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The Mystery of the Roses

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Originally published in the Winter 2004 ATransC NewsJournal The Encyclopedic Psychic Dictionary defines coincidence as, “1. (esoteric) (Carl Jung) two events occurring simultaneously, having no known cause-and-effect connection and unrelated…

About the AA-EVP

by Tom and Lisa Butler, 2001 Introduction Many of you have heard of the American Association – Electronic Voice Phenomena (AA-EVP).  It is an Association founded by Sarah Estep in…

An Interview with Paolo Presi

by Anabela Cardoso Originally published in the April 2007 ITC Journal ©Anabela Cardoso – All Rights Reserved Anabela: Paolo, you are a well-known international ITC researcher who has been in…

2006 AA-EVP Conference

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Report on the 2006 AA-EVP Conference (The name of the association has since been changed from AA-EVP to  Association TransCommunication) The conference was a complete success by all accounts. All…

White Noise, the Movie

“If what you know about EVP is based on movies like White Noise or from television, then everything you know about EVP is very wrong. Please read a few of…

The Electronic Voice Phenomena

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College Research paper by Thomas Wingert The Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP) is generally defined as the manifestation of sensible remarks of seeming paranormal origin on sound recording media, such as…

Konstantin Raudive

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  Excerpts from There is No Death and There are No Dead Dr. Konstantin Raudive, a psychologist, philosopher and Latvian then living in Sweden, read one of the Friedrich Jürgenson…

Sarah Estep and the Government

Summary Report Regarding Brief Events at the National Security Agency During the Mid-1980s Timeframe Pertaining to Remote Viewing And UFO Phenomena (Peripherally Involving Mrs. Sarah Virginia Estep – Former President of…

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Sarah Estep and the Government

Summary Report
Regarding Brief Events at the National Security Agency
During the Mid-1980s Timeframe
Pertaining to Remote Viewing And UFO Phenomena

(Peripherally Involving Mrs. Sarah Virginia Estep – Former President of The American Association Of Electronic Voice Phenomena)

by Rebecca Anne Estep 30 May 2018


 

Per the mandate of the NSA/CSS Public Release Review Team/Information Security and Classification Division, the following statement is required:  “This memoir is a collection of personal recollections of a topic of personal interest.  The information and conversations contained herein are solely mine [Rebecca Anne Estep] and does not represent any official position, opinion or official record of NSA.  According to the Public Release Review Team (PRRT), this material is approved for public release in a private capacity [that is, Ms. Estep is not representing the NSA in any official capacity via this document] with no restriction on venue or medium per NSA/CSS Policy 1-30, dated 12 May 2017, paragraphs 2.a-e.  Nothing in this public release review approval should be interpreted as verification of the information included in the submission.  NSA is not responsible for fact-checking the document, nor does the PRRT “approve” (confirm) the data contained therein.  The PRRT solely verifies that the material is completely UNCLASSIFIED and contains no protected information.”

Any peculiarities regarding the names in this document (i.e., the use of the first letter of the first or last name) was solely at the direction of the PRRT.  Any exceptions to this rule which occur throughout the document has been approved by the PRRT.

CASE NUMBER PP-18-0085

I’ve been employed at the National Security Agency (NSA) in Ft. Meade, MD since May 1980 and currently work as an information management specialist.

This document describes several events that occurred at NSA during the mid-1980s which indicates the agency’s past interest – to the limited extent I was made aware of it – in the field of remote viewing and UFO phenomena.  It is common knowledge that during the 1970s-1990s, various DoD agencies were interested in exploring the field of parapsychology, particularly remote viewing, for the purpose of gathering intel against various targets.  I assume this is an idea whose time has come and gone and that the NSA no longer maintains an interest in remote viewing (or UFOs for that matter).

Because of the years that have passed, I do not remember a fair amount of details.  Therefore, and regrettably, this document will be vague in some places; more specific in other areas.


 

NSA’s INTEREST IN REMOTE VIEWING

Sometime during the mid-1980s, Ms. D (an NSA employee who worked in my building – Ops 3 aka Frank B. Rowlett building) told me about a venture known as Project Center Lane.  I don’t remember much about what I was told except that the study was being conducted by the Army in Ft. Meade.  The Army wanted to investigate remove viewing for intelligence gathering purposes.  Several NSA employees were involved in it, but Ms. D was the only one I knew personally.  NSA sent Ms. D to the Monroe Institute in Virginia to learn how to do remote viewing.  Ms. D came back and told me that it could be physically and mentally damaging to some people who practiced the techniques.  She did not explain what she meant by that, except to say that it was “draining”.  She withdrew from Project Center Lane either because the project ended on its own or because of its negative psychological effects; I do not remember now what her reason was.  I also cannot recollect the reason why Ms. D chose to divulge Project Center Lane to me.  I don’t know if it would have been considered a security breach that she informed me of it; she never said it was classified.  Ms.  D knew that my mother was involved in the field of parapsychology and perhaps that explains her reason for telling me about the remote viewing project.

OTHER GOVERNMENT INTEREST IN REMOTE VIEWING

Somewhere in the mid-1980s, I was approached by an employee at NSA; his name was Mr. A.  I had seen him around in the hallways, and had spoken to him occasionally.  He told me about a group of people at NSA who were doing a project with someone at the National Standards Bureau (NSB) in Washington, D.C.  It was not an NSA-affiliated program.  The study dealt with remote viewing, and Mr. A wanted to know if I’d like to participate.  He explained that the man at NSB (who was never identified) was conducting the study as his own personal/private experiment.  I don’t know how Mr. A had heard of the remote viewing project and who approached him about it.  I think Ms. D was also a participant in this experiment.  I told Mr. A that I was willing to take part in it.

The experiment didn’t involve going to another office or building on site; rather, it simply entailed sitting at home in the evening and trying to guess at some numbers that were sealed inside an envelope which was in the possession of the NSB man.  I did the experiment and handed the results to Mr. A several weeks later.  He took my answers to the unidentified man at the NSB.  Mr. A later told me that I had a 50% hit rate; that the NSB man said it was statistically significant for a first try, and that he wanted me to continue with the project.  I told Mr. A that I didn’t feel I qualified to continue with the experiment with a 50% hit rate, and informed him I no longer wished to participate.  It seemed somewhat irrelevant for me to do so.  Mr. A was disappointed but understood and accepted my withdrawal from the remote viewing experiment.  He said he hadn’t done well in the NSB project and subsequently ended his participation in it.

NSA’s POSSIBLE INTEREST IN UFO PHENOMENA

In 1985, I worked as a secretary for the International Relations Office in what was then known as the DDI organization.  At the time this event occurred, I did not ask if it was considered classified in nature, and I was never informed as to whether or not it was.

Somewhere between November-December 1985, I received a call at work from an individual within the agency.  I don’t remember his name but he referred to himself as Chief Scientist of NSA [CH/SCI].  At that point in time and to the best of my knowledge, Mr. K was the CH/SCI.  He held that position from 1983-1990.  In 1990, he took the post of Chief of Research and Technology at NSA and held that position until he retired in 1994.  He passed away in March 2001.  Although the name of Mr. K does not ring any particular bell with me, I will use his name for convenience’s sake throughout the rest of this document.  However, due to my lack of recall, I cannot vouch that it was, indeed, Mr. K that I talked to.  It is only an educated guess on my part.

During our initial telephone conversation, Mr. K said he wanted to talk to me about my mother’s (Sarah Virginia Estep) organization – the American Association of Electronic Voice Phenomena [AA EVP].

BACKGROUND ON EVP

EVP is a field which combines both parapsychology and technology.  In EVP, the experimenter attempts to communicate with those who have died and passed on to “the other side” via electronic means.  EVP does not employ the usual methods of spirit communication, such as mediums, séances, self-induced trance states, automatic writing, Ouija boards, etc.  Back in the 1980s, EVP was conducted primarily with reel to reel tape recorders and cassette recorders.  The field now utilizes digital tape recorders, computers, and other electronic “gadgets” – the mechanics of which I do not have the technical smarts to understand.

EVP is based primarily on the premise that an individual survives death and can, in a resultant metamorphosed conscious energy state, communicate its thoughts onto physical recording devices.

My mother founded the AA EVP in 1982 and ran the organization until May 2000, at which time she turned it over to Tom and Lisa Butler in Reno, Nevada (now designated the ATransC organization).  It was, and still remains a small, international organization.  I don’t know what the current membership is but in May 2000, the AA EVP consisted of approximately 300 members from 30 states and 13 foreign countries.

The voices my mother and others recorded on tape ran from the very faint and barely discernible to clear, “Class A” types.  It’s my personal opinion that the vast majority of the voices are very poor in quality. Usually, these messages are brief and run no more than six to seven words in length.  They generally are not audible during the actual recording process; they usually can only be heard in the playback mode.

These voices, at times, are able to answer direct questions and also occasionally make comments which indicate they are aware of what is happening in the life of the experimenter.  They have also been known to exhibit precognitive abilities.  Sometimes, the voices do not come through and there is nothing but silence on playback.  In other instances, voices appear on the digital recorders/computers which cannot be readily explained.  At times, the voices speak in unusual rhythm, sometimes speaking more quickly than a human voice, and at times will run their words together.  Now and then, they appear to have a metallic or mechanical quality.

There were certain members of the AA EVP who felt that, in addition to hearing from those who have died and passed on, they were also receiving messages from “other life forms” (OLFs).  These particular voices are the ones which tend to sound metallic or mechanical in quality.  The spirit voices never exhibit this type of tonal characteristic.  Furthermore, the content of the OLF messages tends to be somewhat different than messages of those claiming to have once lived and are now deceased.  Occasionally, the OLFs use words which don’t seem to belong to any known language.

It has been theorized that these OLFs may come from other dimensions of existence (alternate realities/parallel worlds – a quantum model of the Universe allows for both).  The possibility has also been considered that some of these OLFs exist on physical worlds within the Universe; i.e. “alien entities”.  Both the spirit voice of those physically deceased and those of the OLF type, were sometimes recorded on the reverse or “wrong side/dull side” of a reel to reel tape, which technically should not be possible.

In September 1981, after five years of research, my mother recorded what she believed to be her first OLF message.  Approximately 5% of the voices received on tape were considered to be from other life forms.

INITIAL CONTACT WITH MR. K

During my initial phone call with Mr. K, I asked how he had heard about my mother’s organization.  He seemed vague and evasive in his response.  I don’t recall him ever answering the question.  However, it’s possible he might have learned about my mother’s work through a local talk show or newspaper article.  Information regarding my mother’s work had been in the media more than once over the years.

One remark I do recall which Mr. K made, was:  “The Director of NSA (at the time, General O.) has given me a long leash to explore whatever topics arouse my curiosity.”

I could have asked Mr. K to explain the purpose of his inquiry, but I felt I didn’t have the right because his position at the agency was so much higher than mine.  I don’t know how Mr. K heard of me, and how he knew that I worked at NSA.  I don’t know how he knew I was the daughter of the president of the AA EVP.  At one point during our initial phone conversation – prior to our face to face meeting – I asked the CH/SCI how he had located me, but I don’t recall him answering the question.

I told the Chief Scientist on the phone that he was free to contact my mother; he didn’t need to go through me for information about EVP.  My mother would have been more than happy to discuss the subject with him.  If Mr. K didn’t want my mother to know he was from the NSA, he simply could have told her he worked as a clerk at the local grocery store.  My mother would have been none the wiser.

All that notwithstanding, the CH/SCI seemed unwilling to go to my mother directly.  He wanted to meet with me instead and requested I not tell my mother he had sought information about her work.  He did not explain his desire for secrecy and once again, I refrained from asking because I believe I didn’t have the right to question him.  I agreed to Mr. K’s request for silence, and told my mother nothing about his inquiry.  Mr. K also requested that I not tell anyone at work about his investigation (he did not explain his rationale for this, either) and I promised him I wouldn’t.

I met with the CH/SCI in my office the following week.  For some reason, he didn’t want to see me at his office.  The meeting lasted about an hour.  I was instructed not to tell my boss or anyone else in the office ahead of time that Mr. K would be visiting.  If, after the meeting was held, I was asked why the CH/SCI had visited me, I was advised to say that I wasn’t at liberty to divulge that information.  Afterwards, people did ask (including my boss) why he showed up in our office, and I responded that I was asked to keep it in confidence.  This raised some eyebrows but no one questioned me further.

During my conversation with Mr. K, which occurred behind closed doors in a small conference room, the CH/SCI asked some basic questions about EVP:  its history, development, methods of research and results.  In due course, it became apparent that Mr. K was not primarily interested in contact with “the dead”.  His main focus of interest was whether or not my mother felt she was in contact with UFOs and extraterrestrials via her EVP recordings.

In 1985, the primary emphasis in EVP was the exploration of the afterlife through electronic communication with “the dead”.  It still remains the primary focus of research.  However, in1985, as I sat in the conference room with Mr. K, the possibility that alien entities were coming through the tape recorder was just beginning to be acknowledged by various members of the AA EVP.

It wasn’t common knowledge that people working within the field of EVP were studying this relatively new and unexpected development.  Barely a handful of people knew about it.  I didn’t understand why the Chief Scientist was interested in what my mother was receiving in the way of possible alien contacts.  Nor do I comprehend how he had even come to suspect that UFOs were part of the electronic voice phenomena.  I rarely spoke to anyone at work about my mother’s research in the field of EVP.  On the few occasions when I did mention it, it was always in reference to its “spirit” aspects, never in the context of “other life forms”.

I tried to emphasize the parapsychological nature of EVP, wanting to steer clear of its “alien” implications.  Frankly, I felt awkward discussing the fact that various EVP experimenters believed they were in contact with alien beings/UFOs/OLFs.  I was extremely skeptical that this was occurring.  Since I gave the idea limited credibility, I assumed that the Chief Scientist would give it even less.

I felt the need to defend my mother’s character against what I thought would be the conventional, straight-and-narrow-path logic of the National Security Agency’s highest ranking scientist.  I was afraid that Mr. K would think my mom was a nut.  Yet, he assured me repeatedly that he didn’t think my mom was crazy, and continued to press for information concerning electronically received UFO contacts.  He was very persistent and the meeting seemed to take on the air of an interrogation.  I had the uncomfortable sensation of being drilled.

Mr. K was primarily interested in whether or not these “space” entities had identified themselves, where they claimed to have come from, and what they said.  He asked if they had ever said anything of a threatening nature.  I told him I didn’t think so.  He asked if they had ever described their “propulsion system”.  I asked him what that meant.  He said “it’s like what makes a car run.”  I said I didn’t know.  I wasn’t able to answer most of Mr. K’s questions regarding “alien contact”, since I knew very little about it.  My mother didn’t discuss it very often and when she did, I did not take it seriously.  All things considered, I don’t believe I was very helpful to the CH/SCI.

Near the end of our conversation, I told Mr. K that my mother would be giving a lecture about her work in the near future.  I also informed him that I planned to attend this lecture.  I suggested he attend the lecture in order to hear first-hand what EVP was all about.  The CH/SCI seemed interested in the opportunity to hear my mom talk about EVP.  Yet, he also appeared to have some reluctance in attending the lecture.  I don’t understand what his hesitation stemmed from but after several moments, he said that he himself would not attend the presentation but two of his “advisors” would.

He made it clear that he didn’t want me to know who these two individuals were or what they looked like, so that I would not be able to spot who they were when they arrived at the lecture.  The CH/SCI then requested that I not tell my mother that two people from NSA would be attending her lecture, and repeated his request for my mother not to be informed of our meeting that day.  I was reluctant to keep my mother in the dark but promised I would say nothing.  At one point, I asked Mr. K if he was going to tell the Director about our meeting.  His response was:  “I might.”  I don’t know if he ever did or not.

At the time our conversation took place, I didn’t know the specific date for when my mother’s lecture would be given.  I told the CH/SCI that I would obtain this information and forward it to him.  He said that when I called his office with the date and place of the lecture, I should ask for him directly and not to leave the message with his secretary.  I passed the information to him directly, by phone, several days later.  That was my last contact with the CH/SCI.

The lecture was given in January 1985 at the Towson United Methodist Church.  It was sponsored by the Spiritual Frontiers Fellowship, a metaphysical organization.  During the lecture, my mother focused entirely on spirit communication.  She did not mention that she felt she was also, upon occasion, having contact with alien entities/OLFs.  To reiterate, it was a relatively new phenomenon at the time.  It was (and still is) a rare occurrence and I think my mom was somewhat reluctant to openly talk about it in public.  I remember seeing two men at the lecture who appeared a little out of place, but only because they wore business suits.  Everyone else was dressed casually.  I have no way of knowing if these two individuals were the “advisors” the CH/SCI referred to in our meeting.  I vaguely recall that these two individuals left the lecture early, before it ended.

FOOTNOTE 1:  OTHER GOVERNMENT INTEREST IN EVP (NOT RELATED TO NSA)

In September 1981, my mother was contacted by a man named Mr. P.  My mother didn’t remember how Mr.  P heard about her work; the AA EVP had not been established yet.  Mr. P claimed he was from Air Force Intelligence and stationed in San Antonio, TX.  He said his interest in EVP was personal, not professional.  He made this statement more than once, as if he felt compelled to drive home the point.  Mr. P visited my mother several times and on one occasion, made a recording with her.  He asked “the other side” to describe “target number 1 through 5.”  This is not a typical question an EVP researcher would ask when attempting to contact someone who has died and passed on.  Mr. P never explained the meaning or purpose behind his question and I don’t think my mother asked.  It’s possible it had something to do with a remote viewing experiment which he was not at liberty to discuss, but that is just a guess on my part.  The responses to Mr. P’s question were:  “53”, “I look in”, and “what’s this?”

  • Years ago, when I was going through some notes my mother had made regarding Mr. P’s visit, I came across a piece of paper which indicated that at some point, he had been transferred to Japan.
  • There is also a note saying that he had visited Gilbert Bonner, who lived in England at the time, to observe him doing EVP research. The visit occurred during the same year Mr. P visited by mom.  Bonner was a well-known researcher in the field and has since passed on.  I don’t know how Mr. P explained his interest in EVP to Mr. Bonner and if he identified himself as being from Air Force Intelligence.

In May 1982, my mother was contacted by a man named Mr. N.  Mr. N stated he worked for the government but did not elaborate beyond that.  My mother said he was very closed-mouth about his job, but she had the impression that he travelled a lot.  My mother did not recall how Mr. N heard about her work.  Initially, he was skeptical that my mother’s taped voices were of paranormal origin.  But he was apparently open-minded enough to borrow one of my mother’s tapes.  He returned for several more meetings and during one particular visit, told my mother that he had the tape “tested” and was convinced that the voices were not coming from stray radio broadcasts and signals.  He also provided several pieces of equipment (something called a tone generator and a magnetic microphone) for my mother and said he thought they would help her in taping.  My mother used them for a short time, but since they didn’t appear to improve her results, she discontinued their use.  On the last visit, Mr. N said he had to go away, didn’t know if he’d ever cross her path again, and wished her success in her work.  She did not hear from him again.

FOOTNOTE 2:  (UFO/NSA RELATED):  Sometime during the mid-1980s, I had a brief conversation with an NSA employee (Mr. G).  He worked in the printing organization, known as the Y Group.  He related the following to me:  A partially filled, open bag was discovered behind one of the duplicating machines in the print shop.  Since it was uncertain as to whether or not the bag was left by mistake or was left behind simply in order to be disposed of, Mr. G briefly examined the contents of the bag in order to determine who it belonged to.  He came upon a cover sheet titled Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence.  I don’t remember if Mr. G said whether or not a report was attached to the cover sheet; I don’t think there was.  In any event, Mr. G decided the bag had been left in the print shop by accident and was meant for destruction.  A disposal unit for the bag was nearby; Mr. G secured the bag and had it destroyed.  To the best of my knowledge, he did not discuss the cover sheet with anyone else.

THIS CONCLUDES THE SUMMARY OF EVENTS REPORT

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Konstantin Raudive

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no_dead_cover_buttonExcerpts from There is No Death and There are No Dead

Dr. Konstantin Raudive, a psychologist, philosopher and Latvian then living in Sweden, read one of the Friedrich Jürgenson books. Raudive was intrigued with the voice phenomena, but skeptical, and asked if he could join Jürgenson for a recording session. After working with Jürgenson, he became convinced that the voices were real. Jürgenson taught Raudive how to record and from 1965 on, he devoted his time to the voice recordings. Both Raudive and Jürgenson were multilingual and the voices they recorded were a mixture of languages. These voices were unlike any normal voice broadcast. The speech was almost double the usual speed and the sound was pulsed in rhythms like poetry or chanting.2(226)

Many engineers, scientists and experts worked with Raudive over the years conducting voice experiments. Physicist, Professor Alexander Schneider, was one of them. In 1969, Raudive and Professor Schneider were jointly given the first prize awarded by the Swiss Association for Parapsychology for their work on direct voice messages on tape recordings.

Although not the first person to record EVP, Raudive is given a good deal of credit for being the first to bring Electronic Voice Phenomena to the attention of a larger audience. His book, The Inaudible Made Audible, was translated into English in 1971 and published by Colin Smythe, Ltd. under the title Breakthrough: An Amazing Experiment in Electronic Communication with the Dead.1 In the preface to Breakthrough, Smythe wrote that, before publishing the book, he wanted to be sure that the voice phenomenon was real. He did some test recordings and thought that he heard a voice, but he could not understand it. He asked Peter Bander, the editor of Breakthrough, to listen to the tape. After listening, Bander heard a woman’s voice say in German, “Why don’t you open the door?” Bander recognized it as his mother’s voice. Bander and his mother had done all of their correspondence by tape and her voice was unmistakable. The message also made sense, because during the previous week, Bander had insisted on keeping the door of his office closed and his colleagues had teased him for his seclusion. Bander knew that Smythe could not understand German and so asked others to write down phonetically what they heard. They all heard the same thing.

The voices became known as “Raudive Voices” after Breakthrough was published. However, Colin Smythe and Peter Bander became more aware of Friedrich Jürgenson’s role and continued activity in voice phenomena research. It was obvious to them that a less personal and more accurate name needed to be coined for the phenomena. Peter Bander used the term, “Electronic Voice Phenomena,” in the introduction to his book, Carry on Talking. Smythe said that their policy to use the term, “Electronic Voice Phenomenon,” in an official sense was first carried out in a determined fashion in an article written by Malcolm Hughes in The Spiritualist Gazette, in April of 1973.

In 1971, controlled EVP experiments were conducted with Raudive by the chief engineers of Pye Records, Ltd.3 (59-63) Precautions were taken to prevent freak pick-ups of any kind. Controls within the experiment also excluded random high or low frequencies being received. Raudive was not allowed to touch the equipment and was al-lowed only to speak into a microphone. No one present heard anything but Raudive speaking while the recording was being made. However, when the recording was played back, over two hundred voices were found on the eighteen minutes of tape. Many of these messages were personal and very evidential to those who were there. In his book, Carry on Talking, published in 1972, Peter Bander said that there was so much excitement from those who were there that the experiments continued into the early hours of the morning. Carry on Talking was published in the United States as Voices From the Tapes: Recordings from the Other World.3

In 1972, Belling and Lee, Ltd., at Enfield, England, conducted experiments with Raudive and the recording of the paranormal voices in their Radio Frequency Screened Laboratory.3(65-67) Peter Hale supervised the experiments. Peter, a physicist and electronics engineer, was considered the leading expert on electronic-suppression in Great Britain. The Belling and Lee lab was used to test the most sophisticated electronic equipment for British defense and was expressly designed to screen out electromagnetic transmissions. Before the experiment, Hale had expressed his opinion that Raudive’s voices originated from normal radio signals. The lab’s own recording equipment was used for the test and paranormal voices, that should not have been there, were recorded on factory fresh tape. Peter Hale said after the experiment, “I cannot explain what happened in normal physical terms.”

From the section on Maggy Harsch-Fischbach and Jules Harsch: The Director of Timestream was a scientist named Swejen Salter.4(10-14) She told the couple that she was a scientist who had lived in a parallel world and had never lived a life on earth. Salter made frequent telephone contacts to the Harsch-Fischbachs. As time passed many eminent ITC researchers from earth joined the group after their death, including Konstantin Raudive, Friedrich Jürgenson and Klaus Schreiber.

From Important Instances of Cross-Correspondence: On April 28, 1992, a French television crew visited Dr. Ernst Senkowski.5(V11N3) The crew conducted an interview and then tried to record EVP voices without convincing results. Right before they were to leave, the phone rang and it was the deceased pioneer EVP re-searcher, Friedrich Jürgenson, on the line. Permission was granted to record the conversation in which Jürgenson first spoke in French and thanked the television crew. The conversation then continued in German and said that information would also come via the colleagues Homes and Harsch-Fischbach. Ernst wrote, “No outsider knew that the French television crew was here, or planned to be here as the date had been changed shortly before.”

The next day Ernst Senkowski spoke with Maggy Harsch-Fischbach on the telephone and she told him that she had had a seven-minute telephone call from Jürgenson before he had placed the call to Senkowski. Jürgenson told Maggy that they planned to send a picture through to the television set of the German researcher, Adolf Homes.

Over a month later, Homes’ daughter received a phone call from Raudive, which she recorded.6(2/92) Raudive said that a picture of Jürgenson would come through Homes’ television the following day. Homes set up his video camera in front of the television the next day, with the television tuned to a blank channel. He turned the camera on and saw a face flash on the screen. At almost the same time a message from Jürgenson was placed on the computer of Maggy and Jules Harsch-Fischbach.5 (V11N3) The picture received on the Harsch couple’s computer showed Swejen Salter, one of the main communicators for the group on the other side called Timestream, as she transmitted the picture of Jürgenson to the television set of Adolf Homes. The picture received on Homes’ television was only of the face of Jürgenson and it was the exact same picture that can be seen on the transmitting monitor in the middle of the picture sent to the Harsch-Fischbachs.

References

  1. Raudive, Konstantin—Breakthrough: An Amazing Experiment in Electronic Communication with the Dead, New York: Taplinger, 1971. First published by Colin Smythe, Ltd. and still available at colin-smythe.com.
  2. Ostrander, Sheila and Lynn Schroeder— Handbook of Psychic Discoveries, Berkeley Publishing Corp., New York, NY, 1975.
  3. Bander, Peter—Voices From the Tapes: Recordings from the Other World, Drake Publishers Inc., New York, 1973. Initial German Language title: Carry on Talking.
  4. Macy, Mark and Dr. Pat Kubis—Conversations Beyond the Light, Griffin Publishing, Irvine, CA, in conjunction with Continuing Life Research, Boulder, CO, 1995.
  5. ATransC NewsJournal—Association TransCommunication, 1982-2003. atransc.org. Please note that the name of the AA-EVP newsletter was changed to the ATransC NewsJournal in 2003, atransc.org.
  6. Info News—English edition of Cercle D’etudes sur la Transcommunicaton, Luxembourg, (Luxembourg Study Circle in Transcommunication,) Translation: Hans Heckman, US Publishing: Continuing Life Research, PO Box 11036, Boulder, CO, 80301. (No longer published.)

Konstantin Raudive Reported Part of “Spirit Team” Working on Transcommunication

From In Pursuit of Physical Mediumship by Robin Foy, page 84*

Although we were still getting the independent voices following this Flint sitting, they did tend for a limited period to be short and concise—just the odd word or name. We obviously needed the further breakthrough and incentive of achieving sustained independent voice contact of the type we had witnessed at Leslie’s home in Bayswater.

Early in December 1977, through John’s trance,- Dr Dunn had more to say on the subject of the Brotherhood:

You may recall that I mentioned the Brotherhood. Well, at the same time, when I did so, I had the distinct impression that you were thinking of some esoteric figures, dressed in raiment rather like the Ku Klux Klan of America, or some phantom figures in flowing white robes.

I can assure you that this Brotherhood is nothing like that. In fact, the Brotherhood of which I speak is composed of people—scientists mostly—who were involved in this Spiritualism before their passing over to the spirit world, and they are currently working on a revival of “real” Spiritualism if you like.

Sir William Crookes is a member, Sir Oliver Lodge, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, too. There’s W T Stead, there’s Miles and Gurney. Lots of people like that, and this is the Brotherhood. They are trying to bring back physical phenomena again, and they are also in contact with Konstantin Raudive.

In fact, these are the two things which they are currently working on. They are interested in Raudive— we call it “Raudive,” in regard of this being an accepted term for it on this side, and they are very concerned that you recognize how important it is for this group to progress, now that you have drawn these people to you.

This brotherhood is not, as I have said, some esoteric clan, but these are very determined and anxious people—anxious in the sense that they are so incensed with the mediocrity that in many cases pass for mediumship these days—and they wish to bring something of repute back to the movement in which they were involved, because as you know, their names have been somewhat tarnished in the past, and indeed, presently too.

I was urged by Dr Dunn to continue my experiments with the EVP in addition to my circle work, and was told that I would be assisted by my spirit friend Elmer Browne and indeed, Konstantin Raudive himself, in this work.

Foy, Robin, In Pursuit of Physical Mediumship, Janus Publishing Company, London, England, 2007, ISBN: 978-1-85756-662-8

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The Electronic Voice Phenomena

ccatransc2012-phantom_voices_fig2

College Research paper by Thomas Wingert

The Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP) is generally defined as the manifestation of sensible remarks of seeming paranormal origin on sound recording media, such as reel-to-reel tapes, audio cassettes, video tapes and recently computers. The voices, also known as “tape voices,” are often reasonable messages replying to corresponding questions, and in many cases, the contents of the messages and the characteristics of the speaker suggest that the recordings are transmissions by the deceased. The origins of these mysterious voices, their purpose and how it is possible are a hypothesis, and have been unexplained since their discovery four decades ago. Since extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof, scientists only give credence to a theory if it can be proven by replication during a controlled experiment. If replication is not possible, then the subject remains a hypothesis. However, the existence of recorded paranormal voices on cassette tapes is undeniable and cannot be disputed by any logical argument.

In the spring of 1959, in Moelnbo, Sweden, the opera singer and painter Friedrich Jüergenson made what could be considered the most important discovery in the history of human kind. His book, Voice Transmissions With The Deceased, details his accidental discovery during the recording of birdsongs. During replay he realized that voices were addressing him by name. After thinking his tape recorder was defective, he soon realized that an invisible intelligence was trying to establish contact with him, and the originators later identified themselves as the deceased (Jüergenson, 1964).

Jürgenson pursued this phenomenon over many years and collected thousands of these voices until he was sure of its authenticity. He presented his conclusions to the public in 1963, which unleashed a diverse reaction. Scientists and audio experts examined the voices and performed their own recordings with their sealed tapes. Some of them were also addressed by name and received brief messages in regard to some personal matters, which only they understood. The absence of fraud was acknowledged by all involved. The Swedish media followed with many reports about the voices because his discovery seemed to offer proof for the existence of an afterlife. This revelation attracted many respected scientists such as Dr. Konstantin Raudive from Latvia, for his experiments yielded similar results. He published his book Breakthrough in 1971. Jürgenson’s publication also captured the attention of Professor Hans Bender from the Institute of Parapsychology in Freiburg, Germany, who traveled to Sweden confirming the authenticity of this phenomenon.

Many people were encouraged by Jürgenson’s book to conduct their own experiments, and to pass their experience on to others, which resulted in several EVP associations, and a wealth of information available to the public. A German EVP association, the VTF, was founded in 1976, in Wiesbaden, Germany, implementing the idea of “gathering experimenters under one roof” (VTF World Wide Web). The association provides quarterly newsletters, conducts scheduled weekend seminars at several locations in Germany and a major annual conference in the city of Fulda. The knowledge of this phenomenon has reached the United States and other English speaking countries in the 1980’s, since then, many people are pursuing EVP enthusiastically. For example, the American Association of Electronic Voice Phenomenon, AAEVP, founded by Sarah Estep in 1982, is one of many American associations offering a wealth of information, including an e-mail list for members who share experience or discuss topics associated with this phenomenon. She published her book, Voices of Eternity, in 1988.

Recordings are conducted mostly by the use of a cassette recorder with a build-in microphone or preferably a separate microphone that is placed away from the recorder so it doesn’t record the vibrations of the motor, which is annoying when listening during maximum-volume replay. Evidence suggests that providing an energy source, i.e. “background noise,” aids the spirits in their attempt to communicate. A radio has been used as a background noise since EVP’s discovery; preferably it should be tuned to foreign news broadcast, which helps the experimenter hear messages received in English. However, objectivity is required, since English is a global language and may actually be part of the broadcast. In addition, the possibility of receiving a radio frequency from a radio station, passing airplane, police squad car, or taxi must be considered.

Many experimenters agree that a brand new cassette tape should be used to eliminate possible contamination of a previous recording, which is placed in the recorder, and the counter is set to “000”. Users are instructed to press “record” and start by stating their name, date and time, allowing each recording session to be identified later, followed by a greeting to the spirits, which is considered common courtesy. It is common practice to speak uninhibitedly with five to ten second pauses between statements or questions to allow for answers or comments. The pause is beneficial to the listener because it is difficult to hear the faint voices when they overlap one’s own voice. The duration of a recording session should be five to ten minutes, because the listening requires much time. A recording is ended by respectfully thanking the guests for attending and/or commenting. Finally, one should stop the recording, rewind and then listen.

It is generally emphasized that patience and perseverance are prerequisites for listening to the tape voices. This challenge can be most frustrating to an inexperienced person, who may be expecting results only a long distance telephone company can provide. Such demands are unreasonable, considering the subject; it seems a miracle to have any contact at all. Headphones that seal around the ear help to isolate distracting outside noises during listening, which requires practice and total concentration, since most voices are quiet and as if from a great distance. The focus necessary for listening can be compared to a football player who can tune out a stadium of 80,000 screaming spectators in order to hear the coach’s call out a play.

Some voices or messages are spoken rapidly or slow, whispered, sung, and very noticeably grammatically incorrect. The general hypothesis is that it is their way of proving the authenticity of the transmission, which could average approximately two seconds in duration. Since manifestations vary in quality, many have acknowledged a basic A, B, C classification. The definition of a class “A” voice is universally accepted and undisputed, because it must be understood by anyone with normal hearing and without being told or prompted what it says. They are rare, but a thrill when received. Class “B” voices are more common and usually audible to experienced persons who have learned the skill of listening or others after being told what to listen for. A class “C” voice is simply unintelligible, but may have paranormal characteristics, such as the rapid muffled double thump preceding a transmission, as if breaking through some barrier, or a mechanical sound that may be compared to an on/off switching. However, any sincere experimenter would apply objectivity and disregard it, since guessing is unaccepted. It is common for experimenters to mark their tapes and keep journals for reference.

Confirming an EVP manifestation is possible by using two identical tape recorders, one for recording and the other for playing the background source, such as a tape from a foreign audio book. For example, if a paranormal recording seems audible on the recorded tape, then one should listen to the background tape at the same spot on the tape counter, and see if there is a difference. It is this method that so far provides the best proof that a manifestation has occurred, and confirms the existence of EVP.

Yet the phenomenon is not officially recognized by most of the scientific community, because it seems that the laws of physics don’t quite apply to EVP, which may be impossible for a scientist to accept. Scientists are certainly able to control chemical reactions or experiments in physics, biology, and so on, but can they control human beings who have made the transition into the afterlife? It appears that the deceased are truly in control of any contact and only they decide if they want to talk or not.

Fortunately, this does not discourage some scientists in researching this phenomenon, for only scientific proof can be publicly accepted. Professor Imants Barušs from the Department of Psychology, Kings College, University of Western Ontario, published an article with the Journal of Scientific exploration, in which he details an experiment that resulted in the failure to replicate the electronic voice phenomenon. According to his article, he only found limited information on its history in parapsychology periodicals, various trade publications and newsletters in addition to an obvious absence of documentation about EVP in any mainstream English scientific journals (p355). Though his account of the experiment reflected a sincere attempt to replicate this EVP phenomenon; the experiment was flawed since it was based on very limited information that resulted in the implementation of basic mistakes in his procedures.

[Editor: See Failure to Replicate ITC for a discussion of Barušs report.]

For example, he did not conduct the experiment. Instead, two hired persons performed it that had no prior knowledge about the EVP phenomenon, consequently lacking basic awareness and listening skills so emphasized by many experimenters. Considering the experience of many involved with EVP, the duration of his recording sessions were excessive, leaving less valuable time for listening and unfortunately a waste of hard earned funding. One of his staff actually described hearing her name “Gail” called, and a female voice saying “Tell Peter”. She said that it sounded like a woman she knew that had recently died and whose husbands name is Peter; yet it was disregarded since Professor Barušs felt that it wasn’t strong enough (p363). Surprisingly, he mentions that no attempt was made to search the Internet [my emphasis] or to research foreign publications. His report consequently placed EVP in an unfavorable position. Perhaps if Professor Barušs read Jürgenson’s book, it would have provided him with much more insight to the matter and better fundamental information that could have influenced the outcome of his scientific experiment in favor of the phenomenon.

It is generally understood that even good research and preparation are not a guarantee for a successful recording. It may take several attempts, sometimes months, before a transmission has been recorded. This is puzzling, because evidence suggests that the deceased have amazing capabilities, including the ability to see us, answer a question before it is asked, manifest a recording in reverse or at different speeds, and they are multilingual. So why are many attempts unsuccessful? Why don’t they simply tell us how to improve the connection, such as constructing some ingenious electronic apparatus? No one knows. Perhaps their knowledge is limited and they don’t know, or they do, but prefer silence for a justifiable reason. One hypothesis may be answered by asking a question, “What would the global impact be if there were scientific proof of an existing afterlife?”

It seems reasonable to assume that the effects would be extremely diverse and not necessary positive. However, it is the class “A” voices that offer the best argument of the phenomenon’s authenticity, leaving no other logical choice but to recognize EVP as an unexplainable fact, and not a belief. The awareness seems to be steadily increasing on a global scale, for searching the World Wide Web with the keyword “electronic voice phenomenon” on AOL in June of 2002 resulted in 72900 hits. Apparently there is only one way to convince oneself of its existence, which is to do a recording by oneself, alone and with all possible interferences removed. If we as human beings understand this phenomenon or not, or accept its existence or not, it doesn’t matter, because all things considered, it seems EVP is here to stay.

Bibliography

  1. Association TransCommunication (Formally AA-EVP). ATransC.org
  2. Baruss, I. (2001). “Failure to Replicate EVP Phenomenon.” Journal of Scientific Exploration: Volume 15:3, Pp 355-367.
  3. Bender, H. (1966) Parapsychologie: Entwicklung, Ergebnisse, Probleme. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.
  4. Bender, H. (1972). The Phenomena of Friedrich Juergenson: Journal of Paraphysics. 6,65-75. UK: Chatbum, vtf.de
  5. Bender, H. (1973). Verborgene Wirklichkeit: Parapsychologie und Grenzengebiete der
    Psychologie
    . Olten, Freiburg i. Br.: Walter Verlag.
  6. Estep, Sarah Wilson (1988). Voices of Eternity. New York: Faucett Gold Medal.  (Out of Print use eBook)
  7. Juergenson, F. (2001). Voice Transmissions with The Deceased. (T. Wingert & G. Wynne, Trans.) Friedrich Juergenson Foundation, Sweden (Original work published 1964)
  8. Raudive, K. (1971). Breakthrough: An Amazing Experiment in Electronic Communication with The Dead. (N. Fowler, Trans.). Gerrards Cross, UK: Colin Smythe. (Original work published 1968)
  9. Schaefer, H. (1978). Stimmen aus einer anderen Welt: Chronik und Technik der Freiburg i. Br.: Bauer Verlag.
  10. VTF (Verein fuer Tonbandstimmen Forschung). Homepage, vtf.de

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White Noise, the Movie

“If what you know about EVP is based on movies like White Noise or from television, then everything you know about EVP is very wrong. Please read a few of the techniques articles on this website and leave your TV turned off.”

Tom Butler

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Michael Keaton, Deborah Kara Unger, Ian McNeice.

 

Here is a Synopsis of the Movie: 

People have always searched for a way to communicate with the other side-fascinated, motivated, driven to find a way to connect with loved ones who have passed on.

Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) is the process through which the dead communicate with the living through household recording devices.  These extraordinary recordings-captured by people all over the world, in their homes, with a simple tape or video recorder-seem to confirm what many of us have dared to believe:  it is possible for the dead to communicate with us.

And all we have to do is listen.

Now, from Universal Pictures and Gold Circle Films comes the suspense thriller that explores this very-real, other-worldly communication-White Noise.  Tapping into our deepest fears and most profound longings, White Noise forces us to reexamine the world in which we live and, in the process, question our most basic notions about life and death.

Michael Keaton plays successful architect Jonathan Rivers, whose peaceful existence is shattered by the unexplained disappearance and death of his wife, Linda (Chandra West).  Jonathan is eventually contacted by a man (Ian McNeice), who claims to be receiving messages from Linda through EVP.  At first skeptical, Jonathan then becomes convinced of the messages’ validity, and is soon obsessed with trying to contact her on his own.  His further explorations into EVP and the accompanying supernatural messages unwittingly open a door to another world, allowing something uninvited into his life.

White Noise is directed by veteran television helmer Geoffrey Sax, written by Niall Johnson (The Big Swap), and produced by Paul Brooks (executive producer of My Big Fat Greek Wedding) and Shawn Williamson (House of the Dead).

Companion Video Included in the DVD: 

Universal has decided to include companion material in the DVD release based on material gathered from the ATransC June 2005 conference and recording sessions conducted by us at two locations. We have seen preliminary versions of this material, and we can honestly say that EVP is represented in a favorable light. If you are interested in learning a little about the people who work with EVP, what motivates them and some of their successes, then make a point of renting the DVD and watching the companion material.

What We Would Like You to Know About White Noise

There is no doubt that the movie is a thriller. EVP is more or less accurately described when the Michael Keaton character uses an audio recorder in an effort to contact his deceased wife. However, the efforts to make contact quickly evolve into what we would describe as a form of video Instrumental TransCommunication or ITC. The Keaton Character spends a great deal of time recording audio/video white noise with a video tape recorder and then watching it intently while looking for evidence of contact with his wife.

As a thriller, the movie portrays EVP and Video ITC as if working with these phenomena is dangerous. Probably, the movie would be boring without the thrill of danger, but we must point out that it is not dangerous to use or work with these phenomena. The only danger we are aware of, and there are thousands of people working in this field, is the harm people might do to themselves if they fail to use good judgment.

It is our job, as Directors of the ATransC, to teach people about EVP and how it can be used to communicate with the Other Side. So, you can understand how grateful we were when Universal came to us and asked if we would be interested in telling the public the truth about EVP in exchange for helping them make “EVP” a household word. We had not expected a large movie studio to acknowledge the impact their movie might have on our field, nor be so willing to help set the record straight.

In the end, ATransC members and this movie will reach more people with news about EVP in 2005 than we could have dreamed of in the next twenty years at the rate we were going.

We are receiving letters and emails accusing us of being responsible for the very existence of the movie, White Noise.

Please note that the Association was invited to help Universal teach people about EVP. The Association was not involved in the production of the movie! Universal hoped to sell more tickets by making people aware of EVP. Since the Association is supposed to teach people about EVP, and since the movie was going to be released whether or not we helped, … well, it would be foolish of us not to participate. In turn, Universal has been extremely helpful in making sure the Association will not be forced out of service because of the increased interest in EVP.

A Special Note from Tom and Lisa Butler

The ATransC is not the only source of information about EVP in the USA or the rest of the world. We value the wisdom, knowledge and experience others have in this field and believe that it is important for the public to realize that EVP is a phenomenon studied and used around the world. Take this time of increased public awareness of EVP to teach and help others learn to use EVP. We are a community, and as citizens of the EVP community, we will seek opportunities to refer people to other national and community groups

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The Instrumental Transcommunication Work Of Marcello Bacci

As presented by Paolo Presi at the 2006 AA-EVP conference.
©Paolo Presi – All Rights Reserved

After more than thirty-five years of dedicated study of Instrumental TransCommunication (ITC), Marcello Bacci can be considered a leading expert in the field due to this exceptionally long record of experimentation with the voices. The remarkable phenomena that have occurred in the past decades in Grosseto, Italy, indicate that this persevering experimenter is always prepared to locate new openings to communicate with the beyond.

(c)2006aaevp-paolo_presi_web
Paolo Presi

Bacci’s character is such that he is never satisfied with the results achieved and always wishes to continue the exploration from other possible perspectives. His interest in the paranormal goes back to 1949 when he participated in a mediumistic sitting in London. From that time, his life was indelibly marked and today, at seventy-nine years of age, he continues to make regular experiments, once a month.

Bacci is a man with wide-ranging creativity. His personality reveals itself to be unconditioned and free, intolerant of any restriction coming from dogmatic and cultural pressures that seek to reject realities that personal experience has indicated to him are possible.

In his long years of experimental work, Bacci has tested various methods and many technical devices.  In the beginning he made microphone recordings, in the same manner as Jürgenson and Raudive.  Over the years he has made many other attempts with newly developed devices. In the past two decades he has been obtaining his transcontacts through an old Nordmende valve radio.

Today, Bacci performs his monthly experiments in the presence of many people, mainly parents who are hoping to establish contact with their deceased children. It is important to observe that Bacci, who has applied himself to ITC with great commitment for more than thirty-five years, never asks for money or other kinds of financial incentive.

In his experiments, Bacci tunes his radio to the short-wave band, in a frequency ranging between 7 and 9 MHz, in a zone clear from normal radio transmissions. After waiting for ten to twenty minutes the existing background noise disappears and a typical acoustic signal comes out of the loudspeaker, similar to an approaching wind vortex, repeated three or four times at short intervals. Silence then follows, at the end of which an invisible speaker starts to communicate by establishing with Bacci, or with the people attending the experiment, something like a dialogue. It is interesting to observe that usually the entities address Bacci in the third person and only rarely in the first person.

The paranormal vocal utterances are not continuous but interspersed with pauses. They last for varying lengths of time from a minimum of approximately ten seconds to a maximum of three to four minutes. Sometime the contact ends with a solemn choir.  Once the contact is concluded, the normal background noise returns.  Each experimental session lasts about forty to sixty minutes.

It is important to highlight some peculiarities that characterize the role of the radio receiver in the experiments. The first is the perfect continuity of the communicating voice [even] if the receiving frequency is continuously changed by rotating the tuning control knob during the reception of paranormal voices. The second peculiarity is found in the experiment that took place on December 5, 2004 in Bacci’s laboratory. Approximately one hour after the commencement of the voices and while they were still continuing, the radio receiver’s five valves were all removed. Despite the absence of the valves, the voices continued to speak with undiminished volume and clarity. Lastly, the phenomenon persisted intermittently for two minutes and twenty seconds after Bacci switched off the radio.

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Marcello Bacci standing in front of a few of his radios. The Nordmende is the large radio with a wood cabinet.

From my point of view, the above peculiarities provide evidence that, once the phenomenon commences, the radio ceases to function as a normal radio receiver.  The radio appears to become a device, psychically supported, through which the paranormal voices can be heard. Other evidence that the voices received by Bacci are a mediumistic phenomenon is confirmed by the fact that the paranormal contacts happen only when he is present. Upon occasion, when Bacci has been away from the place of the experiments, some of his friends have tried to establish contacts by operating the same radio, but without any result. All these details are highly significant since they demonstrate that ITC needs to be supported by mediumistic or psychic abilities. It is my personal opinion that the phenomenon should be considered as an interactive process among a “Mind System.”

The invisible communicators affirm that they are Spiritual Beings. Sometimes they have asserted, “The Spirit is speaking to you,” without giving any indication of their identity. With unequivocal precision all the communications reveal the presence of autonomous intelligent beings, differing from each other by the voice characteristics and by the emotional and conceptual content that characterize each communicating personality.

The voices deal with the most varied topics, freely chosen by the communicators themselves, since Bacci has no wish to interfere and only occasionally asks questions. The invisible communicators have always demonstrated a profound and sensitive response to the human pain caused through the death of a loved one, expressing words of great comfort and strength.

Particular care is given to the messages that provide parents with direct evidence of the continuity of life after death of their deceased children. The entity called “Gregorio” often addresses parents with warm words of deep understanding, giving reassurance to those who are still doubtful, as in the following example:

Dear mothers, we have already told you that your loved ones suffer only if you are suffering. A day will come where the mysteries will be disclosed to you, the haze will be dissipated and all of you will be embraced by a clear light. One day you’ll leave your body where you found it, to reach another order of being.

The end of each experiment is devoted to personal contacts between deceased children and their parents who attend the experiment. The children’s communications are an attempt to reassure their parents of their survival in another dimension, in their new state of existence. These contacts, besides producing an immediate emotional impact that is profoundly moving for the recipients, represent the most convincing evidence of the authenticity of the phenomena.

Most often, another voice informs the parents of the presence of the deceased loved one, but at other times the child directly manifests himself or herself by repeatedly pronouncing his or her name or by giving in a few words as an emotionally pregnant message.

It is astonishing how the children’s voices are sometimes modulated with timbre, lilt and inflexion recognized by the parents. They can be male or female, childish, juvenile or adult depending upon the circumstance. Sometimes the sentences are pronounced slowly as though the speaker has met some difficulty in finding the appropriate words, while at other times, sentences are fast and expressed without any hesitation. To overcome the distrust and incredulity of participants who are attending an experiment for the first time, the voices adopt an effective, direct method:  they address such people by their own, personal name. The impact is immediate; those who listen to their name coming from the radio are astonished, literally captivated.

From an unknown communicator who introduced himself as “a citizen of heaven” came a significant message on the subject of death:

Fear to die? I don’t believe that death deserves so much! Here is Life after death. Death has been beat and this hope is not an illusion, your life must be transformed. There is another dimension, another Life. Remember, the Spirit will transform your mortal body into a spiritual body. Have you understood? This is inconceivable for the human being! Human beings are not eternal but much more then eternal! Your body will become Spirit, not similar but the same being; about this we cannot say anything more.

 Frequently the invisible speakers have stated that the communications occur by means of “waves that are not physical,” and they exhorted us to take a qualitative step forward when they said:

Be aware: it is supernatural what they are listening to and seeing.

The basic concept, that has been repeatedly asserted, concerns the finality of these communications. They must be considered not only as consolatory, but as having the ultimate goal of helping people in their correct understanding of the afterlife.

The Spirit is manifesting as mediator of the Truth, He comes to speak in this special way assuming a human feature to give his message. His presence allows you to approach the absolute Truth which cannot be entirely defined due to the limitations of human speech.

From the many communications received to this date, the following are some of the recurrent themes found within the information conveyed by the voices:

  1. Astonishment about their new surroundings.
  2. Time blocked.
  3. Unbelievable speed.
  4. Perception of endless space.

The description of the beyond is characterized by astonishment due to the perception of a timeless environment that is depicted as “time blocked.” In our physical continuum, the sensory perception is linear and the learning process is actuated through progressive steps that result in time flowing from the past to the future. After death the perception changes:  progressive learning is no longer effective as in the temporal dimension, but seems rather to operate as a simultaneous perception that is felt as “unbelievable speed.”

It is difficult to imagine how the communications, coming from a timeless dimension, are able to arrive in our space-time continuum. When we utter a word we are generating a temporal sequence of vowel and consonant sounds, and this is a normal process in our space-time continuum. The communication channel from and to the beyond has to pass through two different continua, the first one is the timeless and spaceless continuum and the second one is our space-time continuum. To make possible the transmission of words the communicator and the receiver must be placed within the same continuum:  from what I can imagine this would only be possible through a common means of communication that shares the same capabilities, such as the psyche of discarnate and incarnate beings.

In this discussion, our understanding of the “psyche” should not be limited to human beings living in this physical, earth plane.  It must also possess the capabilities to move, under certain conditions, into a timeless and spaceless continuum.  In this regard, the human psychic capabilities of precognition, clairvoyance, extra-sensory perception, etc. are well known.

Evidence of that adaptation process may be found within the speech streaming features of the voices. In the early 1970s, at the beginning of his experimentation, the voices received by Bacci were of the same acoustic level as those recorded by Jürgenson and Raudive.  In particular, they were characterized by a special rhythm and a slight singing cadence, factors that may depend upon the time stream. By the late 1970s both these characteristics had practically disappeared and the voices had assumed a typical “impulsive” speech articulation. Such impulsive articulation in the word utterances has become more evident in the past decades. This can be heard as a continuous change of utterance speed of each phoneme constituting the word, as the communicating personalities try continuously to adapt their temporal situation to ours. I proposed this hypothesis some years ago, but today my conceptual model about the paranormal voice structuring process has benefited from the broader understanding obtained thanks to the wide range of experiments conducted by Bacci and other ITC experimenters.

It is important to note that the communication experiments often conclude with an emotionally evocative and solemn choir. All choirs heard to date present a melodic stream that is absolutely regular and without the time alterations found in the articulation speed of the words in other transcommunication.  Why?

The answer can be found in the following: If the same psychic model is operating in both the sender and the receiver, the result will be in accordance with their expectations, that is, with their interiorized psychic models. In other words, it is strange to structure a psychic model of a choir singing without harmony, that is, without a regular flow of pleasant sounds. Here is an example:

Many times the communicators invite the people attending the experiment to overcome their doubts by making a full immersion in the mystery. To this regard I believe that the following communication, coming from an Entity, recognized by his nickname “The Wise,” is addressed to researchers like myself who are trying to rationalize the voice phenomenon or, in a broader sense, the spiritual experience.

His message was:

The problem is not to define the mystery but let the mystery penetrate us through the eyes of Faith. It’s quite important the availability of the mind and heart and in particular it’s essential to ask the Spirit for the hospitality of heart.

The sentence reveals an interconnection that goes beyond the physical plane and introduces us to an indissoluble network of relationships that go beyond time. Delving deeper into the meaning of the message, it is possible to derive the real meaning:  only by opening the mind and the heart is it possible to allow the mystery to penetrate us. By “availability of the mind,” we might understand “silencing of the mind” or a faithful attitude, rather than strict rationality.  By “availability of the heart” we might understand “silencing of any egoism.”

Since 1985 I have defined this special mind attitude as “Inner Attentive Disposition,” which is, I am sure, an absolute prerequisite for establishing contacts with other planes of consciousness. From my point of view, this is the determining factor in opening the hidden channel that connects our physical plane to the higher planes of consciousness where one day we will, I believe, again meet all of our loved ones.

Presented at the 2006 ATransC conference in Atlanta, Georgia

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In Memory of Sarah Estep, an ITC Pioneer

See also the Becky Estep’s eulogy

Sarah Estep sitting in her experiment room

American paranormal researcher Sarah Wilson Estep made her transition to the other side due to kidney failure on January 3, 2008. She was the premier pioneer researcher in Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) in the United States and was considered one of the world’s leading experts in the field.

Sarah became a believer that death was the end of life at the tender age of seven. After the death of her grandmother, her grandfather married a woman who was the director of a funeral home. A couple times a year, Sarah’s family visited her grandparents in the funeral home where they lived. She was deeply distressed by the grieving families that came to view their loved ones, and when no one was around, she frequently sneaked into the viewing areas to look at the bodies. This traumatic experience was to shape Sarah’s life and create a thirst for knowledge that death was not the end of life. She dove into every nonfiction book that she could get her hands on, especially those dealing with paranormal topics. She found hope in the Seth books by Jane Roberts, as their words conveyed the premise that we were more than our physical bodies and that our lives continue after the death of the physical body.

During a visit to the library in 1976, Sarah came across The Handbook of Psi Discoveries by Sheila Ostrander and Lynn Schroeder. The book included two chapters on EVP and talked about the work of pioneer researchers Konstantin Raudive and Friedrich Jürgenson. It also mentioned the Americans Harold Sherman and Walter and Mary Jo Uphoff, who would later become Sarah’s good friends.

The Handbook of Psi Discoveries changed Sarah’s life and also the lives of the thousands of people she would later touch with her work. She felt that EVP could be the most tangible evidence of survival yet and decided to conduct experiments to see if this was true. She used her husband Charlie’s old reel-to-reel tape recorder and committed to trying to record for at least a week. At every session, she asked the same question, “Is anybody there?” but after five days, she had not recorded an answer. Out of boredom, on the sixth day she tried a different question, “What is your world like?” she asked. On playback of the tape, she heard a clear voice answer her question with the word, “Beauty.” Contact had been made.

Sarah founded the American Association of Electronic Voice Phenomena in 1982 and began publishing a quarterly newsletter. Membership in the Association grew from twenty to several hundred people in twenty-seven states and twelve countries. There was no Internet and Sarah was the glue that allowed researchers to gain knowledge about the work that others were doing. She held three national conferences and helped countless people learn about the voices and how to record them. For eighteen years, Sarah led the AA-EVP and then in the year 2000, she decided to retire and asked us (Tom and Lisa Butler) to take the Association over.

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Mary Babcock (left), Sarah with Becky sitting, Erland Babcock (right) at the 2004 AA-EVP conference

In 1981, Harold Sherman asked Sarah to write about EVP for his book The Dead Are Alive and her work became Chapter 4. When Harold had to discontinue his ESP Research Associates Foundation due to health concerns, he showed his faith in Sarah by giving Foundation members a membership in the AA-EVP.

Sarah has written two books on her own. Voices of Eternity was published in 1988 and is now out of print but is a free PDF download at the AA-EVP website at aaevp.com (Books tab). Her most recent book, Roads To Eternity, is available through Galde Press via the same web page.

In 1996, the Dr. A. Hedri Foundation for Exopsychology (the study of the behavior of alien beings) and Epipsychology (study of post-death mental states) awarded Sarah the first prize for epipsychology in recognition of her accomplishments. She shared the prize that year with another famous researcher, George Meek of Spiricom fame.

To provide a tool with which people could specify the quality of their EVP samples, Sarah popularized a classification system originated by Konstantin Raudive using “Class A” as the highest quality example, “Class B” as a good quality example and “Class C” as the poorest and most typical recorded samples. Although more has been learned about how we hear EVP and why it can be difficult for the untrained ear to hear them, this grading system is in use to this day.

All of us working with EVP owe Sarah so much for her bravery in being amongst the first in our field. She recorded thousands of voices, published seventy-two newsletters and authored one of the foremost books on the voice phenomenon. In 2006, the Association that she founded presented her with a “Lifetime Achievement Award” at the Atlanta, Georgia AA-EVP conference.

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George Wynne (left) Martha Copeland, Sarah Estep, Tom and Lisa Butler

People have been writing to the Association with their condolences and memories of this great woman. Here are just a few of the comments:

“Her enthusiasm and passion for voice phenomena inspired me to continue seeking ways to communicate with those departed. She was clearly one of my main motivators as she has been for many.” J.S.

“I did not know Sarah personally, but I feel like I did through her work and through the legacy that she left behind. She definitely made the EVP field what it is today and I am so grateful for her loving efforts.” W.R.

“She never failed to acknowledge a letter or bit of info I would send her. At a time when EVP was still relatively unheard of, it was comfort to receive Sarah’s handwritten notes and have her publish my and others’ communications with the other side in her newsletter.” L.M

“My abiding memory of Sarah was the broad smile on her face when she opened her door to me on my first visit to her home in Maryland. It was 1983 and I had just read about her experiments in capturing the voices of dead people on recording tape…. For four hours, I sat entranced. Sarah not only gave me a purpose in life but changed it forever. I don’t ever remember seeing Sarah unless she was happy and smiling.” T.L.

“It is not the USA that owes to Sarah, but the world. Presently what we do, our research is not correctly evaluated, but in the future, it will be. When Survival has been scientifically proven and humanity jumps a new step forward in development, ITC pioneers will be remembered as heroes. And there will be our “Sweet Sarah,” as I used to call her. I am sure that she will go on working for the AA-EVP from wherever she is … not only for the benefit of this important association but for something bigger: Mankind.” S.R.

“I love this lady for the way she let us have our family back even for just a short time here on Earth until we meet them again on the other side.” L.N.

“Sarah’s book was my first foray into the world of communication with spirit, an event which would change my life. In a big way, Sarah is largely responsible for my current awareness of spirit.” K.M.

“I credit Sarah Estep with opening the door to this new world for me. I’ve thought of her every day since hearing of her illness and especially tonight since learning of her passing. I believe she will continue her work from the other side and guide those of us here who share her commitment to the study of EVP.” R.H.

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After Sarah Estep’s funeral: Tom Butler (left), Becky, Cindy and Robert Estep, Lisa Butler. Robert is holding Sarah’s dog, Lovy.about Sarah. Your comments have been forwarded to the family.]

[We thank all who have written to us about Sarah. Your comments have been forwarded to the family.]

Sarah’s daughter, Becky Estep, made a contribution to the AA-EVP in Sarah’s name, and asked that others donate to the AA-EVP instead of sending flowers. These donations have enabled us to establish the Sarah Estep Research Fund, which will be used to promote and support research toward an empirical understanding of these phenomena. Researchers need not be AA-EVP members, but they will be required to follow agreed-upon protocols and produce a final report for peer review. Details of this initiative are available via aaevp.com. You can honor Sarah and continue her legacy by donating to the research fund.

Our field is still very young, and there are people in many parts of the world who have braved the contempt of mainstream science to seek the truth about ITC. We honor their contributions, and especially Sarah for her bravery in giving people who had unexpected encounters with ITC a forum to be heard and where they could compare experiences free of the ridicule waiting for them in more public forums.

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Becky Estep’s Eulogy for her Mother Sarah Estep

by Becky Estep and read at Sarah’s funeral
See also the Memorial article

Sarah Estep
taken by Ludwig Schonheid in Tarrytown, NY in the 1980s

I want to thank each of you for being here today. At this moment, there are people scattered throughout the world, in this country and abroad, who wanted to be here and would have been, if circumstances had permitted it. I extend my heartfelt appreciation to those individuals as well, because I know their love and prayers are also being sent to my mother. In particular, I want to acknowledge a very special woman, Clara Laughlin. My mother and I are eternally thankful for her steadfast friendship and devotion, down through the years. Clara was an honor and a timeless gift to my mother.

My mom, as some of you know, was a researcher in the field of life after death. In particular, she was focused on the area of Electronic Voice Phenomena otherwise known as EVP. She was a pioneer in this field, and spent years educating the public about it. My mother traveled extensively: to New York, Florida, Nevada, Illinois, Indiana and Georgia; she journeyed to the pyramids, temples, and deserts of Egypt; to caves in England; to the coliseums of Rome; to Switzerland, Luxembourg, and to the mountains of Brazil. Everywhere she traveled, my mother shared her conviction with those she met: the conviction that we do, indeed, survive death and that we ascend into a magnificent eternity. Mom had a way of leaving a part of herself wherever she went and in doing so, she forever became more of who she truly is. My mother was, first and foremost, a seeker and a pilgrim. In her sojourn through life, she brought comfort and hope to countless people.

But this seeker and pilgrim was also “my mom,” and I’d like to share a little of who that person was.

In earlier years, my mother had been a social worker for a children’s aid society, a first grade teacher, a camp director and a writer. When I was a child, Mom showed me my first rainbow. She got me through scarlet fever, chicken pox, the mumps, strep throat and a broken foot. Even long after I had grown into adulthood, she still fussed at me when I wouldn’t wear a hat in cold weather or forgot to put on my seatbelt.

Mom shared her jelly beans with me when we went to the movies and I shared my popcorn (no extra salt). She walked with me through the forests of Camp Woodlands where we crossed Friendship Bridge together. She taught me how to play the slot machines at Dover Downs in Delaware, and we sometimes watched the Leonids meteor shower in November and looked for eclipses of the moon.

Mom always kept an eye out for my brother’s favorite candy bars and made sure he got the Ocean City, New Jersey newspaper that she was a long-time subscriber of. She gave rose petals, lilacs, fresh yellow tomatoes and wind chimes to my sister. When her grandchildren were younger, she took them clothes shopping at the beginning of the school year, and she relished each and every visit from them. She always made sure my father got the comics from the Sunday paper. My mom always treated us to lunch on Mother’s Day—it was one of her ways of saying “thank you for being in this world”.

Mom loved scary movies and James Bond movies. She could both love and hate the Baltimore Orioles baseball team, all within the space of a single inning. She volunteered at the local church garage sale, collected donations for the National Kidney Foundation, the American Cancer Society and charities that help blind people. She helped support the Christian Appalachian Project and various American Indian reservations. Mom would help a neighbor if she could.

Mom loved the ocean, licorice, books, all the dogs she’s ever owned, robins in spring, video games, wind chimes, lime popsicles, spareribs, spaghetti, a good bowl of chili, (with beans), pecan pie, kites and balloons. She could laugh until she had tears in her eyes, over the silliest and smallest of things. She helped point the way to the Temple of Abydos in Egypt; my arrival there turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened to me.

Mom comprehended joy and anguish; she understood guilt and regret; she knew the healing power of solitude; she had her disappointments and triumphs. My mother possessed all the noble majesties and dark frailties of the human spirit, which are inherent in us all. And finally, my mother always had one foot in this world and one foot in the next, and sought to build a bridge between the two. This is my mother … all of this and so much more … the kind of person who weeps when dragons die.

One of Mother’s acquaintances, Anabela Cardoso, was once told by her friend and colleague in spirit, Carlos de Almeida, that: “Horizons far from you do not finish in the world but enter a sacred Universe.” I know my mother believed this and it was one of the lights that she lived by.

In closing, I’d like to say to my mom that it’s one of my eternal hopes and prayers that you are always and forever sanctified by the best that love has to offer. May you be everlastingly blessed with abundant laughter, redeemed by Truth, and consecrated by a joyful sense of wonder. At the threshold of the door of forever, there’s a welcome home sign for all souls. I know you’ll leave a candle burning for us in the window of Heaven.

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2006 AA-EVP Conference

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2003 Erland Babcock ITC “Ocean Bay”

Report on the 2006 AA-EVP Conference

(The name of the association has since been changed from AA-EVP to  Association TransCommunication)


The conference was a complete success by all accounts. All of the speakers we present and prepared, the attendees were attentive and the media was out in force. By one account, the conference was the “International ITC event of the year.”

The Presentations

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AA-EVP Directors, Tom and Lisa Butler addressing conference attendees

The Thursday Evening session was led by Tom and Lisa Butler. “EVP 101” is the title of the workshop Tom and Lisa teach. Portions of that were presented by them Thursday night. Should they decide to teach an Instructor Certification Course, EVP 101 would be in the core suite of lessons.

The presentation included a discussion about the characteristics of EVP presented by Lisa Butler, followed by a discussion about the basic “how to” for recording EVP. Experience has shown that individuals develop a personal, often unique way to record for EVP, but that it is best for people new to the field to first learn a way that is most likely to produce EVP. The instructions on the website provide the essence of those procedures. See Basic EVP Recording Techniques

Friday morning opening comments for the conference were especially important to Tom, because he managed to surprise Lisa with a new HP Palm Pilot, which would replace her often folded yellow paper “Personal Data Assistant.” Tom pointed out in the presentation that the conference would not have taken place were it not for Lisa’s initiative and hard work. Debbie Caruso was a fellow conspirator in helping Tom surprise Lisa.

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Sarah with her daughter, Becky Estep. Becky made it possible for Sarah to attend the 2006 conference.
[Photograph for Becky Estep]
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Al Rouber (left) Sarah and Garrett Husveth.
[Photograph for Becky Estep]

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Carol Peterson, Jim Stonier with Sarah
[Photograph for Becky Estep]
Sarah Estepestep_award_web presented a brief introduction about her experience with EVP and then some of her best EVP examples were played, ending with a one minute EVP containing music thought to have been originated by Ludwig Beethoven.

At the conclusion of the presentation, Sarah was given a Lifetime Achievement Award.

You can hear the Beethoven EVP here

 

 

 

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Sonia Rinaldi explaining how she is now receiving images along with here telephone-based EVP

Sonia Rinaldi described her work with EVP/ITC, in which she uses a computer and a video camera operating in a mirrored mode. We were all fascinated by the faces she is finding in the optical noise, as they are unlike any we are seeing from other researchers. This new site ipati.org

Laurie Monroe brought the attendees up to date about how The Monroe

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Laurie Monroe

Institute is learning to apply Hemi-Sync technology to improve human potential. One slide, in particular, seems to tell The Monroe Institute story: “The Monroe Institute proposes to introduce, at all levels of human endeavor, an ability of mental and spiritual functioning that will constructively change humankind’s direction and destiny.” monroeinstitute.com

 

We regret to inform you that
Laurie made her transition in 2006.

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Paolo Presi

Paolo Presi presented the work of Il Laboratorio. To our knowledge, this is the only organization in the world that is organized and dedicated to the study of trans-etheric phenomena with the use of clinical/forensic quality tools. His detailed presentation illustrated how the voices of EVP might sound like the voice of the person while still in the physical, but that the formation of the voice is sometimes impossible to produce with a human voice apparatus. On a similar note, he also described how face recognition software is able to help certify that the face found in transcommunication is the same as the face of the person while in the physical. See The Work at Il Laboratorio for the transcript of Presi’s Il Laboratorio presentation.

Paolo Presi later translated the documentary video of Marcello Bacci, the man who continues to conduct two-way, real-time communication with people on the other side with a short wave radio. Bacci even brings family members into his home to speak with their discarnate loved ones. See The Instrumental Transcommunication Work Of Marcello Bacci for the transcript of Presi’s Bacci presentation

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Mark Macy

Mark Macy gave an overview of some of the astounding communications that occurred in Europe during the late part of last decade. This included reports of telephone conversations he has had with Konstantin Raudive after Raudive’s transition. Mark uses a device known as a “Luminator” to take ITC pictures. The device is believed to modify the subtle energy environment near it, and was initially used as an aid for medical diagnoses. Mark has found that he will sometimes find “extras” in Polaroid picture taken of peoples standing in the field. worlditc.org

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Dr. Allan Botkin

Dr. Allan Botkin’s Induced After Death Communication (IADC) presentation produced a number of points that have to be further investigated. For instance, he told the attendees that he saw evidence that too much grief could block an IADC. He also said that it seemed very much like an assistant had shared an IADC with the patient. His IADC success rate had been less for patients who knew about the process beforehand, and that he sometimes needed to “sneak up on them” to make the induction. His success rate also seemed to be much greater if he doodled while with the patient. Gary Schwartz told us that many mediums doodled, which suggests an entirely new direction for research. induced-adc.com

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Tom and Lisa Butler, ATransC Directors

Lisa Butler presented a number of success stories that are considered to be important role models for others to follow.

Tom Butler followed with the observation that it is time to standardize the way phenomena are

Alexander MacRae speaking at the 2006 AA-EVP Conference

described, and suggested “Unique Event” for experiences with none other to compare, “Indeterminate Event” for “true” phenomena that cannot be distinguished from the mundane and “Established Event” for phenomena such as EVP. He also gave an overview of the forms of visual phenomena being reported to the AA-EVP. He finished with a description of the 4Cell EVP Demonstration, explaining how effective a protocol is for EVP research.

 

Long-time EVP researcher Alexander MacRae

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Alexander MacRae, Tom Butler (middle) and Lisa Butler

gave the audience an overview of how he became an EVP researcher and how he has evolved his research tools. It was easy to see why his work is so often quoted by us.

Diana and Alan Bennett were instrumental in the successes of the Scole Project and have now turned their attention to visual forms of spirit communication with very impressive results, which they shared with attendees. We will try to include an article featuring the Bennett’s work in the next NewsJournal. Their technique is easily replicable in a mechanical sense, but Diana and Alan reminded the attendees how important it is for the person to make contact with the entities via meditation and respect.

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Sonia Rinaldi (left), Alan Bennett, Lisa Butler and Diana Bennett
[Photograph for Becky Estep]

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Alan and Diana Bennett

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Martha Copeland

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Big Circle Web Master, Lisa Yesse (left) with Martha Copeland
Debra Caruso (left) and Vicki Talbott
Debra Caruso (left) and Vicki Talbott

Martha Copeland presented for the Big Circle and played many EVP examples. She invited Vicki Talbott and Debra Caruso to join her at the podium to describe their success with EVP. The fact that three mothers were able to tell the attendees about continuing their relationships with children now on the other side provides an important role model for all of us. About their talk, William Deluca wrote, “It gave me reassurance that what we are doing is for real and comforts us when we really need it.”

We regret to inform you that Debbie has made her transition.

 

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Dr. Gary Schwartz
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Dr. Gary Schwartz (left) and Tom Butler
[Photograph for Becky Estep]

The final presentation was made by Dr. Gary Schwartz who described his early work with survival researcher, Susy Smith, and the events that led to the development of his current research protocols. Gary’s study of

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Tom Butler (left) Paolo Presi, Dr. Alan Botkin and Dr. Gary Schwartz
[Photograph for Becky Estep]

mediumship is producing an important, evidence-based map of what might be thought of as “organic” spirit communication, as opposed to the technology-augmented spirit communication practiced in EVP and ITC. His work has produced some of the most substantial evidence of postmortem survival of the personality available today.

Those of you who have followed Gary’s work will recognize that the 4Cell EVP Demonstration protocol has been inspired by the protocols he has developed in an effort to answer the critic’s questions. veritas.arizona.edu

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Lisa Huston

We should note that the media was well represented at the conference by four documentary crews

 

Unless otherwise noted, photographs were taken by Jim Stonier

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Larry Dean and Patricia Begley: ITC

Author, Larry Dean has been working on a book on Instrumental TransCommunication (ITC).  Larry says that he was interested in spiritual pursuits at a very young age when others were out playing sports.  Later in his life he devoted most of his time to doing presentations and teaching classes on the development of psychic abilities and healing.  Although Larry is naturally clairaudient and clairvoyant, it was only after he stopped teaching these classes that he took time to develop his own trance work.

Larry is a deep trance channel.  His ITC partner, Patricia Begley facilitates and records the sessions.  It is generally only through her doing this, and the recordings she makes, that Larry knows what has taken place while he has been in trance.  Many years ago the two were told by their main guide, Choi, that their spirit team was working with them to establish Video ITC contacts.

Larry and Patricia worked together on sitting for physical phenomena for many years.  They were excited and encouraged by the ITC results of the Harsch-Fischbach, and were even able to sit in on some of the Scole Experimental Group sessions.  They continued to sit with a group and did experience limited physical phenomena, but did not achieve successful television or Video ITC contacts.  Larry talks about the years that they sat around looking at dots on television screens and featureless video experiments.

 

Larry made contact with the two of us over a year ago regarding the ITC book he is working on.  We spoke with Larry numerous times on the phone and found a common bond and interest in his enthusiasm for ITC.  Since we had also begun work on a book on EVP and ITC in late 2002, we were able to send Larry the two chapters on Video ITC that describe how to conduct an experiment and some of the theories that attempt to explain Video ITC.  We wanted to get his opinion about the usefulness of the chapters and to see if he could replicate what we were finding in our experiments.  Within weeks we received an excited phone call from Larry.  Larry and Patricia had followed the instructions and had received images on their very first experiment.  One of those pictures was that of a close friend who is now on the other side.

Larry has the wonderful benefit of being able to use his trance work to receive advice and direction on future experiments.  He was told to ask for particular people to appear in their experiments.  Larry and Patricia have only been working with video ITC for a few short months, but following that advice, they have received many images of people whom they have asked to appear in their video frames.  For instance, they have collected images of Patricia’s father and mother and also the image of Patricia’s Aunt Ethel, which is shown here.  (The first frame is a black and white photograph of Ethel.  The second frame is the ITC feature as it came to us.  The third frame is a black and white enhancement of the ITC, which was necessary to permit it to be printed in the ATransC NewsJournal.)

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Forever Family Foundation 2013 Conference

by Tom and Lisa Butler
Previously published in the Winter 2014 AA-EVP NewsJournal

Forever Family Foundation 2013 Conference

Bob and Phran Ginsberg

Bob and Phran Ginsberg’s daughter, Bailey, made her untimely transition in 2002. Phran told us, “The knowledge that she was still with us gave us the hope we so desperately needed just to survive each day,” and with that understanding, they started the Forever Family Foundation (FFF) in 2004. Since then, they have expanded the nonprofit, volunteer organization to provide a host of services including conferences, discussion groups, a radio program and newsletter. Membership is free; however, the organization lives on donations and the hard work of a few volunteers, so your support would help this important organization continue into the future.

Forever Family is dedicated to supporting people who have lost loved ones. The organization maintains an excellent certification program for mental mediums, making it possible for people to be sure that they are working with a reputable medium.

We were invited to speak at their 7th Annual Afterlife Conference in San Diego in November. It was a fantastic mixture of amazingly gifted mental mediums and the latest scientific evidence proving survival.

Well-known researcher of the paranormal and foundation president, Loyd Auerbach, opened the conference, and later gave a very interesting talk on apparitions. His broad background in paranormal research, and especially in hauntings investigation, gives him an important perspective on the nature of this phenomenon.

2013-fff-panelDr. Stephen Braude has been conducting intensive research into the physical mediumship of the Felix Experimental Group (FEG) under controlled conditions. You have seen reports in this NewsJournal about the FEG medium and we will be hosting him again in July, 2014. If anyone ever felt that there was trickery in Kai’s séances, Braude can provide excellent assurance that the phenomena are real. Please read Arrogance of Scientific Authority.

Dr. Diane Hennacy Powell has conducted extensive research into psi functioning and brain activity. She spoke about her research into people with autism and how they experience reality. The information was riveting and we realized how they are much more high-functioning than most think. We believe that she is working toward a book that will be both extremely interesting and very needed.

During a holotropic breathing workshop, medium Janet Mayer began speaking in a foreign language. After years of searching, she learned that the language was that of an indigenous people living in a tropical rain forest in northern Brazil and southern Venezuela. Janet found a man working at the Smithsonian Institute who was able to translate her words. She learned that she was speaking prayers, chants, prophecies and prognostications of the Yanomami people who believe their fate is tied to the fate of the environment.

Dr. Jeffrey Tarrant gave a talk about his research mapping Janet’s brain while she is channeling the Yanomami language and other languages (spoken by more than one person). Jeffrey put a helmet equipped with electrodes on Janet’s head and gave us a real-time demonstration of the changes in her brain activity during her normal speech and then when she was speaking the foreign language. He pointed out how the region of the brain associated with compassion, empathy and loss of ego became very active when Janet began channeling.

Of course, we talked about transcommunication. Lisa played a number of Class A EVP and told their stories, after which Tom displayed examples of the many forms of visual ITC and talked a little about theories for how the phenomena might be explained.

Mental mediumship is an important cornerstone of the FFF and time was set aside for demonstrations of mediumship by Kim Russo, Angelina Diana, Janet Mayer and Laura Lynne Jackson. We were very impressed by the quality of the information presented by the mediums. Their focus was not only on evidence but also on ethics. Mental mediumship is well-established as one of the phenomena providing evidence of both psi functioning and survival. However, anyone with the gift of gab and a little insight into human nature can claim to be a medium. This “wild west” environment makes it difficult for a grieving family to find a trustworthy person to help them contact a discarnate loved one. The FFF efforts to establish a registry of reliable mediums is perhaps one of the most beneficial services they can provide. You can view this list at www.foreverfamilyfoundation.org

The very first night of mediumship demonstrations turned out to be extremely evidential for me (Lisa), but let me explain a little. My sister had made her transition on October twenty and the memorial in Arizona was only six days before our trip to San Diego for the conference. This was a difficult memorial because my sister never liked me. She wanted to be an only child and never really forgave me for showing up.

In lieu of flowers, donations to a fund for helping animals had been set up, which was wonderful. But, I asked if we could provide a wreath for the memorial because, without flowers, the memorial would seem cold. My niece agreed to this and we ordered a big heart of roses to be delivered for the memorial. It turned out to be quite beautiful.

The whole thing was beyond awkward and stressful. We were invited to a potluck dinner at my sister’s house the evening before the memorial. My niece welcomed us but introduced us to no one in the room of about thirty people. Again, at the memorial we were not asked to sit with the family and were not introduced to anyone. I can’t blame my niece, as there is no telling what my sister had said about us. We had never been a part of her life, my sister did not even invite us to her daughter’s wedding, saying after the fact that the invitation must have gotten lost.

There is no blame here, families are families. If there is reincarnation perhaps I have done something terrible to my sister in a past life. But because of the loss of this relationship, I cried my eyes out at the memorial. I tell you all of this only because of the next remarkable event.

That first night of the conference, Kim Russo came to Tom and gave him some amazing information on a step- brother and his father. After the event was over, Janet Mayer quickly came to me and said, “Lisa I can’t believe that Kim didn’t come to you next. Who is the women; the mother that is here”? I immediately thought of my friend Jannet whose mother had just made her transition. Then Janet Mayer went on saying that she had been a florist and the women was pointing to a large beautiful floral arrangement. Immediately, it hit me that it was my mom. Then Janet said something about angel wings.

Angel wings were important to my sister because she had been very reassured by seeing angel wings, years earlier them during a heart angioplasty. They also seemed to assure me that my sister was on her way to a new life.

I simply can’t express the impact of this message. I am so immensely thankful for those on the other side being able to get messages to us in so many different ways. This message through Janet was enormously healing and allowed me to know that my mother had been at the memorial and helped my sister across. I feel blessed for this experience and its ability to help me let go of hurt feelings that are really nothing in the larger scheme of things.

Another very interesting message came from another medium who told us (before our presentation) that she had done a reading for a mother whose child was on the other side. The son said he was part of a circle (she used the term circle) trying to use technology to contact loved ones on this side. I asked “Big Circle?” and she immediately said “Yes!”

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Excerpt from Martha Copeland’s I’m Still Here

Article initially printed in the Spring 2005 AA-EVP NewsJournal
Martha Copeland – All Rights Reserved

Continuation of Signs from Cathy

Yesterday at my Buford Presbyterian Church, in Buford, Georgia, I met a couple whose son had been killed two weeks earlier in an automobile accident. They told me that he was already sending them “signs” from beyond to comfort them.

It is so important to pay attention to “signs” that our loved ones send to us from spirit. Just today, while searching through photo albums for pictures to insert in this book, I found a “sign” from Cathy. It was an album she had made for my fiftieth birthday party entitled, “The Way it was.” It contained all the important facts and events from the 1950s, along with photos of me when I was a baby up to my present life. One thing that really struck me in this album was her dedication page. It read: “My dedication goes to my mom, Martha Pierce Copeland.”

Hope is the destination that we seek,
Love is the road that leads to hope
Courage is the motor that drives us
We travel out of darkness into faith

-The Book of Counted Sorrow

How very strange to be reading these words now. Although going through the old photo albums made me sad, perhaps this is Cathy’s “sign” for me to continue on and have faith in what the future holds.

“Tears in Heaven”

Today I was riding in the car, listening to the CD of music we had played at Cathy’s funeral. Each song was chosen for a specific story in her life, and each one usually brought tears to my eyes. When Eric Clapton came on singing, “Tears in Heaven,” I remembered the first time I heard it.

Cathy was about ten years old, and we were living in Okinawa Japan, on the military base. Two of the children she often played with were twins, a girl and a boy, Shane and Shannon. One day while Cathy was playing with them, Shane was hanging upside down by his knees from a tree limb, hitting at the girls as they rode by on their bicycles. Something caused him to lose his grip, and he fell to the ground. His head hit the curb. Cathy came running home and said, “Mom, I think Shane is dead.” He was taken to the hospital where he died shortly from his injuries.

The day of Shane’s memorial service, Cathy had picked up her room, making it spotlessly clean. This was unusual for our girl, whose bedroom floor was rarely seen. We went to the service and joined the grieving family and friends of this young boy. The song, “Tears in Heaven,” was too poignant and left everyone weeping as we said goodbye to Shane.

We had been home from the service a few hours when cars started pulling up in front of our house, and parents let out their children. At least thirty children had shown up, and Cathy was at the door greeting her friends. Even Shane’s twin sister Shannon was there. When I asked what was going on, she informed me, “Mom, I told them that you were going to have a séance and bring Shane back to talk to us.” I was stunned and told her that I was absolutely not going to do that.

Cathy glared at me, grabbed her Ouija board and stormed off to her room, closing the door behind her after the many kids piled inside. While my “little psychic” was in there, I glimpsed Shane in our living room. He was wearing a blue and white striped shirt with cut-off jeans.

Cathy: “My little psychic.”
Cathy:
“My little psychic.”

Cathy later reported that she and her friends had asked some questions of her board, and had gotten some “yes” answers, which helped them believe that they had contacted Shane. This must have helped the grieving process for these youngsters, who needed a chance to say goodbye to their little friend. I asked Cathy what Shane had been wearing at the time of his accident. She described his outfit just as I had seen in my living room.

“Would you know my name … if I saw you in heaven?” As I listen to these plaintive phrases sung by a man who was a grieving parent, I know the answer to the question he poses. I know without a doubt that we will recognize our loved ones when we get to the Other Side. Still, this thought does not stop the tears I have here and now.

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An Interview with Paolo Presi

by Anabela Cardoso
Originally published in the April 2007 ITC Journal
©Anabela Cardoso – All Rights Reserved


Anabela: Paolo, you are a well-known international ITC researcher who has been in the field for many years. When did your interest in ITC start? What prompted you to dedicate so many years of your life to the study of these phenomena? Was there a specific factor or event that triggered your interest? If so, can you tell us what it was please?

Paolo: I have been involved in ITC since 1973 when I first heard of the possibility of communicating with other dimensions through the use of technical media. At that time I believed that such phenomenon did not need human mediumship [intermediation] since it appeared to be transmitted by means of a technical device such as a tape recorder. Since the young age of fourteen, I have been deeply fascinated by so-called parapsychological phenomena. At that time, I believed that all psychic phenomena had its origins in the human mind. When I learned of the possibility of communicating through ITC with another world where all humans are supposed to go after their death, such information literally prompted me into a deep investigation of the subject. At the same time, the possibility of experimenting by myself gave me the opportunity to verify what Friedrich Jürgenson claimed.

Anabela: Did you experiment with EVP yourself? If so, please give us a brief account of your most significant results. How did you feel about what happened, what were your emotions and thoughts about those anomalous events, if they occurred during your own experiments?

Paolo: Yes, I experimented by myself for the next four years. I received the first voice in 1975 after a lot of unsuccessful experiments. This happened after a visit to Marcello Bacci in Grosseto. It was astonishing when I verified that the voices were able to reply coherently to my questions. After this first verification of the real existence of EVP, I mainly devoted myself to investigating the phenomenon produced by other experimenters in order to understand the process involved. One of my initial goals was to identify the constants and variables that characterize the phenomenon. This preliminary research allowed me to conclude that the real key to the phenomenon was not the technical devices used in the experimental sessions but the experimenter him or herself. Today, I think that the information, coded in words, comes to us only through the person, although not from the person only.

Anabela: I know that you have met some of the most remarkable ITC researchers of the past including the great pioneer Friedrich Jürgenson. Can you describe for us how your encounter with Jürgenson happened and what impression he made on you?

Paolo: I met Friedrich Jürgenson at a Recanati Conference in 1977. Going back to the memories of that time, I remember that I was very much touched by his rich and powerful personality. Everything about him conveyed an impression of spirituality. His presentation at the Conference was very impressive for me because I understood from it that his life was totally dedicated to the spreading of his comforting message of survival to parents who had lost their children.

Anabela: What other outstanding researchers did you meet in those far off years of the 1970s? Please share with us your feelings and the impact each one of them had on you.

Paolo: In the same Recanati Conference, I met Eng. Theodor Rudolph from Ulm (Germany). He was an Electronics Engineer specializing in high frequencies and laser techniques at the Telefunken Laboratories. He was also a close collaborator of Dr. Konstantin Raudive, and manufactured for him the so-called Goniometer. He was the first to investigate EVP from a physical/technical point of view, and interpreted the unshielded energy involved in EVP as energy similar to gravitational energy. On the same occasion I also met Dr. Franz Seidi from Wien, a pioneer researcher in Europe who designed, manufactured and experimented with the so-called Psychophone.

In 1979 at the Fermo Conference, I met a very special scientist: Burkhard Heim from Northeim (German). At that time, he was the director of the Institute of Field Physics and was devoting a large portion of his life to the pursuit of his unified field theory well known as “Heim’s Theory.” During a wonderful conversation on EVP he said to me: “Remember, in any research you intend to do, you always have to take particular care of the spiritual aspect; do not forget that!” In his book, Postmortal States, on the theory of a six-dimensional reality, he demonstrated and mathematically supported the existence of the Beyond.

Anabela: What is your opinion of the developments that have taken place in the field of ITC research since those days? (1970s)

Paolo: This is a very interesting question. Frequently I ask myself what is the cause of the new developments that have taken place in Instrumental Transcommunication in the past three decades. In other words, why did such developments occur? Firstly, it must be said that where the experiments have been carried out in accordance with certain physical models (as for example in the experiments with the Spiricom by George Meek and William O’Neil), sooner or later results have occurred consistent with these models. Secondly, it is well known that although many voices may be obtained by a dedicated researcher through a particular technical device, the same device fails to produce results for another experimenter. My conclusion is that the phenomenon is able to adapt itself to the psychic model preferred by the experimenter. This does not mean that the voices come from our unconscious, but that our minds are able to formulate a mental intention to communicate that conforms to the particular psychic model that we happen to hold. I think that this mental intention forms the “bridge” that the communicators have mentioned on several occasions. This bridge allows us to contact other planes of consciousness.

Anabela: We were recently together giving invited presentations at the 15th Anniversary Conference of Infinitude in Paris, and we both met a number of people who told us of their own results, some of which were very impressive; for example, apparently clear anomalous images and voices. I am sure many more, who did not manage to speak with us, also had interesting experiences to report. How do you explain what seems to be happening worldwide in this field. For instance, the spreading of communications apparently coming from another level of reality, and how do you expect this trend to develop in the future?

Paolo: Conferences such as the one organized by Infinitude are very useful for the researcher since they allow us to assess the evolution of the phenomenon. It is most important to speak with the people present at the conference since they are a precious source of information about their own experiences. On such occasions we have the opportunity to learn much more than in books and to survey the latest developments of the phenomena. I think that, if the new human psychic models contain strong expectations about the improvement of the contacts, such developments will occur sooner or later.

Anabela: Do you attribute these novel developments to some potential for such developments in the human mind, to the communicators themselves, or to the interaction between the two, for instance the interaction between the human psychic potential to receive them, and the desire and work of the communicators to make them happen? In other words, do you believe that the communicators really exist as a separate entity or do you think they are a creation of the human mind?

Paolo: It is necessary to clarify: what I mean by “psychic model.” Put simply, you have to liken the “psychic model” to the tuning dial (the quadrant in a radio set where the broadcasting stations are listed) of a radio. To tune a radio correctly to a certain broadcasting station (i.e. to the name of the station, to the wave band, to the frequency, etc) it is necessary to scan the tuning dial and stop the frequency pointer at the desired station. The same happens with our psyche: only if we mentally pre-establish as firmly and deeply as possible the way and the method in which we believe communications will take place, will these communications become feasible. In the case of tuning a radio, what comes through the loudspeaker does not depend on we who do the tuning, as the origin of the broadcast sounds comes from the transmitting station. Similarly, in the case of ITC, our desire to establish the contact and the belief that the contact is possible (our psychic model) is analogous to the act of tuning. Thus although this psychic model is a necessary part of the process, it does not in itself create the communications.

Anabela: If we continue to analyze the massive spread of ITC communications, we can rightly assume that there are at present many thousands of people who, in the quiet of their homes, experiment and perhaps obtain significant results. This was predicted by the communicators themselves many years ago, and it seems to me to be perhaps one of the best ways to establish the reality of the phenomena, in opposition to the attitude of the scientific community at large (there are naturally a very few honorable exceptions among scientists) that continues to ignore them. I would appreciate your comments on these two approaches: from one side the great interest of common people, and from the other the disdain of science toward the so far sole phenomenon in the field of survival research that is objective and repeatable and can be scientifically analyzed within the framework of the scientific method.

Paolo: As I said before, all the experiments carried out in the quiet of the experimenters’ homes are very useful since they can yield significant results and precious material for research. On the other hand, an intensive investigation by means of scientific methodologies and techniques is, today, absolutely indispensable. I can understand the behavior of today’s scientist on this issue because every paranormal event contradicts one or more of the well-established paradigms of science. In line with Thomas Kuhn’s thought, only by using scientific language and by demonstrating events that are presently considered anomalies will we alert the scientific community to the importance of this kind of research, and only then will a revision of the paradigms, currently considered immutable by science, take place.

Anabela: To conclude our pleasant conversation I would like to ask you to share with the readers of the ITC Journal your expectations for the future of this discipline, and how you anticipate it will develop.

Paolo: My main expectation is acceptance by science of the importance of all objective evidence such as ITC phenomena that support the possible existence of the other planes of consciousness where one day all of us will dwell.

Anabela: Very many thanks Paolo! The readers of the ITC Journal and myself greatly appreciate your sharing your experiences with us and taking part with me in this interesting exchange of views on the exciting field of Instrumental Transcommunication research.

Bibliography:

Thomas S Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolution,: University of Chicago,1970

 

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About the AA-EVP

by Tom and Lisa Butler, 2001

Introduction

Many of you have heard of the American Association – Electronic Voice Phenomena (AA-EVP).  It is an Association founded by Sarah Estep in 1982 in the USA as her way of helping people learn about and experiment with EVP.  Sarah asked us to assume leadership of the AA-EVP in May of 2000, almost exactly eighteen years after the Association was founded.

The AA-EVP publishes a quarterly newsletter designed to keep members up to date on what other members are learning about and receiving through EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena) and ITC (Instrumental TransCommunication).  The newsletter provides news about EVP/ITC activities from around the world.  The Association now has a web site at aaevp.com to help the public learn about EVP/ITC and an email distribution service, in which members can exchange emails as a group.  The web site has sample EVP voices that can be listened to as well as transimages and Spirit Photographs that researchers have gotten.

The Association reports on people who hear from and capture images of those on the other side through all kinds of electronic devices.  Long gone are the days that messages and pictures were received only on simple tape records or cameras.  Today reports are received from people who get EVP by recording directly onto their computers.  Messages are received on answering machines, digital note takers and all manner of recording devices.  People also still report the phenomena of receiving a phone call from someone who has died.

Many people are still capturing spirit photographs with their cameras, but now more and more people are using their video cameras to receive what is called “transimages.”  The digital camera was bound to not be far behind and we have now seen transimages captured in this way.  Erland Babcock of the USA has made the change from experimenting with video ITC to working with a digital camera.  The interesting thing about his digital camera work is that, unlike the use of a feedback circuit in video ITC, Erland depends on background colors, textures and intensities to provide the needed optical energy.

One thing that is for certain is that those in other dimensions want to communicate with us and are using all manner of technology to do this.  As we make technological advances, they are quick to use them to communicate with us.

Many people use EVP/ITC to reach and communicate with loved ones that have passed into the next plane of existence and there are many interesting and wonderful stories that are shared.  One member received an EVP message from her dead husband, but she did not believe it.  He told her to take her camera, turn on the TV and take a picture.  She did and could make out that it was indeed her husband.  Another member consistently hears from two sisters who have gone to the other side.  They tell of how wonderful it is to be free of their physical bodies that were old and filled with disease.  They speak of being in a beautiful place.  Still others have reported receiving messages from those whom they did not know on earth but who tell them that they were related in a past life.  Researchers have even described both messages and transimages that come from those who claim to be what we would call extraterrestrial.

One of the interesting speculations AA-EVP members have discussed recently is that some EVP messages may actually be coming from the thoughts of living people.  Members have reported recording messages that seem to come from a person that is still on earth.  We recently ran a sleep experiment in which we tried to reach Sarah Estep while she was sleeping and she did the same with us.  Messages were recorded that indicated that we were both receiving messages from the other experimenter while they slept.

Several experimenters receive loud EVP messages without using any background noise.  However, most EVP experimenters provide background noise while recording.  Simple noise generators, such as a fan in the room or a radio turned off station, are commonly used. Special noise generators are also used, such as the germanium device that is often referred to as the Scole Device.  It is thought that the entities modulate this energy into intelligible phrases.  Adding noise seems to increase the volume at which the EVP are received.  Sometimes, even the words spoken by the experimenter are changed to form EVP messages.

Central to EVP research findings is energy—both physical and etheric.  For instance, in a séance, the energy brought to the room by the participant’s sense of community and great expectations can be compared to the energy of the sound noise just discussed.  The entities seem to use all kinds of energy to communicate.  This may be communication through a medium as a spirit greeting or through devices as are used in EVP experiments.  This idea also suggests that direct voice in a séance may be facilitated with the addition of sound energy in the room.  It would be interesting to see if this is true.

There is some evidence that the experimenter is part of the recording circuit.  That is to say that the experimenter’s mediumship or psychic ability may have an influence on the quantity and quality of EVP messages and transimages.  There is disagreement about this as some successful experimenters do not believe that they have mediumistic abilities.  Also, members with a science background would like this concept to be better researched before such statements are made.

Experimenters have reported that they have better contact for a while when they try a new recording technique.  It appears that the experimenter’s enthusiasm is shared by the entities.  However, once the newness of the approach wears off, the quality of contact often returns to “average.”  From this, researchers are beginning to conclude that it is important for them to experiment when they are “fresh” and interested, rather than when they feel they have to record to maintain a schedule.

AA-EVP members have varied interests.  There are many that are active in recording EVP and ITC.  Others belong to the Association because they are interested in keeping up with EVP/ITC and want to support the effort to improve the understanding of this phenomenon.  There are also members who are actively involved in EVP/ITC research.

Alexander MacRae of Scotland has focused on the acoustical properties of EVP with a device that has given him good results. Alec is well aware of the need for good science in EVP and continues to devote much of his time to research, education and documentation.

Mark Macy of the USA is a long-time contributor to EVP and ITC.  His authoritative work is published around the world.  Mark is currently experimenting with a Luminator (Bioluminator developed by Patrick Richards).  As Mark has told us, “For ITC, I like the fact that the Luminator seems to melt away some of the subtle barriers between our physical world and the spiritual worlds that are superimposed over our reality.”  Photographs taken of people setting in the Luminator field seems to show the presence of nonphysical entities.

Tina Laurent is an active researcher in the UK.  She has been involved in this research for 20 years and personally knew many of the people who originally made the phenomena of EVP known to the public.  She regularly lectures on the subject and many of you have probably read her article on EVP that was published in The Spiritual Scientist.

Anabela Cardoso is receiving excellent communication from those on the other side who say that they are part of the group, Timestream.  She publishes the excellent ITC Journal that documents her contacts and includes articles from renowned researchers and specialist in ITC.

Jacques and Monique Blanc-Garin provide an excellent French journal called Le Messager.  They were recently given an award for the work, conferences that they do in the ITC field.

Finally, Dale Palmer of the USA, along with his family, has formed the Noetics Institute. [Editor: The the Noetics Institute is no longer in existence] Through the Noetics Institute, and working with Brazilian ITC researchers, Dale has funded the establishment of a web site designed to permit the public to log on and conduct EVP/ITC experiments.  This is no small undertaking.  It has been necessary to purchase considerable computer capacity and to develop new software.  The site is currently in the early stages of testing, but it should be on line soon.  Keep an eye on the AA-EVP web site for the announcement and the new web address.

The list of active EVP/ITC researchers is long.  As the veterans retire from research, new people are becoming interested enough to step forward and continue the work.  The AA-EVP has been working with groups around the world in an effort to find ways to further research in EVP/ITC.  We see our leadership with the AA-EVP as an extraordinary opportunity to bring together these discoveries and make them accessible to whomsoever may be interested.  In this way, we hope to promote further research.  We consider the work done at Scole very important to this effort.  As we see it, all forms of transreality communication hold the potential to improve Humankind’s understanding of the nature of our reality and the knowledge that death is simply a continuation of our present life.


This article was initially published in The Spiritual Scientist, A magazine of the Spiritual Science Foundation (more commonly known as the Scole Group).  The Scole Group has established a substantial presence in the world as a confederation of small development groups who follow the Scole method for mediumship and group development.  If you are interested in starting a home circle for séances and mediumship development for spirit communications, please take a look at the Scole Group website.

The Butlers had just assumed leadership of the AA-EVP when they wrote this article. Much has been learned since.

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ITC at the Parapsychological Association’s 2006 Convention in Stockholm

Reported by Edgar Müller
Originally published in the American Association of Electronic Voice Phenomena Fall 2006 NewsJournal

Editor’s Note: A doctorate is required for full membership in the Parapsychological Association, a requirement which effectively isolates those who should be studying ITC from those who do study ITC. We are greatly encouraged by this report and the small changes toward more openness we have seen by the PA.


Approximately seventy highly qualified researchers were participating in the convention and nine of the fifty-one papers presented or items on the agenda were about the Survival Hypothesis. This is quite a substantial proportion of the total material, considering the fact that many parapsychologists, at least officially, refuse to accept the possibility of dualism; that is to say that there may be a brain and a mind, integrated in the daily functioning but nevertheless separate components of cognition and that the mind, which is not an identifiable physiological organ, may survive the death of the brain.

Instrumental TransCommunication (ITC), including voice, was dealt with on three occasions during the Convention, once in a negative way and twice quite positively. As far as I know, this is the first time in the long history of parapsychology that ITC was officially discussed at the Convention in this way and that the Survival Hypothesis received so much attention.

As we know, parapsychologists have tremendous problems to make their field of research acceptable within psychology and other disciplines in mainstream science. At the same time the issue of survival has a low status within parapsychology. It seems that most parapsychologists endeavor to avoid being connected with the topic, so that their already questionable reputation in mainstream science should not become even worse. At least until recently, most parapsychologists who are engaged in some kind of survival research have dismissed EVP as not being serious and suitable for scientific research.

One of the speakers, an impressive professor from a European country, presented a well prepared paper on the aspects of the survival hypothesis and commented briefly on all the known indications that survival may be possible, such as NDE, OBE, birthmarks on children claiming reincarnation, apparitions, mediums and at the end of the list there were the magical words ITC. However; he did not comment on ITC, and instead hesitated, shook his head and finally said, “Others may talk about it,” as if he did not want to be contaminated by this field.

Some of the papers on the Survival Hypothesis were very balanced. That is to say that the speakers presented all pros and cons in an open-minded way, keeping the door open that there may be a survival. Admittedly it was underlined that we probably never can get scientifically acceptable evidence that there is an existence after the death of the body.

One delegate said that he definitely was not a survivalist and it would be difficult to convince him that some functions of cognition and personality could exist after the death of the brain; however, he said he had participated in an experiment about which he said, “Could you believe it, there were voices coming out from a radio….” So he gave a brief but correct description of the Bacci experiment that occurred in December, 2004. It was obvious that he had been shaken by this experience and was now more open to the survival hypothesis.

One important paper presented by a professor from the United States included a kind of summary of the topic and he opened his speech by telling a personal experience regarding EVP. He was in Mexico visiting some colleagues when a young girl was murdered. Apparently, a friend of one of his colleagues was doing EVP research and succeeded in getting several utterances from the murdered girl. This professor listened to the tape and was quite impressed; he took a copy of the tape back to the United States and decided to present it at the Convention. Thus a session was played back for the whole convention via all the loudspeakers. The quality was very good.

dgar Müller is one of the administrators for the Helene Reeder Memorial Fund for Research into Life After Death, (HRF) which has awarded two ITC research grants (as of Fall 2006).

I am glad to notice the change in my colleagues’ attitudes in the Board of the Swedish Association of Parapsychological Research. There are some who still think that all talk about ITC is rubbish but others have now stopped joking about me and ITC and take the topic more seriously. Thus my old mentor in this field, Dr. Nils-Olof Jacobson and myself can now work in a friendlier and more understanding atmosphere for EVP in Sweden.

One of the papers and comments from several participants were very critical to psychic mediums. My personal experiences are unfortunately not encouraging either. I have several times tried to get some advice from mediums concerning how to proceed with ITC research to get better results but without any reasonable answer.

Finally, an observation from the convention. As you know it is customary to give each speaker a polite applause when the paper is finished. Normally these applauses have duration of three to four seconds. After the first and admittedly the best paper on the Survival Hypothesis, there was applause like in a theatre; long and intensive. Of course, it came spontaneously, maybe from the subconsciousness of the delegates

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The Mystery of the Roses

original_spirit_paining

Originally published in the Winter 2004 ATransC NewsJournal

The Encyclopedic Psychic Dictionary defines coincidence as, “1. (esoteric) (Carl Jung) two events occurring simultaneously, having no known cause-and-effect connection and unrelated in nature but showing a meaningful response, indicating some kind of intelligence link.”

If you have read our book, There is No Death and there are No Dead, you know that we attended a transfiguration séance at the Golden Gate Spiritualist Church in San Francisco last May. The church is an amazing place full of historical items. Some of these items are spirit paintings painted by a spirit artist during sittings given by the Reverend Florence Becker. During these one to two hour sessions, a blank canvas was set out for the spirit artist to work with. The people attending the séance sat in total darkness, continuously singing until a loud clap was heard. The clap signaled that the painting was complete. When the lights were turned on, the canvas was seen to hold a portrait or scene with still wet paint. The spirit painting was then covered with a black cloth and placed away from light for over a year. It was known that, without this period of darkness, the precipitated painting would fade away.

Most of the spirit paintings were presented to Reverend Becker’s students or church members and were returned to the church upon the recipient’s eventual transition to spirit. The total number of such paintings is unknown but twenty-five have been returned. The earliest known spirit painting was completed in 1911.

original_spirit_painingIn October 2003 we gave a workshop at the National Spiritualist Association of Churches annual Conference in San Francisco, California. While there, a woman approached us with two photographs. One was of a spirit painting that was precipitated at a Reverend Becker séance. It was a painting of a vase of roses. While at the Golden Gate Church, we remember seeing several of the wonderful spirit paintings, but not the painting of roses. The other photograph was of another painting of roses that the woman had found in a restaurant in the California Gold Country. The two were somewhat alike, as you can see by the photographs, and she thought we might be interested in the “coincidence.”

g-nav_cal_foothillsIn early November of 2003 we conducted an investigation in the Thunderbird Lodge at Lake Tahoe, Nevada with Janice Oberding (www.hauntednevada.com). It was a large place and it required hours of work to analyze the audio and video we collected during the investigation. (Hear the “Hidden Morphine” example below) Janice writes books about haunted places and was talking to us about a haunted antique store she had discovered, even as we were working on the Thunderbird material. As she was speaking about this new location, I could only think about all the work that we had stacked up and that I was not going to let her get us interested in another investigation. We simply had more to do than we could handle! So I listened, but assured myself that we were not going to get involved!

A few days later an email came from Janice informing us of the address for the haunted antique store on her website and asking us to let her know what we thought. The first thing that I saw on the recommended page was a painting of roses with a title, “Haunted Painting.” To say my mouth dropped open is an understatement. We immediately tore through the house to find the photographs that had been given to us at the convention in San Francisco. Holding the picture of the spirit painting beside the picture of the “haunted painting,” we could see that the similarities were unmistakable. The form and location of each rose and leaf is the same. There is an additional bunch of roses on the table in the antiques store version. This is exactly the location of the spirit artist signature in the original. There is also a difference in the color of the roses. The spirit painting roses are toward the red shade. The roses in the painting in the antique store are pink.

Janice later explained that the rose painting had been the property of the owner’s mother. She loved the painting and even painted a room of the house to match the pink of the roses. When her mother transitioned, the daughter turned the home into an antique store. The rose painting was among the antiques for sale.

As the story was told to us, she had agreed to sell it to a man who helped in the store and was a boarder in an upstairs room. That very night the painting fell off the wall damaging an electrical outlet and nearly starting a fire. A few weeks later the man mentioned that they had not set a price for the painting and its sale was once again discussed. The painting again fell off the wall that evening, even though it was hung with an eight penny nail. After this the proprietor told the man that she felt the painting did not want to be sold.

G-nav-copy-spirit-paintingThe next day we were all in the car, making the drive to the antique store. The first thing that we asked after meeting the owner was if she knew anything about Spiritualism. She answered, “Have you ever heard of the Reverend Florence Becker?” We learned from the ensuing conversation that her mother had lived near San Francisco and attended Reverend Becker’s sittings in the late 1950s. The daughter felt that the painting was from the late 1800s but the painting is not signed or dated. The Becker painting is dated 1916 and signed by the spirit artist, Rapierre.

While we were there, we recorded for EVP around the painting. We feel that we possibly heard from the woman’s mother, who via EVP, reassured the daughter that she was pleased with what she had done to the home through renovations. We then asked if the painting would like to be in a Spiritualist household and received a “Yes” and another EVP saying, “We are not happy here.” We asked if the painting would like to be returned to the Golden Gate Church and also got an affirmative answer.

The owner will not sell the painting and is actually afraid that some terrible thing will befall her or the store if the painting were to be removed even for a few minutes. We did not share the EVP that we received regarding the painting. This would not be ethical considering her feelings about the painting. We have no idea who was speaking to us through EVP, and as we all know, this could have easily been a trickster. So, we really do not know the meaning of this series of events. The relationship and similarity of the painting is obvious. We feel that the haunted painting is most likely a copy of the original, which was a gift from the spirit artist to Reverend Becker for her work and dedication. The rose painting hung over the fireplace at Reverend Becker’s house during the late 1950s. A photograph could have been taken of it and a copy made. Still this was a most interesting experience and we wonder if the story is not yet over.

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Bill (Dutch) Weisensale Returns Home

From Spring 2001 AA-EVP NewsJournal

Although we knew that Dutch Weisensale had been fighting cancer for quite some time it was still a very sad evening when we learned that he would no longer be communicating with us in the physical. Our prayers go out to his wife Mary who was instrumental in much of Dutch’s work.

Sarah Estep wrote:

Dutch (Bill) Weisensale and I became close friends almost 25 years ago.  He’d heard about me, somehow, and how I started taping in October 1976, so wrote to me about his work in the field.  We immediately began exchanging letters (in those days neither of us had computers) and answered each other promptly.  George Meek, the developer of Spiricom contacted Dutch and asked if he knew any taper who might be able to reinforce William O’Neil’s work with Spiricom. Dutch suggested George contact me.

About that time, Dutch began an international group he called “Spirit Voices.”  He published a quarterly Journal, largely technical, about his own brilliant work in the field of EVP, and outstanding ideas he had for development.  When Dutch discontinued his group, I felt others in the field needed to know what their colleagues were doing, so I began the AA-EVP in May 1982.  Dutch was very happy I’d done this and supported my every effort.  He remained a member of my AA-EVP until I turned it over to the Butlers in May 2000.  Dutch joined their group and remained very active in working on R&D ideas, along with other members, to enable the invisibles to come through to us more easily and in louder and clearer voices.

Even though he was diagnosed with terminal cancer several years ago, he continued putting all of his efforts into the development of the field of ITC.  Dutch had many treatments for his disease, which would cause him to remain in the hospital for several days at a time.  Just as soon as he was able, he’d return home and continue working in the field that he loved, ITC.

I am sad that Dutch is no longer with us–in a physical sense, although I know he will continue to be aware of all that we do in bringing communication from the spirit world, to our world, here.  No doubt he has already returned to good health, and is busy working with other outstanding scientists from his ‘home’ back there, to help those of us involved with EVP/ITC.

I am sure Dutch was greeted by the Heavenly Choir, upon his return, and the red carpet was laid before him….

Jeff King wrote:

I first made contact with Dutch in the late 1980s, after Sarah had mentioned his work (and address) in her newsletter.  The first interesting parallel between us was that he and I shared a common career and status as what he humorously called a “recycled technician.”  He was ex-Air Force, I was ex-civil aviation.

In gaining copies of all of Dutch’s printed work, I quickly realized that he and I had been on a parallel research path without knowing it.  For my part, Dutch’s insights validated my own, and gave me confidence to go further with formative theories.

At that time, we corresponded via snail-mail, but the major part of my involvement with Dutch was much later via personal emails, where through our collaboration, we both had some satisfying insights to long unanswered technical questions.

I quickly came to greatly admire Dutch’s insights (and direct approach) into the technical realms of EVP research, and felt very privileged to be able to work with him in this pioneering field.

“I know that the technical work will indeed continue for him in a heavenly setting, and that somehow we will be aware of this work and its evolution.

I’ll miss you Dutch…but I’m sure we’ll be hearing from you!!


In one of his last letters to us Dutch wrote: “When I was 14 years old, I learned to ride my Dad’s Harley-Davison in the cornfield behind our house. Off and on during my life I’ve ridden bikes and still have our almost half-century old (1952) Harley in our little shop. Free spirit on the open road, and all that good stuff. Just a keepsake now. I’m hardly in condition to kick start an engine with the displacement of a Volkswagen. Anyway I’ve told Mary that she doesn’t have to worry about me passing on, because when my time comes, if I can’t figure out how to take our Harley along, I’m just simply not going to go, period. — So far I haven’t been able to figure it out. Love, cheers and best wishes to all of you, Dutch and Mary.”

We are sure that Dutch found an exact replica of the Harley waiting for him on the other side.