Ghost the Myth
By:
- Dr. Deepak Kumar
Ghostly
Encounters
People describe ghostly encounters in lots of
different ways. People see apparitions or strange lights, sense a presence in a
room, hear noises or feel a sudden drop in temperature. They smell a deceased
relative's favorite breakfast cooking in the kitchen or hear a favorite song
playing while the stereo is off. Objects fall from shelves and doors open and
close on their own. The electricity goes haywire, causing lights to flicker or
televisions to turn on and off by themselves. Sometimes, people don't
experience anything unusual at all, but they notice strange apparitions or
shapes when they look at pictures they've taken.
Is it a ghost?
Some ghost stories
involve visible apparitions that are bound to specific locations or families.
These ghosts often appear as a warning that someone is going to die. They
aren't always human -- some take the form of animals. Similarly, some reports
of ghosts involve apparitions that inform friends or family members of recent
deaths or impending crises. Some paranormal researchers classify this as a form
of telepathy rather than an actual ghost.
Other ghosts are reported to be the spirits of
people who died violently or suddenly; they may re-enact their deaths or try to
seek vengeance. For example, some people believe that North Carolina's Brown
Mountain Lights -- flickering lights that appear on the slope of the mountain
-- are the spirits of Native Americans who died in battle. Sometimes, ghostly
reproductions of inanimate objects, like sunken ships or crashed cars, reappear
after accidents or tragedies.
Then, there are the ghosts who are simply
sticking around, either unwilling or unable to leave the Earth. Paranormal researchers often refer to these
ghosts as earthbound spirits. An earthbound ghost may haunt a
specific location, like its home, its favorite place to visit or the place that
it died. It may be trying to pass a message to friends or loved ones, to
complete a task that it started while alive or to hold on to its home or
possessions. Some researchers and mediums claim to be able to
encourage these sprits to let go of their ties to the Earth and move on to a
spiritual realm.
For a lot of people, seeing, hearing or
sensing a ghost is enough to prove their existence. But researchers have found
several possible explanations for the phenomena most often attributed to
ghosts. We'll look at them in the next section.
ORB
PHOTOGRAPHY
Some paranormal
researchers believe that photographs containing orbs, or unexplained
spots of light, are signs of ghostly activity. Some describe orbs as a specific
step in a ghost's manifestation [Source: Utah Ghost Research & Investigation]. Orbs are visible in pictures but invisible
to the naked eye because the spirits react to infrared light from the automatic
focus. Skeptics, however, think orbs have a physical cause, such as:
Water spots on the camera's lens
Developing or printing errors
Explanations
for Paranormal Phenomena
Richard Wiseman of the University of
Hertfordshire has researched the phenomenon of haunting in Great Britain. He
has studied locations considered to be haunted, like the Haunted Gallery at
Hampton Court Palace, the Edinburgh Vaults and Mary King's Close. First, he has
consulted written records and interviewed employees to determine exactly where
in each location people have reported ghostly activity. Then, he has asked
visitors to document their experiences and report anything out of the ordinary.
His results have been pretty consistent --
people report more strange experiences in the areas where others have
experienced unusual phenomena in the past. In other words, people have more
ghostly experiences in the places that seem to be the most haunted. This is
true regardless of whether people have any prior knowledge of the area or its
ghostly history. However, people who say they believe in ghosts or who already
know about supernatural activity in a particular area report strange events
more often.
These findings can seem to support the idea
that a building can be haunted. But Weisman's projects have also involved
looking for the source of the apparently paranormal phenomena. In addition to
gathering reports of strange occurrences, he has evaluated physical conditions
in each haunted area. He and his research team have used instruments to measure
light, humidity, sound and magnetic fields. His measurements suggest that the
signs that a building is haunted often have a rational, physical cause.
The Ghost
Experiment site includes
synopses of several of Weisman's experiments.
Other researchers have used similar methods to
try to determine the causes of ghostly activity. While no one has conclusively
proven that ghosts do not exist, researchers have proposed a number of
alternate explanations about physical or psychological causes for strange
experiences. Some are simple - people can hallucinate or mistake reflections,
shadows and unidentifiable noises for ghosts. Other theories are more complex.
We'll look at some examples in the next section.
GHOSTS ON THE BRAIN
Sleep states and altered states of consciousness
can lead people to believe that they have experienced something supernatural.
For example, skeptics have used sleep paralysis or a hypnogogic
trance to explain encounters in which people see spirits while in bed
and are unable to move or escape. Most people experience a hypnogogic trance
once or twice in their lives, although it is far more common in people with
epilepsy or certain sleep disorders.
Ghosts
and Electrical Fields
In some haunted locations, researchers have
measured magnetic fields that are stronger than normal or which exhibit unusual
fluctuations. These may be localized phenomena that stem from electronic
equipment or geological formations, or they may be part of the Earth's magnetic
field.
Some paranormal investigators think of this as
proof of a supernatural presence -- the ghosts create the field. Others suggest
that these fields can interact with the human brain, causing hallucinations, dizziness or other
neurological symptoms. Some researchers have theorized that this is one of the
reasons people report more ghostly activity at night. Because of the way
the solar wind interacts with the Earth’s magnetosphere,
the planet's magnetic field stretches out on the side that's in darkness. Some
researchers hypothesize that this expanded field interacts more strongly with
people's brains.
Medical researchers have also studied the
effects of electrical fields on people's brains. Electrical stimulation to
the angular gurus of the brain, for example, can cause the
sensation of someone behind you mimicking your movements. Electrical
stimulation to different parts of the brain has also caused people to
hallucinate or seem to have near-death
experiences.
Temperature
Cold spots are a
common phenomenon in buildings that are thought to be haunted. People describe
sudden drops in temperature or localized cold areas in an otherwise warm room.
Often, researchers can trace the cold spot to a specific source, like a drafty
window or a chimney. The sensation of a lower temperature can also come from
reduced humidity. In Wiseman's study at Mary King's Close, the locations
reported to be haunted were significantly less humid than those that were not.
Low-frequency Sound
Waves
Several experiments
have demonstrated that low-frequency sound waves, known as infrasound,
can cause phenomena that people typically associate with ghosts. This includes
feelings of nervousness and discomfort as well as a sense of a presence in the
room. The sound waves may also vibrate the human eye, causing people to see
things that are not there. Usually, these waves have frequencies of less than
20 Hz, so they are too low-pitched for people to actually perceive. Rather than
noticing the sound itself, people notice its effects. Sometimes, researchers
can locate the source of the sound. The article "The Ghost in the
Machine" by Vic Tandy and Tony Lawrence describes a low-frequency standing
wave originating from a fan. The sound wave disappeared after the researchers
modified the fan's housing. When the wave dissipated, so did the symptoms of
haunting in the building. You can learn more about infrasound at the infrasonic
site. The most skeptical
researchers believe that all ghostly phenomena have rational explanations.
Those who try to prove the existence of ghosts, however, claim that while some
events have rational explanations, others can only be supernatural in origin.
Regardless of whether ghosts are real, many people find them fascinating. This
fascination has a number of likely causes, from curiosity about what happens to
people after death to the comforting idea that deceased loved ones are still
nearby. Ghost stories, like urban legends, can also express people's fears about the
unknown and caution people about the consequences of actions. On the other
hand, in its Science and Engineering Indicators report, the National Science
Board (NSB) asserts that belief in the paranormal can be dangerous. According
to the NSB, belief in the paranormal is a sign of
reduced critical thinking skills and a reduced ability to make day-to-day
decisions. However, since it's virtually impossible to prove that something
does not exist, people will probably continue to believe in ghosts and haunted
houses, especially since unexplained events aren't likely to go away anytime
soon.
(By: - Dr. Deepak Kumar)