Otherworld North East Research Society Journal 01 | Page 24

Otherworld North East

outside of our own imaginations!? No matter how much money you’re willing to throw
into your EMF meters you will NEVER find one that tells you where the ghosts are. Until
the highly-Hollywood-ised view of Ghostbusters comes to fruition, this will never be the
case! (Mores the pity!)
Statements such as:
“When using the EMF as a tracking device look for fluctuations of 2.0 to 7.0, this usually
indicates spirit presence. Anything higher or lower is normally has a natural source.”
are of laughable origin to me as not only do they not state which EMF Meter they are using
(i.e. what the relevance of the figures 2 to 7 is to this statement) but also you have to
seriously question how they found that it is within this range that it is likely to indicate
spirit presence!?
So what’s the point in using EMF meters as Paranormal Investigators?
Although so far the only positive perspective I’ve put on the majority of EMF Meters is for
use by electricians (on the whole), I do still think EMF Meters can be a valuable tool in any
Paranormal Investigators kit. The most important thing to remember as an Investigator is
simply that they are NOT to be used to detect ghosts. I know it may be hard for avid Most
Haunted fans to get this out of their heads but it is critical to effective use of EMF meters.
For a start, when you consider that a large proportion of investigations are conducted in
buildings that are full of electrical equipment, thereby you WILL get readings left, right
and centre if you start randomly waving your EMF meter around like you’ve seen on the
television.
An important aspect of all investigations in my opinion is that of the baseline readings that
should be taken at the start of every investigation and indeed throughout the
investigation itself. I see little point in just taking readings at the start of the investigation
only to forget all about them when the “fun” bit starts. To me, it is a complete waste of
time doing them initially if you are not going to do more with them.
Baseline readings can include a whole host of readings (only limited by time, expertise and
indeed the finances of the investigators present). You can spend hours alone just taking
baseline readings. This, to me, is of more use than the vast majority of the rest of the
investigation. After all, if you are in the field of Paranormal Investigating for anything
other than just a bit of a thrill or a laugh with your mates then what is the point in any of
it without having at least some kind of data to back your work up?
As everything electrical in origin gives off EM fields, a large proportion of equipment used
by Paranormal Investigators can themselves cause our EMF Meters to go off (especially
applicable to the users of Gauss Masters). If you hold it up to your camera, camcorder,
torch, etc. there is a good chance you’ll get a reading. Sadly, even five years after Most
Haunted first hit our screens, there is still an alarming number of people out there who

22