An Introduction to REM Pods

A REM Pod is a popular ghost hunting tool that emits its own electromagnetic field and alerts investigators to the presence of spirits by lighting up and sounding an alarm. Spirits are said to be able to manipulate and affect EM fields, and a significant EMF spike accompanies most instances of paranormal phenomena.

Do you ever look over your shoulder, knowing that a spirit might enter the room at any moment? A REM Pod can act as a paranormal watchdog alerting you to ghostly intruders and indicating their position. Almost every ghost hunting TV show features a moment where the investigators are startled by the sound of a REM Pod alerting everyone to the presence of a spirit.

The popular YouTube channel Sam and Colby provides a great example of how the device can be used to engage with spirits. During their filmed paranormal explorations, the boys are often sent screaming “Oh my God!” with their hands in the air when the REM Pod alarm is triggered in the pitch-black darkness of a haunted location.

While traditional EM meters detect fields produced by electrical currents and radio frequencies, REM Pods emit their own EM field. They can detect even more variables, such as movement concerning the device and sudden temperature changes. Since the consciousness of spirits is believed to be the disembodied mirror of the electromagnetic field produced by the brain before death, any device that measures EM fields makes a great tool for ghost hunting.

This guide will introduce you to the origins of REM Pods, how to use them, how to recognize false positives, and how they can help you with your investigations.

What is a REM Pod?

In scientific terms, a REM Pod is an analog device comprised of a capacitive circuit paired with an oscillator that generates an EM field and measures change through an antenna. It has five sensitivity levels associated with specific distances from the device, with 360-degree coverage. Each distance unit sounds a different alarm when triggered, and five LED lights also light up. The sound of the alarm ranges from low to a high pitch, depending on the distance of the trigger.

One of the best things about REM Pods is their automatic baseline adjustment feature, which helps reduce false positives and provides more accurate readings. If something non-paranormal were to disrupt the device’s field, the REM-Pod will readjust and ignore it after a few seconds. This can be helpful in situations where the location has electrical fixtures or other triggers that cannot be removed or disabled during an investigation. Without this feature, it would be impossible to get accurate EMF readings in those cases, and this type of evidence would be out of the question.

REM Pods can also measure temperature changes through the Ambient Temperature Deviation Detection feature (ATDD). This feature is triggered when there is a temperature change of at least 5 degrees Fahrenheit, and it alerts users by illuminating a blue or red LED light as well as producing a high or low-pitched sound.

Human spirits are known to cause a sudden drop in temperature known as a “cold spot,” while non-human entities are said to raise the temperature, so having this feature is an excellent addition that provides more information that could potentially help validate claims of paranormal activity and provide insight on the type of haunting that is being investigated. 

A Brief History of REM Pods

The REM Pod was invented by Gary Galka, an electrical engineer and inventor from Connecticut. As the founder of DAS Distribution, he started out by producing industrial tools such as sound meters, humidity and temperature meters, and lasers for medical and aerospace companies.

In 2004 a tragic car accident took the life of his oldest daughter Melissa, which triggered a series of events that led him to start building his own paranormal equipment. A few days after the accident, Gary and his family started to experience paranormal phenomena centered around Melissa; the doorbell would ring on its own, TV channels would change spontaneously, and the lights were turning on and off. One night, Gary felt a depression in the bed as if someone had sat down next to him, and he felt the presence of his daughter.

He believed that his deceased first daughter was trying to communicate with him, which inspired him to create devices allowing him to have a two-way conversation with her.

Over the years following these experiences, Gary built several popular ghost hunting devices, including the REM Pod, the MelMeter, the P-SB7 & P-SB11 Spirit Box, the RT-EVP, the TIR Crosshair, and the APF Processor. He quickly became an expert in the field, and his gadgets were featured on several TV shows, including the famous Travel Channel series Ghost Adventures.

What are REM Pods Used for in Paranormal Investigations?

REM Pods are primarily used to alert investigators to the presence of a spirit as well as to indicate the approximate location of its disembodied energy. Since they also measure sudden temperature changes, they can help determine the intensity of the energy and provide clues about the nature of the ghostly presence.

These devices are particularly helpful when investigating a large property, as they can be left behind (within earshot) to direct the attention of investigators when a spirit begins to manifest. If you have multiple REM Pods, you can place them around a room and follow the movement of a spirit from one device to another.

This provides particularly good evidence when you ask the spirit to move to a certain corner of the room, and the entity follows your directions, indicating that you’re interacting with an intelligent haunting and eliminating or significantly reducing the statistical probability of the event being due to chance.

Some investigators like to leave a monitored REM Pod in an area overnight to see what it captures in the absence of living people. The device is usually set up with a “trigger object,” an object with a historical significance relevant to the location and believed to be more likely to trigger paranormal phenomena.

A great example is when ghost hunting teams set up a stuffed animal and a REM Pod in an abandoned children’s hospital to see if any child spirits may be enticed to interact with the toy. If the camera were to capture the toy moving on its own in conjunction with the REM Pod being triggered, this would be considered compelling evidence of a haunting.

Most ghost hunting tools have false positives you must know before starting your investigation. Since the REM Pod measures EM fields, it can be triggered by anything with an electrical current or a transmittable frequency.

Cell phones can trigger REM Pods, so everyone in the room should turn off their phones at the beginning of an investigation. Other triggers include walkie-talkies, radios, baby monitors, and fluorescent lights.

Alternative Uses for REM Pods

Often, paranormal investigators end up using this device for something it was not originally designed for, which is direct communication. There are several Ghost Adventures episodes where the team is seen asking the spirits questions and receiving their answers via beeps from the REM Pod.

In one episode, the crew has a long and detailed conversation with the spirit of a miner at an old mining town in the desert of Nevada. At the beginning of the “session,” they establish that “yes” is two beeps and “no” is one beep. They proceed to ask a series of yes or no questions and receive prompt answers aligned with the location’s history.

Generally speaking, if you aim to engage in direct communication, you should use a piece of equipment designed specifically for that purpose, like the spirit box, the Ovilus, or a digital voice recorder. But if a conversation should arise via the REM Pod in the heat of the moment, the most important thing to do is to establish “yes/no” answers before recording the conversation as evidence.

Something to keep in mind is that there is no way to determine with certainty whether the beep coming from the device is really a direct answer coming from the spirit. What if a new spirit just walked into the room, unaware of what was happening, and walked right past the device after a question was asked? This would cause the device to sound even though no response was intended.

Using REM Pods in this way can be exciting and engaging, but it should not be taken as definitive evidence of the paranormal.

The REM Pod is an Essential Tool for Paranormal Investigators

Whether you’re investigating a large location or a small room, being aware of disembodied energies moving around you can be incredibly helpful. Having a REM Pod is like having an additional paranormal investigator on your team. The quantity and quality of features of this device make the REM Pod an essential tool for any ghost hunter.

With this information, you should now understand how REM Pods work and the best practices for using them on investigations. All that’s left for you to do is grab one for yourself and begin your own paranormal adventure!