In ghost hunting and parapsychology, electronic voice phenomena (EVP) are sounds recorded electronically that some people believe are voices of spirits. Konstantīns Raudive, a parapsychologist, helped spread the idea in the 1970s. He described EVP as usually very short, often the length of a single word or a brief phrase.

People who study the paranormal often think EVP is a real phenomenon, especially when it appears in recordings with static or background noise. Scientists, however, believe EVP is a type of auditory pareidolia, which is when people hear sounds they think are voices in their own language, even though the sounds are random. They also see EVP as pseudoscience, which is not supported by scientific evidence. Other explanations include apophenia, which is when people see patterns in random information, problems with recording equipment, or intentional tricks.

History

During the 1840s–1940s, the Spiritualist religious movement grew in popularity. Spiritualists believed that the spirits of the dead could be contacted by people called mediums. At that time, new technologies like photography were used to try to prove communication with the spirit world. These ideas became so popular that Thomas Edison was asked by Scientific American to comment on whether his inventions could help communicate with spirits. Edison said that if spirits could only influence things subtly, a sensitive recording device might work better than methods like table tipping or using ouija boards. However, there is no evidence that Edison ever built a device for this purpose. As sound recording became more common, mediums also tried using this technology to show communication with the dead. Spiritualism declined later in the 20th century, but some people continued to use portable recording devices and modern digital tools to try to contact spirits.

American photographer Attila von Szalay was one of the first people to try recording what he believed were voices of the dead to help his ghost investigations. He started in 1941 using a 78 rpm record, but he did not believe he was successful until 1956, when he switched to a reel-to-reel tape recorder. With Raymond Bayless, von Szalay used a custom-made setup that included a microphone in an insulated cabinet connected to a recording device and a speaker. Szalay reported hearing sounds on the tape that were not audible during recording, some of which occurred when no one was in the cabinet. He believed these sounds were voices of spirits. Some of the first recordings he claimed were spirit voices included messages like "This is G!" and "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all." Von Szalay and Bayless shared their work in the Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research in 1959. Bayless later co-authored the 1979 book Phone Calls From the Dead.

In 1959, Swedish painter and film producer Friedrich Jürgenson was recording bird songs. Later, when he played the tape, he heard what he thought was his dead father’s voice and then the spirit of his late wife calling his name. He made more recordings, including one he said contained a message from his deceased mother.

Konstantin Raudive, a Latvian psychologist who taught at Uppsala University in Sweden, worked with Jürgenson. Raudive made over 100,000 recordings he claimed were messages from spirits. Some were recorded in a lab shielded from radio waves, and he said the words were clear enough to be understood. He invited others to listen to and interpret his recordings, believing the clarity of the voices could not be explained by normal means. Raudive published his first book, Breakthrough: An Amazing Experiment in Electronic Communication with the Dead, in 1968. It was translated into English in 1971.

In 1980, William O’Neil created an electronic device called "The Spiricom." He said he built it based on instructions he received psychically from George Mueller, a scientist who had died six years earlier. At a press conference in 1982, O’Neil claimed he could have two-way conversations with spirits using the device and shared its design with researchers. However, no one has been able to reproduce his results using the device. O’Neil’s partner, George Meek, believed O’Neil’s mediumistic abilities were part of how the device worked. In 2020, Kenny Biddle wrote an article explaining the origins of the Spiricom. He criticized the "science" behind the device, both in its original development and in a 2000s television show called Ghosthunters.

Another device made to capture EVP is "Frank's Box" or the "Ghost Box," created in 2002 by Frank Sumption, an EVP enthusiast. Sumption said he received design instructions from the spirit world. The device combines a white noise generator and an AM radio to scan the radio band for short sound clips. Critics say the device’s effects are subjective and cannot be replicated, as it relies on random radio noise. Paranormal researcher Ben Radford called it a "modern version of the Ouija board" or the "broken radio."

In 1982, Sarah Estep started the American Association of Electronic Voice Phenomena (AA-EVP) in Maryland. The group aims to raise awareness about EVP and teach standardized methods for capturing it. Estep began studying EVP in 1976 and claims to have recorded hundreds of messages from deceased friends, relatives, and beings she believed came from other planets or dimensions.

The term "Instrumental Trans-Communication" (ITC) was introduced in the 1970s by Ernst Senkowski to describe communication with spirits through electronic devices like tape recorders, fax machines, or computers. A famous ITC claim involved Friedrich Jürgenson’s image appearing on a television in a colleague’s home on the day of his funeral. ITC supporters also study the "Droste effect," which involves feedback loops in video cameras and televisions.

In 1979, parapsychologist D. Scott Rogo described a phenomenon where people reported receiving short, single-occurrence phone calls from spirits of deceased loved ones or strangers. Rosemary Guiley noted that Rogo was criticized for poor research methods, which some said led to incorrect conclusions.

In 1995, parapsychologist David Fontana suggested that poltergeists might haunt tape recorders, citing the case of Maurice Grosse, who studied the Enfield Poltergeist. However, Tom Flynn, a skeptic, proposed a natural explanation: under certain conditions, old tape could stick to parts of a recorder, creating a loop that might produce strange sounds.

In 1997, Imants Barušs, a psychologist at the University of Western Ontario, tested methods used by EVP researcher Konstantin Raudive and ITC researcher Mar.

Explanations and origins

Paranormal explanations for the origin of electronic voice phenomena (EVP) suggest that living humans might imprint thoughts directly onto electronic devices using mental abilities, or that non-living entities such as spirits, natural forces, beings from other dimensions, or aliens might communicate through these recordings. Paranormal theories often claim that EVP is created by an intelligent source, but not through normal ways that communication devices usually work. Natural explanations, however, argue that EVP can be explained by common scientific processes and do not require unusual or unproven causes.

A study by psychologist Imants Barušs found that paranormal claims about EVP could not be confirmed when recordings were tested under controlled conditions. In his book Pseudoscience: A Critical Encyclopedia (2009), Brian Regal wrote that many EVPs are actually mistakes made during the recording process, and most are not related to spirits. He noted that many EVPs have non-spiritual causes, and there is no clear proof that some are from spiritual sources.

Some simple scientific reasons explain why people might hear voices in static on audio devices. These include interference from radio signals and the brain’s tendency to find patterns in random noise. Some EVPs are also created intentionally as hoaxes by people who want to trick others.

Auditory pareidolia occurs when the brain mistakes random sounds for familiar patterns, such as a human voice. In EVP, this might lead someone to hear a name they are expecting, like "Annie," in background noise. This was observed in a 2019 case involving a painting in a West Virginia museum. The name "Annie" was written on the back of the painting, which made people more likely to hear it in a recording. The recording was made using a modified radio that scanned through radio frequencies continuously. A researcher named Kenny Biddle explained that people often hear names like "Annie" in radio broadcasts, even if they are not actually spoken.

Skeptics like David Federlein, Chris French, Terence Hines, and Michael Shermer suggest that EVPs are often created by increasing the "noise floor" — the background electrical noise from devices — to produce white noise. When this noise is filtered, it can sound like speech. Federlein compared this to using a guitar effect called a "wah pedal," which creates sounds similar to some EVPs. Other causes include interference from radio signals, faulty electrical connections, and the brain’s natural ability to find patterns in noise. Expectations and hopes can also influence people to believe they are hearing voices.

Apophenia is a related but different concept. It refers to seeing connections or meaning in random, unrelated events. Psychologist James Alcock suggested that people hearing voices in EVPs may be influenced by apophenia, interference from radio signals, or their own expectations and desires. He concluded that EVPs are often the result of hope and expectation, and that these claims do not hold up when tested scientifically.

Interference from radio signals is common in EVP recordings, especially those made with devices that use RLC circuits. These signals can include voices or sounds from broadcasts, such as CB radio or baby monitors. Interference from other electronic devices is also well-documented. In some cases, circuits can pick up radio signals without needing power, such as through meteor reflections. When meteors pass through the atmosphere, they leave charged particles that reflect radio waves. These reflections can carry voices from distant transmitters and briefly interfere with radio receivers. Meteor reflections last between 0.05 and 1 second, depending on the size of the meteor.

Capture errors happen when audio is recorded incorrectly, such as when a signal is too loud and causes noise. Improving the clarity of a recording through methods like re-sampling or noise reduction can also change the sound in ways that make it seem different from the original.

The earliest EVP recordings may have been caused by poorly adjusted tape recorders. If the erasure and recording heads on a tape machine were not properly aligned, previous audio could remain on the tape and mix with new recordings. This might explain why some early EVPs contained sounds from earlier recordings.

For radio signals above 30 MHz, which are not reflected by the ionosphere, meteor reflections can still occur. These reflections allow radio waves to travel beyond the horizon and reach receivers, sometimes carrying voices from distant sources.

Organizations that show interest in EVP

Many groups study EVP and ITC or are interested in these topics. People in these groups may conduct research, write books or articles, give talks, and organize meetings to share their findings. Some groups argue that these phenomena are not real based on scientific evidence.

The Association TransCommunication (ATransC), which was once called the American Association of Electronic Voice Phenomena (AA-EVP), and the International Ghost Hunters Society continue to research EVP and ITC. They collect examples of EVP found online. The Rorschach Audio Project, started by sound artist Joe Banks, explains that EVP may result from radio interference and a psychological effect called auditory pareidolia. Another group, the Interdisciplinary Laboratory for Biopsychocybernetics Research, studies unusual events linked to brain and body functions. According to AA-EVP, it is "the only known group of researchers focused on studying ITC."

Parapsychologists and spiritualists are interested in EVP. Spiritualists use different methods to communicate with spirits, believing these practices show life continues after death. The National Spiritualist Association of Churches states, "A modern development in mediumship is using electronic devices to communicate with spirits, known as Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP)." An informal survey by the group’s Department Of Phenomenal Evidence reports that one-third of churches hold sessions where people try to contact spirits using EVP.

The James Randi Educational Foundation offered one million dollars for proof that any phenomenon, including EVP, is caused by paranormal activity.

Demographics

In 2015, a study by sociologist Marc Eaton examined the makeup of paranormal groups in the United States that use electronic voice phenomenon. The research found that white participants were more common than expected, many of whom grew up in the Roman Catholic Church (a group that makes up only 21% of the U.S. population) and had some college or university education. While other studies suggest that women and people who are less connected socially are more likely to believe in ghosts, the groups studied in Eaton's research did not show this pattern.

Cultural impact

The concept of EVP has influenced popular culture. It is a popular activity, such as ghost hunting, and is also used as a way to help people deal with sadness. EVP has affected books, radio shows, movies, television programs, and music.

Investigating EVP is studied by many local and national groups and online discussion boards. Paranormal investigator John Zaffis says, "Ghost hunting became more popular after the Internet became widely used." Investigators use tools like EMF meters, video cameras, and audio recorders to search places said to be haunted. They look for evidence of ghosts, such as pictures or sounds. Many use portable recording devices to try to capture EVP.

Movies that include EVP are Poltergeist, The Sixth Sense, and White Noise.

Sylvio is a video game created by an independent developer. It was released in June 2015 for multiple platforms, using the Unity engine. The game follows an audio recordist named Juliette Waters, who uses EVP to communicate with ghosts in an abandoned family park. A sequel, Sylvio 2, was released in October 2017.

Phasmophobia is a cooperative horror game where players work together as ghost hunters. They try to identify different types of ghosts in various locations. The game includes a Spirit Box item used to record EVPs from specific ghosts, helping players determine the ghost's type. EVPs in the game include phrases from news broadcasts, such as "Act of killing" or "Elderly victim." Players can also use a sound recorder to capture direct messages from ghosts or their laughter.

EVP has appeared in television shows like Ghost Whisperer, In Search Of… (1981), The Omega Factor, A Haunting, Ghost Hunters, MonsterQuest, Ghost Adventures, The Secret Saturdays, Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files, Supernatural, Derren Brown Investigates, Ghost Lab, and Buzzfeed Unsolved: Supernatural.

In the 1983 novel Legion by William Peter Blatty, a story includes Dr. Vincent Amfortas, a sick neurologist, who leaves a letter for Father Dyer about his contact with the dead, including his recently deceased wife, through EVP recordings. This part is not in the film version of the book, The Exorcist III.

In Pattern Recognition, a 2003 novel by William Gibson, the main character's mother tries to convince her that her father is communicating with her from recordings after his death in the September 11, 2001 attacks.

In Nyctivoe, a 2001 play by Dimitris Lyacos, a male character and his deceased companion speak from a recording device over static or white noise.

In With the People from the Bridge, a 2014 play by Dimitris Lyacos, the voice of the female character NCTV is transmitted from a television monitor over static or white noise.

EVP is featured in Vyktoria Pratt Keating's song "Disembodied Voices on Tape" from her 2003 album Things that Fall from the Sky, produced by Andrew Giddings of Jethro Tull.

Laurie Anderson's song "Example #22" from her 1981 album Big Science includes spoken German sentences mixed with English singing, representing EVP.

During the outro of "Rubber Ring" by The Smiths, a sample from an EVP recording is repeated. The phrase "You are sleeping, you