Public finding / NH
Certified Not Haunted
Issued when independent paranormal agency has not been established. The accompanying report may nevertheless describe an anthropogenic or phenomenal haunting where those classifications are warranted.
PS / PC—03
Standards & Classifications
The public certificate states a concise determination. The findings report preserves the more difficult distinctions from which that determination proceeds.
Standard of determination
Unexplained is not synonymous with haunted.
A spectral finding requires evidence of patterned agency, not the mere absence of an immediate material explanation. Ambiguity, equipment failure, suggestibility, folklore, unusual architecture, and recurrent environmental effects are each material to the investigation; none is independently sufficient to establish a ghost.
The audit is therefore conservative in its public determination while remaining hospitable to phenomena that exceed prosaic description. This asymmetry is intentional. A certificate marked Haunted must be difficult to obtain.
Public finding / SH
Certified Haunted
Issued only following a spectral classification and secondary review of the complete audit record. The finding remains provisional, site-specific, and time-bounded.
No public finding / IU
No Determination
When the record cannot support either finding responsibly, no certificate is issued. Continued investigation may be recommended, but it is not guaranteed.
Technical schedule
Classification of Findings
NH
No Haunting Established
No recurrent anomaly or independent paranormal agency was established within the conditions and period of examination.
Eligible for Certified Not Haunted
AH
Anthropogenic Haunting
The site sustains a socially produced haunting through folklore, expectation, ritual, presentation, or repeated acts of narration; independent agency was not established.
Eligible for Certified Not Haunted, with qualification
PH
Phenomenal Haunting
Recurrent anomalous phenomena were documented, but the record was insufficient to attribute them to an independent spectral agent.
Eligible for Certified Not Haunted only after review
SH
Spectral Haunting
The investigation produced a coherent pattern of evidence provisionally attributable to discarnate or otherwise paranormal agency.
Eligible for Certified Haunted after secondary review
IU
Indeterminate / Under Continued Investigation
The evidence does not support a responsible binary determination, or material conditions require further examination.
No certificate issued
Standing of a credential
Registry Status
A certificate is a dated record, not a permanent alteration of the property’s nature. Its public status allows visitors, guests, owners, and future investigators to determine whether the finding remains current.
- Current
- The certificate remains within its stated term and no superseding determination has been entered.
- Expired
- The stated certification term has concluded without a completed renewal audit.
- Suspended
- Material changes, new reported phenomena, or questions concerning representation require review.
- Superseded
- A later audit has produced a new certificate and determination for the property.
- Withdrawn
- The Society has withdrawn the credential or the owner has relinquished participation in the public registry.
Integrity of the program
The finding belongs to the Society.
The client may commission the audit and select available formats for the issued credential. The client may not select, negotiate, or purchase the determination.
Public representations must reproduce the finding accurately. Material alterations to the property, significant new phenomena, or misleading use of the credential may require review, suspension, or withdrawal.
Authoritative record