Ghost Hunting Apps
I often get asked about the apps designed for ghost hunting. Of course, I test them in real haunted locations. Some have shown success, others not so much. With that said, that doesn’t necessarily mean that an app that I’ve never had any success with does not have validity. It simply means that the app wasn’t successful during the time of the experiment. The same can be said about physical devices designed for ghost hunting as well.
I keep a few apps handy in my phone. These are apps that I’ve had the most success with. Ghost hunting is an experimental science which requires not just dedication, but discipline to the craft of trying similar experiments over and over again to see results or find the lack of them.
I would also like to point out that I, unlike other investigators, will not use one single device/application at a time. I live for the thrill of validating in real time with full conversation or cause and effect of multiple devices signaling simultaneously. With that said, please do not rely on a singular phone application to validate paranormal activity. Use them in conjunction with a physical device for clearer communication and results of each paranormal experiment.
Let’s dive into the types of apps designed for ghost hunting. Please note that I am not an affiliate for any of the apps mentioned in this article. There may be appraisals for apps that Stories in the Cemetery finds productive when in the paranormal field, but in no way, was I compensated for my opinions featured here.
EMF DetectorsWe’ve all seen the famous K-II EMF Meters on our favorite paranormal TV shows. Although I use the K-II as a secondary EMF Meter, I may also use EMF phone apps as well.
Your phone can detect electromagnetic fields that it does not produce, much like the REM feature of the Mel Meter. I have tested a number of these apps with electronics around my home and find that they are pretty accurate in their readings. I kept “True EMF Meter” on my phone just as a backup.
One thing of note about the phone applications for EMF: They measure in units of Tesla versus most physical devices, like a K-II Meter and Mel Meter, which measure in milligauss. I tend to use multiple EMF meter models to validate readings. This can be difficult to do if they are using two different units of measure. So, either learn the conversion, or the difference in the readings for validation if your secondary EMF meter is a phone app.
To help out with that the conversion is quite simple: one unit of tesla is equivalent to 10 milligauss.
Word Generator AppsBy far, one of my favorite styles of apps to use during an investigation is not just because I’m a wordsmith/writer and love communication, but it allows our spirit world to give us communication in a much easier way. In comparison to a physical spirit box, paranormal investigators believe that the white noise created by AM/FM radio frequencies give spirits the opportunity to use that white noise as a medium to use their own voice to communicate. With a digital word generator app, this allows our hauntings to simply choose a word in the app’s database to communicate.
What I found is that most of the apps that have this feature of a word database are predetermined by a small number of words.
There are over 170,000 words in the English language. There is no true determination of how many words are in the English language, but there are over 170,000 entries of usable words in the Oxford English Dictionary. Most of the word generator apps provide about 500-2,000 terms and phrases in their database. This seems a bit broken down to tropes, cliches and “spooky terminology” that we commonly hear in our paranormal entertainment. However…
I found an app with a much larger data of the standard 500-2000 terms. “Ghost Hunting Tools” paid version has over 9000 terms in the database. Some of these terms are very general and vague terms and to be honest, I think that’s what I like the most about the app. It shows that it’s not just pre-programmed to give us all a jump scare during our investigations.
The other feature of these apps you need to look out for is a save feature, and/or timestamps of when the terms occurred. What this does is allows investigators to align the terms from the app with what may have been heard on a physical ITC device such as a spirit box.
Camera Filter AppsAs easy on the wallet as these types of apps may seem versus the cost of physical cameras, nothing beats a camera that is designed with specific photographic lenses like infrared, night vision, thermal, etc.
Camera filter apps are fun and can definitely give a curious investigator a different perspective of a haunted space, but after working with specifically designed physical cameras, nothing else compares.
Feel free to experiment with camera filter apps, but our recommendation is to run your experiments with physical equipment like a FLIR thermal imaging camera, or an infrared camera.
Spirit Box AppsMuch like Word Generator Apps, using a spirit box app can limit an investigation in relation to how many phrases or terms will actually be heard. Even then, it is questionable as to how many of these “sweeps” are pre-recorded or pre-determined to say different phrases intended to give us all that spooky jump scare.
One app that I use to complement a physical spirit box, because let’s face it, nothing compares to an actual spirit box radio frequency sweeper, is the Paranormal Hauntings app by Brian Holloway.
Paranormal Darkness by Brian Holloway.This app works with a reverse effect of words being said in reverse, therefore giving off that eerie sound, but when a word or phrase comes through in forward motion, it stands out and is usually very clear. I tested this app with multiple locations and found that very specific phrases to the location were discovered. There were instances, during the testing of this app, that the terms heard didn’t even make sense in real time, whereas I had to research the terms later and they provided a very specific detail about the spirit’s life or lifetime.
Again, I’ll point out that I’m not an advocate or affiliate for any of these apps, I’m simply sharing my opinion through this blog and podcast.
Reminder to not use these apps as a singular device for verified evidence. Use them in conjunction with one another and experiment with different device combinations.
SLS App by Ghost TubeWe’ve all seen the “stick man” camera that is created with an old XBox 360 Kinect camera with the wires and battery packs attached on our favorite paranormal programs. As remarkable as the thought process is about this technology and adapting it to ghost hunting, I had my doubts about an app that claimed to do what the very complicated and sophisticated wiring we saw on TV.
Just like the Kinect 360 camera meant for body movement recognition, this camera sprays out infrared lighting that we as humans cannot see with our own eyes. The camera then determines the distance of this lighting to create an avatar, in your video game, or in our case, as a stick figure for ghost hunting. Hence the acronym, SLS, which stands for Structured Light Sensor.
The SLS App by Ghost Tube works using your mobile device’s camera. After researching this app before trying in the field, we followed the developer’s advice for optimum performance by using Apple’s LiDar technology. I purchased an iPad with the LiDar Technology and began testing the sensitivity of the app.
Currently, the sensitivity is set to about 40%. This allows my guests on the Interactive Ghost Hunting Experience to see humanoid formations from actual humans as well as debunking other anomalies that may be caused by trees, and any other object that may be in front of another object.
When I’m spot checking this video for my ghost hunting guests, and I find an anomaly that I cannot predetermine the outline of a physical world object, I take a screenshot and then brighten the screenshot and look for outlines of buildings, other people, nature and any other object that may be manipulating the camera’s sensors. If the brightened screenshot doesn’t prove to create an outline of a physical world object, then that holds great potential for anomalous event.
One other observation that I find helpful with this app is the face or head of the anomaly. If a human is in frame on the camera, the “stick man” will have three points for the head or face. This is due to the contours of our faces having two eyes and a nose. I look for these same points on anomalies that have potential to be true paranormal events.
The SEER App by Ghost Tube
And last, but certainly not least, I’ve been testing the SEER app for quite a few months now and testing the results. This is a visual stimulation experiment intended to accompany and complement a sensory deprivation experiment, otherwise known as the Estes Method or Spirit Box session.
For the safety of my ghost hunting guests on the Interactive Ghost Hunting Experience merely looking for entertainment versus hardcore ghost hunters, I have separated this experiment among two guests instead of using all stimuli providing and deprivation going to one person.
The SEER app uses EMF signals and translates them into images using artificial intelligence. It’s a fascinating experiment and with my measurements and studying the results, I find that this experiment can be up to 40-45% accurate to the haunted space.
There have been experiments that did not create any imagery and others have created up to twelve images in a ten minute timeframe. In other words, each experiment is completely unpredictable.
I want to also note that I have seen over 400 images generated by this app experiment so far, and have yet to see two identical images. Some have similar traits to others, but never has there been an identical twin image created.
In summaryApps are a great addition to your paranormal tool arsenal. However, I will never recommend relying on apps and one app alone to conduct a full paranormal investigation. A well-rounded ghost hunter will use physical pieces of equipment like cameras, EMF Meters and spirit boxes as well as apps to complement the physical equipment.
Stories in the Cemetery uses a conglomerate of both physical devices along with today’s technology of phone apps. We believe that by using modern technology it helps to move the paranormal field closer to fully understanding what happens to us in the afterlife. I am in the business of studying results to learn about the paranormal which we don’t fully understand yet as a species.
My hope is that this episode and blog post will pique your curiosity about today’s tech and steer your focus not on just the singular capture of paranormal evidence. It’s time we start checking the checker and looking at our paranormal toolkit as a whole, not as a singular event from a singular piece of equipment whether a physical or digital tool.
So, use the apps. Test them. Study the results when compared to a physical device’s results. Stories in the Cemetery believes that paranormal events have to be experienced. You don’t need to take my word for it on what works and what doesn’t. Use the apps and see the results for yourself. Word of caution is that you’ll have to do the research on your findings. It’s hard work, but fascinating when you discover that your full investigation was successful by discovering more information about paranormal activity and not just having a real time singular paranormal event.
In other words, do your hard work the justice of researching your findings by recording as much media as you can. You’ll not only find your research to be fruitful, but you’ll also gain a better understanding of your haunted space as well as the findings. Thank you for allowing me to pique your curiosity with this article. Check out the Stories in the Cemetery podcast episode that accompanies this post below.
More than a blogThis article has an accompanying podcast episode. This is episode #48 of the podcast. Click the Spotify logo below to listen:
Apps and references used to create this articleApps listed:
True EMF Meter, developer unknownGhost Hunting Tools, by WeaselParanormal Hauntings, by Brian HollowayParanormal Darkness, (image), by Brian HollowaySLS, by GhostTubeSEER, by GhostTubeReferences
(n.d.). Oxford English Dictionary (OED). Retrieved February 1, 2024, from https://www.oed.com/(n.d.). GhostTube Official Website. Retrieved February 1, 2024, from https://ghosttube.com/Strieber, W. (n.d.). Kindred Spirits. Travel Channel. Retrieved February 1, 2024, from https://www.travelchannel.com/shows/kindred-spirits
