Entity Sensor is a basic 3-axis Electromagnetic Field meter for the Android phones.  What makes it unique in Android EMF apps is the ability to “Zero” the scale so you can see any changes more easily.  It’s pretty nifty, but for what it is, I can’t see paying the $4.99 price.  I did like the concept though, so I emailed the developer basically saying that if he made it significantly more useful than the other apps out there, I’d be happy to pay more for it.  I suggested adding a data logging function and he agreed, saying that such a bonus was in the works for a Pro version.  We emailed back and forth a couple times and he has taken my suggestions to heart and implemented them into this first version of Entity Sensor Pro.

For the Pro version, the data logger makes all the difference.  When you begin to record data, the app saves a CVS file to the SD card for later analysis.  What’s more, is that there is a voice note function where you can notate your readings… or for ghost investigations, you can conduct an EVP session.  The CSV file notes the beginning and end of each sound file it records, thus giving you the ability to correlate the EMF readings with any audio evidence.

This is brilliant.  No more trying to position a camera to watch the EMF meter.  Even better, you get BOTH the visual indicator of the light bar AND the solid recording of the exact miligauss or mictoTesla readings in 3-axis format.  The CSV file records the readings and the start and stop times of your audio recordings.

I’ve only had a few minutes so far to test it but it works quite well so far.  The EMF meter is VERY sensitive to any changes.  Really.  On an investigation, put your phone on a flat surface and zero it out before recording anything.  You probably don’t want to be moving it around while recording either.  It’s THAT sensitive.

I’ll be testing it out more soon and posting the results and a more thorough set of usage instructions soon.  Bookmark http://www.arcanorum.org and stay tuned for more info!

But times have changed and there’s a new toy in town!

Enter: The Smart Phone.

If you already have an iPhone3G or an Android based phone, you already have an EMF meter.

If you’re using an Apple iPhone, check out the Paranormal State branded EMF meter from Moderati. (Warning though – many are saying it’s fake.) There is another one for $0.99 and another one that is free.

If you have an Android, you can download the Free EMF Meter or Krugism’s $4.99 Entity Sensor/EMF Detector.  (Scott at Krugism.com is well known for his excellent support and customer relations.) The Android platform has built-in 3-axis EMF sensors.  There are numerous (free and paid) apps you can use to see the result, including a nifty Tricorder app for you Star Trek fans.There are even some that graph all three axes and save all your sensor data to a spreadsheet on your microSD card.

So there you have it, folks.  Cheap EMF.  Even available in Walmart’s cell phone department included free with your Android or Apple smart phone.

Personally, I own an Android and currently use the Free EMF Meter.  I’m keeping a close eye on Krugism’s Entity Sensor though, as I’ve put in some feature requests and as soon as his app has enough to make it significantly better than the free one, I’ll be throwing some cash his way.

As always, The Arcanorum is happy to test and review any gadgets and gizmos you want to send us.  We will give an honest and informative review.  If possible, all we ask for is to keep the gadget if we like it and/or at least get a link back to the Arcanorum.org site.  Each review is negotiated seperately, so it never hurts to contact us.

But you may not have noticed some other news that you may like:

• New Forums! That’s right.  The Arcanorum web site is going interactive!  After over a decade online, we’re finally opening up to try and form more of a community with you, our visitors.  So please, feel free to sign up, log in, and jump into the fray!
• New Investigation Team! As of Tuesday evening, October 27, 2010, The Arcanorum finally began work to put together a formal investigation team.  With experienced people around the neighborhood of Nashua, NH, we finally got off our collective duffs and did something.  Expect more people from the team posting here and a lively discussion over in the Forums.I have tried to put the team together out of a broad mix of people.  We have our skeptics, religious experts (multiple religions), sensitives, scientists, and more! In the coming days and weeks, we’ll be introducing some of them… or some of them may be introducing themselves.
• New Case Database! For the use of our team, I have installed a reporting database.  Now we will be able to track cases from start to finish and publish some really snazzy reports both for the public as well as for our clients.
• New Procedures! At our meeting we discussed some new investigation procedures.  One of these will be something COMPLETELY NEW to the Paranormal Community.  Stay tuned and find out!
• Funding! We’re going to put the “fun” back into funding by offering you special incentives to help us do what we do.  Investigations and gear can get quite costly, and we’d like to be able to afford the good equipment.  At the same time, we do not want to charge money for people genuinely looking for help understanding weird things around them.  So… We’ve decided to try out a few incentives to get those of you who enjoy reading about this sort of thing in on the action.  More details as we have them.

So sign up, log in, and join in the fun!

Can we PLEASE put this topic to rest now?

So with that and the severe inactivity of the group I usually work with, I figured I’d mention that I am available to work as a guest investigator for any group in the southern NH area.  If you’d be interested in having me along, I can offer a “true skeptic” viewpoint as well as several methods of gathering data and analyzing it.  I’ve got two wireless security cameras (one remotely adjustable and another IR illuminated) which can capture video and detect motion.  I’m not famous and adding my name to your roster won’t get you screaming fans, but it will get you someone with serious experience and a level head.

If you might be interested, please email me at brian at arcanorum dot org and let me know what you’re looking for, when, and where.

When I first heard of this show, I really wanted it to be good, but I knew it wouldn’t be.  I was amazed, though at just how bad it turned out.

For a full (and somewhat lengthy) explanation, please go read this.

I’ll have a review if I feel one is needed after I see more of the show myself.

The equipment I use, I know how to use properly and I use it to rule out explainable things while trying to learn more about those I cannot explain.

In talking with a fellow investigator from P.E.A.S.E. this evening, we touched upon the idea of paying to investigate.

While we could both see the point from the point of view of someone owning a purportedly haunted location, neither one of us felt all that comfortable paying.  Charging?  Ok.  It’s your home or business or whatever.  These are hard times, and if you need the money, you’re perfectly free to charge people to come on to your property for whatever reason you want to allow.  As seasoned investigators, though, we don’t feel right being your customers.

So I wonder, who goes to these things?  And the answer I keep returning to the idea that those who pay for these events are new to the field or are looking to be entertained.  I’m in search of answers, not entertainment.  I have no compunction to bump elbows with stars, psychic or not.  I’ve met stars, paranormal and otherwise and their fame means nothing to me.  Their skills, knowledge, and personality – those I admire, but fame?  Who cares?  I’m certainly not paying to participate in an investigation, no matter who I’ll be working with.  I invest enough of my time, energy, and frankly, money into my investigations, that paying on top of all that is pretty much out of the question.  In one case a team I was working with was expected to investigate a location, but the date was not determined… and then a more commercial “investigation” was done in the place.  I can’t wait to see what we find… and report back to you all my results.

As for expensive equipment, yes, I own an EMF meter a couple digital cameras,, a really good sound recorder, and a slew of flashlights.  I neither own nor really want a K2 meter.  It’s nothing more than a conveniently designed EMF meter with an LED readout.  My $30 Cell Sensor works just fine, thanks.  It’s also got a readable level meter where I can see the EMF strength in miligauss.  Half the investigators out there couldn’t tell you the difference between a miligauss and a nanotesla, let alone use their EMF meter or IR thermometer correctly.  If they’re buying $7-9000 thermal imaging systems, I have no reason to believe they’ll use them any better.  None of these things are “ghost detectors” yet each has its place in an investigation.  Yes, even the IR thermometer.

Why investigate ghosts when they have never been scientifically proven? Because they’re there.  And because we know almost nothing about what they are, their properties, origins, etc.  Reports of ghosts have come from all cultures in all times through history.  Whether they are really spirits of the departed or figments of our imaginations, they do exist and deserve study.  Even in a recession.

(tip of the hat to @GhostHunterBlog)

Around the same time, I finally got around to reading the book that the movie, “The Exorcist” was based on. I would later get a better report on the actual case.

Not long later, I read more about the facts behind the case of the Amityville Horror and how that was blown out of proportion for a hit movie.

Now, to be fair, the case behind The Exorcist was a real one. Real things happened. But Amityville, and now, it seems “A Haunting in Connecticut” were made up almost whole cloth.

I was really hoping there was something behind the Conn. case, because one of the investigators involved is a friend of a friend. Alas, it seems to have started as a book deal between some of the people involved.

This greatly saddens me, as it does a great disservice to those of us trying to investigate these things rationally. It ends up not being science, but rather pure entertainment claiming to be based on a true story.

One REAL, world famous case is that of the “Christmas Ghost” at Hampton Court Palace in December 2003. As is typical of real cases, it didn’t get a lot of press except when it was happening. It seems that for a number of days, a door alarm would sound at one set of fire doors. When security went to investigate, the doors were once again closed and no one was around. This at first looked like it might be bad wiring or some other electrical fault. To test this, the security people aimed a camera at the doors in hopes to see what was going on. Around December 18 or 19, the camera caught the doors opening and someone closing them. The person looks to be dressed in 16th century clothing. No one in the area was dressed as such at the time. Other security cameras showed no one coming or going from that area at the time. You can see the video here and a frame by frame analysis here. The case was mostly dismissed because the figure didn’t look very ghostly. That still doesn’t explain who the person was or how they avoided all the internal cameras. A subsequent “investigation” which had absolutely nothing at all to do with this incident showed there was no correlation between visitors’ feelings of a presence and the supposedly haunted areas of Hampton Court Palace. Thus, the whole incident was neatly swept under the carpet and left as a historical anomaly.

I give this as one example of a sighting with good, hard evidence that got NO proper follow-up investigation. It is typical of a real “ghost” anomaly in that the ghost seems solid and real, but appears and disappears without a trace. It is typical of what is called an “intelligent haunting” in that the apparition seems to interact with normal reality rather than what is called a “residual haunting” where the apparition seems more like an echo, disconnected from this world. These terms of course, are only working terms as we haven’t proven anything, but they accurately describe what is observed.

Most real hauntings go un-investigated. Most of what you see from Hollywood is presented not for documentary evidence, but purely for entertainment. Lately, I have come to be very wary of any investigator who seems out to entertain. It makes me question the motives involved, and as the Amityville and Connecticut cases show, also make me question what really happened.

You’re looking for a “non-contact voltage detector”. The one I found at my local Walmart was around $10 and looks kind of like a bright yellow blocky pen. These things are typically used to see if an AC circuit is “live”. They happen to work on the same principle as EMF meters and can be used to locate areas of very high AC EMF activity caused by non-paranormal devices like wiring, TVs, and computer monitors. They are great tools to rule out normal sources of EM radiation.

There is, of course, a down side. First, they are detectors, not meters. The audio signal and flashy light won’t give you an accurate measurement of the field. Second, they are not the most sensitive devices in the world, but they’ll do for locating the source of explainable AC EM radiation. If these things detect voltage where you spend a lot of time, you might consider moving away from the source of the radiation…

But for the price, and small size, these might be a good addition to your investigation kit.