Post by Brad-LaSpirits on Jul 14, 2007 1:53:11 GMT -5
"Baiting" for better results/captures
By: Matt Ferrell
Your first objective as a paranormal investigator is to find any and all "logical" explanations for a 'haunting'. Once you've done this, and are still left with unexplained events, then you may have a real haunting taking place, in which case you can try "Baiting".Researchers and Investigators have two main jobs:? One is to either try and find logical explanations for a haunting, and if you can't, then you can try to capture paranormal data to help back up that something strange is going on there. ? The other job is to care for the owners of the location having the experiences/encounters. Whether it's paranormal or not, the people are still experiencing strange happenings, and they may be afraid, angry, sad, etc. In a way, we're kind of like counselors. Finding 'logical' explanations may help them cope with it better, but what if you find evidence that the place does have something odd going on? Will they be able to handle knowing that? We have to help them through it and to understand what may be going on.The "Baiting" technique deals with the capturing of evidence side of things. It also deals with intelligent or genuine hauntings, rather then residual hauntings."Baiting" is just what it sounds like. Putting things out into an area (objects, music, conversation, etc.) that may interest something/someone there, and hopefully provide better results for what you're trying to capture.I'll start from the beginning though. When you enter a location to investigate, I think it's nice to introduce yourself. Let 'whoever' may be there know who you are, and why you're there. You can either do this out loud, or in your head (since it seems from investigations that spirit reacts to what people sometimes think, showing in a way that they may be able to 'read minds'). Think about it. If someone just walked into your house and turned off all the lights, set up equipment and walked around with audio recorders asking questions, and snapping photos.. how weird would that be? You would probably either get really mad and get them out of there, or stay away from them altogether, not sure what to do. Neither of those are what we, as ghost researchers, want (we don't want to be chased out by an angry spirit, and we don't want to not capture any evidence at all). We want whatever's there, if there is an entity at the location, to be comfortable.. which in turn may provide some nice evidence.So go in. Make yourself known, let 'whoever' may be there know why you're there, and introduce yourself. IMPORTANT NOTE THOUGH:There's a strong difference between introducing yourself, and inviting 'whoever' may be there to introduce their self to you. One thing I've learned first hand from research and investigation is, bad things can tend to happen when: ? the person is either very open (by being tired, sick, drunk, on drugs, has low self esteem, etc.).. all those things can open a person up. It lowers their guard and their resistances. If something "not so nice" is in the area, it could take advantage of that. Never do investigations if you're not at your best. It could harm your focus on collecting and recording data, and most importantly could cause harm to yourself if something was to take advantage of that. ? if the person and the entity have some form of bond/connection, like an invitation. Something as simple as saying "Can you let me know you're here" or "Can you make yourself known" may be asking for more then you can handle. Ouija Boards are another form of invitation. It's just like leaving your front door wide open, you never know who may walk in. There's some people who are trained to deal with "contact" like that (usually from years and years of learning), but for the everyday researcher/investigator, it's best to just keep your guard/resistances up and keep that door closed. If you introduce yourself first, you may find you'll get better results then just walking in, setting up and seeing what you get.Now, back to "Baiting".Alot of researchers go to a location, set up their video camera's and audio recorders.. then just record, seeing what they may get. Which is fine, and it works. But I usually like to take it further then that. If you're going to have a video camera sitting there filming a wall for hours on end, at least put something out there that may interest the entity to come out.. which may provide better evidence.Do your research on the area. Find out who used to live there and/or who it's believed may haunt the place. From the info collected, you can decide what form of "baiting" you want to do. Just as a certain form of bait may bring better results for a certain fishing spot (like for freshwater fish compared to others), the same goes for 'ghost hunting'. Although we're not catching the spirit, we're just trying to collect evidence, but the same rules still apply for the most part.A few examples are:? If it's a child that's believed haunts the place, set out toys. Outline them with chalk (chalk is easy to clean up) so you can note any movement, and place a video camera on them as well. ? If the person who is said to haunt the location liked to play cards/poker (which was very popular years and years ago), then set out a deck of cards, and maybe even play some cards with another member of the team while videoing it and recording audio. Even try setting out some cards to an 'empty' chair. Like attracts like, so if the entity there sees people playing cards, they may join also (hopefully providing some good evidence to back it up). We've been doing this for years.. sometimes we get good results, and sometimes we don't.. but the point is to at least try it, and see what happens. There's many reports of "baiting" producing good results, so sometimes you just have to be at the right place at the right time.Myself and two other members, Rick and Glenn, just investigated an old theatre near Central Florida about a month ago. A little girl has been reported walking around, and other activity that a child might do has been reported. So in the dressing rooms backstage (which from reports, seemed to be an active area) I set up some toys on a table and outlined them so I could monitor any movement. Jewellery of the staff has also gone missing alot, only to be turned up later on in an area that was searched many times and is easy to see. No cause for it to have went missing and then reappeared later on. So I also set up some jewellery on the table and outlined it as well, and put a video camera on it that was recording.Since theatres are also known for the seats going up/down, I went around and put every seat in the theatre in the upright position, which I monitored throughout the night to see if 'anyone' would have a seat (some of the seats wouldn't stay up, so I marked them by taping a piece of white paper to them so I'd know they were already down). That isn't so much "Baiting" though, as it is just setting up a controlled setting and seeing if anything changes.
Although none of these experiments turned up any activity, we at least tried.It doesn't always have to be setting objects out though. Do research on what kind of music was played in the time period that the person who is said to haunt the location lived in. Then bring along some of that music and play it. Many people are moved deeply by music. It's a very powerful thing.. so if someone is there who hears music from their time period, maybe it will interest them to come out, maybe dance in front of a video camera? Or maybe even sing/hum a tune on your audio recorders? Never know.Also, even conversation may spark an interest in the entity there. Again, do your research and find out what topics were popular in their time period. Who was president? Was there any wars going on? Any big stories taking place? Take any info collected, and while investigating, start talking to other investigators about the events collected. Just as with the music, if someone is there who hears the conversation and it sparks an interest for them, they may come out to join in.. maybe you'll get some interesting audio recording of more then just the investigators talking?Tonya of GHOULI brought up another interesting idea which I'll share also:This is an example of bringing psychology into the ghosts/hauntings realm. From research and investigation done into ghosts/hauntings, it seems that the entities encountered still retain their personality, intelligence and emotions.. So they're the same as a 'living' person, they just don't have their physical bodies any more. If this is true, then their thoughts, and urges that they had when they were 'alive' are probably still there.From research done of human behavior, there's some objects/sounds/etc. that draw humans to them. One example being balloons. If, in a mall, a balloon is set up at a location, a very high percentage of the people that walk past it WILL touch it. Some may poke it, some may slap it, some may grab it, etc. But for some reason there's a very strong urge for most people to touch the balloon (kids especially, but the urge seems to be there for almost any age group).What if we "baited" with a balloon in a haunted location? Would the spirits still have that urge to touch it? From research and investigation, we already know that spirit is very much physical. They can open/close doors, touch people, move things, etc.. so it seems that touching a balloon should be no problem for them.Try setting up a helium filled balloon on a string in a room. A red balloon may work nicely since it's a stand out color, may attract easier. Put something on the string to weigh the balloon down so it won't float off. Let the balloon hover about waist level, and set a video camera on it to monitor it. Of course, don't put the balloon in a room with open windows, a fan or an AC unit, etc. You want the air/balloon as calm as possible. It's also preferred that no one else be in the room to stir the air around (if you have a monitoring station, monitor the camera from another room). Trying this at a location where many spirits are thought to haunt the location (old hospitals, schoolhouses, the Queen Mary!, etc.) may of course work better then at a location where only one spirit is thought to haunt, since you'll have more 'people' there to possibly interact with the balloon. But you never know, try it out anywhere!This could provide a few results:? Just a slight swaying back and forth of the balloon would probably be inconclusive. If an orb or other anomaly is captured at the time of the swaying, that would be a bit more interesting. ? If the balloon darts to one side as if someone walked past it quickly, that would be an interesting capture if nothing was in the area to cause it. And if an orb or other anomaly is captured along with it, even better. ? And also, if the balloon darts downward (as is someone poked it from above) that would be a great capture! And of course, anomalies around the balloon at the time would be great also. ? And what if the balloon popped? And an anomaly was captured going by it at the time? All this would be interesting to capture. And if you were to capture EVP, EMF readings, Thermal readings, etc. to help back up the data, that would be a great!These are just a few examples of 'baiting'. Some are more pointed towards certain personalities (children, card players, etc.) and some are more general (like the balloon experiment). Just do your research and find out what may work best for the location you're at. What may interest the entity that may be there the most? There's no 'set in stone' laws about what works and what doesn't work. There's loads of things you can try.. and you never know what may work, so try anything!I think this method is alot better then just setting up equipment at an empty space and hoping to capture something, and it doesn't hurt to try it. At least with 'baiting', you're throwing something else into the mix, something that may interest the spirit, make them more comfortable, and that may help to obtain more or better results / captures / evidence. Give it a shot!
By: Matt Ferrell
Your first objective as a paranormal investigator is to find any and all "logical" explanations for a 'haunting'. Once you've done this, and are still left with unexplained events, then you may have a real haunting taking place, in which case you can try "Baiting".Researchers and Investigators have two main jobs:? One is to either try and find logical explanations for a haunting, and if you can't, then you can try to capture paranormal data to help back up that something strange is going on there. ? The other job is to care for the owners of the location having the experiences/encounters. Whether it's paranormal or not, the people are still experiencing strange happenings, and they may be afraid, angry, sad, etc. In a way, we're kind of like counselors. Finding 'logical' explanations may help them cope with it better, but what if you find evidence that the place does have something odd going on? Will they be able to handle knowing that? We have to help them through it and to understand what may be going on.The "Baiting" technique deals with the capturing of evidence side of things. It also deals with intelligent or genuine hauntings, rather then residual hauntings."Baiting" is just what it sounds like. Putting things out into an area (objects, music, conversation, etc.) that may interest something/someone there, and hopefully provide better results for what you're trying to capture.I'll start from the beginning though. When you enter a location to investigate, I think it's nice to introduce yourself. Let 'whoever' may be there know who you are, and why you're there. You can either do this out loud, or in your head (since it seems from investigations that spirit reacts to what people sometimes think, showing in a way that they may be able to 'read minds'). Think about it. If someone just walked into your house and turned off all the lights, set up equipment and walked around with audio recorders asking questions, and snapping photos.. how weird would that be? You would probably either get really mad and get them out of there, or stay away from them altogether, not sure what to do. Neither of those are what we, as ghost researchers, want (we don't want to be chased out by an angry spirit, and we don't want to not capture any evidence at all). We want whatever's there, if there is an entity at the location, to be comfortable.. which in turn may provide some nice evidence.So go in. Make yourself known, let 'whoever' may be there know why you're there, and introduce yourself. IMPORTANT NOTE THOUGH:There's a strong difference between introducing yourself, and inviting 'whoever' may be there to introduce their self to you. One thing I've learned first hand from research and investigation is, bad things can tend to happen when: ? the person is either very open (by being tired, sick, drunk, on drugs, has low self esteem, etc.).. all those things can open a person up. It lowers their guard and their resistances. If something "not so nice" is in the area, it could take advantage of that. Never do investigations if you're not at your best. It could harm your focus on collecting and recording data, and most importantly could cause harm to yourself if something was to take advantage of that. ? if the person and the entity have some form of bond/connection, like an invitation. Something as simple as saying "Can you let me know you're here" or "Can you make yourself known" may be asking for more then you can handle. Ouija Boards are another form of invitation. It's just like leaving your front door wide open, you never know who may walk in. There's some people who are trained to deal with "contact" like that (usually from years and years of learning), but for the everyday researcher/investigator, it's best to just keep your guard/resistances up and keep that door closed. If you introduce yourself first, you may find you'll get better results then just walking in, setting up and seeing what you get.Now, back to "Baiting".Alot of researchers go to a location, set up their video camera's and audio recorders.. then just record, seeing what they may get. Which is fine, and it works. But I usually like to take it further then that. If you're going to have a video camera sitting there filming a wall for hours on end, at least put something out there that may interest the entity to come out.. which may provide better evidence.Do your research on the area. Find out who used to live there and/or who it's believed may haunt the place. From the info collected, you can decide what form of "baiting" you want to do. Just as a certain form of bait may bring better results for a certain fishing spot (like for freshwater fish compared to others), the same goes for 'ghost hunting'. Although we're not catching the spirit, we're just trying to collect evidence, but the same rules still apply for the most part.A few examples are:? If it's a child that's believed haunts the place, set out toys. Outline them with chalk (chalk is easy to clean up) so you can note any movement, and place a video camera on them as well. ? If the person who is said to haunt the location liked to play cards/poker (which was very popular years and years ago), then set out a deck of cards, and maybe even play some cards with another member of the team while videoing it and recording audio. Even try setting out some cards to an 'empty' chair. Like attracts like, so if the entity there sees people playing cards, they may join also (hopefully providing some good evidence to back it up). We've been doing this for years.. sometimes we get good results, and sometimes we don't.. but the point is to at least try it, and see what happens. There's many reports of "baiting" producing good results, so sometimes you just have to be at the right place at the right time.Myself and two other members, Rick and Glenn, just investigated an old theatre near Central Florida about a month ago. A little girl has been reported walking around, and other activity that a child might do has been reported. So in the dressing rooms backstage (which from reports, seemed to be an active area) I set up some toys on a table and outlined them so I could monitor any movement. Jewellery of the staff has also gone missing alot, only to be turned up later on in an area that was searched many times and is easy to see. No cause for it to have went missing and then reappeared later on. So I also set up some jewellery on the table and outlined it as well, and put a video camera on it that was recording.Since theatres are also known for the seats going up/down, I went around and put every seat in the theatre in the upright position, which I monitored throughout the night to see if 'anyone' would have a seat (some of the seats wouldn't stay up, so I marked them by taping a piece of white paper to them so I'd know they were already down). That isn't so much "Baiting" though, as it is just setting up a controlled setting and seeing if anything changes.
Although none of these experiments turned up any activity, we at least tried.It doesn't always have to be setting objects out though. Do research on what kind of music was played in the time period that the person who is said to haunt the location lived in. Then bring along some of that music and play it. Many people are moved deeply by music. It's a very powerful thing.. so if someone is there who hears music from their time period, maybe it will interest them to come out, maybe dance in front of a video camera? Or maybe even sing/hum a tune on your audio recorders? Never know.Also, even conversation may spark an interest in the entity there. Again, do your research and find out what topics were popular in their time period. Who was president? Was there any wars going on? Any big stories taking place? Take any info collected, and while investigating, start talking to other investigators about the events collected. Just as with the music, if someone is there who hears the conversation and it sparks an interest for them, they may come out to join in.. maybe you'll get some interesting audio recording of more then just the investigators talking?Tonya of GHOULI brought up another interesting idea which I'll share also:This is an example of bringing psychology into the ghosts/hauntings realm. From research and investigation done into ghosts/hauntings, it seems that the entities encountered still retain their personality, intelligence and emotions.. So they're the same as a 'living' person, they just don't have their physical bodies any more. If this is true, then their thoughts, and urges that they had when they were 'alive' are probably still there.From research done of human behavior, there's some objects/sounds/etc. that draw humans to them. One example being balloons. If, in a mall, a balloon is set up at a location, a very high percentage of the people that walk past it WILL touch it. Some may poke it, some may slap it, some may grab it, etc. But for some reason there's a very strong urge for most people to touch the balloon (kids especially, but the urge seems to be there for almost any age group).What if we "baited" with a balloon in a haunted location? Would the spirits still have that urge to touch it? From research and investigation, we already know that spirit is very much physical. They can open/close doors, touch people, move things, etc.. so it seems that touching a balloon should be no problem for them.Try setting up a helium filled balloon on a string in a room. A red balloon may work nicely since it's a stand out color, may attract easier. Put something on the string to weigh the balloon down so it won't float off. Let the balloon hover about waist level, and set a video camera on it to monitor it. Of course, don't put the balloon in a room with open windows, a fan or an AC unit, etc. You want the air/balloon as calm as possible. It's also preferred that no one else be in the room to stir the air around (if you have a monitoring station, monitor the camera from another room). Trying this at a location where many spirits are thought to haunt the location (old hospitals, schoolhouses, the Queen Mary!, etc.) may of course work better then at a location where only one spirit is thought to haunt, since you'll have more 'people' there to possibly interact with the balloon. But you never know, try it out anywhere!This could provide a few results:? Just a slight swaying back and forth of the balloon would probably be inconclusive. If an orb or other anomaly is captured at the time of the swaying, that would be a bit more interesting. ? If the balloon darts to one side as if someone walked past it quickly, that would be an interesting capture if nothing was in the area to cause it. And if an orb or other anomaly is captured along with it, even better. ? And also, if the balloon darts downward (as is someone poked it from above) that would be a great capture! And of course, anomalies around the balloon at the time would be great also. ? And what if the balloon popped? And an anomaly was captured going by it at the time? All this would be interesting to capture. And if you were to capture EVP, EMF readings, Thermal readings, etc. to help back up the data, that would be a great!These are just a few examples of 'baiting'. Some are more pointed towards certain personalities (children, card players, etc.) and some are more general (like the balloon experiment). Just do your research and find out what may work best for the location you're at. What may interest the entity that may be there the most? There's no 'set in stone' laws about what works and what doesn't work. There's loads of things you can try.. and you never know what may work, so try anything!I think this method is alot better then just setting up equipment at an empty space and hoping to capture something, and it doesn't hurt to try it. At least with 'baiting', you're throwing something else into the mix, something that may interest the spirit, make them more comfortable, and that may help to obtain more or better results / captures / evidence. Give it a shot!