A history of EVP

A Brief History of EVP

It is said that American inventor, Thomas Edison was the
first EVP researcher. Some time in the 1920's, he reportedly told a
reporter with the Scientific American, that he was working on a
machine that could contact the dead. This was believed to be because
of the loss of his beloved mother whom he wished to contact from
the beyond. He never got the chance, and died before he could create
this device.

The Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research,
published the works of Attila von Szalay and Raymond Bayless. Von Szalay
and Bayless conducted many recording sessions using their own brand of
formula: incorporating a custom-made machine with a microphone inside
an insulated cabinet connected to an external recording device and speaker.
Szalay reported capturing many sounds this way; sounds that
could not be heard through the speakers. Bayless eventually co-authored,
"Phone calls from the Dead".

In 1959, Friedrich Juergenson (Swedish born portrait painter and filmmaker, 1903-1987),
was recording bird songs in the Swedish countryside, when he, quite by accident,
captured what sounded to be a disembodied voice discussing "nocturnal bird songs",
speaking in what he knew to be, Norwegian. He became fascinated, and researched this
phenomena until the time of his death.

Another EVP enthusiast and researcher, Konstantin Raudive (Latvian born author and
philosopher, 1909-1974), who worked at times with Juergenson, is said to have captured
over 100,000 recordings, many out of his own home, containing what some believe to
be definitive, discernible language. Unlike other researchers, many of Raudive's
recordings were considered to be "multilingual".

The "Spiricom" was developed, in 1979, by George Meek along with the help of his
colleague, Bill O'Neil. It is said that O'Neil had strong intuitive abilities, and
communicated through two-way conversations with the dead
with the assistance of the "Spiricom", thanks mostly to O'Neil's spirit "friend", Dr. George
Jeffries Mueller. O'Neil readily gave the blueprint of this
this apparatus, at no cost, to other researchers; however, no one since has had
the same success that O'Neil did with the "Spiricom". Some say this is because
of O'Neil's unusual "psychic abilities".

Another leading pioneer in EVP research is Sarah Estep, founding member of the AAEVP
(American Association of Electronic Voice Phenomena), who began her research into
EVP in the 1970's and captured over hundreds of examples. These recordings, she said,
include those of family members, friends, and past researcher, Konstantine Raudive.