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Dave_h · Guest

Outdoor Investigations

Many of the worlds best haunted locations are outside. Castle ruins such as Hadleigh Castle in Essex, Kits Coty and Bluebell Hill in Kent, The locations around the village of Pluckley also in Kent, Clapham woods and Civil War battlefields are all great locations to investigate. However, gathering evidence on an outdoor investigation is extremely difficult. This is for a number of reasons. I will cover these reasons later on in this paper, but I would like to start by offering the reader some safety tips for undertaking and out door vigil.

Safety should always be top of the list on any investigation plan. There is no point in becoming a ghost while you are trying to investigate them, simply because you didnt think of some simple, but very effective safety tips.
Before you carry out a vigil in the nighttime, always pay a daytime visit to the location. Many locations such as ruins or wooded areas will be littered with thousands of tripping hazards. When you pay your daytime visit, look for these tripping hazards, note then down so you know where they are when you pay a visit in the dark. This is an easy task, but one that could save lives. Also be on the lookout for fences, hills, dips in the landscape and anything else that could be dangerous, make sure you note them all down and brief the rest of the investigative team on them and their locations prior to the investigation.
Always make sure that someone on your team has a good understanding of first aid and is carrying a FULL first aid kit, in case someone should have an accident.
Never go on an outdoor investigation by yourself. This is for safety and parapsychological reasons. The safety reason is that if anything should happen to you, know one will be there to help or know where you are. The parapsychological reason is, if you did see or hear something or experience paranormal activity, a single persons account is next to useless, but if there are witnesses who saw, heard or experienced the same thing as you, and can back you up, more people will listen.
This brings me on to the next tip. Always tell someone where you are going. Show them on a map, your route to and from the location, and how long you expect to be. In this case, if something should happen to you on the way to and from the location and even at the location, this person will know exactly where to look for you and send emergency services, should they be required. These are simple, but very good guidelines and following them will make any outside investigation so much safer. Keep an eye on the weather. Dont go out if it is too wet, this could create slipping hazards or make you ill. If it is too windy, this could easily blow you off your feet and also make you ill. If it is too foggy or misty. There is very poor visibility; you could end up falling over something and doing yourself an injury. Also, it is very difficult to gather evidence these conditions. Do I need to mention, if it is too cold, dont go freezing yourself to death or getting pneumonia.

OK, We have looked at some safety advice, now lets look at outdoor equipment. You can use your EMF meters and temperature devices outside, just be on the lookout for overhead power lines and electric fences. These can give a high EMF reading that could get misreported and logged as paranormal. The use of Barrier beam alarms is not much good. Nocturnal animals looking for there dinner in the undergrowth can set these off. Video, and digital stills cameras can be use, but pay attention to insects that could show up as Orbs or even your breath that could reflect the flash and show up as mist. Notebooks should be kept dry when it is raining for obvious reasons. Whatever other equipment you decide to take is up to you.

Evidence analysis. OK, This is why it is difficult to investigate an outdoor location. It is simply because any potential evidence has got a checklist of possible natural causes.
Noises could be caused by a number of things. Animals searching for foot in the undergrowth or simply moving around could sound like footsteps and make rustling sounds. Wind blowing the trees can make a plethora of noises; all these noises will naturally sound louder. This is because of sensory deprivation. If your eyes cannot see much, your hearing will automatically take over their job and everything will sound louder than it would normally. This is because your ears now have to help you navigate in the dark. Also, the sounds of traffic on roads nearby can travel on the wind and create unusual acoustics.
Feelings are another form of spirit communication. Spirits that communicate by touch are known as tactile spirits. In the dark, in wooded locations in particular there will be tree branches and spider webs that make brush against you. While tree branches will be easy to rule out, spider webs wont be as easy. Just bare this in mind when you are on location.
A checklist of natural phenomena can also cause photo and video anomalies. There is already a debate going on as to whether Orbs are paranormal or not. I have got so many orbs on camera (especially digital stills) that I think they are not paranormal. Something paranormal should not be as easy and common to pick up as Orbs. Moving Orbs on video could be caused by Dust, Insects, Cobwebs, Fibre from clothes, anything. Mists picked up on digital photos could be caused by vapour reflecting the flash from damp rising, your breath, cigarette smoke and many other things. All this can reflect the flash of your camera and are not readily noticeable at the time the photo was taken.
Sightings in the dark can be caused again by sensory deprivation. Ever had silly little shapes come up in front of your eyes in the dark? This is your eyes telling your brain they are still working, although they cannot see anything.
Also, several things can reflect torchlights to create fleeting images that leave you wondering what they were. Animals moving in the distance can look very strange and may come across as something they are not.

The main object of this paper was to highlight the main points to look at when conducting an outdoor investigation. I hope this has done that for you. Just remember, USE YOUR BRAINS AND STAY SAFE.
Good Luck.

Mandatas · Posted: Sun Apr 16, 2006 11:00 am Post subject:

Great to see you back Dave, thanks for that.

Manda
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alan · Posted: Sun May 07, 2006 4:42 pm Post subject:

Hi Dave, great to see you back and look forward to seeing you on some of the vigils, if your coming, just give me a bell.

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