Paranormal Investigating: Rules of Engagement

First, it is best to have an initial interview with the client during the day, on a day other than the day of investigation. I say this because after you've gotten the information about the activity and the areas to cover, then you know how many investigators to include and what equipment you need to bring. It's also important to acquire any history on the property that you will be investigating, if there has been a history of paranormal activity, unusual happenings of fire or death. These are all important to learn and take into consideration on an investigation. And too, because if you only go to a sight in the nighttime hours, it's difficult to get an acccurate lay of the land and accidents could happen. In a small one floor dwelling, 4 to 5 investigators could investigate in shifts without disrupting each other. In a larger place or a place where activity is in a large outdoor area or both, a larger group would be necessary to sufficiently cover all areas within an allotted timeframe. Okay, so you know the main areas to investigate, how many people you will need, and what equipment you should bring. Extra Batteries and walkie talkies or a cell phone if needed, is a staple in any ghost hunting kit.

On the night of the investigation, it's time to put your plan into action. Now its time for proper placement of cameras if they are to be stationary as for a DVR system, motion sensors, LED lights if needed for cams, and if doing a continuous recording of investigation, the digital voice recorders. After you have everything set up, and you know who will be paired with who;you will need to make a schedule of which pair will be in each area and for how long. After a specified time, come back together at your meeting point and get feedback from your members on their feelings and experiences. You may want to see how other pairs fair in different areas or you may want to concentrate on one or two areas rather than working the whole property again. There is no right or wrong here. You may want to investigate for four hours, or you may want to come back a second day. It's important not to discuss anything that your may or may not have found with or in front the client until all evidence is collected and reviewed.

When you are ready to wrap up your investigation, it's time to gather all of the evidence collected: SD cards from digital cameras, dvds or video from cams, audio files, rolls of film, reports for base readings and changes in temperature, EMF, etc. Gather all of these in one place and put one or two people in charge of the evidence. When you are ready to do a final report on your investigation, all materials will be readily available in one place. A timely report and a copy of any evidence of activity should be returned to the client within a maximum of three days. They came to you or your group for answers, chances are it took them some time to call you and a group should make their best effort to give answers as soon as possible.

There is quite a bit more as far as ettiquette in asking EVP questions, proper way to take pictures, but I just wanted to touch on the basics and may go more indepth in another article. I hope you enjoyed this article and happy ghost hunting.