Page 83 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - October / November 2018

The Shady Science of Ghost Hunting 83

The Shady Science of

Ghost Hunting

By Benjamin Radford

Ghosts are big business. For entities that may or
may not exist, they seem to be everywhere,
especially during Halloween.
They are in books and on television
shows, such as CBS's "The Ghost Whisperer"
and NBC's "Medium." Dozens of "ghost hunter"
organizations exist across North America, small
groups of self-styled ghost buffs who lurk
around reputedly haunted places, hoping to
glimpse or photograph a spirit.
The most famous ghost hunters are two
plumbers who moonlight as paranormal
investigators, seen in the popular Sci-Fi Channel
reality show/soap opera series "Ghost Hunters."
They go to haunted places and find "evidence"
of ghosts such as cold spots, photographic
anomalies called orbs, and other such
spookiness. afterlife.
The two featured investigators, Jason Virtually all ghost hunter groups claim to Uncomfortable reality
Hawes and Grant Wilson, are proudly blue- be scientific, and most give that appearance
collar workers, not egghead Ph.D. scientists, because they use high-tech scientific equipment The uncomfortable reality that ghost hunters
which adds to their strong "regular guy" appeal. such as Geiger counters, Electromagnetic Field carefully avoid—the elephant in the tiny,
(EMF) detectors, ion detectors, and infrared haunted room—is of course that no one has ever
Where are the ghosts? cameras [and sensitive microphones]. Yet the shown that any of this equipment actually
equipment is only as scientific as the person detects ghosts.
using it; you may own the world's most
While one doesn't need to be a scientist to search The supposed links between ghosts and
for ghosts, the pair (like most ghost hunters) sophisticated thermometer, but if you are using electromagnetic fields, low temperatures,
could benefit greatly from a little critical it as a barometer, your measurements are radiation, odd photographic images, and so on
worthless. are based on nothing more than guesses,
thinking. They claim to be skeptics but are very
Just as using a calculator doesn't make unproven theories, and wild conjecture. If a
credulous and seem to have no real
you a mathematician, using a scientific device could reliably determine the presence or
understanding of scientific methods or real
instrument doesn't make you a scientist. absence of ghosts, then by definition, ghosts
investigation. (Audiences don't seem to wonder
why these "expert" ghost hunters always fail: would be proven to exist. I own an EMF meter,
Even after two seasons and over ten years of Devices that don't work but since it's useless for ghost investigations—it
research, they still have yet to prove that ghosts finds not spirits but red herrings—I use it in my
exist!) In 2003, while I was investigating a haunted lectures and seminars as an example of
Though most ghost investigators' worst house in Buffalo, New York, the owner of the pseudoscience. The most important tools in this
crime is wasting time, sometimes they make house asked me what equipment I planned to or any investigation are a questioning mind and
nuisances of themselves and even break the law. use. He had glanced in my duffel bag, which a solid understanding of scientific principles.
In October 2005, three ghost hunters in contained two cameras, a tape recorder, The ghost hunters' anti-scientific illogic
Salem, Massachusetts, were arrested for notebooks, a tape measure, a flashlight, and a is clear: if one area of a home is colder than
trespassing on private property in search of few other items. Perhaps he was expecting to see another, that may indicate a ghost; if an EMF
ghosts. They had entered an abandoned hospital a Negative Ionizer Ghost Containment backpack meter detects a field, that too may be a ghost; if
reputed to be haunted. The group was so busy like the kind Bill Murray wore in Ghostbusters. dowsing rods cross, that might be a ghost. Just
looking for spirits they failed to notice the police An EMF meter is among the most about any "anomaly," anything that anyone
station across the street; all three were arrested, common devices used by ghost hunters today. I considers odd for any reason, from an
fined, and sent home. Trespassing or vandalizing spoke to Tom Cook, of TomsGadgets.com, a undetermined sound to a "bad feeling" to a
ghost hunters have also been arrested in British purveyor of "scientific" paranormal kits blurry photo, can be (and has been) considered
cemeteries in Illinois, Connecticut, and other for the enterprising (and gullible) investigator. evidence of ghosts.
states. Starter kits begin at £105 (US$180) and reach up I was even at one investigation where a
to £500 (US$850) for a custom ghost-hunting ghost supposedly caused a person's mild
kit. (Negative Ionizer Ghost Containment packs headache. Because the standard of evidence is
Ghost detectors were not listed.) so low, it's little wonder that ghost hunters often
I asked Cook what, exactly, the scientific find "evidence" (but never proof) of ghosts.
rationale was behind the equipment he sold.
When it comes to searching for ghosts, you'd
"At a haunted location," Cook said, Reality check
think that only the most reliable methods would
"strong, erratic fluctuating EMFs are commonly
be used in an attempt to get solid evidence for
found. It seems these energy fields have some
something as mysterious and elusive as a spirit. The whole idea of ghosts runs into trouble as
definite connection to the presence of ghosts.
Yet in ghost hunting, often the less scientific the soon as a little logic is applied.
methods and equipment, the more likely a The exact nature of that connection is still a There's not even agreement on what
mystery. However, the anomalous fields are easy ghosts are—or might be. A common claim is
researcher is to find "evidence" for ghosts.
to find. Whenever you locate one, a ghost might that ghosts are spirits of the dead who have been
Ghost hunters use a variety of creative—
be present.... any erratic EMF fluctuations you wronged or murdered. Let's inject some real-
and dubious—methods to detect their quarry's
may detect may indicate ghostly activity." world statistics into that assumption and see
presence, including psychics. Psychics not only
In the final analysis, Cook admitted, what we get.
claim to locate ghosts but also to communicate
"there exists no device that can conclusively
with the spirits, who unfortunately don't provide
detect ghosts."
any useful or verifiable information from the (Continued on Page 86)