Page 90 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - October / November 2018

90 Why Some People See Ghosts

Why Some People See

Ghosts and Other

Presences

There are potential explanations (even
if some people won't believe them).

By Dr. Frank T McAndrew, PhD

In the 2013 science-fiction thriller Gravity,
Sandra Bullock plays an astronaut who gets
stranded in a capsule in space following a
catastrophe in which she is the apparent lone
survivor. Cold, frightened, and alone, she
resigns herself to her fate and shuts down the
cabin's oxygen supply to commit suicide. As she
begins to lose consciousness, she is visited (or is
she?) by her fellow astronaut, played by George
Clooney, whom she believed to be dead. He
gives her a pep talk and a survival plan—and
then he leaves. She eventually realizes that
Clooney’s visit did not really happen, but the
experience still gives her the strength to
continue on. By following "his" plan, she is able
to survive what seemed to be a hopeless
situation. evolutionarily unprepared to process, or a lack circumnavigate the globe single-handedly,
The movie was science fiction, but the of change in our surroundings, may cause us to swore that he saw and spoke with the pilot of
encounter that Bullock’s character has with a focus more within ourselves, which most of us Columbus’s ship the Pinta. He claimed that the
"being" who appears in a moment of desperation are much less experienced at doing. pilot steered his boat through heavy weather as
is a human experience far more common than Slocum lay ill with food poisoning.
you might think. Psychologists refer to it as the We have "Agency-Detection" Many other startling, vivid examples of
“sensed presence.” Mechanisms such apparitions reported by sailors, mountain
climbers, and polar explorers are described in a
The "Sensed Presence" Seeing ghosts may also be triggered by the 1987 article by Suedfeld and Mocellin. These
include recurring reports by polar explorers that
“agency-detection mechanisms" proposed by
The sensed presence usually happens to evolutionary psychologists. These mechanisms they felt as if someone was following them on
individuals who have become isolated in an evolved to protect us from harm at the hands of their treks; Mt. Everest climbers stranded in
extreme or unusual environment, often when predators and enemies. snow holes hallucinating rescuers; and survivors
high levels of stress are involved. These If you are walking down a dark city of sinking ships counting extra persons in their
individuals report a perception or feeling that street and hear the sound of something moving lifeboats.
another person is there to help them cope with a in a dark alley, you will respond with a Although sensed presences are most
hazardous situation. The vividness of the heightened level of arousal and sharply focused frequently reported by people in weird or
presence can range from a vague feeling of attention and behave as if there is a willful dangerous places, it is not unreasonable to
being watched to a clearly perceived, seemingly “agent” present who is about to do you harm. If assume that such experiences can happen in
flesh-and-blood entity such as Clooney’s it turns out to be just a gust of wind or a stray more mundane surroundings.
character in Gravity. This entity might be a god, cat, you lose little by overreacting, but if you fail For example, grieving individuals who
a spirit, an ancestor, or someone personally to activate the alarm response and a true threat is have lost a loved one on whom they depended
known to the observer. Sensed presences usually present, the cost of your miscalculation could be greatly may shut themselves off from social
appear in environments with little variation in high. Thus, we evolved to err on the side of contact with others and rarely leave their homes.
physical and social stimulation; low temperature detecting threats in such ambiguous situations. The loneliness and isolation, coupled with high
is also a common ingredient. A recent study by Kirsten Barnes & levels of stress and unchanging sensory
Possible explanations for a sensed Nicholas Gibson (2013) explored the differences stimulation, might very well produce the same
presence include the motion of boats, between individuals who have never had a biological conditions that could trigger a “visit”
atmospheric or geomagnetic activity, and altered paranormal experience and those who have. from the recently departed. Studies indicate that
sensations and states of consciousness induced They confirmed that experiences of supernatural almost half of widowed elderly Americans
by changes in brain chemistry triggered by phenomena are most likely to occur in experience a hallucination of the departed
stress, lack of oxygen, monotonous stimulation, threatening or ambiguous environments, and spouse, and such after-death communications
or a buildup of hormones. There is in fact they also found that those who had paranormal appear to be a healthy coping mechanism and a
exciting new evidence from a research group led experiences scored higher on scales measuring normal part of the bereavement process.
by Olaf Blanke demonstrating that it is the empathy and a tendency to become deeply The phenomenon of the sensed presence
precise stimulation of specific brain regions that absorbed in one’s own subjective experience. may account for some religious experiences as
tricks people into feeling the "presence" of a Most likely, the experience of the sensed well. Such episodes often occur following
ghostly apparition. presence is the result of many of these factors extended periods of meditation and internal
Environmental psychologist Peter interacting at once. reflection and may be facilitated by unusual and
Suedfeld also thinks that what we do cognitively intense physical stimulation. Early religious
changes under these circumstances and may When Do Sensed Presences Occur? figures such as Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed
play a role. all reportedly met supernatural beings while
Suedfeld proposed that we normally Some of the most compelling descriptions of wandering in the desert; indeed, fasting,
spend most of our time attending to and prolonged meditation, and stimulation of the
sensed presences come from lone sailors who
processing external, ambient stimuli from the body through pain and fatigue are part and
have experienced hallucinations and out-of-
physical world surrounding us. However, parcel of most religions.
body experiences. In one famous incident,
persistent exposure to stimuli that we are (Continued on Page 91)
Joshua Slocum, the first person to