Ghosts From Our Past: Both Literally and Figuratively: The Study of the Paranormal

by Erin Gilbert

  The public, of course, ate it all up.

  While the previous generation of ghost hunters had been stigmatized by their chosen profession, Price became something more than a mere academic castoff: He became a celebrity. For a time, at least, his antics temporarily rekindled the public’s flagging interest in spooks and specters.

  Despite his lack of academic training, Price had a keenly scientific mind. He carried a notebook with him on investigations and stakeouts so that he could record his observations in real time, instead of relying on his memory. Price used battery-powered flashlights, which were invented around the turn of the century. He also used a thermograph to note changes in temperature. He even carried a portable camera with infrared film.

  In 1925, Price founded the National Laboratory of Psychical Research, which later became the University of London Council for Psychical Investigation. He reformed the defunct Ghost Club and, for good measure, revolutionized it by letting women in for the first time in 1938. As reported by Rosemary Guiley in The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits, Price described his vision for the all-new Ghost Club as a “body of extremely skeptical men and women who get together every few weeks to hear the latest news of the psychic world and to discuss every facet of the paranormal” (emphasis ours).

  Price’s assistant, Kathleen M. Goldney, became one of the Society for Psychical Research’s top paranormal investigators and later vice president of the organization. Goldney is reputed to have had a well-tuned b.s. detector. “She possesses a steam-roller personality, capable of crushing any witness,” said Nandor Fodor, author of An Encyclopaedia of Psychic Science.

  In fact, it’s possible she was a little too harsh on parapercipients. “An examinee would have to have a tremendous strength of mind to emerge from three or four hours of cross-examination by her without being brainwashed,” Fodor wrote in the journal Tomorrow. “She is eminently capable of convincing almost any witness that he did not see what he saw.”

  Goldney, rumored to have been romantically involved with her mentor at one time, later coauthored a scathing indictment of his investigatory techniques for the SPR that left Price’s reputation in tatters. You know what they say about a ghost hunter scorned.

  J. B. Rhine (1895–1980) and Louisa Rhine (1890–1983)

  A push to study the paranormal on college campuses happened in the early part of the present century, spearheaded in part by Price. One of the few successful attempts to establish a paranormal studies department occurred at Duke University, where Dr. J. B. Rhine founded the highly influential Parapsychology Laboratory in 1930. His wife, Dr. Louisa Rhine, later joined him at Duke.

  Botanists by trade, the Rhines became obsessed with the paranormal after attending an Arthur Conan Doyle lecture on spirit communication. J.B. put his academic training to use studying the paranormal, although he never called it by that name. He positioned paranormal studies as an experimental branch of psychology. The term he coined—parapsychology—is still in use today, even though it’s clear the paranormal has more in common with physics than psychology.

  The bulk of the Rhines’ work at the Parapsychology Laboratory focused not on ghosts, but on forms of extrasensory perception such as clairvoyance and telekinesis. By proving such phenomena under controlled conditions in a lab, J.B. believed he could pave the way toward research of spirits. After all, if the human mind could be shown to have dominion outside the known bounds of space and time, then it opened the door for the cognizant human spirit to transcend the physical universe—and with it, death.

  The lab’s most famous trials seemed to confirm its director’s suspicions that mind reading and other psychical phenomena were real. In several published studies, the Rhines and their colleagues demonstrated that certain highly attuned individuals could guess what was on hidden cards in higher percentages than mere chance could explain.

  There was a brief moment in time when it looked like the Rhines’ work was paying off in terms of mainstream acceptance. The American Association for the Advancement of Science recognized parapsychology as an official branch of psychology in 1969. In 1973, Psychology Today suggested that parapsychology was “an idea whose time has come.” U.S. News & World Report echoed the call, stating, “Slowly but steadily, parapsychology is edging toward scientific respectability after years of lurking on the fringes.”

  Unfortunately, just as it looked like things were on the upswing, a backlash occurred within the scientific establishment. Parapsychology fell victim to its own success. The famous Duke University trials came under intense scrutiny. While outright fraud was not found, lapses in methodology and missing records of vital data all but consigned the lab to the scrap heap of history, at least according to critics. Nobody outside of the Parapsychology Laboratory has ever been able to replicate any of the most extraordinary trial results.

  The Ongoing Quest

  While many historical ghost-hunting organizations are still around, most paranormal investigators work on their own or within smaller, regional groups, far outside of academia. Those within the scientific community who do come out as believers are branded as “sheep” by colleagues. “My colleagues make sheep noises at me in the halls,” University of Northeastern California professor of biology Jason Haley said of his own experience. “Bah. Bah. Baaaaaaaaaaaaaah.”

  However, there is hope. Many advances in scientific fields have come out of left field. Did Einstein announce his general theory of relativity in some boring scientific journal? Okay, he did, but that’s beside the point. What we’re trying to say is that the paranormal will continue to be relegated to second-class status in the scientific community for the foreseeable future. You think that’s going to stop us from publishing our work?

  If you’re reading these words, the answer should be obvious. (If it’s not, we’re a little worried about you.)

  Let us say finally that we’re eternally grateful for those trailblazers who have come before us, even though William James’s white crow remains at large. That’s to be expected. “When we explore uncharted territory to the limits of knowledge, we have little guidance; so we are forced to explore in many directions,” Victor J. Stenger writes in Physics and Psychics. “Most turn out to be blind alleys. Failure is more common than success.”

  Although it’s true that no ghost hunter has ever “caught” a ghost, their blind alleys and failures have contributed greatly to our current understanding of the nature of spectral entities, which we will discuss in the next chapter.

  Chapter 6

  A Scientific Exploration

  Introducing Spectral Field Theory

  The traditional view of the paranormal is rooted in the belief that there are phenomena beyond our senses, phenomena that the laws of nature cannot account for. According to this view, there are two separate worlds: the physical world, which consists of perceptible matter, and the metaphysical world, which consists of paranormal phenomena that break natural laws.

  Take ghosts, for instance. They are said to appear out of thin air, apparently violating the Law of Conservation of Mass. They are known to possess both tangible and intangible properties, at times physically interacting with our world and at other times passing through walls. Since scientists can’t account for the behavior of such entities using natural laws, they’ve all but dismissed the paranormal as a physical impossibility.

  You know what else breaks the laws of the natural world? Quantum mechanics. Many of the laws governing the smallest particles run contrary to the laws governing the macroworld. Scientists have even gone so far as to label the behavior of particles “spooky.” Yet quantum theory is accepted as mainstream physics, while the similarly spooky world of natural law–breaking paranormal phenomena is laughed off as a joke by conventionalists.

  The time has come to upend the existing paradigm. We believe the metaphysical can finally be explained—using (you guessed it) quantum mechanics. If we were associate professors at some stuffy university, we�
��d probably be fired for what we’re about to suggest. Luckily for you, neither of us has a job in academia currently! Or any job. Or much of a life beyond our passion for proving the paranormal.

  Spectral Field Theory

  The paranormal investigators we introduced you to in the previous chapter spent a lot of time in the field, searching for ghosts. While physical evidence will one day confirm the existence of the paranormal, until then we must rely on the theoretical.

  If you’ve never heard of Spectral Field Theory, don’t worry—it’s so new it’s still got that new theory smell. It’s our own theory. You’re hearing about it here first because no journal has the ovaries to print it. Nature is the lone place that returned our query letter, and that was only because there was postage due.

  Thanks to the physicists who constructed quantum field theory, we know the elementary particles at the root of the Standard Model of physics: quarks, leptons, gluons, photons, Z bosons, W bosons, and Higgs. However, the Standard Model, which governs the fundamental laws of nature, cannot account for the paranormal.

  That’s where Spectral Field Theory comes in. Our observations, when coupled with those of generations of paranormal researchers and theoretical physicists, leave us no choice but to postulate the existence of a new gauge field, hereafter known as the “spectral ether.”

  Localized excitation of this ether by unknown, interdimensional entities in the form of spectral particles results in a spectral foam (or “ectoplasm”). What is commonly referred to as a manifestation can be understood as physical phenomena in which significant coupling exists between spectral and Standard Model particles. Therefore, the—

  Actually, strike that. It’s a lot easier to explain if we just write out the equation.

  Spectral Field Dynamics, as Predicted by the Yates-Gilbert Equation

  The Yates-Gilbert Equation can be written in Lagrangian terms as:

  Running this through the Euler-Lagrange limiting equation, we get:

  Now, consider a space-time n-dimensional target manifold, with local coordinates as follows:

  This is the spectral gauge field, which can be expanded as:

  where f is a partial derivative of F, when PKE = PKE(x). The covariance of the Lagrangian can be modified by the coupling agent Y, where Y = any Standard Model particle. Ectoplasm is generated when the following variables are met:

  As you can see, the math is pretty much self-explanatory. Now let’s take a closer look at the components of Spectral Field Theory, beginning with psychokinetic energy.

  Psychokinetic Energy

  If the human spirit survives death, it is unlikely to be measurable as a drop in weight. (Sorry, Dr. MacDougall.) If the soul had any mass to it at all, we would surely have incontrovertible scientific proof of it by this point. Therefore, if some remnant of the human spirit exists following death, it must be composed of spectral particles without material substance. We have no idea how many different types of elementary spectral particles there are, or how they interact. While we’re operating under the assumption of basic Lagrangian density here, there may be other subatomic dynamics at work. You understand what we’re saying, though.

  Spectral particles—which we collectively call “psychokinetic energy,” or PKE for short—have no physical substance, at least not as we conceive of it in the three-dimensional natural world. Much like dark matter and dark energy, this spirit energy is currently undetectable using scientific equipment. It exists only in theory. With recent advances in hadron colliders, we may not be far off from detecting such particles, but we’re not there yet.

  Despite the spectral field dynamics predicted by the Yates-Gilbert Equation, we’re still left with several questions. If we had the means to measure it—a PKE meter, if you will—would we detect PKE inside living bodies? If so, why doesn’t it interact with Standard Model particles until it’s left the body? Does it have something to do with the “contamination” Plato spoke about? And how can Tomorrow’s Teriyaki legally sell “crabmeat rangoons” without even a trace of crab, imitation or otherwise? And just what the hell is “imitation crab,” exactly? Don’t tell us there are fish out there pretending to be crabs, just to confuse fishermen. Alas, such pressing questions must remain unanswered for now.

  The Spectral Ether: Welcome to the Other Side

  Very few people have clinically died and been revived. Those who have, however, frequently claim to have had near-death experiences (NDEs). After being resuscitated, near-death experients report having “left” their bodies. As evidence, some experients undergoing operations have described details of hospital rooms—including specialized tools and specific personnel they should have no knowledge of—in impressive detail. While NDEs vary wildly, most experients agree on one point: They remember floating down a dark tunnel toward a bright light. We posit that this light is a higher dimension.

  Everyone is familiar with the first three dimensions—length, height, and depth. If you’re not, then you might want to just, uh, look at the world around you? According to Einstein’s special theory of relativity, which has prevailed over physics for nearly one hundred years, there’s also a fourth dimension: time. Superstring theory posits at least six additional dimensions, all imperceptible to current scientific methods of measurement. Possibly ten. You might even go one better, all the way to eleven. In fact, theoretical physicists have used superstring theory to hypothesize an infinite number of universes and timelines—the “multiverse” theory. When we talk about spirits, however, we’re only talking about one of these universes: the spectral ether.

  This alternate dimension of mysterious spectral particles goes by many names: the other side, the spirit world, the afterlife, the unseen world, the netherworld, Elysium, the heavens. While some have claimed to have visited it, nobody really knows for certain what it holds. That’s because it lies beyond our senses on the other side of an interdimensional barrier. This invisible thin wall is like a pane of glass that separates our world from the next (Figure 6.1).

  Figure 6.1.

  The interdimensional barrier

  Abby, created in MS Paint

  The Durable but Not Impenetrable Barrier

  Much like light is unable to escape the gravitational field of a black hole, spirits of the dead are unable to avoid being drawn through the barrier into the spectral ether. (We’re talking about the dead now, not the near-dead.) For the majority of spirits, this journey is one-way. Once they’ve crossed over, that’s it.

  However, sometimes they come back.

  The return trip isn’t easy—it’s damn near impossible. The true ghost sighting is rare for this very reason. But “near impossible” isn’t the same as “impossible.” No matter how durable the barrier between dimensions is, it is not impenetrable. Spirits of the deceased (as well as the occasional interdimensional entity) make the trip far more often than we’d like.

  Think of the barrier as a diaphragm. As birth control, diaphragms are mostly effective. They block entry to the uterus, acting as barriers to conception. However, even when used properly, every year six out of a hundred women will get pregnant while using diaphragms—decent odds, if you’re in the lucky 94 percent. But NOT COOL if you’re one of the other gals. The pill is more reliable, when taken correctly—up to 99.9 percent effective.

  Too bad there isn’t a pill for our universe! We have to rely on the barrier betwixt worlds. The good news is that it’s more effective than the birth control pill. Based on the number of ghost sightings out of the total number of deceased on this planet throughout history, we calculate the barrier is 99.99996 percent effective.

  That’s not bad—in fact, it’s rather fantastic, from a statistical standpoint. Unfortunately, that equates to tens of thousands of “accidents” over the years.

  Structural Fluctuations in the Barrier

  The spectral ether can best be imagined as a prison. Suppose a suspect is arrested and convicted for murdering his wife a
nd her lover. (Let’s pretend he didn’t do it.) The judge sentences him to life behind bars, at which point he is transported straight to the prison grounds. After nineteen long years, however, the prisoner manages to escape via a tunnel in his cell hidden behind a poster of Raquel Welch. Eventually, the prisoner is recaptured and returned to Shawshank State Prison. Unless we’re talking about Andy Dufresne, in which case he’s never caught because he’s chilling on a beach in Mexico with MORGAN MF-ING FREEMAN, BABY!!!!!

  Sorry. We just watched Shawshank Redemption last night.

  Like the walls of Andy’s cell, the barrier is weaker in some spots than in others. Paranormal experts have long floated the theory that ghosts do not appear at wholly random spots around the globe. If you look at maps of ghost sightings, they frequently match up with ancient sacred sites and reported paranormal happenings from times past. These “paranormal hot spots” are thought to be weakened points between the dimensions. They can be connected around the globe using a loose network of straight lines called “ley lines.” They are known by different names around the world, such as “spirit lines” (Peru) and “dragon lines” (China).

  Figure 6.2.

  Elis Ley Line Map

  Using a comprehensive database of paranormal phenomena, Stanford physicist and professor Marcus Elis created a modern-day map of ley lines in the 1980s (Figure 6.2). According to Elis’s calculations, cities such as New York and London have rich histories of the paranormal for a reason: multiple ley lines converge within their boundaries. This is known as the Elis Vortex Theory. Such ley-line vortices act as magnets for the paranormal.