If you're a fan of electronic voice phenomena (recording noises in a haunted place and scanning the recordings for sounds made by ghosts or other spirits), you may be interested in joining the American Association of Electronic Voice Phenomenon.

Sarah Estep founded the AA-EVP in 1982 after she began to pick up voices on her husband's reel-to-reel tape recorder. Before her death in January of this year, she recorded over 20,000 voices of ghosts and aliens. The AA-EVP was founded on the survival hypothesis, which states that humans exist as nonphysical entities before and after their lives on Earth. Electronic voice phenomenon happens when these nonphysical entities attempt to communicate with the living.

The members of the AA-EVP study electronic voice phenomena as well as what they call Instrumental TransCommunication, or the ways in which electronic voice phenomena can be recorded through technology. The AA-EVP also publishes a quarterly journal and a directory of its 500 members. They do research about new technology available for listening to electronic voice phenomenon, and use electronic voice phenomenon to provide help to the grieving.

The Haunt Masters Club is a research and investigation team based in the Tri-Cities area of Tennessee and Virginia, an area filled with reports of paranormal phenomena. The team prides itself on comprehensive research and a caring perspective, focusing on helping those who request assistance, providing the best answers possible.

The investigative team and support staff offer years of experience in paranormal study, but also a deep interest and expertise in regional history and folklore. The group defies a practice they see with other paranormal investigative groups, that of merely accumulating numbers of investigations and charging fees. Instead, they acknowledge the frightening and delicate situation many people find themselves in with unexplained phenomena. Their goal is to investigate (for free), but also enlighten and comfort. To that end, on their website they offer extensive online resources, reports of investigations, evidence of mistakes/hoaxes, and more.

John Zaffis is a busy man. In addition to authoring a book on the paranormal and maintaining his own personal site, he also curates a museum of the paranormal and helms the Paranormal Research Society of New England.

John Zaffis is the nephew of Ed and Lorraine Warren, and as such he has vast experience with paranormal phenomenon. The PRSNE's team of researchers investigates local paranormal phenomenon, and the PRSNE website contains extensive files on these investigations and on haunted locations in the New England area. They ask that interested parties look for natural causes of paranormal phenomenon before launching an investigation. They also teach classes on ghost hunting and electronic voice phenomenon.

Founded by Kenn Day and Kathy Scheiern, LumensGate is a group, an event and a way of life, all focusing on transformation and ritual. Since 1991, the LumensGate team has been running group rituals, moving from their early primitive camping environment to the Hope Springs Retreat Center near Peebles, Ohio. What began as a weekend event focusing on two separate rituals has grown into a five-day intensive that builds the power of change and self-healing through a complete cycle of ritual work. Every year has a theme around which the ritual work centers, and these themes help to structure the healing environment, focusing on specific aspects of human experience that connect all participants.

The founders of LumensGate are both known for their intensive rituals, and they are each trained in an impressive array of traditions from Qi Gong to Systemic Family Constellation Work. Bringing their expertise to the LumensGate experience, they help to build a profound sense of community among the participants (lovingly nicknamed "gators") who often return year after year to add their energy to the process of transformation.

Do you know what to do if you see a UFO or alien beings? You might be tempted to run — but first, put in a call to MUFON.

MUFON, which stands for Mutual UFO Network, is the largest international organization collecting data on the mysterious lights, crafts and beings reported by eyewitnesses around the world. Founded by 1969 by Walt Andrus and Dr.Alan Utke, MUFON has seen a lot of UFO waves, or intensities of activities — come and go.

Currently, a worldwide increase in UFO reports is underway — sightings have risen about 40 percent in the last year alone. In the U.S., the Stephensville, Texas sightings are the latest to grab headlines. Mexico leads as one of the world's UFO hot spots.

J. Allen Hynek is perhaps most well known for his UFO-encounter classification system. He developed a three-tiered system: in a close encounter of the first kind, the witness sees a UFO but does not interact with it; in a close encounter of the second kind, the witness or her environment is in some way affected by the UFO (marks on the ground, radiation burns, etc.); and in a close encounter of the third kind, the witness sees or interacts with an alien life form. This system inspired the title of Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Hynek himself served as a consultant for the film.

However, Hynek was also a member of Project Blue Book, a United States Air Force project founded to catalogue and investigate UFO sightings. Hynek, an astronomy professor, had been hired by the Air Force to debunk such UFO sightings, but he found them so numerous and plausible that he became convinced of their existence. After Project Blue Book folded in 1969, he founded the Center for UFO Studies in 1973.

The Society for Psychical Research is one of the oldest paranormal organizations in existence today. Founded in the United Kingdom in 1882, the SPR's original aim was to apply traditional scientific methods to unexplained phenomena. The group of founders, which included philosophy professors, mathematicians and physicists, intended to research telepathy, mesmerism, mediums, apparitions, séances and the history of the unexplained.

During the early years, most of the SPR's work was centered on investigating and exposing false paranormal claims, and publishing extensive files on hundreds of cases. The group employed several genuine mediums to help them in their investigations. But their investigations were not without setbacks. In 1882, an SPR member named William Barrett and a panel of investigators did a series of tests on a set of five sisters named Creery. Barrett and his panel determined that the Creery sisters displayed evidence of telepathy because they were better able to perform at guessing games than ordinary chance would dictate. In 1888, however, another SPR panel discovered that the Creery sisters had been cheating by sending one another verbal clues, and Barrett's findings were therefore meaningless.

Today, the Society for Psychical Research publishes both the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research and the Paranormal Review, and holds an annual conference in the fall. For those who don't live in the UK, there is also an American branch of the SPR.

Sure, they've been profiled by local media. Sure, they know some media attention can bring needed focus on their group. But the Evergreen Paranormal Group knows that any attention their group receives helps them achieve their goal: helping individuals and families at the end of their rope, confused and stricken by haunted homes.

The team of investigators works in the Puget Sound region of Washington State. The group initially formed as the Washington State Ghost Society, under Henry Bailey and Neil McNeill, and then refocused into a smaller group in 2003. The group posts extensive resources on their website, instructing homeowners, renters and owners about the signs and symptoms of haunting, alternative, nonparanormal explanations for those unexplained events, as well as what they can do about it. With their knowledge and investigations, the Group works to "empower" clients to understand what's really happening, and to take control of the situation.

Among their public investigations, the group investigated local historic sites such as the Chopping Block Tavern, the Bush House, Port Gamble, and Thornewood Castle, the site for Stephen King's novel Red Rose.

Down in the hot lands by the Texas/Mexico border, Corpus Christi Spook Central works to document the cold spots and other telltale signs of paranormal events.

The group conducts investigations into public and private sites, collecting paranormal evidence and publishing their findings on their website. In 2007 they examined several confidential private residences, and also delved into several historical sites, like the Presidio La Bahia, Berclair Mansion and other houses marked as heritage park museums. They even gained some local attention for their foray into a potentially haunted news station, finding voices of young children and hints at significant paranormal activity. In 2008, the group plans to branch out from the local area, investigating Gettysburg, the Lizzie Borden house and the Waverly Hills Sanatorium.

In addition to their investigations, the group also acts as a resource for paranormal knowledge. They seek to "educate ourselves and others of spirits (ghosts) and how and why they exist." To that end, their website features information on ghost hunting, the paranormal basics, and Texas hauntings.

Founded in New York in 1875, the Theosophical Society dedicated itself to the exploration of mediumship and its many applications and powers. At the time, the phenomenon of mediumship had become more than a passing fancy in both America and England. This was thanks in no small part to the strange occurences at the Hydesville, NY home of the Fox sisters in 1848. The Theosophical Society promoted the study of what they called theosophy, which essentially means "knowledge of God."

Headed by the charismatic and sometimes controversial figure of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, the society started off with fairly simple goals. After a few years, however, the headquarters of the society were moved from New York to Madras, India — a locale which, at the time, must have seemed exceptionally exotic to most Westerners.

During the days of Jack the Ripper, occultism was all the rage in London. The British empire had already been introduced to a variety of unusual beliefs, both through the advent of Spiritualism as well as the influence of Helena Petrovna Blavatksy's organization, the Theosophical Society. And then a London coroner, Dr. William Westcott, decided to get together with his rather colorful friend, S. L. Macgregor Mathers (pictured on the left in full ritual regalia) to found what is known to the world as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Together with Dr. W. R. Woodman, Supreme Magus of the Rosicrucian Society of Anglia, they formed the three chiefs of the Order.

Westcott, who was a Mason, claimed to have access to a mysterious cipher, connected to a German Rosicrucian, Anna Sprengel. Mathers took the material in the cipher and developed an elaborate ritual system from the information it contained. Drawing heavily upon traditional ceremonial magic, ancient Egyptian mysticism, and the Kabbalah, the ritual system of the Golden Dawn remains highly influential even today.

As a child, Kelly Weaver saw dead people and knew the thoughts that ran through people's minds. Strange things happened at home — mysterious noises and movements of objects that Kelly knew were the handiwork of invisible residents. Today Weaver is recognized as a leading medium and paranormal investigator, and is founder of the Spirit Society of Pennsylvania.

The Weaver household in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania enjoys an intriguing life in the paranormal fast lane. Husband John Weaver shares Kelly's passion about the unknown, and the two can often be found out in the field investigating cases. Kelly collects the psychic and mediumistic data, and John documents with a wide range of photographic and recording equipment, and instruments.

Kelly founded the SSP in 1996 as the Capital Ghost Forum, for people interested in ghosts or who lived in haunted houses. Jokingly, she and John called it an "AA for people who have ghosts." The membership and scope of the group grew rapidly. The Weavers changed the name to the Spirit Society of Pennsylvania in 2001.

Instrumental in the search for Bigfoot in the south is an organization called the Texas Bigfoot Research Conservancy. Founded more than eight years ago as the Texas Bigfoot Research Center by a small group of people, the Conservancy now consists of nearly 60 members, who regularly hold conventions and organize bigfoot searches in the woods of northeast Texas.

Craig Woolheater became interested in Bigfoot and other cryptids after hearing about the Lake Worth Monster as a child, but it was his own encounter with a bigfoot-like creature that sparked his desire to do research on the subject. After answering a posting on a web forum about north Texas bigfoot research, he and a few others founded the TBRC in 1999.

Want to hunt Sasquatch in Michigan's UP? How about the wilds of the Pacific Northwest? The Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization is willing to take you there — along with anyone else with an interest in getting to the heart of the Bigfoot mystery.

Often dismissed as a combination of folklore and hoaxes, the legend of Bigfoot appears around the world. The Native American Indians told of skunk apes, and even now modern explorers talk of Yetis in the snowy reaches of Nepal. The Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, or BFRO, for short, is the largest and oldest organization of its kind, founded in 1995. Seeking to become one of the most credible resources on the bigfoot mystery, the BFRO has created a kind of virtual network of journalists, scientists and other specialists, all of whom are dedicated to various aspects of bigfoot research. Ultimately the individuals involved in BFRO feel that the various legends of bigfoot, sasquatch, yetis and skunk apes reflect real encounters with an actual species which has so far left no conclusive evidence as to its existence. If the BFRO has one ultimate goal, it is to obtain irrefutable proof of that existence.

One of the most interesting aspects of the BFRO are its regular expeditions for field research. Their website features open invitations for interested parties to participate in these expeditions. Locations range all over the country and the world, and the BFRO tries to organize its expeditions around the most up-to-date and current sightings. This led to an expedition carried out in Marquette County of Michigan's Upper Penninsula just this past July. Their website contains updates on these expeditions, reports of recent sightings, and even a sighting report form. And, of course, if hunting Bigfoot is your thing, the site will also show you how you can join the BFRO's search for proof that we are not the only primates walking around the North American woods.

If you've heard about the Mini-Box, a new device for talking to the dead, then you've probably heard about its sponsor, the Association for the Study of Unexplained Phenomena. This Dallas-based group isn't a new kid on the paranormal block, however. It got its start in 1972, and gained its first fame by taking on the controversial Amityville Horror case. Its members investigate a wide range of paranormal phenomena.

The ASUP was founded as a nonprofit organization in New York City with a mission "to research and study all paranormal phenomena in the pursuit of possible proof of individual survival of human personality after death and to help support the efforts of similar organizations to that end and to educate the public as to those findings." Its original members included Rick Moran (pictured), a feature writer for CBS Publications; Paul Hoffman, a writer for the New York Daily News; Stephen Kaplan; Peter Jordan; and Rita Allen. They all had an interest in the paranormal and in "Forteana," or unexplained phenomena.

In the mid-1970s, the Amityville case exploded into the media. Did the Lutz family experience a demonic haunting in their house in Amityville, Long Island? The Psychical Research Foundation of Durham, N.C. asked the ASUP to investigate. Rick Moran and others undertook a two-year investigation, which led to their debunking of the case.

Ghost sightings and other paranormal events aren't out of the ordinary in New Mexico, home of the Roswell UFO incident, the Taos Hum and a host of other oddities. But if you happen to see a ghost in New Mexico, perhaps you should contact SPIRIT.

SPIRIT stands for Southwest Paranormal Information Research and Investigation Team. The team was founded in Alamogordo this summer by a group of friends who discovered that they all shared an interest in the paranormal. Since then, the group has investigated local businesses and private homes. Unlike many ghost-hunting teams, SPIRIT chooses not to attempt to make contact with any potential spirits. Instead they simply confirm or deny the existence of such spirits, looking for anomalies in photographs and checking audio recordings for electronic voice phenomenon.

So far, SPIRIT has investigated a hotel, several restaurants, a hair salon, an Air Force base and numerous houses. At the Air Force base, one of the investigators felt something cold on his shoulder; a review of the photos showed a white orb nearby. Some of the photographs and voice phenomenon are published on the website.

Out of the "Haunted Winery" in a suburb of Detroit comes the weekly internet radio show, Ghostly Talk. During each three-hour show, the hosts and guests talk about paranormal news, adventures in ghost hunting, and the "scientific and logical study" of the paranormal.

The two hosts came together to launch the show in 2002. Doug ("Skizz") spent his childhood reading about the paranormal, and started his own ghost hunting activities as an adult. He met Scott, another avid reader and hunter of the paranormal, during some of these hunts around Detroit, and suggested starting up their own internet show.

Since their small beginnings, the hosts have expanded their show to include a large roster of local field reporters. They have also attracted an admirable list of experts and personalities, including George Lutz, Lorraine Warren, Loyd Aeurbach, Uri Geller, our own Rosemary Ellen Guiley and others. They've welcomed EVP researcher Brian Jones on several occasions, to the live appearance of strange voices and interruptions. The hosts regularly travel around the country to local conferences and to other shows, including "Coast to Coast."

The Internet is an amazing thing. It's like this place that's not a place where people who are scattered all over the world can nevertheless gather together in order to converse, share ideas, and even swap pictures, music and video. With the advances made on the Internet since its inception, it's easy to create virtual clubs and other "places" for people to gather. There's a webpage for just about everything (including some things we'd wish we'd never seen), so why not a virtual village devotedly entirely to ghosts?

Ghost Village had its debut in 1999, appropriately enough, on Halloween. Founded by author Jeff Belanger (who is, incidentally, no relation to this author, despite the matching patronyms) who often signs his missives as the "Mayor of Ghost Village," the site was originally intended to provide a place for Jeff's articles on ghosts and hauntings. Obviously, the site grew, becoming a massive resource where all members can swap information about the nature of spirits and share their haunting experiences. According to both Google and Alexa.com, Ghost Village is the web's most popular paranormal destination, receiving over 150,000 hits daily. The site is home to more articles and features than one can easily absorb in one sitting: member submissions on every aspect of ghostly phenomena imaginable, Internet radio shows like The Ghost Chronicles, and certification courses in parapsychology courtesy of Dr. Loyd Auerbach, "Professor Paranormal." The site really is a gem, and it is especially valuable for ghost-hunting folk who may not have like-minded people in their actual geographic area. No matter how remote or isolated one might be, as long as they have an Internet connection, any aspiring paranormal investigator can hop onto Ghost Village and find a safe, fun and knowledgeable community.

As a youngster growing up in Kentucky in the late 19th century, Edgar Cayce was a most unusual child. When he looked at people he saw envelopes of colored light around them, which he later learned were auras. He saw an invisible world of spirits and beings that others did not. And when he struggled in school to learn his lessons, an angel told him to put his lesson books beneath his pillow before sleep. He did — and knew their contents in the morning.

Cayce grew up to become famous as "the sleeping prophet" for his ability to go into trance and give readings. He knew nothing of medicine — in fact he never went beyond grammar school — but he was able to accurately describe anatomy and people's physical problems, and prescribe natural remedies. He learned of his ability accidentally, when at age 21 he had to give up his job as a salesman due to persistent and severe laryngitis. A friend hypnotized him, and he gave his own remedy. He was healed.

Cayce also gave "life readings" that concerned past lives. Some of his own past lives included one as one of the first celestial beings to descend to earth prior to Adam and Eve; as an Atlantean; as Ra-Ta, a high priest in Egypt 10,600 years ago; as a Persian ruler; as a Trojan warrior; as Lucius of Cyrene, mentioned in the New Testament as a minor disciple of Jesus; and various other lives. He believed he acquired his scientific knowledge from a former life as a chemist in Grecian Troy.