The hobby of ghost hunting comes with a wide range of gadgets that claim to detect, communicate, and/or capture ghostly evidence. One device I am often asked about is something called the REM Pod, which has been a popular ghost hunting tool for several years. I recently attended a ghost conference in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (where I set up my Skeptical Help Booth), and the REM Pod was a popular topic of discussion. So, I wanted to take a closer look at this device and explain what it’s all about.
First up, the “REM” in REM Pod stands for radiating electromagneticity. I could not find a standard definition for electromagneticity even after a few hours of searching. I reached out to my friend Jonathan Vanover, a doctor of computer science, engineer, and college instructor. A few hours later, he wrote back to me: “Looks like a made-up word on the surface, electromagnetic with -icity added in. I have found nothing in any real journals.” After a bit more digging, I did come across several uses of the term that provide a hint to its meaning: the state, condition, or quality of an electromagnetic (EM) field. It is not uncommon for the paranormal community (especially those selling these gadgets) to latch onto or create sciencey-sounding terms to promote unscientific devices.
Where did this paranormal gadget come from? It was created by Gary Galka, an electrical engineer and founder of DAS Distribution, which constructs sound meters, humidity and temperature meters, and lasers for medical and aerospace companies. In addition to these industrial tools, his company website also has a section called Paranormal Research, which offers several other products marketed directly to ghost hunters, including EMF meters, audio players, and of course the REM Pod.
Galka started creating these devices after he tragically lost his oldest daughter, Melissa, in a fatal car crash in 2004. Several days later, the family returned home from the hospital and immediately began reporting odd experiences, which the family believed was Melissa attempting to communicate with them. For example, he told the Hartford Courant in 2012, “She started doing things like ringing the doorbell, changing TV channels, turning lights on and off. Then one time she came into my room and I felt her sit on the edge of the bed.” Galka was inspired by these personal experiences to create devices that he believed would allow him (and others) to communicate with spirits. His devices have been featured on the Travel Channel series Ghost Adventures, causing them to become extremely popular.
The REM Pod has evolved over the past few years, incorporating additional options to satisfy customer requests. For our purposes, I will be examining the original version, which I acquired and disassembled in 2019. On the outside, the original REM Pod’s main body is a black four-inch PVC coupling, the kind you can pick up at any hardware store for around two dollars. The top of the device has a telescoping antenna, a small speaker, and what appears to be four sections of a hot glue stick (yes, the kind that goes into a hot glue gun).
When the device is turned on, the glue sticks can be illuminated via a different colored LED underneath each one. The antenna, glue sticks, and speaker are set in a thick layer of resin, which also includes cut-up chunks of additional glue sticks (likely cheap filler). On the bottom of the device is a 9-volt battery pack and the on/off button.
When I cracked open the device, I found something interesting: There are four LEDs (which illuminate the glue sticks), some wire, and the main component—a Junior Theremin circuit. The Junior Theremin circuit is a miniaturized, novelty version of a theremin, which comes in a hobby kit from a company called MadLab and can be purchased for about $20. The internal parts are sandwiched between the two layers of cardboard and resin/glue sticks.
The revelation here is that the REM Pod is not some brand-new invention designed for the ghost hunting community: it is a hobby kit that has been repackaged and sold at an inflated price. This strategy is like another device I reviewed not too long ago, the Vibration Activated Light Sphere. That device was marketed directly to ghost hunters, even though it was nothing more than a repackaged cat toy.
The inspiration for the “Junior Theremin” comes from its namesake, the theremin, an “electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the thereminist (performer). It is named after its inventor, Leon Theremin (born Lev Termen), who patented the device in 1928. The theremin consists of a box with two metal antennas, each of which create an electromagnetic field. The theremist stands in front of the instrument, moving his or her hands closer or farther from each antenna. This forms a capacitor between the theremist’s hands and the antennas. The capacitance of the electromagnetic field varies by the distance between the player and the instrument. One antenna controls the pitch, while the other controls the volume. The closer your hands are to the antennas, the higher the pitch and/or volume.
This process is scaled down significantly for the Junior Theremin. This hobby kit version has only one antenna, which is a short length of wire with a much more limited pitch range. Your hand—or any conductive material—also needs to be within six inches of the antenna to activate the device.
When it comes to ghost hunting, enthusiasts typically use the REM Pod as a spirit communication device. The device is placed in an allegedly haunted location (room, hallway, staircase, etc.), and ghost hunters begin asking various questions. The ghosts are directed to “touch the device” or “make it light up.” A positive response occurs when the device lights up and makes noise, and the spirits are thanked for their participation. In my interactions with them, most ghost hunters are convinced ghosts are causing the device to react and that they are indeed communicating with spirits of the dead. There are several episodes of Ghost Adventures where this scene plays out, as well as hundreds (if not thousands) of YouTube videos showcasing similar situations.
In the event the ghost hunters receive no response, the questions are often repeated multiple times, or the ghost hunters move onto different questions until the device eventually lights up. This is a similar method to that used during EVP (electronic voice phenomenon) sessions, where ghost hunters are waiting for a vocal response rather than hearing a tone played along with some lights. If no response comes at all, I often hear excuses such as “the spirits don’t want to talk tonight” or “it doesn’t always work, but it worked great last time.”
So, is this device really interacting with spirits? I find it highly unlikely (well, honestly—no). First, there is the ever-present issue that if ghosts did exist (which is still unconfirmed), we have no idea what physical properties they would possess or how they would interact with the environment. Therefore, we don’t know how to test for such entities. The Junior Theremin kit requires a conductive material to be in close proximity for it to make noise—and we have no idea if ghosts would have such a physical property to be able to do so.
Second, the conditions under which these devices are used does not prevent contamination by real-world influences disrupting the electromagnetic field. Enthusiasts place the device out on its own and fail to establish basic experimental controls to prevent tampering, either accidental or deliberate. For example, a two-way radio, the kind often used by production crews to keep in contact with separate teams, can trigger the REM Pod quite easily. In simple tests I’ve performed, radio transmissions from a two-way radio can disrupt the REM Pod’s EM field from distances between twenty feet (outdoors) to almost forty feet (indoors). Additionally, it was quite easy to set off a REM Pod while I was on floors either above or below the device.
Because a majority of “ghost hunts” take place inside buildings, a two-way radio becomes a potential confounder and liability. Also, this flaw brings into question its use on reality television, because a crew member off-camera could easily activate a two-way radio at any time, causing a REM Pod to seemingly respond to questions as if by an unseen force.
A simple yet effective experimental control I consistently recommend for this device is the use of a properly constructed Faraday cage/box (such as the one pictured), which is “an enclosure that is used to shield things from electromagnetic fields (both static and non-static). They can be made from a continuous covering of conductive material or from a fine mesh of conductive material.” Faraday cages are named after their inventor, the English scientist Michael Faraday, who came up with the concept in 1836.
By placing the REM Pod inside such a cage, stray radio signals are prevented from reaching the REM Pod’s antenna, and thus its electromagnetic field remains undisturbed. Sadly, such controls are almost never used by ghost hunters. I have yet to see any group practice this method as a matter of course, and I have only personally witnessed one team attempt this. That was only because I had brought my Faraday box along to the event. Once their device was placed inside the Faraday box, it remained silent for the rest of the night.
Another major flaw is the lack of any data logging. The most common situation surrounding the REM Pod’s use involves a group of enthusiasts sitting, huddled around it and asking questions. Sometimes a video camera will be on it, but that’s about it. I never observe anyone (besides myself) taking notes to record the time, environmental conditions, number of times the device goes off, etc. The device has no internal memory to track how many hits it gets or the level of variation in the electromagnetic field. At the end of the ghost hunt, the team is left only with something along the lines of “it lit up a few times and made noises.” That’s not a big deal at all.
In closing, this device is an overpriced novelty, much like the repackaged cat toy (ball) I mentioned earlier. The REM Pod provides no useable data, and even if it did, the lack of experimental controls during common use would render any data useless. It’s the thrill of the device lighting up/making noise for “no apparent reason” and “just like on TV” that entices ghost hunters to spend their money on products such as this. Money that would be put to much better use purchasing a book on critical thinking, which is what I would recommend.
Note
As a father myself, I can only imagine the sorrow experienced by the Galka family. My deepest condolences go out to the family.