The most common answer is ‘of course not’. That’s followed by ‘well, I’ve never seen one’. Then after a pause, a voice comes from deep in the audience and we all have a slight shudder as we hear
‘but I did have this really weird experience once…’.
‘but I did have this really weird experience once…’.
And that’s when all the unanswerable questions begin. Bottomline - are ghosts real? Current science can’t prove a thing. We all know someone who has had some kind of experience, whether it’s feared staying overnight at nanna’s house because it’s ‘scary’ or finding something moved – and YOU KNOW YOU DIDN’T DO IT‼
The questions were all part of a Paranormal Expo I attended in 2022, a huge affair with experts from all over the world – some with all kinds of un-Googleable qualifications that presented incredibly logical and sincere theories that all failed to provide any evidence of ghosts/ghouls/spectres/spirits – even Casper.
Some plenary sessions (and quite a few very long and intense drinks nights at a fabulous local bar) led my group to a selection of mental and physical factors that can go towards debunking the whole thing. Here’s my ‘spirit-fuelled’ memory of the discussions!
We all secretly want to believe
You can’t help but feel drawn to stories of haunted houses and rampaging spirits. We can thank a lot of multi-million-dollar (and not so expensive) horror movies for drawing our attention to the possibilities. Even Emily Bronte made Heathcliff admit to knowing ‘ghosts have wandered on earth’ in Wuthering Heights.
That’s an influence for your shudder when you hear the floorboards creak, or the plumbing makes a rattle.
But you don’t really want to believe
You’ve all experienced it. The strange movement out of the corner of your eye. The sound of something crunching underfoot. That moment when you aren’t sure if you’re awake or asleep.
You can either think it’s nothing, or you can think it’s something … and there’s nothing. The uncertainty of it all actually triggers a kind of primitive fear, and you fleetingly think is it fight-or-flight time? Ghost tours, movies and novelists capitalise on this to make us mere mortals wrestle with ambiguity. Still no answers…
You can’t help but feel drawn to stories of haunted houses and rampaging spirits. We can thank a lot of multi-million-dollar (and not so expensive) horror movies for drawing our attention to the possibilities. Even Emily Bronte made Heathcliff admit to knowing ‘ghosts have wandered on earth’ in Wuthering Heights.
That’s an influence for your shudder when you hear the floorboards creak, or the plumbing makes a rattle.
But you don’t really want to believe
You’ve all experienced it. The strange movement out of the corner of your eye. The sound of something crunching underfoot. That moment when you aren’t sure if you’re awake or asleep.
You can either think it’s nothing, or you can think it’s something … and there’s nothing. The uncertainty of it all actually triggers a kind of primitive fear, and you fleetingly think is it fight-or-flight time? Ghost tours, movies and novelists capitalise on this to make us mere mortals wrestle with ambiguity. Still no answers…
Vic Tandy
You’re getting bad vibes
This can be a lot more than a feeling. Sometimes people can experience something simply because the environment is creating it. This example from the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, explains it a lot better.
During the early 1980s, a British lecturer for information technology at Coventry University, England and an engineer, Vic Tandy (1955-2005) was working in a research laboratory for a medical manufacturing company, when, in his own words: "I was sweating but cold, and the feeling of depression was noticeable – but there was also something else. It was as though something was in the room with me.”
Tandy then claimed to have seen a spirit emerging in his peripheral vision, but when he turned to face the figure, it vanished.
He discovered the cause of the "haunting" by accident. The next day Tandy, a keen fencer, was polishing his sword when he noticed that the blade was vibrating even when clamped in a vice. From this Tandy developed the idea that infrasound might be present in the laboratory. Further experimentation showed that the infrasound trapped in the laboratory was at its highest next to Tandy's desk, right where he had seen the ghost. The infrasound was found to have come from a newly installed extractor fan.
Tandy went on to recreate his experience, and with the assistance of Dr. Tony Lawrence, he was able to publish his findings in the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research. Their research led them to conclude that infrasound at or around a frequency of 19 Hz, has a range of physiological effects, including feelings of fear and shivering. Though this had been known for many years, Tandy and Lawrence were the first people to link it to ghostly sightings.
Tandy also appeared in the "Ghosts on the London Underground" documentary.
This can be a lot more than a feeling. Sometimes people can experience something simply because the environment is creating it. This example from the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, explains it a lot better.
During the early 1980s, a British lecturer for information technology at Coventry University, England and an engineer, Vic Tandy (1955-2005) was working in a research laboratory for a medical manufacturing company, when, in his own words: "I was sweating but cold, and the feeling of depression was noticeable – but there was also something else. It was as though something was in the room with me.”
Tandy then claimed to have seen a spirit emerging in his peripheral vision, but when he turned to face the figure, it vanished.
He discovered the cause of the "haunting" by accident. The next day Tandy, a keen fencer, was polishing his sword when he noticed that the blade was vibrating even when clamped in a vice. From this Tandy developed the idea that infrasound might be present in the laboratory. Further experimentation showed that the infrasound trapped in the laboratory was at its highest next to Tandy's desk, right where he had seen the ghost. The infrasound was found to have come from a newly installed extractor fan.
Tandy went on to recreate his experience, and with the assistance of Dr. Tony Lawrence, he was able to publish his findings in the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research. Their research led them to conclude that infrasound at or around a frequency of 19 Hz, has a range of physiological effects, including feelings of fear and shivering. Though this had been known for many years, Tandy and Lawrence were the first people to link it to ghostly sightings.
Tandy also appeared in the "Ghosts on the London Underground" documentary.
Your mind is playing tricks on you
We all hope this one is true – after all, so many of us always need someone to blame!
In recent years, neurological researchers have identified possible reasons why we think someone, or something is haunting us.
They propose that seizures in the temporal lobe (where visual memory and spoken language resides) may be the cause of spectral sightings.
People studied who have a history of such seizures are more likely to report paranormal beliefs and interestingly, they seem to usually occur between 2am and 4am – the traditional witching hour.
Researchers have also spotted similar activity in controlled lab settings. In 2016, a case study by doctors at a Jerusalem hospital described a patient who had a spontaneous religious experience as physicians stimulated his temporal lobe while treating him for epilepsy.
A paper published in the International Journal of Yoga found that people with supposed telepathic powers exhibited unusual activity in a section of the lobe called the right Para hippocampal gyrus – where memory lives – when they tried to complete a mind-reading task.
To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure if I’m reassured by this, or not!
We all hope this one is true – after all, so many of us always need someone to blame!
In recent years, neurological researchers have identified possible reasons why we think someone, or something is haunting us.
They propose that seizures in the temporal lobe (where visual memory and spoken language resides) may be the cause of spectral sightings.
People studied who have a history of such seizures are more likely to report paranormal beliefs and interestingly, they seem to usually occur between 2am and 4am – the traditional witching hour.
Researchers have also spotted similar activity in controlled lab settings. In 2016, a case study by doctors at a Jerusalem hospital described a patient who had a spontaneous religious experience as physicians stimulated his temporal lobe while treating him for epilepsy.
A paper published in the International Journal of Yoga found that people with supposed telepathic powers exhibited unusual activity in a section of the lobe called the right Para hippocampal gyrus – where memory lives – when they tried to complete a mind-reading task.
To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure if I’m reassured by this, or not!
You’re just looking for company.
The scary ghosts in movies usually stop at nothing to terrorise their human victims, but in general, they aren’t innately terrifying. Research suggests that the brain may summon spirits as a means of coping with trauma, especially the pain of losing a loved one. For example, surviving spouses frequently report seeing or sensing their departed partner.
No less than the British Medical Journal published a survey in 1971 that found close to half the widows in Wales and England had seen their mates post-mortem. These vivid encounters have long been among the most common kinds of paranormal experience.
So, it seems that spectres help us deal with painful or confusing events. A survey in 2011 found that some occurrences provided ‘instantaneous relief with the deceased’, while others strengthened religious views.
But it’s not just all about death – the same studies suggest children who are bullied are exposed to dangerous situations are more likely to have paranormal fantasies, a trend psychologists often find in adults with a history of childhood trauma.
Is there a conclusion? Absolutely not. People came away from the event pretty much the way they chose to… believing, remaining sceptical, validated, or annoyed.
Me – I’m just still fascinated… and sitting on the fence.
AVIVA MORRIGAN
The scary ghosts in movies usually stop at nothing to terrorise their human victims, but in general, they aren’t innately terrifying. Research suggests that the brain may summon spirits as a means of coping with trauma, especially the pain of losing a loved one. For example, surviving spouses frequently report seeing or sensing their departed partner.
No less than the British Medical Journal published a survey in 1971 that found close to half the widows in Wales and England had seen their mates post-mortem. These vivid encounters have long been among the most common kinds of paranormal experience.
So, it seems that spectres help us deal with painful or confusing events. A survey in 2011 found that some occurrences provided ‘instantaneous relief with the deceased’, while others strengthened religious views.
But it’s not just all about death – the same studies suggest children who are bullied are exposed to dangerous situations are more likely to have paranormal fantasies, a trend psychologists often find in adults with a history of childhood trauma.
Is there a conclusion? Absolutely not. People came away from the event pretty much the way they chose to… believing, remaining sceptical, validated, or annoyed.
Me – I’m just still fascinated… and sitting on the fence.
AVIVA MORRIGAN
