by TAPS - The Atlantic Paranormal Society
Residual Haunt:
by Jason Hawes - TAPS
The most common style of a human haunting is a residual haunting. A residual haunting is like having an impression made in time. The entity may seem to be lost in a time warp. The spirit really isn't even there, only the energy is.
In most cases people may here screaming or crying due to the violence factor that may have caused this traumatic event to happen. People may also hear the sounds of footsteps walking on the stairs or through hallways.
Typically the repeated event is whatever the person who left the energy behind did often or an significant event that they remember happening to them. It is almost like it the energy has become part of the dwelling that they once occupied on an every day basis. These haunting styles always seem to happen in the same place every time.
There is usually very little you can do on this style of a haunting except make the family who is having these problems understand what is going on and explain to them that they are in no danger due to the energy not being controlled by the person who left it behind.
There is no actual entity present in this style of haunting, and the energy that was left behind is just like a video playing the same scene over and over again. Even though it is not aware that people are there, it can still be a scary and emotional situation to the people who have to deal with it happening in their home.
It may happen every night or every week or even every year. It is the most frequent haunting investigators will come across in their cases. An investigator will tell you there is nothing they can do about this style haunting and they are correct. People need to either except what happens and learn to deal with it, or move on.
Intelligent Haunt:
by Jason Hawes - TAPS
In this style of haunting the entity or entities are aware of their surroundings. Most of the time you will find that these spirits are not confined to one spot, they can move around freely. Also, they will acknowledge the existence of human beings and even try to communicate in certain ways.
They are limited in what they can do. Most of the time they only move very light objects but they have been known to move objects up to around 10lbs. They are looking for people to notice them but they end up scaring people a great deal instead.
Usually, between the hours of 11pm and 4am are the times that the entities can more efficiently manifest themselves, due to this time period being the darkest hours of the night. Most of the time are not strong enough to show themselves during the daylight because it takes too much energy to make themselves visible. Think of it like this, if you were to turn on a flashlight during the daytime you would hardly notice the light, but if you were to turn it on in the dead of night, the light would be clearly visible. This is how spirits work as well. If they use too much energy during the day they will be too weak to show themselves at night.
These spirits can be benevolent or mischievous, depending on the reason that they are haunting a location, and there are several reasons. They may be haunting it because it was once their home and they want you to leave. They may be there because they've found that a child is able to see them so they feel noticed and are willing to stay around for this fact. There may be some kind of artifact that they are staying with and following due to some emotional bond with it. They also may be looking for something or someone. They may even not be willing to except that they have died. Whatever the reason may be, they are there and they do not want to leave.
Now comes the hard part, ridding a house of them. They are not inhuman entities which we will get to, so religious provocation will not be effective to rid the area they are in. You are, as they are, limited to what you can do.
Demonic Haunt:
by Jason Hawes - TAPS
Demons are one of the known inhuman entities out there. Fortunately, they are a rare occurrence.
They are usually very easy to identify as long as they are not hiding. When it is a demonic haunting you typically notice a revolting stench similar to rotted flesh or sulfuric acid. They often let loose a growl that sounds like it is coming from everywhere at once. They like to make contact by pushing, shoving, hitting, and even scratching. The whole air in the affected area will feel thick like fog and the temperature will drastically change, typically becoming warmer.
These creatures are very strong, unlike human spirits, and they don't mind showing it. There have been cases where people have been thrown through the air and even attacked. Apparently, their main goal is to break down a person's free will in order to make way for possession. This can take days, months or years, but time is of no concern to them.
They have a hatred for mankind that dates back to the days of God and Lucifer. They have lived for millennia and will be here long after we are gone. So, you must understand that though you may be able to get these creatures to leave a dwelling with religious provocation you will never destroy them. They could go to the next place down the road if they choose, most likely they won't because distance is not a problem for these creatures. They could go from Maine to California on a thought.
They can take on any form they wish, but mostly commonly it is a half man, half animal form. They will have the head of an animal, the torso of a man, and the hairy legs of an animal. When they are approached by an investigating paranormal team they may feel threatened and appear in a human form to keep the home from being blessed and stop the use of religious provocation.
During an investigation you need assess the situation more by what happened before you arrived than what is actually going on during the time you are there. Demons are capable of changing form right in front of you from a human form to an inhuman form. They neither male nor female, but then can change that to meet their needs. People mostly see demons as black masses standing in doorways or near rooms. Sometimes they are called shadow devils.
If you feel like you have a demon in your home I would recommend getting help from a well known paranormal group as quickly as possible. Time is of the essence when dealing with these creatures.
Photographic Analysis: Orbs:
by Grant Wilson - TAPS
Lately, my email inbox has been inundated with mail from excited investigators, both experienced and amateur, who believe they have captured a paranormal anomaly on film. While their excitement is exhilarating, more often than not, I find when I open the attachment and look at the picture, I am immediately let down. It seems that recently, we have all become a little too eager to capture evidence on film and, in our haste to substantiate, we overlook some of the most basic factors when analyzing our own images.
So, it is in this light that we decided to run a series of articles based on how to debunk your own images so that when you present them to the public you are not only providing REAL evidence, you are also maintaining your credibility.
Ok, with that said, we will start off by talking about some basic things to look for when you are looking at a picture with an orb/globule in it. There are 4 possible causes for an orb to appear in your image and they are as follows:
1. Refraction of a dust particle.
Oftentimes the tiniest particle of dust will reflect the flash of your camera or the infrared light of a digital camera producing a stunning orb that most investigators would drool over. Now, the most popular excuse for claiming that it is not dust is; "But, all the other images had no orbs in it. Only this one". Well, that is because it was only one particle of dust and it is most likely still there in the other photos but it is just not at the right position or angle to reflect the light of the camera flash again.
So, the question remains, how do we know when it is dust and when it is a true orb? Dust tends to refract in a perfect circle with little "noise" in it and no border. By this we mean that the orb does not look like a cell under a microscope. Its make-up is pretty much a solid color without a defined border to it.
2. Refraction of moisture.
This
is a little bit easier to spot. An orb caused by moisture
will tend to have angular sides to it and its make-up tends
to fade from solid to transparent. Once again it has no border.
And like the dust particle, moisture can appear in one photo
and not in another that was taken immediately afterwards.
The larger the moisture the less angular it will look. A picture
of rain drops will yield very little angularity at all. In
fact it will produce small solid looking object that can easily
be mistaken for orbs. A fine mist will produce angular sides.
3. Reflection of an object.
Ok, I must say that this is the most common mistake made and usually the easiest to spot. If you have an image with multiple orbs in it and one is more intense than the other, then, chances are, you have a reflection.
Here is why. When light reflects off of an object it produces many circular "flares" in an image. These vary in intensity and are usually located within a straight line emanating from the source, which is usually some small object in the background that is overlooked by the investigator when reviewing the image. The objects can range from a small ring on a nightstand to the varnish on a table or door.
If you have Adobe PhotoShop, you can take an image like this, run its gamma to near max and you will see that the orb will have the same gamma signature as the object from which they are emanating.
4. True paranormal energy.
Now we're talking. Once you have eliminated
the above possibilities, it is time to take a good, long,
close look at the orb itself. What you are looking for in "orb" activity is a solid object that emits its own light. It will usually show up on film looking like someone just threw a ping-pong ball across the screen.
If the orb has signs of movement, such as a blurred trail behind it, then you've got some rather solid evidence.
The other characteristic of orb activity that we consider is the coloration of the orb. True orbs are colored in the "cool" end of the spectrum, namely white, blue, or green. Any orb activity that shows up as red, orange, or yellow, it typical of dust, light refraction, or processing error.
But remember, and orb is just a collection of energy not the manifestation of a ghost. While orbs are usually present during paranormal activity, you can have orbs show up without paranormal activity.
"Orbs" are a natural phenomenon and can be witnessed with little difficulty in parts of up-state New York as well as other regions around the globe.
So, next time you are flipping through your case pics and find a big white orb staring you down, take the time to really analyze the picture, find the orb's true origins and then present it to the world and be confident that your credibility will remain intact.
Poltergeists:
by Jason Hawes - TAPS
Poltergeist is from a German word meaning noisy spirits. Reports of poltergeists date back to Ancient Roman times.
The activity that takes place will start of with knocks and bangs, furniture starting to move around by itself. Then, the activity will become more intense, manifesting itself through voices and even the appearance of full apparitions. Furniture may slide across the room and beds may shake. Many shows are based on this is a style of haunting because it tends to be the most terrifying and rarest type of haunting that occurs.
Most of the time, in the case of a poltergeist, the haunting circles around a female in her teen years. Some of these cases seem to be caused by the female unknowingly controlling the energy around herself. Some cases happen around people that are stable and in the right mind space.
This haunting is hard to classify due to certain situations. No two are ever really the same. Most of the time you will find that one person in the household seems to be more affected by the haunting than anyone else. It may seem that most of the activity doesn't happen unless that certain person is present. Usually, the activity appears to stop when that person leaves the home. The majority of the time poltergeists are experienced by several people, but again they seem to center around one certain person. This person may be highly stressed as of late or maybe this person has gone through some type of extreme emotional situation. If this is the case, see that the individual involved gets some medical care, and soon afterwards the poltergeist will subside.
When it is not the teenager that is manifesting activity there are usually several spirits in the area. The spirits appear to pool their energy together in order to become strong enough to move larger objects and make more noises. In order to remedy the situation, you need to find the root of their anger so that they can pass over and leave you in peace. On most poltergeist cases they will disappear with out any warning, just as they appeared. Certain times it may stop within a few days, other times it may take years. You may never know the reason that it happened. Most people are just happy to see it go and that's enough for them.
By understanding why it was there in the first place helps you to understand how to keep it from ever coming back again. Knowledge is the key in protecting yourself in this world.