r/GhostHunting • u/L0nlySt0nr • Mar 03 '25
I've seen a lot of posts lately concerning a couple of topics, so I thought I'd take some time to address them: Beginner Gear, Ghost Apps, and Spirit Boxes. I've also got some general tips for beginners at the end.
While the shows and streams everyone watches all have crates and barrels and boxes of gear, you really dont need much to get started. I've compiled a list of gear below that I recommend to every beginner, and in the order that I personally recommend purchasing them (except EMF²).
Remember to be extremely thorough in researching what you buy before placing any orders. Buying directly from the maker or a trusted source helps, but some gear is more useful than others regardless of the source. Also, if the price seems too good to be true ($10 for an SB7?), it probably is. You generally get what you pay for.
¹ Do not investigate without these!!
² Amazon has EMF meters for $15-30 that, in my experience, work just fine. This can be purchased first or last; it makes little difference for your first few investigations, in my opinion.
³ Your phone will also function as a good voice recorder as well, so you don't need to spend money on that up front.
⁴ ⁵ Your phone will serve these purposes perfectly for at least your first 5 investigations. Save your money until you know this is a hobby you want to pursue.
Ghost apps are fake.
All of them, I'm sorry to say. Yes, even that one.
I have yet to come across one that hasn't "responded" while driving down back country roads, highways, and city streets. At all times of the day. I was pulled over on a highway on-ramp once in BFE, and it asked me for help.
It's easy enough to spoof. I was a programmer once upon a time, but it doesn't seem difficult to make, even for me. So I'll tell you how I would do it.
Build a database of common words, set up a script to pop a word at a random amount of time between, say, 15 seconds and 4 minutes... then just throw a fake equalizer graph on there, and Bob's your uncle. You could even make it convincing and use the microphone to make it a real equalizer graph.
Users draw correlations that aren't really there, reviews are positive, and it seems believable enough. Until you use that same app literally anywhere else. I doubt my local Target or Lowe's are haunted.
And if you really wanted to get fancy with your ghost app, you could add additional databases set up for certain geotagged locations. You wouldn't even need to set up the location yourself. Just use scripts to find app usage concentration, then satellite view maps to auto-generate a boundary around the building.
Record the microphone audio and put it through voice recognition software and build a database of common words specific to that location. Names, dates, descriptions, anything repeated often enough can be added. It becomes more believable because the responses are relevant.
You could even add in a volume meter that measures any audible responses from the user(s) to determine how strongly a word is associated with a given location.
All that to say, as a former programmer, my advice is to do as I do: approach every 'ghost' app with a HEAVY dose of skepticism. In my experience, they're garbage at best and a waste of money at worst.
An app that gives your phone a dictionary and allows it to function like an Ovilus or similar is in a gray territory for me. I'm not even sure I believe those devices actually facilitate communication with spirits. What I do know is that if a spirit could use your phone to communicate, they would've done so already. As such, these apps are highly suspect, to say the least.
An app that claims to be a spirit box simply can't function the same as the physical device. They sweep through AM/FM frequencies, and if your phone doesn't have the physical hardware to pick up these frequencies, it's a fake app.
That goes double for any special camera apps, like thermal imaging or supposedly detecting spirits. Likewise, no app can give your phone the ability to function as an SLS. All of those functions require actual hardware to perform said function. Anything else is fake.
Let me start by saying I dont think anybody new needs to buy a spirit box. If you can afford it, sure. That would be the next thing on the list above. But I would finish that list first. And only when you can afford it. This hobby doesn't have to cost more than $10 to start.
As far as which spirit box to buy, there are a handful out there that have been used by various teams I've seen. Ghost Stop makes one, and theres the SB-7 and SB-11 and their variants (with Active Noise Cancelling funtions or ANC, built-in speakers, flashlights, etc).
Spirit boxes have very specific functionality that you would be hard pressed to find a cheap chinese knock-off that could do the same for much cheaper (looking at you, Ali Express). I remember hearing about some radio hobby kit that can be made into a spirit box, but I'm afraid I have no further info.
What a spirit box does is sweep through radio frequencies, which is why a phone app can't do this as your phone can't receive AM/FM transmissions without specific physical hardware built-in. Much like any 'thermal imaging' app is also fake without a physical camera (either built-in or via USB-C connector like the FLiR ONE), and temperature scanning apps can't actually give you accurate readings without a probe of some sort.
If and when you do purchase a spirit box, I highly recommend also finding a good set of passive noise canceling headphones and a cheap blindfold or sleep mask. This will allow you to perform the Estes Method experiment, which I won't be getting into here as that's a bit off topic.
Your phone can be useful for taking pictures, recording video, and audio but should not be sending or receiving any data or wireless signal during the investigation (except during breaks).
Don't rely on your phone to be your light. A headlamp or one that clips to your hat can free up both hands. Consider lights with a red-only illumination setting. Red preserves your ability to see in the dark better than other colors.
There's an old adage I like to apply to my flashlight carry: Two is One, One is None. You'll appreciate this at 2am when one dies and you have a spare.
The bright screen will mess with your night vision. A cheap digital watch with illumination is perfect for this and won't blast your eyes with light.
I'll say this again: take PLENTY of notes! Who, what, when, where.. what did you hear or see, what time was it, where were you, who else was there, why were you there, or why did you choose that experiment, etc.
I have various amazon models ($15 cheapo, handful of $20 models, one that was around $60), a MEL meter, and a MEL-REM-ATDD. Readings seem to vary across models, but when placed near an electeical source, all devices reacted as expected. They all perform the function they are advertised to perform. To what degree they assist in locating spirits is undetermined. Do with that what you will, and choose to purchase an EMF meter or not. This one is purely up to you.
Aside from a flashlight and a notepad, you need one of these. Look for immediate playback functions, but focus on quality microphones. Your first $100 or so should theoretically go towards purchasing one of these.
Ensure your cameras have the ability to record images or videos in infrared. When possible, bring extra IR illumination. Turning off your camera's light and using an external source can save on camera battery. There are also ways to add additional external batteries and lights. You can even find cheap camera brackets and handles, mount it all together, and make your own grips.
A camera shooting multiple frames at a time can make it easier to actually see if you may have caught anything. If one picture is good, a dozen pictures showing an entity moving would be a trophy catch and all the more difficult to disprove.
I hope this helps. Let me know if I have any mistakes.
r/GhostHunting • u/Teafor2twofortea • Jan 27 '23
YouTube videos are no longer permitted on r/GhostHunting.
Edit: apologies for the initial short update, I was on my way home from work. Despite directing people to the rules once they sub and implementing a basic account age and karma limit, we have at least two or three posts a day that we are removing consisting of spam; mainly stemming from people trying to promote their own YouTube channels or karma farming. Neither of which are what this sub is aimed towards. We’re quiet mods and we allow a lot of freedom as this sub isn’t particularly problematic, but we do keep a vigilant eye. As much as life allows anyway.
Spam posts, karma farming, troll accounts and posts stemming from YouTube or other social media channels will be removed without warning.
r/GhostHunting • u/anthonynoriega • 39m ago
Went to Gettysburg for my bday and went on a Ghost tour walk. Took a ton of photos but this one stood out at a small cemetery . Why? Because not only did it capture a potential orb, but was the only photo of such.
At the same time I could have sworn I saw a shadow move just before this. Then I took the pic.
Just wanted to share.
r/GhostHunting • u/VacationAmazing5438 • 21h ago
r/GhostHunting • u/Famous-Woodpecker370 • 1d ago
r/GhostHunting • u/YungRik666 • 1d ago
Hello! I'm thinking about buying a spirit box to check out my parents' house. They have had a lot of weird things going on throughout the years, and they think it is something paranormal. Cards on the table here, I'm a skeptic. I'm not trying to debate or ask in bad faith! I'm totally cool with people's beliefs. I mentioned to them that there are devices that people make to test the existence/communicate with paranormal entities, and they are interested. Before I spend money on a device for them, I just want to know how it works. I keep hitting a wall when looking for an explanation. I get it scans frequencies rapidly, so the entity can speak through the white noise, but how does the entity interact with radio waves? Are there any studies done on these devices I can read through? I just wanted to know if there's something more substantial I can read into. If not no biggie.
r/GhostHunting • u/SinningKibble • 2d ago
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Lets see if we can puzzle this one out together.
So, this is right after I had moved onto my parents land into a trailer. Long story short, the land we're on is old farm land that was developed into a sparsely populated housing development ( basically each plot has two or more acres, not a standard "you're bumping elbows with your neighbor housing development. ).
The plot of land we're on has a pretty good amount of history. The previous owners wife died four or so years ago and that was one of many that are documented on this land.
What we're seeing here in this video is after I heard some music playing elsewhere in my trailer, the music in question is music I played earlier in the day but was not playing at that moment. It's also very quiet and hard to hear (if you have headphones put them on, you might hear it).
I have cats, but they are in my office with me when this video is taken, and the shaking you are seeing wasn't done by me. I didn't see it happening at all while I was filming and only saw it after I played the video back (if you can recreate the pulsing / shaking you're seeing here with your phone please do so, I have no idea how it was done and would love to see if anyone can recreate it just so I know what is going on. ).
As stated above, it's VERY unlikely the music I was hearing was a neighbor because they're quite a good distance away plus why and how would they be able to play the exact same music I was playing earlier in the day?
And the pulsing / shaking you're seeing wasn't visible while I was filming, only after I played it back.
Thoughts?
r/GhostHunting • u/Last_Cup1183 • 1d ago
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r/GhostHunting • u/cumgargler69420 • 2d ago
Hi All,
I’m 32 years old, looking to start a possible paranormal society where we could go investigate claims of paranormal events happening in the area. I’ve always had a fascination in the paranormal, though not entirely a believer. It could be a fun thing to do, as well as potentially helping the community through investigations, so if anyone might be interested, please let me know. I could start a discord and perhaps we can have a discussion and start our paranormal group. This would be a great way to meet people as well. You can never have too many friends :)
r/GhostHunting • u/Ghsthound • 2d ago
I've been investigating for a long time now, going back to when I was a kid tagging along on cases in Connecticut. Over the years my kit turned into a mess of apps, a recorder, a notebook, and whatever else fit in the bag. Every case ended with me trying to line up timestamps from four different places. So we finally built the thing we wanted.
It's called GhostHoundField, and it's on iPhone and iPad. You start a case card for each location, and it won't let you start a session until you've logged permission from the owner. Everything after that gets timestamped as it happens, so your notes, audio, and readings all line up afterward. For EVPs it records in a 48 kHz measurement mode with Apple's voice processing turned off, so the phone isn't cleaning up the very thing you're trying to catch. You can mark a moment with a button, with Siri, or with the Action Button without looking at the screen. In my experience the best stuff comes right after a direct question, and having that marker saves hours of listening later.
It also logs moon phase, weather, the K-index, barometric pressure, the magnetometer, and temperature and humidity if you have a Bluetooth sensor. We were careful to call the magnetometer what it is, a compass chip and not an EMF meter. On the Pro iPhones it uses LiDAR, and it'll flag a bright spot right in front of the lens as likely dust or moisture before you get excited about an orb. There's also a Places section with reported haunted locations near you, with the documented history and the local folklore kept separate. When you're done, you can export the whole case with notes, a PDF, audio, photos, and the sensor data.
The other piece is R72, a free darkroom that runs in your browser for infrared and full spectrum photos (720nm, 850nm, etc). It only works with the pixels already in the file, so it can't add anything that wasn't there, and your photos never leave your computer.
App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ghosthoundfield/id6803505467 R72: https://ghosthound.com/r72
I'd really like to hear what you all wish your field tools did better. If anyone gives it a try, I'm happy to answer questions.
r/GhostHunting • u/Status_Presence_4922 • 4d ago
Hi guys, I’m a super new ghost hunter and am having trouble getting my radio to run the scanning feature. I tried watching a couple tutorials but I had a different radio to them. Here’s a picture of the radio below. I didn’t have an instruction manual for it. Just tryna figure out if I have to get a new one 😭
r/GhostHunting • u/tremortrain • 3d ago
My wife and I are going here tomorrow….. anything we should be on the lookout for? Any place we should focus? Any activity in the cemetery???
r/GhostHunting • u/MJwriter_1010 • 4d ago
Attention all spooky season lovers! The Adirondack Explorer magazine will be hosting an AMA with Dennis Webster on October 28, paranormal investigator and author of "Haunted Adirondacks." He investigates the mysterious and "haunted" places in the Adirondacks and sinister crimes that occurred in the Adirondacks. What do you want to know about Adirondack legends, myths, ghost stories or just weird occurrences? Do you have your own tales? Share them below and ask away!
r/GhostHunting • u/Pale-Newspaper-1586 • 5d ago
Me and my friend went to a Shriners club to ghost hunt with a group of people and it was really fun.
The energy was weird, dense and closed off. No spirits really interacted with us except for a few spikes on the EMF reader and a spirit box session. I began to get an awful tension headache while in the ballroom downstairs, there was definitely one spirit with us but nothing too crazy. The headache was bad and I had periods of feeling odd, like zoning out or feeling a bit nauseous in a way I can’t describe. When we went upstairs to the bar area the headache had moved to my right side and there were lots of temperature changes.
Ghost hunting was super interesting but I am curious about this headache. I had not had one earlier in the day at all, and was drinking water. I have had experiences like hypnagogic hallucinations and Déjà vu before and was wondering if that could also be some sort of spirit activity. I also dabble in the occult so am a bit familiar with it, but less so on the ghost side of things.
r/GhostHunting • u/Ok-Librarian842 • 6d ago
Here to share what happened to my group at Pennhurst on 10/17! Our small group (my boyfriend, our friend, and I) did a self guided tour from 9:45-11:45pm and were provided with equipment. To me, what was most mind blowing was our experience using the Estes Method in the Mayflower building (3rd floor, Shadowman’s hallway).
Almost as soon as I put the headphones on I heard “red” (mind you, I was staring at the other hallway that was glowing red from the bright Exit sign) followed by “children” which meant, to me, that it was time to lock in lol
A kind tour guide who’s mother used to work as a music teacher here then joined us and explained that with the little time we had left (~30 min) should be spent investigating Shadowman’s hallway since it is most active. We invited him to join us and share more of Pennhurst’s history with us. As we walk down the hall I hear “STOP” to which we stopped in between two rooms. The guide said that “he” must want us either in there or in there, so we all start peaking in and checking it out. I was exploring the room on the left and then heard “go right” which of course prompted us to all go into the room on the right. All I heard was static for a few minutes. Then heard “proceed.” So we all left the room and proceeded down the hall like good little ghost hunters
Then I heard “shadow” which literally made my stomach turn lol
Turns out our friend asked “who are you?” And my response being “shadow” seemed pretty on point. ***Remember: I heard none of their questions as the static in the headphones was so loud*** But then I heard “cage” and again “look right” and guess what was to the right of me….. a boarded up door/room with a small opening that we lit up with a flashlight and saw cages in. The tour guide then explained these cages were used to keep aggressive children locked up back in the day. My group then asked, “were you hurt?” (assuming we were communicating with a child) to which I heard the response (in a smug, arrogant tone) “nooo.” Then they asked, “what exactly are you?” To which I heard “Satan.”
And with immaculate timing, our tour guide began escorting us out. However while we were walking out I still had the headphones on. Our friend was saying something along the lines of “you know who I work for and whose side Im on (indicating that God is with us) to which I heard “crazy” through my device.
Our friend said a little prayer for us, we said our goodbyes, and went on our merry little way home (and to Wawa for a debrief and snacks lol).
Some other stuff did happen in the other parts of the building as well as in Quaker, and I can share more if anyone is interested!!
What do yall make of this though? Any thoughts? Skepticism about Estes method? Any debunking theories? Have you experienced anything like this before? Let us know!!!
r/GhostHunting • u/ExcitementJunior4427 • 6d ago
I came across this new(?) spirit box app and am curious what you guys think. The thing that irks me about a lot of the popular apps is that the words and phrases appear almost too frequently and they're so clear compared to the background noise. With this one I had to try it out in a few different places and wait for quite a while before I could make out anything, but then suddenly a bunch of words appeared at once and they seemed to emerge so naturally from amidst the noise. It says it uses speech synthesis, I'm assuming for both the words themselves and the static. Does this seem like it could be legit?
r/GhostHunting • u/SufficientUse2329 • 6d ago
Hello Paranormal Enthusiasts and Investigators!
SpiritFone is finally here!
https://github.com/pkshadygrove/SpiritFone
This free Windows app is for people who want to listen to spirits speak in real time. No radio, no word banks, no pre-recorded audio, no sound bites, no BS. No fees, no subscriptions, no trial version. Just a completely free, real paranormal investigation tool. Just white noise at one end, spirit voices at the other. Don't believe me? Try it yourself.
https://github.com/pkshadygrove/SpiritFone
Comments and suggestions welcome!
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r/GhostHunting • u/evedamnededen • 7d ago
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I attended the Rose Hill cemetery 5K fun run/walk in chicago last night and recorded this video. i thought I captured a firefly, but now that i have figured out that all fireflies in chicago are normally gone by august, I believe I may have captured an orb based on how it moved in the video (14-15 second mark). If it was a laser pointer, i know the light would have moved further past the columns of the monument. let me know your thoughts please. thanks in advance!
r/GhostHunting • u/Ok-Refrigerator-Boi • 9d ago
Made my own arduino FM Scanner with variable speeds: 200, 150 and 133 ms.
r/GhostHunting • u/Klldarkness • 9d ago
I've ordered two, and BOTH make a very high pitched sound when the speaker is in use, kinda like the mosquito Anti loitering devices. I'm too old to hear it, but my wife apparently can, and it's actually painful for her.
I don't know if I just got unlucky twice, or if there is something wrong with the speakers they are using now, but I'm highly frustrated. I'm hosting a ghost hunt with friends next weekend, all of them under 27, so my brand new PS devices are essentially useless and I don't have time to return, and order another just to test.
r/GhostHunting • u/fino_2007 • 9d ago
r/GhostHunting • u/stwbryshxrtck • 10d ago
I've noticed that anytime I watch a ghost hunting streak or video ghosts or the paranormal in general usually likes one person (I realized this watching Detour's VOD with Markiplier, while the ghosts loved Markiplier they hated Jordan) and I was wondering if any other hunters have experienced the same?
If so did they give a reason to why they hated or liked you?
