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The popular A-B-C
classification system developed by Sarah Estep, Founder of the American
Association—Electronic Voice Phenomena (AA-EVP),
has proven to be somewhat dated in classifying Electronic Voice
Phenomena (EVP) for paranormal
research and understanding. The recently re-worded AA-EVP system
distinguishes EVP based simply on the quality and clarity of the EVP
recording. Furthermore, broad subjectivity when classifying EVP is an
inherent challenge of this system.
As a reminder, the AA-EVP system is:
Class A:
EVP is a message that can be heard without headphones and
that people can generally agree on its content.
Class B: EVP requires a headphone
to distinguish message content and not everyone will agree on the
message.
Class C: EVP requires headphone,
often needs amplification and filtering and will seldom even be heard
by others.
While the quality of the EVP
recording is important, it is the potential message contained within it
that is of the utmost value in discovering more about life after death.
Therefore, the EVP naming conventions below approach the classification
of EVP primarily from the standpoint of how meaningful they are
in helping humans to understand the spirit realm and spirit psychology,
rather than simply how intelligible the EVP may be (although this is
included). Please note that EVP by definition are voices and/or sounds
captured on recorded media and not voices and/or sounds heard audibly.
The goal of the following conventions is to make the classifying of EVP
as objective as possible in order to minimize researcher
subjectivity. ParaNexus uses and recommends the KM Scale as the primary
means of classifying EVP.
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KM EVP Classifications
Doug Kelley &
Jari Mikkola |
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Class
1 (INTERACTIVE): |
• Spirit
voice is a direct response to a human statement / question /
action / activity, or spirit voices respond to each other
o
Most or all of the words are
clear and intelligible, with or without headphones
o
Spirit voice communicates
comprehensible and existentially meaningful expressions of
thoughts/feelings/emotions/opinions/actions/intentions |
|
Class
2 (Non-Interactive): |
• Voice
is a general statement and not a direct response to a
statement/question/action/activity by humans
o
Most or all of the words are
generally clear and understandable, with or without headphones
o
Spirit voice communicates
comprehensible and existentially meaningful expressions of
thoughts/feelings/emotions/opinions/actions/intentions |
|
Class
3 (Non-Speech): |
• Spirit
voice is a sound other than the spoken word
o
Growls, screams, humming, etc.
o
Musical instruments, TV, radio,
concerts, footsteps, rapping, banging, etc. |
|
Null EVP
(Valueless): |
•
The EVP contains nothing of value in understanding the spirit
realm or spirit psychology
o
Words are unintelligible, with or
without headphones
o
Spirit voice does not communicate
comprehensible and existentially meaningful expressions of
thoughts/feelings/emotions/opinions/actions/intentions, although
the word(s) may be intelligible |
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Selected
EVP Examples |
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"That
was me" (12
seconds - Context Version)
CLASS 1 EVP
"That
was me" (1 second
- Short Version)
This
recording was taken at the Polk County Historical Museum in
Bartow, FL, on September 23, 2006, a couple of minutes before
midnight. It was recorded during a séance conducted in the third
floor break room. This voice cannot be attributed to anyone in the
room. It was recorded on an Olympus VN-480 Digital Audio Recorder. |
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"Can
and See You"
(2
seconds)
CLASS 1.5 EVP
This
recording cannot be explained or attributed to the two women
talking (one was SPIRITeam co-founder Tracy Kelley). It was misplaced in the conversational topic and the
words don't seem to make sense as part of the conversation. It is
very loud and distinct for an EVP, and whether or not it is
genuine is inconclusive at this time. What makes it even more
strange is that it sounds like Tracy's voice, but again it is
misplaced in the conversation as she had asked a question and was
waiting for the client to answer. Tracy is certain that she did
not say it. Very little of the before
and after is included due to the sensitive nature of the conversation.
It was recorded on an Olympus VN-480 Digital Audio Recorder. |
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Guttural
Sound?
(4.5
seconds)
CLASS 3 EVP
This
recording came from the same investigation as the "Can and
See You" EVP above and occurred 6 seconds prior. It sounds like some kind of
weird animal or a door creaking (compare the following audio
clips). We made attempts to recreate the
sound, but could not nor find its source. We have no idea what caused
it or where it came from. We did not hear it during the time it
was recorded. It may not be paranormal in nature, but it is
certainly unexplained. It was recorded on an Olympus VN-480 Digital Audio Recorder.
Bedroom
Door Creaking (For Comparison)
Entertainment
Center Door Creaking (For Comparison)
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Whisper?
(2.5
seconds)
NULL EVP
This
potential EVP was obtained on an investigation that yielded few
other results and no real corresponding evidence (such as cold
spots, etc.). It's cadence was very different from the regular
surrounding noise, and it is unintelligible. It was recorded on a
micro cassette recorder. The recording was cleaned up with EQ,
negative gain, and Normalization, but it is still rather
noisy. |
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How to
Classify EVPs with the KM System |
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Click on Chart to Enlarge |
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