VIII. Conducting An Investigation

Everyone will choose their own method of investigation after several times out, but sometimes it’s nice to have someone else’s run down. So, this chapter gives you kind of a blow by blow of what we do, varying a bit per location on whether we use one, two or three video cameras.

First thing, of course, is to choose a location, so in this case, we’ll go to one of the local cemeteries as this has the easiest access if you’re just starting out. We prefer a cemetery that is a bit off the beaten track to avoid car sounds and such, but we have been to ones right off the main road as well.

We usually visit the cemetery in the daytime, walking it and getting ourselves familiar with its layout. While we are there, we determine the best place to set up the video camera(s), the best place to park the car, and decide whether we plan to concentrate on one particular area depending on either a legend or the size of the cemetery, or to cover all of it if it’s a smaller one.

At home, we check our equipment, charging batteries, replacing batteries if necessary, cleaning camera lenses, placing new tapes in the video cameras, putting a disc in the recorder and gathering up several flashlights. If the cemetery is quite large and we plan to cover a lot of it, we’ll take our two way radios with ear pieces to stay in contact when we separate. We also make sure that we have the protection items that we’ve chosen for ourselves.

Back at the cemetery per our chosen time, we introduce ourselves and let the spirits know why we are there while we set up the video camera(s) in the previously decided upon spots, turn on the disc player and ready the digital camera.

Our habit is to walk the cemetery, inviting spirits to have their pictures taken or to give us a message. We tell them who has the camera and who  has the recorder, and then we always let them know if we switch, which we often do to give both of us an opportunity to take photos.

When we photograph, we take pictures in either sets of two or sets of three. We feel sets of three is a better choice as we’ve had times where an Orb has begun to form in the first picture, is more to form in the second picture, but because we did not take a third picture, we don’t know what happened to it next. We’d rather know. If you have a camera with a viewing screen and you happen to see something unique happening, don’t hesitate to take more than three photos. This is just a guideline, so you have photos to compare to one another to validate or eliminate a strange anomaly.

We really have no specific method of picture taking. I prefer the older stones and will photograph those and The Night Watchman seems to prefer the newer stones. Occasionally, we might get a chill or the hair on our arms and the backs of our neck will rise and we’ll photograph where we feel the sensation is coming from. We also do this if we smell or hear something unusual. We’ve come to determine that our bodies tend to give us clues to the possibility of a spirit nearby even before our equipment does.

When we first started, we thought it was necessary to be completely quiet while investigating. After capturing the woman’s voice on two video recorders at Hazel Green while talking loudly with the teens that stopped by, we decided that it wasn’t necessary. We are very careful to make note on our recorder if one of us coughs, sneezes, burps, steps on a stick, etc. We are always aware of the noises around us too and will tell the recorder if there is a barking dog, a rustle in the woods from an animal, an owl hooting, a car going by, etc. Doing this saves a lot of headache when listening to the sound you’ve gathered.

We spend approximately 20 minutes at the chosen location. Sometimes, about half way through, The Night Watchman will move the video cameras to another location previously determined, just for the purpose of covering more of the cemetery.

How long you spend at a location really isn’t a factor, but we consider how much time we’ll have to view the photos, listen to the recordings and view the video. It won’t do any good to allow the investigation material to pile up and wait for the next rainy day to try to sift through five hours of video, hundreds of photos and hours of sound. Chances are, with the demands of every day life, much of the material will sit there until you’ve forgotten where it was collected from. Being time sensitive in this way can avoid unneeded frustration.

As we pack up, we always thank the spirits for allowing us to be there and compliment the beauty of their resting place.

Normally, The Night Watchman and I split up when it comes to going through what we’ve gathered. He will view the video and listen for EVP’s on the video as well while I go through the photos on the computer and listen to the recording from the disc player with headphones on. We make note of anything specific, then work with it and discuss it once we’ve both finished going through our part of the materials.

We are very comfortable with the way we conduct an investigation and are very comfortable working together. This is important. There are times that we take the girls with us, giving them each a specific job of their own, and it is really difficult to do this sometimes as we are used to our regular routine. You can work with as many or as few people as you choose, but we suggest that you never investigate alone – mainly for safety reasons.

Christina M. Schumacher