# I Bought An EVP Device **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 27, 2021, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-an-evp-device/953274 "2021-10-27T05:55:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-an-evp-device/953274/21 "2021-10-27T18:58:18Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > How does this EVP device differ from, say, recording sound on a smartphone? The EVP device has built-in ghost noises. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-an-evp-device/953274/22 "2021-10-27T19:08:24Z")
> [@Jim\_B](#): > > I would hear my father’s voice coming from his bedroom telling me to get my ass out of bed. I’ve had that happen, only the voice belonged to someone very much alive – and some 1400 miles away at the time. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-an-evp-device/953274/23 "2021-10-27T20:27:39Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > If you don’t know what a ghost is, how can you “scan” for it? How can you possible calibrate such a device? Well, the specifications in the Amazon listing weren’t too comprehensive, but I’m sure it comes with detailed instructions! As for calibration, I’m sure there’s a version of [ISO 17025](https://info.alliancecalibration.com/international-standards-used-in-calibration) for ghosts. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-an-evp-device/953274/24 "2021-10-27T20:29:19Z")
Ghod, I would love it if someone would ask them about calibration for something like this. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-an-evp-device/953274/25 "2021-10-27T22:05:06Z")
@kayaker If you mean unbaptized babies, they go to Limbo, which (long-story-short) really isn’t that bad. But even the very conservative Pope Benedict said, what the heck, unbaptized babies go to heaven. Why be so strict? Now some Protestants used to (?) preach unbaptized infants went to hell, presumably because of original sin, which still appalls me. (Don’t worry. As I said, I have lost most of my faith too 🙂 .) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-an-evp-device/953274/26 "2021-10-27T22:20:05Z")
As far as the Catholic Church is concerned, the population of Hell might be as low as three. Limbo officially might or might not exist, we don’t know; and Purgatory officially exists in some sense, but with almost no detail known about it. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-an-evp-device/953274/27 "2021-10-27T22:23:28Z")
Well, nobody would want babys _alive_ in purgatory, right? Would not be humane, man. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-an-evp-device/953274/28 "2021-10-27T23:07:34Z")
You’re all ignoring the obvious! Smartphones are designed to give EVERYBODY EVERYWHERE the ability to record and share anything paranormal. The objective is clearly to do away with the paranormal and lockdown and calcify reality! It’s in Revelations, people! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-an-evp-device/953274/29 "2021-10-27T23:34:21Z")
@DocCathode It’s Revelation, no “s” ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-an-evp-device/953274/30 "2021-10-27T23:46:24Z")
> [@solost](#): > > I did a quick Amazon search and found a “Ghost Box Scanner with Spirit Box and EVP Recorder”-- three things in one for less than $100 ($99.99). Seems like a pretty good deal. > > It also gets AM/FM, which is a bonus fourth thing. You can listen to your favorite music or talk show in between ghost hunting. I don’t believe that last bit is necessarily correct. From Googling various ghost-detection devices, it appears that all ghosts emit EMF radiation. The AM/FM might well refer to the ability to detect ghosts broadcasting on FM as well as AM. Older ghosts may be content to moan and clink their chains in AM, but the more modern ghosts will want their fans to hear the sounds of their torments in the clearer, static-free FM reception. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-an-evp-device/953274/31 "2021-10-27T23:51:59Z")
That’s just what THEY want you to think! ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-an-evp-device/953274/32 "2021-10-28T02:07:30Z")
That’s because the whole concept of [Limbo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limbo#Limbo_of_Infants) was never official doctrine, just a guess. It was pretty much tossed out with Vatican II. My mother was taught that shit growing up, but I never was. It’s never been anything like the [Immaculate Conception](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immaculate_Conception), or [Transubstantiation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transubstantiation). ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-an-evp-device/953274/33 "2021-10-28T11:58:03Z")
Yeah, LIMBO , that’s it! Sort of babyville for the unbabtized babies, those sinful, vile , creatures!! The Limbo story was what made my gf question catholic teaching way back then. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-an-evp-device/953274/34 "2021-10-28T12:01:41Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > [Transubstantiation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transubstantiation). I’ve been to a catholic church service and when people (not me) went up and ate the cracker and wine I wondered. If you really believe the minister has turned the cracker into flesh and the wine into blood, wouldn’t you gag at least a bit as you ate it? ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-an-evp-device/953274/35 "2021-10-28T12:15:30Z")
I think we’re all missing an important point of ghost etiquette here. As demonstrated in the OP story, if ghosts _ **want** _ to be heard by the living, they can make themselves heard. Are EVP devices eavesdropping? Seems impolite to ghosts. > [@kayaker](#): > > I’ve been to a catholic church service and when people (not me) went up and ate the cracker and wine I wondered. If you really believe the minister has turned the cracker into flesh and the wine into blood, wouldn’t you gag at least a bit as you ate it? I got married in the Catholic Church. Just before the ceremony started, I was in a back room where the Communion wine and wafers got prepped, waiting to come out. There was a sign for the altar boys above a sink that said “Remember, the Communion wine is the actual blood of Christ-- DO NOT POUR LEFTOVER BLOOD OF CHRIST DOWN THE SINK!” ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-an-evp-device/953274/36 "2021-10-28T19:19:54Z")
For crying out loud, it’s not a CRACKER, it’s a WAFER. Crackers have flavor. 😉 (Seriously, it tastes like paper) A friend of mine said he became an altar boy specifically because the priests at their church let the altar boys finish the leftover communion wine. (According to my dad, who’s a Eucharistic minister, the priests and/or EMs finish it, or there’s a special sink to pour it down) ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-an-evp-device/953274/37 "2021-10-28T19:26:24Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > According to my dad, who’s a Eucharistic minister, the priests and/or EMs finish it, or there’s a special sink to pour it down) I was an EM. I drank it down when tidying up the sacristy. Thinking all the while of the 97 people who’d sipped from that very same cup and wine. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-an-evp-device/953274/38 "2021-10-28T20:37:48Z")
If I remember the Home Improvement episode that was a back door pilot for Soul Man (imo Soul Man was a fine show), it’s a pacina (spelling is almost certainly wrong. They never spelled the word on the show). ETA I was right that I was wrong Piscina [Piscina - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piscina) ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2021, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-an-evp-device/953274/39 "2021-10-31T22:51:21Z")
BTW, I don’t know if anyone’s interested. But I have a correction to make. I checked my almanac. And solar Midnight, i.e., Midnight charted by the apparent course of the Sun, is actually 1:15a where I live. Or 1:15a tomorrow, to be specific (it varies from day to day for some ungodly reason). Also I just can’t help but say. I think sometimes you people on these boards are almost too critical. I know many of you are doctors and scientists. But I often find a more receptive audience on other message boards. I’m just saying. Anyone want to defend this charge 🙂 ? ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2021, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-an-evp-device/953274/40 "2021-10-31T23:14:43Z")
> [@Jim\_B](#): > > Anyone want to defend this charge 🙂 ? Which charge? Sorry, it’s Halloween - witch charge? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-an-evp-device/953274.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-an-evp-device/953274.md?page=3)