Though we have been capturing ghosts on film since the dawn ofphotography, the methods by which we are able to do this today has vastlyimproved, along with the technology of film.Likewise, voice technology, since the invention of the telephone, has vastlyimproved, and there are some schools of thought that subscribe to EVP, or“Electronic Voice Phenomenon," which is performed, in essence, by tuning aradio to a “white noise" frequency (usually an AM station) and recording hoursand hours of this “fuzz-noise" in the hopes of being able to pick up the voiceof a ghost, a concept that many people heartily believe in and pursue quitereadily.It has also been observed and documented over the years that the “besttimes" (though not exclusively) to be able to contact a ghost are the earlyhours in the morning, around 3 a.m., and again, 12 hours later, at 3 p.m. inthe afternoon – scientific studies have revealed that both of these times areideal to “catch ghosts" in their activities because these times reflect theminimum of barometric pressure in the double daily wave, plus the minimumof air movement near the ground, along with a minimum of “oscillations" interrestrial magnetism. During these times, explored and discovered by Dr.Gunther Wachsmuth in his meteorological book, Earth and Man, there is agreat amount of conductivity of the vertical electric current on earth, and ofradioactivity in the layers nearest the ground. And because ghosts, like allthings, are composed entirely of pure energy, it makes good, common senseto conclude that they will definitely be more active and accessible to us atthose time gradients.There are a few different areas of thought on the subject of how to captureghosts in a medium by which we can view or go over later for further study,and just to cover all the bases, we’ll include all of them here; what might workwell for one person may not do the trick for another, so it is safe to try any orall of these methods: 1) Working With Film and Camera EquipmentIn today’s state-of-the-art technology, though there are many different ways inwhich to measure a ghost’s activity; the most popular among these is thecamera.High-speed, color film used on either a 35-mm or digital camera will producegood results, as will Polaroid film. Many, many photos of orbs and streaks ofwhite that were not seen by the naked eye when the photos were taken haveappeared in Polaroid shots, so just because those are not the “latest and thegreatest" of our cameras today, don’t put them on the shelf just yet.It’s best to use two cameras; if you’re going with a team of four or five people,of course, this is much easier to handle; one person can load a 35-mmcamera with 400 ASA color print film, and another can shoot with a digitalcamera. Another good way to capture images of ghosts is with black-and whitefilm, and the use of a tripod is an excellent luxury, but often one that theaverage ghost-hunting team won’t be able to carry around very easily.Use the cameras sparingly, but actively when you sense a ghostly presenceor an energy; at these times, you should simply point and shoot, point andshoot, repeatedly, when you feel you have come upon a possible ghost. Youshould be prepared to go through many, many rolls of film because often,only one or two in 200 photos will actually catch the ghost on film. Remember,they move very quickly and can appear and reappear in the blink of an eye,so make sure you stay on high alert at all times! 2) How To Use Motion DetectorsBefore “pointing and shooting," however, there are other technical devicesyou should have on hand to be able to detect motion and temperature, whichshould keep you from wasting too much film.One important piece of equipment is a gaussmeter, which is designed toregister deviations in electromagnetic fields. Another is the sound level meter,which is designed to measure the intensity of audio generated from eitherbelow or above the human audio range. Yet another very helpful device is adigital thermometer, which measures even the most delicate and slighttemperature fluctuations.Also, don’t forget the old, trusty tape recorder – magnetic tape, as discussedearlier in this book, will also pick up audio sounds not detectable to thehuman ear, and you don’t have to spend a great deal on money on a goodtape recorder that will provide a digital analysis of sound.When you begin to investigate what you believe to be a haunted place, it’sbest to start with the electromagnetic field reader, or “EMF" device. You cango from room to room, scanning for any abnormalities – and, mostimportantly, for reasonable explanations to these abnormal readings, such asany electrical device that gives off a “reading," sending the sensor shootingway up. If you do eliminate all other reasonable possibilities of an irregular or“abnormal" reading, then point and shoot! It’s also a good idea to haveanother person in the group test the air temperature; if it drops dramatically inone spot or area in the room, that’s your second “clue" that you may haveindeed found a ghost.EMF meters like these are not unique or hard to find; they are available inmost electronics stores and can be bought right off the shelf. In particular,however, some units are more desirable than others for these purposes.An EMF detector that has a range of zero to 199.9 milligauss operates on a9-volt battery and is small enough to fit inside a shirt pocket. Remember thatlarge appliances, such as refrigerators, microwave ovens, fish tanks, etc., willgenerate a very strong EMF reading, giving you a “false-positive," so takethose precautions discussed earlier to ensure that you’re not just detecting avacuum cleaner! Watch the screen to determine when and if a readinggreater than 1.0 milligauss is obtained; this, without any outside electricalinterference, could indicate the presence of a ghost. However, one could getthat same reading and watch it immediately drop below the 1.0 milligausslevel, which would indicate that the operator of the device may have scanneda ghost moving across the room. These are very sensitive instruments, andgreat care and patience is needed to be able to arrive at good, verifiableconclusions, so set aside as much time as possible to spend in the areas thatyou may feel are vulnerable or high in ghostly activity. 3) Using Audio EquipmentGoing back to the ghost “voice" phenomenon discussed in Chapter 3, alsoreferred to as the “phantom voice," these are events in which a ghost seemsto be able to speak to us through an electronic medium; it is able tomanipulate the machine in such a way so that it reproduces a sound assimilar to what we understand and interpret as a “voice," but it does not calland leave a more lengthy message, etc., because a ghost does not have avoice, as we do; again, ghosts use thought patterns to transmit their energiesand manipulate them in various ways through several electronic mediums,and this is just one of the ways in which they can accomplish that.The ghostly “voice" is below or above the human range of hearing, which isthe reason that an animal, such as a dog or a cat will be able to “hear" thevoices, such as they are, whereas we cannot. For example, a dog can easilyhear a dog whistle, but when we blow on it, we hear no sound – it is the sameprinciple.The sound device that is best used to pick up ghostly “mutterings" is a simple,small, analog sound meter, similar to the EMF, which also uses a 9-voltbattery and when scanned around a room, has a sensitive needle insidewhich will suddenly “spark" if ghostly sounds are detected. Watch the intensitymeter for minor needle movement while the analog sound level meter is seton the lowest scale possible. Then, if you see needle movements, slowlyscan the meter around the room until the signal is increased. The needle willthen “flutter" lightly back and forth, and it is at this point when photographsshould be taken, and a tape recorder should be activated as well to tape anysounds not detectable by the human ear but that can be picked up viamagnetic tape and analyzed later. 4) What is a “Cold Spot?"Another very reliable method of detecting a ghost’s presence is with a digitalthermometer. Investigators have documented many cases in which a narrowcolumn of cold air rises from the floor to the ceiling of a room – theinvestigator can pass their hands through this column, which always appearsto be very narrow. When they do so, they have reported feeling a “chill" or adefinite “shift" in temperature relative to the rest of the room. This indicates aghostly presence. But the question remains: Does the “cold spot" create thechills that people feel when their hair is electrified and literally “stands onend?" Does their hair stand on end due to the electromagnetic charge theghost gives off by its very presence in the room?Because we already know that ghosts use our energy to insinuate themselvesinto our earth plane, it would be safe to say that this is the case, and that wemay be able to soon prove that ghosts enter our plane via a very narrow typeof “vortex" or “funnel" instead of just “plopping down," or “landing" carelesslysomewhere.It could be, and it is still being debated today, that the swirling energy vortexthrough which ghosts make their presence known is the actual source of thecolumn that produces the cold air and the resulting electrical discharge.Photographs that have been taken of these swirling energy vortexes indicatethat this energy apparently has matter, or density, to it, because it reflectslight (we are able to photograph it, hence it reflects light) and because it alsocasts a shadow.Anyone interested in trying their luck at becoming a ghost hunter can startbuilding their ghost-hunting tool bag with simple, yet effective tools. There aretwo items that are “must-haves": a 35-mm with 400 ASA color or black-and whitefilm, or a digital camera; and a standard magnetic compass fordetecting a ghost’s energies. The compass should be used as a directionalfinder, using the needle to point to the ghost’s energy. Even with these simpletools, you’ll be well on your way to some happy ghost hunting!