You might have caught something on a recording that you think is a ghost, but you don't know how to prove or debunk it. A few easy tips can help you quickly determine if you actually caught a real ghost on video.
Is That Ghost on Recording Real or Trick of the Eye?
When you are watching a video of a paranormal investigation, it is easy to misinterpret something as a ghost or ghostly activity. For example, if a door slowly creaks open, could it have been the wind, an HVAC turning on, or an uneven floor that gave under your weight when you walked past the door?
Another commonly misinterpreted event is a shadow movement. Depending on where the shadow is seen and where your team is during the taping of the event, it is possible the shadow was the result of a team member moving and a flashlight flickering at the same time. Be careful when reviewing your videos to ensure you don't misidentify a natural casting of a shadow with that of a ghost or shadow person.
Ways to Assess Your Ghost Video
There are several things that can interfere with your video recording that are natural and not at all ghostly. When you begin to examine any evidence you captured during a paranormal investigation, you must first eliminate these natural conditions.
For example, you need to consider the time of year, the environment, such as being outdoors as opposed to being indoors. Each environment has potential things that could at first appear to be ghostly, when they aren't.
Some of the other factors that must be considered are things like the time of day and the condition of the place where you believe you captured a ghost on your video recording.
You want to explore all kinds of possible explanations, even ones that seem far-fetched. Once you've eliminated these and other types of possible reasons for what you captured, you're ready to go through your video footage frame by frame.
One of the best ways to examine something you feel is a ghost you captured on recording is to advance the recording frame by frame. If possible, zoom in on the individual frames to better examine what you believe to be a ghost.
A few other things to check is how clean the lens is or if the ghost could have been accidentally created by moving the camera. Perhaps the lighting in the room was odd. If the video was captured outside, could there have been moisture on the lens that distorted the recording?
Matrixing, not Ghosts
It is possible that you are experiencing matrixing when viewing your video. This happens when the mind fills in the spaces to make an object look like something familiar. Your brain grasps for a ready explanation. For example, you may see what you believe to be a ghost face in an old mirror when it is nothing more than damage to the silver backing due to the aging process.
One way to evaluate if you're experiencing matrixing is to ask if you saw this face or ghostly image the first or second time you viewed it. If not, then chances are your mind is tricking you by matrixing an image.
Ghost Orbs or Dust
Many people get very excited about capturing ghost orbs, only to be disappointed when an expert points out that all they captured were dust particles refracting the light and appearing as orbs. Ask yourself if there was a lot of dust at the place where you filmed orbs?
Some people often argue that dust can only move downward, so when they capture dust moving upwards, to the side or other directions, they believe they've captured real ghost orbs. The only problem is their assumption is flawed. Dust can move up and down, sideways and even in a circle, if that's the current the air is moving. Don't fall into this trap of flawed logic.
Take the time to examine all possible causes before jumping to the conclusion you've captured spirit orbs. One sure way to distinguish a ghost orb from a dust orb is self-illumination. Ghost orbs have their own energy source that is generated by the spirit and this presents itself with an illumination. This might be faint, but it is definitely an inner illumination.
Spirit Manifestation or Fog
Another common pitfall is to misinterpret fog, steam, or misting rain as a spirit attempting to manifest. If you've captured something on tape that is misty or foggy looking that you feel is a spirit, you must first eliminate all possibilities.
What were the weather conditions at the time you recorded the anomaly? Was the place humid? Was there any kind of natural fog at the time you took the video? Was there steam rising from the pavement or ground after a summer cloudburst? If it proves impossible to identify the foggy misty shape, you may have actually captured a real ghost.
Is It a Real EVP?
There are several types of evidence of ghosts caught on tape or camera. One is an EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon). You need to first determine the type of EVP you believe you captured. Is it a faint whisper or is it a very distinct and clear voice?
The first thing you need to do is determine where every team member was when the EVP was captured. Once you do this, you can quickly identify the voices you hear along with the possible EVP.
If your team was practicing the golden investigative rule that no one can ever talk in a whisper and the EVP you captured is a whisper, then you may have a whispering ghost voice. However, before you claim you have an EVP, make sure that it isn't something else, such as the rustling of clothing or a distant sound that was noted at the time you heard it, such as the wind howling, a dog barking, or a passing vehicle.
Once you've eliminated all of these possibilities, it is safe to claim you captured an EVP. The next step is to understand what the spirit is saying. Listen to the EVP before you have any type of discussion or analysis.
Once you've decided what is being said, play it for others and allow them to tell you what they hear. You may discover they hear something different. Ask yourself a few questions about the EVP and its quality before declaring it a true EVP of a ghost.
There are some software programs that you can use to clean up the recording so you can hear it better. If it is a whisper, you might not be able to decipher what the spirit is saying. This is the most common type of EVP that's captured, so don't be discouraged. You at least eliminated what it wasn't and ended up with an EVP, nonetheless.
Did You Really Record a Ghost?
Ghosts have been caught on tape ever since the invention of the camera and film equipment. You may be fortunate enough to capture one on tape and prove ghosts are real.
