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WEIRD STUFF

10 Scientific Explanations For Ghostly

Phenomena
NOLAN MOORE SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

According to a 2005 Gallup poll, 37 percent of Americans believe in haunted houses, and
according to a 2013 HuffPost/YouGov poll, 45 percent believe in ghosts. These are surprising
numbers, but the next time you hear a spooky sound, don’t call the Ghostbusters—get a
scientist instead. Behind every shadow, poltergeist, and disembodied voice, there’s a perfectly
rational explanation.

Electric Stimulation Of The Brain

10

Frightened witnesses all over the world have seen the shadow people. These dark beings are
glimpsed out of the corner of the eye only to vanish when confronted. Many believe them to be
demons, some think they’re astral bodies, and some say they’re time travelers, here for a
second and gone. However, some researchers have a more shocking theory.

When Swiss scientists electrically stimulated an epileptic patient’s brain, things got really
spooky. The patient reported a shadow person sitting behind her, copying her every move.
When she sat up, it also sat up. When she bent forward and grabbed her knees, it reached
around her body and held her. The doctors then told her to read a card, but the shadow person
tried to take it out of her hand.

What happened was the scientists had stimulated the left temporoparietal junction, the part
of the brain that defines the idea of self. By interfering with the area that helps us tell the
difference between ourselves and others, the doctors screwed up the brain’s ability to
understand its own body, thus leading to the creation of a copycat shadow person.
Researchers are hoping this is the key to understanding why so many people, both
schizophrenic and healthy, encounter shadow beings and other creatures like aliens.

Ideomotor Effect
9

The Spiritualist movement was pretty big in the 1840s and 1850s. It provided a way for people
to talk to their dead loved ones. One method of communication was the Ouija board. Still
popular today, the board was covered in letters, numbers, and simple words (like “yes” or “no”).
People would then place their hands on a wooden piece called a planchette and ask the spirits
a question. A ghost would respond by moving the planchette from letter to letter, spelling out
a response (or unleashing Captain Howdy).
Another creepy method for interacting with spirits was table tilting. During a séance, people
would gather round a table and place their hands on the tabletop. To everyone’s surprise, the
table would start moving by itself. It might tilt up on one leg, levitate off the ground or scoot
around the room.

Con men were definitely involved in some of these incidents, but were all these encounters
frauds? Renowned physicist Michael Faraday wanted to find out. Through clever
experimentation, Faraday discovered that the tables were often moving thanks to the
ideomotor effect. This is when the power of suggestion causes our muscles to move
unconsciously. People expected a table to move so they unintentionally moved it. A similar
event took place in 1853 when four doctors held an experimental séance. When they secretly
told half the participants the table would move to the right and half it would move left, the
table didn’t budge. But when they told everyone it would move in one direction, the ideomotor
effect struck again! This same principle applies to the Ouija board. It’s our own muscles that
are doing the spelling, not the spirits.

Infrasound
8

After seeing a gray ghost near his desk, researcher Vic Tandy was worried his laboratory might
be haunted. But the next day, Tandy made an interesting discovery. While preparing for a
fencing match, Tandy placed his sword in a vise. He then noticed the blade was vibrating on its
own. All of a sudden, everything clicked. He realized the force causing his sword to shake was
the same force haunting his lab. Vic Tandy was dealing with infrasound.

Humans can hear sounds up to 20,000 Hertz, but we’re unable to detect anything lower than
20 Hz. These “silent” noises are called infrasound, and while we can’t hear them, we can feel
them in the form of vibrations. Dr. Richard Wiseman says we can feel these waves, especially
in our stomachs, and this can create either a positive feeling (such as awe) or a negative
feeling (such as unease). In the right surroundings (see “creepy house”), this might create a
sense of panic.

Infrasound can be produced by storms, wind, weather patterns, and even everyday appliances.
Returning to Vic Tandy, after witnessing his wobbling sword, he learned that a new fan had
been installed in his laboratory, and sure enough, it was issuing vibrations of about 19 Hz.
Since our eyeballs have a resonant frequency around 20 Hz, the infrasound was vibrating
Tandy’s eyeballs and creating images that weren’t really there. When Tandy turned off the fan,
presto: no more ghost.

Similarly, Dr. Wiseman believes these vibrations are responsible for paranormal activity in
“haunted” locations. For example, when investigating two underground sites, he discovered
evidence of infrasound coming from the traffic overhead. Wiseman thinks this explains the
ghostly figures and creepy footsteps in these areas, proving there’s nothing good about these
vibrations.

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Automatism
7

What do witch doctors and Shirley MacLaine have in common? They’re all big into channeling!
Channeling is one of mankind’s oldest attempts to reach the spirit world. The idea is to clear
the mind, connect with some sort of cosmic consciousness and let a centuries-old spirit
possess your body, which doesn’t sound creepy at all. The shamans of ancient religions were
believed to channel the dead, TV psychic John Edward says he can speak to those who’ve
crossed over, and medium J.Z. Knight claims she channels a spirit named Ramtha, a 35,000-
year-old spirit from Atlantis. Obviously, there are quite a few frauds in the channeling
community, but what about the people who sincerely believe in what they’re doing?

The answer is automatism, an “altered state of consciousness” where people say things and
think things they’re not aware of. So when a psychic clears his mind, he starts searching for a
friendly spirit guide. The spirit guide is supposed to enter his body and then provide secret
knowledge about the universe. When the psychic clears his mind, random ideas and images
start popping up in his head, and the medium assumes these thoughts are coming from
another entity. However, these ideas are just coming from his mind. Our brains are capable of
coming up with all kinds of crazy stuff without any conscious effort on our part. How many
times has something inspired you out of the blue? How many times have you had totally
bizarre nightmares or daydreams? That’s not the work of an otherworldly guide. That’s your
brain, working overtime all the time.

Drafts
6

You’re exploring a creepy, run-down mansion in the middle of the night when suddenly the air
grows cold. However, if you take a few steps to the left or right, the temperature returns to
normal. This is what parapsychologists call a cold spot. According to ghost hunters, a cold spot
is a sign of paranormal activity. When a ghost has nothing better to do than appear out of thin
air and scare people to death, it needs energy. So the ghost draws heat from its surroundings
(including people) in order to manifest.

However, scientists have a much simpler (and much more boring) explanation. When skeptics
investigate “haunted” houses, they usually find cool air entering the house through a chimney
or window. But even if the room is sealed off, there’s still a perfectly rational explanation.
Every object has its own temperature, and some surfaces are hotter than others. In an
attempt to equalize the room temperature, the objects try to lose heat in a process called
convection. This is where hot air rises, and cool air drops. Similarly, when dry air enters a
humid room, the dry air sinks to the floor and the humid air rises to the ceiling. This swirling air
will feel cool against a person’s skin, giving the impression of a cold spot. Next time you feel a
ghostly presence, turn on the heater.
 Camera Issues
5

Ghost hunters have a love-hate relationship with orbs. These glowing balls of light are
supposedly the spirits of people who’ve passed away, but haven’t quite passed on. Invisible to
the eye, orbs can only be seen in photographs, and that’s where things get tricky. Skeptic Brian
Dunning says when a dust speck or bug is too close to the camera, it will show up in the photo
as a blurry, out-of-focus circle. And thanks to the camera flash, the orb will appear to be
glowing and is thus mistaken for a ghost. Perfectly reasonable mistake, right?

Even most believers are pretty skeptical about orb photography. While she thinks some real
photos exist, parapsychologist Pamela Heath points out several natural causes of orbs such as
fine hairs, dirty or wet lenses, lens reflection, or movement during exposure. Many paranormal
websites have stopped accepting these photos because they say there are just too many false
ones. So thanks to a basic understanding of how technology works, orb photos seem to be
giving up the ghost.

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

4
In 1921, ophthalmologist William Wilmer published a bizarre paper in the American Journal of
Ophthalmology. It told the story of the “H” family and their haunted house. Their hell home
was plagued with the sounds of slamming doors, moving furniture and footsteps in empty
rooms. One of the children felt something sitting on him while the other was attacked by a
mysterious stranger. During the night, the woman of the house awoke to see a man and a
woman standing at the foot of her bed, only to watch them vanish moments later. As the
hauntings continued, the family grew tired and depressed, and then their plants started to die.
It was then they discovered the faulty furnace. The furnace was supposed to send its fumes
up the chimney, but instead the gas was pouring into the house. It turns out the family was
suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Carbon monoxide (CO) is an odorless, colorless gas, which makes it really hard to detect. It’s
dangerous because our red blood cells absorb CO much easier than they do oxygen, and this
oxygen deprivation leads to symptoms such as weakness, nausea, confusion, and eventually
death. But before you kick the bucket, you might experience hallucinations, just like the “H”
family. For example, in 2005, a woman called the authorities after seeing a spirit in her
bathroom. It turned out the paranormal activity was due to her leaky water heater which was
filling the house with CO. Bottom line: Stay away from carbon monoxide, folks, because one
way or another, it’ll have you seeing ghosts.

Mass Hysteria
3

In June 2013, over 3,000 workers went on strike at a garment factory in Gazipur, Bangladesh.
They weren’t protesting against long working hours, and they weren’t demanding better
wages. They wanted someone to do something about the ghost in the restroom. An angry
spirit had attacked a worker in the lady’s room, causing everyone to panic. A riot ensued, and
the police had to restore order. A similar event took place at a school in Patong, Phuket when
22 students were hospitalized after seeing the ghost of an old woman. But while the
Bangladeshi factory owner ordered an exorcism, perhaps he should have called a counselor
instead.
Both the workers and the students experienced a psychological phenomenon known as mass
hysteria. These collective delusions occur when people are really stressed out, usually thanks
to their oppressive environments (like a strict school or busy workplace). This pent-up stress
then turns into physical symptoms like headaches, nausea, or violent spasms. Throw in
religious and cultural beliefs, a relatively isolated environment and the always-busy rumor
mill, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster. Other people will “catch” the same strange
symptoms, they’ll spread like a disease, and panic ensues.

It’s interesting to note that very few of the 3,000 factory workers actually encountered the
ghost. Even the woman who sparked the frenzy didn’t actually see anything. She got sick and
just assumed it was the work of an evil spirit, but the suggestion was so powerful and the
circumstances were so perfect that everyone freaked out. Fortunately, it didn’t end with
human sacrifices or dogs and cats living together.

Ions
2

Unfortunately, real ghost hunters don’t carry proton packs. However, they do use tools such as
the ion counter. The ion counter, well, counts ions. An ion is an atom with an uneven amount
of protons and electrons. If an atom gains an electron, it becomes a negative ion, and if it loses
an electron, it becomes positive.

Ghost hunters go crazy over ions because they supposedly show a paranormal presence.
Some say a spirit’s presence interferes with the normal ion count in the atmosphere while
others say ghosts draw upon ionic energy when they want to appear and scare people to
death. However, ion counters are really pretty lousy when it comes to detecting ghosts. Ions
are caused by all kinds of natural phenomena like weather, solar radiation, and radon gas. So it
basically comes down to how someone interprets the evidence. Scientists see ions and think,
“Natural.” Ghost hunters see ions and think, “Paranormal!”

Interestingly, both positive and negative ions can affect our moods. Negative ions can make us
feel calm and relaxed while positive ions can give us headaches and make us feel lousy. This
might explain why people who live in “haunted” houses describe feeling tired and tense, as
well as having headaches.

Quantum Mechanics
1

Quantum mechanics is the study of the smallest types of matter, and it has led to some pretty
awesome inventions. However, it can get pretty weird when physicists start talking about
souls and ghosts. Take, for example, Dr. Stuart Hameroff and his physicist friend Roger
Penrose. Hameroff and Penrose theorize that human consciousness comes from microtubules
inside our brain cells, and these tubules are responsible for quantum processing (our souls
basically). Hameroff and Penrose believe when people have a near-death experience, all that
quantum information leaves the brain, yet continues to exist, which is why some people report
out-of-body experiences and lights at the end of tunnels.

As you might expect, a lot of scientists have problems with Hameroff and Penrose’s theory.
But Dr. Henry Stapp isn’t one of them. As a respected quantum physicist who worked with the
famous Heisenberg, Stapp believes that a person’s personality might be able to survive death
and exist as a “mental entity.” Stapp theorizes if these entities could return to the physical
world, then concepts like possession and channeling could really be possible. Are men like
Stapp, Hameroff, and Penrose just wishful thinkers? Or are they modern day Galileos?

Nolan Moore was once bitten on the foot by an alligator, but he survived to become an ESL
teacher. He hopes to avoid future alligator encounters and one day make it as a writer.

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felix rae
− ⚑
3 years ago
I like to be open-minded, but I just can't bring myself to believe in ghosts. Surely ghosts would be
everywhere, all of the time. Billions of them. Ghost cows, ghost cats, ghost pigs, ghost spiders (oh
sh!t), etc.

The only person I know who is 100% sure he has seen a ghost was also 100% sure that Jesus served
him in Burger King. He also smokes copious amounts of weed.
141 △ ▽ Reply

dafuq? > felix rae

3 years ago
− ⚑

Jesus in Burger King? I bet he can share a whopper between 5,000 customers, and turn water into
a large coke, with ice, lol.
89 △ ▽ Reply

BudMoore > dafuq?

3 years ago
− ⚑

Probably more likely if it was fish sandwiches though. LOL

19 △ ▽ Reply

Carson > dafuq?

2 years ago
− ⚑

That comment was un needed.

△ ▽ Reply

Traci R. > Carson

10 months ago
− ⚑

But hilarious.

△ ▽ Reply

deavb > felix rae

3 years ago
− ⚑

i never understand how ghosts can wear clothes.....ghost clothes

63 △ ▽ Reply

Ji99a > deavb

3 years ago
− ⚑

Be grateful about it. I don't think you wanna see your naked grandma.
113 △ ▽ Reply

Suraj > Ji99a

2 years ago
− ⚑

You cracked me up !! LOL

△ ▽ Reply
 AvatarThis comment was deleted. −

Juggalo > Guest

3 years ago
− ⚑

An entire ghost economy.

33 △ ▽ Reply

Ur Bro Leo > Juggalo

− ⚑
3 years ago
The ghost black market remains a problem.
16 △ ▽ Reply

AvatarThis comment was deleted. −

yolo > Guest
− ⚑
3 years ago
Yes, and many ghosts are losing their lives lately.
9△ ▽ Reply

DarthPoot > Juggalo

3 years ago
− ⚑

Funny
2△ ▽ Reply

Evilstarfish246 > deavb

3 years ago
− ⚑

the ... ghost clothes cracked me up

3△ ▽ Reply

PC > deavb
2 years ago
− ⚑

They takethe "essence" of the clothes... or the quantum structure of the clothes, as the last
point up top theorizes...

△ ▽ Reply

Urbane_Gorilla > felix rae

3 years ago
− ⚑

I agree with you. However, my parents (not pot smokers or anything. He was a teacher on the local
American base) were asleep in their bed in our rented English farm home and my mother turned to
my father in the dark and asked him "Why do you keep repeating May?"...My father responded "I'm
not saying May..i thought you were!"..There was a mad scramble for the light and the voice
continued, but gradually faded away. This home was outside of town, the bedroom was on the
second floor with 12 foot ceilings. The next day, my mother asked one of the locals who May was.
He told her "Arr.. That'd be her then, wouldn't it?". Apparently the owner of the home several
decades prior was married to a woman named "Mae". He mounted his horse, the horse reared and
he hit his head on the stone "mounting block" and died that night in that bedroom. Again, i don't
believe in ghosts, but that story is hard to reconcile with strange phenomena.
37 △ ▽ Reply
37 △ ▽ Reply

Dashka155 > Urbane_Gorilla

a year ago
− ⚑

My theory is that one of them heard the story/name but didn't pay attention so it only stayed in
their subconsciousness. But it did stay. So one of them was saying it in their sleep (the time
when your subconsciousness is working) and woke themselves and their partner up. The
reason why they kept hearing it was because they were scared already and hearing things they
were expecting to hear.
Or they are just shitting you. Or you're shitting us. Lol.
Or, not so likely, but still. One of them was talking in their sleep but that was just some random
word like may the month or something else. The owner's death? Either a coincidence (yes, scary
and weird but still happens) or the local just decided to laugh at naive Americans and came up
with a stupid ghost story.

△ ▽ Reply

urbanegorilla > Dashka155

a year ago
− ⚑

I don't believe in ghosts, ESP or UFOs for that matter. I'm certainly not shitting anyone and I
know my parents experienced something. Not sure what.

We were an American family and we'd just moved to this large old converted Rectory (local
priest's home) in Britain. The local town was small ( a village in essence) and about a 12 mile
drive away. The Rectory was out in the boonies. My mother didn't drive and spent her time in the
home. My father had about a 20 minute drive to the local US Air Force Base, where he taught.
My father's contact with the locals was non-existent. He gassed up at the base, bought
groceries there and worked there. My mother, being new to the area and not driving had no real
contact with anyone except maybe the occasional repairman. I don't know how she would have
heard the story, and the name. (BTW, the other half of the converted Rectory was vacant at the
time, but occupied later by a family from Louisiana.)

Both of my parents told this same story separately after we moved away. They didn't say
anything at the time because the place looked like something out of The Addams Family and
my sisters were young and not used to living out in the woods... We grew up in cities.... I believe
that they believe what happened. But I can't explain it. I have considered that one or the other
snored something that sounded lime "Mae" and the other picked up the cue.... Maybe the one
who spoke the words was kind of aware of the sound while still asleep ...or something. What
see more

△ ▽ Reply

Andrew Sutton > urbanegorilla

10 months ago
− ⚑

Didn't read your comment, just the first line.

You realise UFO just stands for Unidentified Flying Object, right?
So, not inherently related to aliens.

But as far as aliens do go, I think it's ridiculous to think we're the only life in the universe.

△ ▽ Reply

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