The Paranormal Blog

Sometimes we have a look at some of our online colleagues and just have to give ouselves a shake .... or a shower .... you get the idea ... here is just one of the reasons the scientific community and the general public does not take this study seriously. And why some ghost groups do more to increase the ridicule factor that damages the integrity of credible witnesses than any sceptical organizations could hope to.

I think this might just become a regular feature at The Paranormal Blog .... rant away ....

Using Scientific Devices, Without Scientific Protocol

Wheee! Look at 'em go! They got their laser-thermometers and EMF meters and infrared cameras and THEY are great, aren't they?

Okay, first thing... Laser-thermometers and infra-red thermometers look great. They look like ray-guns! The only thing is, they are horrendously inaccurate. They were developed to take quick temperatures of things like electrical cables and boxes in hard-to-reach places... and those readings are just to ensure that the equipment is between the "normal" operational temperature range. Also, they only work on the surfaces they connect with... so "cold spots" in the middle of a room would not be measurable.

If the people using these asked a REAL environmental scientist, they'd be told to use an indoor lab thermometer... but hey, they don't make those to look like cool ray-guns.

EMF Meters? First of all, can ANYONE show me correlation between ghostly phenomena and any variances of electro-magnetic fields. Anyone? ANYONE?

No, no... not from some ghost hunters, I mean scientific evidence... where a "mean" reading was taken, then something ghostly manifested and a second reading taken that showed any changes...

Okay, so if that's not out there... then why take these pieces of equipment?

Because a movie told us to.

Yup, the FIRST documented case of using any sort of electro-magnetic equipment within the study of ghosts and hauntings was in a Roddy McDowall film called "The Legend of Hell House" in which a "parapsychologist" hooks up this enormous machine to flood the house with EM radiation to clear the ghost. Aside from this fiction, you only find mention of electro-magnetics when dealing within Ufology, in terms of propulsion. (Michael Deveraux first thought of this possibility.)

So, the media said "It must be!" and like lemmings off a cliff in search of possibilities, the "ghost hunting community" gladly tossed ourselves into the sea.

Yup, after years of looking, we found no documents or scientific papers to show correlation to changes to the ambient EM fields of a place and any sort of ghostly activity.

These machines, really, might just be machines that go "Ping!" and make people feel good about themselves and look cool.

Problem is, if we don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater, precious few groups or investigators bother to use the devices properly... with mean readings and an eye towards meaningful variances... nope... they just holler, "WOW! LOOK AT THE TEMPERATURE HERE AND THE HUGE EM FIELDS!" without noting the window's now open and the fluorescent lights just got turned on.

Oh, quick note... SCIENTIFICALLY, there is some evidence to show that in a place with solid, high ambient electro-magnetic energy about, people COULD be hallucinating. At least, that's what Dr. Michael Persinger of Laurentian University has found... although his findings are being questioned. None-the-less, the "ghost hunters" getting excited about the high EM fields at the haunt they're investigating assuming it's "proof of ghosts" could be proving it's "proof that everyone's hallucinating"!

OUR only caveat is... if you use scientific equipment, LEARN to use it properly to find out SIGNIFICANT data... I also recommend going to a "science store" (not a "ghost hunters store") to buy and ask about this type of equipment... the reason I say this is when I first posted this note many moons ago, a "ghost hunter store" literally tried to bribe me to remove the report... the truth would be bad for business, I guess.

Posted By Matthew Didier