What does evp stand for?

EVP stands for "Electronic Voice Phenomena". It is the process of recording audio on analog or digital recorders and hearing unexplained voices and sounds on playback. Often the sounds are quite low in volume and require some careful listening to even hear them. EVP enthusiasts classify their recordings from Class A to Class D. The Class A recordings are quite clear and understandable by most anyone. At the other end of the spectrum, Class D recordings are almost unintelligble to all but the most experienced EVP investigators. It is often claimed that it takes time to be able to hear the less obvious EVP recordings. The earliest EVP recordings were probably recorded in the late 19th century. It is unclear who first might have heard these sounds. Dr. Konstantin Raudive caused a clamor in Europe and later in England and the Americas when his book "Breakthrough!" was published in the late 20th century in English. Later EVP investigators included Raymond Bayless and D. Scott Rogo, who became famous for their studies of "telephone calls from the dead" and published a book by that name in the early 1970s. EVP should not be confused with Instrumental TransCommuncation (ITC). ITC is a general term for audio and video heard and/or seen in real-time with no playback required. Modern EVP uses computer and software technology to produce random noise of various kinds to enhance the recorded sounds. Similar techniques in ITC, leading to some of the confusion between the two. Skeptics claim that EVP (and ITC as well) is caused solely by paradolia, the human ability to find patterns in randomness. While this argument is convincing for EVP and audio ITC it is less convincing when applied to video ITC phenomena. The low levels, difficulty in hearing most EVP recordings and potential for misinterpretation suggests that the skeptical position is likely correct in many cases. Most EVP proponents would of course disagree.