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Precursor Sounds in Physical Phenomena
By Lisa Butler
(As published in the Summer 2002 American Association of Electronic Voice Phenomena  NewsJournal.)

Many of our members have talked and written to us about a noise that is often heard right before an EVP message.  It appears before some of our own EVP.  It is a loud, or not so loud, click, pop, boom or crackling sound.  Some have described it as similar to the sound of someone keying a microphone.  One noted researcher likened the noise to a micro sonic boom.  When we are listening back to an EVP recording and hear this sound, we listen more intently to what comes next.  If you are one of the many people who have experienced this noise you know what I am talking about.

Not all EVP messages are preceded by this precursor, “popping” sound.  For us it is an occasional occurrence.  But when we hear it we are not unlike Pavlov’s dogs, ears perked up waiting for that reward.  The click, if there, means a reward of an EVP.  It, for us, usually signals a better than average EVP as far as loudness, quality and clarity is concerned.

Geoff Viney in his book Surviving Death, Evidence of the Afterlife discusses this mysterious sound in relation to other types of phenomena.

• In 1986 the downstairs rooms, in a farmhouse in England, were infiltrated with the voices of those who appeared to be former residents.  The voices were heard over several nights.  The voices began and ended with a distinct “click” as if a radio had been turned on and off.  Investigators looked for a receiver or a transmitter, but none was found.  Natural explanations for the phenomena were ruled out.

• In 1973 the owner of a converted lighthouse in Maryland repeatedly had his sleep interrupted by the racket of doors banging, furniture moving and footsteps.  A “clicking” sound preceded these manifestations.  Upon further investigation nothing in the area that the noises came from appeared out of place.  The building's owner decided to try and record what he was hearing and left a tape recorder running.  The tape contained voices and extraneous noises.  Some of these voices talked about the treatment of injuries.  A local librarian helped research the home and to everyone’s amazement found that the building was used as a field hospital during the Civil War.

• The anomalous events centering on a World War II Lincoln bomber at the RAF Cosford Aerospace Museum were researched in 1990 by the British investigator Peter Thorneycroft.  The strange sounds of scratches, squeaks, girl’s voices, bumps and human sighs had been reported in the vicinity of the bomber.  The staff had seen phantom air crews and dramatic drops in temperature were reported.  Other phenomena included the movement of switches and the rotation of the wheels of the aircraft.  Thorneycroft saw moving points of bright light and also heard and recorded many anomalous sounds within the aircraft.  These sounds, which were most often mechanical movement type noises, were analyzed and it was found that they always began with a discernable blip on the tape similar to that produced by a sudden burst of static.

The clicking noise associated with EVP messages has been the center of considerable conversation for quite sometime.  Perhaps this sound is caused by a dimensional breakthrough and is an artifact of spirit world energy entering the physical world.  The above stories might point to this type of answer.

Paolo Presi on page 3 of this newsletter reports on Carlo Trajna’s “Psychotemporal Model” in which “Psychic Time” flows differently from “Physical Time.”  Is this anomalous sound before EVP messages caused from a shift in time as the two aspects of reality link up?

Alexander MacRae used an oscilloscope in analyzing a well-known recording from the Palace Hotel.  When viewing this recording Alec noticed that the level of background noise (whistles, hums and buzzing which were side effects of the equipment) on the oscilloscope almost went to zero.  Three or four seconds after the background noise disappeared, a woman’s voice was heard to say “Now.”  Two seconds later, a male voice was recorded with a personal message for his sister who was in the audience.  Another few seconds passed and a female voice said, “Finish,” and then the background noise once again returned to normal on the oscilloscope.

Perhaps the precursor noise we hear on our recordings is similar to the word “Now” heard on Alexander’s recording.  It may simply be a signal or a cue for us to listen closely to what comes next.  Is this noise similar to our telephone ringing letting us know that someone is calling? Alexander’s recording may point to another possible fact, and that is that the entities need and gather all available noise and energy to get their message through to us.

Do those on the other side have equipment that they use to try and contact us?  Are researchers, indeed, hearing the keying of something like a microphone?  And are those on the other side doing this?  Several researchers in the past and present say that they have been in contact with groups on the other side that state that they have developed apparatus for communication with researchers on this side and that this development continues.

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