Parapsychology is the scientific and scholarly study of three kinds of unusual events (ESP, mind-matter interaction, and survival), which are associated with human experience. The existence of these phenomena suggest that the strict subjective/objective dichotomy proposed by the old paradigm may not be quite so clear-cut as once thought. Instead, these phenomena may be part of a spectrum of what is possible, with some events and experiences occasionally falling between purely subjective and purely objective. We call such phenomena "anomalous" because they are difficult to explain within current scientific models.
Parapsychology only studies those anomalies that fall into one of three general categories: ESP (terms are defined below), mind-matter interaction (previously known as psychokinesis), and phenomena suggestive of survival after bodily death, including near-death experiences, apparitions, and reincarnation. Most parapsychologists today expect that further research will eventually explain these anomalies in scientific terms, although it is not clear whether they can be fully understood without significant (some might say revolutionary) expansions of the current state of scientific knowledge. Other researchers take the stance that existing scientific models of perception and memory are adequate to explain some or all parapsychological phenomena. In spite of what television often implies, parapsychology is not the study of "anything paranormal" or bizarre. Nor is parapsychology concerned with astrology, UFOs, searching for Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, paganism, Satinism, vampires, alchemy, or witchcraft.
Many scientists have viewed parapsychology with great suspicion because the term has come to be associated with a huge variety of mysterious phenomena, fringe topics, and pseudoscience. Parapsychology is also often linked, again inappropriately, with a broad range of so-called "paranormal investigators" or "paranormalists." In addition, some self-proclaimed "psychic practitioners" call themselves parapsychologists, but that is not parapsychologists do.
Extrasensory perception (or ESP) is the ability to transfer information between individuals by means other than the 5 classic senses.
TELEPATHY: The mind-to-mind transmission of information.
CHANNELING: This is where a psychic medium directly acquires mind-to-mind information from a non-human (or non-living) source.
CLAIRVOYANCE: Literally "seeing" a distant place, which now days may involve remote viewing (a set of techniques for acquiring that information).
CLAIRAUDIENCE: Literally "hearing" ESP information, i.e. it comes as sound.
CLAIRSENTIENCE: "feeling" ESP information.
OUT-OF-BODY EXPERIENCES (OBEs): Often considered "astral" travel, it is the experience of your consciousness being at a different location than your physical body.
PRECOGNITION: Which can involve "seeing" or other wise "knowing" the future, often this may involve dreams.
PSYCHOMETRY: Being able to sense information that appears to be somehow stored on objects (or sometimes locations as "place memory").
RETROCOGNITION: Viewing past places and events, very handy for archeologists and historians.
ESP appears to be a universal, if often weak, ability. Some factors seem to promote it, such as feelings of close emotional connection to another person, place or thing. Altered states of consciousness, such as hypnosis, meditation and dreaming, also appear to enhance ESP.
Mind-matter interaction, sometimes called psychokinesis (PK) and once known as telekinesis, is the ability of the mind to influence matter. Examples of PK include but not limited to:
INSTRUMENTAL TRANSCOMMUNICATION: The purported communication by discarnate beings through an assortment of electronic devices, which may depend at least partly on the mediumship of human operators. It includes electronic voice phenomena (EVPs) on audiotape and videotape.
POLTERGEIST PHENOMENA: human stress-related PK including raps, the production of lights, object movement, and a host of other activities.
THOUGHTOGRAPHY (also called psychic photography): the projected of mental images onto film, photographic plates, or digital media.
THE PLACEBO EFFECT: The placebo effect is a medical phenomenon where the results of a medical treatment are affected by the patient's ideas about how effective the treatment is. The term is especially used when a patient responds dramatically to a physiologically inactive treatment. Inactive treatments used to induce the placebo effect are called placebos; inert "sugar" pills and sham surgeries are typical examples.
In light of the growing interest in amateur paranormal investigation and the mountains of "ghost" photos appearing on the Internet and elsewhere (see below), I thought it was time to review some basics definitions and concepts of ghostly happenings. There are three basic categories of experiences/phenomena that have become grouped as "ghosts" in the past: apparitions, hauntings and poltergeists. The three are different conceptually, but events around each can appear similar and can even indicate unique combinations of phenomena.
THE STRESS VALVE
Poltergeist, while it literally means "noisy ghost," has come to represent a different model altogether from a parapsychological perspective. In poltergeist cases, physical effects are the central theme. These effects can run from movements and levitations and appearances/disappearances of objects to unusual behavior of electrical appliances, from unexplained knockings and other sounds to temperature changes, with all combinations possible as well. Rarely are ghostly figures or voices seen or heard (though not out of the question).
The poltergeist model is that of a situation caused by the subconscious mind of a living agent, generally someone in the household undergoing emotional and/or psychological stress. The agents are people who typically have no method of dealing with the stress on any normal level, so the subconscious takes advantage of the psychokinetic (mind over matter) ability we all have to blow off steam. In other words, you can think of the poltergeist scenario as a telekinetic temper tantrum.
Often the physical things affected in a poltergeist case can be used as clues to determine what's bothering the poltergeist agent (who can be divined, typically, by looking at who is around during all the events). The objects affected may belong to one particular individual in the household, or representative of a role of one of the family. For example, if a husband doesn't want his wife to work, instead asking her to stay home with the new baby (and effectively "in the kitchen"), kitchen appliances may act strangely when the subject is brought up in discussion. Water bursts may be representative of pent-up guilt.
Poltergeist cases have, on rare occasion, also provided visual apparitions, though these are generally distorted, archetypal or even monstrous. In other words, you don't get a basic human ghost, but some other projection of stress, guilt, anger, fear or frustration from the subconscious, a projection that is telepathically sent out to others in the household. (Note: For an ultimate expression of a "monster from the Id" rent or buy the fantastic science fiction film FORBIDDEN PLANET; it stars Leslie Nielson before he was funny).
In poltergeist cases, unlike hauntings and apparitions, we don't typically get unusual photos or effects on a magnetic field detector (magnetometer). However, because we are dealing with psychokinesis, and because PK works on many levels, it would not be unlikely for the agent's PK to affect film (like the photo-psychic abilities of Ted Serios) or the magnetometers themselves.
HAUNTING REFRAIN
Like the Poltergeist, a Haunting relies on the living. Unlike a poltergeist case, where the phenomena are caused by the agent, a haunting is received by the experient (witness who has the experience). Hauntings actually show that we are all psychic receivers (clairvoyant) to some degree.
Ever walk into a house and get a feel for the "vibes" (the house feels "good" or "bad")? Of course, that feeling could be because of normal perceptions, the décor is nice or "off," but you may also psychically perceive emotions and events embedded in the environment. There are other possibilities besides psi, which I'll get to in a moment. One ability proffered by many psychics over the ages is psychometry: the ability to "read" the history of an object by holding or touching it. Objects, we're told, "record" their entire history, and some can decipher that with psi. But what is a house if not a big object?
In haunting cases, people report seeing (or hearing or feeling or even smelling) a presence (or several) typically engaged in some sort of activity. It could be a man's figure walking up and down the hallway, or footsteps heard from the attic, or a man and woman physically fighting until one is dead, or even the sounds of two people making love coming from an adjoining room (for this one, see my October 1994 column for the story of "The Sexorcist").
The events and figures witnessed in hauntings tend to be repetitive both in what's experienced and when they occur (at approximately the same time). Speaking with the "ghosts" tends to do no good, because they just continue to go about their business, as though you're not even there.
Some claim this is because the ghosts are "stuck" in some sort of cursed time loop. However, hauntings have occurred on many occasions where the "entities" are representative of living people, so there's certainly no one to be "stuck."
What does appear to be stuck is some kind of environmental recording of events and people. Like the small object "read" in psychometry, the house or building or land somehow records its history, with the more emotion-laden events and experiences coming through "louder" and "stronger." That people mostly report negative events and emotions (around suicide, murder or other violent crimes, or emotional fights) is likely due to a reporting artifact rather than any unbalanced ration of negative to positive events.
If you experienced a haunting in which generally good feelings are picked up and one in which you sense something bad happened in the house, which would you report? Which would lead you to ask for help?
You might think of a haunting as a loop of video or audiotape playing itself over and over for you to watch. Trying to interact with it would be akin to trying to interact with a show on your TV (sure you can turn it off or change the channel, but I wouldn't expect the actors to suddenly stop and talk to you directly).
In haunting cases, researchers have found that people oblivious of the phenomena when they first walk in will very likely pick up something in the same spots in the house as the primary experients. This indicates that something in the environment at those spots exists on some level, physical or psychic.
Using magnetometers, others and I have found a consistency from haunting to haunting. The magnetometers measure magnetic fields that are given off by a variety of sources, including technology in the house. There is a general background reading in the location, and readings will increase when you bring the magnetometer near anything from a VCR to digital alarm clock to electrical outlets. So, investigators must look at both where the technology is (or turn off all power in the house) and the background magnetic field readings.
Considering that, what's so interesting in haunting cases is that the spots where people experience the phenomena tend to have higher than background (sometimes much higher) magnetic readings, even with all household power turned off.
Is the magnetic field indicative of the "recording" itself? We're not sure yet, since the use of magnetometers in haunting cases is still fairly new. Is the magnetic field an indication of something that causes an individual to be more psychic, and so pick up the "recording"? Again, we're not sure, but research by Michael Persinger and others around the connections between the Earth's magnetic field and psi abilities, as well as the use of such fields to cause people to have hallucinations, are particularly promising.
One important thing to consider in haunting cases is whether the content of the "replay" is related to what’s gone on in the house on the land. It is often possible to track the "story" back to events in the current or past inhabitants' lives.
But there are other factors that may cause haunting experiences with no tie to history. One is the possibility of fluctuations in the geomagnetic field causing hallucinations that are interpreted as ghosts. Other environmentally present conditions, including standing infrasonic (low frequency sound) waves affecting the eyes (see my column in the October 1998 FATE). Natural plasma effects such as ball lightning and earthlights can lead to conclusions of hauntings (and apparitions). I had a case a number of years ago in which a number of environmental conditions, from slightly angled doorways and floors to leaking methane gas from a landfill behind a hillside, caused all sorts of havoc with a family's perceptions, making them think their newly rented house was haunted.
In some haunting cases, after a time physical objects may begin to move. How can a "recording" move things? In these cases, it would appear that the PK of the experients' subconscious starts acting in play. In other words, your subconscious mind, undoubtedly picking up even more than your conscious mind is, begins to help the story along because of your expectation of what occurs in ghost cases. By expecting more to happen, more happens.
What about ghost photos in such cases? Can you take a photo of a haunt?
The same rules apply in hauntings as in poltergeist cases. Your expectation of getting something on film may allow your subconscious to use PK to put something on film.
THE "DEAD GUYS"
Finally, we come to actual spirits: Apparitions of the dead (though there are thousands of reported cases of apparitions of the living). An apparition is our personality (or spirit, soul, consciousness, mind or whatever you want to call it) surviving the death of the body, and capable of interaction with the living (and presumably other apparitions).
What separates an apparition from a haunting ghost is that idea of interaction. If a haunting is a replaying videotape, an apparition is a video conference call. While speaking to the videotape brings no response, the conference call allows for two-way communication.
Apparitions would appear to have no particular form other than what they themselves conjure up as their own self-image. In other words, the how the entity thinks of/visualizes him/her is how the rest of us "see" the ghost. Try this: close your eyes and get a picture of yourself in your mind's eye. That's probably how the living would see you if you were a ghost (and by the way, did you visualize yourself with clothing? That's why ghosts don't appear in the nude: their self-images include clothing).
The apparition communicates on a telepathic basis, our psi processes picking up this self-image and adding it to the information received by our "normal" senses. Some of us can process this telepathic input better on a visual basis, others auditory, through feeling or even on a more olfactory basis (smell). Many can experience a ghost on more than one sensory level (seeing and hearing the apparition).
The number of good apparition cases is far surpassed by the number of haunting cases, and it would appear that several things are true about apparitions.
The sheer majority of apparitions are seen once by a relative or friend or loved one within 48 hours of that person's death, as if the person is coming to say goodbye.
Most don't stick around as a ghost for more than a day or two. Longer-term apparitions tend to have a psychological/emotional need or strong desire to stay here. Such needs or desires include a denial of death, fear of "what's next", a strong desire to stay with one's loved ones, or even anger and a life cut short.
Not everyone with such strong desires or needs sticks around as an apparition.
There are likely some environmental factors that allow people with such strong desires or needs to stick around when the conditions and the psychology coincide. These factors, I personally suspect, include both geomagnetic conditions and an as yet identified factor in the physical environment. Ghosts hang around with people in homes, offices, and restaurants and bars (gee, that's where most living people hang around).
Most apparitions are seen without any associated unusual object movement, at least for a time. It would appear that the some of the long-term apparitional inhabitants of our world, over time, learn to move objects. In other words, learning that they are but consciousness without body, they learn to use their minds to move/affect the physical world (PK), much the way Patrick Swayze's character in the film GHOST had to learn to move objects.
Magnetometers and other detectors in apparition cases are next to useless unless, apparently, the ghost is present (and generally "felt" or "seen" by someone around during the investigation). At that point, provided one has the detectors in the physical vicinity of the apparition, extremely high (and often mobile) magnetic fields are detected. In a few of my cases, we've also gotten (at the same time) high microwave readings and some unusual effects on an infrared thermal-vision camera, and even what looks like energy patterns on Polaroid film. What was happening? We're not sure if the ghost actually gave off these energies or purposely caused the detectors to detect something (that would be PK again). Or was it the PK of the investigators or experients expecting to detect something? Can ghosts be photographed? We're back to the PK question. If ghosts can move objects through PK, they can probably affect film.
Apparitions, better known as "ghosts" appear to be some form of the human mind (consciousness, personality, soul, spirit) that functions apart from the body and may survive the death of the body. Reports indicate that apparitions indeed act like "real" humans. They have the personality and emotions and act and dress like the person they were when alive. Reports of apparitions fall into four broad categories
Crisis Apparitions: Apparitions of the dying or recently dead (usually less than twelve hours, but as much as 24-48 hours) are the most frequently reported of apparitions. This category commonly involves one-time visits to someone with whom the apparition has close emotional ties. Though the encounter usually seems to be a type of farewell, sometimes important and useful information is relayed to the "viewer." Though dying is the most common crisis, other life-threatening situations can also trigger apparitional visits. In these cases, the crisis apparition typically visits a close associate in an appeal for help.
Apparitions of the Dead: These are apparitions of people who have generally been dead longer than 12-48 hours. There are two subsets: 1) those that make one or several visits to someone (they may not have known this person while alive) and 2) the very rare cases of apparitions that linger for months or years around a particular location or person that they associated with when alive.
Apparitions of the Living: Also called bilocation, apparitions can be either spontaneous or intentional. In the case of spontaneous bilocation, the person whose apparition is seen is generally (though not always) unaware of his/her bilocation. Bilocation is considered intentional when the apparition can be connected to a person who was aware s/he was having an out of body experience (OBE), or with someone who was consciously trying to communicate with the person who witnessed his/her apparition.
Pseudo-Apparitions: Two other phenomena produce "ghosts" or apparition-like phenomena that are often confused with true apparitions. These are haunting apparitions and poltergeist phenomena. Haunting apparitions, at first glance, may appear very similar to apparitions of the dead. However, upon observation it becomes clear that they don not seem to possess intelligence or personality. Whereas a haunting, and the "images" seen or "sounds" heard," are repetitious "replays" of a past event that was somehow "recorded" by the environment of the location where it occurred, true apparitions allow for interaction, for two way communication, and display self awareness. The haunting apparition appears to be part of the event "recording" and communication or interaction with such a ghost is impossible (just as communication or interaction with a character you watch on TV is impossible while you're watching). Poltergeist phenomena involve physical disturbances caused by a living person (the poltergeist agent). The agent, due to unresolved emotional/psychological stresses, unconsciously uses a form of psychokinesis (mind over matter) to cause the physical disturbances. In rare poltergeist cases, apparitions may be seen or heard. These apparitions are believed to be an unconscious telepathic projection from the mind of the agent that is "picked up" by some participants. These apparent mental projections of the agent do not display independent intelligence or personality. Often, such apparitions do not look human, but rather appear to be an archetypal reflection of the inner stress of the agent.
Witnessing an Apparition: Though most commonly seen or sensed (as in "sensing a presence"), apparitions are also reported to be heard, touched and smelled. When seen, they usually look solid to the touch, although they are sometimes reported as slightly transparent or with blurred edges. Often, the apparition appears so lifelike that, unless the apparition is known to be dead, there may be no indication that s/he is a ghost until s/he vanishes. Typifying the person when previously alive, the apparition can change his/her age, style of dress, and emotional mood in a way that seems to relate to the self-image the apparition desires to project (i.e. when asked to mentally picture ourselves, we all tend to do so fully clothed). Not everyone present in a given location may perceive the apparition. This may be due to the sensitivity of the witness, the intent of the apparition, or a combination of both factors. Keep in mind that since perception is one part senses, one part information processing by the mind/brain, what is "seen" or "heard" may not have a truly physical external form (and thus couldn't be photographed or recorded by technology). When more than one person sees the apparition simultaneously, the different angles at which the apparition is observed are such that the apparition seems to be physically present, "correctly" occupying three-dimensional space. Apparitions appear to be capable of using the full range of their own psychic abilities. Thus, because they have no physical mouths, they communicate via telepathy. On rare occasion, apparitions have been known to interact with the physical environment (via psychokinesis).
Theoretical Explanations: If psi is our normal ability to communicate and interact with the environment in a way that is beyond our normal senses and muscles, then perhaps this psi ability can exist independently of our brains and bodies as a function of "higher intelligence," consciousness, soul, etc. Using this concept, someone whose body has died (or who is literally out of his/her body) could still be capable of communication or environmental interaction through psychic abilities. Thus, an apparition could send a telepathic message that, if received, would cause us to "see" his/her form, "hear" his/her words, "feel" his/her touch, "smell" his her cologne or scent, etc. However, these "sensations" are, again, purely of the mental or psychic. They are transmitted by one mind and received by another. They are not physical in the sense that a person's body stands before you and speaks. As such, they do not reflect light or create sound waves and thus cannot be photographed or recorded. In the same way that people use psychokinesis (PK) to do move objects mentally, so could the apparition theoretically use PK to do the same thing --- although reports of such occurrences with apparitions are rare). The movement of objects, if performed via PK, could be photographed (this in contrast with a telepathic hallucination of something moving, which could not be captured on film). Several alternative models of understanding have been proposed. Some suggest that apparitions have nothing to do with dead people or "consciousness outside a body," but are the result of telepathic transmissions and PK by living brains (those in their bodies). Others propose that apparitions are subjective mental images triggered by psychological stress or by geomagnetic or other environmental influences. While the parapsychological model/definition of an apparition is a consciousness without a body, these other models do account for a number of specific cases and should be considered by investigators in all cases before conclusions are reached. In addition, cases often include a variety of factors and models overlapping.
Practical Problem Solving: Regardless of theoretical model, apparitions seem to involve the manifestation of some form of human consciousness (whether the "ghost" is truly an outside consciousness or whether it is an hallucination generated by the viewer's brain, remains to be seen). Because some form of human consciousness is involved, communication with apparitions is possible. The apparition is often there for a reason that can be learned simply by asking. By directly addressing the apparition, the needs of both the apparition and the witness can be exchanged, opening the way for a solution that works for both participants. This type of diplomatic problem solving is typically very effective, but the fear, confusion and shock that most people experience in the presence of an apparition may make it difficult to ask the apparition questions. This seems to be related to a universal fear of the unknown, because apparitions, with extremely rare exception, have not been known to harm people. Of course, people have been injured, physically in their attempts to exit the scene at superhuman speed, and psychologically in their fear-ridden expectations of what could happen… During a case investigation of an apparition, witnesses are taught the current understanding of apparitions and learn how to control/transform their fears. Because of the personal nature of most apparitional visits, the witness is usually the only person who will ever experience the apparition. Thus, in the case of subsequent visits, it is generally his/her responsibility to address the "entity" if resolution is desired. Counseling is always recommended to people experiencing an apparition in order to integrate the experience, and specifically the fear and confusion, in a healthy manner.
What is a Haunting? Most people think of a haunting as a place, or sometimes an object such as a piece of furniture, that is occupied or "possessed" by "ghosts" of "spirits." People generally consider a place "haunted" if there has been a history of apparitional sightings, or if unexplained noises, movements of objects, or other strange physical effects repeatedly occur there. Even when people repeatedly "pick up" or sense eerie feelings or "bad vibes" from a place or an object it is often considered "haunted." However, these experiences may or may not be actual hauntings. Most parapsychologists consider hauntings to be "recordings" of past events that are repetitiously "replayed" and "decoded" by those sensitive enough to perceive them. In other words, an event that occurs in a certain place is somehow recorded and stored in a manner not yet understood, and later circumstances "trigger" the event recording to be "replayed." The environment acts as a sort of audio/video recorder, and like a tape player with the right buttons pressed, the event continues to be replayed at any time the playback or trigger conditions are met. In similar fashion, an object may contain and then flashback the memory or record of past events or people that have surrounded it or owned it (this ability to "read" an object's history is called psychometry).
Haunting Apparitions: Since hauntings seem to be repeating performance of recorded past events, the characters involved are part of the recording and their actions are replayed over and over again. The scene and the action do not typically change from showing to showing. The haunting repeats itself like a cinema that bills the same movie for decades. The characters of a haunting are often called "haunting apparitions," but they are not considered true apparitions because they do not seem to possess consciousness, intelligence or personality. True apparitions or ghosts reportedly act like living people with personality, emotions and intelligence, and the capacity to interact with witnesses. In other words, communication and interaction is possible with a ghost, but a haunting apparition is simply part of the "recording" (and interaction is not possible).
The Nature of Hauntings: How and why past events are recorded and replayed repetitiously is not understood. Whatever the actual mechanism, it apparently possesses longevity as the encore performances of a haunting can continue for decades or longer. Generally, the haunting is a fragment or portion of an actual event. Reported hauntings are predominantly of events that involved tragedy, death or emotional trauma. However, this may be more of a reporting artifact that anything else, given that people tend to report and ask for help in situations where they are scared or impacted with negative emotions. The recordings of mundane or even positive events that may play back in hauntings are usually ignored or simply accepted with a smile. Not so with negative or tragic events. Some researchers have suggested that there is a relationship between hauntings and the electromagnetic or magnetic fields that exist in the natural environment. This concept considers that all events are recorded, but that it is the events with stronger emotional content (essentially "louder" or "brighter" than everyday happenings) that are "sensed" or perceived more readily. Recent case investigations using a magnetometer to detect background and local magnetic fields have indicated an unusual and exciting correlation between higher-than-background magnetic fields and spots in a haunted location where people perceive the haunts. Though classic "haunted house" stories have captured the bulk of public attention, hauntings are also reported outdoors, as with those reported at old battle sites. Objects can also be haunted, holding a recording of events and people that have historically associated with the object.
Witnessing a Haunting: The ability to "decode" the recording of a past event is a psychic ability known as psychometry, a subset of clairvoyant ability. Witnessing a haunting seems to depend not only on psychic ability, but also on the strength of the recording (and this may be related to the emotional content of the event recorded). Moods and emotions of observers also play a role, as do "play-back" conditions. While not well understood or even correlated as yet, these conditions appear to include time of day, weather patterns, geomagnetic (the Earth's) field intensity, and even lunar/tidal and other astronomical influences. If conditions are right, the haunting is "decoded" and the brain/mind of the observer experiences a playback of the events. Different people experience the same haunting in different ways. For some, the experience is visual, for others auditory, for still others kinesthetic (as in "feeling" a presence). People may even smell aspects of the haunting. For many, there is a combination of sense-relations in the perceptions of the haunting. Most often, the haunting is "seen" by the mind's eye. When this happens, the image appears to be three-dimensional and looks much like a hologram that is superimposed onto the present day surroundings. This superimposition of the psychic image onto the actual setting can make for strange visual effects. As an example, the haunting may be of someone climbing a staircase, whereas the actual, now remodeled physical setting has no staircase in that location but a wall instead. In this case, the haunting apparition would appear to walk upward into thin air and pass through a wall. Because hauntings are experienced at the perceptual level (in the mind), there are no actual images and sound there that reflect light or create sound waves, and therefore nothing to be photographed, videotaped, or recorded. Whether or not a haunting is witnessed, the anxiety and heightened expectancy experienced by people who believe they are at a "haunted" site can trigger observer effects. These observer effects can be a combination of misperceptions and misidentifications of ordinary happenings and unusual physical object movements. The unusual physical activity is typically a result of unconscious psychokinesis, mind over matter (PK), and is not directly related to the haunting phenomena. In other words, the witnesses cause the PK effects, which can include strange noises, lights, and object movements. These physical effects are generally confused with the perceptual effects of the haunting or are attributed to ghosts.
Practical Problem Solving: In investigating a reported haunting, multiple/independent witnesses to the haunting are sought. Extensive interviewing of witnesses and participants is undertaken in order to assess each person's experience, and to try to determine if there is a pattern to the perceptions of the events. Because hauntings are easily confused with other paranormal phenomena, and with more normal noises in the environment, it must first be determined what phenomenon (or combination of phenomena) is happening. As mentioned, true apparitions are often confused with haunting apparitions. Also, PK effects or poltergeist phenomena can cause unexplained physical effects that are often confused with or triggered by the experience of a haunting. Good, bad or strange "vibes" felt repeatedly in a certain location could be the result of a haunting, or could be related to the way the place is decorated or even the way it's constructed (as with the various "Mystery Spots" around the US which play on your perceptions). If a haunting is suspected, an historical study of the location is generally undertaken in an attempt to correlate the experience with actual past events. Investigators may also bring in magnetically sensitive detectors to look for correlations between the experiences and unusual or unlikely magnetic fields. Psychic practitioners may also be brought in as a form of "detector" to flesh out the experiences and potential patterns. Toward Resolution: In the case of a haunting, witnesses typically experience fear, anxiety, and long-term stress. For this reason, an ongoing primary theme of the investigation involves teaching witnesses the innocuous nature of hauntings. Because hauntings and haunting apparitions are recordings, fear and anxiety are unnecessary as there is no connection or interaction possible between witnesses and any aspect of the haunting (any more than there is if there's a scary movie on the TV). Often clients wish to discontinue the haunting, or to stop experiencing it. In many cases "removal" of a haunting is akin to getting used to living next to a busy highway --- before long, the noise fades into the background or is not even noticed. Other "psychic shielding" techniques can be taught so that the experience may be blocked from perception. In addition, psychic practitioners have been known to affect hauntings. Finally, one might "tape over" the recorded haunt-event, whereby the haunting location becomes the site of some positive, emotionally charged event such as a fun party or other "good vibes" situation.
In the German language, poltergeist literally means "noisy ghost." Indeed, poltergeist experiences are often noisy --- although the characteristic physical disturbances are no longer thought to be the work of "ghosts." Rather, current (since the 1950s) studies indicate that a living person, the poltergeist agent, who is typically involved simultaneously in another stress-inducing situation, causes the poltergeist situation.
RSPK: The Poltergeist Mechanism: During a poltergeist experience, the agent, in an attempt to relieve emotional stress, unknowingly causes the physical disturbances using mental forces. The mental mechanism that allows the poltergeist agent to unconsciously cause these physical disturbances is called psychokinesis. Psychokinesis, PK, more commonly known as "mind over matter," is the human ability to mentally affect the physical environment. Because the psychokinetic activity of the poltergeist agent is recurrent and spontaneous, this form of psychokinesis is termed RSPK or recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis. Most agents are unaware that they are causing the physical disturbances, and even those with vague awareness usually have no conscious control over how and when the disturbances will occur.
The Poltergeist Experience: In poltergeist cases, typical reported disturbances include strange noises and knockings, and objects moving about as if under their own power. Objects have been reported to fly about in bizarre trajectories, to crash to the floor and break, to break or shatter in place, and to disappear and reappear, sometimes in different locations. Beds are sometimes reported to shake and furniture to rearrange itself. In more rare cases, small, innocuous fires have started, water droplets or bursts have fallen from nowhere, stones have pelted homes, and vague apparition-like forms have been seen. Whatever the nature of the physical disturbances, poltergeist phenomena can inevitably be linked to an "agent."
The Poltergeist Agent: Though the agent can usually be narrowed down to one person, in some cases the agent appears to consist of two or more people who co-create a psychological dynamic that causes one or more of the people to mentally "set off" the physical disturbances. Studies and investigations show that agents are typically experiencing repressed or unresolved emotional stress. Adolescence is commonly a stressful life period (psychologically and physically) and not surprisingly, the majority of reported poltergeist cases involve adolescent agents (the age range is from 12 or 13 to early 20s). However, people of all age groups are potential poltergeist agents (although there has been a noticeable lack of agents under 10 or 11). Studies have also shown that people with epilepsy or epileptic-like activity in the brain are sometimes associated with poltergeist activity. This does not mean that everyone under stress or with epilepsy will be a poltergeist agent. In fact, the phenomenon is very uncommon, even though minor PK events may occur throughout someone's lifetime. Even in severe cases of repressed stress or epilepsy, poltergeist activity rarely occurs.
Patterns and Metaphors of Poltergeist Activity: With the exception of rare lengthy cases, poltergeist phenomena generally last from two to six weeks (short term 1 week, long term about 18 months). Cases are nearly always reported in homes, offices or workplaces – wherever a dynamic of human interaction takes place. Poltergeist activity, with its connection to unresolved stress, appears to be a rare form of stress relief. Instead of the stress releasing itself in "normal" ways, the agent unconsciously "blows off steam" with the PK activity. Patterns found in the disturbances are generally symbolic and can give clues as to the identity of the agent and the nature of the unresolved stress. Often object and area focused activity occur whereby the disturbances tend to stay with certain forms of objects or in certain locations in the physical environment. The disturbances often appear as metaphors to the causes of stress. For example, sexual tension may be released through causing the bed to shake. Anger towards a certain person may be released by the agent causing items belonging to the target person to break. The rare outbreak of small fires may be associated with a general release of anger, whereas water is more often associated with grief (as in tears not being physically shed). More unusual cases involving guilt have resulted in the agent actually giving him/herself a psychokinetic "self-beating" displayed by the spontaneous manifestation of bruises or other marks of physical punishment. Other very rare poltergeist cases have involved sightings of apparition-like forms. These are not thought to be true apparitions (or ghosts – a consciousness operating outside of or after the death of his or her physical body). Rather, they are thought to be unconscious projections from the mind of the agent that are "picked up" telepathically by people associated with the agent (and of course, by the agent as well). These apparitional forms are often not human in appearance (in contrast to ghosts), and may even look like an archetypal "monster." As frightening as they may appear, these mental projections are harmless and are simply a reflection of the agent's inner psychological "monsters or demons." As with the physical activity, they are often a metaphor for the mental and emotional stress the agent is experiencing. More subtle forms of poltergeist activity involve micro-effects whereby the agent mentally, though unconsciously, affects the functioning of technology (these are effects that occur throughout our lives). It is now known that technology such as watches, computers, telephones, photocopiers, etc. are apparently susceptible to PK. Similar to the large scale poltergeist effects, these micro-effects appear to be a form of stress-relief or a reflection of the mood of the agent, and the type of effect is often a clue as to the nature of the stress.
Practical Problem Solving: Since poltergeist cases have psychological stress and emotional dynamics at their core, investigations involve detailed observation of the human interaction present in such cases. All family members or co-workers are interviewed separately and en masse in order to assess the nature of the disturbances and the emotional interplay. Many personal questions are asked, and in some cases, medical information may be requested. Patterns in the disturbances are noted and participants may be asked to re-enact scenes when the disturbances occurred. Because the investigation may alter the emotional dynamics, leading to difficulty in finding the agent, on some case the investigator(s) may request an extended stay on the premises in hopes that the dynamics return to their usual state. Throughout the study, "normal" disturbances are separated from those that may be "paranormal." Often the participants believe the disturbances to be the result of a ghost or outside entity. Because stressful emotional dynamics are at the core of such cases, this "ghost" is used as a scapegoat for the occurrences and even for the events or issues that are causing the stress in the first place. In addition, people are often more sensitive to anything out of the ordinary in the environment during such situations. In many cases, participants may misinterpret overlooked physical occurrences with normal, though not obvious, normal explanations. Finally, because there is often a ghostly scapegoat to blame, there may be a mixture of real RSPK events with intentionally caused disturbances surreptitiously carried out by the agent and/or other participants. A lot can be done in the name of stress relief when there's a ghost present to take the blame. In cases such as this, the intentional disturbances are not generally an attempt to dupe the investigator, but are rather directed at other members of the family or group as a more "normal" form of stress relief. Such non-malicious fraud can make a poltergeist investigation very challenging. At worst, such "mixed" cases may be dismissed as normal when paranormal elements are actually present. The stress inherent in a poltergeist case, as well as the stress caused by one, does make counseling very important. Not only the agent, but all participants can benefit from individual or group counseling. Poltergeist activity tends to stop when the stress is identified, addressed or released, or when the stressful situation itself is identified, altered or ended. Poltergeist activity also tends to stop when the agent realizes he or she is responsible for the phenomena (and especially if the agent accepts responsibility for it). One the activity has ceased, follow-up therapeutic work may be crucial in order to help resolve the underlying causes of the poltergeist outbreak. Finally, for the poltergeist agent, there always exists the potential for learning to focus and apply this psychokinetic ability in positive ways.
These days, thanks to the Internet, there are many people puting up websites stating that they are “certified” something or other – ghost hunters, paranormal investigators and even parapsychologists. It’s very important to ask questions of such people since, while they may be sincere and well meaning, their training is truly lacking in the expertise they claim. Certification courses offered by people or organizations that don’t have the expertise and knowledge are only passing along bad or incomplete information. Just because people may be interested in psi phenomena and may even write about it for years, does that make them parapsychologists? No, because interest does not a professional make.
Because someone is psychic, does that allow them to legitimately call themselves parapsychologists? No – if that were true, having a Mind would allow you to call yourself a “psychologist.” The –ology part of most fields of study are about the “study” part.
Parapsychology is a field of scientific endeavor dealing with the human mind, albeit different experiences than those studied by psychologists. Parapsychologists study, in and out of the laboratory, three main forms of experiences and connections beyond an individual mind. We study apparent exchanges of information between one mind and another or from the environment itself (this is typically called ESP), we study apparent physical effects of the mind on the environment (psychokinesis), and we study experiences that seem to relate to the idea the mind or consciousness, the personality of the human can survive the death of the body (and that’s where ghosts may come in, of course). We do this using the methods of social and physical sciences (which is why the Parapsychological Association is an affiliate of the American Association for the Advancement of Science).
Unfortunately, some with great interest in psi – occasionally manifesting in books and articles -- are unclear as to their own definition, and in fact have a definition that seems to make members of the P.A. shudder. Atlantis, the Bermuda Triangle, UFOs., Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, Witchcraft, and other similar subjects are NOT part of the field of Parapsychology. While I personally have an interest in some of these areas, it would be a disservice to the already misunderstood field of Parapsychology to include these as such.
So how can average folks decide who is or isn't a good or real parapsychologist? Here are a few pointers.
1) How does the individual define "parapsychology"? Remember that parapsychology is the study of (and perhaps application of) psi abilities, not the experience of psi. Remember that there is some application of the scientific methods of physical and social science involved here (and even direct connections to those other fields of science). Also remember that while Cryptozoology, UFOs., lost continents and the like are themselves often worthy of study, they are not connected to psi experiences (though psi can happen in UFO encounter, for example). Rituals, crystals, and spiritual paths, while perhaps connected to the evoking of psi in some people are not in and of themselves studied by parapsychologists.
2) Why does the individual call himself/herself a parapsychologist? Answers like "I'm a practicing psychic" or "I've been chasing ghosts for years" or "I've been reading up on the field for years" are not acceptable. A person claiming to be a parapsychologist simply because he or she is psychic is akin to me claiming I'm a psychologist because I have a mind. If the person is doing research, either in the field or in a lab, make sure you compare their findings and methods to those you can read about in books and journals by the scientific researchers.
3) Is the person affiliated with any research or academic organization? Most people genuinely in the field of parapsychology are at the very least associate members of the Parapsychological Association, and many work in accredited universities and college teaching credit classes (usually not in parapsychology) or doing research. Being a member of a membership organization like the American Society for Psychical Research does not make one a parapsychologist (any more than participating in a legitimate research project makes one a "certified psychic" as I've heard many claim). No matter how good the organization is, membership groups like the ASPR have no criteria for acceptance of members. Be especially careful here, most ghost hunting organizations don’t count – even the Office of Paranormal Investigations, while including some parapsychologists, is not composed solely of such people.
4) What is the individual's educational background? I've run into people claiming "degrees" from mail-order psychic development schools or unaccredited diploma mills. More and more people are claiming (because they have the paper to “prove” it) a PhD in Parapsychology, yet when one checks you find nothing academic to back that up at all. One school in Florida has offered such a degree, yet not dissertation is required (just a couple of paper, hardly more work than many undergrad classes) and though they claim to be “licensed,” turn out to only have a business licence.
Loyd Auerbach teaches at HCH Institute. This is a California-licensed vocational school, and the certificate programs are approved by the State of California . However, they make no claims for their certification --- it is in basic parapsychological studies, and in no way should anyone with just that credential call themselves Parapsychologists.
With rare exception (Jeffrey Mishlove being one with a PhD, Pamela Rae Heath one with a PsyD ), the only accredited parapsychology degree program (with that term on the diploma) has been John F. Kennedy University in Orinda, California (which ended in the 1980s. However, most parapsychologists have their degrees in more mainstream subjects such as psychology and physics. If the individual was trained by a member of the Parapsychological Association (such as the folks at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland ) then at least they have had the contacts to gain appropriate information about the field.
This is not to say, by the way, that some select people who are not parapsychologists by strict definition cannot be of help. There are several knowledgeable, competent, and ethical people out there who are not necessarily members of the Parapsychological Association. However, just as OPI advocates questioning experiences and events to look for the "truth" that may lie under the surface, we also advocate the same when reading something by or speaking with a "parapsychologist." You probably should contact one of the reputable organizations listed on our links page if you have any questions at all (even whether this advice is good advice) .
All in all keep in mind that Parapsychology, like Science in general, does not have nearly enough of the answers accounted for. In fact, Science is like a game of Cosmic Jeopardy: the answers are laid out in front of us. Without the right questions, the answers may make little or no sense (or be "wrong" late on). It's really the questions we've got to sort out, so don't automatically categorize the answers without checking to see which of many questions might fit.
The field of Parapsychology has done much investigation of experiences of apparitions, hauntings and poltergeists. Part of the research process has been to try to find technologies that can provide more data than what we get from human witnesses.
Technology and the Science behind it have a ways to go before anyone can say for sure that this reading or that photo conclusively indicates a ghost. People who offer up their photos as "proof" of the existence of ghosts or who rely purely on technology are ignorant of what constitutes scientific proof (versus evidence). More importantly, they are generally uneducated as to what decades of research and much discussion has led us to understand ghosts and hauntings might be.
Apparitions (ghosts) and hauntings are phenomena defined by human experience. An apparition typically represents an experience of a deceased person being seen, heard (a voice, footsteps), felt (a presences, a touch) or smelled (perfume, cologne) by a living person. Our model of an apparition is that he or she is the consciousness (or personality, spirit, soul, mind or whatever you want to call it) that survives the death of the body. Apparitions are capable of interaction with the living. This interaction happens through mind-to-mind communication (telepathy), not through the ordinary senses. When one "sees" a ghost, it is through the perceptual processes (think data processing) rather than through the eyes. Just like a computer can convert digital information into a picture, the human mind can convert received information from the mind of a ghost into images, voices, smells, and even feelings of being touched.
Hauntings, also called "place memory" or "imprints", seem to represent information recorded into the local environment by actual happenings. When one perceives something like a walking-then-disappearing figure in a haunting, one is actually picking up historical information (even recent history) from the location and converting it into an image. Hauntings are much more common than apparition cases, as every place where people have been and emotional events have occurred has the potential to be haunted.
Both have one important factor in common: unless something is perceived and experienced by a witness, there's nothing to indicate a "ghost" or "haunting" is present. We define hauntings and apparitions by the human experience of the phenomena.
The major differences between apparitions and hauntings are around interaction and source. A ghost or apparition is capable of interacting with a living person and vice versa, like two people at either end of a video conference call. In a haunting, you only perceive a recording, like watching a video or listening to an audio recording of someone or events in the past.
Typically, when we conduct investigations, we do use detectors of electromagnetic fields to provide additional sensors to anything unusual in the environment. Such equipment does not detect ghosts per se, but are useful in looking for physical correlates to the perceptions / sensations / experiences of the witnesses (including psychics). Do human beings have the capacity to detect anomalous magnetic fluxes in the environment? Or are these magnetic (and other detectable energetic anomalies) somehow "footprints" left behind by apparitions and haunting "imprints"? We're still working on that, just as many scientists are working on the major question of Consciousness itself. After all, if technology cannot be used to detect consciousness IN the body, where we assume it is, how can it be used definitively to detect consciousness after death?
If you are going to use detection gear of any kind (and that especially goes for cameras, both still and video and audio recorders), a single reading (or photo) must be looked over with care. There should be correlation to something else; at the very least someone (witness or psychic) having a perception of the "ghost" or a connection to a spot with a history of reported paranormal phenomena or experiences.
Always know the limitations of your equipment and how "false" readings (or photos!) might come up….false in the sense that they are otherwise explainable and NOT paranormally connected when you look closely.
Do not rely on technology to tell you a place is haunted or a ghost is present. It's clear by what's up on the net that people make incorrect assumptions about places and their evidence. Just the fact that people hang out in cemeteries to get spirit orb photos makes me cringe. Ghost sightings in cemeteries are extremely rare. Just because a body's buried somewhere doesn't make the place haunted (think of the catacombs in Rome and Paris and the thousands of bodies down there!!). And if you were a ghost, would you hang around in a graveyard?
Parapsychologists do use technology to try to find any environmental anomalies that can be connected to the models we're building of apparitions and hauntings. But at present, what we have is some little evidence, and some leads that certain technology, including detectors of magnetic and geomagnetic fields, can help us better understand what's going on when someone sees a ghost.
But it will take a lot more research and investigation with all sorts of technologies, including computer systems that can take in the readings and correlate them properly, before we can point a gizmo at a spot and say "we got one!!" Unfortunately, it will also take research money to buy the technology; funds which researchers do not have.
In the meantime, if you wish to "detect" a ghost, spend more time interviewing witnesses than taking readings. A reading is a lot less exciting than a good ghost story.