By Nathan Lockley 14/7/21
Ghost hunting or more often recently referred to as paranormal investigating, has been an activity enjoyed by curious minds for a long time now. Made popular by shows such as Most Haunted and Ghost Hunters in the early 2000s, its appeal amongst the spookily inclined has only grown in recent years. With platforms like Youtube and Tiktok full of ghost hunters and creepy videos, usually shot in the added spooky green colour of night vision, all trying to pull viewers in with claims of proof of the paranormal it is hard to find fact from click bait fiction.
Ghost hunting itself though is not a new concept. Paranormal research dates back to the 18th century, with organisations such as the Society for Psychical Research investigating spiritual matters. There have also been several famous investigators over the years such as British parapsychologist Harry Price, Ed and Lorraine Warren (of Hollywood film ‘The Conjuring’ and ‘Annabelle’ fame. One of the most used techniques in trying to communicate with spirits is the “knock once for yes, twice for no” concept, where the investigator asks the spirits present to make a knocking or banging noise as an answer to a question. This notion was first used by the Fox sisters in the 1840’s. They believed their home was haunted due to hearing strange sounds and decided to try and communicate with whatever was there. During the night of March 31 1948, Kate Fox (aged 11 at the time) challenged the invisible noisemaker, presumed to be a “spirit”, to repeat the snaps of her fingers. “It” did. “It” was asked to rap out the ages of the girls. “It” did. The neighbours were called in. Over the course of the next few days a code was developed where raps could signify yes or no in response to a question or be used to indicate a letter of the alphabet. The girls claims were later investigated and the conclusion was that the girls were making the sounds themselves by cracking joints or similar bodily sounds.
The scientific community has always been sceptical of the whole subject. Reasons for this range from lack of scientific method in investigations to the use of equipment to capture ‘evidence’. This equipment includes
- EMF (electro magnetic field) detectors – It is believed that ghosts use electro magnetism to manifest
- Thermometers – to test for sudden hot or cold spots
- Voice recorders – these are used to capture EVP (electronic voice phenomena) or disembodied voices
- Ouija Boards – used to communicate directly with any spirits present
- Spirit boxes – these scan through radio waves to listen for answers to questions asked
- Cameras – used to hopefully capture both photographs and video of spirits
- Many other apps on smart phones – varying from picking up movement to using sound boards with limited dictionary.
There is no scientifically proven link between any of these methods or techniques and contact with ghosts. Scientists claim that all evidence collected by investigators using this equipment will have a logical, natural explanation such as background interference with EMF detectors given off by electrical equipment or lens flares or malfunctions with evidence caught on camera or personal interference with things like Ouija boards. Things such as orbs (balls of light) caught on film are also explained away as insects or dust reflecting light.
There is a lot to be said for this way of thinking. The sceptical mindset. To find definitive proof of spirits, ghosts or whatever these things paranormal investigators claim to be communicating with are, we need to rule out ANY other explanation. And the technology used isn’t the only issue. We also have the problem of money. With the popularity of ‘ghost hunting’ only continuing to soar, more and more people want to go out and try it for themselves. Without the huge amounts of money all of this equipment can cost, it becomes much cheaper to pay for a tour of a “haunted” location. As you can imagine this can bring in a lot of extra money for a struggling pub, hotel or any other old spooky looking building. So all it would take is a little bit of exaggeration and maybe an actor or two in the tour group to add a few jump scares to keep people coming back. These are all reasons many people find it hard to believe the subject or any of its claims.
There are a few investigators out there who aren’t interested in the paranormal for the fame or money that TV shows or Youtube click bait stardom would bring, or the fancy technology that may or may not just be detecting completely normal, natural phenomena. They are only interested in finding the answers. Even if it is only for their own knowledge. I personally feel that this is the way ‘Ghost hunting’ or ‘Paranormal investigation’ should be done. I have contacted two such investigators, Gaz Brown and Marq English of The Z planet, for their opinion of this subject and will update when get back to me. They are both very busy so if you’re reading this, no rush guys!
Surely the objective should be to find definitive proof that cant be explained in any other way than the paranormal? This can only be done by ruling out ALL other explanations. Only then will the scientific community begin to listen to the evidence and start to listen to what we have been telling them for hundreds of years now.
Then there is the other side of the argument. The flip side of the coin. Some researchers believe that no matter what evidence is produced and how they obtained it, the scientific community would always dismiss is regardless. They believe that proof of ‘spirits’ would be proof of much more than science would not be willing to accept, such as maybe life after death, and that scientists in the past have gone to great lengths to stop other academics investigating such topics.
Are investigators wasting their time and money on all of that equipment? Is evidence completely ignored and dismissed by science as a whole? If it is being ignored, is it because it can be easily debunked due to the nature of the equipment and methods used or is it because they are worried about ridicule from within the scientific community for being a “believer”? If its the latter, we may have some hope. Another taboo subject, UFOs, is actually now being taken seriously and being actively researched by NASA scientists off the back of evidence confirmed by the pentagon in the US. So maybe with the right evidence, backed by the right people, there may be hope for the paranormal researchers amongst us after all.
So, what do you think? Are spirits/ghosts real? Are the scientific community actively ignoring evidence? Is all the ‘evidence’ just anecdotal? Will we one day have world renowned scientists joining us on a ghost hunt, truly believing they are about to encounter the paranormal? Let us know in the comments.
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