Residual Haunts: Why Is This Happening Again and Again?

By: Tim Mountain



The Whaley House staircase

A residual haunting is the most commonly reported type of haunt. It appears to be a recorded event that replays itself over and over again without any conscious thought or action behind it. The energy seems to be trapped in a never-ending time loop. The movie "Groundhog Day" comes to mind as an example.

The energy in a residual haunt can manifest itself in many forms. The most frequently reported phenomena are anomalous sounds. These anomalous sounds can range from footsteps going up and down the stairs or walking down a hallway to voices speaking, weeping or screaming in another room. There have been reports of hearing music playing in empty rooms, doorbells ringing when no functioning doorbells exits, to the smells of bread baking in an empty kitchen.

It is believed that residual haunts are somehow imprinted into a dwelling or an area that has had a traumatic event occur in the past. It is also believed that residual energy can be imprinted into a location over a period of time by someone doing the same things on a daily basis.

Residual haunts seem to happen in the same place and often at the same time. If you happen to come across one of these types of haunts it should be reassuring to understand that it cannot harm you. Although this kind of paranormal activity can be quite startling when you experience it, if you remember that it is only a form of energy and not a spirit or entity, you can learn to live with it. 

EVP: Infrasound, Ultrasound or Something Else?

by: Brian Miller

Over the years there has been a lot of debate regarding the nature of Electronic Voice Phenomena or EVP. One prevailing idea is that EVP is composed of either ultrasonic or infrasonic sound waves, and that is the reason why investigators are unable to hear EVP at the time of capture. Although this is an elegant idea, it is unlikely because it defies the basic understandings of acoustic energy.

Sound is very simply a physical vibration (acoustic energy) transmitted by either a gas, liquid or solid. Sound is characterized by the properties of sound waves, which are defined by frequency, wavelength, period, amplitude and speed. Although the human ear is capable of detecting sound between 20Hz and 20,000Hz, the ear is most sensitive to sound waves that register between 1000Hz and 3,500Hz. Most human speech occupies a range between 200Hz and 8000Hz. So if EVP is truly "speech" as we currently understand it, isn't it logical to assume that EVP should occur only in that narrow frequency range?