The Paracast Newsletter
July 6, 2025
www.theparacast.com
Paranormal Investigator/Experiencer Colleen Coffman Poses the Question: What if Fairies, Angels, and Mythic Beings Walked Among Us? It Happens this Week on The Paracast.
The Paracast is released every Sunday and available from our site, https://www.theparacast.com, your favorite podcast app, and the IRN Internet Radio Network. All episodes from 2022 and later now feature better audio and fewer ads. We are also re-releasing some of our most popular classic episodes.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVEN'T SIGNED UP FOR THE PARACAST+ YET? PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO THE PARACAST+ SO YOU CAN SUPPORT THE SHOW AND ENJOY THE ULTIMATE PARACAST EXPERIENCE AT A SPECIAL LOW PRICE! We have another radio show and we’d love for you listen to it. So for a low subscription fee, you will receive access to an exclusive bonus podcast, After The Paracast, plus a special version of The Paracast with all the ads removed, when you join The Paracast+. We also offer a special RSS feed for easy updates of the latest episodes on your device. Episodes for subscribers to The Paracast+ are now released 24 hours earlier. Flash! Now includes over 100 classic episodes, so take advantage of our lowest rates ever! Act now! It's easier than ever to susbcribe! For the easiest signup ever, please visit: https://www.theparacast.plus
This Week's Episode (July 6, 2025): Gene and cohost Tim Swartz present visual effects artist and paranormal experiencer Colleen Coffman. She is author of The Adventures of a Sketch Diary, which poses the question: What if fairies, angels, and mythic beings walked among us? In this book, Colleen reveals a hidden world brimming with magic. When strange occurrences began plaguing an old barn property cared for by her family, she discovered it was inhabited by supernatural forces. Her book, essentially a sketch diary, documents firsthand encounters with these beings through over 40 meticulous drawings and stories. She gives glimpses of radiant faeries, mischievous spirits, wise elementals, and mystifying supernatural events. Colleen promises to help you peek behind the veil as she uncovers the secrets of glowing fairy rings, gets lost in a beautiful but disorienting forest, and dances with elf-like creatures under the moon. She has a lifelong passion for the arts and studying all things esoteric – Earthly and otherwise, and has spent the last 25 years in film and theater as a special effects artist, winning many awards and garnering more entertaining escapades than you can shake a stick at. A devoted mother, daughter, sister, aunt, grandmother, and nurturer of her great extended family, she thrives on taking people along on her colorful and exciting journey through life. Her website: www.colleencoffman.com
After The Paracast — Available exclusively to Paracast+ subscribers by July 5: talk further about the encounters she depicts in her book, The Adventures of a Sketch Diary. Speaking with Gene and cohost Tim Swartz, she also talks about her UFO sightings, which include some involving strange and sometimes frightening creatures. And what about her musical interests, and rock pop culture? She also describes altered states and the possibilities for disclosure of UFOs and other paranormal phenomena. Colleen recalls a lifetime of high strangeness experiences. She has a passion for the arts and studying all things esoteric–earthly and otherwise, and has spent the last 25 years in film and theater as a special effects artist, winning many awards and garnering more entertaining escapades than you can shake a stick at. Colleen also has an affinity for storytelling and taps a variety of mediums with her incredible talents so that she can share her greatest adventures and ever-evolving vision with the world. A devoted mother, daughter, sister, aunt, grandmother, and nurturer of her great extended family, she thrives on taking people along on her colorful and exciting journey through life, and we’re all the better for it! Her website: www.colleencoffman.com
Reminder: Please don't forget to visit our famous Paracast Community Forums for the latest news/views/debates on all things paranormal: The Paracast Community Forums. And look for @theparacast on Bluesky Social, Facebook, Threads and X.
A Brief (But Colorful) History of EVPs
By Colleen Coffman
Imagine recording audio of yourself or a loved one, only to come back later and hear a voice or unfamiliar sound that was not heard at the time of the recording. Electronic Voice Phenomenon, or EVPs, are a common, if not incredibly creepy, part of the paranormal experience and research realm. This fascinating phenomenon has only been around for as long as recorded speech and I found it very interesting that the first instance of someone hearing and reporting an EVP is said to have been none other than Nikola Tesla, himself.
So Mr. Tesla was in his lab experimenting with frequency oscillation and radio waves when he heard what he described as human voices, conversing back and forth in a language he couldn’t understand. This happened in 1918, so just a little over one hundred years ago, and he said he found it difficult to imagine that he was hearing real voices from people not of this planet. He believed there must be a more simple explanation, but was there?
Mr. Tesla spoke at least six languages fluently and reported the voices to speak in human inflection and dialect, yet he couldn’t understand where they were coming from or what they were saying. He theorized they originated from outer space, inner space, beyond the grave and around the globe but never found any real success in discovering the truth or satisfactory explanation. He spent the rest of his life exploring this crazy phenomenon and he wasn’t alone in that.
Other inventors and trail blazers of the time also had their own go-rounds with similar experiences, including Thomas Edison. Sound and radio wave technology was all the rage and scientists were the rock stars of the day, so it makes sense many of them were having the same, bizarre experiences with unidentified voices coming through in their recordings and experiments. Rumor has it that Mr. Edison spent until his death in 1931 working on what he called the Spirit Phone which was a machine that would record and interact with these unidentified voices. However, no blueprints or prototypes were ever found, so many consider the rumor of this project to be a hoax.
Then on September 15, 1952, two Catholic priests, Father Ernetti and Father Gemilli, were working on a musical project together. At the time, Ernetti was an internationally respected scientist, physicist and philosopher, and Gemilli was the president of the Papal Academy.
As the two men tried to record a Gregorian chant, a wire inside their electronics repeatedly broke. Gemilli looked at the sky in frustration and asked his dead father to please help him. To his shocked amazement, his father’s voice was recorded as saying: "Of course I shall help you. I'm always with you." When they repeated the experiment, the voice came through again, even more lucid than before, and said: "But Zucchini, it is clear, don't you know it is I?”
Gemilli’s mind was completely blown. Not only was it his father’s voice coming through TWICE in full conversational context, but no one knew his childhood nickname except he and his father.
Then the priests were afraid, because as a good Catholic priest, they are not supposed to speak with the dead. Shaken and upset, they sought council with Pope Pius XII at the Vatican. Gemilli explained their very distressing experience, and to his surprise, the Pontiff reassured them both. Pope Pius told Gemilli (in a 1990 translation of the meeting): "You really need not worry about this. The existence of this voice is strictly a scientific fact and has nothing whatsoever to do with spiritism. The recorder is totally objective. It receives and records sound waves from wherever they come. This experiment may perhaps become the cornerstone for a building for scientific studies which will strengthen people's faith in a hereafter."
In 1956, two California men, medium Atilla Von Szalay and paranormal researcher Raymon Bayless, accidentally recorded a number of unexplained voices on magnetic tape. They said they diligently reported their experiments to the proper scientific journals, just like Mr. Tesla before them, but they were never contacted by anyone to enquire about their work either.
Important advances in EVP public awareness were made in 1959 by Friedrich Juergenson, a Swedish film producer, who was only trying to record bird songs for his documentary when he also recorded his deceased mother’s voice speaking to him in German. “Friedrich, you are being watched. Friedel, my little Friedel! Can you hear me?” He spent the rest of his life recording and collecting hundreds of electronic voice phenomena, as well as influencing the work of the very skeptical Latvian Dr. Konstantin Raudive who later went on to advocate, document and capture over 72,000 alleged spirit voices in his own recorded experiments.
Moving forward into the 1970’s and 1980’s, EVP work continued with two guys named George Meek and Bill O’Neal out of a small laboratory in Philadelphia, where they invented what they called the Spiricom. This machine was supposed to allow 2-way communication with dead folks.
During their experiments, doctor and scientist, George Jeffries Mueller, came through clearly and with purpose. Through the course of these experiments and over time, the spirit of Dr. Mueller not only provided enough facts about his life to confirm his identity, which included his social security number, but he also helped to further develop the technology from his side of reality.
Looking through all of their data, it’s easy to think these men were clearly taking part in two-way conversations from beyond the grave through a machine simple by today’s technology standards. In case you’re wondering, schematics are also available on the internet to try out for yourself.
Around 1982, the Spiricom experiments inspired Hans Otto Koenig to invent an ultrasound device based on Meek’s machine. Koenig organized an event with Radio Luxembourg to talk to the dead, live and on the air, which ended up surprising everyone with their direct and startling results.
A radio engineer started the live experiment by asking if any spirits would like to speak. A voice instantly came back over the air with the response of “Otto Koenig makes wireless with the dead.” The whole studio went crazy. Another question was asked, and a voice responded saying “We hear your voice.”
The show went on like this for quite some time and many tests were confirmed to show no deception or trickery detected. This technology, based on short wave radios, continues to produce uncanny results and is still being used today in paranormal research.
For more information on EVPs and to hear some of the sound clips in this article, feel welcome to check out my video “What In Tarnation Is An EVP?!?” by following this link:
Colleen Coffman has a lifelong passion for the arts and studying all things esoteric – earthly and otherwise. She's spent the last 25 years in film and theater as a special effects artist, winning many awards and garnering more entertaining escapades than you can shake a stick at. She also has an affinity for storytelling and taps a variety of mediums with her talents so that she can share her greatest adventures and ever-evolving vision with the world. A devoted mother, daughter, sister, aunt, grandmother, and nurturer of her great extended family, she thrives on taking people along on her colorful and exciting journey through life, and we're all the better for it!
Copyright 1999-2025 The Paracast Company. All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy: Your personal information is safe with us. We will positively never give out your name and/or e-mail address to anybody else, and that's a promise!
July 6, 2025
www.theparacast.com
Paranormal Investigator/Experiencer Colleen Coffman Poses the Question: What if Fairies, Angels, and Mythic Beings Walked Among Us? It Happens this Week on The Paracast.
The Paracast is released every Sunday and available from our site, https://www.theparacast.com, your favorite podcast app, and the IRN Internet Radio Network. All episodes from 2022 and later now feature better audio and fewer ads. We are also re-releasing some of our most popular classic episodes.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVEN'T SIGNED UP FOR THE PARACAST+ YET? PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO THE PARACAST+ SO YOU CAN SUPPORT THE SHOW AND ENJOY THE ULTIMATE PARACAST EXPERIENCE AT A SPECIAL LOW PRICE! We have another radio show and we’d love for you listen to it. So for a low subscription fee, you will receive access to an exclusive bonus podcast, After The Paracast, plus a special version of The Paracast with all the ads removed, when you join The Paracast+. We also offer a special RSS feed for easy updates of the latest episodes on your device. Episodes for subscribers to The Paracast+ are now released 24 hours earlier. Flash! Now includes over 100 classic episodes, so take advantage of our lowest rates ever! Act now! It's easier than ever to susbcribe! For the easiest signup ever, please visit: https://www.theparacast.plus
This Week's Episode (July 6, 2025): Gene and cohost Tim Swartz present visual effects artist and paranormal experiencer Colleen Coffman. She is author of The Adventures of a Sketch Diary, which poses the question: What if fairies, angels, and mythic beings walked among us? In this book, Colleen reveals a hidden world brimming with magic. When strange occurrences began plaguing an old barn property cared for by her family, she discovered it was inhabited by supernatural forces. Her book, essentially a sketch diary, documents firsthand encounters with these beings through over 40 meticulous drawings and stories. She gives glimpses of radiant faeries, mischievous spirits, wise elementals, and mystifying supernatural events. Colleen promises to help you peek behind the veil as she uncovers the secrets of glowing fairy rings, gets lost in a beautiful but disorienting forest, and dances with elf-like creatures under the moon. She has a lifelong passion for the arts and studying all things esoteric – Earthly and otherwise, and has spent the last 25 years in film and theater as a special effects artist, winning many awards and garnering more entertaining escapades than you can shake a stick at. A devoted mother, daughter, sister, aunt, grandmother, and nurturer of her great extended family, she thrives on taking people along on her colorful and exciting journey through life. Her website: www.colleencoffman.com
After The Paracast — Available exclusively to Paracast+ subscribers by July 5: talk further about the encounters she depicts in her book, The Adventures of a Sketch Diary. Speaking with Gene and cohost Tim Swartz, she also talks about her UFO sightings, which include some involving strange and sometimes frightening creatures. And what about her musical interests, and rock pop culture? She also describes altered states and the possibilities for disclosure of UFOs and other paranormal phenomena. Colleen recalls a lifetime of high strangeness experiences. She has a passion for the arts and studying all things esoteric–earthly and otherwise, and has spent the last 25 years in film and theater as a special effects artist, winning many awards and garnering more entertaining escapades than you can shake a stick at. Colleen also has an affinity for storytelling and taps a variety of mediums with her incredible talents so that she can share her greatest adventures and ever-evolving vision with the world. A devoted mother, daughter, sister, aunt, grandmother, and nurturer of her great extended family, she thrives on taking people along on her colorful and exciting journey through life, and we’re all the better for it! Her website: www.colleencoffman.com
Reminder: Please don't forget to visit our famous Paracast Community Forums for the latest news/views/debates on all things paranormal: The Paracast Community Forums. And look for @theparacast on Bluesky Social, Facebook, Threads and X.
A Brief (But Colorful) History of EVPs
By Colleen Coffman
Imagine recording audio of yourself or a loved one, only to come back later and hear a voice or unfamiliar sound that was not heard at the time of the recording. Electronic Voice Phenomenon, or EVPs, are a common, if not incredibly creepy, part of the paranormal experience and research realm. This fascinating phenomenon has only been around for as long as recorded speech and I found it very interesting that the first instance of someone hearing and reporting an EVP is said to have been none other than Nikola Tesla, himself.
So Mr. Tesla was in his lab experimenting with frequency oscillation and radio waves when he heard what he described as human voices, conversing back and forth in a language he couldn’t understand. This happened in 1918, so just a little over one hundred years ago, and he said he found it difficult to imagine that he was hearing real voices from people not of this planet. He believed there must be a more simple explanation, but was there?
Mr. Tesla spoke at least six languages fluently and reported the voices to speak in human inflection and dialect, yet he couldn’t understand where they were coming from or what they were saying. He theorized they originated from outer space, inner space, beyond the grave and around the globe but never found any real success in discovering the truth or satisfactory explanation. He spent the rest of his life exploring this crazy phenomenon and he wasn’t alone in that.
Other inventors and trail blazers of the time also had their own go-rounds with similar experiences, including Thomas Edison. Sound and radio wave technology was all the rage and scientists were the rock stars of the day, so it makes sense many of them were having the same, bizarre experiences with unidentified voices coming through in their recordings and experiments. Rumor has it that Mr. Edison spent until his death in 1931 working on what he called the Spirit Phone which was a machine that would record and interact with these unidentified voices. However, no blueprints or prototypes were ever found, so many consider the rumor of this project to be a hoax.
Then on September 15, 1952, two Catholic priests, Father Ernetti and Father Gemilli, were working on a musical project together. At the time, Ernetti was an internationally respected scientist, physicist and philosopher, and Gemilli was the president of the Papal Academy.
As the two men tried to record a Gregorian chant, a wire inside their electronics repeatedly broke. Gemilli looked at the sky in frustration and asked his dead father to please help him. To his shocked amazement, his father’s voice was recorded as saying: "Of course I shall help you. I'm always with you." When they repeated the experiment, the voice came through again, even more lucid than before, and said: "But Zucchini, it is clear, don't you know it is I?”
Gemilli’s mind was completely blown. Not only was it his father’s voice coming through TWICE in full conversational context, but no one knew his childhood nickname except he and his father.
Then the priests were afraid, because as a good Catholic priest, they are not supposed to speak with the dead. Shaken and upset, they sought council with Pope Pius XII at the Vatican. Gemilli explained their very distressing experience, and to his surprise, the Pontiff reassured them both. Pope Pius told Gemilli (in a 1990 translation of the meeting): "You really need not worry about this. The existence of this voice is strictly a scientific fact and has nothing whatsoever to do with spiritism. The recorder is totally objective. It receives and records sound waves from wherever they come. This experiment may perhaps become the cornerstone for a building for scientific studies which will strengthen people's faith in a hereafter."
In 1956, two California men, medium Atilla Von Szalay and paranormal researcher Raymon Bayless, accidentally recorded a number of unexplained voices on magnetic tape. They said they diligently reported their experiments to the proper scientific journals, just like Mr. Tesla before them, but they were never contacted by anyone to enquire about their work either.
Important advances in EVP public awareness were made in 1959 by Friedrich Juergenson, a Swedish film producer, who was only trying to record bird songs for his documentary when he also recorded his deceased mother’s voice speaking to him in German. “Friedrich, you are being watched. Friedel, my little Friedel! Can you hear me?” He spent the rest of his life recording and collecting hundreds of electronic voice phenomena, as well as influencing the work of the very skeptical Latvian Dr. Konstantin Raudive who later went on to advocate, document and capture over 72,000 alleged spirit voices in his own recorded experiments.
Moving forward into the 1970’s and 1980’s, EVP work continued with two guys named George Meek and Bill O’Neal out of a small laboratory in Philadelphia, where they invented what they called the Spiricom. This machine was supposed to allow 2-way communication with dead folks.
During their experiments, doctor and scientist, George Jeffries Mueller, came through clearly and with purpose. Through the course of these experiments and over time, the spirit of Dr. Mueller not only provided enough facts about his life to confirm his identity, which included his social security number, but he also helped to further develop the technology from his side of reality.
Looking through all of their data, it’s easy to think these men were clearly taking part in two-way conversations from beyond the grave through a machine simple by today’s technology standards. In case you’re wondering, schematics are also available on the internet to try out for yourself.
Around 1982, the Spiricom experiments inspired Hans Otto Koenig to invent an ultrasound device based on Meek’s machine. Koenig organized an event with Radio Luxembourg to talk to the dead, live and on the air, which ended up surprising everyone with their direct and startling results.
A radio engineer started the live experiment by asking if any spirits would like to speak. A voice instantly came back over the air with the response of “Otto Koenig makes wireless with the dead.” The whole studio went crazy. Another question was asked, and a voice responded saying “We hear your voice.”
The show went on like this for quite some time and many tests were confirmed to show no deception or trickery detected. This technology, based on short wave radios, continues to produce uncanny results and is still being used today in paranormal research.
For more information on EVPs and to hear some of the sound clips in this article, feel welcome to check out my video “What In Tarnation Is An EVP?!?” by following this link:
• • •
Colleen Coffman has a lifelong passion for the arts and studying all things esoteric – earthly and otherwise. She's spent the last 25 years in film and theater as a special effects artist, winning many awards and garnering more entertaining escapades than you can shake a stick at. She also has an affinity for storytelling and taps a variety of mediums with her talents so that she can share her greatest adventures and ever-evolving vision with the world. A devoted mother, daughter, sister, aunt, grandmother, and nurturer of her great extended family, she thrives on taking people along on her colorful and exciting journey through life, and we're all the better for it!
Copyright 1999-2025 The Paracast Company. All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy: Your personal information is safe with us. We will positively never give out your name and/or e-mail address to anybody else, and that's a promise!