We of course know that with life, comes death. Until such time as we develop immortality,
it’s arguably the biggest side-effect of the human condition. And so, while we try to forget
about it, we’re still enthralled by theories on the afterlife. And any mention of ghosts is
one way of exploring that. But could there be a scientific drive fuelling paranormal experiences
and claims of “proof of life” beyond the veil? This is Unveiled, and today we’re answering
the extraordinary question; did scientists already discover the cause of ghost sightings?
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It’s difficult to chart the history of ghosts, and some people have built entire careers on
studying this long, strange, and complex field. References to shades and specters
date all the way back to the beginnings of recorded history, Ancient Mesopotamia and
likely even further… while the more modern idea of “ghosts” perhaps most emerged in the Victorian
era. People have often both feared and welcomed the return of the dead, in one way or another.
Naturally, though, opinion is divided. And, when claims of a ghost sighting or supernatural
encounter are made, there are a few things that might be going on. First, and perhaps
most obviously, whoever’s making the claim could be lying. Just as there’s a rich history of ghosts
in world folklore, there’s also a rich history of people using belief in ghosts for their own
ulterior motives. Certain psychics and spirit mediums have become infamous and widely regarded
as scam artists, using a variety of techniques to get information about their customers before
passing themselves off as the real deal. In fact, supernatural cons designed to part trusting
members of the public with their money were (and are) so prevalent that many organizations have
been set up over the years to investigate them. One of the most famous is the London-based “Ghost
Club”, founded in 1862, which still exists today, and counted Charles Dickens and Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle among its members. Dickens, in particular, was a prolific debunker of hauntings, séances,
and psychics. Then there was the famous case of “spirit photographer”, William H. Mumler,
in the United States, who in 1869 was exposed in a very public trial for using
camera trickery to convince people that he’d captured their deceased loved ones on film.
But, despite all that, it can’t be that every single person who says they’ve seen a ghost
is lying or trying to get rich quick. Many are absolutely and truthfully convinced that they
have had an experience with a spirit, with no shady psychics to blame. But, in these cases,
there may yet be a scientific explanation. A 1998 paper published in Journal of the Society
for Psychical Research blamed a very ordinary, but only recently discovered, phenomenon for
ghost sightings: infrasound. Written by information technology lecturer Vic Tandy
and psychology professor Dr Tony Lawrence, the paper was based on a spooky encounter that Tandy
himself had experienced in a “haunted” lab in the UK. During the experience, Tandy had felt anxious,
he’d noticed that his surroundings were appearing to vibrate, and he’d thought he saw a gray blob.
But, afterwards, he discovered that a nearby fan was emitting infrasound, and so blamed his
experiences on this. Upon turning the fan off, the spooky happenings reportedly also stopped.
So, what exactly is “infrasound”? Simply enough, it’s just sound that is below the
range of human hearing. Human hearing begins at 20 Hertz and extends all the way up to around
20,000 Hertz on average. Hertz is a measurement of how many vibrations there are in a soundwave,
in terms of “cycles per second”, AKA “frequency”. So, a sound at 20,000 Hertz is
20,000 cycles of vibration in a second, which we perceive as high-pitched. Sounds exist above and
below the range of human hearing, with perhaps the most famous example to show this being a dog
whistle. Dog hearing has an upper limit of around 45,000 Hertz, meaning they hear more than twice
as well as a human does. Dogs can hear and respond to these whistles, while to humans they’re totally
silent. But, suffice to say, dog whistles are not also evidence of the paranormal. And ultimately,
infrasound is the exact same, it’s just at a very low instead of very high frequency.
Bizarrely, the existence of sound waves between zero and 20 Hertz wasn’t even discovered until
the First World War, when technology was developed that used infrasound to find
artillery. Infrasound didn’t suddenly come into existence with the advent of modern technology,
however. Importantly for today’s video, it’s also produced naturally all over the world in
all kinds of ways. It IS generated by technology in some cases, by wind turbines for instance,
but it’s also made by whales communicating with each other, elephants communicating,
severe weather events, strong atmospheric events, and natural
disasters like earthquakes and avalanches. Essentially, infrasound is all around us.
Until recently, we had no way to detect it. Its effects on the human body are still very real
though, even if you can’t hear infrasound in the usual way with your ears. Vic Tandy’s research,
for example, showed that feelings of unease, the vibration of objects, and even apparitions,
could be explained away by infrasound. He then believed that his visual hallucination - the
vibrating surroundings - had been caused by infrasound resonating his eyeballs. Similar
effects might be felt after exposure to “ultrasound”, too - the sound above the
range of human hearing - as all kinds of sound waves that we can’t actually hear
can still have an impact on us. Pervasive sound can lead to other things, as well,
like trouble sleeping. And then, in the context of ghost sightings, perhaps if you’re sleep
deprived you may be more likely to see things that aren’t really there. All thanks to those
vibrations passing through your body even when your ears and brains can’t detect them as sounds.
Following his initial study, Tandy went on to visit many other notorious,
haunted places in the UK, equipped with technology to detect infrasonic sound
waves. And he did find infrasound all over. It’s not likely that every single
ghost sighting ever can be explained away by this, but with clearly documented effects,
there’s a good chance that infrasound has something to do with many of them. There
are still other scientific explanations for ghost sightings, like electromagnetic fields,
which have also been found to make people feel… uncomfortable. Some ghost hunters specifically
use machines to take EMF readings… and there are claims that it’s the ghosts themselves that are
causing any EMF anomalies. But, in a direct sense, it might be said that it’s always the
electromagnetism (ghosts or no ghosts) that can literally make your hair stand on end.
There have been cases of alleged hauntings perhaps being caused by the presence of carbon monoxide
gas, too, which can trigger symptoms such as nausea and hallucinations. Carbon monoxide is
genuinely very dangerous, though, so if you are having regular visitations from the deceased at
your home… then you might want to get yourself a carbon monoxide detector, just in case. And
finally, it’s thought by some that ghost sightings might also be hallucinations brought on by sleep
paralysis, in which you’re awake, but your brain and body are confused and act as if you’re
still dreaming. This can cause sufferers to be terrified, frozen to the spot, and at the mercy of
their own runaway imagination – which, remember, knows EXACTLY what you’re most scared of.
Of course, ghost sightings could also be caused by something we still don’t completely understand:
our own brains and behaviors. Significant research has been done into Ouija boards since
their popularization at the turn of the twentieth century, with this in mind. And it turns out that
the planchette or glass moving around the table isn’t always because someone is consciously
playing a trick. Participants also move them around subconsciously. Humans can do, see,
and believe all sorts of things simply because they expect to or want to… and, if you’re already
trying to commune with the dead via a Ouija board, maybe you just want to believe in its legitimacy.
While the idea’s certainly still up for debate, there are arguments that it can be applied to
ghosts in general. We perhaps want to believe that there are ghosts out there because it makes death
a little less mysterious, and can provide some comfort to the bereaved. Failing that,
and if you’ve ever had a ghostly encounter or believe you’re being haunted, then it may be worth
investing in a simple infrasound detector… to see if there really is a scientific explanation.
What do you think? Is there anything we missed? Let us know in the comments, check out these other
clips from Unveiled, and make sure you subscribe and ring the bell for our latest content.