EVP recording - real phenomenon or auditory pareidolia?

I've been reading a lot about EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena) lately and I'm genuinely confused about the scientific status of it. On one hand, there's loads of anecdotal reports and supposed 'evidence' (audio recordings with strange voices). On the other hand, the scientific consensus seems to be that it's just pareidolia - our brains interpreting random noise as speech.

Question: has anyone done actual rigorous testing of EVP claims? Not 'I recorded spooky voices in a haunted building' but proper double-blind conditions, controlled environments, etc.? Because the more I read about it the more I think it might be a genuine cognitive phenomenon rather than an actual paranormal one.

Not dismissing people's experiences - I'm sure they genuinely hear things. But hearing something and that something being evidence of the paranormal are different things. Anyone got actual science on this?

You've identified the core problem yourself. Controlled testing of EVP basically always shows it's pareidolia - our brains filling in patterns in random noise. The James Randi Educational Foundation offered money for proven EVP under controlled conditions for years. No one successfully demonstrated it.

That said, people do genuinely experience hearing things they interpret as paranormal. Whether that's supernatural communication or neurology is the open question.

There's a book called 'Talking to the Dead' (or something similar) that goes into the science. The short version: EVP recording is basically a form of modern divination. People project meaning onto noise. It's not fake exactly, it's a genuine psychological phenomenon that our brains are wired to do.

has anyone done actual rigorous testing of EVP claims?

Not in any way that's found convincing evidence, no. Every controlled study shows null results. This doesn't mean people aren't having genuine experiences - it means those experiences probably have neurological explanations rather than paranormal ones. But tell that to someone who's convinced they've contacted their dead grandmother and you'll get resistance.

I've done EVP recording for years and I'm honestly agnostic about whether it's paranormal or not. But I've gotten recordings that are genuinely unexplained - not spooky necessarily, but difficult to dismiss as obvious pareidolia. The methodology matters a lot though. Most EVP enthusiasts aren't being rigorous about ruling out mundane explanations.

The interesting angle is less 'are these ghosts?' and more 'what's happening in human perception that makes us interpret random noise as meaningful?' Actual paranormal research angle is probably less interesting than the psychology angle honestly.