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Founded in 1973, the Association for the Study of Unexplained Phenomenon
(ASUP, Inc) was begun to research all forms of Fortean Phenomenon, including,
Ghosts, Hauntings, UFOs, Cryptozoology and virtually anything else that goes
bump in the night!
The original members included Rita Allen, Peter Jordan, Paul Hoffman,
Steve Kaplan, and Rick Moran and was chartered in New York City.

OUR MISSION STATEMENT IS:
"To research and study all paranormal phenomenon in the pursuit of possible proof of individual
survival of human personality after death and to help support the efforts of similar organizations to
that end and to educate the public as to those findings.”

A non-profit 501(c)(3) educational and research corporation.
Post Office Box 262, Wills Point, TX 75169
(Toll Free) 866-570-3737

Serious Testing of “The Box” Not Easy

Frank Sumption simply calls it “The Box”, Christopher Moon has reportedly copyrighted the
term, “Telephone to the Dead,” while I am going nuts trying to apply simple scientific
principles to our testing of the device we lovingly call “The Mini-Box.” Before you sneer, let
me explain the problems.
The box is not a new concept; its history spans several decades and several different kinds
of users, from the original ITC folks to new age psychics. Rather than just accept the belief
that this is truly a communications device that can be utilized to speak with the departed, we
want to know how the box really works.
Early attempts to borrow a box for testing were unsuccessful, so I sat down with my R&D
director, Ron Ricketts to build our own. This was not an overnight decision; it took
planning, research and training. Among other things I asked that every officer in ASUP train
for and pass the FCC Amateur Radio exam, which was a real leap of faith for some of them,
who didn’t know a microphone from a diode, but the concept was simple, to study the box,
you had to understand the basic technology; five months later all of my board members
were hams.
In spite of rumors to the contrary, Frank Sumption was a great help in our early efforts; he
later got to use a prototype of our device at the TAPS Colorado conference thanks to the
assistance of two of our directors, and gave it rave reviews. But what did we really have?
Because ASUP is a 501 (c)(3) Non-Profit Corporation, we could not sell the device, but I
had said publicly that if we ever had such a machine, we would make it available to any
researcher who wanted it. In order to make that happen, ASUP released the device to Ron
Ricketts, whose company Paranormal Systems began manufacturing and marketing it. With
more than 50 now in the field, I hear all sorts of praise for it, but again I don’t feel any closer
to the answer we originally were seeking.
It is not that we are new to the concepts of testing, I have personally done this many times
before, but at a University level on subject matter a little more palatable to the general
public. We have already enlisted the assistance of a graduate student who assist us in
creating the statistical analysis and once completed, it should be relatively easy to draw
some conclusion upon which we might build a more in depth study.
But our testing is slow going, primarily because we have set in place a lot of conditions with
our field research of the box. While we do group testing with other paranormal groups, our
focus is on public testing; to that end we are recruiting groups as senior citizens clubs to fire
departments to take part in our tests. That of course takes a good deal of explaining in
most cases; you have to outline the history of the box, what we hope to accomplish and
how those results will be studied. While some groups welcome the experience, many others
show open skepticism and even fear of becoming involved.
Even though ASUP now has four boxes in the field dedicated to testing, in the first month of
our study, we have only conducted 3 full tests. Our future schedule shows the most
success with other research groups, colleges and university associated organizations, but
our outreach to the public is at the moment falling short of our goals. It was hoped that we
would complete 50 studies by the summer, which is when a cooperating college expects to
compile and extrapolate the data we have collected from our subjects. Short of paying for
public advertising in newspapers, that may not be possible.
So, have we learned anything? Well, setting aside the obvious reluctance we have met from
the public to date, we can say that the sessions do find the box answering random
questions in context, that is to say, if the subject asks a question requiring a person’s name,
it will answer with a name. This is in itself interesting, but we are no closer to explaining
how the box does it.
To the accepting psychic, the answer is simple, but to a skeptic it is not. It is not enough to
say that the box acts as a conduit to the departed, in fact so far, we find that the information
coming from the device is incomplete in most cases, but that is based on a very small
sampling.
What we do know is that the box, all of the boxes, are basically radios that scan a
frequency set, such as the broadcast band and that the “messages” seem to be found in
between the active channels of that band. The box does not utilize an active “transmitter”
so the first question is how the box can possibly answer a question in the first place.
Our test criteria is very basic. The subjects are divided into small groups, with each taking
a turn at the controls of the box and asking the questions. We do not suggest questions to
ask. The follow-up questionnaire asks the obvious questions, age, gender, religious
preferences and some feedback about their experiences with the device. Some criticism
has been raised in that most of the test users to date have used the box much as you might
a Ouija board and we now suggest that the subjects could use it in other ways. The data,
although too small a study at present, is showing a good range of response, but the depth
of the study really requires a much greater sampling.
Of course, many paranormal researchers will comment that the obvious answer to our
question is simple matrixing, the ability of the human mind to create what they wish to hear
from white noise. There have been good studies in this area previously, and on the surface,
that is a possibility, but there are still some things just not addressed in the matrixing
examples. It is our hope to follow up this basic study with another that can address matrixing
as a primary focus, but for the moment, we are more interesting in finding out what the
uninitiated public thinks they are hearing and why, under a reasonably controlled
environment being supervised by fairly well versed individuals who understand the basic
theory behind the box, as well as radio concepts and the technology at hand.
Obviously, other groups are using the box in new and interesting ways. Some are taking
them into the field as part of their investigations of “haunted” places, others utilize them as
mentioned earlier as simply an electronic Ouija board. Some of the users are self
proclaimed psychics or mediums, others as non-sensitive researchers. Hopefully the sheer
number of users will help to answer some of our questions.
If you have a suggestion about how to compliment our study, we are open to suggestions.
Many have said that advertising our study is the best bet, but we are hampered by a very
small budget, others have said that the key is to get more devices into the field with more
diverse groups, but once again, budget constraints come into play. If you have an idea, I’d
love to hear them. You can send your suggestions to ASUP@asup-inc.org and we will
respond to all who write.

© 2008 ASUP, Inc. The contents of this blog may be reproduced in whole as long as
proper credit is given.

If you or your group wish to learn more about this program, please call the Operations
Director of ASUP, Deb Cline at 972-487-8464.

Any group that is interested in participating in the testing can call Joy Maner, Director of
Research at 972-551-1152

Finally if you wish to learn more about the Mini-Box, you can contact Paranormal Systems,
the producers of this device at
http://www.paranormalsystems.com/

Or just send us an e-mail at
asup@asup-inc.org

Need Help?
Want to learn more about the ASUP?
Have Questions about the Paranormal?
Want to join a Research Team?
Please contact us at:
866-570-3737 (Toll Free)
or via e-mail at asup@asup.inc.org.

The ASUP is pleased
to be a member of the
TAPS Family, a quality
network of well trained
paranormal
investigators who are
ready to help everyone.

Need assistance in an
area not currently serviced
by the ASUP?
The TAPS Family network
would be happy to assist
you. Just contact us and
the ASUP will forward your
request to the largest
national network of trained
investigators in the nation.

ASUP Announces the kick-off of their new
national website; a new affiliate program
and a Mini-Box Loaner program.

(DFW Headquarters 4/21.2008) The ASUP announced this week that plans are now in
motion to create a new international website at www.asup-inc.org. The site will be
something all new in the paranormal research field, including a working collection of
30 years of ASUP research and cases, as well as the most current cases; research
being currently conducted by the ASUP worldwide and a comprehensive collection of
"how tos" and procedurals that every research organization can use.

In conjunction with this new website, the ASUP, Inc. will undertake a new initiative to
recruit other organizations as part of a cooperative effort under the ASUP umbrella,
where sharing information will be a constant. Teams associated with ASUP, Inc. will
have many advantages that other small groups are currently missing, while
exercising their independent operations.

Finally, in a effort to expand the study of the Mini-Box and what is called spirit
communications, ASUP will undertake a loaner program for any legitimate
organization, as well as all affiliate groups.

All three of these initiatives are now targeted for roll out on or about June, 1 2008!