Ghost, ghost, scary old ghost!

We're logical, don't tell us about your ghost. We know things that go bump in the night aren't poltergeist.

Then why do so many people claim to have seen a ghost.

Seen a ghost? Mad! Can't happen! Impossible!

Stop. Don't look at these people so askew. There IS a scientific reason.

At last, there's an explanation why people might actually ‘see' a ghost. It isn't necessarily an over-active imagination after all. Perhaps we shouldn't be so sceptical, or critical, when friends claim they had a supernatural occurrence.

Evidence smothered

The only problem is, there's a whole industry out there making quite a lot of money out of the 'ghost' scene, so maybe the evidence will be smothered. After all, what would happen to all those television programs dedicated to frightening people by being 'Most Haunted'?

Investigations by the late Vic Tandy, a tutor at Coventry University, advised that the frequency 19 Hz was to blame for many spirit and ghost sightings.

He was working one night in an allegedly haunted laboratory at Warwick, when he suddenly experienced anxiety, and become aware of a grey blob out of the corner of his eye. When he twisted around, there was nothing.

The next morning, in the same room, he was working on a fencing foil, with the handle clamped securely in a vice.

The end of the foil started to spontaneously vibrate. It became quite wild, Further research made him realize that the extractor fan was producing a frequency of 18.98 Hz, which is very close to the resonant frequency of the eye (given as 19 Hz in NASA Technical Report 19770013810).

He suddenly realised this was why he thought he'd seen an ethereal figure - it was an optical illusion caused by his eyeballs resonating.

The room was precisely one half of a wavelength in length, and his bureau was in the centre, thus creating a standing wave, which was detected by the foil - therefore it resonated - a well documented scientific phenominum - I remember it well from my university days.

So there it is. A simple explanation for a ghostly event. Apparently anything creating a frequency of 19Hz is likely to generate feelings of anxiety but will also make you think you've seen a ghost.

So, the next time you see a ghost, look for the fan and turn the damn thing off before calling Ghost Busters.

It doesn't end there though. Apparently, animals have been using 'infrasound' for ever.

Predators like tigers (using low frequency rumblings - infrasound) freeze their prey (due to anxiety caused by the infrasound) to assist in the hunt.

So it seems the occurence of infrasound causing emotional imbalance is observed in the animal world too. It's a natural phenomina that's been taken advantage of by more than 'Most Haunted' - in a more deadly manner too.

A born sceptic.

I have to be honest, I'm always sceptical of anything new, so maybe I'll take it with a pinch of salt, but maybe I'll turn off the fan as well....

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