Spirit Boxes: How They Work and How to Use One

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Spirit boxes are paranormal research devices that quickly scan through radio stations. If there are spirits that want to communicate, they may potentially stop on a radio station so a clear word or phrase cuts through the white noise. If you want to contact a ghost with a spirit box, we'll walk you through everything you’ll need to know to get started. Keep reading to find out more about how ghosts talk through a spirit box and how you can safely communicate with them back.

Things You Should Know

Spirit boxes scan through AM and FM radio stations quickly. Ghosts or spirits may pause on stations to communicate words or phrases.
Turn on your spirit box, identify yourself, and state your intentions for the session. Ask the spirits a question and wait up to 30 seconds for a response.
Listen for words or phrases cutting through the white noise that are relevant to the question that was asked to hear the spirits' potential responses.

How do spirit boxes work?

The spirit box quickly scans through radio stations. Spirit boxes have AM and FM radio receivers, and instead of stopping and listening to one station, they sweep through all of the stations at a steady pace. Spirit boxes change between stations so only static, white noise, or audio fragments come through the speakers.

Spirits communicate words or phrases through the white noise. It’s believed that spirits communicate over different radio frequencies, so spirit boxes give them a medium to speak out loud. Typically, you’ll ask the spirits a question. If spirits are present and want to speak, they’ll interact with spirit boxes by pausing on a radio station so you hear a specific word or phrase. Any intelligent responses you hear are considered radio voice phenomena (RVP).

Using a Spirit Box

Turn your spirit box to sweep AM stations first. AM stations mostly feature talk radio instead of music, so it may be easier for ghosts or spirits to form responses. Each spirit box works differently, so follow the manual that came with yours to turn on the device and set it to sweep AM stations. You’ll hear white noise and short audio fragments as the spirit box moves through the stations. Spirit boxes work best for finding ghosts in known haunted places, but you may potentially get responses from spirits from any location. Bring along some extra batteries for your spirit box. Spirits are said to drain energy from electronics and could put an early end to your session.

Identify yourself and state your intentions to the spirits. Show the spirits respect by first introducing yourself out loud to them. State your name and the date so the spirits know who’s trying to reach them. Then, let the spirits know what you want out of the session. It may be to learn more about how they passed, if they have unfinished business, or if you have questions for them. You may say something like, “Hello, my name is John and today is July 7th, 2023. I am here to talk to the spirit of Dolores Smith to learn more about her passing.”

Ask a question out loud to the spirits. Avoid questions like, “Is there anyone here?” because spirits are said not to answer if you don’t have a focused intent. Instead, try to be as specific as possible when you’re asking about details or events so you receive the best answers from the spirits. State your question out loud and speak clearly for the spirits to hear you. Some good questions to try are: "Will you tell me your name?" "Can you share with me how you passed on?" "What do you remember about your death?" "What messages do you want us to pass on?"

Wait and listen for a response in between questions. When you finish your question, wait quietly while the spirit box sweeps through the radio stations. If there’s a spirit present that wants to be heard, there’s a chance they’ll communicate through a radio frequency to create an intelligent word or phrase to answer the question. Give the spirits at least 10–30 seconds after the question so they have time to find the right frequency to answer. If you’re not hearing any responses, try switching your scan to FM stations instead. Your brain may apply meaning to a string of random sounds or words you hear while the radio stations are sweeping. If you hear words that don’t directly answer the question, then these “false responses” are not a spirit trying to communicate.

End your spirit box session after 20 minutes. Continue asking questions and waiting for responses. After about 20 minutes of asking and listening, your brain starts to get fatigued and you may confuse regular radio sounds as intelligent responses. Thank the spirits for their time and for communicating with you before turning off your spirit box. You’re always able to start another session once you have a few minutes to clear your head and refocus. It’s normal if you don’t hear anything through your spirit box during the first few sessions, so don’t get discouraged. Know that it takes a few times to connect to the spirits and train your ears to hear RVPs.

Improving a Spirit Box Session

Allow only one person to ask questions at a time. When multiple people talk to the spirits at once, they may speak over any that are trying to communicate back. If there are multiple people with you while you use your spirit box, select one person to be the speaker. If someone else wants to ask a question, have them raise their hand and wait rather than cutting in.

Ask the spirits to protect you from negative entities. Negative spirits may try to disrupt your spirit box session by giving false responses that ignore your questions or by bringing negative energy into the area. When you first start your session, ask the spirits to keep out the negative energy so you can have a clear conversations without interruption.

Use other ghost-hunting equipment to detect spirits. When you’re looking for spirits, bring along an EMF reader to search for changes in the electromagnetic energy, which is a potential sign of spirits. You may also bring along a infrared camera to capture visual evidence and a temperature meter to detect cold spots where spirits could be present. Some spirit boxes already have features like temperature sensors built-in so you don’t need additional equipment.

Choosing the Best Spirit Box

Pick a spirit box with loud, clear speakers. Poor quality speaker audio makes it more difficult to hear if spirits are trying to communicate through the white noise. Instead of relying on an external speaker that may require more power, choose a spirit box that has a large built-in speaker. If you want to hear audio more clearly, plug headphones into your spirit box instead of using the speaker.

Look for built-in recorders and sound filters. It can be a little difficult to detect RVPs in real-time when you’re doing a spirit box session. While you’re always able to connect a digital recorder to your spirit box, just pick a spirit box with a built-in microphone and recording system. Check that the spirit box has automatic sound filters that help block out other voices and music from incoming radio stations. It’s still a good idea to have a separate digital recorder since it could also pick up on electronic voice phenomena (EVP), which are when you unexplained noises through the static on a recording.

Find a spirit box with variable scanning speeds. The scanning speed is how fast the spirit box sweeps through the radio stations. Slowing the speed down may make words come through clearer, but you may get interference. At faster speeds, stations are less likely to cut in so it may be easier to detect ghosts potentially trying to communicate. Some spirit boxes have a setting to switch between sweeping through stations in order or at random, which could help more responses come through.