# Poll about EVP **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 5, 2006, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-about-evp/338629 "2006-01-05T20:44:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Electrical\_Storm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac8455/32.png) [@Electrical\_Storm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electrical_Storm)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-about-evp/338629/1 "2006-01-05T20:44:21Z")
I’ve done a little homework on EVP and thought I’d see what fellow Dopers think about it. What are your thoughts? Do you think it’s possible to capture communications from the dead on tape? Have you ever listened to any EVP samples on the 'net? If so, what are your thoughts? Do you think they’re real? Are you sleeping alone tonight? 😃 (Sorry, I couldn’t resist) (Yes, I did see “White Noise” but had already done some homework on EVP before that movie came out.) ---
**Author:** ![Veni\_Vidi\_Vicinal\_planes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/848f3c/32.png) [@Veni\_Vidi\_Vicinal\_planes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Veni_Vidi_Vicinal_planes)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-about-evp/338629/2 "2006-01-06T01:01:00Z")
“Homework”. What’s to wonder about, how gullible people are, or what the hucksters will taunt them with next. ---
**Author:** ![Ensign\_Edison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ab992/32.png) [@Ensign\_Edison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ensign_Edison)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-about-evp/338629/3 "2006-01-06T01:02:44Z")
I think it’s deliciously creepy and totally without any merit at all, frankly. I’ve looked into to it too, and there’s nothing there. It’s all fake or coincidental. Why don’t the dead ever have anything important to say? ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-about-evp/338629/4 "2006-01-06T01:04:33Z")
> [@cthiax](#): > > Why don’t the dead ever have anything important to say? If they didn’t when they were alive, why would they start? 😉 I agree, it’s nonsense. People just hear what they want to hear. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-about-evp/338629/5 "2006-01-06T01:07:06Z")
It’s like finding pictures in clouds, or swearing you hear the phone ring while you’re showering (when it’s not actually ringing, smartasses). Just the human mind finding patterns in randomness, and quite possibly (as mentioned in a recent GQ thread on the topic) the problem with many electronic devices working quite nicely as an AM radio receiver accidentally. Combine static with a very poor radio transmission in bits and spurts, and suddenly it’s “omg ghosts from beyond!” ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-about-evp/338629/6 "2006-01-06T01:18:55Z")
I’m not sure. I accidently left my MP3 voice recorder running when I left the room. When I replayed what it had recorded there was a bit of a crackle, then a voice really clearly said, “EVP is crap,” followed by whooshing. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-about-evp/338629/7 "2006-01-06T01:48:36Z")
EVP is the audio equivalent of making pictures out of clouds. There isn’t a single shred of empirical evidence for the existence of “spirits,” that human consciousness can persist after death or that dead people can communicate with the living. IMNSHO, EVP is nothing but wishful thinking and self-delusion. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-about-evp/338629/8 "2006-01-06T01:54:52Z")
> [@cthiax](#): > > I think it’s deliciously creepy and totally without any merit at all, frankly. I agree. I have no doubt there’s nothing supernatural happening, but it creeps me the hell out for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-about-evp/338629/9 "2006-01-06T02:46:56Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > I agree. I have no doubt there’s nothing supernatural happening, but it creeps me the hell out for some reason. Same here. Stop talking about this crap! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Electrical\_Storm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac8455/32.png) [@Electrical\_Storm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electrical_Storm)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-about-evp/338629/10 "2006-01-06T16:11:37Z")
> [@don't ask](#): > > I’m not sure. I accidently left my MP3 voice recorder running when I left the room. When I replayed what it had recorded there was a bit of a crackle, then a voice really clearly said, “EVP is crap,” followed by whooshing. _Gasping with laughter_😃 But it makes for entertaining scary flicks. Some of the samples I listened to on the 'net - I mean, why can’t I leave \*my \* recorder running and get a message back with detailed directions to buried treasure?? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Electrical\_Storm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac8455/32.png) [@Electrical\_Storm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electrical_Storm)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-about-evp/338629/11 "2006-01-06T16:21:34Z")
> [@Anastasaeon](#): > > If they didn’t when they were alive, why would they start? 😉 > > I agree, it’s nonsense. People just hear what they want to hear. Commentary on an internet EVP sample: "And lo and behold, when I played the recording back, you could hear a voice saying “I left the bundles of cash in a safe deposit box at ABC Bank, 123 Bank Street, don’t blow it on crack.” You hear: “ZZZZZshhhhhzzzzzzshhhhswww” (read: static) 😃 But those recordings are creepy, no doubt about that. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-about-evp/338629/12 "2006-01-06T18:50:39Z")
My first thought on reading the OP, especially the “What are your thoughts?” line was…They’re going to say it’s a bunch of crap. Glad to see I wasn’t disappointed. Russell…who will get on with joining the boards this weekend.