Ghost Rider Investigations

Elizabeth Eagan-Cox interviewed Jon Almada, founder of Ghost-Rider-Investigations recently and we are reprinting the interview here at her authorization. Elizabeth is an accomplished paranormal fiction writer and has become a real friend of GRI. We will be having her on at least twice a year on our show.

The Interview:

Elizabeth:  What prompted you to become involved in paranormal investigation? Did you have a paranormal experience or involvement in a paranormal event?

Jon: I encountered one too many apparitions in my life to explain these experiences away easily and decided to do something about it. My ability to see shadows and occasionally hear spirits talking had a lot to do with it. I suppose the most stunning event was my encounter with a woman who materialized in my home many years back at three o'clock in the morning and which was my first truly shocking personal event that convinced me of the reality of the other side beyond simple “fleeting” experiences that I'd had all of my life.

I had heard spirits and had seen black and grey shadows for years, but it was always just on the edge of being “real” and I could always find a rational way to explain them away while knowing in my heart that these were truly spiritual and paranormal events.

Shortly after my father had a stroke in 2007, there was a huge increase in paranormal activity here at our property and I decided then and there to really jump head-first into the field whereas I had only been dabbling before. I've never looked back nor regretted the choice to take my life in this direction. I've made countless contacts and friends and this has become a life of meaning and excitement that I would never leave after having had such wonderful experiences living it all first-hand.

Elizabeth:  Please explain your definition of what is “Paranormal.” And does it differ from what is “Supernatural”? Do you remember using one definition instead of the other? Why?

Jon: Paranormal events are such that they defy rational explanation and yet which lie in the realm of physical laws of nature that exist in spite of our seeming command and understanding of the natural world. We are not yet mature enough as a species to truly understand these phenomena but will soon gain the understanding and ability to explain and even predict and work with such phenomena as our understanding grows and the science catches up with what we are witnessing and experiencing.

Supernatural events are those happenings that have a more “mystical” sense to them and which overlap and nearly coincide with paranormal events. The supernatural operates beyond physics and therefore outside of normal laws of the universe because of some outside agency, force or entity manipulating or bending these immutable laws to create spectacular effects and happenings.

I tend to use the paranormal term more because I believe that most events we encounter in this field are simply natural interactions with spiritual and physical phenomena and which will eventually find scientific explanation.

I do, however, believe in the existence of God and thus subscribe to the idea that there are supernatural events that do occur as a result of interactions with this force or deity who plays a key role in our very existence and whose interventions one may describe as “supernatural”. Mystical and miraculous occurrences in which lives are saved or changed as a result of such phenomena are good examples in point.

Elizabeth:  Have you found that particular environments are more inclined to paranormal activity? If so, please explain, maybe give examples.

Jon: Any place may be given towards paranormal activity, but those where lots of people congregate and where lots of emotional stress and distress have occurred tend to have more. Prisons, mental hospitals, hospitals and disaster zones as well as war zones are the natural first thoughts that come to mind. There are also graveyards, freeways where many accidents have occurred and historical sites where key events in the history of humanity have taken place and where paranormal events take place regularly.

In my own experiences, I find most of the gold country of El Dorado county and surrounding (where I live) to have activity in the oldest buildings and in areas where hangings, robberies and murders occurred. Because of the sheer mass of humanity that descended on California during the 1849 gold rush days, there was a lot of this kind of thing throughout California and the Sierra Nevada.

To top that off, we even have Confederate and Union civil war sites here (yes, even in California) where a lot of inflamed passions left imprints that we pick up to this day. I have one EVP telling me “Burn Yankee” from a bar over in Georgetown that made me laugh until I found it was a Confederate morgue. I wear a distinctive fighter pilot jacket that must have made the guy think I was a Union soldier and now I'd love to go back wearing a Union officer's clothing and then a Confederate officer's clothing to test the reaction to each.

Because of this, I believe we have a unique distinction as having some of the most haunted sites in the U.S.A. because of the passions and death that surrounded  the area I now reside and hunt spirits in.

Elizabeth: Jon, I know you have a keen interest and experience in capturing and analyzing EVPs, so I’d like to focus a few questions on the EVP experience, But, first, please give a brief explanation of what an EVP is.

Jon: EVPs are “Electronic Voice Phenomena” and constitute the capture of voices or sounds on electronic recording devices that were not heard by the people present during the time of the recording. EVP voices often contain signatures that distinguish them from normal voices with a characteristic “pop” along with musical sounding voices that are commonly encountered.

Additionally, we run into what we call “Site Signatures” that are unique to the given site we hunt at. In some sites here, we've encountered EVPs that are preceded by the sounds of cards shuffling or poker chips being moved around or by the sounds of laughter or groans. Each site is unique and we've come to believe these are tied to the unique personalities we encounter time and again as we investigate sites repeatedly.

That brings up another point. We run into the same spirits again and again on cases. That is why is makes sense to keep good records and really know the place you are investigating. In some cases, these entities seem to recognize us and even know our names and speak them in the recordings we capture. Other paranormal teams have reported similar findings of this nature.

Elizabeth: What tools/devices/programs do you use for EVP investigation? It’s okay to be specific, name brands, if you like.

Jon: I'm partial to using Sony ICD-series recorders. They are easy to operate, lightweight and easy on batteries. And I only use PC-capable recorders that let me download recordings quickly to our archival system for permanent storage. I also use rechargeable NIMH batteries with a lot of my gear, but always take alkaline batteries and have my portable recharger just in case we run into battery drain (it has happened) in the field. I also use a Zoom H2 recorder but am still learning how to use it. It is a very sophisticated studio-quality recorder and we're still figuring out just where to apply this sort of device in field work.

I have a background in file storage and document management systems (I've written complete document management systems myself) and so I used these skills to write my own unique system for management of EVP evidence and maintain pristine copies of my evidence so that any EVP that is eventually challenged will find me being able to reproduce the unaltered original recording from the master archive.

We use a free paranormal case reporting package too. It brings all of our casework into one place, online. It's called ParaDB and I'm pretty experienced at installing it for those who might be interested in getting it running on one of their computers. It's web-based and pretty darned good. We recommend it highly for those who need a means of doing a quality and high-class report for their field work and summaries.

I use Audacity for most of my EVP analysis but am saving up to get Adobe Audition. And I use cupped, high quality studio-headphones to listen to EVPs in very quiet surroundings when doing my evidence analysis. Never listen to EVPs while in a noisy environment. It's just too easy to lose track of things in a distracting environment.

I have just about everything else you can name... Temperature recorders, Mel Meter for combination temperature  and EMF detection, custom EMF detection gear and a lot of video recorders. One 4-channel Hitachi DVR with 3 IR night-vision cameras for the home and business cases where we need that capability.

I use a Sony 60gb hard drive camcorder for night work and have custom IR light sources that I've built myself to handle the video work we are getting into.

I'm also experimenting with various electronic detection systems. Geophones, EMF data recorders and am looking hard at exotic sensing technologies that might be adapted to paranormal research. We also just acquired a “big ear” parabolic microphone and are developing the protocols and testing procedures to finally use that device in the field and to gauge it's effectiveness. Another item in test is the use of Tesla coil and lightning globes to see about providing direct current energy to spirits to see if we can get them to react more with the equivalent of a “free meal”. Those tests are now underway and will go on for the duration of 2010 until we find the best fit for these devices and which types work best in various types of cases.

On a side note, we're going into theoretical discussions and talks with other groups we've partnered with that then find field application and which will let us probe and examine phenomena in new ways. It is an exciting time to be a researcher and to be trying out new ideas and to be willing to fail as well as pioneer a new line of thought in this business. Linking up with other groups and using combined strengths and a many-eyes approach to investigation is a wise way to maximize our strengths and get even better evidence from our investigations together.

I think the action in this field will be in the use of time linked software that can automatically correlate all the events in a case to all of the researchers and devices in use. If we get into the use of GPS to mark the exact location when this or that phenomena happened (a lot of devices have that built into them now and it makes sense to start using it in a coordinated way), then we can begin getting very sophisticated  global views of a location we are investigating and begin to get the big-picture in a way we can only now dream of having.

Elizabeth: When using a voice/sound recorder in hope of capturing an EVP do you prefer to leave the recorder in a location and then walk away?  OR  Do you  keep the recorder with you and prompt an interaction through a series of questions? If you ask questions, can you give a few examples of the type of questions you might ask and the ambiance you seek to create via phrasing/language and/or tone of voice?

Jon: I do both. We have found it essential to leave “drop recorders” in place for static recording sessions as checks and balances for our dynamic in-person recordings. Static recorders also offer the chance to catch someone faking and to provide zoned coverage while investigators move throughout a site.

We also break up recorders for dynamic sessions with “all-investigation” recordings that are long-time series recordings to catch everything that happened to an investigator and also to use short-burst recordings to gauge where things are occurring and direct the investigation accordingly in real-time.

I try to research the site before I get there and then always take a very complimentary tone with spirits. We want to be friendly and to provide them with a chance to be treated like family or friends. Our successes (and we have had many) are because of this willingness to use good manners and etiquette when interacting with these departed souls.

If I do not get the chance to research the site, then I use my best skills to guess what they may wish to talk about. If I know something of the case and time in which these people lived, then I do try to talk about things they cared about. We also play music from different eras and see what the responses might be (and it has been something that was spectacular to see on occasion when we get spirits who recognize music from their time!).

I also “play act” and ask spirits to interact with me. During a case aboard U.S.S. Hornet this year, I was getting Ovilus (a talking EMF meter coupled to a voice dictionary) responses indicating a sick sailor in the sickbay was needing help. I then became a “doctor” and announced that I was going to need supplies to help the sailor. Within seconds, the seven investigators present at this event began smelling the old smell of Chloroseptic, an old-fashioned antiseptic that was common over 20 to 30 years ago and beyond. We all smelled it. It then disappeared as soon as it had arrived. We had EVP recorders running and picked up a lot of interesting responses in direct response to our “acting” job.

Elizabeth: It seems that some EVPs are recorded that are not heard by the human ear, while other recorded EVPs were clearly heard at the time of the recording. Is there a theory as to why this happens?

Jon: If it is an auditory event that a human can hear, it's no longer an EVP but a spirit speaking out loud and in the frequency and range of human hearing. Sometimes, as in a recent case of ours at the Truckee Hotel, we can get the digital recorder to pick up the voice as well as our responses to hearing the voice in question.

As for theory, I suppose that it is a function of whether a spirit can slow it's vibrational frequency down enough to interact directly with us in our world and with our limited senses. I believe it is far, far easier for them to affect electronic gear since that does the job of picking them up easier and costs them less energy to speak with us.

Elizabeth: As an animal lover, I have wondered, do animals, especially pets, ever leave EVPs?

Jon: I did a test case in August of this year where we tested that and found that we had inadvertently picked up what we believe to be residual sounds of farm animals being loaded on a truck at a spot in the lower foothills where cattle and sheep were rounded up and carted off to market. So yes, I do believe we get EVP evidence from animals.

I have yet to get a recording of a dog or cat, for example, where I know there was no physical presence to be heard, but I can relate that a number of our pets here where I live have passed and then returned to make their presence known to my family. I do plan to try to contact them directly when my family members let me know that the animals have been spotted or felt nearby.

Elizabeth: I know you utilize different techniques and tools/devices in paranormal investigation. Do you have a favorite?

Jon:  I think that the best technique is to be informed about where and whom you are hunting and to be consistent and kind to the spirits. It just gets you so  much farther than running in like a cowboy and demanding things from them.

I always carry a digital recorder and small camera with me everywhere as well as a simple notepad and pen. I'm never without the ability to conduct an investigation and have often found myself on “guerrilla investigations” when I run into a historical site or place I feel to be haunted in my travels. If any technique is useful, it's to be prepared to investigate on a moment's notice and to be inventive and an out-of-the-box thinker when it comes to investigation of sites that unexpectedly come your way.

Also, I keep a huge list of sites and places I'd love to hunt and it's amazing how these places suddenly find their way into your life in the most  unexpected ways. Having already researched them and knowing something about them gives you an edge when the chance arises to hunt a spot. I often think my guides arrange these little “coincidences” to just keep me on my toes, so it pays to be prepared!

I love just popping into likely spots and asking folks if they have a haunt. Stores and historic sites are always likely spots, but don't forget new buildings and the odd place like an old gas station or perhaps an old building with lots of charm that you just can't shake the feeling about when you drive by it. Have the guts to go in and ask and you will be surprised at how often you succeed in getting asked to investigate the place.

Finally, I think that using psychic skills to sense and interact with spirits while using evidence capture gear is essential to success. We humans are far more capable of sensing spirits and energies than we understand and if you just trust yourself and listen to the small voice saying “Go here and try recording this or that”, you get a lot farther in this field in my opinion. And the evidence captured is much better and more frequent in being quality stuff.

Elizabeth: What is the singular most memorable experience you’ve had while involved in a paranormal investigation?

Jon: May 2009. I ran face to face with a 3 and ½ foot ghost in a haunted bookstore in Placerville, California. It surprised me as much as I surprised it and we both jumped backwards. The entire encounter was picked up on a digital recorder and we heard laughing at us afterwards as we tried to debunk what I had seen. I was really shook up by it. This thing was gray in color and had no facial or human features beyond a roughly human shape.

I will cheat on this question and state that in June, 2009, I witnessed an apparition run from the haunted Yellow Jacket Mine in Virginia City. The disturbing part was that I only saw a pair of legs in jeans and the lower part of the torso running around the old miner's cabin. Ten minutes later, two of my team members saw a blue orb follow the same exact course my half-ghost followed just prior to that. We felt it was a residual playback that was using energy available to play itself and was low on energy for the second playback, hence the blue orb rather than a manifestation like I had seen.

Elizabeth: Do you have a dream assignment? A particular place you’d love to investigate? Why?

Jon: I'd love to hunt Pearl Harbor. One of my family members was killed in action there during the Pearl Harbor attack (took a direct hit from a Japanese Zero that strafed him) and I'd like to see what kind of EVPs I'd get there.

One other spot would be to do an overnight investigation of a haunted lighthouse. I'm fascinated with these places and would love to hunt one on the West Coast if the opportunity came my way.

There are a couple of other places that come to mind. I'd love to hunt any of the places where Ben Franklin lived (He is childhood hero of mine) and to also do a paranormal investigation of Independence Hall to see what we might encounter. One final spot – There is a haunted insane asylum in New York state I'm looking at for 2010 and I may just hit that place later in the year.

Elizabeth: How would a Paranormal Investigator enthusiast, looking to break in, go about networking with experienced P.I.s? 

Jon: Just ask to come along with us. That is the key to life. We are a small team but are willing to teach and to share ideas and technologies with other groups and people who want to learn.

We would be happy to bring other investigators on board to train and certify them and then turn them loose to do our brand of compassionate investigation.

We are not a “pay” group, so it's really about friendship and courtesy and rewards of helping someone new break into this field. We do not subscribe to ranking systems beyond necessity and are more interested in developing good investigators who can then go out and start their own teams and run good quality investigations. The big thing is to have professionalism, passion and a deep interest in the field and to be ready to ask quality questions and be prepared to make mistakes and then learn from them. If you can hack that, then we're interested in you!

Elizabeth: If a child or young person were to ask… How would you explain to them what you do as a paranormal investigator?

Jon: It's happened and we are honest and tell them the truth of what we do. We're careful about what we say and are very sensitive to how they handle the response. Some of the more mature children can handle the truth of things and listen to some of the more disturbing material we get, but thats rare. We make sure that the parents are present during such interactions and are sensitive to their inputs and feelings when talking with children about such matters.

Elizabeth: I have to ask… Do you believe in ghosts?

Jon: You bet. I've run into too many of them and it's clear they are a normal and active part of the world we live in. It's time to recognize that humanity shares space with departed souls as well as other non-human intelligences and to get over the notion we are all there is in the world.

One final note... Many of these spirits ask for our help. And when we find them asking to be crossed over, we help them with that. It has become something rather amazing to have happen when you find these folks needing your help and to get past the fact that a haunt is technically interesting. It comes down to having sensitivity and a heart with compassion for another being in pain who needs help. We do what we can and hope it helps. And, to date, I've had a number of cases we felt we did help. It's the best feeling in the world to help them move on and all the work pays off when we can bring relief to them and to living people who are living with a ghost that may be seeking such help but not knowing quite how to go about it until we arrive.

Elizabeth: Jon, please tell a little about your radio show and about your paranormal investigations. 

Jon: I operate Ghost Rider Paranormal Radio on BlogTalkRadio.com at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ghostrider and generally do the show on Sundays at 8:00pm Pacific until 9:30pm Pacific. We love having all sorts of guests on and are a friendly place to share a smile and learn new things while laughing at ourselves a lot!

The concept of the show is, of course, paranormal topics and we interview book authors such as yourself on all manner of topics from ghosts to ufos and even paranormal fiction and comic book authors. We're big on science and spiritual guests and love having psychics and other similar people on who share expanded views of reality and are willing to push the boundaries a bit to learn something new.

As for Ghost Rider Investigations, our investigation area ranges over the whole of California and Nevada.  We focus on outdoor cases for about 60 percent of our work (usually day investigation work), but have increasingly been doing indoor and home investigations. We have people on staff who do clearings and help transition lost or tired spirits to the other side and tend to do one to two investigations monthly, except for December when we rest and recharge our batteries as well as finalize our case files and ready for the new ghost-hunting season to come.

We love having the public along for some of our day hunts and post these on our site when we have them. And please feel free to write me at jon.almada@gmail.com if you want to test your mettle in the field and we'll be glad to talk about having you join us on a case as an investigator-prospect  for the team to see how you do. We also do the occasional presentation to various groups and are willing to speak to the public at large as an educational service. Again, there is no charge for these activities and the only expense is your time and willingness to learn and travel to where we'll be investigating or presenting.

Jon's bio:

Jon is the founder of Ghost-Rider-Investigations, a paranormal research team operating in Northern California. He grew up in that part of the state and has lived a life in and around the rocket propulsion industry and has worked in the field for 25 years doing computer application design, document management system design and web architecture design and diagnostic work. 

Jon also grew up with family with intuitive gifts and shares some of these abilities himself, specifically the ability to see and hear spirits as well as to sense their presence. Having grown up with such gifts, the paranormal was truly “normal” in the household and it was only natural that he developed an interest in the field over the years as he encountered spiritual energies in the field and in his travels.

In 2006, Jon began formal work doing paranormal investigation work  and has performed over 100 individual investigations to date. His specialty is EVP work in the field and he and his team now travel through California and Nevada researching new cases and never-before hunted sites as a regular part of the GRI mission.

Jon is in the process of completing a science-fiction novel and a book about the GRI cases he and his team have investigated.