Page 38 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - Jan-Feb 2018, Vol 27, No 1

38 6 Scientific Explanations For Ghosts

6 Scientific Explanations

for Ghosts

by Samuel Orez

A surprising number of people believe in
ghosts. A 2014 UK survey found that 52 percent
of participants believed in the supernatural. A
2015 survey by Chapman University found that
more than 40 percent of Americans believe
places can be haunted by spirits. However, there
may be a more scientific basis to things that go
bump in the night than a restless afterlife.
Here are six logical explanations for that
ghostly presence in your house:

1. ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS
For decades, a Canadian neuroscientist
3. MOLD witness to believe they saw it, too.
named Michael Persinger has been studying the
Shane Rogers, an engineering professor
effects of electromagnetic fields on people’s
at Clarkson University, has spent the past few 6. WE WANT TO BELIEVE.
perceptions of ghosts, hypothesizing that pulsed
months touring reportedly haunted locations “There is a motivational side to belief in
magnetic fields, imperceptible on a conscious
looking for not-so-paranormal activity: mold ghosts,” French explains. “We all want to
level, can make people feel as if there is a
growth. Preliminary research indicates that believe in life after death. The idea of our
“presence” in the room with them by causing
some molds can cause symptoms that sound mortality is one we are not generally
unusual activity patterns in the brain’s temporal
pretty ghostly—like irrational fear and comfortable with.” Confirmation bias holds
lobes. Persinger has studied people in his lab
dementia. “I’ve watched a lot of ghost shows,” powerful sway over our perceptions. “We find it
wearing a so-called “God Helmet,” finding that
he tells mental_floss, and began to wonder “if much easier to believe evidence for something
certain patterns of weak magnetic fields over
there’s some kind of link there, where we might we want to believe anyway,” he says. []
someone’s head for 15 to 30 minutes can create
be able to explain why people are having these
the perception that there’s an invisible presence
feelings.” So far in the data collection process, 17 Most Haunted Places in
in the room. “it’s hard to say whether that’s a contributing
Some subsequent research has pushed Canada - Real Canadian
factor or not, but anecdotally we are seeing
back on this theory, arguing that people were
these [toxic molds] exist in places that are Ghosts!
responding to the suggestion that they would
haunted.”
feel a ghostly presence, rather than to the
electromagnetic field. However, Persinger 17. St. Francis Xavier University,
4. CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING
counters that this experiment followed very Antigonish, Nova Scotia
In 1921, a doctor named W.H. Wilmer
different protocols than his own research. Other
published an odd story about a haunted house in 16. Dunvegan Provincial Park, Fairview,
scientists have also found that environments
the medical journal the American Journal of Alberta
that have a reputation for being haunted often Ophthalmology. The family who lived in this
feature unusual magnetic fields. 15. Ottawa Bytown Museum, Ottawa,
haunted residence, called the H family in the
Ontario
medical literature, began experiencing weird
2. INFRASOUND phenomena when they moved into an old 14. Government House, Regina,
Infrasound is sound at levels so low house—hearing furniture moving around and Saskatchewan
humans can’t hear it (though other animals, like strange voices in the night, feeling the presence
elephants, can). Low frequency vibrations can of invisible specters. They report being held 13. Gibraltar Point Lighthouse, Toronto,
cause distinct physiological discomfort. down in bed by ghosts, feeling weak, and more. Ontario
Scientists studying the effects of wind turbines As it turned out, a faulty furnace was filling 12. Tranquille Sanatorium, Kamloops, BC
and traffic noise near residences have found that their house with carbon monoxide, causing
low-frequency noise can cause disorientation, aural and visual hallucinations. The furnace was 11. Fairmont Empress, Victoria,
feelings of panic, changes in heart rate and fixed, and the H family went back to their lives, Vancouver Island, BC
blood pressure, and other effects that could sans ghosts. 10. Seal Island, Yarmouth County, Nova
easily be associated with being visited by a
Scotia
ghost]. For instance, in a 1998 paper on natural
5. SOMEONE ELSE SAID IT WAS
causes of haunting, engineer Vic Tandy REAL. 9. Ottawa Jail Hostel, Ottawa, Ontario
describes working for a medical equipment
In a 2014 study, Goldsmiths, University 8. Peggy's Cove, Halifax, Nova Scotia
manufacturer, whose labs included a reportedly
of London psychologists had participants watch
haunted room. 7. West Point Lighthouse, O'Leary, Prince
a video of a “psychic” supposedly bending a
Whenever Tandy worked in this Edward Island
metal key with his mind. In one condition, study
particular lab, he felt depressed and 6. Bastion Square, Victoria, BC
subjects watched the video with a “participant”
uncomfortable, often hearing and seeing odd
who was actually working with the researchers
things—including an apparition that definitely 5. Plains of Abraham, Quebec City,
and professed to see the key bending. Those
looked like a ghost. Eventually, he discovered Quebec
subjects were more likely to report that they saw
that the room was home to an 19 Hz standing 4. Craigdarroch Castle, Victoria, BC
wave coming from a fan, which was sending out the key bend than subjects who were paired
with someone who asserted that the key didn’t
the inaudible vibrations that caused the 3. The Old Spaghetti Factory, Vancouver,
bend or said nothing. “One person’s account can
disorienting effects. Further studies also show BC
influence another person’s memory,” study co-
links between infrasound and bizarre sensations 2. Fairmont Chateau Laurier, Ottawa,
author Christopher French tells mental_floss. If
like getting chills down the spine or feeling Ontario
someone else confidently asserts that they saw
uneasy.
the ghost, it might influence a fellow eye- 1. Banff Springs Hotel, Banff, Alberta