You certainly can't classify them as paranormal technology, but they sit at the very top of every paranormal investigator's equipment list. Batteries — lots and lots of batteries — are vital to an investigation. You might say to yourself — duh! How else are you going to work your digital camera, thermal and flashlight — right? It's not that simple. You need to bring at least two extra sets of batteries (or more) for each piece of equipment that requires them.

Here's the theory. In order for a spirit to manifest, it must draw in more energy from its surroundings. Paranormal investigators often claim that when things started to happen during an investigation, various pieces of equipment experienced a sudden draining. For example, a camera that was fully charged one minute shows a low-battery signal the next minute. Then it turns off. Yes, in some instances, it might just be the equipment. This is a common occurrence, however, which has led many paranormal investigators to assume that there is a connection between the battery issue and paranormal phenomenon.

Circle. Square. Star. Circle...

You've seen them flashed on episodes of the X-Files and on the covers of Time Life Books. They're a deck of simple shapes, black against white, five images total. Some people know them as Rhine cards, after Dr. JB Rhine, the founder of the Rhine Institute and a pioneer in modern parapsychology. However, Dr. Rhine himself originally named them after his assistant, Karl Zener.

Zener cards are designed to test psychic abilities. Telepathy, clairvoyance, and even presentience can be measured with this deck — or at least, statistical anomalies in an individual's mean accuracy can strongly suggest that something more than random chance is going on.

Believe it or not, there are classes you can take to become a paranormal investigator. While many are free, others do charge. However, there are so many other resources available that you shouldn't have to pay to take a class. In addition, there are countless theories regarding the realm of the paranormal, so it's probably best to avoid paying for a class. Do your own research and come to your own conclusions.

It's important to understand that a fascination with the paranormal doesn't always equate to an ability to investigate. To see if the investigative environment is a comfortable setting for you, do a test run. Take another person and go somewhere local. Go there during the daytime and go there at night. Don't take anything elaborate. Take a notepad, a pencil, a digital camera, a simple voice recorder and lots of batteries. Go to your location more than once. Research the location's history. Write down everything that happens. If you feel comfortable doing all this, then you know you can take more steps to become an investigator. If you were totally scared, however, maybe it's best that you don't go any further. You don't want to put yourself in situations that make you uncomfortable. You need to be able to think, interact and react to all events, paranormal or not, rationally.

Very few tools of the ghost-hunter's trade were made expressly for sensing the presence of spirits. As with gauss meters and thermographic cameras, the vast majority of gadgets that are currently used in the paranormal field were developed for much more mundane work. One of the biggest reasons for this is the experimental nature of paranormal work. In addition, although most ghost-hunters agree that spirits are comprised of energy, no one has yet hit upon a specific frequency where they show up the best.

This situation presents an amazing opportunity for the inventive ghost-hunter. New technology is being produced every year by individuals with backgrounds in electronics or other sciences. But why break with tradition by completely reinventing the wheel? There are a vast number of ready-made sensing devices that, like the standard EMF reader, are already being used to pick up fluctuations in heat, light, pressure, and other atmospheric variables. It simply remains for someone to apply them to the field of paranormal research in order to see if spirits and other phenomenon can influence these fine-tuned instruments as well.

It's pretty obvious why a paranormal investigator might consider setting up motion detectors in an allegedly haunted location. People have witnessed apparitions walk through walls, vanish into thin air, and move from one level to another in a matter of seconds. It's a pretty accepted notion among paranormal enthusiasts that spirits are capable of moving from one place to another pretty quickly and most of the time, unseen. Since it's not possible for a living human being to be everywhere at once, the use of motion detectors makes it easier for the investigator to know if movement has occurred in various sections of a given location. In fact, the Paranormal Research Society uses motion detectors extensively.

While motion detectors, like most paranormal equipment, cannot recognize and prove the existence of paranormal activity, they do offer benefits to the investigator. Infrared radiation detectors watch for movement that generates heat. The greatest benefit is that movements can be monitored in many parts of a location simultaneously.

Some of the things that motion detectors might pick up are the movement of objects by seen or unseen forces, moving shadows, animals, people. It's easy to see why motion detectors are especially helpful in larger locations. Some investigators also experience paranormal activity where motion detectors are in use and the detectors do not catch anything. This is especially interesting when investigators witness movements of shadows or figures with their own eyes in the vicinity of a motion detector. Therefore, the use of this type of equipment for catching spirits and not catching them in conjunction with personal experiences can be equally important for evidence gathering.

Motion detectors start around $15 and go up from there in price. There are all kinds of detectors: pet-immune, microwave and infrared, sunlight-immune and more. They can be purchased for mounting on walls or ceilings or for standing alone. Many announce motion simply by chiming or sounding an alarm. Some include video or digital cameras so that the movement being registered could potentially get caught on film or in a photograph.

Paranormal investigators need a good toolkit of physical tools. But they also need more. Beyond the technology, before the all-night vigils, and long before any results are determined, skilled investigators must first interview those involved.

All paranormal investigations need thorough research and effective conversations with the people reporting the phenomena. This essential first step separates the true paranormal experiences from instances of mental disturbance, family problems, and other issues that can cloud judgment. How can you lead a useful interview, and determine if there is cause for a full investigation?

Ask open-ended questions. Too often interviewers can lead the interviewee, indicating through their tone and question structure what the "right" answer will be.

If you didn't get the love you wanted for Valentine's Day, try a love doll. No, not the blow-up kind — the magical kind.

Love dolls are poppets, dolls created or modified specifically for magical purposes. "Poppet" is a Middle English term for doll or small child. Poppets have been in use for magic much longer, however, dating to ancient times when people made little images of clay and wax. Poppets are usually associated with hexes and curses, thanks to the media, but they are used equally for healing, blessing, fertility and love.

How is a poppet used in a magical spell? It substitutes for a person. For a spell-casting, the poppet is colored or decorated to mimic a specific person: a bit of real clothing, some snippets of hair, even a photograph pasted on the doll.

According to many psychics and energy workers, each and every human being is surrounded by a nimbus of light. This full-body halo is the human aura, and it is believed to be the extension of our personal energy fields. Some claim to be able to see the aura, describing it most often in terms of light and color. Still others claim to have invented gadgets that can photograph this otherworldly glow so you can own a picture of your own aura for $19.95 — and sometimes, considerably more.

There are a baffling number of aura cameras out there, and they claim to reveal everything from potential health problems to a person's current mood. If you're shopping for a camera that will just let you point and click and get an image of your aura, however, you might find the market a little thin. Most aura cameras out there don't actually photograph the energy field around a person. Instead, they rely on principles of bio-feedback and galvanic skin response to compile the image of a probable aura, and then they project this onto a photo or other image for the curious to see.

Not getting enough EVP bang out of your digital recorder? Try a bat detector!

It's true — devices made to pick up the ultrasonic soundings of bats can record electronic voice phenomena (EVP), the imprints of disembodied voices not heard but registered on recording equipment. The bat detectors don't often pick up as much as a digital recorder, but success with them demonstrates that the dead and spirits don't need magnetic tape or digital recording technology to leave messages.

Bat detectors operate at much higher frequencies of sound waves than can be detected by the human ear. The human hearing range is from 20 hertz (hz) to about 20 kilohertz (khz), which are the number of vibrations made per second. Bats emit ultrasounds between 12 khz and 100 khz, and some even as high as 160 khz. There are two types of bat detectors. One is a super heterodyne, which tunes to specific frequencies. The other is a down-converter, which transforms bat pings to sounds that can be heard by the human ear. The second type of bat detector is the one suited to EVP.

From the folks that brought you proof of the feasibility of invisibility cloaks comes experimental results that point toward the existence and future of levitation. The team of scientists at University of St. Andrews have focused their efforts on the Casimir force, a complex theory that describes energy fields in the large and small spaces between objects. These fields are separate from forces like electricity and gravity, and result in objects sticking together, including atoms. The researchers have reversed this force, causing objects to repel one another rather than attract, and cause levitation-type effects. Theoretically, reversing this force could create levitation and repulsion among infinitesimal-size objects, but also human-sized items.

The scientists warn against, well, people like us, leaping ahead and anticipating our first go on "Levitation Rides" or plotting cool new tricks to impress our friends. The immediate application of this activity will be for nanotechnologists, researchers who work with micromachines plagued by tiny objects sticking to one another. Machines could be developed that run smoother and with less friction. Down the road, the effects could be magnified and studied with humans.

For paranormal enthusiasts and students, this new breakthrough also points to potential explanations for levitation phenomena.

Magnetometers are relatively simple in concept — an instrument measuring the strength and/or direction of surrounding magnetic fields. They're often used by scientists and surveyors to find deposits of iron and ore, as well as archeological sites and other buried objects.

So what do magnetometers have to do with paranormal research? To understand their potential use, we must first better comprehend magnetism. Earth's magnetic field, which may be produced by the motion of the molten iron core, can be different across the planet, affected by seismic activity, thunderstorm electrical activity, and solar or stellar radiation from space. These geomagnetic fields have often been found to be stronger at reputed haunting sites.

If thoughts are things, and thoughts create reality, wouldn't it be great if thoughts could be put in a container and stored? You could build them up like a bank account into a powerful force.

Sounds like science fiction, but it's closer to fact than you might realize. Programmed intentionality — thoughts in a box — is part of a new area of scientific research called "psychoenergetics." It is a type of psychokinesis (PK), the ability of mind to influence matter. The difference is, the influence is stored in a device, rather than exerted mentally directly at an object.

Ever find yourself face-to-face with an alien or UFO just when you've left your paranormal detection equipment at home? If this happens to you a lot, and you wish that your equipment was smaller and more portable, this new Japanese invention may be the thing for you.

A company called Solid Alliance has come up with a UFO- and alien-detecting novelty device that's small enough to fit in your hand. Called the Yutan UFO detector, the device comes attached to a little blue alien charm and a cell phone strap. According to one of the sites that sell it, to find out if your friend is an alien, have him or her press the buttons on the top and underside of the device. If your friend is an alien, the device will beep and flash, giving you plenty of time to run away as fast as you can. To find out if there are any UFOs nearby, press the top button, and the device will beep and flash if you're about to have a close encounter. There's also an automatic mode, which checks for UFOs at regular intervals and flashes silently if there are any to be found.

Naturally, this device isn't much more than a flying saucer-shaped case for an electromagnetic field meter and a temperature gauge. But for $20, it's not a bad gift to send to a paranormal-loving friend or two.

[image courtesy of strapya-world.com]

Can objects talk and tell stories about people and events? Yes they can — as many people with even a modest amount of psychic skill have discovered. Stones, personal possessions, clothing, furniture and other objects have a mysterious ability to record and store information about people who have owned and handled them. The ability to retrieve that information is called psychometry.

Objects can be psychometrized by handling them or even looking at them. The information they store is transmitted via mental images, thoughts and impressions, and sometimes even voices that are "heard" in the head.

The term "psychometry" comes from the Greek words psyche (the soul) and metron measure), coined in 1840 by Joseph R. Buchanan, an American professor of physiology who saw psychometry as a means to measure the "soul" of objects. Buchanan conducted experiments in which students could identify drugs in vials simply by holding the vials.

Kirlian photography is a method of high voltage imaging developed by a Russian husband and wife team. Semyon Davidovich Kirlian and his wife Valentina began their work with high voltage photography starting in 1939. For the next 30 years, they researched their technique, and in 1970, their research came to the attention of American audiences through Shelia Ostrander's classic, Psychic discoveries Behind the Iron Curtain.

Kirlian photography claims to record images of the energy field of living things. Often presented as a method of aura photography, what Kirlian photography is really capturing is the electro-magnetic field natural to humans, animals, and plants. The method for constructing a Kirlian camera is deceptively simple. A lightless chamber is prepared, and, at the bottom, there is a metal plate, set up to receive a mild electrical charge. The unexposed film is placed directly onto this plate, and the item to be photographed — often a leaf or flower — is placed on top of the film. Then an electrical pulse is sent through the plate. This exposes the film, which records an image of the object, typically outlined with what appears to be colored light. When human fingertips or hands are placed in camera upon the film, the resulting image shows a nimbus of light extending out around the skin. This is the radiant energy of the human body, amplified by the electrical charge and captured on the film.

Of course, as with every method that claims to record some aspect of the paranormal, Kirlian photography has been decried by skeptics as nothing but camera trickery. The most balanced argument skeptics have come up with is that the resulting aura captured on the film is really nothing more than a cloud of ionization produced through the combination of the electrical charge and the natural moisture around the hand or other object being photographed. This author has had the opportunity to indulge in experiments using a small Kirlian Lab camera, set up to take images using the Kirlian method. While it was clear that the electrical charge was pivotal to the exposure of any image on the film, it also became clear after multiple images that each person whose fingertips were photographed by the camera had a unique and recognizable pattern — an energetic fingerprint, as it were. Even changing the length and strength of the electrical pulse that exposed the film, this specific pattern remained true. Changing the charge only changed how brightly it showed up on the film. This consistency argues that the Kirlian method is indeed photographing something more than just ambient electricity conducted through the object or person through the metal plate. But does the Kirlian method accurately record an image of the human aura, with colors and patterns that can be interpreted with specific meanings? That aspect of this fascinating method remains to be seen.

A desire to explore the world of the paranormal, seeking that which is unexplained or unproved, is exciting and often fulfilling. But unfortunately, our society has an M.O. of taking advantage of belief and desire. It can make the faithful into fools. And usually that can be accomplished with simply separating the believers from their hard-earned money.

Paranormal technology has the potential to enhance seekers' paranormal quests. Or it can be useless scams. The latest in this arena? Various expensive tools designed to capitalize on grieving believers' desires to contact departed loved ones.

Some examples. The Phone Angel, a cell phone buried in a grave with an external speaker, has been sold for nearly $2,000 a piece. Mourners can call and broadcast their voices towards their deceased family member or friend. Or how about the Endless Echoes satellite dish tool, developed on the idea that dead souls float in outer space. For the price of $24.95 a minute, you can leave a message on the company's answering service — ideally that message you never got to communicate — and have it blasted into space.

Psychic surgery is a popular method of alternative medicine practiced widely in Indonesia. Although they are not medically trained, psychic surgeons claim to be able to remove tumors and even kidney stones from the body with the power of their minds. Psychic surgeons do not cut into their patients, but despite this, blood flows and strange-looking gobbets of flesh are pulled from the sick person as family members watch. James Randi feels confident that he has proven this practice a hoax, claiming that psychic surgeons use sleight of hand to palm packets of blood and chicken giblets before the surgery so that spectators will have a bloody show to prove that something is being removed.

Although the reality of this method of psychic surgery is a matter of debate, there are a number of other techniques that seem to harness the power of the mind for healing. Reiki, Qi-Gong and Barbara Ann Brennan's technique, Hands of Light, are all variations on the old method of "laying on of hands," using human touch and energy to heal illness and disease. Although these techniques are also somewhat controversial, energy healing has been implemented by some Western hospitals as a supplemental therapy for terminal cancer, and a number of nurses have added a Reiki degree to their repertoire because they feel the energetic healing techniques can compliment more traditional Western medical approaches.

To Ouija or not to Ouija — that is the question. According to many paranormal investigators, not to is the answer. This very simple device, supposedly able to contact the spirits of the dead, might be best to avoid.

The original Ouija board arose out of 18th century Spiritualism that spread throughout the United States and Europe. People had been holding séances for decades before the board was invented. Some claim the origin of the board goes back even further, but evidence for that is severely lacking.

A Ouija board, also called a talking board, consists of a lap-sized board printed with the alphabet, the numbers 0-9, the words yes, no and goodbye. A planchette, a small, heart shaped, table-like pointer, is placed on the board. Two or more people place the tips of their fingers loosely on the planchette while asking questions. The planchette is supposed to move around the board, spelling out names, messages, numbers and so on. There are several theories as to how this happens.

Want to contact the dead? You can buy, invent and create high-tech gear said to do the job — or you can try one of most reliable tools since ancient times that hangs right in your home. A mirror.

Well, not just any mirror, but a black mirror that has been coated with black paint on the reverse side. Used in a certain way, the mirror becomes a "psychomanteum" — a Greek term for a place where one communicates with the dead.

Modern interest in the psychomanteum is credited to Dr. Raymond Moody, who pioneered research of near-death experiences. In the 1980s, Moody became interested in ancient techniques of scrying — gazing into shiny surfaces to see into the future, and to open portals to the realm of the dead. He thought that a psychomanteum could provide help in coming to terms with grief over loss of a loved one.