power generators/board:16-3-

[electrodummy]

Hi My name is John and this is my first posting so please be patient. My knowledge of electricity, theory or concepts, is somewhat limited and the more I learn, the more I realize I don't know.  I work on power generators for a living. Some of my knowledge comes from a classroom but most came from hands on and simple curiosity ventures like this.
Anyway, I was working on a generator today trying to set the frequency, but my digital meter was wandering from 50 Hertz to 300 hertz sometimes. this is not the first time either, but I noticed when I unclasped my meter, as I pulled the lead away the meter would stop fluctuating so much and then settle to where it was supposed to be. When I thought about it, the only explanation I came up with is it was reading the electromagnetic field. My question is, is that what I was reading and why would that be more accurate than a direct connection? Also would that field be the reason my meter acts so funny if it were setting next to the generator? I realise this is probably a dumb question but if I don't ask I'll never know. thanks for your time