Sign 1: Unexplained Noises and Disembodied Voices
This is perhaps the most fundamental and universally reported sign of paranormal activity. It is the bump in the night, the footsteps on an empty staircase, the faint whisper that seems to come from nowhere. For paranormal experts, these auditory events are a primary form of potential communication from the supernatural.
The most sought-after evidence in this category is the Electronic Voice Phenomenon, or EVP. The term refers to human-sounding voices captured on audio recordings that were not audible to the human ear at the time of recording. Investigators will often enter a location and conduct an “EVP session,” asking questions into the silence and leaving pauses for unseen entities to respond. Upon playback, they listen intently for faint whispers or words hidden within the static or ambient noise.
These captures are typically graded on a class system. A Class C EVP is faint, difficult to understand, and highly open to interpretation—it might just be a sigh or a rustle. A Class B is clearer, where a word or phrase seems more distinct. The holy grail is a Class A EVP, a voice that is clear, direct, and universally understood by listeners without prompting.
A classic mini-example of this process involves an investigator asking, “Is there anyone here with us?” followed by several seconds of silence. Later, when reviewing the audio with headphones, they might hear a very faint, breathy sound during the silence. One person might interpret it as the word “help,” while another hears nothing but static. This subjectivity is at the heart of the EVP debate. The process of “cleaning up” the audio to amplify the faint sound can also inadvertently distort it, making it sound more voice-like than it originally was.
The historical context for this practice is fascinating. Long before digital recorders, Spiritualists would listen for “spirit rappings” or knocks. The desire to record these sounds is as old as recording technology itself. Early researchers, according to archival accounts, experimented with Edison’s phonograph, hoping to capture voices from the other side. Today’s digital recorders are simply the modern iteration of that same quest.
Rational explanations for these phenomena abound. Our homes are full of noises we typically tune out. The natural settling of a house, the expansion and contraction of wood and pipes due to temperature changes, and the operation of appliances can all create strange sounds. A phenomenon known as “water hammer” can create loud, startling bangs in plumbing. Pests like mice or squirrels in walls or attics can mimic the sound of footsteps or scratching.
When it comes to EVPs, the primary scientific explanation is auditory pareidolia. This is the human brain’s tendency to perceive familiar patterns, like voices or music, in random noise. It is the same reason we hear words in the hum of a fan or see faces in the clouds. Combined with confirmation bias—the tendency to favor information that confirms one’s existing beliefs—an investigator who expects to hear a voice is far more likely to interpret a random noise as one.
Furthermore, digital recorders can sometimes pick up stray radio frequency transmissions or create artifacts during the recording process. These can easily be mistaken for disembodied voices by an eager investigator. The challenge lies in distinguishing a true anomaly from the rich, and often strange, soundscape of a normal house.
