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Investigations are structured paranormal research sessions at specific haunted locations. Each investigation tracks evidence, phenomena, and safety information throughout your ghost hunting activities.

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Understanding Investigations

An investigation in Ghost Planet includes:
  • Location Link: The haunted site being investigated
  • Phenomena Description: What paranormal activity you’re researching
  • Evidence Collection: All audio, photo, text, and EVP evidence gathered
  • Emergency Contact: Safety contact information for the investigation
  • Visibility Settings: Public or private investigation status
  • Timestamps: Automatic tracking of investigation start time

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Creating an Investigation

1

Select or create a location

Investigations must be linked to a location. Either:
  • Choose an existing location from your list or community locations
  • Create a new location first (see Managing Locations)
You cannot create an investigation without a valid location. The location must exist in the database before proceeding.
2

Define the phenomena

Describe the paranormal activity you’re investigating:Phenomena (required field)
  • Be specific about reported activity
  • Include witness accounts or historical claims
  • Note the time periods when activity is most common
Example phenomena descriptions:
Shadow figures reported in east wing hallway between 2-4 AM. 
Multiple witnesses describe a tall dark silhouette moving 
through walls. Investigating correlation with EMF fluctuations.

Disembodied children's voices heard in room 237. Previous 
investigators recorded potential EVPs. Focus on audio 
capture and temperature monitoring.
3

Add emergency contact

Provide safety contact information:Emergency Contact (required field)
  • Full name of emergency contact person
  • Phone number with area code
  • Relationship to investigator
Example:
Sarah Johnson (spouse) - (555) 123-4567
Ghost Planet takes investigator safety seriously. Always have someone who knows your location and expected return time.
4

Set visibility

Choose who can see this investigation:Public Investigations:
  • Visible to all Ghost Planet users
  • Appear in location investigation history
  • Evidence can be viewed by the community
  • Contribute to location popularity metrics
Private Investigations:
  • Only visible to you
  • Evidence remains confidential
  • Useful for ongoing research or sensitive locations
  • Can be made public later
5

Create and begin

Click “Create Investigation” to start. The system will:
  • Generate a unique investigation ID
  • Record the creation timestamp
  • Link the investigation to your user account and location
  • Prepare the investigation for evidence collection

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Investigation Data Structure

Based on the data model from /workspace/source/backend/internal/data/investigations.go:10: 
{
  "id": 42,
  "user_id": 101,
  "location_id": 15,
  "phenomena": "Shadow figures in east wing, cold spots, disembodied footsteps",
  "created_at": "2026-03-01T22:15:00Z",
  "evidence": [],
  "emergency_contact": "Sarah Johnson (spouse) - (555) 123-4567",
  "visibility": true
}
  • id: Auto-generated unique identifier for the investigation
  • user_id: Your user ID (automatically set)
  • location_id: ID of the haunted location being investigated
  • phenomena: Description of paranormal activity being researched
  • created_at: Timestamp when investigation was created (auto-generated)
  • evidence: Array of evidence objects collected during the investigation
  • emergency_contact: Safety contact information
  • visibility: Boolean—true for public, false for private

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Adding Evidence to Investigations

Once your investigation is created, you can begin recording evidence:
1

Access active investigation

From your dashboard, select the active investigation you want to add evidence to.
2

Choose evidence type

Select the type of evidence you’re recording:
  • Text Notes: Document observations and phenomena
  • Audio Notes: Record ambient audio or voice notes
  • Photos: Capture visual evidence
  • EVPs: Mark audio as potential Electronic Voice Phenomena
See Recording Evidence for detailed capture workflows.
3

Submit evidence package

Evidence is bundled and submitted together. Each evidence package includes:
  • Reference to the investigation ID
  • Reference to the location ID
  • Arrays of text notes, audio notes, and photos
  • Visibility setting (inherits from investigation by default)
  • Creator user ID (automatically set)
You can submit multiple evidence packages during a single investigation. Each package receives its own timestamp and ID.

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Evidence Structure Within Investigations

From /workspace/source/backend/internal/data/evidence.go:12, evidence packages link to investigations: 
{
  "id": 78,
  "investigation_id": 42,
  "location_id": 15,
  "created_by_user_id": 101,
  "created_at": "2026-03-01T23:45:00Z",
  "visibility": true,
  "version": 1
}
Each evidence package can contain multiple items: 
{
  "evidence_id": 78,
  "text_notes": [
    {
      "id": 201,
      "subject": "Cold spot detected",
      "body": "Temperature dropped from 68°F to 52°F in 30 seconds...",
      "location_id": 15,
      "created_at": "2026-03-01T23:45:00Z"
    }
  ],
  "audio_notes": [
    {
      "id": 156,
      "title": "EVP Session 1",
      "source_url": "https://storage.ghostplanet.com/audio/inv_42_001.mp3",
      "duration": "00:05:23",
      "file_size_bytes": 3145728,
      "is_evp": true,
      "created_at": "2026-03-01T23:50:00Z"
    }
  ],
  "photos": [
    {
      "id": 423,
      "source_url": "https://storage.ghostplanet.com/photos/inv_42_001.jpg",
      "thumbnail_url": "https://storage.ghostplanet.com/photos/thumbs/inv_42_001.jpg",
      "caption": "Orb anomaly near staircase",
      "file_type": "jpeg",
      "file_size_bytes": 2458624,
      "created_at": "2026-03-01T23:52:00Z"
    }
  ]
}

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Managing Active Investigations

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Viewing Investigation Details

1

Access your investigations

Navigate to “My Investigations” from the main dashboard to see all your active and completed investigations.
2

Select an investigation

Click on an investigation to view:
  • Location details and map
  • Phenomena being investigated
  • All submitted evidence packages
  • Timeline of evidence collection
  • Emergency contact information
3

Review evidence

Browse collected evidence:
  • Filter by evidence type (text, audio, photo, EVP)
  • Sort by timestamp
  • View evidence details and metadata
  • Play audio recordings
  • View photo galleries

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Updating Investigation Status

1

Edit investigation

From the investigation detail page, click “Edit Investigation” to modify:
  • Phenomena description (add new observations)
  • Emergency contact information
  • Visibility settings
2

Mark as complete

When your investigation concludes:
  • Review all collected evidence
  • Update the phenomena description with final findings
  • Optionally change visibility to public to share results
  • Click “Mark as Complete”
Completed investigations remain in your history and evidence can still be viewed. You can reopen an investigation if you return to the location.

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Investigation Workflows

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Solo Investigation Workflow

1

Pre-investigation

  • Research the location and create/select it in Ghost Planet
  • Document expected phenomena
  • Set up equipment (EMF meters, audio recorders, cameras)
  • Create the investigation with emergency contact
2

During investigation

  • Use mobile mode for real-time evidence capture
  • Record text notes documenting timeline and observations
  • Capture audio during EVP sessions
  • Photograph anomalies or areas of interest
  • Submit evidence packages periodically
3

Post-investigation

  • Upload additional evidence from dedicated equipment (desktop mode)
  • Review and analyze all captured evidence
  • Update phenomena description with findings
  • Mark investigation as complete
  • Set appropriate visibility for sharing

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Team Investigation Workflow

1

Coordinate setup

  • Designate one team member as investigation lead
  • Lead creates the investigation in Ghost Planet
  • Share investigation ID with team members
  • All team members can submit evidence to the same investigation
2

Divide coverage areas

  • Assign team members to different location zones
  • Each member captures evidence from their assigned area
  • All evidence links to the single investigation
  • Coordinate via radio or messaging outside Ghost Planet
3

Consolidate findings

  • Review all team member evidence submissions
  • Compare timestamps for correlated activity
  • Lead investigator updates phenomena with team findings
  • Collectively decide on investigation visibility

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Investigation Best Practices

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Planning

  1. Research first: Study location history and previous investigation reports before creating your investigation
  2. Define clear objectives: Specify what phenomena you’re trying to document or validate
  3. Safety planning: Always provide valid emergency contact information
  4. Equipment preparation: List expected evidence types in your phenomena description

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During Investigation

  1. Document timeline: Use text notes to create a chronological record of events
  2. Context for evidence: Describe conditions when capturing photos or audio (temperature, time, EMF readings)
  3. Regular submissions: Submit evidence packages throughout the investigation, not just at the end
  4. Mark EVPs carefully: Only flag audio as EVP if you believe it contains potential paranormal voices

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After Investigation

  1. Complete analysis: Review all evidence before marking investigation complete
  2. Update phenomena: Add your findings and conclusions to the phenomena description
  3. Share responsibly: Consider making investigations public to contribute to the community knowledge base
  4. Follow up: Create new investigations for return visits to track activity over time

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Privacy and Visibility

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When to Use Private Investigations

  • Ongoing research you’re not ready to share
  • Investigations at sensitive locations (private property, recent tragedies)
  • Personal investigations at your own residence
  • Preliminary visits before full investigation

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When to Use Public Investigations

  • Well-known haunted locations open to public
  • Investigations with compelling evidence to share
  • Contributing to community knowledge of a location
  • After completing thorough analysis and documentation
Changing an investigation from private to public also makes all associated evidence visible. Review evidence for personal information before publishing.

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Troubleshooting

Investigations require a valid location ID. To resolve:
  1. Navigate to “Locations” and create a new location
  2. Or select an existing location from your list or community locations
  3. Then return to create your investigation with the location selected
See Managing Locations for location creation steps.
Check these common issues:
  • Verify evidence was submitted with correct investigation ID
  • Ensure evidence visibility matches investigation visibility
  • Refresh the investigation page to load latest evidence
  • Check that you’re viewing the evidence tab, not just investigation details
If the edit option is disabled:
  • Verify you are the investigation creator (user_id matches)
  • Check that you’re logged in with the correct account
  • Private investigations can only be edited by the creator
  • Public investigations may have edit restrictions after community contributions
The emergency contact field is required and must contain valid information:
  • Include both name and phone number
  • Format: “Name (relationship) - Phone”
  • Example: “John Doe (friend) - (555) 123-4567”
  • Cannot be left empty
Each investigation can only be linked to one location. To fix:
  1. Create a new investigation with the correct location
  2. Re-submit evidence to the new investigation
  3. Mark the incorrect investigation as complete or delete it
Note: You cannot change an investigation’s location after creation.

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Next Steps

Recording Evidence

Learn how to capture and submit investigation evidence

Managing Locations

Create and organize haunted locations for investigations

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