Behind the Scenes of a Paranormal Investigation: How We Uncover Ghostly Evidence

It’s past midnight in an ancient Scottish castle. The halls are silent and dark, and our team holds its breath as we scan the shadows for any sign from beyond. Welcome to a real paranormal investigation. If you've ever wondered how to do a paranormal investigation or what ghost hunting in Scotland behind the scenes truly entails, you're in the right place. Unlike the jump-scares and theatrics you see on some TV programs, our approach at Scottish Paranormal is rooted in patience, rigour, and respect. We combine old-fashioned research with modern gadgets, always mindful that authenticity and credibility are our greatest tools.

We’re here to pull back the curtain on our process – sharing how we prepare, the equipment we trust, what happens during those eerie vigils, and how we analyse the evidence we collect. Get ready for an inside look at ghost hunting that is both accessible and compelling, grounded in real experiences and a passion for the unexplained.

Preparation Before the Investigation

Every great investigation starts well before we step into a haunted location. Preparation is key to both safety and success:

Researching History & Securing Permissions

We begin by digging into the location’s background. Who lived or died here? What legends or ghostly sightings are recorded? Understanding the historical context gives us clues about what spirits might linger and where activity could be focused. For example, if a castle like Torwood Castle dates back to the 16th century, we learn about its builders and any tragedies on site – these stories guide our questions later and make any encounters more meaningful. We also note reported phenomena (footsteps, apparitions, cold spots) so we know what to watch for.

Securing Permission: 

Investigating haunted places isn’t a rogue free-for-all – we always obtain permission from owners or authorities. This is both out of legal necessity and respect. Gaining access to off-limit areas (like sealed rooms or after-hours access to historic sites) often requires building trust by explaining our credibility and methods. We’re transparent about our intentions: we’re there to document and understand, not to disturb or sensationalise.

Safety Considerations & Hot Spot Mapping

Safety First: 

Many haunted sites in Scotland are old buildings or ruins, which means physical hazards. Before lights-out, we survey the location in daylight, mapping things like uneven floors, low doorways, or unsafe stairwells. We ensure everyone on the team knows the layout to avoid accidents in the dark. We also set ground rules – no one wanders off alone without a radio, and we establish buddy systems. Respect extends to unseen inhabitants too: we approach any spiritual presence with courtesy, never taunting or provoking. Our mantra is “leave the place as we found it (or better)” – that goes for the living, the property, and any spirits in residence.

Hot Spot Mapping: 

Using the historical research and eyewitness reports, we identify hot spots – the specific rooms or areas with frequent activity. Maybe it’s the abandoned nursery where children’s laughter has been heard, or a particular cell in a jail that gives people chills. We plan our investigation around these areas. On our location map, we mark these target zones and also note ideal positions for equipment (more on those next) to cover each hot spot. By the time night falls, we know exactly where to focus our cameras and sensors for the best chance of documenting something extraordinary.

With groundwork laid and a solid plan in place, we assemble our arsenal of ghost-hunting gear and get ready to bring the unseen to light.

Equipment We Use & Their Purpose

One thing that sets a credible paranormal investigation apart is the gear. Over years of trial and error, we’ve curated a collection of devices that help us detect and document any strange activity. Each has a specific purpose and, when used together, they give us a comprehensive picture of what’s happening. Here’s a look at the essential equipment we rely on:

EDI+ Data Loggers

The EDI+ is like a paranormal investigator’s multi-tool. These handheld boxes measure everything – EMF (electromagnetic fields), ambient temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, and even vibrations. They also log all this data to an SD card for later analysis. In real-time, we can see spikes or drops on the device’s LEDs, and later we can graph the data to spot subtle anomalies we might have missed live. For instance, if someone feels a cold spot, the EDI+ might confirm the temperature dip and also show an EMF spike at the same moment – a clue that something inexplicable was in the room. By continuously tracking environmental conditions, the EDI+ helps us separate natural changes from possible paranormal events.

REM-Pod (Radiating EM Field Pod)

A favourite in the 'ghost-hunting' & Paranormal community, the REM-Pod creates its own electromagnetic field and alerts us when something disturbs that field. In practice, we place its small antenna device on a table or the floor and turn it on; if anything conductive enters the invisible bubble around it, the REM-Pod lights up and emits a tone. This means if we’re all standing still and its alarm goes off, something unseen might be moving near it. Because it radiates a field 360° around its antenna, it’s ideal for monitoring hallways or doorways – if a spirit passes by, the REM-Pod should pick it up. We often set up multiple REM-Pods down a long corridor to see if we can track movement (like footsteps triggering one after the other). It’s simple technology at heart, but extremely effective for detecting an unseen energy breaking that field, almost like an invisible tripwire for the unseen.

Motion Detection Devices: 

Visual and motion cues are just as important as EMF. We use a variety of gadgets to catch any movement in empty rooms:

Music Box Motion Sensors: 

This is a clever twist – a sensor that, when triggered by motion, plays a tune (often a creepy music box melody). It sounds whimsical, but it’s great for locations said to have child spirits. We’ve seen instances where an unseen “guest” seems to approach the music box out of curiosity, making the music play in response. When you’re in a pitch-dark castle and a distant music box starts chiming on its own, it’s an unforgettable moment.

Static IR Cameras & DVR: 

While our handheld camcorders record what we see, we also set up static infrared cameras on tripods covering those hot spots we mapped. These feed into a DVR system recording the entire night from multiple angles. If a motion sensor goes off, we can later check the DVR footage from that room and hopefully catch a visual of what caused it. Even if we don’t see a full apparition, sometimes we’ll spot an odd flash of light at the exact time a motion device triggered, strengthening the evidence.

ITC Tools (Spirit Communication Devices): Instrumental Trans-Communication is the fancy term for using electronic devices to talk with spirits. We have several trusted tools in this category:

Panasonic DR60 Audio Recorder: 

This little 1990s-era digital recorder is legendary among EVP enthusiasts – some call it the “holy grail” of ghost recorders. It’s known for capturing EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon) voices that other recorders miss. However, it’s also infamous for its quirks and low quality. We don’t just assume every whisper it catches is a ghost; we validated through testing that our DR60 isn’t simply producing noise or artifacts. Only under controlled conditions, when we ask questions in an empty room and play back clear direct responses, do we consider it evidence. With its use, we’ve recorded astonishing, unexplained voices – but always corroborated by our other devices or context.

SB7 Spirit Box: 

The SB7 is a modern spirit box that rapidly scans radio frequencies, creating a constant sweep of white noise. The theory is that spirits can manipulate that noise or the radio snippets to form words and answers. In a session, it sounds like chaotic chhhhhh as it flips through stations. We ask questions aloud, and through the static we might hear a voice respond (“Yes,” “No,” or even names). Because it’s scanning so fast, any clear word that sticks out (especially if it’s relevant to the question) grabs our attention. We use a modified SB7 (with the antenna removed to reduce broadcast interference) or a phone app version with phoneme sound-banks. Hearing a timely response from the SB7 can be a hair-raising experience – imagine asking “Is there anyone here with us?” and hearing a distinct “Hello” that seemingly comes from nowhere.

Frank’s Box: 

Named after its creator, Frank Sumption, this was one of the original “ghost boxes.” It works on the same principle as the SB7 – sweeping radio frequencies – but is a bit more old-school and rare. Ours is an older model that produces a lot of raw static and random bits of audio. Sometimes the Frank’s Box voices differ from the SB7, which is interesting for cross-checking answers. We might run both simultaneously to see if we get the same response on two devices (it has happened!). Using a Frank’s Box feels like ghost-hunting heritage, a nod to the early experimenters in ITC.

Estes Method Sessions: 

One innovative technique we love is the Estes Method, essentially a spirit box experiment with a twist. One investigator wears noise-cancelling headphones plugged into the SB7 (or another spirit box) and is blindfolded, isolating them from the environment. They can only hear the sweeping static and whatever voices might come through. The rest of the team then asks questions out loud that the isolated person cannot hear. The person listening to the spirit box shouts out any words or phrases they hear in the chaos. This way, if the answers match the questions, it’s very compelling evidence with less chance of it being influenced by expectation. We’ve had eerie Estes sessions where the headphone-wearing member started saying words that perfectly answered our questions — all in real time. It’s a thrilling experiment that often produces some of our most jaw-dropping moments of communication.

GS2 Laser Grid System: 

This is one of the more high-tech items in our kit. The GS2 Laser Grid is not just a typical laser pointer array; it’s a full sensor suite. It projects a field of laser dots out into a room and measures any disturbance to that grid. More impressively, it can tell us the distance and direction of a moving object that crosses its path, even noting temperature changes associated with it. For example, if a figure walks in front of it, we’ll see the pattern shift and the device might indicate “movement at x distance” and whether it’s moving left or right. It’s even capable of mapping the general shape or size of the anomaly to a degree (in some cases supporting a rudimentary 3D model of the movement). We use the GS2 to cover large open areas like long hallways or the length of a room. It basically gives us an extra set of eyes in total darkness – eyes that can quantify a ghostly visitor’s path. If something breaks the laser grid, we’ll know where it is and even if the air got colder at that spot. It’s an incredible tool for visualising the unseen.

DVR System & Night Vision Camcorders: 

Documentation is everything. We arm ourselves with handheld infrared (Night Vision) camcorders to follow the action as we move, and set up a DVR system with multiple static cameras to monitor key rooms continuously. The night vision turns pitch black rooms into visible green-tinted scenes, allowing us to catch shadows, light anomalies, or even potentially full apparitions that our eyes might miss. We often place static cams on tripods in a four-camera DVR setup, which records split-screen. That way, if a REM-Pod goes off in the cellar while we’re on the top floor, we still have footage of it. Our cameras also have microphones, so they double-record audio for backup (just in case our audio recorders pick up a voice, we can see if the camera audio got it too). By the end of the night, we might have dozens of hours of video from all angles – a gold mine for evidence review later.

Each of these tools on its own provides a piece of the puzzle. But the real magic is when multiple devices register something unexplained at the same time. That’s when we sit up and know we might be onto genuine ghostly evidence. Next, let’s walk through how we put all this together during an actual investigation session.

The Investigation in Action

When the night finally arrives and we head into the haunted location, we operate like a small research team, each person with a role and a plan. A typical paranormal investigation with our team unfolds in deliberate, focused stages:

Structured Sessions & Silent Vigils 

We divide our investigation into manageable blocks, usually around 45 minutes per session. Through experience, we’ve found that about three-quarters of an hour is the sweet spot for maintaining concentration and energy. Any longer and people start to drift or feel fatigued – and that’s when things can be missed. So we might, for example, spend 45 minutes in the attic doing an EVP session, then take a short break to hydrate, discuss what we felt, and relocate to the next hot spot for another session. These breaks also give any spirits a breather; we’ve noticed activity can lull after a continuous stretch and sometimes picks back up when we re-enter after a pause, almost as if the spirits regroup too.

Silent Vigils: 

At the start of a session, we often conduct a silent vigil. This means everyone goes lights-out, and we all sit quietly with recorders running and eyes open. We let the location speak for itself. In these periods, we tune our senses to the environment – listening for faint footsteps, knocks, or voices, feeling for cold drafts or static electricity in the air, watching for any moving shadows or flashes of light. It’s amazing how much you can perceive when you truly sit still in the dark for a few minutes. Many times, these silent vigils yield the first clues: a team member might whisper, “I smell tobacco smoke,” or “Did anyone else hear a whisper just now?” That’s our cue to start an EVP session or sweep the area with an environmental meter. By patiently observing, we let the unseen set the pace initially.

Live ITC Communication & Environmental Monitoring

Active ITC Communication: 

After the quiet vigil, we usually shift into an active communication session. This could be a classic EVP session – where we ask questions into the air, leaving ample silence after each for any spirit to respond while our recorders capture everything. Questions are respectful and specific: “Is there anyone here who wishes to speak? What is your name? Do you remember the year this place was built?” and so on.

Other times, we fire up the SB7 spirit box or Frank’s Box for a realtime spirit communication session. One investigator will handle the box, often with headphones so they can hear clearly, and another will lead the questions. It can get intense – imagine us huddled around a crackling spirit box, asking, “Why are you still here?”, and amidst the static a voice clips “...trapped...” Or we’ll try the Estes Method as described earlier, which often produces startlingly clear responses. We maintain a disciplined approach: one person leads the session, others observe equipment, and we avoid talking over each other. If something comes through on a device (a voice, a REM-Pod flash, etc.), we acknowledge it and gently try to follow up: “We saw you touch the REM-Pod. Thank you. Can you do it again?” 

Patience is key; we might get nothing for ten minutes, then suddenly a flurry of activity for a moment. We’re always ready, but never rushing.

Environmental Monitoring: 

Throughout all of this, someone is watching the live readings on devices like the EDI+, EMF meters, and temperature sensors. We often call this role the “data watcher.” If an EMF meter starts spiking or the EDI+ shows a sudden temperature drop, they’ll announce it: “We just dropped 5 degrees in here,” or “EMF hit a 4 milligauss – something’s affecting the field.” This helps us correlate any feelings or sounds with instrument data in real time. For example, if two of us feel an odd cold breeze pass by and at that same moment the data watcher says the EDI+ logged a temperature drop from 18°C to 15°C, plus a jump in EMF, that’s a significant correlation we won’t ignore. We’ll document it vocally on the recorder (“Noted a cold spot at 12:40 AM, EMF spike concurrent”) so that later we can find it in the recordings easily.

Live-Streaming & Transparency: 

One thing that truly sets our investigations apart is that we often live-stream our sessions to the internet as they happen. We might have a camera set up with a feed or even just a smartphone on a tripod broadcasting to our followers on YouTube or Facebook. Why do we do this? It’s about transparency and credibility. By showing the investigation live, uncut and in real time, we invite viewers to see everything – the quiet lulls, the false alarms, and the genuine moments of excitement. This way, there’s no question of us “doctoring” the evidence or editing in fake sounds later. In fact, having an audience can be like having extra investigators: our viewers often spot or hear things on the livestream that we might miss in the moment (“In the chat someone just said they saw a shadow by the door!”). We always provide the full, raw footage after the fact for anyone to review. This open approach keeps us honest and accountable, and it also shares the thrill of discovery with fellow paranormal enthusiasts around the world. After all, what’s the fun of finding unexplained phenomena if you can’t share that experience with others?

By structuring our investigations with focus and integrity, we create the best conditions to capture something truly unexplained. And sometimes, everything comes together in an astonishing way – like it did one night at Torwood Castle.

Post-Investigation Analysis

After the adrenaline of a what the public call a Ghost Hunt, it’s tempting to celebrate and call it a night. But for us, the investigation isn’t truly over until we’ve pored over every bit of evidence collected. In fact, many of the best discoveries are made in the days (or even weeks) after the on-site work, during careful analysis. Here’s how we break down our post-investigation process:

Audio Review: 

All audio recorders, including the DR60 and our camcorder mics, are reviewed using professional software (we use Adobe Audition for its powerful filtering and visualisation tools). We listen for EVPs – those hidden spirit voices that might not have been heard live. The process involves putting on headphones in a quiet room and scrutinising each recording. We amplify any suspicious low whispers, clean out background noise, and often check the spectrogram display in Audition to spot sounds that look like speech. It’s painstaking (imagine listening to six hours of static with a few taps or clicks in between), but incredibly rewarding when you find a clear voice responding to a question that no one heard at the time. For example, at Torwood, when we reviewed the kitchen audio, we caught a tiny voice right after our investigator asked “What age are you?” – it sounded like a child’s tone saying 8, which matched the information we later heard over the spirit box. These EVP gems are logged, clipped, and saved as evidence, with notes on when/where they occurred.

Video Analysis: 

We comb through all the video footage from our night vision camcorders and DVR system. This can mean watching multiple camera angles of the same time frame to catch different perspectives. We’re looking for any visual anomalies: moving light (not dust or insects, but self-illuminated light), shadows that have no explainable source, objects moving on their own, or even apparitions (the holy grail!).

We flag moments where equipment went off – say, if a REM-Pod lit up at 1:15 AM, we’ll carefully watch the video of that area at that time. Often, we sync the footage side-by-side to see, for instance, the team’s reaction on one camera and the REM-Pod in view on another. Let's use an example case, say At Torwood Castle, on reviewing video, we may noticed something we didn’t realise in the moment: about 10 seconds before the REM-Pod in the corridor went off, the static camera covering that area showed a faint light drift from the kitchen doorway and disappear near the REM-Pod. It was subtle and could be easy to dismiss, but taken in context (happening right before multiple devices triggered), it was certainly intriguing. We make notes of any such visual oddities and extract video clips for evidence files.

Photograph Examination: 

During investigations we also snap some digital photos, especially if we sense something or during our breaks. We usually take high-resolution stills of each room before and after to compare, and sometimes burst shots if someone thinks they saw movement (perhaps trying to capture a shadow figure). After the investigation, we load these photos on a large monitor and scan for anything unusual – strange mists, unexplained figures or faces, or changes between before/after shots. We’re careful to rule out lens flare, breath in cold air, or reflective bits that can pareidolia (trick the eye). It’s rarer to catch something definitive in photos, but it has happened. Even when we don’t, the photos serve as a record of how the scene was set (useful for reports).

Data Logger & Device Data Correlation: 

Remember all those readings the EDI+ was recording to the SD card? After an investigation, we upload that data and generate graphs for each environmental factor over the timeline of the night. We correlate spikes with our activity log. For example, if at 12:40 AM we noted a cold spot and EMF spike in person, the EDI+ graph might show a sharp temperature dip and EMF jump at that exact time – that’s powerful validation. We do the same with any other logged data. Additionally, we’ll review the GS2 Laser Grid’s recorded data – it might tell us the exact distance and time something was detected moving. By aligning all these data points on a timeline, we can reconstruct the sequence of events with precision. At Torwood, our EDI+ log showed that at the same time our guest felt the cold draft, the humidity dropped slightly and pressure changed too – subtle shifts that, combined with everything else, suggest an environmental change beyond normal variation. We include these charts in our case report to show the “hard data” side of the evidence.

Cross-Referencing & Report Compilation: 

Once we’ve reviewed and notated audio, video, photos, and device data, we compile all findings into a coherent report. This is like our final lab report for the investigation. It includes a timeline of events (with exact times), descriptions of experiences, and references to evidence (with file names or timestamps). If multiple sources confirmed an event (e.g. personal experience + EMF spike + EVP voice all at 00:13), we highlight that convergence. We also cross-reference against our initial research: did we get names or info that match the history? Did a voice say a name that appears in archives? Those connections are golden, and we note them. The report will often include transcriptions of EVPs, still images of anomalies, and links to video/audio clips. Essentially, it’s everything we’d present to a client or at an evidence review session with fellow investigators.

Sharing Findings: 

As passionate investigators, we believe in sharing our results with the community. First, we debrief with our premium club members – those who might have even joined us on the hunt or supported our work. They get full access to the detailed evidence, often through a private video where we play the EVPs and show the videos. It’s like a behind-the-scenes replay just for them, and they often ask great questions or point out things we missed. After that, we prepare a public presentation of the highlights. This could be a YouTube video we edit together showing the most compelling moments (with clear labels like “EVP captured: voice says ‘Katie’” on the screen), or a blog post (just like this one) summarising the experience and evidence. Sometimes we get invited to speak at paranormal conferences or colleges, where we’ll present our findings and discuss them with others – a great way to get feedback and alternate theories. Throughout all this, we maintain transparency: if something is inconclusive or could have been an equipment glitch, we say so. Credibility is only earned by being honest about all results, not just the spooky stuff.

By the end of the analysis phase, we have a 360-degree view of the investigation. From initial feelings and sightings on-site to the verified audio and video evidence, everything comes together to tell the story of that night's encounter with the unknown. It’s a lot of work, yes – but this level of detail is what truly separates a serious paranormal investigation from a simple spooky adventure. We owe it to ourselves, our audience, and yes, maybe even to the spirits, to get it right.

Conclusion of how to do a paranormal investigation & Invitation to Engage

Stepping back from it all, behind the scenes of a paranormal investigation is a world of methodical preparation, teamwork, high-tech gadgets, long quiet vigils, and hours of analysis – all driven by an unwavering passion to uncover the truth behind ghostly phenomena. We hope this deep dive has shown you how much care we at Scottish Paranormal put into keeping our work authentic and our findings credible. In an age of jump-scare TV and dubious click-bait ghost videos, we pride ourselves on doing the real research, however time-consuming, to separate fact from fiction. Our ultimate goal is not just to experience the paranormal, but to document it in a way that withstands scrutiny and maybe, piece by piece, inch a bit closer to understanding the unexplained.

We invite you to continue this journey with us. If your curiosity is piqued, follow our work – join us on our next live-streamed investigation and see events unfold in real time, or catch the evidence review videos we share after each case. For those in Scotland (or willing to travel), consider this an open invitation to attend an investigation event or public ghost hunt we host. There’s nothing quite like being there in person: feeling the temperature drop when a phantom breeze blows through, or hearing that disembodied voice with your own ears. We love welcoming new folks, sceptics and believers alike, to experience what we do and to offer their perspectives. After all, the paranormal field thrives on open-minded collaboration and the sharing of ideas.

Maybe you’ll even join our ranks someday – many of us started as interested observers and found ourselves becoming investigators, driven by those unforgettable moments when something in the dark reaches out and makes contact. At the very least, we encourage you to stay curious. Explore reputed haunted places, read up on local legends, try a little EVP session at a historic site (with permission, of course!), and see what you discover. Keep a healthy scepticism, but don’t be afraid to explore the unknown – that’s how discoveries are made.

Thank you for coming along on this behind-the-scenes tour of our paranormal investigation process. We hope it’s demystified the world of 'ghost hunting' and perhaps sparked a flame of interest in you. The next time you hear a bump in the night or get a shiver for no reason, you’ll have an idea of how we might go about understanding it. Feel free to reach out to us with questions or to share your own experiences.

Until the next adventure, stay curious and keep exploring – the truth is out there waiting, and we’ll be there to uncover that ghostly evidence, one investigation at a time.