EMF Meters and Ghost Hunting
By Dave Juliano (davejuliano@theshadowlands.net)
As I answer emailed questions and surf through
paranormal websites, it has become apparent to me that there are many groups
out there using a lot of the same equipment but without any idea of how it works
or why they are using it. Hopefully, I can help with one of
the more misunderstood pieces of equipment, the EMF meter.
<>Here's the run down on Electromagnetic fields.
As the name implies, they consist of two parts: electric and
magnetic. EMF fields come from a variety of sources -
electrical appliances, power lines, batteries, etc. The
electric portion of the field stays fairly close to the source and it is read
using the unit of measure called a nanoTesla. The magnetic portion
of the field goes out much further and that is measured in a unit called a milliGauss. The
frequencies that are found are ELF and VLF (extremely low frequency and very
low frequency). The meters we use in this field are made to detect
ELF (60 Hz).
<>
Ghost researchers/hunters are looking for readings
in the 2 to 7 milliGauss range. mG is the range that most EMF
meters you will come across measure. More important than the actual
mG amount is that you obtain a brief positive EMF reading that you cannot get again
in that same area. If you can get the reading again, it has a
natural source. If you cannot, then you have found something that should
not exist, a moving or disappearing EMF field. For example,
you have a stationary EMF meter sitting on a desk and it suddenly sounds its
alarm for a few seconds then stops. This means that a moving EMF
field entered the area that the meter was covering and left that area seconds
later. Unless someone walked by with a power source of some
kind (some rechargeable batteries will give false positive readings), then you
just had something unexplainable happen. If the meter's alarm
stayed on for minutes instead of seconds, then there are most likely natural
explanations for the positive reading, such as power being turned on somewhere
on the floors above or below where the meter is sitting or it is the meter's
low battery warning. Walking around with an EMF meter is
trickier because you are changing the area that the meter is covering as you walk
- if you suddenly get a steady low reading, then you should continue to walk in
a direction in which the reading is getting stronger. It will lead you
right to a natural source of EMF and you can mark that area and make note that
you could get false positive readings there. Remember to move the
meter up and down too in case the false reading is coming from the ceiling or
floor because there are power sources typically present in both.
Now, if you are walking around and you get a short positive reading and you
cannot get any other reading in that same area, then you have a positive EMF
reading.
How does this tie into ghosts? I have
stood face to face with a spirit and had an EMF meter in my hand do nothing and
other times I have had it detect an EMF fluctuation. How spirits
and EMF's relate is still unknown, but there are plenty of theories, each of
which just as plausible as the rest. We do know that low level EMF
fluctuations in the 2mg – 7mg range are often found in places reporting spirit
activity. That is the significance of getting a positive EMF
reading. You are recording events that are similar to other
known haunted locations and are unexplainable. EMF meters, like most of
the equipment we use, are simply guides to let us know there is something unusually
or unexplainable going on in a location.