishes the excellent ITC Journal (itcjournal.org) that documents her contacts and includes articles from renowned researchers and specialist in ITC. Jacques and Monique Blanc-Garin provide an excellent French journal called Le Messager (infinitude.asso.fr). They were recently given an award for the work, conferences that they do in the ITC field. Finally, Dale Palmer of the USA, along with his family, has formed the Noetics Institute. [Editor: The Noetics Institute is no longer in existence] Through the Noetics Institute, and working with Brazilian ITC researchers, Dale has funded the establishment of a web site designed to permit the public to log on and conduct EVP/ITC experiments. This is no small undertaking. It has been necessary to purchase considerable computer capacity and to develop new software. The site is currently in the early stages of testing, but it should be online soon. Keep an eye on the AA-EVP web site for the announcement and the new web address. The list of active EVP/ITC researchers is long. As the veterans retire from research, new people are becoming interested enough to step forward and continue the work. The AA-EVP has been working with groups around the world in an effort to find ways to further research in EVP/ITC. We see our leadership with the AA-EVP as an extraordinary opportunity to bring together these discoveries and make them accessible to whomsoever may be interested. In this way, we hope to promote further research. We consider the work done at Scole very important to this effort.

As we see it, all forms of transreality communication hold the potential to improve Humankind’s understanding of the nature of our reality and the knowledge that death is simply a continuation of our present life. An Interview with Paolo Presi ©Anabela Cardoso – All Rights Reserved Originally published in the April 2007 ITC Journal Anabela: Paolo, you are a well-known international ITC researcher who has been in the field for many years. When did your interest in ITC start? What prompted you to dedicate so many years of your life to the study of these phenomena? Was there a specific factor or event that triggered your interest? If so, can you tell us what it was please? Paolo: I have been involved in ITC since 1973 when I first heard of the possibility of communicating with other dimensions through the use of technical media. At that time, I believed that such phenomenon did not need human mediumship [intermediation] since it appeared to be transmitted by means of a technical device such as a tape recorder. Since the young age of fourteen, I have been deeply fascinated by so-called parapsychological phenomena. At that time, I believed that all psychic phenomena had its origins in the human mind. When I learned of the possibility of communicating through ITC with another world where all humans are supposed to go after their death, such information literally prompted me into a deep investigation of the subject. At the same time, the possibility of experimenting by

myself gave me the opportunity to verify what Friedrich Jürgenson claimed. Anabela: Did you experiment with EVP yourself? If so, please give us a brief account of your most significant results. How did you feel about what happened, what were your emotions and thoughts about those anomalous events, if they occurred during your own experiments? Paolo: Yes, I experimented by myself for the next four years. I received the first voice in 1975 after a lot of unsuccessful experiments. This happened after a visit to Marcello Bacci in Grosseto. It was astonishing when I verified that the voices were able to reply coherently to my questions. After this first verification of the real existence of EVP, I mainly devoted myself to investigating the phenomenon produced by other experimenters in order to understand the process involved. One of my initial goals was to identify the constants and variables that characterize the phenomenon. This preliminary research allowed me to conclude that the real key to the phenomenon was not the technical devices used in the experimental sessions but the experimenter him or herself. Today, I think that the information, coded in words, comes to us only through the person, although not from the person only. Anabela: I know that you have met some of the most remarkable ITC researchers of the past including the great pioneer Friedrich Jürgenson. Can you describe for us how your encounter with Jürgenson happened and what impression he made on you? Paolo: I met Friedrich Jürgenson at

a Recanati Conference in 1977. Going back to the memories of that time, I remember that I was very much touched by his rich and powerful personality. Everything about him conveyed an impression of spirituality. His presentation at the Conference was very impressive for me because I understood from it that his life was totally dedicated to the spreading of his comforting message of survival to parents who had lost their children. Anabela: What other outstanding researchers did you meet in those far-off years of the 1970s? Please share with us your feelings and the impact each one of them had on you. Paolo: In the same Recanati Conference, I met Eng. Theodor Rudolph from Ulm (Germany). He was an Electronics Engineer specializing in high frequencies and laser techniques at the Telefunken Laboratories. He was also a close collaborator of Dr. Konstantin Raudive and manufactured for him the so-called Goniometer. He was the first to investigate EVP from a physical/technical point of view, and interpreted the unshielded energy involved in EVP as energy similar to gravitational energy. On the same occasion I also met Dr. Franz Seidi from Wien, a pioneer researcher in Europe who designed, manufactured and experimented with the so-called Psychophone. In 1979 at the Fermo Conference, I met a very special scientist: Burkhard Heim from Northeim (German). At that time, he was the director of the Institute of Field Physics and was devoting a large portion of his life to the pursuit of his unified field theory

well known as “Heim’s Theory.” During a wonderful conversation on EVP he said to me: “Remember, in any research you intend to do, you always have to take particular care of the spiritual aspect; do not forget that!” In his book, Postmortal States, on the theory of a six-dimensional reality, he demonstrated and mathematically supported the existence of the Beyond. Anabela: What is your opinion of the developments that have taken place in the field of ITC research since those days? (1970s) Paolo: This is a very interesting question. Frequently I ask myself what is the cause of the new developments that have taken place in Instrumental Transcommunication in the past three decades. In other words, why did such developments occur? Firstly, it must be said that where the experiments have been carried out in accordance with certain physical models (as for example in the experiments with the Spiricom by George Meek and William O’Neil), sooner or later results have occurred consistent with these models. Secondly, it is well known that although many voices may be obtained by a dedicated researcher through a particular technical device, the same device fails to produce results for another experimenter. My conclusion is that the phenomenon is able to adapt itself to the psychic model preferred by the experimenter. This does not mean that the voices come from our unconscious, but that our minds are able to formulate a mental intention to communicate that conforms to the particular psychic model that we happen to

hold. I think that this mental intention forms the “bridge” that the communicators have mentioned on several occasions. This bridge allows us to contact other planes of consciousness. Anabela: We were recently together giving invited presentations at the 15th Anniversary Conference of Infinitude in Paris, and we both met a number of people who told us of their own results, some of which were very impressive; for example, apparently clear anomalous images and voices. I am sure many more, who did not manage to speak with us, also had interesting experiences to report. How do you explain what seems to be happening worldwide in this field? For instance, the spreading of communications apparently coming from another level of reality, and how do you expect this trend to develop in the future? Paolo: Conferences such as the one organized by Infinitude are very useful for the researcher since they allow us to assess the evolution of the phenomenon. It is most important to speak with the people present at the conference since they are a precious source of information about their own experiences. On such occasions we have the opportunity to learn much more than in books and to survey the latest developments of the phenomena. I think that, if the new human psychic models contain strong expectations about the improvement of the contacts, such developments will occur sooner or later. Anabela: Do you attribute these novel developments to some potential for such developments in the human mind, to the communicators

themselves, or to the interaction between the two, for instance the interaction between the human psychic potential to receive them, and the desire and work of the communicators to make them happen? In other words, do you believe that the communicators really exist as a separate entity or do you think they are a creation of the human mind? Paolo: It is necessary to clarify: what I mean by “psychic model.” Put simply, you have to liken the “psychic model” to the tuning dial (the quadrant in a radio set where the broadcasting stations are listed) of a radio. To tune a radio correctly to a certain broadcasting station (i.e. to the name of the station, to the wave band, to the frequency, etc) it is necessary to scan the tuning dial and stop the frequency pointer at the desired station. The same happens with our psyche: only if we mentally pre-establish as firmly and deeply as possible the way and the method in which we believe communications will take place, will these communications become feasible. In the case of tuning a radio, what comes through the loudspeaker does not depend on we who do the tuning, as the origin of the broadcast sounds comes from the transmitting station. Similarly, in the case of ITC, our desire to establish the contact and the belief that the contact is possible (our psychic model) is analogous to the act of tuning. Thus, although this psychic model is a necessary part of the

process, it does not in itself create the communications. Anabela: If we continue to analyze the massive spread of ITC communications, we can rightly assume that there are at present many thousands of people who, in the quiet of their homes, experiment and perhaps obtain significant results. This was predicted by the communicators themselves many years ago, and it seems to me to be perhaps one of the best ways to establish the reality of the phenomena, in opposition to the attitude of the scientific community at large (there are naturally a very few honorable exceptions among scientists) that continues to ignore them. I would appreciate your comments on these two approaches: from one side the great interest of common people, and from the other the disdain of science toward the so far sole phenomenon in the field of survival research that is objective and repeatable and can be scientifically analyzed within the framework of the scientific method. Paolo: As I said before, all the experiments carried out in the quiet of the experimenters’ homes are very useful since they can yield significant results and precious material for research. On the other hand, an intensive investigation by means of scientific methodologies and techniques is, today, absolutely indispensable. I can understand the behavior of today’s scientist on this issue because every paranormal event contradicts one or more of the well-established paradigms of science. In line with Thomas Kuhn’s thought, only by using scientific language and by demonstrating events that are presently

considered anomalies will we alert the scientific community to the importance of this kind of research, and only then will a revision of the paradigms, currently considered immutable by science, take place. Anabela: To conclude our pleasant conversation I would like to ask you to share with the readers of the ITC Journal your expectations for the future of this discipline, and how you anticipate it will develop. Paolo: My main expectation is acceptance by science of the importance of all objective evidence such as ITC phenomena that support the possible existence of the other planes of consciousness where one day all of us will dwell. Anabela: Very many thanks Paolo! The readers of the ITC Journal and myself greatly appreciate your sharing your experiences with us and taking part with me in this interesting exchange of views on the exciting field of Instrumental Transcommunication research. Bibliography: Thomas S Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolution: University of Chicago, 1970 Becky Estep’s Eulogy for her Mother Sarah Estep ©Becky Estep Read at Sarah’s funeral Picture taken by Ludwig Schonheid in Tarrytown, NY in the 1980s Sarah Estep I want to thank each of you for being here today. At this moment, there are people scattered throughout the world, in this country and abroad, who wanted to be here and would have been, if circumstances had permitted it. I extend my heartfelt appreciation to those individuals as well, because I know their love and prayers are also being sent to my mother.

In particular, I want to acknowledge a very special woman, Clara Laughlin. My mother and I are eternally thankful for her steadfast friendship and devotion, down through the years. Clara was an honor and a timeless gift to my mother. My mom, as some of you know, was a researcher in the field of life after death. In particular, she was focused on the area of Electronic Voice Phenomena otherwise known as EVP. She was a pioneer in this field, and spent years educating the public about it. My mother traveled extensively: to New York, Florida, Nevada, Illinois, Indiana and Georgia; she journeyed to the pyramids, temples, and deserts of Egypt; to caves in England; to the coliseums of Rome; to Switzerland, Luxembourg, and to the mountains of Brazil. Everywhere she traveled, my mother shared her conviction with those she met: the conviction that we do, indeed, survive death and that we ascend into a magnificent eternity. Mom had a way of leaving a part of herself wherever she went and in doing so, she forever became more of who she truly is. My mother was, first and foremost, a seeker and a pilgrim. In her sojourn through life, she brought comfort and hope to countless people. But this seeker and pilgrim was also “my mom,” and I’d like to share a little of who that person was. In earlier years, my mother had been a social worker for a children’s aid society, a first-grade teacher, a camp director and

a writer. When I was a child, Mom showed me my first rainbow. She got me through scarlet fever, chicken pox, the mumps, strep throat and a broken foot. Even long after I had grown into adulthood, she still fussed at me when I wouldn’t wear a hat in cold weather or forgot to put on my seatbelt. Mom shared her jellybeans with me when we went to the movies and I shared my popcorn (no extra salt). She walked with me through the forests of Camp Woodlands where we crossed Friendship Bridge together. She taught me how to play the slot machines at Dover Downs in Delaware, and we sometimes watched the Leonids meteor shower in November and looked for eclipses of the moon. Mom always kept an eye out for my brother’s favorite candy bars and made sure he got the Ocean City, New Jersey newspaper that she was a long-time subscriber of. She gave rose petals, lilacs, fresh yellow tomatoes and wind chimes to my sister. When her grandchildren were younger, she took them clothes shopping at the beginning of the school year, and she relished each and every visit from them. She always made sure my father got the comics from the Sunday paper. My mom always treated us to lunch on Mother’s Day—it was one of her ways of saying “thank you for being in this world”. Mom loved scary movies and James Bond movies. She could both love and hate the Baltimore Orioles baseball

team, all within the space of a single inning. She volunteered at the local church garage sale, collected donations for the National Kidney Foundation, the American Cancer Society and charities that help blind people. She helped support the Christian Appalachian Project and various American Indian reservations. Mom would help a neighbor if she could. Mom loved the ocean, licorice, books, all the dogs she’s ever owned, robins in spring, video games, wind chimes, lime popsicles, spareribs, spaghetti, a good bowl of chili, (with beans), pecan pie, kites and balloons. She could laugh until she had tears in her eyes, over the silliest and smallest of things. She helped point the way to the Temple of Abydos in Egypt; my arrival there turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened to me. Mom comprehended joy and anguish; she understood guilt and regret; she knew the healing power of solitude; she had her disappointments and triumphs. My mother possessed all the noble majesties and dark frailties of the human spirit, which are inherent in us all. And finally, my mother always had one foot in this world and one foot in the next and sought to build a bridge between the two. This is my mother … all of this and so much more … the kind of person who weeps when dragons die. One of Mother’s acquaintances, Anabela Cardoso, was once told by her friend and colleague in spirit, Carlos de Almeida, that: “Horizons far from you

do not finish in the world but enter a sacred Universe.” I know my mother believed this and it was one of the lights that she lived by. In closing, I’d like to say to my mom that it’s one of my eternal hopes and prayers that you are always and forever sanctified by the best that love has to offer. May you be everlastingly blessed with abundant laughter, redeemed by Truth, and consecrated by a joyful sense of wonder. At the threshold of the door of forever, there’s a welcome home sign for all souls. I know you’ll leave a candle burning for us in the window of Heaven. Bill (Dutch) Weisensale Returns Home Lisa Butler From Spring 2001 AA-EVP NewsJournal Although we knew that Dutch Weisensale had been fighting cancer for quite some time it was still a very sad evening when we learned that he would no longer be communicating with us in the physical. Our prayers go out to his wife Mary who was instrumental in much of Dutch’s work. Sarah Estep wrote: Dutch (Bill) Weisensale and I became close friends almost 25 years ago. He’d heard about me, somehow, and how I started taping in October 1976, so wrote to me about his work in the field. We immediately began exchanging letters (in those days neither of us had computers) and answered each other promptly. George Meek, the developer of Spiricom contacted Dutch and asked if he knew any taper who might be able to

reinforce William O’Neil’s work with Spiricom. Dutch suggested George contact me. About that time, Dutch began an international group he called “Spirit Voices.” He published a quarterly Journal, largely technical, about his own brilliant work in the field of EVP, and outstanding ideas he had for development. When Dutch discontinued his group, I felt others in the field needed to know what their colleagues were doing, so I began the AA-EVP in May 1982. Dutch was very happy I’d done this and supported my every effort. He remained a member of my AA-EVP until I turned it over to the Butlers in May 2000. Dutch joined their group and remained very active in working on R&D ideas, along with other members, to enable the invisibles to come through to us more easily and in louder and clearer voices. Even though he was diagnosed with terminal cancer several years ago, he continued putting all of his efforts into the development of the field of ITC. Dutch had many treatments for his disease, which would cause him to remain in the hospital for several days at a time. Just as soon as he was able, he’d return home and continue working in the field that he loved, ITC. I am sad that Dutch is no longer with us–in a physical sense, although I know he will continue to be aware of all that we do in bringing communication from the spirit world, to our world, here. No doubt he has already returned

to good health and is busy working with other outstanding scientists from his ‘home’ back there, to help those of us involved with EVP/ITC. I am sure Dutch was greeted by the Heavenly Choir, upon his return, and the red carpet was laid before him…. Jeff King wrote: I first made contact with Dutch in the late 1980s, after Sarah had mentioned his work (and address) in her newsletter. The first interesting parallel between us was that he and I shared a common career and status as what he humorously called a “recycled technician.” He was ex-Air Force, I was ex-civil aviation. In gaining copies of all of Dutch’s printed work, I quickly realized that he and I had been on a parallel research path without knowing it. For my part, Dutch’s insights validated my own, and gave me confidence to go further with formative theories. At that time, we corresponded via snail-mail, but the major part of my involvement with Dutch was much later via personal emails, where through our collaboration, we both had some satisfying insights to long unanswered technical questions. I quickly came to greatly admire Dutch’s insights (and direct approach) into the technical realms of EVP research, and felt very privileged to be able to work with him in this pioneering field. “I know that the technical work will indeed continue for him in a heavenly setting, and that somehow we will be aware of this work and its evolution. I’ll miss you Dutch…but I’m sure

we’ll be hearing from you!! In one of his last letters to us Dutch wrote: “When I was 14 years old, I learned to ride my Dad’s Harley-Davison in the cornfield behind our house. Off and on during my life I’ve ridden bikes and still have our almost half-century old (1952) Harley in our little shop. Free spirit on the open road, and all that good stuff. Just a keepsake now. I’m hardly in condition to kick start an engine with the displacement of a Volkswagen. Anyway I’ve told Mary that she doesn’t have to worry about me passing on, because when my time comes, if I can’t figure out how to take our Harley along, I’m just simply not going to go, period. — So far, I haven’t been able to figure it out. Love, cheers and best wishes to all of you, Dutch and Mary.” We are sure that Dutch found an exact replica of the Harley waiting for him on the other side. Comparing Paranormalist Organizations By Tom Butler Point of View of Organizations People have a point of view, but organizations are composed of a community of people. While personality-typing (temperaments) is a way to model the points of view of people, a similar model might be used for organizations based on typical goals, objectives and assumptions. From the perspective of Etheric Studies, one might have: Human psychology: Usually parapsychology; specifically, an academic approach with emphasis on a physical-world perspective; emphasis on research; collaboration but guided

by community norm. Emergent science: Emphasis on academic approach; deliberate openness to new ideas; open to concepts of nonphysical and survived personality if they can be explained with mainstream science. Human potential: Usually academic; open to nonphysical explanations; focus on personal growth and the human condition; supports research; education by opinion setters. Social paranormal: Desire for scientific approach; for many, often first experience in paranormal; strong community; emphasis on nonphysical and survived personality; no formal collaboration; education by emergent cultural norm. Metaphysical: Study/research of phenomena related to trans-etheric influence; desire for scientific approach; community emphasizing educational and application of principles; specifically, open to nonphysical and survived personality. It is important to emphasize that this list of organizational points of view is conceived from the ATransC perspective. We find no fault in these points of view or their representative organization (as we see them), but it is important that people understand there are important differences. Litmus Test Compare this categorization of points of view for organizations involved in the study of things usually referred to as paranormal phenomena with the research showing that transcommunication involves communication with survived personalities. Then consider your self-evaluation of your point of view. Do you think there is only physical reality and that your mind is a product of your brain? When you die, will there be anything of your self- awareness left to experience? If this is your viewpoint, then the only organizational point of view you should consider is human psychology. That is, reports

of paranormal phenomena are due to mental aberrations. If you are open to new ideas such as survived personality but insist they must be explained in terms of mainstream science, emergent science organizations are for you. If you believe in the existence of subtle energy connecting all living things and that people can deliberately interact with this energy, you will probably be more comfortable with the human potential groups. This is especially true if you feel personality has evolved from the physical and that there really is no reality outside of the physical. If you just think paranormal phenomena is interesting and have no well- developed ideas beyond that, then the social paranormal groups can provide an important place to begin your discovery about things paranormal. Finally, if you feel that some part of your loved ones has survived bodily death and that they may be able to communicate with we who remain in the physical, then the metaphysical groups are almost your only resource. Of course, a person can be in all of the groups. The important point here is that you should take some time to examine your point of view and what you expect of organizations you support. Learn to recognize the perspectives authors have in their writing. For instance, a parapsychologist will likely talk about mental mediumship (communion with discarnate people) from the perspective that the medium is unconsciously getting information from the sitter, or at most, somehow accessing information via some subtle energy. In the

same way, an academically trained person will be reluctant to give much credence to the opinion of people who are not academically trained. ATransC’s Point of View We used “metaphysical” to name the personality type we think ATransC best relates to because it is one of the few that describes a study of the greater reality. To study metaphysics, one must think in terms of whether or not personality is separate from body, if it has evolved independently, and if so, what is its native environment? One must take care not to assume the personality is separate from the body. Evidence, good reason and well considered hypotheses must guide the study. However, in order to realistically consider all of the hypothesized possibilities, the possible nature of a greater or nonphysical reality must be included in the models. In many ways, etheric studies and metaphysics are synonymous, but while metaphysics is the academic study of concepts, etheric studies is the study of known forms of phenomena with the intention of understanding how they occur and how to apply them to good use. The ATransC is amongst the very few organizations in the English- speaking world that includes the possibility of survived personality in the study of these. If you think this study is important, then please consider supporting the organization with your membership and donations. Excerpt from Martha Copeland’s I’m Still Here © Martha Copeland Article initially printed in the Spring 2005 AA-EVP NewsJournal Continuation of Signs from Cathy Yesterday at

my Buford Presbyterian Church, in Buford, Georgia, I met a couple whose son had been killed two weeks earlier in an automobile accident. They told me that he was already sending them “signs” from beyond to comfort them. It is so important to pay attention to “signs” that our loved ones send to us from spirit. Just today, while searching through photo albums for pictures to insert in this book, I found a “sign” from Cathy. It was an album she had made for my fiftieth birthday party entitled, “The Way it was.” It contained all the important facts and events from the 1950s, along with photos of me when I was a baby up to my present life. One thing that really struck me in this album was her dedication page. It read: “My dedication goes to my mom, Martha Pierce Copeland.” Hope is the destination that we seek, Love is the road that leads to hope Courage is the motor that drives us We travel out of darkness into faith -The Book of Counted Sorrow How very strange to be reading these words now. Although going through the old photo albums made me sad, perhaps this is Cathy’s “sign” for me to continue on and have faith in what the future holds. “Tears in Heaven” Today I was riding in the car, listening to the CD of music we had played at Cathy’s funeral. Each song was chosen for a specific story in her life, and each one

usually brought tears to my eyes. When Eric Clapton came on singing, “Tears in Heaven,” I remembered the first time I heard it. Cathy was about ten years old, and we were living in Okinawa Japan, on the military base. Two of the children she often played with were twins, a girl and a boy, Shane and Shannon. One day while Cathy was playing with them, Shane was hanging upside down by his knees from a tree limb, hitting at the girls as they rode by on their bicycles. Something caused him to lose his grip, and he fell to the ground. His head hit the curb. Cathy came running home and said, “Mom, I think Shane is dead.” He was taken to the hospital where he died shortly from his injuries. The day of Shane’s memorial service, Cathy had picked up her room, making it spotlessly clean. This was unusual for our girl, whose bedroom floor was rarely seen. We went to the service and joined the grieving family and friends of this young boy. The song, “Tears in Heaven,” was too poignant and left everyone weeping as we said goodbye to Shane. We had been home from the service a few hours when cars started pulling up in front of our house, and parents let out their children. At least thirty children had shown up, and Cathy was at the door greeting her friends. Even Shane’s twin sister Shannon was there. When I asked what was going on,

she informed me, “Mom, I told them that you were going to have a séance and bring Shane back to talk to us.” I was stunned and told her that I was absolutely not going to do that. Cathy glared at me, grabbed her Ouija board and stormed off to her room, closing the door behind her after the many kids piled inside. While my “little psychic” was in there, I glimpsed Shane in our living room. He was wearing a blue and white striped shirt with cut-off jeans. Cathy: “My little psychic.” Cathy later reported that she and her friends had asked some questions of her board, and had gotten some “yes” answers, which helped them believe that they had contacted Shane. This must have helped the grieving process for these youngsters, who needed a chance to say goodbye to their little friend. I asked Cathy what Shane had been wearing at the time of his accident. She described his outfit just as I had seen in my living room. “Would you know my name … if I saw you in heaven?” As I listen to these plaintive phrases sung by a man who was a grieving parent, I know the answer to the question he poses. I know without a doubt that we will recognize our loved ones when we get to the Other Side. Still, this thought does not stop the tears I have here and now. Comments Martha Copeland Cathy’s 2018 Memorial – for the 17th

time for 17 years we have been honoring Cathy by sharing personal life events and insights about her on my Facebook page on Cathy’s transition date, Dec. 23rd. It has been challenging to share different experiences year after year when we lack new memories to draw from. Unlike the rest of us, Catherine will always be 20 and never age. My two sisters’, Donna and Ginny, have had they own “After Death Experiences” from Cathy, which provided me validations that there is an existence beyond our current physical life. This message may make those who have not suffered a loss, or those with religious limitations, or just those who are just unbelievers, uncomfortable. If you are in any of these mindsets, I would recommend that you find other sources or material to read. For those that have had similar experiences or are willing to explore and have an “open mind,” I would invite you to continue reading my message and messages from others about the afterlife. By sharing my family’s experiences, I hope to foster a clearer understanding that may bring you peace, hope, and faith during this holiday season (especially for those who a grieving a loss of a loved one). Happy Holiday’s, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanza, Assalam Alaikum, Merry Christmas - or just Season’s Greetings. Above all else, try to keep the warm loving feeling that this holiday brings …year round. Martha Copeland I’m sharing my sister, Ginny’s story as well as a short video Cathy and her

friend Jessica made for a school project while in middle school. Cathy wrote the script and had Jessica star in the project. The pets featured were all our family pets, now deceased. Cathy had a keen interest in drama and making movies – but she said that she wanted to be behind the scenes. Below are my sister, Ginny’s story and the short “Sumo Dogs” video. Enjoy and laugh. Aunt Ginny Sawyers Dec 23rd Memorial to Catherine Amiss Cathy “Cat” Amiss was killed in a tragic auto accident on a Sunday, Dec. 23rd, 17 years ago. She was 20 years old. She was my sister Martha’s only daughter. Two days following her death, the family gathered at Martha & Don’s house for the purpose of placing flowers at the crash site. I opted to remain behind and keep Cat’s (Cathy’s nickname) dogs company. It was barely 5 minutes after their departure to the site, that I heard the front door open and felt the vibration when it slammed shut. I couldn’t believe the family had already returned. I also couldn’t believe that no one was there. Did I imagine it? Cat’s dogs stood at attention, wagged their tails, and tracked with their eyes so I rule out imagination. I believe that bond between our loved ones is not easily severed in death. They are always with us in spirit. Cat manifested her presence so many times after her death. Cat loved all animals. Please don’t forget to donate to your

local animal shelter or rescue group in her name. Forever Family Foundation 2013 Conference Tom and Lisa Butler Previously published in the Winter 2014 AA-EVP NewsJournal Bob and Phran Ginsberg Bob and Phran Ginsberg’s daughter, Bailey, made her untimely transition in 2002. Phran told us, “The knowledge that she was still with us gave us the hope we so desperately needed just to survive each day,” and with that understanding, they started the Forever Family Foundation (FFF) in 2004. Since then, they have expanded the nonprofit, volunteer organization to provide a host of services including conferences, discussion groups, a radio program and newsletter. Membership is free; however, the organization lives on donations and the hard work of a few volunteers, so your support would help this important organization continue into the future. Forever Family is dedicated to supporting people who have lost loved ones. The organization maintains an excellent certification program for mental mediums, making it possible for people to be sure that they are working with a reputable medium. We were invited to speak at their 7th Annual Afterlife Conference in San Diego in November. It was a fantastic mixture of amazingly gifted mental mediums and the latest scientific evidence proving survival. Well-known researcher of the paranormal and foundation president, Loyd Auerbach, opened the conference, and later gave a very interesting talk on apparitions. His broad background in paranormal research, and especially in hauntings investigation, gives him an important perspective on the nature of this phenomenon. Dr. Stephen Braude

has been conducting intensive research into the physical mediumship of the Felix Experimental Group (FEG) under controlled conditions. You have seen reports in this NewsJournal about the FEG medium and we will be hosting him again in July 2014. (atransc.org/felix_circle) (Book 3) If anyone ever felt that there was trickery in Kai’s séances, Braude can provide excellent assurance that the phenomena are real. Please read Arrogance of Scientific Authority. (ethericstudies.org/arrogance-of-science) Dr. Diane Hennacy Powell has conducted extensive research into psi functioning and brain activity. She spoke about her research into people with autism and how they experience reality. The information was riveting and we realized how they are much more high-functioning than most think. We believe that she is working toward a book that will be both extremely interesting and very needed. During a holotropic breathing workshop, medium Janet Mayer began speaking in a foreign language. After years of searching, she learned that the language was that of an indigenous people living in a tropical rain forest in northern Brazil and southern Venezuela. Janet found a man working at the Smithsonian Institute who was able to translate her words. She learned that she was speaking prayers, chants, prophecies and prognostications of the Yanomami people who believe their fate is tied to the fate of the environment. Dr. Jeffrey Tarrant gave a talk about his research mapping Janet’s brain while she is channeling the Yanomami language and other languages (spoken by more than one person). Jeffrey put a helmet equipped with

electrodes on Janet’s head and gave us a real-time demonstration of the changes in her brain activity during her normal speech and then when she was speaking the foreign language. He pointed out how the region of the brain associated with compassion, empathy and loss of ego became very active when Janet began channeling. Of course, we talked about transcommunication. Lisa played a number of Class A EVP and told their stories, after which Tom displayed examples of the many forms of visual ITC and talked a little about theories for how the phenomena might be explained. Mental mediumship is an important cornerstone of the FFF and time was set aside for demonstrations of mediumship by Kim Russo, Angelina Diana, Janet Mayer and Laura Lynne Jackson. We were very impressed by the quality of the information presented by the mediums. Their focus was not only on evidence but also on ethics. Mental mediumship is well- established as one of the phenomena providing evidence of both psi functioning and survival. However, anyone with the gift of gab and a little insight into human nature can claim to be a medium. This “wild west” environment makes it difficult for a grieving family to find a trustworthy person to help them contact a discarnate loved one. The FFF efforts to establish a registry of reliable mediums is perhaps one of the most beneficial services they can provide. You can view this list at www.foreverfamilyfoundation.org The very first night of mediumship demonstrations turned out

to be extremely evidential for me (Lisa), but let me explain a little. My sister had made her transition on October twenty and the memorial in Arizona was only six days before our trip to San Diego for the conference. This was a difficult memorial because my sister never liked me. She wanted to be an only child and never really forgave me for showing up. In lieu of flowers, donations to a fund for helping animals had been set up, which was wonderful. But I asked if we could provide a wreath for the memorial because, without flowers, the memorial would seem cold. My niece agreed to this and we ordered a big heart of roses to be delivered for the memorial. It turned out to be quite beautiful. The whole thing was beyond awkward and stressful. We were invited to a potluck dinner at my sister’s house the evening before the memorial. My niece welcomed us but introduced us to no one in the room of about thirty people. Again, at the memorial we were not asked to sit with the family and were not introduced to anyone. I can’t blame my niece, as there is no telling what my sister had said about us. We had never been a part of her life, my sister did not even invite us to her daughter’s wedding, saying after the fact that the invitation must have gotten lost. There is no blame here, families are families. If there is reincarnation

perhaps I have done something terrible to my sister in a past life. But because of the loss of this relationship, I cried my eyes out at the memorial. I tell you all of this only because of the next remarkable event. That first night of the conference, Kim Russo came to Tom and gave him some amazing information on a step- brother and his father. After the event was over, Janet Mayer quickly came to me and said, “Lisa I can’t believe that Kim didn’t come to you next. Who is the women; the mother that is here”? I immediately thought of my friend Jannet whose mother had just made her transition. Then Janet Mayer went on saying that she had been a florist and the women was pointing to a large beautiful floral arrangement. Immediately, it hit me that it was my mom. Then Janet said something about angel wings. Angel wings were important to my sister because she had been very reassured by seeing angel wings, years earlier them during a heart angioplasty. They also seemed to assure me that my sister was on her way to a new life. I simply can’t express the impact of this message. I am so immensely thankful for those on the other side being able to get messages to us in so many different ways. This message through Janet was enormously healing and allowed me to know that my mother had been at the memorial and helped my sister across.

I feel blessed for this experience and its ability to help me let go of hurt feelings that are really nothing in the larger scheme of things. Another very interesting message came from another medium who told us (before our presentation) that she had done a reading for a mother whose child was on the other side. The son said he was part of a circle (she used the term circle) trying to use technology to contact loved ones on this side. I asked, “Big Circle?” and she immediately said “Yes!” In Memory of Sarah Estep, an ITC Pioneer ©Becky Estep Also see Becky Estep’s Eulogy for Sarah Sarah Estep sitting in her experiment room American paranormal researcher Sarah Wilson Estep made her transition to the other side due to kidney failure on January 3, 2008. She was the premier pioneer researcher in Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) in the United States and was considered one of the world’s leading experts in the field. Sarah became a believer that death was the end of life at the tender age of seven. After the death of her grandmother, her grandfather married a woman who was the director of a funeral home. A couple times a year, Sarah’s family visited her grandparents in the funeral home where they lived. She was deeply distressed by the grieving families that came to view their loved ones, and when no one was around, she frequently sneaked into the viewing areas to look at the bodies. This

traumatic experience was to shape Sarah’s life and create a thirst for knowledge that death was not the end of life. She dove into every nonfiction book that she could get her hands on, especially those dealing with paranormal topics. She found hope in the Seth books by Jane Roberts, as their words conveyed the premise that we were more than our physical bodies and that our lives continue after the death of the physical body. During a visit to the library in 1976, Sarah came across The Handbook of Psi Discoveries by Sheila Ostrander and Lynn Schroeder. The book included two chapters on EVP and talked about the work of pioneer researchers Konstantin Raudive and Friedrich Jürgenson. It also mentioned the Americans Harold Sherman and Walter and Mary Jo Uphoff, who would later become Sarah’s good friends. The Handbook of Psi Discoveries changed Sarah’s life and also the lives of the thousands of people she would later touch with her work. She felt that EVP could be the most tangible evidence of survival yet and decided to conduct experiments to see if this was true. She used her husband Charlie’s old reel-to-reel tape recorder and committed to trying to record for at least a week. At every session, she asked the same question, “Is anybody there?” but after five days, she had not recorded an answer. Out of boredom, on the sixth day she tried a different question, “What is your world like?” she asked. On playback of the

tape, she heard a clear voice answer her question with the word, “Beauty.” Contact had been made. Sarah founded the American Association of Electronic Voice Phenomena in 1982 and began publishing a quarterly newsletter. Membership in the Association grew from twenty to several hundred people in twenty-seven states and twelve countries. There was no Internet and Sarah was the glue that allowed researchers to gain knowledge about the work that others were doing. She held three national conferences and helped countless people learn about the voices and how to record them. For eighteen years, Sarah led the AA-EVP and then in the year 2000, she decided to retire and asked us (Tom and Lisa Butler) to take the Association over. In 1981, Harold Sherman asked Sarah to write about EVP for his book The Dead Are Alive and her work became Chapter 4. When Harold had to discontinue his ESP Research Associates Foundation due to health concerns, he showed his faith in Sarah by giving Foundation members a membership in the AA-EVP. Sarah has written two books on her own. Voices of Eternity was published in 1988 and is now out of print but is a free PDF download at the AA-EVP website at aaevp.com (Books tab). Her most recent book, Roads to Eternity, (Book info here) is available through Galde Press via the same web page. In 1996, the Dr. A. Hedri Foundation for Exopsychology (the study of the behavior of alien beings) and Epipsychology (study of post-death mental

states) awarded Sarah the first prize for epipsychology in recognition of her accomplishments. She shared the prize that year with another famous researcher, George Meek of Spiricom fame. To provide a tool with which people could specify the quality of their EVP samples, Sarah popularized a classification system originated by Konstantin Raudive using “Class A” as the highest quality example, “Class B” as a good quality example and “Class C” as the poorest and most typical recorded samples. Although more has been learned about how we hear EVP and why it can be difficult for the untrained ear to hear them, this grading system is in use to this day. Mary Babcock (left), Sarah with Becky sitting, Erland Babcock (right) at the 2004 AA-EVP conference All of us working with EVP owe Sarah so much for her bravery in being amongst the first in our field. She recorded thousands of voices, published seventy-two newsletters and authored one of the foremost books on the voice phenomenon. In 2006, the Association that she founded presented her with a “Lifetime Achievement Award” at the Atlanta, Georgia AA-EVP conference. George Wynne (left) Martha Copeland, Sarah Estep, Tom and Lisa Butler People have been writing to the Association with their condolences and memories of this great woman. Here are just a few of the comments: “Her enthusiasm and passion for voice phenomena inspired me to continue seeking ways to communicate with those departed. She was clearly one of my main motivators as she has been

for many.” J.S. “I did not know Sarah personally, but I feel like I did through her work and through the legacy that she left behind. She definitely made the EVP field what it is today and I am so grateful for her loving efforts.” W.R. “She never failed to acknowledge a letter or bit of info I would send her. At a time when EVP was still relatively unheard of, it was comfort to receive Sarah’s handwritten notes and have her publish my and others’ communications with the other side in her newsletter.” L.M “My abiding memory of Sarah was the broad smile on her face when she opened her door to me on my first visit to her home in Maryland. It was 1983 and I had just read about her experiments in capturing the voices of dead people on recording tape…. For four hours, I sat entranced. Sarah not only gave me a purpose in life but changed it forever. I don’t ever remember seeing Sarah unless she was happy and smiling.” T.L. “It is not the USA that owes to Sarah, but the world. Presently what we do, our research is not correctly evaluated, but in the future, it will be. When Survival has been scientifically proven and humanity jumps a new step forward in development, ITC pioneers will be remembered as heroes. And there will be our “Sweet Sarah,” as I used to call her. I am sure that she will go on working for

the AA-EVP from wherever she is … not only for the benefit of this important association but for something bigger: Mankind.” S.R. “I love this lady for the way she let us have our family back even for just a short time here on Earth until we meet them again on the other side.” L.N. “Sarah’s book was my first foray into the world of communication with spirit, an event which would change my life. In a big way, Sarah is largely responsible for my current awareness of spirit.” K.M. “I credit Sarah Estep with opening the door to this new world for me. I’ve thought of her every day since hearing of her illness and especially tonight since learning of her passing. I believe she will continue her work from the other side and guide those of us here who share her commitment to the study of EVP.” R.H. [We thank all who have written to us about Sarah. Your comments have been forwarded to the family.] Sarah’s daughter, Becky Estep, made a contribution to the AA-EVP in Sarah’s name, and asked that others donate to the AA-EVP instead of sending flowers. These donations have enabled us to establish the Sarah Estep Research Fund, which will be used to promote and support research toward an empirical understanding of these phenomena. Researchers need not be AA-EVP members, but they will be required to follow agreed-upon protocols and produce a final report for peer review. Details of this initiative are available

via aaevp.com. You can honor Sarah and continue her legacy by donating to the research fund. After Sarah Estep’s funeral: Tom Butler (left), Becky, Cindy and Robert Estep, Lisa Butler. Robert is holding Sarah’s dog, Lovy.about Sarah. Your comments have been forwarded to the family.] Our field is still very young, and there are people in many parts of the world who have braved the contempt of mainstream science to seek the truth about ITC. We honor their contributions, and especially Sarah for her bravery in giving people who had unexpected encounters with ITC a forum to be heard and where they could compare experiences free of the ridicule waiting for them in more public forums. ITC and its Role in Survival Research Professor David Fontana Previously published in the April 2007 ITC Journal (itcjournal.org), ©David Fontana - All Rights Reserved Interest in Survival I can never remember a time in my life when I was not interested in the question whether or not we survive physical death. It seemed to me, even as a very young boy, that this question was relevant not only to what happened when we die, but to the way in which we live our lives while on this Earth. If death was the end of everything, then life here and now was meaningless, a cosmic accident that led to nothing. On the other hand, if we survived, it meant we were part of a greater scheme of things, with this life only a stage

on our journey, a stage in which our behavior determines what happens to us when we move on to the next stage. It surprised me that most people seemed not to share this interest. At the church I attended everyone seemed to believe in an afterlife, yet to have little idea of what it was like. We were supposed to take everything on trust, and to look forward to a kind of vague afterlife in which (presumably if our voices were good enough) we joined a heavenly choir. David Fontana with Anabela Cardoso at the 2006 ITC Journal conference in Vigo, Spain. Although this seemed to satisfy most churchgoers I doubted if God really wanted us to stand (or sit) around simply praising him. Surely, he would have far better things to do with his time than listen to us, and surely, he would expect us to contribute more to the next world than just hymn singing. God would not have created us just to tell him how wonderful he is, since surely, he must know this already. So, although one could take the existence of an afterlife on trust it seemed to me as a boy that there could be no harm in wanting to know more about it and to find out what evidence had accumulated for it over the years. When I grew older and discovered psychical research, I found that indeed a very great deal of evidence had accumulated, and once I became involved in this

research, I was fortunate to be able to come across similar evidence for myself. Much of this evidence, both from the literature and from my personal experience, is summarized in my most recent book, Is There an Afterlife? Which brings me onto a further question, why isn’t this evidence more widely known and accepted? Let us take ITC as our example. The evidence for ITC has been growing steadily since Jürgenson’s (worlditc.org/c_06_juerg_intro.htm) pioneering work over half a century ago. As evidence, it has three unprecedented advantages which we can look at in turn. The First Advantage of ITC ITC evidence is evidence that anyone can try to obtain for oneself, directly and in the privacy of one’s own home. The equipment involved is easy to obtain and relatively cheap – a tape recorder, a microphone and a source of white noise – for convenience usually a radio tuned between two stations. A computer is also necessary if one prefers to record onto the hard disc instead of onto tape. One can work at one’s own speed and in one’s own time, devoting as little as a few minutes once or twice a week to the work. There is no need for a medium or for any previous experience. The only personal qualities that are needed are patience, commitment (it may be weeks or months or even longer before the first results are obtained) and an open mind. Working with one or two like-minded friends or family members helps to maintain

interest and may produce quicker results, but this is by no means essential. Many people get on very well on their own. The Second Advantage of ITC The second advantage of ITC is that, as the communications come through electronic media rather than through the mind of a medium, they are unlikely to be influenced in any way by human thought. It is true that some critics suggest that psychokinesis (PK) from the living – the supposed ability of the mind to affect matter directly – may be responsible for impressing the communications on tape or onto the radio waves, but we have no evidence that PK can produce anything approaching the extensive messages that have been received by ITC researchers. In addition, some of these messages contain material that was unknown to the researcher at the time, rendering it doubly unlikely that the latter was in any way responsible for the phenomena. Thus, the belief that the human mind is not responsible for ITC communications seems well founded. In addition, since it is clear that electronic media can hardly obtain material telepathically from the researcher or clairvoyantly from the environment in the way that the medium can, it is fair to say that ITC effectively disposes of the SuperESP (or SuperPSI) hypothesis, the idea that all survival-related messages come psychically (albeit unconsciously) from the living rather than from the deceased. The Third Advantage of ITC The third unprecedented advantage of ITC is that when results are obtained a permanent

record of them is created. Psychical researchers have long sought for what are called PPOs (‘Permanent Paranormal Objects’), objects that are obtained paranormally and that remain in existence as good evidence for anyone to see and examine. ITC presents us with just such objects in the form of recorded communications apparently from the deceased. Of course, it has to be provable that these recordings are paranormal if they are to qualify as PPOs. Anyone who is sufficiently dishonest or foolish can fake voices on tape or through the radio and claim they were obtained paranormally. It has to be demonstrated beyond doubt that the recorded voices cannot be explained by normal means. There are two methods for doing this, the first of which applies only to the Direct Radio Voice (DRV) and the second of which applies both to DRV and to EVP. In the first method the voices are either received under conditions that rule out any possibility of fraud (the experimenter receiving the voices knows fraud is not involved, but it is not easy to convince a skeptical scientist of this!) and in the second method the voices themselves are acoustically analyzed to see if they show characteristics that differ significantly from the human voice and that cannot be imitated correctly by faking. Neither of these methods is particularly easy to implement. To achieve the first, one needs to have independent witnesses who ideally provide their own equipment (tape recorder, tapes, radio, microphone etc.) and have full control

of it throughout. Furthermore, the possibility that transmitting devices are hidden nearby for the purposes of faking voices needs be ruled out by holding the experiments in a neutral venue – which raises a problem in that successful ITC results appear to depend upon a special relationship between the communicators the experimenter, the equipment and the location, and moving to a neutral venue may thus disrupt this special relationship and prevent good results. Consequently, a better procedure is to use one of the highly sophisticated devices currently available that tests for the presence of spurious radio signals while the ITC experiment is taking place (although even here it is important that such tests are carried out and recorded by the independent witnesses). If financial concerns rule out the possibility of obtaining such devices, an alternative way of guarding against spurious radio transmissions is to provide two radios, both tuned to the same frequency, on the grounds that if communications are received through one radio and not through the other then this supports the claim that no such transmissions are being received. As a further precaution both radios can be tuned to frequencies forbidden by law to amateur radio operators (see September 2005 ITC Journal, pages 38 to 56, and April 2006 ITC Journal, pages 68 to 69 for details of these frequencies). Again, independent witnesses would need to be present to confirm everything is done correctly. Failure to provide all these elaborate and expensive precautions allows hardened skeptics to claim

triumphantly that they have discovered how the ‘trick’ is done. The absurdity of such a claim is all too obvious, but hardened skeptics are far more interested in discrediting ITC than in absurdity. The difficulty involved in providing these precautions means it is virtually impossible for most people to set up skeptic-proof experiments. In consequence – and rightly – they are far more interested in convincing themselves than in convincing skeptics. Nevertheless, such experiments are vital and will be set up in due course; the expertise exists, it is only the funding that is lacking. In the meanwhile, all those working on ITC can use the simple experiment that I have tried in two of Anabela Cardoso’s (itcjournal.org) DRV recording sessions, i.e., to ask the communicators to repeat phrases after me. Anabela had no idea on the first occasions that I had even thought up such an experiment, so our successful results ruled out any possibility of subterfuge. Obviously, an independent witness should ideally again be involved, and an experiment of this kind can even be tried with the tape recorder (EVP) method. When using this method, the request for repetition should come from the independent witness and at an unspecified time, and the tape should then remain under his or her control until it is rewound and played back. Hopefully, an ITC voice will be heard repeating the words concerned. The second of the two methods for demonstrating beyond doubt that recorded ITC voices cannot be explained by normal

means, the acoustic analysis of the ITC voices, looks much simpler at first sight, and has the added advantage that it can be used both with DRV recordings and EVP recordings. A further, and particularly important advantage, is that the analysis can be carried out and confirmed any number of times by skeptics themselves (assuming they have the expertise and the appropriate software). Again, however there are problems, the most important of which is that the equipment required to carry out the analysis is expensive and highly specialized and can only be operated by an expert and appropriately qualified acoustic engineer. Anabela and I are currently conducting research of this kind as part of the Oliver Knowles Research Project with the help of acoustics expert Daniele Gullà (facebook.com/danielegulla ) (see Gullà’s paper in the Proceedings of the First International Conference on Survival/ ITC for details of the acoustic analyses used), and hope to be able to publish results soon, but the need for professional software and for the involvement of a suitably qualified acoustic expert means that it is not the kind of work accessible to most people. Editor: See Computer–Based Analysis of Supposed Paranormal Voice: The Question of Anomalies Detected and Speaker Identification (atransc.org/gulla-voice-analysis)(Book 2) for a related article by Gullà Why the Struggle for Acceptance? In view of these three major advantages, which potentially put ITC in a particularly favorable position when compared not only to other forms of research into survival but all other forms of psychical

research, why is it still struggling to gain acceptance outside the circle (admittedly a large and growing one) of those who have experienced results at first hand? The answer is that it shares the opposition that exists towards all forms of survival research. This opposition comes primarily from four groups which we can look at in turn. Established Science Typically, scientists claim they don’t find the evidence for ITC or for survival in general convincing, but the truth is they have never studied this evidence and show little sign of wanting to study it. Lack of knowledge of a subject is acceptable – most scientists find it difficult to enough to keep abreast of advances in their own field and can hardly be expected to wade through the extensive data on survival of death (I have over 600 books on the subject), but what is not acceptable is lack of knowledge that dishonestly claims to be knowledge. Thus, we still hear top scientists maintaining in the media that no properly conducted studies have ever found claims for the existence for survival or for psychic abilities to be anything other than nonsense. Such behavior is not only misleading but very poor science. A cardinal rule in science is that you don’t pretend to knowledge that you do not have, particularly when you know that your views carry weight with both colleagues and laypeople. The complexities of modern science and the aura of infallibility that surrounds it mean that many people take

the pronouncements of eminent scientists on trust, wrongly believing that such is their distinction in their own fields that they must know what they are talking about when they pronounce on any subject. The main reason for this uninformed hostility on the part of many scientists towards psychical research is the belief that if psychic abilities exist and if the mind survives death (and is therefore non-physical) many of the most fundamental laws of science would have to be re-written. This claim is of course absurd. The known laws of science have their own range of convenience within which they work perfectly well, and far from challenging them the existence of psychic abilities and of a non-material mind simply adds a new dimension to our understanding, just as quantum mechanics adds a new dimension to Newtonian physics. This fact leads me to suspect that behind this hostility towards psychical research and survival lies the fear that if such things are true, they challenge the supremacy of material science. Instead of being the final authority on life and death and everything else, material science simply becomes the science of material things. Many scientists appear to resent the idea of the physics/chemistry/biology triumvirate being dethroned in this way, forgetting that science is really about the search for truth and not about the protection of authority and status. Parapsychology The second group against which research in survival has to struggle is parapsychology – the very subject that should be most identified with survival

research. As Edgar Muller put it in the last issue of the ITC Journal (September 2006) “… survival [research] has a low status within parapsychology. It seems that most parapsychologists endeavor to avoid being connected with the topic.” The reason is of course that parapsychologists believe psychical research will never be accepted by established science if it involves itself in hauntings, séances, mediumship, poltergeist phenomena and anything that goes on outside the laboratory – most particularly research into survival. This attitude dates back to Professor J. B. Rhine, who was one of the principal founders of parapsychology, and although more than 25 years have passed since his death parapsychologists still insist on clinging to it – in spite of the fact that the subject is still not accepted among scientists regardless of the extensive range of positive results obtained by it (see e.g., Radin 1997 for an excellent survey). Even demonstrating an interest in the subject risks blighting the career of even the most promising young academic. Sadly, it has to be said that the consequence of the efforts by parapsychologists to appeal to established science has therefore not been scientific acceptance. Instead, it has been the diversion of attention away from the very subject, survival research, that helped inspire parapsychology in the first place. Professor William MacDougall, who established what became the parapsychology unit at Duke University with Professor J. B. Rhine in charge, believed like the founders of the Society for Psychical Research (SPR) (spr.ac.uk/?section=1) that mind is

non-physical. MacDougall, who served as SPR President in 1920 and whose book Body and Mind remains a classic study of the mind-body relationship, put it that although the SPR takes no formal position on such issues its principal aim “is to obtain, if possible, empirical evidence that human personality may and does survive in some sense and degree the death of the body,” and adds that “A considerable mass of evidence pointing in this direction has been accumulated” (MacDougall 1928 page 347). MacDougall also insisted that his own theory of the mind-body relationship, which he called Animism, “is the only psycho-physical hypothesis which is compatible with a belief in any continuance of human personality after death” and points out its relevance “[now that] for the first time, serious attempts are being made to discover empirical evidence of such survival; and the fact that these attempts seem already to justify hope of their success ….” (ibid page 202). Most parapsychologists seem to have forgotten – if they have ever read – MacDougall’s wise words. And even those parapsychologists who do show some interest in survival research seem to incline towards the view that communications from the deceased can best be explained by the SuperESP theory mentioned earlier. However, not only do results show the inadequacy of this explanation in the context of ITC, it is unconvincing even when applied to mediumship. The notion that mediums may, unconsciously and while deceiving themselves that the deceased are responsible, be capable of hunting through

living minds and through the environment for information associated with the deceased even though they have no clue where to look and no emotional connection with the people or the information concerned stretches credulity beyond the bounds of possibility (I have set out these arguments and others more fully in Fontana 2004 and 2005). Established Religion The third group that has traditionally opposed survival research, established religion, should in theory also be among its strongest supporters. Established religion has across the centuries typically equated communications from the beyond with the powers of evil arguing, attributing them to impersonations by demons. The justification for this point of view is sometimes said to come from Exodus Chapter 22 Verse 18 of the Bible when Moses informs the people that one of God’s ‘social ordinances’ is that ‘Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live’. However, the word ‘witch’ seems to have been chosen by the translators to satisfy their own prejudices, as the Latin word is veneficus which is more correctly translated as ‘poisoner’. Even King Saul (Samuel I Chapter 28) who banished all those with ‘familiar spirits’ (spirit guides) from the land pays a visit to one of them himself when he wants to consult the spirit of Samuel to tell him the outcome of his impending battle with the Philistines Samuel duly appears and tells Saul in no uncertain terms that he has lost favour with God and not only will he be defeated he will perish along with his

sons in the battle – all of which turns out to be correct. Saul’s loss of favor with God – together with the Bible’s account of his generally shabby behaviour during much of his reign – hardly suggests he is a suitable role model on how to treat those with ‘familiar spirits’ (i.e. spirit guides). Given therefore that there seems no Biblical objection to ‘familiar spirits’, we are driven to the conclusion that the attitude of the Christian churches (Catholic and Protestant alike) towards converse with the departed stems more from a threat to the authority of the priesthood than from anything else. I am not arguing against religious belief, which is an essential part of human nature, but it seems clear that the teaching which claims that the priesthood are the intermediaries between man and God and the only key holders of the Kingdom of Heaven has been an important obstacle to interest and research into survival. Far from being Biblical, the beginnings of this teaching stretch back to the decision by the Emperor Constantine to make Christianity the state religion of Rome, and thus were always more political than religious. The result of them is that we in the West lag far behind the cultures of the East, whose psycho-physical systems such as Hinduism and Buddhism have extensive and detailed teachings both on survival and on the nature of the afterlife. The General Public The fourth group, the general public – particularly the general public in Britain and

in the USA – do not so much oppose survival research as show little interest in it. We are in fact the only generation in which the subject of death has been so widely ignored. Right through to the mid-20th Century and World War Two people lived with the reality of death. In the earlier part of the Century large numbers of children died young, and even for adults, death was a constant companion. In the 16th Century scholars kept skulls on their desks as momento mori, and in Britain the Victorians and Edwardians in the 19th and early 20th Century frequently wore lockets containing tresses of hair from deceased loved ones. Catholic countries had their Day of the Dead-on November 2nd, and this is one of the few remembrances that are still observed. Apart from this, the reality of death is largely ignored. In earlier times people fell sick, declined and for the most part died at home, and the tragedy of death was forever present. Advances in medical care and public health mean that we are the first generation in recorded history insulated from many of the reminders of our own mortality. Together with the growth of consumerism and the prevalence of materialistic philosophies, this has led to a general resistance to any talk of leaving this life and of what might happen next. There is also a failure to recognize that belief in an afterlife does not distract us from trying to improve this life. Instead, it

gives this life meaning and purpose and increases our awareness of its sacred nature and of the need to cherish the physical world and the opportunities it gives to us. Conclusion We have reached a point in human history where many people now realize that science cannot provide us with answers to life’s fundamental questions, that we have pushed consumerism past its sustainable limits, and that materialism does not provide the route either to individual happiness or to a future for our planet. Together with the advances currently being made in survival research – and particularly in ITC – we may find that opposition from the four groups we have identified begins to weaken, meaning that at the very least the results of research into survival will begin to be taken more seriously. The problem may then be that parapsychologists, recognizing the importance of the PPOs produced by ITC, may attempt to claim the subject as their own and to take much of the credit for its development. We can but wait and see. References 1. Fontana, D. (2004). Survival research: opposition and future developments. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 68.4 (877), 193-209. 2, Fontana, D. (2005). Is There an Afterlife? Alresford: John Hunt. 3. MacDougall, W. (1928). Body and Mind. London: Methuen (7th edn.). 4. Radin, D. (1997). The Conscious Universe (deanradin.com/Chapter1.html). San Francisco: Harper Edge. ITC at the Parapsychological Association’s 2006 Convention in Stockholm Reported by Edgar Müller Originally published in the American Association of Electronic

Voice Phenomena Fall 2006 NewsJournal Editor’s Note: A doctorate is required for full membership in the Parapsychological Association, a requirement which effectively isolates those who should be studying ITC from those who do study ITC. We are greatly encouraged by this report and the small changes toward more openness we have seen by the PA. Approximately seventy highly qualified researchers were participating in the convention and nine of the fifty-one papers presented or items on the agenda were about the Survival Hypothesis. This is quite a substantial proportion of the total material, considering the fact that many parapsychologists, at least officially, refuse to accept the possibility of dualism; that is to say that there may be a brain and a mind, integrated in the daily functioning but nevertheless separate components of cognition and that the mind, which is not an identifiable physiological organ, may survive the death of the brain. Instrumental TransCommunication (ITC), including voice, was dealt with on three occasions during the Convention, once in a negative way and twice quite positively. As far as I know, this is the first time in the long history of parapsychology that ITC was officially discussed at the Convention in this way and that the Survival Hypothesis received so much attention. As we know, parapsychologists have tremendous problems to make their field of research acceptable within psychology and other disciplines in mainstream science. At the same time the issue of survival has a low status within parapsychology. It seems that most parapsychologists

endeavor to avoid being connected with the topic, so that their already questionable reputation in mainstream science should not become even worse. At least until recently, most parapsychologists who are engaged in some kind of survival research have dismissed EVP as not being serious and suitable for scientific research. One of the speakers, an impressive professor from a European country, presented a well-prepared paper on the aspects of the survival hypothesis and commented briefly on all the known indications that survival may be possible, such as NDE, OBE, birthmarks on children claiming reincarnation, apparitions, mediums and at the end of the list there were the magical words ITC. However, he did not comment on ITC, and instead hesitated, shook his head and finally said, “Others may talk about it,” as if he did not want to be contaminated by this field. Some of the papers on the Survival Hypothesis were very balanced. That is to say that the speakers presented all pros and cons in an open- minded way, keeping the door open that there may be a survival. Admittedly it was underlined that we probably never can get scientifically acceptable evidence that there is an existence after the death of the body. One delegate said that he definitely was not a survivalist and it would be difficult to convince him that some functions of cognition and personality could exist after the death of the brain; however, he said he had participated in an experiment about which he said, “Could

you believe it, there were voices coming out from a radio….” So, he gave a brief but correct description of the Bacci experiment that occurred in December 2004. It was obvious that he had been shaken by this experience and was now more open to the survival hypothesis. One important paper presented by a professor from the United States included a kind of summary of the topic and he opened his speech by telling a personal experience regarding EVP. He was in Mexico visiting some colleagues when a young girl was murdered. Apparently, a friend of one of his colleagues was doing EVP research and succeeded in getting several utterances from the murdered girl. This professor listened to the tape and was quite impressed; he took a copy of the tape back to the United States and decided to present it at the Convention. Thus, a session was played back for the whole convention via all the loudspeakers. The quality was very good. I am glad to notice the change in my colleagues’ attitudes in the Board of the Swedish Association of Parapsychological Research. There are some who still think that all talk about ITC is rubbish, but others have now stopped joking about me and ITC and take the topic more seriously. Thus, my old mentor in this field, Dr. Nils-Olof Jacobson and myself can now work in a friendlier and more understanding atmosphere for EVP in Sweden. One of the papers and comments from several participants were very

critical to psychic mediums. My personal experiences are unfortunately not encouraging either. I have several times tried to get some advice from mediums concerning how to proceed with ITC research to get better results but without any reasonable answer. Finally, an observation from the convention. As you know it is customary to give each speaker a polite applause when the paper is finished. Normally these applauses have duration of three to four seconds. After the first and admittedly the best paper on the Survival Hypothesis, there was applause like in a theatre; long and intensive. Of course, it came spontaneously, maybe from the subconsciousness of the delegates Edgar Müller is one of the administrators for the Helene Reeder Memorial Fund for Research into Life After Death, (HRF) which has awarded two ITC research grants (as of Fall 2006). Konstantin Raudive Compiled by Lisa Butler Excerpts from There is No Death and There are No Dead (See info in this book) Dr. Konstantin Raudive, a psychologist, philosopher and Latvian then living in Sweden, read one of the Friedrich Jürgenson books. Raudive was intrigued with the voice phenomena, but skeptical, and asked if he could join Jürgenson for a recording session. After working with Jürgenson, he became convinced that the voices were real. Jürgenson taught Raudive how to record and from 1965 on, he devoted his time to the voice recordings. Both Raudive and Jürgenson were multilingual and the voices they recorded were a mixture of languages. These voices were unlike any

normal voice broadcast. The speech was almost double the usual speed and the sound was pulsed in rhythms like poetry or chanting. (2-226) Many engineers, scientists and experts worked with Raudive over the years conducting voice experiments. Physicist, Professor Alexander Schneider, was one of them. In 1969, Raudive and Professor Schneider were jointly given the first prize awarded by the Swiss Association for Parapsychology for their work on direct voice messages on tape recordings. Although not the first person to record EVP, Raudive is given a good deal of credit for being the first to bring Electronic Voice Phenomena to the attention of a larger audience. His book, The Inaudible Made Audible, was translated into English in 1971 and published by Colin Smythe, Ltd. under the title Breakthrough: An Amazing Experiment in Electronic Communication with the Dead. (1) In the preface to Breakthrough, Smythe wrote that, before publishing the book, he wanted to be sure that the voice phenomenon was real. He did some test recordings and thought that he heard a voice, but he could not understand it. He asked Peter Bander, the editor of Breakthrough, to listen to the tape. After listening, Bander heard a woman’s voice say in German, “Why don’t you open the door?” Bander recognized it as his mother’s voice. Bander and his mother had done all of their correspondence by tape and her voice was unmistakable. The message also made sense, because during the previous week, Bander had insisted on keeping the door of

his office closed and his colleagues had teased him for his seclusion. Bander knew that Smythe could not understand German and so asked others to write down phonetically what they heard. They all heard the same thing. The voices became known as “Raudive Voices” after Breakthrough was published. However, Colin Smythe and Peter Bander became more aware of Friedrich Jürgenson’s role and continued activity in voice phenomena research. It was obvious to them that a less personal and more accurate name needed to be coined for the phenomena. Peter Bander used the term, “Electronic Voice Phenomena,” in the introduction to his book, Carry on Talking. Smythe said that their policy to use the term, “Electronic Voice Phenomenon,” in an official sense was first carried out in a determined fashion in an article written by Malcolm Hughes in The Spiritualist Gazette, in April of 1973. In 1971, controlled EVP experiments were conducted with Raudive by the chief engineers of Pye Records, Ltd. (3) (59-63) Precautions were taken to prevent freak pick-ups of any kind. Controls within the experiment also excluded random high or low frequencies being received. Raudive was not allowed to touch the equipment and was al-lowed only to speak into a microphone. No one present heard anything but Raudive speaking while the recording was being made. However, when the recording was played back, over two hundred voices were found on the eighteen minutes of tape. Many of these messages were personal and very evidential to those who were there.

In his book, Carry on Talking, published in 1972, Peter Bander said that there was so much excitement from those who were there that the experiments continued into the early hours of the morning. Carry on Talking was published in the United States as Voices from the Tapes: Recordings from the Other World. (3) In 1972, Belling and Lee, Ltd., at Enfield, England, conducted experiments with Raudive and the recording of the paranormal voices in their Radio Frequency Screened Laboratory. (3) (65-67) Peter Hale supervised the experiments. Peter, a physicist and electronics engineer, was considered the leading expert on electronic-suppression in Great Britain. The Belling and Lee lab was used to test the most sophisticated electronic equipment for British defense and was expressly designed to screen out electromagnetic transmissions. Before the experiment, Hale had expressed his opinion that Raudive’s voices originated from normal radio signals. The lab’s own recording equipment was used for the test and paranormal voices, that should not have been there, were recorded on factory fresh tape. Peter Hale said after the experiment, “I cannot explain what happened in normal physical terms.” From the section on Maggy Harsch-Fischbach and Jules Harsch: The Director of Timestream was a scientist named Swejen Salter. (4) (10-14) She told the couple that she was a scientist who had lived in a parallel world and had never lived a life on earth. Salter made frequent telephone contacts to the Harsch-Fischbachs. As time passed many eminent ITC researchers from earth joined the group

after their death, including Konstantin Raudive, Friedrich Jürgenson and Klaus Schreiber. From Important Instances of Cross-Correspondence: On April 28, 1992, a French television crew visited Dr. Ernst Senkowski. (5) (V11N3) The crew conducted an interview and then tried to record EVP voices without convincing results. Right before they were to leave, the phone rang and it was the deceased pioneer EVP re-searcher, Friedrich Jürgenson, on the line. Permission was granted to record the conversation in which Jürgenson first spoke in French and thanked the television crew. The conversation then continued in German and said that information would also come via the colleagues Homes and Harsch-Fischbach. Ernst wrote, “No outsider knew that the French television crew was here or planned to be here as the date had been changed shortly before.” The next day Ernst Senkowski spoke with Maggy Harsch-Fischbach on the telephone and she told him that she had had a seven-minute telephone call from Jürgenson before he had placed the call to Senkowski. Jürgenson told Maggy that they planned to send a picture through to the television set of the German researcher, Adolf Homes. Over a month later, Homes’ daughter received a phone call from Raudive, which she recorded. (6) (2/92) Raudive said that a picture of Jürgenson would come through Homes’ television the following day. Homes set up his video camera in front of the television the next day, with the television tuned to a blank channel. He turned the camera on and saw a face flash on

the screen. At almost the same time a message from Jürgenson was placed on the computer of Maggy and Jules Harsch-Fischbach. (5) (V11N3) The picture received on the Harsch couple’s computer showed Swejen Salter, one of the main communicators for the group on the other side called Timestream, as she transmitted the picture of Jürgenson to the television set of Adolf Homes. The picture received on Homes’ television was only of the face of Jürgenson and it was the exact same picture that can be seen on the transmitting monitor in the middle of the picture sent to the Harsch-Fischbachs. References 1. Raudive, Konstantin—Breakthrough: An Amazing Experiment in Electronic Communication with the Dead, New York: Taplinger, 1971. First published by Colin Smythe, Ltd. and still available at colin-smythe.com. 2. Ostrander, Sheila and Lynn Schroeder— Handbook of Psychic Discoveries, Berkeley Publishing Corp., New York, NY, 1975. 3. Bander, Peter—Voices From the Tapes: Recordings from the Other World, Drake Publishers Inc., New York, 1973. Initial German Language title: Carry on Talking. 4. Macy, Mark and Dr. Pat Kubis—Conversations Beyond the Light, Griffin Publishing, Irvine, CA, in conjunction with Continuing Life Research, Boulder, CO, 1995. 5. ATransC NewsJournal—Association TransCommunication, 1982- 2003. Please note that the name of the AA-EVP newsletter was changed to the ATransC NewsJournal in 2003, atransc.org. (atransc.org/felix_circle)(Book 3) 6. Info News—English edition of Cercle D’etudes sur la Transcommunicaton, Luxembourg, (Luxembourg Study Circle in Transcommunication,) Translation: Hans Heckman, US Publishing: Continuing Life Research, PO Box 11036, Boulder, CO, 80301. (No longer

published.) Konstantin Raudive Reported Part of “Spirit Team” Working on Transcommunication From In Pursuit of Physical Mediumship by Robin Foy, page 84* Although we were still getting the independent voices following this Flint sitting, they did tend for a limited period to be short and concise—just the odd word or name. We obviously needed the further breakthrough and incentive of achieving sustained independent voice contact of the type we had witnessed at Leslie’s home in Bayswater. Early in December 1977, through John’s trance, Dr Dunn had more to say on the subject of the Brotherhood: You may recall that I mentioned the Brotherhood. Well, at the same time, when I did so, I had the distinct impression that you were thinking of some esoteric figures, dressed in raiment rather like the Ku Klux Klan of America, or some phantom figures in flowing white robes. I can assure you that this Brotherhood is nothing like that. In fact, the Brotherhood of which I speak is composed of people—scientists mostly— who were involved in this Spiritualism before their passing over to the spirit world, and they are currently working on a revival of “real” Spiritualism if you like. Sir William Crookes is a member, Sir Oliver Lodge, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, too. There’s W T Stead, there’s Miles and Gurney. Lots of people like that, and this is the Brotherhood. They are trying to bring back physical phenomena again, and they are also in contact with Konstantin Raudive. In fact, these are

the two things which they are currently working on. They are interested in Raudive— we call it “Raudive,” in regard of this being an accepted term for it on this side, and they are very concerned that you recognize how important it is for this group to progress, now that you have drawn these people to you. This brotherhood is not, as I have said, some esoteric clan, but these are very determined and anxious people—anxious in the sense that they are so incensed with the mediocrity that in many cases pass for mediumship these days—and they wish to bring something of repute back to the movement in which they were involved, because as you know, their names have been somewhat tarnished in the past, and indeed, presently too. I was urged by Dr Dunn to continue my experiments with the EVP in addition to my circle work and was told that I would be assisted by my spirit friend Elmer Browne and indeed, Konstantin Raudive himself, in this work. Foy, Robin, In Pursuit of Physical Mediumship, Janus Publishing Company, London, England, 2007, ISBN: 978-1-85756-662-8 Larry Dean and Patricia Begley: ITC by Lisa Butler Author, Larry Dean has been working on a book on Instrumental TransCommunication (ITC). Larry says that he was interested in spiritual pursuits at a very young age when others were out playing sports. Later in his life he devoted most of his time to doing presentations and teaching classes on the development of psychic abilities and

healing. Although Larry is naturally clairaudient and clairvoyant, it was only after he stopped teaching these classes that he took time to develop his own trance work. Larry is a deep trance channel. His ITC partner, Patricia Begley facilitates and records the sessions. It is generally only through her doing this, and the recordings she makes, that Larry knows what has taken place while he has been in trance. Many years ago, the two were told by their main guide, Choi, that their spirit team was working with them to establish Video ITC contacts. Larry and Patricia worked together on sitting for physical phenomena for many years. They were excited and encouraged by the ITC results of the Harsch-Fischbach and were even able to sit in on some of the Scole Experimental Group sessions. They continued to sit with a group and did experience limited physical phenomena but did not achieve successful television or Video ITC contacts. Larry talks about the years that they sat around looking at dots on television screens and featureless video experiments. Larry made contact with the two of us over a year ago regarding the ITC book he is working on. We spoke with Larry numerous times on the phone and found a common bond and interest in his enthusiasm for ITC. Since we had also begun work on a book on EVP and ITC in late 2002, we were able to send Larry the two chapters on Video ITC that describe how to conduct

an experiment and some of the theories that attempt to explain Video ITC. We wanted to get his opinion about the usefulness of the chapters and to see if he could replicate what we were finding in our experiments. Within weeks we received an excited phone call from Larry. Larry and Patricia had followed the instructions and had received images on their very first experiment. One of those pictures was that of a close friend who is now on the other side. Larry has the wonderful benefit of being able to use his trance work to receive advice and direction on future experiments. He was told to ask for particular people to appear in their experiments. Larry and Patricia have only been working with video ITC for a few short months, but following that advice, they have received many images of people whom they have asked to appear in their video frames. For instance, they have collected images of Patricia’s father and mother and also the image of Patricia’s Aunt Ethel, which is shown here. (The first frame is a black and white photograph of Ethel. The second frame is the ITC feature as it came to us. The third frame is a black and white enhancement of the ITC, which was necessary to permit it to be printed in the ATransC NewsJournal.) Sarah Estep and the Government Rebecca Anne Estep Summary Report Regarding Brief Events at the National Security Agency During the Mid-1980s Timeframe Pertaining to Remote Viewing and

UFO Phenomena (Peripherally Involving Mrs. Sarah Virginia Estep – Former President of The American Association of Electronic Voice Phenomena) by Rebecca Anne Estep 30 May 2018 Per the mandate of the NSA/CSS Public Release Review Team/Information Security and Classification Division, the following statement is required: “This memoir is a collection of personal recollections of a topic of personal interest. The information and conversations contained herein are solely mine [Rebecca Anne Estep] and does not represent any official position, opinion or official record of NSA. According to the Public Release Review Team (PRRT), this material is approved for public release in a private capacity [that is, Ms. Estep is not representing the NSA in any official capacity via this document] with no restriction on venue or medium per NSA/CSS Policy 1-30, dated 12 May 2017, paragraphs 2.a-e. Nothing in this public release review approval should be interpreted as verification of the information included in the submission. NSA is not responsible for fact-checking the document, nor does the PRRT “approve” (confirm) the data contained therein. The PRRT solely verifies that the material is completely UNCLASSIFIED and contains no protected information.” Any peculiarities regarding the names in this document (i.e., the use of the first letter of the first or last name) was solely at the direction of the PRRT. Any exceptions to this rule which occur throughout the document has been approved by the PRRT. CaseE Number PP-18-0085 I’ve been employed at the National Security Agency (NSA) in Ft. Meade, MD since

May 1980 and currently work as an information management specialist. This document describes several events that occurred at NSA during the mid-1980s which indicates the agency’s past interest – to the limited extent I was made aware of it – in the field of remote viewing and UFO phenomena. It is common knowledge that during the 1970s-1990s, various DoD agencies were interested in exploring the field of parapsychology, particularly remote viewing, for the purpose of gathering intel against various targets. I assume this is an idea whose time has come and gone and that the NSA no longer maintains an interest in remote viewing (or UFOs for that matter). Because of the years that have passed, I do not remember a fair amount of details. Therefore, and regrettably, this document will be vague in some places; more specific in other areas. NSA’s Interest in Remote Viewing Sometime during the mid-1980s, Ms. D (an NSA employee who worked in my building – Ops 3 aka Frank B. Rowlett building) told me about a venture known as Project Center Lane. I don’t remember much about what I was told except that the study was being conducted by the Army in Ft. Meade. The Army wanted to investigate remove viewing for intelligence gathering purposes. Several NSA employees were involved in it, but Ms. D was the only one I knew personally. NSA sent Ms. D to the Monroe Institute in Virginia to learn how to do remote viewing. Ms. D came back and

told me that it could be physically and mentally damaging to some people who practiced the techniques. She did not explain what she meant by that, except to say that it was “draining”. She withdrew from Project Center Lane either because the project ended on its own or because of its negative psychological effects; I do not remember now what her reason was. I also cannot recollect the reason why Ms. D chose to divulge Project Center Lane to me. I don’t know if it would have been considered a security breach that she informed me of it; she never said it was classified. Ms. D knew that my mother was involved in the field of parapsychology and perhaps that explains her reason for telling me about the remote viewing project. Other Government Interest in Remote Viewing Somewhere in the mid-1980s, I was approached by an employee at NSA; his name was Mr. A. I had seen him around in the hallways and had spoken to him occasionally. He told me about a group of people at NSA who were doing a project with someone at the National Standards Bureau (NSB) in Washington, D.C. It was not an NSA-affiliated program. The study dealt with remote viewing, and Mr. A wanted to know if I’d like to participate. He explained that the man at NSB (who was never identified) was conducting the study as his own personal/private experiment. I don’t know how Mr. A had heard of the remote viewing project

and who approached him about it. I think Ms. D was also a participant in this experiment. I told Mr. A that I was willing to take part in it. The experiment didn’t involve going to another office or building on site; rather, it simply entailed sitting at home in the evening and trying to guess at some numbers that were sealed inside an envelope which was in the possession of the NSB man. I did the experiment and handed the results to Mr. A several weeks later. He took my answers to the unidentified man at the NSB. Mr. A later told me that I had a 50% hit rate; that the NSB man said it was statistically significant for a first try, and that he wanted me to continue with the project. I told Mr. A that I didn’t feel I qualified to continue with the experiment with a 50% hit rate and informed him I no longer wished to participate. It seemed somewhat irrelevant for me to do so. Mr. A was disappointed but understood and accepted my withdrawal from the remote viewing experiment. He said he hadn’t done well in the NSB project and subsequently ended his participation in it. NSA’s Possible Interest in UFO Phenomena In 1985, I worked as a secretary for the International Relations Office in what was then known as the DDI organization. At the time this event occurred, I did not ask if it was considered classified in nature, and I

was never informed as to whether or not it was. Somewhere between November-December 1985, I received a call at work from an individual within the agency. I don’t remember his name but he referred to himself as Chief Scientist of NSA [CH/SCI]. At that point in time and to the best of my knowledge, Mr. K was the CH/SCI. He held that position from 1983-1990. In 1990, he took the post of Chief of Research and Technology at NSA and held that position until he retired in 1994. He passed away in March 2001. Although the name of Mr. K does not ring any particular bell with me, I will use his name for convenience’s sake throughout the rest of this document. However, due to my lack of recall, I cannot vouch that it was, indeed, Mr. K that I talked to. It is only an educated guess on my part. During our initial telephone conversation, Mr. K said he wanted to talk to me about my mother’s (Sarah Virginia Estep) organization – the American Association of Electronic Voice Phenomena [AA EVP]. Background on EVP EVP is a field which combines both parapsychology and technology. In EVP, the experimenter attempts to communicate with those who have died and passed on to “the other side” via electronic means. EVP does not employ the usual methods of spirit communication, such as mediums, séances, self-induced trance states, automatic writing, Ouija boards, etc. Back in the 1980s, EVP was conducted primarily with reel-to-reel tape

recorders and cassette recorders. The field now utilizes digital tape recorders, computers, and other electronic “gadgets” – the mechanics of which I do not have the technical smarts to understand. EVP is based primarily on the premise that an individual survives death and can, in a resultant metamorphosed conscious energy state, communicate its thoughts onto physical recording devices. My mother founded the AA EVP in 1982 and ran the organization until May 2000, at which time she turned it over to Tom and Lisa Butler in Reno, Nevada (now designated the ATransC organization). It was, and still remains a small, international organization. I don’t know what the current membership is but in May 2000, the AA EVP consisted of approximately 300 members from 30 states and 13 foreign countries. The voices my mother and others recorded on tape ran from the very faint and barely discernible to clear, “Class A” types. It’s my personal opinion that the vast majority of the voices are very poor in quality. Usually, these messages are brief and run no more than six to seven words in length. They generally are not audible during the actual recording process; they usually can only be heard in the playback mode. These voices, at times, are able to answer direct questions and also occasionally make comments which indicate they are aware of what is happening in the life of the experimenter. They have also been known to exhibit precognitive abilities. Sometimes, the voices do not come through and

there is nothing but silence on playback. In other instances, voices appear on the digital recorders/computers which cannot be readily explained. At times, the voices speak in unusual rhythm, sometimes speaking more quickly than a human voice, and at times will run their words together. Now and then, they appear to have a metallic or mechanical quality. There were certain members of the AA EVP who felt that, in addition to hearing from those who have died and passed on, they were also receiving messages from “other life forms” (OLFs). These particular voices are the ones which tend to sound metallic or mechanical in quality. The spirit voices never exhibit this type of tonal characteristic. Furthermore, the content of the OLF messages tends to be somewhat different than messages of those claiming to have once lived and are now deceased. Occasionally, the OLFs use words which don’t seem to belong to any known language. It has been theorized that these OLFs may come from other dimensions of existence (alternate realities/parallel worlds – a quantum model of the Universe allows for both). The possibility has also been considered that some of these OLFs exist on physical worlds within the Universe; i.e. “alien entities”. Both the spirit voice of those physically deceased and those of the OLF type, were sometimes recorded on the reverse or “wrong side/dull side” of a reel to reel tape, which technically should not be possible. In September 1981, after five years of research, my mother recorded what

she believed to be her first OLF message. Approximately 5% of the voices received on tape were considered to be from other life forms. Initial Contact with Mr. K During my initial phone call with Mr. K, I asked how he had heard about my mother’s organization. He seemed vague and evasive in his response. I don’t recall him ever answering the question. However, it’s possible he might have learned about my mother’s work through a local talk show or newspaper article. Information regarding my mother’s work had been in the media more than once over the years. One remark I do recall which Mr. K made, was: “The Director of NSA (at the time, General O.) has given me a long leash to explore whatever topics arouse my curiosity.” I could have asked Mr. K to explain the purpose of his inquiry, but I felt I didn’t have the right because his position at the agency was so much higher than mine. I don’t know how Mr. K heard of me, and how he knew that I worked at NSA. I don’t know how he knew I was the daughter of the president of the AA EVP. At one point during our initial phone conversation – prior to our face to face meeting – I asked the CH/SCI how he had located me, but I don’t recall him answering the question. I told the Chief Scientist on the phone that he was free to contact my mother; he didn’t

need to go through me for information about EVP. My mother would have been more than happy to discuss the subject with him. If Mr. K didn’t want my mother to know he was from the NSA, he simply could have told her he worked as a clerk at the local grocery store. My mother would have been none the wiser. All that notwithstanding, the CH/SCI seemed unwilling to go to my mother directly. He wanted to meet with me instead and requested I not tell my mother he had sought information about her work. He did not explain his desire for secrecy and once again, I refrained from asking because I believe I didn’t have the right to question him. I agreed to Mr. K’s request for silence, and told my mother nothing about his inquiry. Mr. K also requested that I not tell anyone at work about his investigation (he did not explain his rationale for this, either) and I promised him I wouldn’t. I met with the CH/SCI in my office the following week. For some reason, he didn’t want to see me at his office. The meeting lasted about an hour. I was instructed not to tell my boss or anyone else in the office ahead of time that Mr. K would be visiting. If, after the meeting was held, I was asked why the CH/SCI had visited me, I was advised to say that I wasn’t at liberty to divulge that information. Afterwards, people did

ask (including my boss) why he showed up in our office, and I responded that I was asked to keep it in confidence. This raised some eyebrows but no one questioned me further. During my conversation with Mr. K, which occurred behind closed doors in a small conference room, the CH/SCI asked some basic questions about EVP: its history, development, methods of research and results. In due course, it became apparent that Mr. K was not primarily interested in contact with “the dead”. His main focus of interest was whether or not my mother felt she was in contact with UFOs and extraterrestrials via her EVP recordings. In 1985, the primary emphasis in EVP was the exploration of the afterlife through electronic communication with “the dead”. It still remains the primary focus of research. However, in1985, as I sat in the conference room with Mr. K, the possibility that alien entities were coming through the tape recorder was just beginning to be acknowledged by various members of the AA EVP. It wasn’t common knowledge that people working within the field of EVP were studying this relatively new and unexpected development. Barely a handful of people knew about it. I didn’t understand why the Chief Scientist was interested in what my mother was receiving in the way of possible alien contacts. Nor do I comprehend how he had even come to suspect that UFOs were part of the electronic voice phenomena. I rarely spoke to anyone at work about my mother’s

research in the field of EVP. On the few occasions when I did mention it, it was always in reference to its “spirit” aspects, never in the context of “other life forms”. I tried to emphasize the parapsychological nature of EVP, wanting to steer clear of its “alien” implications. Frankly, I felt awkward discussing the fact that various EVP experimenters believed they were in contact with alien beings/UFOs/OLFs. I was extremely skeptical that this was occurring. Since I gave the idea limited credibility, I assumed that the Chief Scientist would give it even less. I felt the need to defend my mother’s character against what I thought would be the conventional, straight-and-narrow-path logic of the National Security Agency’s highest ranking scientist. I was afraid that Mr. K would think my mom was a nut. Yet, he assured me repeatedly that he didn’t think my mom was crazy and continued to press for information concerning electronically received UFO contacts. He was very persistent and the meeting seemed to take on the air of an interrogation. I had the uncomfortable sensation of being drilled. Mr. K was primarily interested in whether or not these “space” entities had identified themselves, where they claimed to have come from, and what they said. He asked if they had ever said anything of a threatening nature. I told him I didn’t think so. He asked if they had ever described their “propulsion system”. I asked him what that meant. He said “it’s like what makes a

car run.” I said I didn’t know. I wasn’t able to answer most of Mr. K’s questions regarding “alien contact”, since I knew very little about it. My mother didn’t discuss it very often and when she did, I did not take it seriously. All things considered, I don’t believe I was very helpful to the CH/SCI. Near the end of our conversation, I told Mr. K that my mother would be giving a lecture about her work in the near future. I also informed him that I planned to attend this lecture. I suggested he attend the lecture in order to hear first-hand what EVP was all about. The CH/SCI seemed interested in the opportunity to hear my mom talk about EVP. Yet, he also appeared to have some reluctance in attending the lecture. I don’t understand what his hesitation stemmed from but after several moments, he said that he himself would not attend the presentation but two of his “advisors” would. He made it clear that he didn’t want me to know who these two individuals were or what they looked like, so that I would not be able to spot who they were when they arrived at the lecture. The CH/SCI then requested that I not tell my mother that two people from NSA would be attending her lecture and repeated his request for my mother not to be informed of our meeting that day. I was reluctant to keep my mother in the dark but promised

I would say nothing. At one point, I asked Mr. K if he was going to tell the Director about our meeting. His response was: “I might.” I don’t know if he ever did or not. At the time our conversation took place, I didn’t know the specific date for when my mother’s lecture would be given. I told the CH/SCI that I would obtain this information and forward it to him. He said that when I called his office with the date and place of the lecture, I should ask for him directly and not to leave the message with his secretary. I passed the information to him directly, by phone, several days later. That was my last contact with the CH/SCI. The lecture was given in January 1985 at the Towson United Methodist Church. It was sponsored by the Spiritual Frontiers Fellowship, a metaphysical organization. During the lecture, my mother focused entirely on spirit communication. She did not mention that she felt she was also, upon occasion, having contact with alien entities/OLFs. To reiterate, it was a relatively new phenomenon at the time. It was (and still is) a rare occurrence and I think my mom was somewhat reluctant to openly talk about it in public. I remember seeing two men at the lecture who appeared a little out of place, but only because they wore business suits. Everyone else was dressed casually. I have no way of knowing if these two individuals were the “advisors” the CH/SCI

referred to in our meeting. I vaguely recall that these two individuals left the lecture early, before it ended. Footnote 1: Other Government Interest in EVP (Not Related to NSA) In September 1981, my mother was contacted by a man named Mr. P. My mother didn’t remember how Mr. P heard about her work; the AA EVP had not been established yet. Mr. P claimed he was from Air Force Intelligence and stationed in San Antonio, TX. He said his interest in EVP was personal, not professional. He made this statement more than once, as if he felt compelled to drive home the point. Mr. P visited my mother several times and on one occasion, made a recording with her. He asked, “the other side” to describe “target number 1 through 5.” This is not a typical question an EVP researcher would ask when attempting to contact someone who has died and passed on. Mr. P never explained the meaning or purpose behind his question and I don’t think my mother asked. It’s possible it had something to do with a remote viewing experiment which he was not at liberty to discuss, but that is just a guess on my part. The responses to Mr. P’s question were: “53”, “I look in”, and “what’s this?” • Years ago, when I was going through some notes my mother had made regarding Mr. P’s visit, I came across a piece of paper which indicated that at some point, he had been transferred

to Japan. • There is also a note saying that he had visited Gilbert Bonner, who lived in England at the time, to observe him doing EVP research. The visit occurred during the same year Mr. P visited by mom. Bonner was a well-known researcher in the field and has since passed on. I don’t know how Mr. P explained his interest in EVP to Mr. Bonner and if he identified himself as being from Air Force Intelligence. In May 1982, my mother was contacted by a man named Mr. N. Mr. N stated he worked for the government but did not elaborate beyond that. My mother said he was very closed mouth about his job. She had the impression that he travelled a lot. My mother did not recall how Mr. N heard about her work. Initially, he was skeptical that my mother’s taped voices were of paranormal origin. He was apparently open-minded enough to borrow one of my mother’s tapes. He returned for several more meetings and during one particular visit, told my mother that he had the tape “tested” and was convinced that the voices were not coming from radio broadcasts and signals. He also provided several pieces of equipment (something called a tone generator and a magnetic microphone) for my mother and said he thought they would help her in taping. My mother used them for a short time, but since they didn’t appear to improve her results, she discontinued their use. On the last visit,

Mr. N said he had to go away, didn’t know if he’d ever cross her path again, and wished her success in her work. She did not hear from him again. Footnote 1: (UFO/NSA Related) Sometime during the mid-1980s, I had a brief conversation with an NSA employee (Mr. G). He worked in the printing organization, known as the Y Group. He related the following to me: A partially filled, open bag was discovered behind one of the duplicating machines in the print shop. Since it was uncertain as to whether or not the bag was left by mistake or was left behind simply in order to be disposed of, Mr. G briefly examined the contents of the bag in order to determine who it belonged to. He came upon a cover sheet titled Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence. I don’t remember if Mr. G said whether or not a report was attached to the cover sheet; I don’t think there was. In any event, Mr. G decided the bag had been left in the print shop by accident and was meant for destruction. A disposal unit for the bag was nearby; Mr. G secured the bag and had it destroyed. To the best of my knowledge, he did not discuss the cover sheet with anyone else. This Concludes the Summary of Events Report The Electronic Voice Phenomena ©Thomas Wingert College Research paper by Thomas Wingert The Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP) is generally defined as the manifestation of sensible remarks of seeming paranormal

origin on sound recording media, such as reel-to-reel tapes, audio cassettes, video tapes and recently computers. The voices, also known as “tape voices,” are often reasonable messages replying to corresponding questions, and in many cases, the contents of the messages and the characteristics of the speaker suggest that the recordings are transmissions by the deceased. The origins of these mysterious voices, their purpose and how it is possible are a hypothesis and have been unexplained since their discovery four decades ago. Since extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof, scientists only give credence to a theory if it can be proven by replication during a controlled experiment. If replication is not possible, then the subject remains a hypothesis. However, the existence of recorded paranormal voices on cassette tapes is undeniable and cannot be disputed by any logical argument. In the spring of 1959, in Moelnbo, Sweden, the opera singer and painter Friedrich Jürgenson made what could be considered the most important discovery in the history of humankind. His book, Voice Transmissions with The Deceased, details his accidental discovery during the recording of birdsongs. During replay he realized that voices were addressing him by name. After thinking his tape recorder was defective, he soon realized that an invisible intelligence was trying to establish contact with him, and the originators later identified themselves as the deceased (Jürgenson, 1964). Jürgenson pursued this phenomenon over many years and collected thousands of these voices until he was sure of its authenticity. He presented his conclusions to the

public in 1963, which unleashed a diverse reaction. Scientists and audio experts examined the voices and performed their own recordings with their sealed tapes. Some of them were also addressed by name and received brief messages in regard to some personal matters, which only they understood. The absence of fraud was acknowledged by all involved. The Swedish media followed with many reports about the voices because his discovery seemed to offer proof for the existence of an afterlife. This revelation attracted many respected scientists such as Dr. Konstantin Raudive from Latvia, for his experiments yielded similar results. He published his book Breakthrough in 1971. Jürgenson’s publication also captured the attention of Professor Hans Bender from the Institute of Parapsychology in Freiburg, Germany, who traveled to Sweden confirming the authenticity of this phenomenon. Many people were encouraged by Jürgenson’s book to conduct their own experiments, and to pass their experience on to others, which resulted in several EVP associations, and a wealth of information available to the public. A German EVP association, the VTF (vtf.de ), was founded in 1976, in Wiesbaden, Germany, implementing the idea of “gathering experimenters under one roof” (VTF World Wide Web). The association provides quarterly newsletters, conducts scheduled weekend seminars at several locations in Germany and a major annual conference in the city of Fulda. The knowledge of this phenomenon has reached the United States and other English-speaking countries in the 1980’s, since then, many people are pursuing EVP enthusiastically. For example, the American Association of

Electronic Voice Phenomenon, AAEVP, founded by Sarah Estep in 1982, is one of many American associations offering a wealth of information, including an e-mail list for members who share experience or discuss topics associated with this phenomenon. She published her book, Voices of Eternity, in 1988. Recordings are conducted mostly by the use of a cassette recorder with a build-in microphone or preferably a separate microphone that is placed away from the recorder so it doesn’t record the vibrations of the motor, which is annoying when listening during maximum-volume replay. Evidence suggests that providing an energy source, i.e., “background noise,” aids the spirits in their attempt to communicate. A radio has been used as a background noise since EVP’s discovery; preferably it should be tuned to foreign news broadcast, which helps the experimenter hear messages received in English. However, objectivity is required, since English is a global language and may actually be part of the broadcast. In addition, the possibility of receiving a radio frequency from a radio station, passing airplane, police squad car, or taxi must be considered. Many experimenters agree that a brand-new cassette tape should be used to eliminate possible contamination of a previous recording, which is placed in the recorder, and the counter is set to “000”. Users are instructed to press “record” and start by stating their name, date and time, allowing each recording session to be identified later, followed by a greeting to the spirits, which is considered common courtesy. It is common practice

to speak uninhibitedly with five to ten second pauses between statements or questions to allow for answers or comments. The pause is beneficial to the listener because it is difficult to hear the faint voices when they overlap one’s own voice. The duration of a recording session should be five to ten minutes, because the listening requires much time. A recording is ended by respectfully thanking the guests for attending and/or commenting. Finally, one should stop the recording, rewind and then listen. It is generally emphasized that patience and perseverance are prerequisites for listening to the tape voices. This challenge can be most frustrating to an inexperienced person, who may be expecting results only a long-distance telephone company can provide. Such demands are unreasonable, considering the subject; it seems a miracle to have any contact at all. Headphones that seal around the ear help to isolate distracting outside noises during listening, which requires practice and total concentration, since most voices are quiet and as if from a great distance. The focus necessary for listening can be compared to a football player who can tune out a stadium of 80,000 screaming spectators in order to hear the coach’s call out a play. Some voices or messages are spoken rapidly or slow, whispered, sung, and very noticeably grammatically incorrect. The general hypothesis is that it is their way of proving the authenticity of the transmission, which could average approximately two seconds in duration. Since manifestations vary in quality, many have acknowledged a

basic A, B, C classification. The definition of a class “A” voice is universally accepted and undisputed, because it must be understood by anyone with normal hearing and without being told or prompted what it says. They are rare, but a thrill when received. Class “B” voices are more common and usually audible to experienced persons who have learned the skill of listening or others after being told what to listen for. A class “C” voice is simply unintelligible, but may have paranormal characteristics, such as the rapid muffled double thump preceding a transmission, as if breaking through some barrier, or a mechanical sound that may be compared to an on/off switching. However, any sincere experimenter would apply objectivity and disregard it since guessing is unaccepted. It is common for experimenters to mark their tapes and keep journals for reference. Confirming an EVP manifestation is possible by using two identical tape recorders, one for recording and the other for playing the background source, such as a tape from a foreign audio book. For example, if a paranormal recording seems audible on the recorded tape, then one should listen to the background tape at the same spot on the tape counter and see if there is a difference. It is this method that so far provides the best proof that a manifestation has occurred and confirms the existence of EVP. Yet the phenomenon is not officially recognized by most of the scientific community, because it seems that the laws of physics

don’t quite apply to EVP, which may be impossible for a scientist to accept. Scientists are certainly able to control chemical reactions or experiments in physics, biology, and so on, but can they control human beings who have made the transition into the afterlife? It appears that the deceased are truly in control of any contact and only they decide if they want to talk or not. Fortunately, this does not discourage some scientists in researching this phenomenon, for only scientific proof can be publicly accepted. Professor Imants Barušs from the Department of Psychology, Kings College, University of Western Ontario, published an article with the Journal of Scientific exploration (scientificexploration.org/journal/jse_15_3_baruss.pdf), in which he details an experiment that resulted in the failure to replicate the electronic voice phenomenon. According to his article, he only found limited information on its history in parapsychology periodicals, various trade publications and newsletters in addition to an obvious absence of documentation about EVP in any mainstream English scientific journals (p355). Though his account of the experiment reflected a sincere attempt to replicate this EVP phenomenon; the experiment was flawed since it was based on very limited information that resulted in the implementation of basic mistakes in his procedures. [Editor: See Failure to Replicate ITC (ethericstudies.org/failure-to- replicate-itc) for a discussion of Barušs report.] For example, he did not conduct the experiment. Instead, two hired persons performed it that had no prior knowledge about the EVP phenomenon, consequently lacking basic awareness and listening skills so emphasized by many

experimenters. Considering the experience of many involved with EVP, the duration of his recording sessions were excessive, leaving less valuable time for listening and unfortunately a waste of hard earned funding. One of his staff actually described hearing her name “Gail” called, and a female voice saying, “Tell Peter”. She said that it sounded like a woman she knew that had recently died and whose husbands name is Peter; yet it was disregarded since Professor Barušs felt that it wasn’t strong enough (p363). Surprisingly, he mentions that no attempt was made to search the Internet [my emphasis] or to research foreign publications. His report consequently placed EVP in an unfavorable position. Perhaps if Professor Barušs read Jürgenson’s book, it would have provided him with much more insight to the matter and better fundamental information that could have influenced the outcome of his scientific experiment in favor of the phenomenon. It is generally understood that even good research and preparation are not a guarantee for a successful recording. It may take several attempts, sometimes months, before a transmission has been recorded. This is puzzling, because evidence suggests that the deceased have amazing capabilities, including the ability to see us, answer a question before it is asked, manifest a recording in reverse or at different speeds, and they are multilingual. So why are many attempts unsuccessful? Why don’t they simply tell us how to improve the connection, such as constructing some ingenious electronic apparatus? No one knows. Perhaps their knowledge is limited

and they don’t know, or they do, but prefer silence for a justifiable reason. One hypothesis may be answered by asking a question, “What would the global impact be if there were scientific proof of an existing afterlife?” It seems reasonable to assume that the effects would be extremely diverse and not necessarily positive. However, it is the class “A” voices that offer the best argument of the phenomenon’s authenticity, leaving no other logical choice but to recognize EVP as an unexplainable fact, and not a belief. The awareness seems to be steadily increasing on a global scale, for searching the World Wide Web with the keyword “electronic voice phenomenon” on AOL in June of 2002 resulted in 72900 hits. Apparently, there is only one way to convince oneself of its existence, which is to do a recording by oneself, alone and with all possible interferences removed. If we as human beings understand this phenomenon or not, or accept its existence or not, it doesn’t matter, because all things considered, it seems EVP is here to stay. Bibliography 1. Association TransCommunication (Formally AA-EVP). ATransC.org 2. Baruss, I. (2001). “Failure to Replicate EVP Phenomenon.” Journal of Scientific Exploration: Volume 15:3, Pp 355-367. 3. Bender, H. (1966) Parapsychologie: Entwicklung, Ergebnisse, Probleme. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft. 4. Bender, H. (1972). The Phenomena of Friedrich Juergenson: Journal of Paraphysics. 6,65-75. UK: Chatbum, vtf.de 5. Bender, H. (1973). . Olten, Freiburg i. Br.: Walter Verlag. 6. Estep, Sarah Wilson (1988). Voices of Eternity. (See info in

this book) New York: Faucett Gold Medal. (Out of Print use eBook) 7. Jüergenson, F. (2001). Voice Transmissions with The Deceased. (atransc.org/Voice%20Transmissions%20With%20The%20Decease d.pdf) (T. Wingert & G. Wynne, Trans.) Friedrich Jüergenson Foundation, Sweden (Original work published 1964) 8. Raudive, K. (1971). Breakthrough: An Amazing Experiment in Electronic Communication with The Dead. (N. Fowler, Trans.). Gerrards Cross, UK: Colin Smythe. (Original work published 1968) 9. Schaefer, H. (1978). Stimmen aus einer anderen Welt: Chronik und Technik der Freiburg i. Br.: Bauer Verlag. 10. VTF (Verein fuer Tonbandstimmen Forschung). Homepage, vtf.de The Instrumental Transcommunication Work of Marcello Bacci by Paolo Presi As presented by Paolo Presi at the 2006 AA-EVP conference. ©Paolo Presi - All Rights Reserved After more than thirty-five years of dedicated study of Instrumental TransCommunication (ITC), Marcello Bacci can be considered a leading expert in the field due to this exceptionally long record of experimentation with the voices. The remarkable phenomena that have occurred in the past decades in Grosseto, Italy, indicate that this persevering experimenter is always prepared to locate new openings to communicate with the beyond. Paolo Presi Bacci’s character is such that he is never satisfied with the results achieved and always wishes to continue the exploration from other possible perspectives. His interest in the paranormal goes back to 1949 when he participated in a mediumistic sitting in London. From that time, his life was indelibly marked and today, at seventy-nine years of age, he continues to make regular experiments, once a month. Bacci is a

man with wide-ranging creativity. His personality reveals itself to be unconditioned and free, intolerant of any restriction coming from dogmatic and cultural pressures that seek to reject realities that personal experience has indicated to him are possible. In his long years of experimental work, Bacci has tested various methods and many technical devices. In the beginning he made microphone recordings, in the same manner as Jürgenson and Raudive. Over the years he has made many other attempts with newly developed devices. In the past two decades he has been obtaining his transcontacts through an old Nordmende valve radio. Today, Bacci performs his monthly experiments in the presence of many people, mainly parents who are hoping to establish contact with their deceased children. It is important to observe that Bacci, who has applied himself to ITC with great commitment for more than thirty-five years, never asks for money or other kinds of financial incentive. In his experiments, Bacci tunes his radio to the short-wave band, in a frequency ranging between 7 and 9 MHz, in a zone clear from normal radio transmissions. After waiting for ten to twenty minutes the existing background noise disappears and a typical acoustic signal comes out of the loudspeaker, similar to an approaching wind vortex, repeated three or four times at short intervals. Silence then follows, at the end of which an invisible speaker starts to communicate by establishing with Bacci, or with the people attending the experiment, something like a dialogue. It is interesting to

observe that usually the entities address Bacci in the third person and only rarely in the first person. The paranormal vocal utterances are not continuous but interspersed with pauses. They last for varying lengths of time from a minimum of approximately ten seconds to a maximum of three to four minutes. Sometime the contact ends with a solemn choir. Once the contact is concluded, the normal background noise returns. Each experimental session lasts about forty to sixty minutes. It is important to highlight some peculiarities that characterize the role of the radio receiver in the experiments. The first is the perfect continuity of the communicating voice [even] if the receiving frequency is continuously changed by rotating the tuning control knob during the reception of paranormal voices. The second peculiarity is found in the experiment that took place on December 5, 2004 in Bacci’s laboratory. Approximately one hour after the commencement of the voices and while they were still continuing, the radio receiver’s five valves were all removed. Despite the absence of the valves, the voices continued to speak with undiminished volume and clarity. Lastly, the phenomenon persisted intermittently for two minutes and twenty seconds after Bacci switched off the radio. Marcello Bacci standing in front of a few of his radios. The Nordmende is the large radio with a wood cabinet. From my point of view, the above peculiarities provide evidence that, once the phenomenon commences, the radio ceases to function as a normal radio receiver. The radio appears to

become a device, psychically supported, through which the paranormal voices can be heard. Other evidence that the voices received by Bacci are a mediumistic phenomenon is confirmed by the fact that the paranormal contacts happen only when he is present. Upon occasion, when Bacci has been away from the place of the experiments, some of his friends have tried to establish contacts by operating the same radio, but without any result. All these details are highly significant since they demonstrate that ITC needs to be supported by mediumistic or psychic abilities. It is my personal opinion that the phenomenon should be considered as an interactive process among a “Mind System.” The invisible communicators affirm that they are Spiritual Beings. Sometimes they have asserted, “The Spirit is speaking to you,” without giving any indication of their identity. With unequivocal precision all the communications reveal the presence of autonomous intelligent beings, differing from each other by the voice characteristics and by the emotional and conceptual content that characterize each communicating personality. The voices deal with the most varied topics, freely chosen by the communicators themselves, since Bacci has no wish to interfere and only occasionally asks questions. The invisible communicators have always demonstrated a profound and sensitive response to the human pain caused through the death of a loved one, expressing words of great comfort and strength. Particular care is given to the messages that provide parents with direct evidence of the continuity of life after death of their deceased children. The

entity called “Gregorio” often addresses parents with warm words of deep understanding, giving reassurance to those who are still doubtful, as in the following example: Dear mothers, we have already told you that your loved ones suffer only if you are suffering. A day will come where the mysteries will be disclosed to you, the haze will be dissipated and all of you will be embraced by a clear light. One day you’ll leave your body where you found it, to reach another order of being. The end of each experiment is devoted to personal contacts between deceased children and their parents who attend the experiment. The children’s communications are an attempt to reassure their parents of their survival in another dimension, in their new state of existence. These contacts, besides producing an immediate emotional impact that is profoundly moving for the recipients, represent the most convincing evidence of the authenticity of the phenomena. Most often, another voice informs the parents of the presence of the deceased loved one, but at other times the child directly manifests himself or herself by repeatedly pronouncing his or her name or by giving in a few words as an emotionally pregnant message. It is astonishing how the children’s voices are sometimes modulated with timbre, lilt and inflexion recognized by the parents. They can be male or female, childish, juvenile or adult depending upon the circumstance. Sometimes the sentences are pronounced slowly as though the speaker has met some difficulty in finding the appropriate

words, while at other times, sentences are fast and expressed without any hesitation. To overcome the distrust and incredulity of participants who are attending an experiment for the first time, the voices adopt an effective, direct method: they address such people by their own, personal name. The impact is immediate; those who listen to their name coming from the radio are astonished, literally captivated. From an unknown communicator who introduced himself as “a citizen of heaven” came a significant message on the subject of death: Fear to die? I don’t believe that death deserves so much! Here is Life after death. Death has been beat and this hope is not an illusion, your life must be transformed. There is another dimension, another Life. Remember, the Spirit will transform your mortal body into a spiritual body. Have you understood? This is inconceivable for the human being! Human beings are not eternal but much more then eternal! Your body will become Spirit, not similar but the same being; about this we cannot say anything more. Frequently the invisible speakers have stated that the communications occur by means of “waves that are not physical,” and they exhorted us to take a qualitative step forward when they said: Be aware: it is supernatural what they are listening to and seeing. The basic concept, that has been repeatedly asserted, concerns the finality of these communications. They must be considered not only as consolatory, but as having the ultimate goal of helping people in their correct

understanding of the afterlife. The Spirit is manifesting as mediator of the Truth, He comes to speak in this special way assuming a human feature to give his message. His presence allows you to approach the absolute Truth which cannot be entirely defined due to the limitations of human speech. From the many communications received to this date, the following are some of the recurrent themes found within the information conveyed by the voices: 1. Astonishment about their new surroundings. 2. Time blocked. 3. Unbelievable speed. 4. Perception of endless space. The description of the beyond is characterized by astonishment due to the perception of a timeless environment that is depicted as “time blocked.” In our physical continuum, the sensory perception is linear, and the learning process is actuated through progressive steps that result in time flowing from the past to the future. After death the perception changes: progressive learning is no longer effective as in the temporal dimension but seems rather to operate as a simultaneous perception that is felt as “unbelievable speed.” It is difficult to imagine how the communications, coming from a timeless dimension, are able to arrive in our space-time continuum. When we utter a word, we are generating a temporal sequence of vowel and consonant sounds, and this is a normal process in our space-time continuum. The communication channel from and to the beyond has to pass through two different continua, the first one is the timeless and spaceless continuum and the second one is

our space-time continuum. To make possible the transmission of words the communicator and the receiver must be placed within the same continuum: from what I can imagine this would only be possible through a common means of communication that shares the same capabilities, such as the psyche of discarnate and incarnate beings. In this discussion, our understanding of the “psyche” should not be limited to human beings living in this physical, earth plane. It must also possess the capabilities to move, under certain conditions, into a timeless and spaceless continuum. In this regard, the human psychic capabilities of precognition, clairvoyance, extra-sensory perception, etc. are well known. Evidence of that adaptation process may be found within the speech streaming features of the voices. In the early 1970s, at the beginning of his experimentation, the voices received by Bacci were of the same acoustic level as those recorded by Jürgenson and Raudive. In particular, they were characterized by a special rhythm and a slight singing cadence, factors that may depend upon the time stream. By the late 1970s both these characteristics had practically disappeared and the voices had assumed a typical “impulsive” speech articulation. Such impulsive articulation in the word utterances has become more evident in the past decades. This can be heard as a continuous change of utterance speed of each phoneme constituting the word, as the communicating personalities try continuously to adapt their temporal situation to ours. I proposed this hypothesis some years ago, but today my conceptual model about

the paranormal voice structuring process has benefited from the broader understanding obtained thanks to the wide range of experiments conducted by Bacci and other ITC experimenters. It is important to note that the communication experiments often conclude with an emotionally evocative and solemn choir. All choirs heard to date present a melodic stream that is absolutely regular and without the time alterations found in the articulation speed of the words in other transcommunication. Why? The answer can be found in the following: If the same psychic model is operating in both the sender and the receiver, the result will be in accordance with their expectations, that is, with their interiorized psychic models. In other words, it is strange to structure a psychic model of a choir singing without harmony, that is, without a regular flow of pleasant sounds. Here is an example: Listen at: atransc.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/c2004bacci_singing.mp3 Many times, the communicators invite the people attending the experiment to overcome their doubts by making a full immersion in the mystery. To this regard I believe that the following communication, coming from an Entity, recognized by his nickname “The Wise,” is addressed to researchers like myself who are trying to rationalize the voice phenomenon or, in a broader sense, the spiritual experience. His message was: The problem is not to define the mystery but let the mystery penetrate us through the eyes of Faith. It’s quite important the availability of the mind and heart and in particular it’s essential to ask the Spirit for

the hospitality of heart. The sentence reveals an interconnection that goes beyond the physical plane and introduces us to an indissoluble network of relationships that go beyond time. Delving deeper into the meaning of the message, it is possible to derive the real meaning: only by opening the mind and the heart is it possible to allow the mystery to penetrate us. By “availability of the mind,” we might understand “silencing of the mind” or a faithful attitude, rather than strict rationality. By “availability of the heart” we might understand “silencing of any egoism.” Since 1985 I have defined this special mind attitude as “Inner Attentive Disposition,” which is, I am sure, an absolute prerequisite for establishing contacts with other planes of consciousness. From my point of view, this is the determining factor in opening the hidden channel that connects our physical plane to the higher planes of consciousness where one day we will, I believe, again meet all of our loved ones. The Mystery of the Roses by Lisa Butler Originally published in the Winter 2004 ATransC NewsJournal The Encyclopedic Psychic Dictionary (amazon.com/Encyclopedic-Psychic- Dictionary-June-Bletzer/dp/0962720917/) defines coincidence as, “1. (esoteric) (Carl Jung) two events occurring simultaneously, having no known cause-and-effect connection and unrelated in nature but showing a meaningful response, indicating some kind of intelligence link.” If you have read our book, There is No Death and There are No Dead (Info in this book), you know that we attended a transfiguration séance at the Golden Gate Spiritualist Church in

San Francisco last May. The church is an amazing place full of historical items. Some of these items are spirit paintings painted by a spirit artist during sittings given by the Reverend Florence Becker. During these one to two-hour sessions, a blank canvas was set out for the spirit artist to work with. The people attending the séance sat in total darkness, continuously singing until a loud clap was heard. The clap signaled that the painting was complete. When the lights were turned on, the canvas was seen to hold a portrait or scene with still wet paint. The spirit painting was then covered with a black cloth and placed away from light for over a year. It was known that, without this period of darkness, the precipitated painting would fade away. Most of the spirit paintings were presented to Reverend Becker’s students or church members and were returned to the church upon the recipient’s eventual transition to spirit. The total number of such paintings is unknown but twenty-five have been returned. The earliest known spirit painting was completed in 1911. In October 2003 we gave a workshop at the National Spiritualist Association of Churches (nsac.org) annual Conference in San Francisco, California. While there, a woman approached us with two photographs. One was of a spirit painting that was precipitated at a Reverend Becker séance. It was a painting of a vase of roses. While at the Golden Gate Church, we remember seeing several of the wonderful spirit paintings, but

not the painting of roses. The other photograph was of another painting of roses that the woman had found in a restaurant in the California Gold Country. The two were somewhat alike, as you can see by the photographs, and she thought we might be interested in the “coincidence.” In early November of 2003 we conducted an investigation in the Thunderbird Lodge at Lake Tahoe, Nevada with Janice Oberding (hauntednevada.com). It was a large place and it required hours of work to analyze the audio and video we collected during the investigation. (Hear the “Hidden Morphine” example below) Janice writes books about haunted places and was talking to us about a haunted antique store she had discovered, even as we were working on the Thunderbird material. As she was speaking about this new location, I could only think about all the work that we had stacked up and that I was not going to let her get us interested in another investigation. We simply had more to do than we could handle! So I listened, but assured myself that we were not going to get involved! Listen at: atransc.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/c2004butler_hidden_morphine-1.mp3 A few days later an email came from Janice informing us of the address for the haunted antique store on her website and asking us to let her know what we though t. The first thing that I saw on the recommended page was a painting of roses with a title, “Haunted Painting.” To say my mouth dropped open is an

understatement. We immediately tore through the house to find the photographs that had been given to us at the convention in San Francisco. Holding the picture of the spirit painting beside the picture of the “haunted painting,” we could see that the similarities were unmistakable. The form and location of each rose and leaf is the same. There is an additional bunch of roses on the table in the antiques store version. This is exactly the location of the spirit artist signature in the original. There is also a difference in the color of the roses. The spirit painting roses are toward the red shade. The roses in the painting in the antique store are pink. Janice later explained that the rose painting had been the property of the owner’s mother. She loved the painting and even painted a room of the house to match the pink of the roses. When her mother transitioned, the daughter turned the home into an antique store. The rose painting was among the antiques for sale. As the story was told to us, she had agreed to sell it to a man who helped in the store and was a boarder in an upstairs room. That very night the painting fell off the wall damaging an electrical outlet and nearly starting a fire. A few weeks later the man mentioned that they had not set a price for the painting and its sale was once again discussed. The painting again fell off the wall

that evening, even though it was hung with an eight- penny nail. After this the proprietor told the man that she felt the painting did not want to be sold. The next day we were all in the car, making the drive to the antique store. The first thing that we asked after meeting the owner was if she knew anything about Spiritualism. She answered, “Have you ever heard of the Reverend Florence Becker?” We learned from the ensuing conversation that her mother had lived near San Francisco and attended Reverend Becker’s sittings in the late 1950s. The daughter felt that the painting was from the late 1800s but the painting is not signed or dated. The Becker painting is dated 1916 and signed by the spirit artist, Rapierre. While we were there, we recorded for EVP around the painting. We feel that we possibly heard from the woman’s mother, who via EVP, reassured the daughter that she was pleased with what she had done to the home through renovations. We then asked if the painting would like to be in a Spiritualist household and received a “Yes” and another EVP saying, “We are not happy here.” We asked if the painting would like to be returned to the Golden Gate Church and also got an affirmative answer. The owner will not sell the painting and is actually afraid that some terrible thing will befall her or the store if the painting were to be removed even for a few

minutes. We did not share the EVP that we received regarding the painting. This would not be ethical considering her feelings about the painting. We have no idea who was speaking to us through EVP, and as we all know, this could have easily been a trickster. So, we really do not know the meaning of this series of events. The relationship and similarity of the painting is obvious. We feel that the haunted painting is most likely a copy of the original, which was a gift from the spirit artist to Reverend Becker for her work and dedication. The rose painting hung over the fireplace at Reverend Becker’s house during the late 1950s. A photograph could have been taken of it and a copy made. Still, this was a most interesting experience and we wonder if the story is not yet over. White Noise, the Movie “If what you know about EVP is based on movies like White Noise or from television, then everything you know about EVP is very wrong. Please read a few of the techniques articles on this website and leave your TV turned off.” Tom Butler Here is a Synopsis of the Movie: People have always searched for a way to communicate with the other side- fascinated, motivated, driven to find a way to connect with loved ones who have passed on. Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) is the process through which the dead communicate with the living through household recording devices. These extraordinary recordings-captured by

people all over the world, in their homes, with a simple tape or video recorder-seem to confirm what many of us have dared to believe: it is possible for the dead to communicate with us. And all we have to do is listen. Now, from Universal Pictures and Gold Circle Films comes the suspense thriller that explores this very-real, other-worldly communication- White Noise. Tapping into our deepest fears and most profound longings, White Noise forces us to reexamine the world in which we live and, in the process, question our most basic notions about life and death. Michael Keaton plays successful architect Jonathan Rivers, whose peaceful existence is shattered by the unexplained disappearance and death of his wife, Linda (Chandra West). Jonathan is eventually contacted by a man (Ian McNeice), who claims to be receiving messages from Linda through EVP. At first skeptical, Jonathan then becomes convinced of the messages’ validity, and is soon obsessed with trying to contact her on his own. His further explorations into EVP and the accompanying supernatural messages unwittingly open a door to another world, allowing something uninvited into his life. White Noise is directed by veteran television helmer Geoffrey Sax, written by Niall Johnson (The Big Swap), and produced by Paul Brooks (executive producer of My Big Fat Greek Wedding) and Shawn Williamson (House of the Dead). Companion Video Included in the DVD: Universal has decided to include companion material in the DVD release based on material gathered from the ATransC June 2005 conference

and recording sessions conducted by us at two locations. We have seen preliminary versions of this material, and we can honestly say that EVP is represented in a favorable light. If you are interested in learning a little about the people who work with EVP, what motivates them and some of their successes, then make a point of renting the DVD and watching the companion material. What We Would Like You to Know About White Noise There is no doubt that the movie is a thriller. EVP is more or less accurately described when the Michael Keaton character uses an audio recorder in an effort to contact his deceased wife. However, the efforts to make contact quickly evolve into what we would describe as a form of video Instrumental TransCommunication or ITC. The Keaton Character spends a great deal of time recording audio/video white noise with a video tape recorder and then watching it intently while looking for evidence of contact with his wife. As a thriller, the movie portrays EVP and Video ITC as if working with these phenomena is dangerous. Probably, the movie would be boring without the thrill of danger, but we must point out that it is not dangerous to use or work with these phenomena. The only danger we are aware of, and there are thousands of people working in this field, is the harm people might do to themselves if they fail to use good judgment. It is our job, as Directors of the

ATransC, to teach people about EVP and how it can be used to communicate with the Other Side. So, you can understand how grateful we were when Universal came to us and asked if we would be interested in telling the public the truth about EVP in exchange for helping them make “EVP” a household word. We had not expected a large movie studio to acknowledge the impact their movie might have on our field, nor be so willing to help set the record straight. In the end, ATransC members and this movie will reach more people with news about EVP in 2005 than we could have dreamed of in the next twenty years at the rate we were going. We are receiving letters and emails accusing us of being responsible for the very existence of the movie, White Noise. Please note that the Association was invited to help Universal teach people about EVP. The Association was not involved in the production of the movie! Universal hoped to sell more tickets by making people aware of EVP. Since the Association is supposed to teach people about EVP, and since the movie was going to be released whether or not we helped, … well, it would be foolish of us not to participate. In turn, Universal has been extremely helpful in making sure the Association will not be forced out of service because of the increased interest in EVP. A Special Note from Tom and Lisa Butler The ATransC is not

the only source of information about EVP in the USA or the rest of the world. We value the wisdom, knowledge and experience others have in this field and believe that it is important for the public to realize that EVP is a phenomenon studied and used around the world. Take this time of increased public awareness of EVP to teach and help others learn to use EVP. We are a community, and as citizens of the EVP community, we will seek opportunities to refer people to other national and community groups. ATransC.org Website Preservation Project Category: Techniques Techniques Index Basic EVP Recording Technique Eliminating Radio Frequency Contamination for EVP EVP Using VoIP and Telephones Experimental Recording Techniques Using a Phototransistor Experimentation with Inverted Channel Nullification ITC experiments using Light Reflected from Water Recording EVP Using a Telephone Selecting an Audio Recorder Sidereal Time and Psychic Phenomena Simple Optical Microphone The Monroe Way Using a Phone Line for EVP Collection Video-Loop, Visual ITC Recording Technique Practices Basic EVP Recording Technique by Tom and Lisa Butler Also see: White Paper on Transcommunication with emphasis on Electronic Voice Phenomena (atransc.org/itc-white-paper ) (See info in this book) What is EVP? Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP) are intelligible voices found in recording media that have no known physical explanation. Many of the voices are thought to originate from deceased people. This is the primary reason that people first began experimenting with EVP. Characteristics of the Voices The recorded voices may be very quiet and may

be difficult to hear and understand. Most EVP experimenters say that they have developed an “ear” for the sounds after learning to distinguish them from background noise. In transform EVP, the voices can often be recognized as male or female, young or old. Messages are seldom longer than two to four words. The words may be spoken very quickly, and there is often a distinctive cadence to the voices. Analysis shows that they are simulations of voice made from whatever sound is supplied and are often missing voice box frequencies and have oddly arranged formants. Types of Recording In controlled conditions recording, it is possible to control ambient noise and supply special forms of background noise. Biofield energy is thought to accumulate in a “special” recording area, which is thought to help make contact. In field recording, it is difficult to control environmental conditions or supply background sound, but in known “haunted” locations, the energy helpful for contact may already be present. EVP formed in an audio recorder by transforming available background sound is referred to as “transform EVP.” In this, it is sometimes possible to recognize the voice of the speaker. EVP formed by sweeping a radio dial, or with a computer program such as EVPmaker, are referred to as “opportunistic EVP” because sounds for voice formation must be made available on an “as needed” basis. Radio-sweep also known as “ghost boxes” or “spirit boxes,”), and in some applications, EVPmaker, depend on the use of “live” voice. ATransC will

not use live voice examples for research because of the problem of undetected false positives. EVPmaker using synthesized voice is preferred for opportunistic EVP. Environmentally stimulated speech synthesis is a relatively new and promising technique, but it should be noted that all speech synthesis approaches currently being tried do not support speaker recognition. Recording Procedure Recording Equipment Digital voice recorders are recommended for transform EVP. Less expensive models produce more internal noise which is useful for voice formation. High-quality units will probably require added background noise. A computer can also be used but will probably require added noise. Scheduling Entities will speak at any time of day or night. In the beginning, however, it is advisable to record at a regular time and place. By doing this, the entities learn when there will be an opportunity for contact and expectation of the upcoming session helps focus attention on the process. Try to find a place that will be quiet and free of interruptions. Background sounds are okay, but it is important to be aware of these so that they can be distinguished from the EVP. Background Sound Source Research has shown that for transform EVP, the entities use sounds in the environment to help form the words. Most recording situations have some background sounds, but it may be necessary to add noise with something like a fan or running water. Some people use foreign language radio, crowd babble or audio tapes; however, as more has been learned about EVP, the

recommended practice has been to avoid the use of radio static or live voice of any form. Preparation Begin with meditation and a short prayer to ask for only those intending the highest good and an invitation to friends on the other side to participate. It is best to record when personal energy is the highest. Recording Vocalize your comments during an EVP session. The entities will often come through as soon as the recorder is turned on. These beginning messages may be the loudest, so it is a good idea to turn on the recorder and wait a few seconds before speaking. Questions should be recorded, and a period of time between each comment should be left for the entities to respond–about ten seconds. At the end, ask if the entity has something to say. It may help to make an “appointment” with the intended entity the day before, during prayer or meditation. Some also provide feedback before the session so that the entities will know what worked in the last experiment. It is not necessary to record in the dark. People often try different devices and energy sources to help the entities communicate. Leaving written questions in the EVP experiment area the day before has worked for some. Keep recording short. Recordings should be closely examined, at least until it is understood where to find the voices. A best practice for field recording is to use two recorders. As a rule, EVP will only occur on one recorder

or soundtrack, making it possible to avoid mistaking local sounds for EVP (false positives). Playback In transform EVP, the voice is usually not heard until playback. Experimenters report that the voices tend to become stronger and clearer as the entities gain in experience, but at first, the voices may speak in whispers. Voices may not be recorded in every session and it may take several sessions to discover the first voice. Hearing the voices is a learned ability. It might take thirty minutes to examine a three or four-minute recording. Classes of Voices The following system of classification is based on a proposed Best Practice at atransc.org/classifying-phenomena/ (Book 1). You are invited to participate in developing the practice. A distinction is made between phenomena which are always present and phenomena which are transient features. A face seen in the decomposition pattern of a leaf is more or less always there, as opposed to a face found in moving water or video-loop noise. As a general rule, “always there” phenomena appear to be formed by opportunistically adapting naturally occurring processes to express the message, assuming one is intended. If perceived as phenomena, “always there” features would be considered Type 2. Features found in ever-changing noise are thought to be formed by transforming that noise into the voice or face. While the resulting features are fleeting unless caught in media (photograph or audio recording), they tend to be better formed and more easily identified as anomalous. So, for both audible and visible

phenomena: Type 1: Transformed physical media; not always present Type 2: Always present; often as a persistent artifact Both Type 1 and Type 2 examples are divided into three classes: Class A: Evident without explanation Class B: May require directions Class C: Maybe vaguely experienced; mostly obscured by noise Keeping a Log Maintaining a record of recording results is very helpful. Include the date, time, seconds into the recording, the message itself and the question asked. Be sure to label and save the audio file so that they can be found at a later time. Experimenters report that they feel weather may affect results, but this has not been well studied. Digital Voice Recorders Digital voice recorders are recommended for EVP experiments. Today, all sound-tracks—digital or analog—should be listened to in a computer and with a headset. Unlike tape recorders, the built-in microphone is usually satisfactory for EVP. Consider the selection guide for audio recorders (atransc.org/selecting-audio-recorder) (This book) here. Audacity (sourceforge.net/projects/audacity) is an effective audio management program that can be downloaded at no cost. Computer Recording A computer instead of a digital recorder can be used for recording EVP. It should have an audio input jack, speakers, headphone jack and sound player application such as Audacity. Most experimenters use the computer to analyze and store examples. If the recorder does not have a USB interface, it is possible to play the recording into the computer while recording with a recorder program. The Earphone jack of the recorder can be connected

to the Microphone or Line 1 jack via a cable. The sound source should be set to the correct jack via the pull-down menu in Audacity. Recording with a sample rate of 11025, mono and 16-bit resolution is sufficient for EVP. Files should be edited as *.wav format but shared as *.mp3. Analyzing the Recording for EVP Always use headphones when listening to the recording on a computer. The earmuff style that completely covers the ear is best, but also good are the soft rubber earbuds that are inserted in the channel of the ear. Be sure to set up a method of saving your recordings in your computer that will allow you to easily locate examples. A good practice is to save the raw recording session in a dated folder and then also save clips containing the EVP in the same folder. Field recordings are saved under the name of the location and the date. It is helpful to keep a separate folder for your Class A examples for easy retrieval for demonstration to friends. ATransC follows the labeling practice of (c)lisa_butler2008-what_evp_says.mp3. The (c) symbol indicates the intention to protect rights to the example. If you are making the example available under the Creative Commons license, (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/) then use (cc) instead of (c). Using first and last name helps sort many examples in the folder for easy retrieval. The underline and dash symbol with no use of capitals helps assure that computer systems and the Internet accepts the name.

A 200 kb audio file can be reduced to around 15 Kb when converted from a *.wav file to an *.mp3 file. This makes it easy for sharing files via the Internet. Eliminating Radio Frequency Contamination for EVP by Bill Weisensale The most common explanation for the source of the voices in EVP that is offered by people who have not studied the evidence is that they are caused by the audio recorder picking up stray radio or television signals. In fact, a number of well-designed experiments have been conducted over the years by very qualified people, to prove that such stray radio frequency signals are not the cause. Reports of two such experiments are provided below. There is also an experiment shown below that was suggested by one such scientist as a prerequisite to his accepting that EVP are not stray electromagnetic (EM) signals. We believe that nested metal containers, such as the variety found in hobby stores, separated one from another by foam rubber or Styrofoam, would satisfy the requirement while helping to rule out stray sounds. From the AA-EVP Archive Here is longtime researcher Bill Weisensale’s response to concerns expressed by Dr Karlis Osis, with the American Society for Psychical Research, about eliminating mundane causes for EVP. From Bill Weisensale’s article in the May 1981 Spirit Voices: In early 1975 … the controversy was still raging as to whether EVP voices arrived via acoustical or electromagnetic means. (It is generally accepted now that neither is the case.)

At the time this was most perplexing. It seemed reasonable to believe that if EVP arrived by electromagnetic signal, a radio receiver would be required in all cases, and yet some methods did not involve any form of radio receiver. Conversely, if they were of an acoustic nature, then all methods would, of necessity, require the use of a microphone, and yet there were some methods that do not involve a microphone. I reasoned either the voices had to be both acoustic and electromagnetic, depending upon the method of recording, which seemed very unlikely, or they had to arrive by some other kind of energy, which was of neither electromagnetic nor acoustic in nature. (We have come to call this PK energy, for lack of a better explanation.) In order to find out which was the case, I used a (steel) 50-gallon drum with a removable lid … I brought the drum into the house, laid it on its side on a wooden pallet, and blocked the sides to prevent it from rolling. Next, very small holes were drilled in the drum and lid. A piece of heavy wire, with a solder terminal, was then bolted to the drum and run out through a window where another solder terminal and bolt were used to attach the wire to a steel stake driven into the ground. A second wire and solder terminal were attached to the lid and soldered to the first wire. All connections, drum to wire, lid to wire,

wire to wire, and stake to wire, were checked with an ohmmeter to ensure there was no resistance and everything was properly grounded. Before doing the experiments, water was poured around the steel stake to ensure proper grounding. In the initial experiment, which was to check the efficiency of the shield, a battery-powered radio receiver was tuned to a strong station, the volume set rather high, and placed inside the drum. A battery-powered tape recorder was then connected via patch cord to the radio, also placed inside the drum and the lid bolted into place for several minutes. Upon removing the recorder and reviewing the tape, it was found that the station was quite clear with the lid off, but when the lid was bolted into place, the station totally disappeared, and its presence could no longer be discerned even with the closest listening. We then adjusted the radio to between station static, listening carefully to be sure there were no distant stations present, placed the radio in the drum with the recorder and made several recordings with the lid bolted in place each time. We found the voices appeared inside of the shield just as they did with no shielding. Also, since the radio and recorder were connected via patch cord and there was, therefore, no microphone involved, this experiment eliminated (to at least my own satisfaction) both the acoustic and the electromagnetic hypotheses. [Editor: The May 1981 Spirit Voices and other newsletters are being added to the AA-EVP

online document archive as time allows. We are currently up to Spring 1987 with the AA-EVP newsletters. Remember that access to the Archive is a benefit of membership. We highly recommend that you take advantage of this growing library of historical EVP and ITC documents.] A Suggested Experiment Initially published in the Fall 2004 AA-EVP NewsJournal Parapsychologist, Professor Charles Tart, was interviewed by The Psychic Times (apparently defunct), a new British publication that is already proving itself antagonistic to EVP. In the article, Tart was quoted to argue that EVP is stray radio, and that we who study in this field have not demonstrated the necessary research discipline to produce the kind of credible evidence that he can take to other scientists. The diagram is of a shielded recording compartment, EVP from which would answer Tart’s objections. It provides more shielding than a metal can or microwave, but it is not as readily available. We would like to talk to someone who might be able to make one, or who might have one. If possible, we would like to send one to a number of different experimenters in serial fashion, so that many examples can be collected in the compartment. Please let us know if you can help. MacRae has a Second Article in the JSPR Initially published in the Winter 2006 AA-EVP NewsJournal ©Alexander MacRae - All Rights Reserved The October 2005 issue of the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research included a second article by Alexander MacRae.

In this one, Alec details the EVP experiments he conducted in the Institute of Noetic Sciences screen room. Remember that the JSPR is a refereed, peer-review journal and that the article necessarily meets the SPR’s high standard for thoroughness and documentation. Here is the abstract: Report of an Electronic Voice Phenomenon Experiment inside a Double-Screened Room by Alexander MacRae Abstract An Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP) experiment is described which took place in a laboratory screened against electromagnetic radiation and also acoustically isolated. The subsequent treatment of the results through sound- processing is outlined, and the final analysis of the results through the use of a unique multiple-choice system is described. Comparative spectrograms of one EVP utterance and the same thing spoken in normal speech are provided to assess the physical basis of the results. The conclusion is drawn that voices of no natural origin were received in the screened laboratory. EVP Using VoIP and Telephones by Tom and Lisa Butler Originally published in the Fall 2012 ATransC NewsJournal Also see: Recording EVP Using a Telephone (atransc.org/caruso-telephone) (This book) Recording for EVP using the telephone system has always offered tantalizing possibilities. In recent years, cell phones and answering machines have produced good but usually spontaneous EVP. Now, we see more people using the Internet for planned EVP sessions. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is the technology that makes it possible for a person to use a computer to call another computer via the Internet or even call a landline telephone via

the Internet. The most commonly used service has been Skype.com, but others are coming along, including Google Voice (google.com/voice). This article describes some of the more successful techniques being reported to us by members and associates. Sonia Rinaldi EVP recording arrangement used by Sonia Rinaldi Brazilian researcher, Sonia Rinaldi, is a veteran transcommunication researcher. With members of the organization she coordinates, IPATI (translation from Portuguese: Institute for Advanced Research in Instrumental Transcommunication), she has been diligently seeking ways to improve both visual and audible communication across the veil. We have included a number of articles on her work over the years which may be accessed in the Idea Exchange archive. IPATI has been a leader in developing new techniques for EVP using the telephone system and Skype. A major part of Sonia’s work involves reunions and she has produced some very convincing results using these techniques. We asked Sonia to elaborate on her current setup. Here is her answer with the help of Sonia’s translator, Cristina: Description of Technique This is the configuration of equipment used by Sonia Rinaldi for her recent work with reunions. In the laboratory: a speakerphone is placed beside a laptop configured to record via a microphone. The client, who is anywhere in the world, calls that phone via a computer using Skype (voice only). The telephone is answered by the practitioner (Sonia in her reports) who initiates the recording session in the computer, sets the telephone to speakerphone mode and leaves the room. The practitioner

then goes to a second room in the same building and picks up an extension phone located near a television. As a sound source, the television is tuned to an English or German-language news channel (any language other than the practitioner’s native language). Via the telephone, the client speaks to his or her loved one on the other side while the practitioner listens to make sure that the client asks questions while leaving a thirty-second pause for the etheric communicator’s response. In this technique, the voice from the television, as the background sound, appears to be transformed to produce answers from the loved one. While the background sound is in one language, the resulting utterance is in Portuguese. Preparation The client is instructed to prepare questions before calling Sonia’s lab in Brazil via Skype. From client Christina, “Before calling Sonia’s lab in Brazil, I prepared questions to maximize the communication with my son Stefano. I also decided at the last minute to call from my bedroom, the quietest place in the house.” After the call is connected: “All of a sudden Stefano validates his presence by saying that I was in my room, something I had not mentioned because it was a last-minute decision. I could clearly hear my parents and husband as well, which gives me the hope that I will rejoin my loved ones sometime in the future. “Another communication that amazed me was his suggestion that I contact a friend and girlfriend of his: Lina. “I contacted

Lina the next day and she told me that it was an amazing ‘coincidence’ that I called. She had been thinking of Stefano and had decided to call me the same day to take me out for lunch. We had lunch together and she surprised me with a gift: a heart-shaped silver locket and chain bearing the words on both side: ‘Stefano, ever loved, never forgotten.’” Debbie Caruso EVP recording arrangement used by Debbie Caruso As reported in the Spring 2007 ATransC NewsJournal, “Recording EVP Using a Telephone,” before her transition, Debbie Caruso had been using a landline telephone and computer for recording EVP. The elements of her setup are shown in the following diagram. A recording program such as Audacity or Audition was used in the computer. (Use Phone and Modem in the Control Panel to control the modem in Windows 7.) A telephone was connected to a second telephone wall jack, but she sometimes used a headset that connects to the computer. An example of what Debbie was recording is in the article, “Jenny and Brandon – The Newlyweds“ (atransc.org/jenny-brandon-newlyweds)(Book 3). Margaret Downey EVP recording arrangement used by Margaret Downey Margaret Downey uses an Apple computer and iPhone to conduct VoIP sessions. With two Skype accounts, she calls one with the phone and the other with her computer. Both are in the same room but about eight feet apart. A sound source plays into the room near the cell phone. During the call, Margaret’s voice from the cell

phone plays out of the computer speakers. A feedback loop is formed because the phone picks up Margaret’s voice, the background sounds and the output of the speaker. So, if the phone is too close to the computer speakers, there will be a loud “feedback” noise. Part of the task is to find the best location for everything so that there is a little feedback, but not enough to cause the loud noise. When the call is answered with her computer, Margaret starts an app named Call Record (ecamm.com). (A similar Windows app is PrettyMay Call Recorder: prettymay.net.) An interesting observation about Margaret’s setup is that the call recorder displays both sides of the conversation so that the caller’s voice is strong on the receive side but also slightly delayed. The send side also has the caller’s voice but much weaker. More Techniques? How do you configure your equipment? Let us know either via the Idea Exchange or via email. Your method does not need to use the telephone or VoIP systems. Experimental Recording Techniques Using a Phototransistor Previously published in the Spring 2007 AA-EVP NewsJournal ©David Mierzwinski – All Rights Reserved Also see: A Simple Optical Microphone (atransc.org/optical-microphone)(This book) This article presents an experimental approach for making EVP recordings. Its purpose is instructional and to help promote an understanding of vibrational energy and how we may better perceive it. I’m going to share with you a few simple techniques for recording lightwave vibrational energy. This is energy which is

beyond what we may see and hear every day. A good example is a common household light bulb. You see the light and can feel the heat produced by it; however, you cannot hear that the bulb is being modulated by the 60 Hz line current. You may be surprised at the amount of “sound” that is silent to us, some man made and some perhaps not. The technique involves use of a single, widely available electronic component called a phototransistor. This is not the same as a diode which was used by early EVP researchers. The phototransistor I recommend is available at any Radio Shack store or available from them online. The part number is 276-145. My tests have shown that the device is responsive to infrared, visible and ultraviolet light. All of these frequencies of light mentioned are well above radio broadcast, cell and microwave transmission frequencies. You can make a simple plug-in phototransistor adapter for your digital recorder. All popular digital recorders I am aware of use internal electret microphones. With these recorders you can use the external microphone jack. The recorder will provide the small voltage the phototransistor requires to operate at the external microphone jack. The 1/8” phone plug common to most recorders is Radio Shack part number 274-286. Solder the phototransistor to the phone plug as follows: The phototransistor has a flat edge on its case, this is the collector mark. The remaining lead is called the emitter; Connect (solder) the collector to the

short pin of the phone plug; and, the emitter connects to the long pin of the phone plug. The photo shows the completed assembly ready for use. Plug the completed adapter assembly into the external microphone jack of your portable digital recorder and start exploring. Try recording various light or even heat sources; you can unplug the adapter at any time and make a verbal notation of the source. Plug it back in and continue. You will hear different sounds when you record various sources like candles, light bulbs, computer monitor screens, TV sets, remote controls or a fireplace. For example, a quartz-tube space heater at full power (glowing) will produce a very pure thermal white noise. Place the recorder in your car and drive around. You may be surprised at what you can hear in the filtered sunshine as the levels of light change as you drive. If you have a crystal or mineral collection you may try recording reflections or direct light shined through a crystal (sunshine, LED flashlight or a laser pointer works well). Would you like to hear your own voice through the vibration of light? Here is a simple device you can make for a number of interesting experiments. It is based on A.G. Bell’s Photophone invented around 1880. For my model, I used some reflective, shiny, very thin, gift wrapping plastic (like a Mylar or Saran plastic). I taped this film very tightly (like a drum) over the front of an old eight-inch diameter

audio loudspeaker. Hold the completed Photophone so sunlight reflected from the surface of the shiny, flexible mirror shines on the phototransistor. Now speak closely and loudly to the surface of the Photophone. On playback you should hear your own voice. The quality will depend on how well your voice vibrates the surface of the Photophone. For more controlled experiments, you can connect the loudspeaker to a stereo or amplifier and play different sounds through it to vibrate the film. Just place the speaker so that sunlight reflects from the surface to the phototransistor. Try using music, Spiricom tones, babble or even white noise, as an example. Another technique is to provide external vibration to a light source and record the result. Pictured is a small tea candle placed in the well of an ultrasonic cleaner. The candle is in a small amount of water, lit and the cleaner turned on in a darkened room. The recorder is held clear of the cleaner and pointed at the candle which flickers at a very high rate in this atmosphere. You may wish to build a phototransistor cable that can be used with your home computer sound card for recording. The Radio Shack part number of the cable to use is 42-2434. The six-foot cable has a molded 1/8” plug on one end and tinned leads on the other end, ready to connect the phototransistor. The connections are as follows: inner conductor of cable connects to phototransistor collector (flat edge), outer (shield) connects

to emitter. An interesting experiment that has yielded good results has been the optical microphone. The optical microphone is a commonly available oil lamp. The only oil lamp style that has worked so far has been a lamp with a three-fourths inch wide wick. The wick that comes with these lamps is cotton and works well. I have begun tests with other wick materials as of this writing. I attach the phototransistor and cable assembly to the lamp with a thick rubber band. A reflector is required to be placed behind the phototransistor. A white 3 x 5-file card is excellent for this purpose. This simple reflector greatly increases the gain of the microphone. If your sound card allows audio monitoring, you can experiment with the flame level for best reproduction of your voice. A high flame level can overload the phototransistor. Start with a low flame and ratchet it up slowly. Speak into the chimney of the lamp or across its top if you are sensitive to the exhaust fumes. Use an ultra-pure liquid paraffin lamp fuel for lowest odor. Have fun exploring the under-researched areas of light energy vibrations with these unique recording techniques. Experimentation with Inverted Channel Nullification by Zoë J. Robinson Originally posted in the Summer 2007 issue of the ATransC NewsJournal When I agreed to write this report back in January, I was hopeful of being able to include a success story or two regarding EVP. As it turns out, I seem to have followed

in the footsteps of so many investigators who have sought to find evidence of EVP but have gone away empty-handed. Nevertheless, I believe the ideas behind Inverted Channel Nullification (or ICN for short) are still worthy of experimentation and it is on this basis that I have written this report. What is Inverted Channel Nullification? Put simply, ICN is a method of recording the same sound twice and using one recording to filter noise from the other. A mono microphone is used to input a signal to a stereo sound card in a computer and the two channels on the sound card each produce a copy of the recording. In theory, these copies will be identical, although with the majority of sound cards there will be a minor variance due to slight differences in the components used to build the sound card itself. These variants are minor, and in the experiments I made, they only show up if you amplify the signal so much you’ve distorted the original recording enough to make it unusable. In essence, the recordings are identical for the purposes of all but the most stringent of investigators. Why is this useful? When two recordings are made of exactly the same sounds they should, in theory, contain the exact same data. It should, therefore, be possible to invert one of these recordings, making it the exact opposite sound wave to what it was originally, and then superimpose this first recording over the second recording. If the two

sound waves are identical, and they should be, the result will be a perfectly flat sound wave because all data in the recording will disappear. In EVP investigation, it is sometimes the case that two or more people can record at the same time in the same room and receive different results. Of course, these recordings won’t be made under the exact same circumstances as not only will the positions of the recording devices be different but the input and recording mechanisms used will be different, even if the same model of device is used; as all devices are different. With ICN the possible variables are reduced significantly: for both recordings, the input device and its location are identical and the recording process is identical also. The only variable is in the components inside the sound card but, as described earlier, these may be as close to identical as possible. In effect, you’re using the same device to make two separate recordings. This means you should have two copies of the same thing but, as we’ve already mentioned, in EVP recording the same thing twice doesn’t always give you the same results. An EVP can appear on one recording and not the other and with ICN this is no different—the two channels of the sound card are acting as two separate recorders, after all. So, there’s an advantage to the ICN process already: you’re doubling your recording sessions with minimal effort. This isn’t the only potential advantage, however. With two

copies of the same recording, you can use one to filter the background noise from the other. EVP investigation is notorious for noisy recordings and with this method you can rid yourself of that, leaving only sounds that appear on one recording but not the other. Of course, you’re still left with the task of listening to the original recordings in case there’s something important that appears on both, since if that’s the case, ICN will remove it! How to perform Inverted Channel Nullification To perform ICN yourself, all you will need is a computer with a stereo sound card and a microphone input jack, a standard mono microphone and audio manipulation software to perform the inversion and channel mixing. Illustration 1: A simple recording showing two identical copies of the same input. Once you have your equipment set up, make a sample recording in stereo, when your computer is “listening” to the microphone, and you’ll get a recording that shows two copies of the same recording, one on each channel. If your recording is short enough or you’ve zoomed in far enough, it should be relatively easy to spot any areas where one channel’s recording differs from the other, but if they seem to be exactly the same, that’s fine too—any differences will be clear after the next part is done. Illustration 2: A sample sound wave following ICN processing. The original sound is shown in the top channel while the result of ICN is in the bottom channel.

Select one of your channels and use your software to “invert” the waveform. How to do this will depend on the software you’re using but the effect should be achievable in most, if not all, editing software. [Invert is in the Effects Menu of Audacity.] It is worth noting that the waveform will not look or sound any different after the inversion but the next part won’t work unless the sample is inverted. Once you have one channel inverted you can proceed in one of two ways. Either the two channels can be averaged together or the contents of the inverted channel can be copied on top of the contents of the other channel. The first process will produce one mono file while the second process will produce a stereo file where one channel is a copy of the original and the other is the resultant ICN sound wave. Which you choose to use is personal preference. Advantages for EVP study The ICN process has the potential to allow for quick and simple removal of all background noise from recordings. The benefit for EVP study is a clear: recording where an EVP is present on one channel but not another; the EVP is quickly cleaned up and therefore made easier to understand. Since a recording of all the original sound wave, besides the EVP, is being used as a filter, the effect of processing on the EVP itself is negligible. In the example created for Illustration 3, I was unable

to discern any audible difference in the “EVP” created for the example and the original recording used to create it. By inverting one channel of the recording used to create the “EVP” and copying the result of the ICN filter on top of it, the result was a flat sound wave with no apparent difference in quality. In summary, I believe the technique as presented here is a simple and effective tool for the study of EVP. Given the demonstrable advantages of filtering over other methods and the relative ease of including this technique into any computer-based EVP study, I believe the technique would benefit many people in their work. Illustration 3a: A second voice recording has been added to one channel of our sample recording, to create an example of EVP. This illustration shows the original “EVP” recording. Illustration 3b: Shows how the recording has been cleaned using ICN, to leave only the “EVP” on the top channel. The only downside to the ICN technique is that, if an EVP is present on both channels, the ICN technique will filter it out but this flaw is countered by continuing to listen to sound files in the manner to which we have all become accustomed, then filter as necessary in a more conventional way. ICN is, therefore, an addition to the other tools at our disposal, not a replacement for them. Editor’s Note: We think this technique has great possibilities, but there is one concern. The words of EVP are

formed of the very noise being removed. It does appear that the power of the signal and time relationships are rearranged to form the words. Also, there may be a small “seed” signal that is not part of the ambient sound, so we think this technique may diminish the volume of an EVP, but the words should survive. We have published this article because we feel that “field tests” of this technique would help us learn if it is a viable technique. Assuming the technique does help, we are also looking for setup instructions for using it in Audacity and Audition, so please let us know your results if you try ICN. By the way, you can also record into a stereo audio recorder and then transfer the file into a computer for ICN analysis. ITC experiments using Light Reflected from Water ©Margaret Downey – All Rights Reserved As Margaret Downey explains her experimental set-up, “I have a Canon PowerShot A75 Digital camera. It allows me to do thirty seconds of video at a time. I leave it on the highest resolution (640 x 480 pixels). For effects, I use the function button to set the camera to shoot in sepia (a brownish tone), tungsten (which makes it blue), and black and white. I also do a session using just normal settings. “The experiments are done on my stove and the setup is very basic. The light in the stove hood is used as the light source. Then depending on

my whim, I will use a black pot filled about halfway with water or a translucent, amber colored Vision CorningWare pot half filled with water which I set either directly on the stove top or I suspend in the empty black pot. (editor: Margaret has joked that her Vision CorningWare pot really should be called Visionware!) “I hold the video camera in my right hand and wiggle my left fingers in the water while I record the ripples. I get better results if I use my fingers rather than using a spoon or other object to stir the water. I first look through the viewfinder screen, to make sure I’m holding the camera at an angle where it catches the light reflection in the water. This position is not quite directly over it, but from above and at a slight angle. At the same time, I respectfully request for any people or animals in spirit who would like to show themselves, to please do so. “Once in a while, I’ll place a crystal or a crystal ball in the water. And sometimes I ask my hubby to shine red and blue lights in the water. “After filming, I remove the compact memory card from the camera and place it into my computer. The file is transferred into a software program on my Mac called iMovie, which allows me to look at the video one frame at a time. When I see something in a frame, I’m able to save that

single frame as a jpg file. And from that jpg, I crop out the image(s) I wish to keep. I keep both the unedited full frame along with my edited/cropped version. Once in a while, I keep the entire video, but most of the time I dump it in order to help save hard drive space.” In one experiment, Margaret asked for her grandparents and received this ITC picture of a bearded man she feels is her Great Great Grandfather, Benjamin Franklin Main Sr. He was a physician and Baptist minister who crossed in 1913. Today, he and his grandson, Lewis (Margaret’s grandfather who crossed in 1993), help her in making connections to other people. Steve is a friend of Margaret’s friend, Linda, who likes to “pop in” to Margaret’s EVP sessions to call Linda’s name. Linda had asked her to call on him and this is the image that showed up. Linda said that there is enough of a resemblance that she feels he was doing what he could to show himself to her. Margaret also has captured a picture of a face that she feels is her Indian guide, Walking Sun, who she had asked to come through during an experiment. Margaret had a reading from a Shaman who told her, “Margaret’s heart hears the drum beat of Mother Earth and her spirit finds the stairway to Father Sky.” She told Margaret that if she asked for her guide, Walking Sun, he would come. Margaret says, “One of

the Shaman’s comments in my reading was that people with “dove medicine” can see between the worlds and the veil between earth and the spirit world is thin for them. She talked about being clairaudient and hearing spirit/sensing vibrations. It was so fun to be able to tell her after the reading about EVP/ITC!” Margaret feels that she has gotten some excellent readings from people on the Internet and through eBay. ITC Face Closely Matches Original Update from the Spring 2007 NewsJournal In the last NewsJournal, we reported about how Margaret Downey conducts visual ITC experiments using moving water for optical energy. The article can be read in the Techniques section of ATransC.org (atransc.org/downey-water-itc) (This book) Daniele Gullà, with the Italian ITC lab, Il Laboratorio (defunct), read the article and decided to see if his forensic-quality face recognition software would help compare Margaret’s ITC image with a photograph of her great great grandfather while he was in the physical. Gullà wrote: “I have processed the human face as a 3D model and rotated it to superimpose over the ITC face. I have compared the repere [reference] points (only 5: eyes, lips, nasal and subnasal) in the human face and ITC face. The final result is that the difference in the two images is inferior to [less than] 5%. They are very similar!” Recording EVP Using a Telephone Debra Ann’s Telephone Recording EVP Using a Telephone by Tom and Lisa Butler Previously published in the Spring 2007 ATransC NewsJournal Also see:

Using a Phone Line EVP Collection (atransc.org/phoneline-evp ) (This book) and EVP Using VoIP and Telephones (atransc.org/voip) (This book) Please note that Debbie has made her transition to the other side Debbie Caruso has been learning to use a telephone and computer for recording EVP. The results have been very promising. She has always been one of our braver members who is willing to try new ideas and record for others. Recording for others is a challenge because it takes quite a lot of time and most people need to learn how to hear examples that are not always Class A. The elements of Debbie’s setup are shown in this diagram. Of course, a computer is used, and a recording program such as Audacity or Audition. She is using HyperTerminal to control the modem for phone connections. It comes with Microsoft Windows: EVP recording arrangement used by Debbie Caruso Legacy: Start > Programs > Accessories > Communications In Windows 10: Type “Hyper-V” in the “Ask Me Anything” window and check mark “Hyper-V” in the “Turn Windows Features on or off” widow. She uses a telephone set connected to a second telephone wall jack, but she could use a headset equipped with individual jacks that connect to the Headphone Out and Microphone In jacks of the computer. If modem and control software are not available, Radio Shack sells a “Recorder Control” for $27 that Debbie has used with success. See model number is 43-228. This unit connects to the telephone jack

and plugs into the computer’s Line In or Microphone In jack. Debbie arranges with a person or persons with whom she will record to call her, and with the computer connected to the line, she is able to speak with the callers and record the conversation. Once the connection is established, the recording session is conducted as if she is in the same room with the other person and using a standard audio recorder. It is also possible to have a second telephone receiver off hook and near a fan or some other sound source. A telephone line is designed to provide enough feedback from the microphone to the speaker to give the sense of a “live” circuit. This is a byproduct of the conversion from two-wire between the home and the central office and four-wire between central offices. It is known that a little feedback in the EVP circuit sometimes helps for EVP. Sonia Rinaldi uses a similar setup for recording and has been very successful in making contact with loved ones for families. However, there is little public information about her methods, so Debbie is taking the old “trial and error” approach. It seems to be working, though. Martha Copeland wrote, “Debbie has been experimenting on her own, and I happen to be one of her guinea pigs! On our first experiment we picked up my daughter, Cathy’s voice saying, “Keep trying.” Participants in group sessions call into (now out of service) ConFreeCall.com, an online conference service. The

group first discusses what they want to ask, and then Debbie begins the recording process. Four or five questions are asked during a one-minute, forty-second recording session. Some of the participants record at the same time. While everyone is still on the line, Debbie plays back her recording so that all can hear what may have been recorded. Others who have recorded also review their recordings during the call so that the results can be shared before the session is ended. As Debbie explained, “The conference calls are a great way for a lot of people to record together. When recording for the Big Circle (BC), we all call in at 8 PM, ask “Who’s here from the BC?” and then wait approximately one-minute, forty-seconds in silence. We play it back, see if anyone answered and that helps us decide our next question. “Other than the BC, there are no set schedules. People will want to record and we’ll just meet in the Conference Room at a time convenient for all. It’s just an easy way to record with a lot of people. What I would like to concentrate on now is people meeting to record for one specific person. I would love for many family members to be in the room to contact one special person.” Because of the possibility of overwhelming Debbie with requests, please contact her via a personal message in the Idea Exchange. She wants to help as many people as she can but please understand

that she may not have time to meet all requests. We encourage others to try the computer/telephone technique. Also, the conference room approach to group recording offers some interesting possibilities. Let us know if any of you have successes to report. Examples of Debbie’s work may be listened to in Debbie Caruso EVP (atransc.org/debra-ann-evp) (Book 4) Selecting an Audio Recorder by Tom and Lisa Butler Audio recorders models on the market frequently change, and for this reason, we do not recommend particular recorder models. Instead, we will try to provide a list of recommended characteristics and note specific model problems as we learn about them. In general, an audio recorder that is effective for EVP will have the following characteristics: Sidebar: Background Sound The current working hypothesis is that the voice in EVP is formed by transforming available audio-frequency sound energy. Thus it is referred to as “transform EVP.” EVP are thought to be formed in the input, analog stage of the recorder, but otherwise, the recorder is just to make a record of the EVP and the practitioner’s voice. Experience is showing that a microphone is only important to introduce additional noise if the noise generated internally by the recorder is not useful for voice formation. A very high-quality recorder produces very little internal noise but a low-quality recorder typically produces too much steady-state noise, which is not useful for EVP. Current understanding is that noise in the voice range–400 to 4,000 Hz–with many perturbations, such as small noise

spikes, is useful for voice formation. The noise is needed for voice, but the perturbations are apparently useful to initiate the voice formation process. The Panasonic RR-DR60 produces this kind of noise internally, but it is possible to produce it externally. One technique is to rapidly sweep a radio dial. This is not radio-sweep as used in ghost or spirit boxes. That technique sweeps the dial in two to four seconds and may produce whole words in the output file. The ATransC does not consider the result of radio-sweep to be EVP. The objective is to sweep the entire dial in under a second so that no whole words or even allophones can be detected. The objective is the resulting noise and not the “whole” sounds. Voice Operated Recording Mode: This is essential if you plan on making many recordings, say at a haunted site, and do not have a lot of time to review sound files. Voice Operated Recording (VOR) can save considerable time for review. The added noise caused by the VOR switching on and off may also help in voice formation. Interestingly, the communicating entity is apparently able to trigger VOR when it is ready to speak. A good recorder should give you the option of using VOR or not. Be sure to check the voice-activated recording mode for possible clipping of the first part of words. Low and High Recording Quality Settings: Experience has shown that digital voice recorders work best for EVP, as compared to

cassette and disk recorders. Digital voice recorders, operating at relatively low sample rates, produce more EVP than at higher sample rates. The point of this is that low quality or long recording options usually have lower sample rates, therefore more internal noise and therefore more EVP. Human voice is between 200 and 4,000 Hz. A sample rate of 8,000 Hz is sufficient to reproduce that range. Adjustable Microphone Sensitivity: Field recording often involves recording in places with many people talking or a lot of traffic noise. It can be very difficult to avoid these external noises and they may be too much for EVP recording. Decreasing the sensitivity of the microphone may help. At the same time, there are occasions in which the recorder is not producing sufficient sound for voice formation, and the room is too quiet. Increasing the sensitivity of the microphone may help. It is possible to create a “sea in a shell” effect by putting the recorder or microphone in a container, such as a coffee cup. Others sometimes rub the microphone against cloth. Be creative but avoid unconsciously making sounds that seem like voice.) A “Hold” or “Lock” Feature: Using this feature will save you many accidental recordings that can use up your batteries. Interface to a Computer: Newer audio recorders provide a USB port for transferring audio files to a computer; however, if the recorder does not provide a way to save the audio files, then use a cable between the earphone jack and

the Mic In of the computer, and an audio management program to record audio files into the computer. Quality Enhancement Features: Some recorders have settings that allow you to “enhance” the recordings to optimize voice quality. The features use special algorithms that enhance some frequencies and suppress others. It may be wise to make sure that, if your recorder has such a feature, it also has a way to turn it off. The idea is to avoid unknown influences. There is much known about standard recording processes, but little is known about some of the enhancement techniques. For instance, do they substitute pre- recorded phrases to save storage space? These are the main considerations when purchasing an audio recorder for EVP. The Association no longer recommends the use of a cassette recorder, although experimenters have used them for years before computers became available. If you just want to see if you can record an EVP, and only have a cassette recorder available, then us it. It will work. When using a digital recorder, remember that you will need to use your digital recorder with a computer for file storage and analysis. Anything that can record voice will work. You can use a cell phone, the soundtrack for your video recorder or your mp3 player/recorder. Just remember that the rule of thumb is: The higher the quality of audio recorder, the more you will need to supply background sound. Panasonic RR-DR60 Reset Instructions Provided by James Jones I received a DD

DR60 in the mail today and when putting batteries in the unit it would not record because it showed that the recorder was “full” even though there wasn’t one file being saved. I found out that the unit just needed to be reset because if it is without batteries for a long time it can get confused the next time you put batteries in. Apparently there is some kind of flash memory in there that doesn’t depend on battery power and once you put some new ones in if things don’t match up properly, it gets confused. I was able to reset the unit by taking out one battery, then holding the “mode” button and the push button “Play” wheel down while inserting the battery. This reset the unit and now it works. I found this procedure on the paperwork included with the unit. Sidereal Time and Psychic Phenomena by Tom and Lisa Butler 2002 From the article: Apparent Association Between Effect Size in Free Response Anomalous Cognition Experiments And Local Sidereal Time. by S. James P. Spottiswoode. Cognitive Sciences Laboratory, Palo Alto. Published in The Journal of Scientific Exploration, Vol, 11, No. 2, 1997 (jsasoc.com/docs/JSE-LST.pdf) Abstract Nothing is known about the physical mechanism of anomalous cognition (AC), or ESP. A first step towards generating focused hypotheses would be the discovery of a physical parameter which clearly modulated AC performance. In this paper, an association between the local sidereal time (LST) at which a trial occurs and the resulting effect

size is described. In an existing database of 1,468 free response trials, the effect size increased 340% for trials within 1 hour of 13.5 h LST (p = 0.001). A independent database of 1,015 similar trials was subsequently obtained in which trials within 1 hour of 13.5 h LST showed an effect size increase of 450% (p = 0.05) providing confirmation of the effect. Possible artifacts due to the non-uniform distribution of trials in clock time and variations of effect size with experiment are discussed and rejected as explanations. Assuming that some unknown systematic bias is not present in the data, it appears that AC performance is strongly dependent upon the LST at which the trial occurs. This is evidence of a causal connection between performance and the orientation of the receiver (i.e., a term for subject or participant), the earth and the fixed stars. This article described what may be an important discovery about nonphysical phenomena, especially as it relates to transcommunication. In the study, Spottiswoode examined the rather large collection of psychic ability experiments he had conducted over the years to see if they pointed to a relationship between sidereal time and the psychic proficiency of his subjects. There was a direct relationship! He then asked colleagues to conduct a new set of experiments to confirm his conclusions. The results, and therefore the phenomena, were verified. Sidereal time is star time and a sidereal day is approximately 3 minutes, 56 seconds shorter than a solar day. Thus, Local

Sidereal Time (LST) moves backward in solar time about four minutes a day, two hours a month and one day a year. Anywhere you are on the planet, at the same LST you will see the same stars overhead as anyone anywhere else will at that time. The essence of the article we are referring to is that scientists have found a direct correlation between the sidereal time of day and success in psychic ability experiments. The graph shown on this page is from Spottiswoode’s article and depicts “Effect Size” on the vertical axis and “Local Sidereal Time” on the horizontal axis. “Effect Size” is the amount of deviation more or less than the expected normal for chance. The horizontal line between 0.1 and 0.2 represents the average of the graph curve. The line at 0.0 represents what would be expected with guessing. We have added a vertical, dotted line at 13.5 hours and near 19.0 hours. To quote the report, “Evidence has been given to support a relationship between the local sidereal time at which an anomalous cognition experiment occurs and the resulting effect size. The primary association is an approximately four-fold enhancement in AC effect size at 13.5 h LST. [Anomalous Cognition (AC)” seems to be a new term for Extra Sensory Perception (ESP)—Editor] This association was found in one large data set and confirmed in another, each set comprising AC experiments with a range of free response protocols, from different laboratories and investigators. It is likely that

the increase of effect size for AC trials occurring at 13.5 h LST is real, replicable across different laboratories and occurs in the diverse protocols of the ganzfeld and remote viewing experiments.” Psi functioning seems to be a real human ability, but while it is often reported anecdotally, there has been considerable difficulty proving under controlled conditions. It may be that this difficulty has been due to the fact that researchers have been conducting experiments at different sidereal times of day. Almost a six-fold difference in performance of a psychic between 13.5 h and 18.9 h LST is substantial. And remember, 13.5 hours LST changes in solar time each day. The evidence suggests that there is something near or beyond the edge of the Solar System that is influencing our psychic ability. Of course, experiments will need to be conducted to see if this influence affects EVP collection in the same way as psychic ability. But we have good reason to believe that there is a mediumistic relationship in EVP between the experimenter and the communicating entity. And of course, mediumship is psychic ability turned toward spirit communications. Besides explaining why psychic phenomena is so hard to prove, the reason the discovery of this relationship may be important to the study of transcommunication is that it points to an external influence on psychic ability. It should be just a matter of time before someone figures out what that influence is and what in the human brain it is influencing. Once

that has been accomplished, it should be possible to enhance psychic ability with technology. Source: “Apparent Association between Effect Size in Free Response Anomalous Cognition Experiments and Local Sidereal Time,” by S. James P. Spottiswoode, published in the Journal of Scientific Exploration, Vol. II, No. 2, 1997. You can find it at jsasoc.com. Simple Optical Microphone by David Mierzwinski (c) All Rights Reserved Previously published in the Winter 2006 AA-EVP NewsJournal Also see: Experimental Recording Techniques Using a Phototransistor (atransc.org/experimental- recording-techniques-using-phototransistor) (This book) For nearly a year, I have been conducting various experiments in an attempt to enhance the chances of clear EVP captures. These experiments have led me down many different paths including the use of electromagnetic fields, Tesla coils, audio resonance in musical instruments, 13 tones, etc. In my most recent experiments, I have begun exploring the properties of light. This has been exciting and has produced some encouraging results. I would like to share a simple project some of you may wish to replicate and experiment with. Even if you do not succeed in getting EVP captures with this device it is still a very interesting “science project” and will provide yourself and others with entertainment and wonder. About This Project This project explores the unusual properties of light given off by a basic oil lamp. I discovered in my experiments, testing various light sources, that the flame of an oil lamp, when detected by a photodiode and amplified to a high degree, is capable of acting

as a carrier to transmit sound. This “sound” is rather noisy by nature, and from what I have observed, can be used, along with our voices, by Spirits. In fact, to optimize this system, it is best to use your own voice to set up the link for maximum clarity and strength. This seems to be the optimum settings for Spirit voices as well. Required Parts The Burr-Brown division of Texas Instruments (www.burr-brown.com) makes the best combination of photodiode and amplifier I have found. This part is the “eye” or receiving end of the optical signal from the oil lamp. This part is all self-contained requiring only a few external connections and a nine-volt battery which will power the device chip for a year or more. I was able to find this part on eBay, or you can check with a distributor in your area (not Radio Shack). I bought my oil lamp from K-Mart. It is the large size lamp with a wide flat wick (important). The cost was around $7. The other parts and cables can be obtained from your local Radio Shack store. Parts List • Oil lamp with wide flat wick and clear glass chimney • High quality digital recorder or use computer to record (Olympus VPN-240 PC used in my experiments) • Burr-Brown OPT101 single photodiode transimpedance amplifier chip • Nine-volt battery to power chip/amp • Cables or project board and socket to mount OPT101 • Radio Shack Mini Amplifier 277-1008C (used for set-up only)

• Clear Voice Denoiser Software (for post processing filtering) [Editor: Audacity (sourceforge.net/projects/audacity) should provide the necessary noise reduction as well.] Oil lamp light source, optical detector/amp mounted on “breadboard” material. Audio recorder connected at “microphone in” with cable equipped with two “alligator clips.” The small white box is the Radio Shack mini amp. The component pin diagram for Burr-Brown OPT101 optical detector/amp. The end of the chip with a notch has pins 1 and 8. Construction Now, this is the part that requires patience; how you decide to construct will depend on your ability. I preferred to use a simple perforated project board and soldered with point-to-point technique. How you make the connections to the chip is really up to you. Keep lead lengths as short as you can so you do not pick up stray signals. I think Radio Shack sells wire-wrap and a hand tool for those who do not wish to solder. A socket for the chip is a good idea. Use the component pin above as a guide to make your connections. This diagram shows the chip pin numbers looking from the top (window side), keep this in mind when connecting from the bottom or a socket. Make the following connections: 1. Tie together or jumper pins 8 and 3, we will then call this (common). 2. Connect your nine volt battery (Radio Shack sells a pre-made battery connector) Plus or red connects to pin 1; black or minus goes to common. 3. The only other

connection goes to your recorder. I used a pre-made cable from Radio Shack that came with 1/8 mono phone plug on one end and a red and a black alligator clamp on the other end. 4. Connect as follows, microphone positive or “high” to pin 5, microphone minus or “low” to common. Whew, that’s the hard part, are you still reading this? Setup and Test This chip receiver you just constructed is very, very sensitive to light and modulations of light. You can experiment with it in many different ways. Keep in mind it will pick up your ordinary room lights and you will hear the loud 60 Hz component of the light. It will pick up light from your computer screen and also light from an infrared remote or computer link. For the oil lamp microphone to work properly you must be mindful of these stray sources of light and work in an area where the only source of light will be the oil lamp itself. Also make sure windows are closed and there are no drafts in the room to cause undue vibration to the flame in the lamp. Setup is easier with the use of the Radio Shack mini amplifier. The amplifier is not too sensitive to low frequencies so it has properties of a good filter built right in. Place your receiver (optical chip) at about the same level as the oil lamp flame so the light from the lamp falls on the chip window. Keep

the lamp about two feet away from the chip. Connect your output cable to the jack marked “Input” on the mini amp. Turn up the gain about halfway on the amp. You will notice if you turn up the flame on the lamp too high you will hear noise and flutter in the mini amp. Speak with a loud voice near the lamp. Adjust the lamp flame for the loudest clearest sound of your voice or an assistant’s voice. You may need to hold the amp near your ear to hear this signal. Find the “sweet spot” by adjusting the distance of the chip to flame and the flame size for best clarity. Recording and Processing Once you have optimized your setup for best clarity you can try some recordings. Simply plug into your recorder mic input and record. You can try silence or speaking in a loud voice or even playing music. You may notice you will have some of the same challenges as our Spirit friends in having the proper energy to be clearly heard. Speaking in a slow halting cadence seems to work well. Do not be surprised if your words are changed when using this device to record your voice. I suggest a script or another recorder used for control. Due to the noisy nature of this process, I recommend post processing of the recording. I found Clear Voice Denoiser (speechpro.com) used with custom settings to be sufficient. Basically, the low frequency component introduced by the

flame needs to be suppressed so the voices can be more clearly heard. If you get to the point of recording, I will be happy to furnish you with the required custom settings that have worked the best for me. Have Fun! I hope this very simple technique works as well for you as I have observed. Do not be disturbed if your voice winds up sounding like a Spirit voice, it is the nature of this technology. Have fun speaking through the aether and hopefully you will have a breakthrough contact. The Monroe Way by Tom Butler Binaural synchronization induced meditative state Previously published in the Spring 2008 AA-EVP NewsJournal Robert Monroe (monroeinstitute.org) had spontaneous out-of-body experiences, which are well-documented in his books, Journey out of Body (Doubleday, ISBN: 0385008619, 1973) and Far Journeys (Doubleday, ISBN: 0385231822, 1985). An engineer, Monroe owned a radio production company, and so it seems natural that he would turn to audio technology in his efforts to understand his experiences. Before his transition, he “discovered” Hemi-Sync® and the Frequency-following Response. Robert had a penchant for acronyms and frequently described the etheric worlds in which he traveled in terms that were catchy but often used to represent unfamiliar meaning. For instance, he used the term, “Locale,” to describe a region of reality and while we are still more or less associated with the physical in Locale I, we see in the transition to Locale 2 that we leave things physical behind. Robert Monroe is on

the other side now, but his legacy is maintained as the Monroe Institute. The Institute provides on-campus classes and well- designed home-study packages. In general, students listen to a series of audio programs in which they are verbally, and with subtle audio signals, guided to deeper and deeper levels of awareness. These programs are intended to be used as a training tool to help the mind “recognize” these levels, and thereby, more quickly return to their associated states of mind. We have attended three, one-week classes and have even met Robert. His daughter, Laurie Monroe, spoke at the 2006 AA-EVP conference. Our experience with the Monroe training programs is that they are a powerful tool for self-development and are potentially important for people wishing to develop their mediumship abilities. The Monroe experiment mentioned in the Viewpoint will test this belief with a series of EVP recording sessions with and without a special set of frequencies. The Technology Robert Monroe discovered that the two hemispheres of the brain will synchronize with the beat-frequency between two audio signals. Using representative numbers, a 1000 Hz tone in one side of a stereo headset and a 1010 Hz tone in the other will result in a response to the 10 Hz difference between the two tones. This is “Hemi-Sync.®” Further, if the difference between the tones is reduced, say to 5 Hz, then the brain will follow. This is the “Frequency-following Response.” The levels of awareness in electroencephalograph biofeedback training for meditation are described

as: Beta (13-40 Hz): Awake and alert Alpha (7-12 Hz): Deeply relaxed; meditative Theta (4 -7 Hz): Between deep meditation and sleep. Delta (0-4 Hz): Sleep Biofeedback is used to teach a person to recognize a deep meditative state, and in the future, to quickly “go there” without feedback aids. In the Monroe system, binaural-beats (Hemi-Sync®) are used to teach the person the same response. In fact, you just relax and listen to the program as the hardly heard frequencies slowly move you into deeper and deeper levels of awareness. Even if you are disturbed, say by a passing car, the frequencies will quickly “pull” you back. Robert referred to the first level, FocusTM10, as the state of awareness in which the body is asleep and the mind is awake. Focus 10 is the beginning place for most of the programs. We believe it is correct to say that, in terms of biofeedback, this would be roughly equivalent to the “Alpha Level.” The Institute has scanned the brains of people reported by others to be very successful trance-channels and did find a discernable difference from people who did not trance. A set of frequencies were developed from these EEG maps and were used to develop binaural-beats for audio programs designed to help the listener sense the presence of other intelligences. These are referred to as “Inner Self-Helper” or ISH frequencies and brain mapping of “ordinary” people, while they were under the influence of the frequencies, showed that they were measurably

effective in inducing trance- like conditions. The Cosmology There are many cosmologies describing how reality is arranged, and if you need a reference point, then it may work to say that Focus 1 is our waking state—body and mind awake, so that would be the physical. As the focus of attention is changed further and further away from the physical, there is a transition point at Focus 21. So Focus 1 through 21 is Locale 1. Focus 22 through 27 is Local 2, and beyond that would be Locale 3. In the more commonly held cosmology, Locale 2 would probably be thought of as the Astral Plane (level of existence), but one should not be too determined to relate the Monroe way with others. The Monroe way is based on direct experience that can be generally replicated in controlled conditions, so it is best to look for perceptual similarities amongst the cosmologies. Here then, are the more important focus levels as described in the Monroe literature: Focus 10: The first stage in separation of mind-consciousness from physical reality. “Mind awake/body asleep” is a deeply relaxed state in which awareness of physical sensory input is reduced, yet the mind is alert and attentive to experience. This gives birth to awareness that you exist with or without the physical body. Focus 12: A state of expanded awareness in which you can become more conscious of inner resources and guidance; a powerful and empowering state which readily lends itself to many diverse applications.

Focus 15: A state of “no time” in which you explore beyond the constraints of time and place. Opportunities are abundant for establishing communication with larger aspects of self. Focus 18: Self-love, self-trust, and non-judgmental acceptance Focus 21: Like deep (delta) sleep, but with a significant difference. You are fully “awake” and conscious, directing the action, as you explore more deeply your personal self and the far reaches of other realities. Focus 22: Where humans still in the physical can have partial consciousness, remembered as dreams, deliriums, and patterns induced through chemicals Focus 23: Inhabited by humans who have recently exited physical existence and have not adapted to such change Focus 24, 25 and 26: The Belief System territories where those who have exited the physical are residing in a particular belief system Focus 27: The Reception Center, Way Station, or Park, designed to ease the trauma and shock of the transition out of physical reality. Some levels are more “interesting” to one or another of us. Tom really likes working at Focus 15. Also, how the levels are visualized is very personal. He gets a lot of insights from people in spirit coming to talk to him in Focus 15 (no time) but others have described it as nothingness. Some people say that in Focus 15, they have learned to imagine themselves moving from a center, along spokes of a wheel to the circumference where they are able to go forward or back in time. Lisa likes to use

Focus 15 to visualize what she would like to manifest and feels that Focus 27, The Reception Center, is the easiest focus level to use to meet with loved ones now on the other side. Using a Phone Line for EVP Collection by Tom Butler Also see: Recording EVP Using a Telephone (atransc.org/caruso-telephone) (This book) and EVP Using VoIP and Telephones (atransc.org/voip) (This book) The above device permits the connection of a household phone (and phone line) to a tape recorder or computer soundcard for EVP voice recording purposes. The device input taps directly onto the (undisturbed) phone connection wiring, with the output having a microphone (or sound card) audio plug via shielded cable. When used in this way, the telephones are used as a modified form of tape recorder microphone for receiving EVP voices as per the standard microphone method. The procedure that has been mentioned previously in the AA-EVP newsletter may be useful – that is, letting the phone go “dead” after picking up the handset – then recording. A faint background sound source may be useful with this microphone method – perhaps a local radio tuned to static / low level voice babble. If there are two phones on the same line, both may be used simultaneously (see later comments). When used, the phone network supplies power to energize the telephones when the handset is lifted, and the device then channels the audio to the recorder or sound card. Older models of telephone may work better with

this method, one reason being due to them having the older carbon microphone, rather than the more modern electric version. Circuit Details The two 100N caps connected to the line are to isolate the phone line DC from the transformer, preventing any call set-up requests to the phone exchange when the device is connected (phone exchange will not sense this device). Device connects to red and green wires (in USA) of phone termination. Do not remove any existing wires at termination. The transformer provides balanced input to unbalanced output, so the microphone plug can be grounded via the recorder without upsetting phone line balance. The 100K / 4K7 resistors drop the line audio level so to be compatible with normal microphone input sensitivities. The two cross connected diodes ensure that any ringing voltages do not damage the tape recorder (if the phone rings while this device is connected the tape recorder will not be damaged). Construction A metal enclosure would be preferable to avoid hum pick-up. Shielded cable should be used between microphone plug and the box and its components. The metal case (if used) should be connected to the cable shield ground. Simulated Local Telephone Network (not connected to phone company) A couple of stand-alone telephones can be energized locally to form a simulated network (see above diagram) for experimentation. The output shown, connects to the phone interface. A 30V (approximately) supply is used to energize the phone, and this voltage is fed to the phone via two sets

of relay coils and resistors. The coils ensure that derived audio is not attenuated by the power supply, and the resistors set the standing current flowing through the phones. This current should be set to 30mA per phone. If preferable, the power supply voltage can be altered instead, to achieve the 30mA. The use of two telephones may provide advantage over a single unit for the purposes of EVP reception, as there is a circulating interaction of simultaneous audio currents between the two units, which may aid reception. The two 2uF capacitors may not be needed if the above device only connects to the interface unit – as the interface already has DC input blocking. Video-Loop, Visual ITC Recording Technique by Tom Butler, 2010 Also see Butler ITC Gallery 2 (atransc.org/visual-itc-butler2) (Book 4), Butler ITC Gallery 2 (atransc.org/visual-itc-butler2) (Book 4), Butler ITC Gallery 3 (atransc.org/visual-itc-butler3) (Book 4), and Perception of Visual ITC Images (atransc.org/visual-perception-study) (Book 2) A Brief Discussion of the Pictures Video showing useful video loop. The ITC images described by Lisa in Butler ITC Gallery 1 (atransc.org/visual-itc-butler1) (Book 4) provides an interesting study in ITC photography. The initial video was taken with a Cannon 8mm ES2000 analog camcorder set about three feet from a Sony KV20TS32, 20-inch Trinitron color TV. The camera was focused just beyond the screen surface and the composite video out of the camera was connected to the video input of the TV so that the camera was “seeing” its output in a video loop.

The camera was zoomed so that about five inches of the screen was revealed to the camera. An example of the video loop is shown above. It is a highly compressed file and the phenomenal features normally seen in the higher resolution NTSC format are not as clear. Even so, move the track market to 01, 06 and 08 seconds and look for phenomenal features. An analog camera and monitor has been most effective for us. We adjust the camera for a balance between very sharp-pixilated display and a too-soft display. Experiment to find that balance. Look for the features in the medium bright areas. The resulting video clip was loaded into a computer and Pinnacle Systems Studio DC10 Plus was used for review. The video was examined frame by frame and interesting frames were captured as individual pictures. Figure 1 is an example of these “grabbed” video frames. Because we were focused on an area of the screen that had a lot of optical texture, the resulting frames tended to be dark. The screen was also flashing from light to dark. While this seems to have given us ITC, it has also frustrated our attempts to display the images with our method of printing this newsletter. We sent two of the more interesting frames to member, Erland Babcock, who edited them to produce Figure 2. Erland uses editing software that came with his Toshiba PDR-M70 digital camera and it is more effective than any of the editors we use.

Lisa had seen other possibilities in Figure 1, but I was focused on what looks like a full-bust image of a man in the middle of the frame. If you look at the upper left quadrant of Figure 1, you can see that I have highlighted what looks like a hat. Figure 2 is that region enlarged and enhanced. With this image, and other renditions not shown, you can see a man wearing a hat. It looks like he has a full beard. There is evidence of blue sky above him and shrubbery at his right. His shoulders may also be visible. It is important to note that the resolution of the original frame should not support the fine shading of the shape of the hat. In other words, I believe that the ITC image has higher resolution than the original frame. Also, if this were an illusion, we would expect to more often see other familiar objects. Erland has pointed out to us that he has captured pastoral scenes and what looks like aerial views of land and water. But we are mostly collecting faces, which raises the question again, why faces, why whole faces and who are they? We have included an image showing a full head of a person in Figure 3. The original frame was almost completely black, so what is shown here is an enhancement. It is hard to tell, but the person looks a lot like an extraterrestrial standing in front of a round

window. Figure 1 A full video frame Figure 2 This picture was cropped from the frame in Figure 1 from the area marked with a white box. The intensity and contrast has been changed in a photo editor to make the feature more visible. No color has been added. Figure 3 - A feature that has been cropped from a different video frame that was almost black before the intensity was changed in a photo editor. Figure 4 - Typical texture in video frame when the camera is three to five inches from the television screen. Notice that you can see the texture of the pixels. All of the examples in Butler Gallery 1 and 2 in the Examples pages were collected with the camera very close to the screen. You will notice that the pixels tend to dominate the features. (Please note that the framer has been rotated 90 degrees. Figure 5 - Typical texture in video frame when the camera about three feet from the television screen. Notice that you do not see the texture of the pixels. All of the examples in Butler Gallery 3 in the Examples pages were collected with the camera three feet from the screen. You will notice that the features tend to be softer in texture. Steps in Recording Video-Loop ITC We use what is known as the Schreiber method for Video ITC. The technique of connecting the output of a video camera to the input of a television set, and then

taping the video noise that can be seen on the television screen, was apparently first developed for Schreiber by Martin Wenzel. 1. Preparing the Video Loop: Position the camera about three feet in front of the television screen. Connect the Video-Out of the Camera to Video-In of the television and select Video-In on the television set. Aim the camera at the television set and slowly adjust the focus and zoom until the dark to light flashing is visible on the television screen, with cloudy or foggy texture in various colors during the bright flashes. The focus should be six to twelve inches past the surface of the screen when the equipment is ready to record. The most important objective is to see swirling clouds. 2. Preparing Yourself: Follow the same preparatory process you use for EVP sessions. Remember that there are nonphysical entities who are present and able to “witness” your activity. Consider using the same music each time as a “signature” or “signpost,” indicating that preparation for a session is underway. Also consider conducting a short meditation or prayer. After meditation, we change from music to the background sound that we use for EVP. The background sound of white noise is used because we always listen to the video soundtrack. Also, an IC recorder is usually recording during the sessions. This, of course, is optional. Speaking out loud, we talk to our team about the last session and discuss the various successes or failures of that experiment. Asking for

their assistance in bringing the images through, we announce that we are going to begin the experiment. This is all done just as if they were standing in the room with us. Each session brings different discussions and questions. Ask for information on how to improve the experiments, and for specific people to show themselves in the video. The experimenter is part of the circuit and we feel that meditation and/or prayer helps bring the experimenter into a more balanced state. This helps to focus the experimenter’s intention and better helps those on the other side create a link to the experimenter. Conducting the Experiment: Speaking out loud, tell the entities that you are about to begin recording. State what you wish to see in your video frames, and perhaps, offer feedback about the previous experiment. Turn on the equipment and wait a few seconds for the feedback loop to stabilize. Record for about thirty seconds. You may record longer but remember that the camera will record around twenty- nine frames a second, and that thirty seconds represents a large number of frames. Turn off the video camera and verbally thank the entities for their help. Analysis of Video: Transfer the video onto a computer. You can alternatively include the computer in the recording circuit during the experiment and record the video with the computer rather than with the camera. Once in the computer, examine each frame of the video and “grab” frames that have optical texture, such as blotches

of color. Examine each grabbed frame in a photo editor as if it were a photograph. Use magnification, intensity changes and rotations while looking for features. We highly recommend that you read the section about Video ITC in the book, There is no Death and There are No Dead. (Info in this book) Books Published by AA-EVP Transcommunication White Paper with Emphasis on Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) The Transcommunication White Paper is intended to document what is currently known by the ATransC directors about transcommunication. It includes background information about theory, concepts and techniques that are important for the understanding of phenomena related to EVP-ITC, psychic and mediumistic phenomena. Please note that there is a version of this paper, including a free downloadable PDF, at atransc.org. I refer people to the Transcommunication White Paper five or six times a week. When I do so, I always wish I had the opportunity to explain the importance of personal development. The three most important points I would make about personal development are concerned with how we think, the effect of how we think on what we experience and how to apply that knowledge toward becoming more self-aware. See the web page on ethericstudies.org. This little book includes all of that. The book is exclusively available on Amazon Good to Know About the Paranormal Many of you know that I have spent a lot of time answering questions about things paranormal on Quora.com. The first was the 2017 question: “How accurate is EVP

recordings?” I have been answering the questions because most of the other answers are simply wrong, anti-paranormal or misleading. Our community is still developing a culture that supports free discovery and meaningful sharing of ideas. It has been my vision that my answers might somehow aid in developing that culture. As it turns out, I have answered quite a lot of Quora.com questions. I have compiled 240 of my answers into this book. See the web page on ethericstudies.org. The book is exclusively available on Amazon Your Immortal Self, exploring the mindful way More time became available for me to write after we changed the ATransC away from a member-supported organization. I am a theoretician by nature and speaking as a mystic, I see a world of patterns in the play of concepts, rather than as a “nuts and bolts” world. It has been natural for me to see ITC as a pattern of interacting concepts. Again, as a mystic, it is as if the pattern is a self-organizing model in my mind’s eye that shows me how one phenomenon relates/compares to another. In my mind, the most important aspect of these phenomena is the way we are part of the dance … not as humans, but as immortal personalities. It has been through ITC, especially EVP, that I have come to see our actual nature as a conduit for the formation of the speech and images of ITC in our physical devices. Your Immortal Self represents an effort to

explain our relationship with these phenomena, the nature of our actual self and how we might learn to be better ITC practitioners by being more successful seekers. The book begins with a comprehensive effort to define the Survival Hypothesis and establish verifiable proof. For a small fee, the PDF version of this book is available on the Lulu website. I like PDF for this book because it has so many internal links. It is easier to study using a PDF file. See the web page on ethericstudies.org. On Amazon Exploring the Mindful Way I have been told that Your Immortal Self is a difficult read. While I understand some of the concepts can be obscure, I wrote this in Your Immortal Self: Not trying to understand this material because it is too complicated is unacceptable. There is an old Zen Buddhist saying: “Before enlightenment chop wood – carry water, after enlightenment chop wood – carry water.” One must do the work to understand. One must do the work to continue learning. Study the material and do not expect to understand all of it with one reading. Contemplate your worldview. Ask questions. Argue! I write today to find ways to illustrate the principles described in Your Immortal Self, as they apply to particular situations. In doing so, I hoped to make the principles more approachable and help pave the way to spiritual maturity for my readers. Exploring the Mindful Way is a compilation of 21 such essays. See the web page

on ethericstudies.org. On Amazon There is No Death and There are No Dead One of our first tasks when we assumed leadership of the American Association of Electronic Voice Phenomena (AA-EVP) was to write a book we could direct people to for guidance about ITC. At that time, there was not much available, and we wanted to make sure our members were given reasonably useful, supportable information. We wrote There is No Death and There are No Dead and published it under the AA-EVP Publishing imprint. The book has received considerable praise as an introductory book. 100% of the proceeds have gone to support operations, outreach and research conducted by the Association. On Amazon I’m Still Here AA-EVP member Martha Copeland wrote I’m Still Here. Martha was one of the founding members of the Big Circle. The book provides an important study of the way Martha coped with the untimely loss of her daughter, Cathy. Beyond the grief, I’m Still Here includes hints about how Cathy might have responded to death, the ways she did find to communicate after transition and how other members of the Big Circle helped Martha. It is Martha’s EVP of Cathy scolding her still physical dog Doja that gives us important proof that we survive physical death. Listen to hear “Doja no. (Book 4) On Amazon Sarah Estep’s Roads to Eternity “To read Sarah Wilson Estep’s Roads to Eternity is to travel a remarkable journey into the unseen world. At every adventurous step, at every

exciting new discovery; the readers are assured that they are guided by a knowledgeable and experienced paranormal researcher, a pioneer in the field of Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP). Sarah Wilson Estep’s vast files of 25,000 recorded voices of the ‘Invisibles’—whether they represent themselves as spirits of the deceased, extraterrestrial entities, or multi- dimensional beings—will provide thrilling inspiration for the seeker and startling revelation for the skeptic.” Brad Steiger, author of Things that Go Bump in the Night Here is the free PDF download Sarah Estep’s Voices of Eternity “EVP, or Electronic Voice Phenomena has been around for as long as recording equipment has existed, but Sara Wilson Estep, a teacher from Maryland, was one of the most prolific recorders and researchers ever. Picking up spirit voices on tape was something that occasionally occurred, but Estep made a daily study and habit of recording so that the sheer volume of voices is extraordinary. She collected literally thousands of voices, and in this book, she shares the messages from the tapes. Estep also chronicles the different innovations that she made during her years of perfecting her technique. While perhaps this isn’t a literary masterpiece, it is an extremely important document in the world of scientific research on life after death. Here is the free PDF download (Provisions will be made for future availability) End