Anomaly
An anomaly is an
object that is not of regular proportions, constitution or makeup or it
appears to be different than it should normally appear. It means it is
not what it's supposed to be. Something out of place. It is a
unique and strange occurance.
Apparition
Apparitions "appear", which means they are usually
considered in this field to be the sighting of an entity in form of mist,
shadow or in the form of body, partial body or see-through body.
An apparition is not "felt".
AVP
Audible Voice Phenomenon.
AVP is heard, aloud, audibly. Sometimes it is
caught on film or audio as well, but not always. It can be heard and
still not recorded.
Ball Lightning
A very real phenomenon by
which balls of energy are formed. This can occur through seizemic
vibration of the metallic earth or through actual electric discharges from
the earth. It is a true reason for "orb" activity and is one of the
causes of orbs, however it is very rare to see and almost never gets filmed.
It is scientifically proven and it is non-paranormal by nature.
Channeling
A beilef that someone
can channel a spirit or deceased person's personality, thoughts or words
through their own body. A deliberate possession allowed by a spirit,
with whome they allow to tell them what to do or say. Very often
associated with psychotic episodes or episodes brought on by mental
illness, drug user or drinking.
Channelers truly believe they are able to take on the
entity's personality or to channel thoughts and information through a
deceased person or spirit.
RPI's view of channeling is that it is not a real event
and until proven differently, we uphold this definition as fact.
Cold Investigating Technique
The CIT is developed for investigators who do
not wish to be tainted by previous knowledge as to why a client contacted
the team. They will be less likely to have their findings or
experiences altered, by going into an investigation "cold" and without
knowledge of previous events which have transpired at the site.
Cold Spot
A spot that may or may not be moving. A spot that is
colder than the rest of the atmosphere, often appearing very suddenly and
sinking in degree. It is said that cold spots are a sign that a spirit
is about to manifest.
Debunk
To prove something is not as it appeared. Often, we
will debunk our own evidence by reviewing it or trying to find alternative
reasons for its occurrence. Reliable teams do this to make sure their
evidence is of the utmost integrity before presenting it to a client or the
public.
Demon
A name that many
religions give to a very negative entity. Sometimes, this is
associated in some belief systems with Satanic origin, or origins of
absolute evil.
Almost every religious belief system has some
entity which is similar to this type of entity.
Demons can influence emotional wellbeing of a human
being. Demonic entities can wreak havoc and can even inhabit human
beings via possession of the human's body and mind.
This type of entity can be conjured, and bringing
negative things into a home, or things the entity has attached itself to,
or by knowing and associating with very negatively pre-influenced
individuals, a person may open themselves up to this type of being.
Demonic Haunt
Non-human
entity. Dramatic, violent, frightening with deliberacy, starts out with
small activities and generally increases with time to harsher activity.
It can emotionally influence people with negative thoughts which were
formerly out of their character. (See demon above).
Demonology
The study of demons or
negative entities. A Demonologist is a person who is sometimes able to
help remove Demons or negative entities.
Echolia
Repeating back what has just been heard. Often,
spirits will have a form of Echolia, heard on audio playback or in person.
Ectoplasm
Ectoplasm is derived
from the greek word "Ecto", which means outside, or not within norm, and "plasm",
which means molded and formed, or "in formation". It literally means
not within the norm and formed.
Ectoplasm is said to look soft, white foamy or webby in
substance, with long strings that form and float around while entities
are in the area. It is said to manifest through mediums, and through
people who are considered to be a "conduit" of the dead.
EMF
Electromagnetic
Frequency, current.
EMF can cause hallucinations, headaches, illness, a
generalized feeling of "being watched" and anxieties of many types as well
as insomnia.
It is also widely considered by the paranormal
community that spirits can use EMF to manifest, by drawing on its energy.
Entity
An Entity would encompass a broad variety of
different life-forms which are non-human-living beings.
Entities include: Spirits, ghosts, poltergeists, demons, shadow people, etc.
There are a lot of different types which fall under the header "entity".
Evidence
Evidence is findings based on tactile proof,
and scientific proof. It is tangible, visible, audible or personal,
but it is never speculated or assumed.
Evidence proves or disproves something. It can
disarm or substantiate claims of paranormal occurances.
It is data, presented to the client, team and public
that is proof of the facts in issue and which may include the testimony of
witnesses, records, documents, film, objects, audio or photographic
evidence.
EVP - Follow the link to read
more.
Electronic Voice Phenomenon.
EVP is caught on audio recorder or video and is not
heard, audibly.
Exorcism
Exorcism is the removal
of a demon from a human being who is supposedly possessed.
Fear Cage
An area with a very high EMF
reading, in a very compacted space.
Founder
The individual who founded the team.
Full Bodied Apparition
Full bodied, means a body, in full, fully-shaped
and although it may be transparent, it is clearly discernable.
Fun House Effect (FHE)
Fun House Effect, same thing as Funhouse Effect
(FE).
FHE is caused when the literal structure you are
standing on is crooked, giving the appearance that it is straight, yet
disorienting the individual signifigantly. Stairs are often crooked,
floors, cielings & structures.
A FHE can be caused, alternatively, by mirrors, giving
the effect that there is more happening than there truly is, through
matrixing.
FHE is often also found to occur in areas of high EMF.
Ghost or Spirit
An apparition. There is no proof that a
ghost, spirit or entity are manifestations of "the dead". We do not
conclusively know what they are, at this time. We can only speculate
pertaining to our era and data collected that they are plausibly deceased
individuals coming back for a reason, ie: to haunt a location because of
emotional trauma, desire to still care for, or to cause havock. See
"Spirit" and "Entity".
Ghost Hunting
That was what those in a movie from the 80s
did. That's not what RPI does.
Ghost Hunting is a term given by a bunch of people,
getting together, to go out and see if they can get scared, and find any
paranormal occurrences. It differs greatly from Paranormal
Investigation.
Ghost Hunting Certification
A scam offered by people
to scam others out of their money. Currently, in this field, there is
no set certification for doing what we do. We do assume, however, that
like RPI, most teams would be responsible enough to Megan's Law clear
members and criminal-checkk them, so that they are not irresponsibly
bringing potential crime into a patron's home or business.
Home Base
A place we put our gear and meet to discuss issues, out of
the client's earshot.
Incubus
A male entity which has
sex with people against their will. It is said that an Incubus can
steal your life as it has sex with you.
Infrared (IR)
The human eye only sees a
portion of the spectrum of actual viewable colors out there, and Infrared
Spectrum is a portion we don't readily see without a specialized lens that
allows it to be converted so that we are able to view it. It is
thought that spirits can dwell in that spectrum, or in the Full Spectrum
category and recent studies show that filming in infrared spectrum helps
show more than we actually see with our naked eye. Many odd anomalies
are caught using IR technology, on film, either by video or photograph.
Intelligent Haunt
An
Intelligent Haunt can communicate with you or attempts to do so. They
can be comfortable entities, or dark entities, both. It is a
deliberate haunt, which means it deliberates its moves, and calculates them
in some format. It can include apparitions, living entities, newly
deceased or people who have been deceased without any closure to their
situation (ie: suicide victim), a dog, cat, pet, people or any living thing
that died without resolving some issue in life or who has a bone to pick
with the living. An Intelligent Haunt can also show itself as an
apparition, either full-bodied or partial-bodied: ie: head, arms, leg, toe,
etc.
intuition
Varying explanations of
this exist, ranging from perceptive insights to those who can feel more than
the average person, by nature. It is often thought that intuitive
individuals are often psychics, but that is not the case. They just
seem to perceive more than others do.
Investigator
An investigator is responsible for helping
investigate. They may have to learn a lot more than the public assumes
that it takes for them to take on this position, and they are a very
respected individual, who is very important to any team.
Investigator In Training
This person is someone who is new or who is
still learning. The learning process, on RPI can be up to two years,
although most are considered investigators within a year. Each
individual learns at his or her own pace.
Lens Flare
A flash or reflection of an object off of glass
or other reflective surface, caught on film, which may look etherial at
first look, although is caused by a light refraction.
Lights Out
Time to turn out the lights. A team request to turn
all visible lights out so that we can do an investigation.
Manifest
To show itself. Manifesting is when something appears
out of thin air.
Matrixing
Often this occurs when an object bounces off of
another and is caught on film, video or seen in person.
Matrixing can be how an image appears in a mirrored
room, a room with many paintings or much glass. It can also be when
one camera plays off of another, or a lens in the distance, or a mirror.
It is when whatever it is aiming at is reflected in
some type of way.
Medium
A person who can
communicate with spirits.
True mediums are rare. They do not channel, and
they do not show other signs of mental illness, such as channeling.
RPI is on the fence about this one, but only because it
does seem that for particular people, more things happen around them than
for others. These people appear to be very "normal" people, as to the
mental health standards set forth by NAMI.
True mediums usually don't even know they are
communicating, or that they are visible to the other side. Spirits see
them much like a beacon of light, and they are attracted to them, it seems,
moreso than to the average person.
Non Human
Often associated with a negative entity, this term means it
is not of human origin. However, this term may be used for other
things such as what is thought to be animals.
Night Vision
A technology which allows
visual in total darkness.
Object Haunt
Sometimes people go to
yardsales (or by other means) and seem to bring home activity by bringing
something in. Let's say you bought a book, and with that book was
attached a negative entity. Well, it has just gained entrance into
your home by you bringing it in.
Orb
Regarded, generally, as a round, lit object
caught on film. Throughout the history of photography, people have
been catching things on film that are round, distinct by characteristic and
which look like faces, spotted dots, colored dots or are seen streaking
around. Generally, this phenomenon is caused by dust, lint or other
particulates in the air, but on occasion, true energy is captured.
True energy is not dust or lint, but is self-lit, often not shaped
symetrically, and is not of the bug or dust origin. It is so hard to
define, that most teams call all orbs "dust".
Ouija Board
This is one thing
RPI recommends that nobody use. It is a tool and toy of the occult.
The occult should never be intertwined in any way, shape or form, with
paranormal investigation and it is the opinion of our team that if you play
with spirit boards of any type, it is a danger to your safety.
Paranormal
Para: Greek word meaning "at", "to one side of",
"alongside", or "side by side"
Ie: parallel, paranoia, paramedic.
Normal: A standard, general label, a pattern.
Paranormal: Means, literally, alongside the normal or to one side of a
standard.
A "paranormal" investigator (PI) investigates the
things going on aside the normal which may exist, but are not of the
standardized comprehension of most people.
Paranormal Investigation
This is the way respecable teams investigate.
This is organized investigating, done on the basis of
finding evidence, or on the basis of disproving findings, or on both, with
the concept being that whatever remains and is not debunked, is considered
paranormal until proven differently.
The difference between investigating and hunting are
easy. The distinctions are clear. Hunting is when you go and try
to chase things down and track evidence. Investigating is going
further. Finding reasons, finding tracks, leading to tracks and
originating causes and finding answers. It is a far more in-depth form
of research.
Personal Haunting
A person can be haunted just as much as a home or an
artifact. Something seems to always happen around them, to follow them
from house to house, to never leave.
Poltergeist
Poltern: German, meaning to rumble or to make
noise. Geist: ghost, spirit.
Poltergeist: Denotes a negative entity which moves things or makes noise that
sounds like things being moved.
Sometimes beginning as what seems to be a small
child, but escalating to full blown negative entity, the poltergeist wreaks
havoc and moves things around. It can also make a lot of noise.
Typical poltergeist reports would be of hearing
glass break, running downstairs to see nothing out of order, or of watching
Christmas bulbs roll across the floor on their own. Movement of
objects is not extraordinary for this type of entity.
Sometimes, it is believed that young teens entering
hormonal growth stages can actually cause this type of behavior around
themselves, without knowing it consciously. Hence, that is called
poltergeist activity, and is not linked to any entity, but the broader term
used to describe the activity which is occurring.
Poltergeist Haunt
A haunting
where the entity is generally considered "noisy" and "moves things".
A teen may be involved. (See poltergeist above).
Possession
A possession is the
supposed inhabitation of a demonic entity in a human being's body.
Often, it is associated with severe mental health
issues.
Psychic
There are very few real individuals who I
believe possess this power.
A psychic is someone who thinks that they are intuitive
and who thinks that they can percieve more than normal people do. They
say that they can "sense" things, they believe that they can talk with
spirit guides and that they can tell your past, present and future as well
as seeing things that are present, while nobody else sees them.
I do believe there are some individuals who have some
form of this gift, but that they are a very, very rare thing, and in this
society, with all the pay-for-psychics out there, it demeans a true gift
some people may have, to a point that generally, RPI will not take into
consideration anything psychically given as information.
Researcher
The team's researcher digs up whatever
information about an investigation that they are able to turn up. They
dissolve rumors and speculation through in-depth research, helping to
decypher truth from fiction, reality from legend and to remove myths
surrounding the investigation.
Residual Haunt
A Residual Haunt does
the same thing over and over again, reliving some past memory of the place.
For instance, a man reports seeing five people walking through his stage
doors, nightly, at 12 a.m., and they always do the same thing. He
reports that they do it every night, or every year. This is a
Residual Haunt, which means that the haunt can actually be a memory of
events which occurred in a place.
RVP
Radio Voice Phenomenon.
Non-proven, scientifically, although many groups claim to have activity
documented using this technique and a new tool called the Frank's Box or the
Ghost Box. This is a radio box, skipping random radio channels and is
said to be a conduit to speak with the dead. It is not proven as a
scientific tool in study of the paranormal, and at this time, it remains a
fun gadget, at most.
Shadow People
This is a very common type of reported entity.
A typical report may look something like: "I was sitting in the
livingroom watching TV, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw something
moving, so I turned and looked, but nothing was there. I resumed
watching TV, and after a few minutes, it came back. So, I waited a few
moments longer, and then I turned as fast as I could, trying to see what it
was, and just as I looked, it jumped behind the door. All I saw,
briefly, was its head ducking behind the door jam".
I've experienced these throughout the years.
They are never good. They almost always accompany negativity.
Sometimes they are formed, sometimes they are not.
The formed shadow people are shaped in human-like shape, and are shorter,
approximately 4 feet tall at the most. Usually, these entities move
very fast, so fast, that they are almost not visible for our visual
perception.
Sleep Paralysis
Waking dreams & Lucid Dreaming.
Sleep Paralysis is a very real, scientific fact.
Some people experience this and many paranormal reports can be attributed to
this type of phenomenon.
The body is still asleep, even though the eyes are open
and the ears may be hearing. It has not quite come out of the
dream state and at this phase, a body can experience hallucinations, both
audio and visual as well as tactile.
Spike
A
peek above the normal, acceptable levels, of a gadget being used to monitor
a scientific study of an environment.
Spirit or Ghost
Generally accepted as the form of a past living
being, which has passed from life, as we understand it. This form of
entity is not limited to human beings, and can also be related to animals.
Spirits and ghosts have not been proven to exist,
although entities being seen have been accepted as such.
Spirit Board
Similar to a Ouija Board,
a mode of communication from the spirit world to the present.
Succubus
A female entity who is
said to have sex with people, stealing their lives a bit more, each time.
Tag Along
A Tag Along is a spirit who follows people or
chooses a person to hang with. It will often follow someone to a new
residence.
Team Manager
The Team Manager manages and helps organize
alongside the Founder of the team. He or she is the person you can ask
in-depth questions of, and he or she is responsible for helping keep things
flowing in a smooth, orderly fashion.
Team Trainer
A Team Trainer is a person, or persons,
designated to train the new members of a team. Because our team
members can take up to 2 years to be fully trained, a Team Trainer will only
have to do sole training with them once or twice, to bring them up to a
remedial speed, so that we can take it from there.
A Team Trainer is able to help them learn skills for
basic investigating.
Thermal Imaging
A device or technique
which uses heat signatures to form images.
UFO
Unidentified Flying
Object.
Urban Legend
A mythical story handed
down or passed on by those who don't know the real facts.
Vortex
An area where it is said it is a center for
activity, where spirits would pass through constantly.
White Noise
White noise is generated
by radio waves, which are often played in the background during EVP
sessions. It is said to enhance the EVP audio technology.