What Are EVPs? Exploring Mysterious Voices Captured on Recordings
Updated: Oct 13
Have you ever listened back to a recording and heard a voice that nobody remembers speaking?
Perhaps it was a whisper.
A single word.
A sentence that seemed to appear from nowhere.
Or a voice that sounded as though somebody was speaking through an old radio, just beyond the point where you could clearly understand them.
These experiences are often described as Electronic Voice Phenomena, or EVPs.
For years, I had seen and heard examples of supposed EVPs through paranormal programmes and social media.
The paranormal had always interested me, and I was open to the possibility that some of these recordings might represent something more than ordinary background noise.
Perhaps an echo or imprint of something that had happened previously.
Perhaps communication from someone who had passed away.
Or perhaps something else entirely.
But my interest changed when I began encountering unusual voices in my own recordings.
As the host of The Mediums Table Podcast, I regularly record interviews through Zoom.
Both the audio and video are captured, and I spend considerable time editing the episodes before they're released.
And there have now been numerous occasions when I've heard an unexpected voice while editing.
Sometimes it happens while someone is speaking.
Other times, it appears during a pause or moment of silence.
It might sound like a single word or a short sentence.
The voice is recognisably speech-like, but I can't always understand what is being said.
And the strange part?
Nobody noticed it during the original conversation.
It only becomes apparent when I listen back.
Of course, recording systems can introduce unexpected sounds. Audio compression, microphone interference, background transmissions and processing artefacts can all affect what we hear.
But when you're familiar with the people involved in a recording, their voices and the circumstances of the conversation, an unexpected voice can make you stop and listen again.
I've had experiences where the sound was not only captured on a recording.
It was heard during the actual interview.
And those moments have left me with questions I still cannot fully answer.
What exactly are EVPs?
Can electronic recordings capture voices that weren't consciously heard at the time?
Could some be echoes of previous events?
And is it possible that some recordings contain communication from a consciousness we don't yet understand?
I have my own beliefs about what may be happening.
But I also think every recording deserves to be examined individually.
Because hearing an unexplained voice and knowing where that voice originated are not necessarily the same thing.
What Is an EVP?
EVP stands for Electronic Voice Phenomenon.
The term is generally used to describe a voice or speech-like sound detected on an electronic recording when its source isn't immediately identifiable.
These sounds may appear on recordings made with digital audio recorders, mobile phones, video cameras, security systems or other recording equipment.
Sometimes the apparent voice is clear enough for a listener to recognise a word or phrase.
Other times, it may be faint, distorted or difficult to distinguish from background noise.
People investigating paranormal phenomena sometimes interpret these recordings as possible communication from spirits or other forms of consciousness.
Others suggest that some recordings could represent residual sounds or imprints associated with a location or event. Or perhaps places can hold memories?
But the term EVP doesn't establish either explanation.
EVP describes an apparent voice phenomenon captured electronically. It doesn't tell us who or what produced it.
There are several ordinary explanations worth considering.
A microphone may capture distant conversation that wasn't noticed at the time.
Electronic equipment can introduce interference.
Digital processing can alter the characteristics of recorded sound.
And sometimes our brains interpret ambiguous noise as familiar words or voices.
This is known as auditory pareidolia.
Understanding these possibilities is important, particularly when examining faint or distorted recordings.
But I also believe the circumstances surrounding a recording matter.
Who was present?
Was anyone speaking?
What equipment was being used?
Did anyone hear the voice at the time?
And was the recording altered before the voice became noticeable?
These are questions I consider when examining an apparent EVP.
Because not every unexplained recording is necessarily the same phenomenon.
The Unexpected Voices I've Heard While Editing My Podcast
One of the advantages of producing my own podcast is that I spend a great deal of time listening closely to conversations.
I hear the same recordings repeatedly.
I recognise the voices of my guests.
And I become familiar with the pauses, background sounds and natural rhythm of each interview.
So when something unexpected appears in the audio, it tends to catch my attention.
There have been numerous occasions when I've been editing an episode of The Mediums Table and suddenly heard what sounds like an additional person speaking.
Sometimes it's only a word.
Sometimes it's a short sentence.
The sound can resemble a distorted radio transmission, almost as though somebody is speaking on a frequency that isn't coming through clearly.
I can hear the characteristics of a voice, but I cannot always make out the words.
What's particularly interesting to me is that these sounds can appear in different circumstances.
Sometimes another guest is speaking.
Sometimes there's a brief silence.
And often, nobody recalls hearing the additional voice during the original interview.
That has made me wonder whether there are sounds being captured that we're simply not noticing at the time.
Or whether something about the recording and playback process is changing what becomes audible.
I don't have a definitive answer.
But one particular podcast interview was different.
Because this time, I wasn't the only person who heard something unusual.
The Woman's Voice We Heard During a Dimensional Experiences Panel
During one of our Dimensional Experiences panel discussions on The Mediums Table, four of us were participating in a recorded Zoom conversation.
We were in the middle of the interview when I suddenly heard what sounded like a woman speaking.
It was unexpected enough that I stopped the conversation.
I asked the other participants whether anyone else had heard it.
One of the guests said they had.
So two of us had independently noticed an unusual voice during the recording.
I couldn't clearly understand what had been said.
The sound reminded me of a distorted radio voice, as though somebody was speaking through an imperfect signal.
I could recognise something resembling a woman's speech, but the words weren't clear enough for me to confidently repeat them.
What made the experience particularly interesting was that it happened while we were all present and actively participating in the conversation.
It wasn't simply a sound I discovered days later while editing.
Two of us heard it at the time.
That doesn't automatically establish that the voice was paranormal.
Online meetings can sometimes produce audio artefacts, feedback, unexpected microphone sounds or interference that may be heard by more than one participant.
But the experience was unusual enough that I interrupted the interview to ask about it.
And it remains one of the moments that made me increasingly interested in what electronic recordings might capture.
For me, it raises an intriguing question.
If an unexpected voice can be heard during a live conversation, what might we discover when we listen back to recordings more closely?
The Voice That Said “We're Learning”
Another experience that has stayed with me happened during a trance practice session with two other people.
We were meeting remotely, with each of us alone in our respective rooms.
The session was being recorded.
At one point, we were all silent, settling into a trance meditative state.
There was no conversation taking place between us.
But when the recording was played back, something unexpected could be heard.
A woman's voice appeared to say: “We're learning.”
What made this particularly interesting was that one of the participants had noticed an unusual sound at the time.
She described hearing something resembling a large sigh or breath.
But on the recording, what had sounded like a breath to her appeared to contain words.
The voice had a quality I've encountered in other unusual recordings.
It sounded almost like speech coming through a radio frequency that wasn't quite tuned in clearly.
There was a recognisable human quality to it, but it didn't sound like an ordinary participant speaking during our practice.
I found the words themselves intriguing.
We're learning.
Who was learning?
What were they learning?
Was it simply a combination of sounds that our minds interpreted as a familiar phrase?
Or could it have been some form of communication?
I can't establish the source of the voice from the recording alone.
Remote meetings can introduce audio from microphones, background environments and digital processing that isn't always apparent to everyone participating.
But knowing the circumstances of that particular practice, the recording left me with questions.
What interested me wasn't only what the voice appeared to say. It was the fact that the recording contained something none of us believed we had spoken.
And it wasn't the only time I've encountered unusual voices during trance work.
The Voices Captured During Debbie Charlton's Trance Sessions
Some of the most compelling apparent EVP recordings I've encountered were shared with me by trance healing medium Debbie Charlton.
Debbie had been participating in trance practice sessions with other people through Zoom.
During these gatherings, participants entered meditative or trance states while the sessions were recorded.
When the recordings were examined, additional voice-like sounds could be heard.
What caught my attention was the variety.
Some sounded higher pitched.
Others were deeper.
There appeared to be different male and female vocal qualities, along with passages that resembled conversations.
And in one recording, I could clearly hear what sounded like Debbie's name being spoken.
That particular detail stood out to me.
A voice appearing to say the name of somebody present during a session raises a different question from a recording containing an indistinct whisper.
Was it a meaningful response to the people involved?
From my perspective, it was difficult to dismiss as a coincidence.
But I also recognise that hearing a relevant word doesn't, by itself, establish where a voice originated.
The recording conditions, participants' microphones, original audio and any processing all matter.
Nevertheless, these recordings remain among the most interesting I've encountered.
Not because I can definitively identify who was speaking.
But because of the apparent variety of voices, the circumstances of the sessions and the moments when the speech seemed relevant to the people present.
For me, the question becomes whether we're hearing ordinary sounds interpreted as speech, an unexpected recording source, or something that genuinely warrants further investigation.
And another experience through The Mediums Table raised that question in an entirely different way.
The Unexpected Voices in Alicia's Jerome Grand Hotel Recording
One of the most extraordinary audio experiences I've encountered through The Mediums Table happened while I was preparing footage for an interview with Alicia.
Alicia had visited the historic Jerome Grand Hotel in Arizona, a location well known for its reported paranormal activity.
During her visit, she was recorded communicating with what she experienced as spirit while in a trance mediumship state.
She later shared that footage with me to include in our podcast interview.
When I first listened to the recording, the audio was extremely faint.
It was difficult to hear Alicia clearly, and I wanted our audience to be able to follow what was happening.
So I began adjusting the audio to make it louder.
And that's when I heard something I hadn't expected.
There appeared to be other voices in the recording.
Not simply Alicia speaking.
Multiple voice-like sounds.
Some seemed male. Others seemed female.
There appeared to be different pitches, accents and speaking patterns.
Some sounded as though they were talking quickly, while others were slower.
Occasionally, I could make out what sounded like individual words or parts of sentences.
Other passages remained too unclear to understand.
It was almost like hearing fragments of conversations that weren't meant to be part of the original recording.
And what fascinated me was that I hadn't noticed these sounds when I first listened to the footage.
They became apparent as I worked with the audio.
I remember wondering whether I was hearing something that had been present all along but was simply too faint to notice.
Or whether the audio adjustments themselves had made background sounds and recording artefacts more noticeable.
That's an important distinction.
Increasing volume or applying audio processing can reveal quiet sounds, but it can also amplify interference, distortions and patterns that resemble speech.
So I can't say with certainty where those additional voices originated.
But the experience made me think about something much bigger.
Are we constantly surrounded by sounds, impressions or echoes that we simply aren't able to perceive?
Could some experiences interpreted as spirit communication involve something beyond our ordinary awareness?
And perhaps the question that interested me most: Could we sometimes be hearing what appears to be fragments of conversations from another time?
I don't know.
But listening to those unexpected voices gave me the impression of briefly tuning into conversations that were already taking place somewhere beyond my awareness.
Almost like moving through different radio stations and catching fragments of speech before the signal disappears.
That is how the experience felt to me.
Whether that impression reflects what actually produced the sounds is another question.
And it's one I continue to explore.
Why Do EVPs Sometimes Sound Like Distorted Radio Voices?
One characteristic I've noticed across many apparent EVP recordings is how different the voices can sound.
Some are remarkably human.
Others sound distant, muffled or distorted.
There may be whispers, deep voices, higher-pitched sounds or what appears to be speech in different accents or languages.
Sometimes a word seems perfectly clear.
Then the next few seconds become almost impossible to understand.
I've often described the experience as listening to a radio that isn't quite tuned into the correct frequency.
You can hear that something resembles speech.
You may recognise a word or two.
But the rest seems to slip away.
From a technical perspective, recordings can sound this way for several reasons.
Microphones capture sound differently depending on distance, direction and the surrounding environment.
Digital recording and compression can alter the quality of speech.
Background noise may obscure certain frequencies.
And audio enhancement can make some sounds clearer while making others more distorted.
Our own hearing and perception also influence what we recognise.
But from my spiritual perspective, I sometimes wonder whether the radio analogy might represent something more.
Could consciousness exist in ways that aren't normally accessible to our physical senses?
Could electronic recordings occasionally capture something associated with that consciousness?
I don't know whether that's possible.
And I wouldn't claim that a distorted voice is evidence of a different spiritual frequency simply because it sounds unusual.
But the experience of hearing what resembles speech through an imperfect signal is one of the reasons I find EVP recordings so intriguing.
Can EVPs Be Intelligent Responses?
Not every apparent EVP is simply an unidentified voice.
Some recordings seem to contain words or phrases that relate directly to what was happening when they were captured.
A person's name.
A response to a question.
Or a phrase that appears relevant to the people present.
These are sometimes described as intelligent EVPs because the apparent speech seems responsive rather than random.
One example that particularly interested me came from Debbie Charlton's recordings.
Among the various voice-like sounds captured during her trance practice sessions, I could hear what appeared to be Debbie's name being spoken.
That stood out to me.
It wasn't simply an indistinct sound that someone later tried to interpret.
To my ears, the name was recognisable.
And because Debbie was participating in the session, I found the apparent relevance difficult to ignore.
But there's an important question to consider.
How do we distinguish an intelligent response from a coincidence or an interpretation made after listening?
For me, the circumstances of the recording are essential.
What was being discussed?
Who was present?
Was a question asked?
How clearly can the words be heard?
And do different people independently recognise the same phrase without being told what they're supposed to hear?
A recording that appears to contain a direct response can certainly be interesting.
But relevance alone doesn't establish that a spirit or other consciousness produced the sound.
Sometimes people recognise familiar words in ambiguous audio, particularly when they already know what they're listening for.
That doesn't mean every apparent response should be dismissed.
It means we need to examine each recording on its own merits.
I believe some EVP experiences may involve intelligent communication. But I also believe the circumstances and the original recording matter enormously when considering that possibility.
Can Different People Hear Different Words in the Same EVP?
This is something I've experienced myself.
I've listened to an apparent EVP and felt certain I could hear a particular word or phrase.
Then I've returned to the same recording on another day and heard something different.
The recording hasn't changed.
But my interpretation of the sound has.
And that raises an important question.
How much of what we hear comes from the recording, and how much comes from the way our minds interpret it?
When audio is unclear, our brains naturally try to organise the sounds into something recognisable.
This is one reason people can hear different words in the same recording.
It's also why being told what somebody else believes an EVP says can influence what we hear.
Once a particular phrase has been suggested, it can become difficult to listen without recognising those words.
For that reason, when I'm examining possible evidence, I prefer to let other people listen before telling them what I think is being said.
I want to know what they hear independently.
Do they recognise the same words?
Do they hear something completely different?
Or do they simply hear noise?
I think that feedback is valuable.
But my own experiences have also led me to consider another possibility.
I sometimes wonder whether sound, consciousness and what we experience as time might be connected in ways we don't yet understand.
Could some recordings represent echoes of previous events?
Could consciousness somehow influence what becomes perceptible to a listener?
Or could what we hear be shaped by something beyond the physical recording itself?
These are possibilities I've considered through my spiritual experiences.
I don't know whether any of those theories are correct.
There is no established evidence that consciousness changes the words contained in an unchanged recording for different listeners.
But the fact that I've personally heard different phrases in the same audio has made me interested in both the psychology of hearing and the deeper questions people raise about consciousness.
For me, those two areas of exploration don't need to prevent us from asking questions about each other.
And I think the most useful approach is to remain curious while recognising the difference between what a recording contains and what we believe it might mean.
EVPs During Trance Mediumship and Séances
Some of the most interesting unexplained sounds I've encountered have occurred during trance mediumship sessions and spiritual gatherings.
These are situations where people have deliberately come together to explore spirit communication.
Sometimes we're meeting in person.
Other times, we're connected through Zoom, with each participant sitting alone in their own room.
During trance practice, there may be long periods when nobody is speaking.
Everyone is focused on their own experience.
And occasionally, when recordings are played back, additional voice-like sounds can be heard.
This is what happened during the practice session where a woman's voice appeared to say, “We're learning.”
For me, the circumstances make these recordings particularly interesting.
We know who was participating.
We know what was happening.
And we can often compare the unexpected sound with the voices of the people involved.
But there's an important distinction I think people should understand.
A medium speaking while in trance is not necessarily an EVP.
During trance mediumship, a medium may speak aloud while experiencing communication they interpret as coming from spirit.
The voice is being produced through the medium's physical speech.
An apparent EVP, on the other hand, is an additional voice-like sound captured electronically whose source hasn't been identified.
These are two different experiences, even when they occur during the same gathering.
And although I believe spirit can communicate in ways we don't yet fully understand, I wouldn't automatically classify every unusual sound during a trance session as a spirit voice.
A recording can capture things that participants don't notice at the time.
That's why it's important to consider the equipment, the environment and what everyone was doing when the sound occurred.
I've also attended an in-person séance where a sudden, loud noise was heard by the people present and captured on video.
We couldn't identify anything in the room that seemed capable of producing it.
That experience was intriguing, but it wasn't necessarily an EVP because it wasn't recognisable speech.
It was an unexplained sound.
And I think that distinction matters.
Not every unexplained noise is a voice.
Not every apparent voice has an identifiable source.
And not every unidentified source is necessarily paranormal.
Do You Need Special Equipment to Capture an EVP?
There are many devices marketed for paranormal investigation.
Some are designed specifically to search for apparent spirit communication.
Others are ordinary recording devices used in unusual circumstances.
Digital audio recorders, mobile phones, security cameras and video recording systems can all capture sounds that weren't consciously noticed at the time.
Some investigators also use devices known as spirit boxes.
These typically scan through radio frequencies, producing fragments of broadcasts, static and other sounds.
The theory among some paranormal investigators is that spirit may be able to influence these signals to form words or responses.
I understand why people find this interesting.
But personally, I don't find radio-scanning devices particularly convincing as evidence.
When a device is already producing fragments of human speech from radio broadcasts, it becomes difficult to determine whether an apparent response is genuinely unexpected or simply part of the material the equipment is receiving.
That doesn't mean somebody cannot have a meaningful experience using one.
It means the recording itself may be difficult to evaluate independently.
My own experiences have generally involved ordinary recording equipment.
Zoom interviews.
Video recordings.
Audio captured during spiritual gatherings.
And recordings made for purposes other than paranormal investigation.
I find those circumstances particularly interesting because nobody was necessarily trying to produce an EVP.
The unexpected sound was discovered afterward.
My personal belief is that if spirit wishes to communicate, it wouldn't necessarily require a device specifically marketed for spirit communication.
I believe electronic equipment may sometimes be involved in experiences of this kind.
But that remains my interpretation, not an established explanation of how electronics work.
And whatever equipment is used, I think the original recording and the circumstances surrounding it are more important than the name of the device.
Does an Unexplained Voice Automatically Mean Spirit Was Present?
This is one of the biggest misconceptions surrounding EVPs.
Someone hears a whisper, an unfamiliar word or an unusual voice on a recording.
And the immediate conclusion is that a spirit must have spoken.
I understand why people make that connection.
Especially when the recording happens in a location associated with paranormal experiences or during a spiritual gathering.
But I don't think every unexplained voice should automatically receive the same explanation.
There can be many possible sources.
A microphone may have captured someone speaking in another room.
An electronic device may have introduced interference.
A recording application may have altered the sound.
Or a listener may be interpreting an ambiguous noise as speech.
Even when everyone present believes nobody spoke, that doesn't necessarily eliminate every possible recording source.
At the same time, I don't believe we should dismiss people's experiences simply because an explanation isn't immediately available.
I've personally encountered recordings that have left me unable to identify the source of a voice.
And those experiences have shaped my beliefs.
For me, the important thing is to examine what we actually know.
Who was there?
What was recorded?
What did people hear at the time?
Was the recording altered?
And what explanations can reasonably be considered?
An unexplained voice is a reason to investigate. It isn't, by itself, proof of who or what was speaking.
I think we can acknowledge that distinction without losing our curiosity.
Could EVPs Be Echoes of Consciousness Across Time?
This is where my own experiences have led me into questions that go beyond recording equipment.
When I listened to the additional voices in Alicia's Jerome Grand Hotel footage, I had an unusual impression.
It was almost as though I was hearing fragments of conversations from somewhere else.
Different voices.
Different tones.
What sounded like different accents and ways of speaking.
Brief moments of speech appearing and disappearing.
It made me wonder whether some places could somehow retain impressions of what happened there.
Or whether consciousness might exist beyond the ordinary boundaries through which we experience time.
I've often thought about the possibility of an echo or imprint.
Something associated with a person, an experience or a moment that may no longer be happening in the way we ordinarily understand it.
Could some apparent EVPs be interpreted as these kinds of echoes?
And could others represent something more responsive, perhaps communication from a consciousness that is aware of the people present?
Those are two different possibilities.
One suggests something resembling a recording or residual impression.
The other suggests an interaction.
I don't know whether either explanation is correct.
There is no established scientific evidence that electronic recordings capture disembodied consciousness or conversations preserved outside ordinary time.
But these are ideas that interest me because of what I've personally encountered.
I've also wondered whether consciousness might influence how an experience is perceived.
For example, why might I listen to the same ambiguous recording on different days and hear different words?
We know that human perception can change depending on attention, expectation and context.
But from a spiritual perspective, I sometimes wonder whether there's another layer to the experience that we haven't yet understood.
Could some of these recordings be more than sounds? Could they represent a form of communication or an echo of consciousness?
I cannot answer that definitively.
What I can say is that hearing these recordings has changed the questions I'm willing to ask.
And sometimes, that's where exploration begins.
FROM THE TABLE
Debbie Charlton: Trance Mediumship & Unexplained Voices Captured on Camera
Trance healing medium Debbie Charlton returns to The Mediums Table with recordings from her trance practice sessions. We examine unusual voices, apparent conversations and other reported phenomena captured during these gatherings, including what sounds like Debbie's name being spoken.
▶ WATCH ON YOUTUBE
Alicia: Unexpected Voices in a Jerome Grand Hotel Recording
During Alicia's visit to the historic Jerome Grand Hotel, she recorded an experience involving trance mediumship. When I later enhanced the audio for The Mediums Table, additional voice-like sounds became audible, including what appeared to be different voices, accents and fragments of conversation. In this episode, you can hear the enhanced recording for yourself and consider what might have been captured.
▶ WATCH ON YOUTUBE
What Are EVPs? The Questions That Remain
When I first became interested in EVPs, I was open to the possibility that some recordings might contain something beyond ordinary sound.
Perhaps an echo of a previous event.
Perhaps communication from someone who had passed away.
Or perhaps something we didn't yet understand.
Today, after encountering unexpected voices in my own recordings and hearing the experiences shared by guests on The Mediums Table, my interest has only grown.
I've heard voices that appeared unexpectedly during podcast recordings.
I've been present when an unusual voice was heard by more than one person.
I've listened to recordings from trance sessions where additional speech-like sounds seemed to emerge.
And I've encountered audio that made me wonder whether we might sometimes be hearing fragments of something beyond our ordinary perception.
While EVPs involve unexplained sounds, some people report encounters that are visual rather than auditory. In What Are Apparitions? Exploring Ghostly Figures and Spirit Encounters, I explore accounts of ghostly figures, apparent interventions and the possibility of residual hauntings.
Do I believe some EVPs could represent communication from spirit?
Yes, I believe that's possible.
Do I believe every unexplained voice is paranormal?
No.
I think every recording needs to be considered individually.
The people present.
The location.
The recording equipment.
The circumstances.
And what can actually be heard in the original audio.
There are recordings that may eventually have straightforward explanations.
Others may remain inconclusive.
And some may continue to challenge our understanding of what is possible.
One thing I have learned is that hearing something unexplained doesn't mean we have to immediately decide what caused it.
We can investigate.
We can listen.
We can compare what different people hear.
And we can remain open to possibilities without claiming certainty where we don't have it.
For me, EVP recordings raise a question that goes beyond electronic equipment.
Could consciousness communicate in ways we haven't yet learned to recognise?
I don't know exactly how that would work.
But I remain curious.
Because sometimes, when I listen back to a recording and hear a voice that nobody remembers speaking, I find myself wondering: Who — or what — was speaking?
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