No Sacred Cows

by David G. McAfee

  Sharon Hill, a writer who specializes in issues of science and the public and runs a skeptically themed news site called Doubtful News, has also addressed the tendency for ghost hunters (and Bigfoot hunters and UFO seekers) to be “sciencey.” She says amateur research and investigation groups “rely on their equipment to record spiritual evidence.”

  “Several groups express the notion that new technology is the key to a breakthrough in paranormal research,” Hill wrote in her master’s thesis on the topic.24 “Yet at no site and in no ghost investigation reference book did I encounter a coherent, referenced explanation for the various equipment used and data gathered.”

  Hill added that ghost-hunting groups “matter-of-factly state that the equipment records environmental disturbances related to paranormal activity without considering normal variance or calibration.”

  The process of linking unsubstantiated supernatural forces to known natural ones is also utilized by those who present photographs of orbs as evidence of ghosts. In reality, these small circular visual effects found in flash photography are easily explained by light reflecting off of dust, pollen, water droplets, and more, and are very well understood by professional photographers. Sharona Belles of Sharona Belles Photography in Auburn, California, says photographers must typically go out of their way to avoid getting this effect.

  “Most photographers use a hood on their lenses to avoid lighting issues,” Belles told me in an interview. “Sunspots and orbs are just reflections of light—often found because of poorly metered shots.”

  Similarly, some believers present pictures of unexpected translucent apparitions as evidence of the existence of ghosts. Those who think these kinds of photos make a strong case, however, have likely never researched multiple exposure, which is common in photography and cinematography, can create ghostly images by accident, and is frequently used in photographic hoaxes. Recordings and pictures that purportedly show “ghosts,” including orbs and other seemingly mysterious figures, should not be treated as spirits until that is proven to be the case. They are at best unexplained phenomena, and at worst they’re quirks in the photography process, shadows, or the result of pareidolia.

  Let’s entertain for a moment the idea that ghost believers have been right all along and EMF readings, EVPs, orbs, and double-exposed photos really do provide evidence of spirits. With thousands of ghost hunters working so hard with their audio recorders, EMF detectors, and flash cameras around the world, you’d think they’d have hard evidence capable of surviving peer review and achieving scientific viability by now. Unfortunately, that scientific evidence hasn’t yet been presented.

  PARAPSYCHOLOGY

  There’s more to ghost hunting than merely altering others’ perceptions and presenting demonstrably false evidence. Many spirit chasers, as well as other people who spend their time trying to convince people of the existence of paranormal forces and entities, might also identify as “parapsychologists,” perhaps in an attempt to give the false impression that their methods have scientific basis. But parapsychology, which deals with telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance, psychokinesis, and more,25 is more accurately described as a pseudoscience. It’s true that this branch of investigation has existed for quite a while, but those who study parapsychology have continued to do so despite not having demonstrated conclusive evidence of any supernatural claims after more than a century of research. This isn’t unique to ghost hunters and psychics, either. There are actually a number of false sciences that exist for the sole purpose of studying that which doesn’t exist, including cryptozoology, homeopathy, astrology, creation science, magnetic therapy, Dianetics, pseudoarcheology, numerology, ufology, and flood geology.

  James Randi has called parapsychology “a farce and a delusion,”26 but some schools, such as the University of Edinburgh, take parapsychology more seriously than others. The Koestler Parapsychology Unit (KPU), which was founded in 1985 and is housed in the psychology department at the Scotland-based university, focuses on researching the possible existence of psychic ability, belief in the paranormal, and even “pseudo-psychic deception and self-deception.”27 The KPU has launched investigations into the ganzfeld experiment, which proponents claim can test people for ESP,28 and defines parapsychology as “the scientific study of the capacity attributed to some individuals to interact with their environment by means other than the recognised sensorimotor channels.”

  Because ghost myths are so pervasive in so many societies and social circles, religious and nonreligious alike, I’ve compiled a list of common questions and suggestions that may help explain a number of purported ghostly encounters naturalistically. If you think you see a ghost, and you have successfully ruled out pareidolia, apophenia, infrasound, phosphenes, and optical illusions, ask yourself the following:

  1. Were you in bed? Were you going to sleep, sleeping, or just waking up? Have you ever had a nightmare that seemed incredibly real? Did you smell, see, or feel things only to wake up and realize you’re in bed and couldn’t have experienced them? Or were you fully aware you were resting one second, only to have a presence holding you down or attacking you the next? Isolated sleep paralysis (ISP) might be your answer.29 ISP is exactly what it sounds like—a form of sleep paralysis that isn’t associated with another sleep disorder. Anyone, including those of us with no real medical issues, can experience ISP or recurrent ISP, during which the body and parts of the brain are in the rapid eye movement (REM) stage of sleep while we sense we are awake and perceive a number of (often terrifying) experiences. The sensations of ghostly presences or sightings that occur while in an episode of ISP are caused by hypnogogic and hypnopompic hallucinations.30 Alexandre Jacques François Brière de Boismont compiled some of the first studies and theories on this topic when he published his book, which was translated into English as On Hallucinations: Or, the Rational History of Apparitions, Dreams, Ecstasy, Magnetism, and Somnambulism.31 One-off instances of ISP are nothing to see your doctor about, and it’s relatively harmless, disregarding the fear aspect. To avoid episodes of ISP,32 you could try not sleeping on your back—as the supine position is the most common for ISP—reducing your stress levels, or creating and sticking to a more stable sleep routine.

  2. Did the ghost have characteristics of a live human? What were its intentions? If you saw a human ghost, you should think about why they are the most commonly spotted spirits. Humans are life forms just like any other animal, so why isn’t the world overrun by trillions of reports of goldfish ghosts and cockroach ghosts and dinosaur ghosts? When a ghost believer has mysterious itches when no bugs are present, why doesn’t he or she assume it is deceased insects’ spirits? Here are some more questions that will help you see how unreasonable the ghosts-as-deceased-human-spirits conclusion is, and perhaps get you closer to the reality:

  If the specter you saw was wearing clothing, how were the dead person’s material articles able to transcend into ghostly form? Can you explain the process by which fabric becomes a spirit? If you believe you saw a ghost and it spoke to you, how is that possible without the vocal cords and other biological components necessary for creating speech? If you think the ghost is someone you know, why would they be able to break through the so-called spiritual realm while 105+ billion other people who have died cannot? And for what purpose? Why wouldn’t the specter have provided some objectively valuable information?

  3. Was your experience based on something small, such as a cabinet door opening and closing by itself or a coffee mug moving a few inches? Could something be wrong with your home? Did you hear a strange voice or a nondescript bump in the night? Do you experience cold spots or odd feelings of a presence in your home? It’s a ghost, right? Probably not. It’s more likely your house simply needs some cleaning and maintenance. Think of the typical “haunted house.” Usually the building is hundreds of years old and has a rich history of reportedly horrifying deaths that have occurred there, but it also has a number of other “spooky” characteristics. It’s probably draf
ty, moldy, run-down, and dark, for instance. Would fixing the place up get rid of the ghosts? Maybe. Dark, damp buildings without updated repairs and fixtures are breeding grounds for ghosts or, more accurately, the things we attribute to ghosts. We already learned about how some naturally found substances like rye ergot fungus have been known to cause psychosis in humans, and that a study by a team at Clarkson University is looking into the link between reportedly haunted buildings and toxic molds, but other indoor air quality factors may also be to blame for intense paranormal experiences. Carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, along with other gas leaks, are possible culprits, and other volatile substances like fuel or paint can lead to psychosis, as well.33

  The basic materials in your home can also cause those noises and movements that seem too scary to be anything other than your dead grandma trying to establish contact as you are trying to watch TV in peace. Something as simple as a change in weather can cause the components of your home to expand or contract, which is one reason those pesky doors might creak, click, pop open, or swing shut.34 And speaking of changing weather, cold spots and drafts are bound to happen in every building. Your house is not perfect, and will likely not heat thoroughly 100 percent of the time, so don’t be alarmed when one area is colder than another. It doesn’t mean there is a spirit present. Further, why would ghosts be able to interact with us, but only in such small, untestable ways? If a ghost can move a cup, it can interfere in the world and therefore it can be proven—or, more likely, debunked.

  You may also want to ask yourself why these minor occurrences that can easily be explained naturally are so often attributed to ghosts. Is a soul hovering in limbo really the best explanation for these household happenings? Is it because people want to believe?

  4. Did someone you love die? Could you have experienced a grief-induced hallucination? When considering visions resulting from grief, it’s important to remember that it doesn’t matter how or when a loved one passes away; what matters is that that person is no longer there, because that fact alone can cause grief-induced psychosis. Post-bereavement hallucinations come in many forms—and a huge number of people have reported seeing, feeling, sensing, or even talking to their dead friends and family members postmortem. After a loved one dies, the deep desire to have them in our lives again can cause some very strange, and sometimes comforting, symptoms. People might see or talk with the person again, 35 or even physically feel them, like a mother who feels the weight of her deceased baby in her arms or someone who notices pressure that feels like a hand where the loved one usually touched them. Losing a loved one isn’t the only thing that can cause this type of experience; losing a part of yourself can cause similar types of post-bereavement hallucinations. Amputees, for instance, often report that they can still feel their missing body parts, a phenomenon called “sensory ghost” or phantom limb syndrome.36 Even people who have lost their eye(s) have reported this post-loss sensation of sight,37 including seeing complex visual hallucinations normally associated with ghosts and other apparitions (Charles Bonnet Syndrome).38 Anyone experiencing these symptoms should definitely seek some sort of psychiatric therapy. Grief over a lost love, traumatic experience, or even a missing piece of yourself isn’t something you have to suffer through alone.

  5. Are you sure you’re perfectly healthy? Do we really know what a ghost is? The definition and description change with each new person you ask. These apparitions aren’t always Victorian women with long flowing white dresses; they can be orb-like, translucent, with no human form, or they can be a mere presence sensed by the individual experiencing them. A number of neurological disorders, including migraines39 and epilepsy,40 can cause people to see “ghosts” in the form of auras—perceptual disturbances like smells, sounds, or even lights radiating from an object or person. If your vision wasn’t an aura, and was much more specific, you may want to look into more serious ailments. Parkinson’s disease and Dementia with Lewy bodies, for example, are also known to cause hallucinations in sufferers, but instead of auras, some patients see vivid, well-formed people and animals.41 Regardless of the details of your specific experience(s), there could be a medical explanation, so if you really believe in your ghost, see a doctor so they can rule out that possibility.

  6. Could there be a psychological component to what you experienced? If the answer isn’t in your body, it may be in your mind. Reported ghost sightings occur all over the world, but so do mental disorders that can distort reality and cause all kinds of struggles connected to imagined forces with which individuals think they are coming into contact. These disorders of the mind are particularly difficult to diagnose, assuming those suffering are able to seek help at all, and are made even harder to treat when there are issues with cultural attitudes and stigmas added into the equation.

  Schizophrenia, for example, is a disorder that can cause sufferers to be unable to make sense of sensory stimuli. This can result in antisocial behavior, disorientation, inability to grasp realty, and hallucinations. Some symptoms can be very eerie, such as the feeling of presence, which is just what it sounds like. Another psychological issue that can be a catalyst of ghostly experiences is posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which some people develop after witnessing or experiencing traumatic events. PTSD can cause difficulty thinking, functioning, and adjusting to life again after the incident, but sufferers might also have a number of additional symptoms, including hallucinations and flashbacks,42 that are often misinterpreted as ghost sightings. Although there may be an underserved social stigma against those who seek psychological help, the only way to remove that is for more and more people who experience symptoms (perhaps including ghost sightings) to get evaluated.

  7. How do you know it was a ghost that you saw? Could your preconceived notions play a role? Since ghosts have never been proven to exist, who’s to say that your experience wasn’t caused by a demon or angel or alien or time traveler or deity or anything else, for that matter? Surely these entities could produce similar effects, so why does it have to be a ghost?43 The fact is that what we believe shapes what we experience in a number of ways, and sometimes a strong belief is all that’s needed for a person to attribute their experiences to a particular supernatural force. This is the same reason a UFO hunter is more likely to perceive alien visitors than someone else who might look for a more rational explanation, and why people who believe in miracles see them most. Simply believing in the afterlife and a version of a soul increases the likelihood that you’ll interpret occurrences within that framework, so it’s important to consider that possibility in ghost sightings. Did you actually see a ghost, or did you simply want or expect to see a ghost?

  8. Can you prove that there’s anything paranormal or supernatural occurring? Perhaps the most important question you should ask yourself is, “Can I prove it?” Because until there’s hard evidence for a “ghost,” the idea will remain alongside gods, werewolves, and other supernatural myths in the eyes of science and scientific skeptics alike.

  “One need not be a chamber to be haunted, one need not to be a house. The brain has corridors surpassing material place.”

  —Emily Dickinson

  NOTES

  1. Benjamin Radford, “Are Ghosts Real? Science Says No-o-o-o,” LiveScience, October 21, 2014, www.livescience.com/26697-are-ghosts-real.html.

  2. Jonathan Gottschall, “The Science Of Storytelling: How Narrative Cuts Through Distraction Like Nothing Else,” Fast Company, October 16, 2013, www.fastcocreate.com/3020044/the-science-of-storytelling-how-narrative-cuts-through-distraction.

  3. Perhaps this should have been my first clue that what I was seeing was a product of my own mind and expectations.

  4. Brian A. Sharpless and Jacques P. Barber, “Lifetime Prevalence Rates of Sleep Paralysis: A Systematic Review,” Sleep Medicine Reviews 15, no. 5 (2011): 311–315.

  5. Christopher C. French and Anna Stone, Anomalistic Psychology: Exploring Paranormal Belief and Experience (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013).

&
nbsp; 6. Randolph W. Evans and Christopher French, “Ask the Brains: What Is Sleep Paralysis?” Scientific American, December 1, 2008, www.scientificamerican.com/article/ask-the-brains-sleep-paralysis/.

  7. Baland Jalal, “How to Make the Ghosts in My Bedroom Disappear? Focused-Attention Meditation Combined with Muscle Relaxation (MR Therapy)—A Direct Treatment Intervention for Sleep Paralysis,” Frontiers in Psychology, January 29, 2016, journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00028/full.

  8. “Sleep Paralysis—Treatment,” National Health Service UK, March 20, 2016, www.nhs.uk/conditions/sleep-paralysis/pages/treatment.aspx.

  9. A. Grimby, “Bereavement among Elderly People: Grief Reactions, Post-bereavement Hallucinations and Quality of Life,” Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 87, no. 1 (January 1993): 72–80.

  10. Vaughan Bell, “Ghost Stories: Visits from the Deceased,” Scientific American, December 2, 2008, www.scientificamerican.com/article/ghost-stories-visits-from-the-deceased/.

  11. The case is Jeffrey M. Stambovsky v. Helen V. Ackley et al., case number 169 A.D.2d 254, in the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department.

  12. “Clarkson University Undergrads Research Link Between Hauntings & Indoor Air Quality,” Clarkson University, March 31, 2015, www.clarkson.edu/news/2015/news-release_2015-03-31-1.html.

  13. Infrasonic concert, Purcell Room, London, 31 May 2003, sponsored by the sciart Consortium with additional support by the National Physical Laboratory (NPL).

  14. Patricia Reaney, “The Fear of ‘Haunted’ Houses Explained,” ABC, September 8, 2003, www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2003/09/08/941414.htm.

  15. C. C. French, U. Hague, R. Bunton-Stasyshyn, R. Davis, “The ‘Haunt’ Project: An Attempt to Build a “Haunted” Room by Manipulating Complex Electromagnetic Fields and Infrasound,” Cortex 45, no. 5 (2009), 619–629.