The scientific term for this phenomenon is known as "Pareidolia," and it describes the psychological phenomenon involving a vague and random stimulus being perceived as significant (its other less-scientific name is ‘Matrixing’). Maybe you remember your childhood, laying on your back in the grass looking up at the clouds and finding shapes. Maybe you saw the man on the moon. Many psychologists use what is commonly referred to as the "ink blot test" to derive a patient’s mental state. These are all types of Pareidolia, and they frequently fool the run-of-the-mill paranormal investigator into thinking they’ve got a magical, ghostly face in their photo.

Another great way that investigators are fooled is by audio evidence. Many paranormal investigators in this day and age use digital recording devices to attempt to capture Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP) - a buzz-word in the paranormal community. An EVP is a voice or sound that is imprinted on an audio recording device that was inaudible to the human ear at the time of the occurrence. It’s such a revolutionary topic, in fact, that a film starring Michael Keaton was released dealing with EVPs. This is a seemingly legitimate phenomenon, but like most "evidence" that investigators pass off as 100% legitimate, I find that most of the time it can be debunked with logical explanation.

First of all, there’s nothing to suggest that an EVP cannot be simply a form of radio waves that travel all over the earth. Imagine a radio signal from Germany bouncing off of our ionosphere and then ending up on your audio device. To date, no evidence is available to suggest that the voices that sound scary and weird to us, aren’t simply something resonating naturally. It could be sound waves from man-made sources, or something even more rudimentary. Therefore, the best advice I could give to an investigator seeking to provide legitimacy of their audio evidence is to use a Faraday Cage. These are small enclosures made of metal or mesh that block out external static electrical fields. If an investigator were to place his audio recording device into a Faraday Cage, it would be shielded from electrical fields such as radio signals. Without using one of these cages, skeptical and rational minds will immediately discredit your EVP as a naturally occurring electrical wave, field or signal.

Even with the use of a Faraday Cage, an investigator has to be careful not to pass off every "bump in the night" as an EVP. Sounds by themselves are only sounds, nothing more. Moreover, most teams have several investigators present at the time. Along with the owners and any passerby’s, the audio evidence becomes more and more susceptible to contamination from people (or even animals). A virtual quarantine of the area and visual confirmation of all parties present is required, if you want your EVP to be legit.

All of the examples above are ways that a paranormal investigator can be fooled by the evidence. But aside from the photographic and audio trickery, the investigator can also show up to a case and already be mentally unprepared. Ultimately more important than anything else is the investigator’s state of mind. If someone goes into an investigation with the attitude that the place is already haunted, and you are just there to capture what is going on – you’re not being scientific at all. Scientifically speaking, the majority (arguably all) of paranormal reports can be explained with perfectly normal reasons. It should be your job to find out what normal and improbable things are going on, before you deem them to be paranormal. A firm understanding of the rarity of legitimate paranormal activity is essential. Be rational, be scientific and be critical. Otherwise, you too can be fooled.

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