An Introduction to EVP's

I have to say, one of the most fascinating aspects of paranormal investigation is being able to capture EVP's (electronic voice phenomena). To me, these recordings of disembodied voices are indisputable evidence that there is life beyond death.

In 1976 a woman by the name of Sarah Estep, a Christian of strong faith, wondered if she could capture recordings of EVP's on her own tape recorder. She didn't feel that doing these experiments would hurt her Christian beliefs, in fact, she explains, they strengthened them.

She decided to sit down at a table and ask questions from a prepared list before her. She would ask a question and wait for a moment for any 'answers' to be recorded before she asked the next question. Her sessions were short - about 5 minutes at a time and she did these in the morning and evening. Every day.

For the first several days she got no responses to her questions. She considered throwing in the towel, but committed herself to sticking with it for a full week. And then she got a response. Then more and more.

She admits that her one-sided conversations were tedious at times because she would have to replay to hear their answers and wait until the next recording session to expand on their answer. She was diligent and wrote her first novel in 1988 after having recorded 24,000 EVP's that responded directly to her questions.

You can download her book, Voices of Eternity, for free here.

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Here's an excerpt:

I have noticed that when a large number of people die at one time, such as the crash of the two 747 jumbo jets in the Canary Islands in which close to six hundred people lost their lives, I record so many cries for help, I lose count. The calls in that case, incidentally, began coming through almost as soon as that crash happened, but twelve hours before I knew anything about it. After three days they abruptly stopped. It is difficult to escape the conclusion that it seemed to take that long before the spirits were able to get around to everyone there and to help them all move on into the spirit world.

Mercedes Shepanek of Virginia, who before her death in 1986 recorded voices from other dimensions through her tape recorder, had a similar experience on January 14, 1982, the day following the crash of an Air Florida plane into the Potomac River. She asked if those on the other side were aware of the crash and immediately received a number of replies. I have listened to the recording and found it extremely moving. There are many voices speaking in an excited babble. Some entities seem confused and gave the impression that they had just died. At the same time there were other, calmer voices, who by their messages indicated they wanted to help. The first message said, "...on that airliner..." A moment later someone said, "We got a loser." Then, "Will you help them out?" An entity pleaded, "Redeem." This was followed at once with, "Will you come with me now; will you come?" Next was heard, "I'll do it right away...right in the snow." After that came, "Reach down...now reach down...I don't want 'em all killed."

From the nature of the messages it seems evident that Mercedes was tuned in to what was happening to some of the victims of the crash.

Upon different occasions I have asked what the greatest difference is between life in the spirit world and life on the earth plane. One time a voice said, "We have everything."

Ten days later I asked if a person in the spirit world has the opportunity to continue to pursue the same interests he or she had while on the earth plane, such as music, art, and writing. My question was answered with "Yes, Estep."

This answer is reinforcement for what mediums have said they receive in trance from discarnate spirits. These spirits speak with evident satisfaction about being able to continue pursuing and learning more about their earth-plane interests after they move into the spirit world.

There is additional evidence that the "Yes, Estep" message is a valid one. In the spring when I asked if Brahms, Beethoven, Bach, and Chopin were continuing to compose and play beautiful music in the spirit world, I recorded, "They’re still playing music to share with their brothers."

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Of course you would expect that a woman who spent 32 years studying and collecting EVP's would try to communicate from the other side after she passed over. And she did. Sarah Estep didn't die on January 3, 2008 - she transitioned. (That's a term used on her website.) In late February, a fellow researcher and longtime friend, Sonia Rinaldi contacted Sarah Estep in the form of EVP.

This example was recorded when Sarah Estep was still alive to give you a sense of how distinctive her voice was.

The following are some EVP examples recorded by Sonia Rinaldi, over a month after Sarah's death.

Sonia: "Hi Sarah..."
Sarah: "I hear"

Sarah: "I hear, Sonia"

Sonia: "Bye..."
Sarah: "Now good bye"

Things that make you go hmmmm.

Now, am I the only one fascinated by this kind of stuff? I am going to Radio Shack tomorrow to buy a high quality recorder that the team uses and will start my own EVP experimenting at my house. I hope I can communicate with David, Anna and Josh -- but it would be awful neat to pick up any one else too! Even relatives or friends who have passed... now that would be truly spectacular.