Outside investigations

Yesterday a friend saw some pictures Matt took outside in a cemetery on an investigation. She asked how well you can do an outside investigation. She was asking from a standpoint of power for equipment. The question is bigger than that, outside investigations are tough.

Power is the one thing you can easily provide. The hard part about outside investigations is contamination.
Contamination can happen indoors. It is not as bad, but it still is something that you have to account for. You need to know the area that the building you are investigating is located in. Does a train track run nearby; is there primary lines or a transformer outside the window to make meters useless in some rooms; is the house on a “T” intersection where car headlights will shine into the window all night long? When you know these things are present, then you have to disregard any evidence that could be influenced by these things in that room or the whole building. When headlights shine into a room, all light anomalies need to be discounted for that room. When there are primary power lines outside a window, your meter will read high in that room, but it isn’t paranormal.

Inside a building with some prep, you will again be in a semi-controlled environment. You will know what you can and cannot trust from the building or room.

Outside is 100 times worse. Just about anything can happen. You have to use tools differently and wisely. Many you have to leave at home.You do have to take into consideration the weather, power, and all those outside influences. When we were at the cemetery, we had wind, coyotes, owls, turkey vultures, clanking flag pole lanyards, snapping flags, and cars passing, just to name a few. A local church had a bell tolling (which sounded awesome by the way), and car headlights and “eternity lights” reflected off of tombstones. There can be pollen creating orbs, bugs creating light anomalies, animals creating all kinds of issues. Add in weather in general and you are not the one in control!

When you are outside, you can still use equipment. SLR cameras are great, and probably your best tool. The hardest evidence to collect is visual (because the hardest thing for a “ghost” to do is get up enough energy to appear), so it may be the tool that gets the least results, but it is 100% the best tool for outside. You do have to watch for reflections and bugs, cars, etc. appearing as something else. Always take 3 pictures in a row (no matter where you are) to compare.

Voice recorders are still a great tool for outside. You have to be very cognizant of noises around you and make sure that you review the recordings quickly so you won’t forget that church bell, owl, or car radio.
Trust voices more than sounds outside. Also run the recording through a computer program to see if it was paranormal or not. It may just be a team member making a comment a few yards away. Once it is run through the program and shows as paranormal, call it evidence. Meters are good as long as you know where power lines are. An Ovilus is good, a FLiR camera, handheld IR video camera, and IR video camera system is also good to use, although the latter needs a power source.

Do not use tools that are for controlled areas, as you will get all kinds of false evidence. Don’t use a shadow detector (even days when it isn’t all that windy, things still move), laser grid, vibration detector, or even a thermometer (temps can change drastically due to shade/shadow, coolness of tombstones, streams, blacktop, channels through hills where wind travels, and more); motion detectors, or any tool that reads or  is effected by movement.

Make sure that you carefully investigate, note all changes, movement, and sound. Make sure you go back and check in the daylight. Before you go make sure all video equipment is night vision or IR capable.

Remember that when outside to not to use artificial light for anything, and if you want to bring a flashlight to use in emergency or to check meters, battery level, etc., to have a red bulb or cover the lens with red plastic wrap. This will not reduce your night vision when you use it.

Know what results are produced by “ordinary” things. Rain hitting the ground on a nighttime flash picture can appear as a fiery light coming up out of the ground (raindrops always bounce). Spider webs break off and float through the air and make cool wispy figures. Pollen, water vapor, rain, and dust appear as orbs in flash photos. You should NEVER use flash on an investigation, except for “before”,  historic, or artsy pictures.
Make sure hair is tied back, camera straps are removed, and there is no clothing hanging or blowing into the picture. No scarf or jewelry. Most “paranormal” pictures I see are entirely normal or faked.

Make sure that you get an outside investigation done as part of your training. It is very important to learn as it is totally different from inside investigations. Most items are battery powered. Make sure that you have back up and if you are really needing power, buy a small camping generator. Make sure it is away from all meters and voice recorders.

Lastly, wear the right clothes and quiet, comfortable shoes. I had a cemetery investigation ruined once by a gal clicking in high heels all night long. When you aren’t sure, ask.The key to having a good investigation is to go with experienced people. People who have that ounce of skepticism, and don’t buy into every shiny round thing in every picture. The best evidence is the evidence that cannot be refuted, and remember to do all this , have all the tools, and computer programs, costs money.

Make sure that you KNOW how to use your equipment. Know its’ limits, what happens when the battery is getting low; what happens when it gets wet or damp; what happens when you have it too close or too far away from both normal things and paranormal things. Know the limits of the equipment, and its’ proper use and handling.

Make sure that you always use the right tools for the application. This is a hard and fast rule in the group I investigate with. No flashlights for communicating, no controlled area tools used outside, no provoking to “cause” a haunt. Do things the right way and you will get awesome and VALID evidence every time!!!

Happy Hunting!

Peshaui Wequashimese.

(C)2013 Dr. R M Wolf. May not be used, copied or reproduced without prior written permission.