Start investigating

Before you begin

• Obtain site-owner permission and agree on access, privacy, and recording boundaries.
• Identify hazards, exits, communication arrangements, and conditions that end the visit.
• Interview witnesses separately with open questions. Preserve their exact account.
• Survey the site and record ordinary sound, light, temperature, and electrical conditions.
• Check instruments, synchronize clocks, and download worksheets before leaving.

In the field

Record observations in plain language. Add time, time zone, location, device settings, units, and file references. Mark investigator speech, movement, handling, and environmental changes in the master timeline.

After the investigation

Preserve originals. Review candidates without prompting listeners or viewers. Test ordinary explanations, document limitations, assign a reasoned classification, and report what the record supports.