5 replies to this topic

[nekosensei]

Hey! This is my first post here, so please excuse me if I'm doing this wrong. I'm planning on participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) in November, and my story is going to be about an incompetent ghost hunter and the poor friend he drag along on many of his investigations. His friend is a techie, and this ghost hunter manages to convince said friend to come with him by promising to let him play with some of the toys he is planning to use in his investigation: a trifield EMF meter and an expensive night vision camera.

Now, my question mainly has to do with the EMF meter. Assuming there is ghostly activities, what kind of reading would they see on the meter? Would this be caused by an electric field, a magnetic field, or both? Would the device make any noise if it did pick up an anomaly? If so, what? There's a link to the Tr-field emf meter here: http://www.trifield.com/emf_meter.htm

Also, can you recommend any good models of night vision cameras that would fascinate my techie character? Thanks!

[CaveRat2]

Well if you are writing a sci-fi story then I guess anything goes. Meters that go off, beep, light, whistle, play the Star Spangled Banner.... Do like all the other story characters to impress the readers. It depends on the make of the meter, some simply give a meter reading, others blink lights, still others beep above a certain point.

But if you are trying to be realistic then no meter will respond to ghosts or spirit activity. That's all pure Hollywood. Same goes with cameras. I have a FLIR infrared system and have used it on investigations. To date it has responded to absolutely zero paranormal events. Great for spotting warm blooded creatures like birds, squirrels, etc. up in the trees though! You'd be amazed at what is roosting in a tree after dark!

Edited by CaveRat, 29 October 2009 - 07:17 PM.

[afterlife]

I think any one piece of equipment would not be sufficient enough to claim paranormal evidence! When you use multiple tools together EMF, ambient temperature readings, EVP's, video & pictures to back up real personal claims or experiences then you might be able to suggest some kind of paranormal activity. I have been on Investigations where Ive felt & heard things - then asked for a sign & had the temperature drop 10 degrees in about 40 seconds, then found EVPs occurring at that same time frame, along with EMF spikes that could not be recreated or accounted for. When things like this happen to average people like myself (not Hollywood) it tends to make a believer out of you. As for the EMF meter it picks up the magnetic field created by electricity (energy). As MR Cave-rat said deferante devices take readings in diferante ways lights, sounds ect, you can also hear this field humming with some devices.This field is also a natural occurrence created by our own earth. As for ghost or entity's or as I like to call them energy's the current quantum view is that we are essentially electrical beings existing within the electromagnetic embrace of the earth.

[Blair Jett]

CaveRat, on Oct 29 2009, 07:15 PM, said:

Well if you are writing a sci-fi story then I guess anything goes. Meters that go off, beep, light, whistle, play the Star Spangled Banner.... Do like all the other story characters to impress the readers. It depends on the make of the meter, some simply give a meter reading, others blink lights, still others beep above a certain point.

But if you are trying to be realistic then no meter will respond to ghosts or spirit activity. That's all pure Hollywood. Same goes with cameras. I have a FLIR infrared system and have used it on investigations. To date it has responded to absolutely zero paranormal events. Great for spotting warm blooded creatures like birds, squirrels, etc. up in the trees though! You'd be amazed at what is roosting in a tree after dark!

So I must ask what your opinion of TAPS is then? They DO get emf readings on hunts & they are able to differentiate (usually) between electrical readings & what they believe to be something paranormal.

I was interested in a k2 meter & even went to the store on this site, but when I would click on the k2 link in this store nothing happened. Is that link broken, or is it no longer available?

[CaveRat2]

TAPS gets readings because it looks good on TV. People expect that so that's what they show. As I said this is one of those misconceptions that originated with Hollywood movies and has taken on a life of its own. (I believe the first instance was the movie "Poltergeist", but I could be mistaken there.)

The KII meter beeps because it has a poorly constructed switch that causes it to go through its reset cycle if disturbed. Why the manufacturer feels the need for it to beep while resetting is something only they can explain. But it makes a neat prop for a TV show that way! It's also why the KII is not recommended for serious research.

Best way I can explain the discrepancy is that there are two methods of investigation. The type you see on TV, where they simply have to make it interesting or lose viewers, and the way its really done, where an investigator sits in a room, sometimes for hours at a time and gets absolutely nothing. Since the latter would make bad TV, it's obvious why they do what they do.

[APGBryan]

CaveRat, on Oct 30 2009, 03:49 PM, said:

TAPS gets readings because it looks good on TV. People expect that so that's what they show. As I said this is one of those misconceptions that originated with Hollywood movies and has taken on a life of its own. (I believe the first instance was the movie "Poltergeist", but I could be mistaken there.)

The KII meter beeps because it has a poorly constructed switch that causes it to go through its reset cycle if disturbed. Why the manufacturer feels the need for it to beep while resetting is something only they can explain. But it makes a neat prop for a TV show that way! It's also why the KII is not recommended for serious research.

Best way I can explain the discrepancy is that there are two methods of investigation. The type you see on TV, where they simply have to make it interesting or lose viewers, and the way its really done, where an investigator sits in a room, sometimes for hours at a time and gets absolutely nothing. Since the latter would make bad TV, it's obvious why they do what they do.

I'll go a step further and say what Caverat may be reluctant to say: While it is certainly interesting that the K2 meter (on Ghost Hunters) seems to respond directly to questions being asked by the team, this is easily reproduced by something as simple as a walkie talkie. It is unlikely that the K2 is failing at the precise times that a question is being asked, thus simulating repeated intelligent responses - it is more likely that the K2 is being directly manipulated by someone keying up a walkie talkie on cue when a question is asked. I have used K2s, Trifields, and other assorted EMF meters in dozens of investigations and have not come across one unexplainable anomoly.