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The Shady Science of Ghost Hunting 69

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." Virtually all ghost hunter groups claim to haunted room—is of course that no one has ever
They go to haunted places and find "evidence" be scientific, and most give that appearance shown that any of this equipment actually
of ghosts such as cold spots, photographic because they use high-tech scientific equipment detects ghosts.
such as Geiger counters, Electromagnetic Field The supposed links between ghosts and
anomalies called orbs, and other such
spookiness. (EMF) detectors, ion detectors, and infrared electromagnetic fields, low temperatures,
The two featured investigators, Jason cameras [and sensitive microphones]. Yet the radiation, odd photographic images, and so on
Hawes and Grant Wilson, are proudly blue- equipment is only as scientific as the person are based on nothing more than guesses,
collar workers, not egghead Ph.D. scientists, using it; you may own the world's most unproven theories, and wild conjecture. If a
which adds to their strong "regular guy" appeal. sophisticated thermometer, but if you are using device could reliably determine the presence or
it as a barometer, your measurements are absence of ghosts, then by definition, ghosts
worthless. would be proven to exist. I own an EMF meter,
Where are the ghosts?
Just as using a calculator doesn't make but since it's useless for ghost investigations—it
you a mathematician, using a scientific finds not spirits but red herrings—I use it in my
While one doesn't need to be a scientist to search
instrument doesn't make you a scientist. lectures and seminars as an example of
for ghosts, the pair (like most ghost hunters)
pseudoscience. The most important tools in this
could benefit greatly from a little critical
Devices that don't work or any investigation are a questioning mind and
thinking. They claim to be skeptics but are very
a solid understanding of scientific principles.
credulous and seem to have no real
understanding of scientific methods or real In 2003, while I was investigating a haunted The ghost hunters' anti-scientific illogic
house in Buffalo, New York, the owner of the is clear: if one area of a home is colder than
investigation. (Audiences don't seem to wonder another, that may indicate a ghost; if an EMF
why these "expert" ghost hunters always fail: house asked me what equipment I planned to meter detects a field, that too may be a ghost; if
Even after two seasons and over ten years of use. He had glanced in my duffel bag, which dowsing rods cross, that might be a ghost. Just
research, they still have yet to prove that ghosts contained two cameras, a tape recorder,
exist!) notebooks, a tape measure, a flashlight, and a about any "anomaly," anything that anyone
Though most ghost investigators' worst few other items. Perhaps he was expecting to see considers odd for any reason, from an
crime is wasting time, sometimes they make a Negative Ionizer Ghost Containment backpack undetermined sound to a "bad feeling" to a
nuisances of themselves and even break the law. like the kind Bill Murray wore in Ghostbusters. blurry photo, can be (and has been) considered
In October 2005, three ghost hunters in An EMF meter is among the most evidence of ghosts.
common devices used by ghost hunters today. I I was even at one investigation where a
Salem, Massachusetts, were arrested for ghost supposedly caused a person's mild
trespassing on private property in search of spoke to Tom Cook, of TomsGadgets.com, a headache. Because the standard of evidence is
ghosts. They had entered an abandoned hospital British purveyor of "scientific" paranormal kits so low, it's little wonder that ghost hunters often
reputed to be haunted. The group was so busy for the enterprising (and gullible) investigator.
looking for spirits they failed to notice the police Starter kits begin at £105 (US$180) and reach up find "evidence" (but never proof) of ghosts.
station across the street; all three were arrested, to £500 (US$850) for a custom ghost-hunting
fined, and sent home. Trespassing or vandalizing kit. (Negative Ionizer Ghost Containment packs Reality check
ghost hunters have also been arrested in were not listed.)
cemeteries in Illinois, Connecticut, and other I asked Cook what, exactly, the scientific The whole idea of ghosts runs into trouble as
rationale was behind the equipment he sold. soon as a little logic is applied.
states.
"At a haunted location," Cook said, There's not even agreement on what
Ghost detectors "strong, erratic fluctuating EMFs are commonly ghosts are—or might be. A common claim is
found. It seems these energy fields have some that ghosts are spirits of the dead who have been
definite connection to the presence of ghosts. wronged or murdered. Let's inject some real-
When it comes to searching for ghosts, you'd
The exact nature of that connection is still a world statistics into that assumption and see
think that only the most reliable methods would
mystery. However, the anomalous fields are easy what we get.
be used in an attempt to get solid evidence for
to find. Whenever you locate one, a ghost might
something as mysterious and elusive as a spirit.
be present.... any erratic EMF fluctuations you (Continued on Page 70)
Yet in ghost hunting, often the less scientific the
may detect may indicate ghostly activity."
methods and equipment, the more likely a
In the final analysis, Cook admitted,
researcher is to find "evidence" for ghosts.
"there exists no device that can conclusively
Ghost hunters use a variety of creative—
detect ghosts."
and dubious—methods to detect their quarry's
presence, including psychics. Psychics not only
Uncomfortable reality
claim to locate ghosts but also to communicate
with the spirits, who unfortunately don't provide
any useful or verifiable information from the The uncomfortable reality that ghost hunters
afterlife. carefully avoid—the elephant in the tiny,