Have you ever seen something move out of the corner of your eye?
Ever heard something whispering from the walls?
Hear footsteps down the hallway when you were home alone?
What if I told your house isn’t haunted, it’s just moldy
Hey guys julia here for DNews
Fungi, like mushrooms and molds might be some of my favorite kinds of organisms on this
planet.
But these special eukaryotes can do some serious damage, I mean more than just making your
toenails disgusting.
Sometimes they can make people go a little bananas.
So you’re home alone and it’s one in the morning.
And you hear footsteps creeping down the hall.
Is it ghost?
Maybe the scientific explanation isn’t ectoplasm.
Maybe it’s just a fungus.
I mean there’s been more than a few cases throughout history where fungus caused a paranormal
calamity.
Like one of the most famous and one of my favorite stories from history.
Once upon a time in a little town called Salem, people started get scared.
Very scared.
The young girls in the village were acting a little weird.
They had seizures, visions, and so the most logical thing at the time was to start pointing
fingers…
at witches.
After all was said and done, more than 200 people were accused and 20 were put to death.
And some researchers think it was all because of a little fungus.
Specifically the species Claviceps purpurea.
Or as it’s commonly called.
Ergot.
Ergot’s a nifty little fungus that grows on rye -- a wheat-like cereal grain -- when
conditions are cold and damp.
It's so nifty it might possibly be hallucinogenic, it’s the source of lysergic acid; the thing
LSD is based off of.
Ergot contains certain alkaloids that can react with serotonin receptors in the brain
producing those hallucinogenic effects LSD is so famous for.
but besides the fun effects, ergot rot on wheat plants can get pretty nasty.
It’s two main types of symptoms are gangrenous (St.Anthony’s Fire) or convulsive (St.Vitus’
Dance).
Gangrenous is popularly called Saint Anthony’s Fire, so named because of the effects on people’s
limbs.
It makes them feel like they’re burning and causes blisters on the skin.
Eventually the limb can die and fall off at the joints.
Seriously... not a pretty sight.
Convulsive ergotism is the belle of our ball here, so Salem’s ball.
If ingested, it’s poison can cause hallucinations and convulsions, very similar symptoms to
what the girls in Salem experienced.
The idea was first put forward in the journal Science in 1976 by psychologist Linnda Caporael.
She noticed that the girl’s symptoms closely matched those of ergotism.
In another analysis, historian Dr. Mary K. Matossian came to the same conclusions.
She told the New York Times that the Salem Witch Trials “'may have been part of a largely
unrecognized American health problem.'”
Even 40 years later, it’s still the best explanation we’ve got what occurred all
those years ago.
So, knowing about ergot poisoning could explain a lot of the unexplained still happening in
some parts of the world; perhaps it's just a fungus growing in your home.
Researchers from Clarkson University are hitting the houses.
They believe there might be a link between old houses and hauntings, but not because
of the reason you might think.
Not because someone died in there.
But they’re investigating the possibility that poor air ventilation and a few decades
of mold growth might make things go bump in the night.
Well they’ll make you think they did.
Similar to how ergot effect the girls in Salem, some other toxic molds commonly found in the
house can cause similar symptoms.
Lead researcher Dr. Shane Rogers Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
told DNews that “reported mental and physical health symptoms and experiences of those exposed
to poor air quality, including molds; and experiences, including physical and mental,
reported in hauntings are strikingly similar”.
And he even mentioned that there have been other cases where toxic mold in homes drove
people mad.
mentioned a case where a mass murder claimed “god told him to do it”.
But upon investigation of his home, they found high levels of lysergic acid!
Which the investigators concluded were “contributing factors” to his horrific acts.
As for his current research, well…they ”have been varied and interesting” with more than
a few “tense moments, anxious feelings, or odd happenings that [they] could not find
easy answers to”.
Because of mold?
Well more research is needed.
So have you ever experienced something unexplained?
Maybe you knew something you couldn’t have known.
Did you ever wonder if it’s ESP?
Are you actually picking up on the paranormal?
or are you picking up on something else altogether?
Anthony and Laci have the spooky scoop in this episode
right here.