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Home , Ectoplasm (paranormal), Ed and Lorraine Warren, Grant Wilson

INVESTIGATIVE FILES

Ghost Hunters

elief that spirits of the dead exist and can appear to the living is Bboth ancient and widespread, yet the actual study of ghostly phenomena has largely been lacking. So-called “inves- tigation” has ranged from mere collecting of tales to the use of “” impressions to a pseudoscientific reliance on technology applied in a questionable fashion. Real science has largely been ignored.

Collecting Tales What passed for investigation in earlier times is illustrated by a “true” ghost story related by Pliny the Younger (ca. 100 a.d.). It has been “regarded as the first investigated ghost story” (Finucane 2001).

A hearsay tale, already a century old when Figure 1. investigator Vaughn Rees mimics ghost hunters, demonstrating how not to find a ghost. Pliny told it, it involved a house in Athens (Photo courtesy of Vaughn Rees.) haunted by the specter of an emaciated, Victoria’s reign represent not beings of a slamming door might have been caused fettered man. It rattled its chains at night that other world, but of this. and brought disease and death to visitors. by a draft or may have been a prank). Undaunted, however, a stoic philosopher Even in a given era, seem to Uncritical collections of ghost tales— named Atheno dorus bought the house, behave according to individual expecta- rife with weaselly phrases like “is said tried first to ignore the beckoning phan- tions, being as likely to walk through a to be” and “some believe that” (e.g., tom, then calmly followed it into the wall as to knock on a door before entering Hauck 1996, 1, 12)—are ubiquitous. garden where it vanished. The next day he (Finucane 1984, 223). They include Dennis William Hauck’s had local officials dig at the site where they While collecting ghost stories can be Haunted Places: The National Directory found a skeleton in rusty chains. After a helpful in showing just such trends, much (1996) and The International Directory proper burial which appeased the ghost, that is claimed as the “investigation” of of Haunted Places (2000), as well as a the haunting ceased. hauntings never rises above mere mystery hundred or so books by “ghost hunter” But Pliny’s tale is as suspect as it mongering. Necessarily there is a reli- Hans Holzer alone. is dated, with its motifs of clanking ance on anecdotal, eyewitness testimony. The ‘Psychic’ Method chains, malevolent atmosphere, and ritual Moreover, accounts may be exaggerated appeasement. Over time, people’s notions and are frequently offered with the impli- Actually, Hans Holzer sometimes goes of ghosts and hauntings have continually cation that the “unexplainable” phenom- beyond mere story relating, relying on changed. According to R.C. Finucane, in ena are proof of the reality of spirits. alleged contact with the realm. his Appearances of the Dead: A Cultural Actually, such a view is an example of a Belief in such contact is called spiritu- History of Ghosts (1984, 223): logical fallacy called arguing from igno- alism, and it is as ancient as the Old Each epoch has perceived its specters rance (“we don’t know what caused the Testament’s Witch of Endor who pur- according to specific sets of expecta- door to slam, therefore it was a ghost”). portedly conjured up the ghost of Samuel tions; as these change so too do the One cannot draw a conclusion from a is CSICOP’s Senior Research specters. From this point of view it is lack of knowledge. Besides, an event may clear that the suffering souls of purga- Fellow and author of numerous investi- tory in the days of Aquinas, the shades not be unexplainable at all, only unex- gative books. of a murdered mistress in Charles plained, possibly later being solved (e.g., II’s era, and the silent grey ladies of

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER September / October 2006 23 at the request of King Saul (1 Sam. couple, , who confessed to police that he had fondled 28:7–20). Modern began in operate something they call the New the girls as they slept. He used drugs and 1848 at Hydesville, , when two England Society for Psychic Research. was diagnosed as schizophrenic (Nickell young girls, Maggie and Katie Fox, pre- Ed, the director, has a business card that 1995, 133–139). tended to communicate with the ghost bills him as a “Demonologist.” Lorraine, While there is no convincing evidence of a murdered peddler. Although four sporting a bouffant hairdo, claims to be that demons were at work in the house, decades later they confessed how their a “clairvoyant.” They have been called the arrival of the Warrens, with their “spirit rappings” had been faked, in the other things, ranging from “passionate publicity-seeking actions, convinced some meantime spiritualism had spread across and religious people” and “ghost hunters” people otherwise. Their book—written by the United States and beyond. to “scaremongers” and other appellations, a professional horror-tale writer and timed Interest in spiritualism inspired ghost including “charlatans” (Duckett 1991). for Halloween release and promotion— hunting. The first organization devoted The Warrens’ usual modus operandi was a travesty. It represented the worst of to the cause was a ghost society formed has them arriving at a “haunted” house the “psychic” approach to . at Cambridge University in 1851. It was where ghost and hijinks As such evidence demonstrates— followed by London’s Ghost Club in are blown into incredible accounts of whether alleged claim to enter 1862, the Society for Psychical Research “.” Soon the horrific a “trance” state, like Holzer’s favorite (SPR) in 1882, and an American counter- tales become chapters or entire books mediums, Ethel Meyers and Sybil Leek part (ASPR) in 1885. Such organizations touting the Warrens’ “cases,” such as the (Holzer 1991, 24, 36), or whether they attracted both scientists and spiritualists, Amityville “horror,” (Amityville, New rely on “channeling tools” such as a many hoping to unite science and reli- York, 1975–1976) and the Snedeker fam- board, rod, or psychic pendu- gion by validating spiritualist phenomena ily haunting (Southington, Connecticut, lum as others prefer (Belanger 2005, (Guiley 200, 6–7, 151–153, 353–354). 1986–1988). 17)—psychics have a poor track record. Out of that tradition comes Holzer, In the latter case, in addition to They typically offer unsubstantiated, even who terms himself a parapsychologist. In Lorraine Warren, “psychics” brought unverifiable claims, or information that his book America’s Haunted Houses he into the house (a former funeral home) can be gleaned from research sources or relates his “investigation” of Ringwood included a Warren grandson and a from knowledgeable persons by “cold Manor in northern New Jersey. Holzer nephew. They were soon reporting their reading” (an artful method of fishing for arrived at Ringwood with “psychic” Ethel own sightings of ghosts and other phe- information). Alternatively, the psychic Meyers in tow, a dubious choice given her nomena, while also denying that there may simply make a number of pro- involvement in the “Amityville Horror” was any book deal in progress. In fact, nouncements, trusting that the credulous case wherein she failed to realize it was a such a book did materialize (Warren and will count the apparent hits and ignore, or hoax. She supposedly made contact with Warren et al. 1992). interpret appropriately, the misses. former servants of Ringwood, saying that Alas, when I appeared on the pre-Hal- Still, not all such offerings are insin- one, “Jeremiah,” had “complained bit- loween 1992 Sally Jessy Raphael show cere. Those who fancy themselves psy- terly about his mistress,” a Mrs. Erskine. with the Warrens and Snedekers, I began chics may exhibit traits associated with However, the curator of Ringwood told an investigation that would thoroughly a “fantasy-prone” personality—a desig- me he doubted the house was haunted, demolish the case (although it was hyped nation for an otherwise normal person’s and disparaged the notion that Mrs. again later with a made-for-TV movie). heightened propensity to fantasize. Some Erskine mistreated any servant—whether “Neighbors of the Snedeker” came on the field research I have done shows a correla- “Jere miah” or not. He observed that the Sally show to debunk many of the claims. tion between the number and intensity present house was never seen by her, One was an across-the-street resident, of ghostly experiences on the one hand and “isn’t even near the location of the Kathy Altemus, who had kept a journal and the number of exhibited traits associ- original house!” (Prol 1993) Thus when during the events and shared it with me ated with fantasy-proneness on the other Holzer writes, “The center of the haunt- when I subsequently visited Southington. (Nickell 2000). ings seems to be what was once the area The journal shed light on the ghostly of Mrs. Erskine’s bedroom” (Holzer 1991, occurrences. For example, “vibrations” Ghostbusters 125), he betrays an utter lack of historical felt in in the house were easily explained With the resurgence of spiritualism in the credibility. by the passing of heavy trucks. Other mid-nineteenth century, mediums sought Holzer, while a prolific mystery mon- events could perhaps be attributed to vari- to prove the existence of spirits through ger, is not the worst such offender. He ous passersby mentioned in the journal as certain physical phenomena. Allegedly in observes: “Amateur ‘investigators’ can do “pulling pranks on the ‘’” dark-room séances, spirits materialized, more damage than good at times, “espe- (Altemus 1988–92). Certain other inci- spoke, wrote messages on slates, posed cially when they travel as ‘demonologists’ dents—including visiting nieces being for photographs, and produced apports looking for demons and devils as the groped by “an unseen hand”—turned out (teleported objects)—or so it appeared. cause of ” (Holzer 1991, 7). to have been caused by the Snedekers’ son Magician (1874–1926) He could be referring to an elderly “Steven” (as he is called in the book). He spent his last years crusading against such

24 Volume 30, Issue 5 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER phony spirit tricks (Nickell 1995, 17–38). effective—is sheer . and gelatin, etc. (Guiley 2000, 116–117). One of the first to use “modern tech- Space permits only a brief overview Ghost hunters have seized on nology” for ghost hunting was England’s of their alleged findings and the equip- as a pseudo explanation for various strand (1881–1948). Marrying a ment involved. and mist effects in photos. Such effects wealthy heiress, he was able to indulge Ghost photos. The earliest photographs can be caused by the flash rebounding his interests in spiritualism and psychi- —daguerreotype (from 1839), ambrotypes from the camera’s wrist strap, jewelry, cal research. A member of the SPR, he (1855) and tintypes (1856)—did not show hair, insects, a wandering fingertip, etc., became disgruntled with the society’s ghosts. However, following the advent of etc. (Nickell 1996; 2002). Or they may of physical phenomena and set glass-plate negatives, which permitted dou- be due to other glitches. up his own research laboratory. ble exposures, in 1862 a Boston engraver Spirit . In addition to photogra- For ghost hunting, Price employed named William H. Mumler began to phy, ghost hunters search for their elusive such devices as a camera with infra- produce “spirit” photos. He was revealed a quarry with a panoply of devices, nota- red filter and film, a remote-control fraud when some of his spirit “extras” were bly electromagnetic field (EMF) meters. motion-picture camera, “a sensitive recognized as living Bostonians. Various These are highly sensitive and—depend- transmitting thermograph, with charts, means of faking ghost photos followed. As ing on the model—can be influenced to measure the slightest variation in tem- well, unintended ghostly effects have been by a number of very real energy sources, perature in supposed haunted rooms,” caused by imperfections in film or camera including faulty electric wiring, inadver- and an electric signaling instrument to or by conditions under which the photo tently magnetized objects (such as a metal reveal the “movement of any object in was made (Nickell 1994, 146–159). Some bed frame), radio waves, microwave emis- any part of the house” (Price 1940, 6–7). “ghosts” are only simulacra—faces or other sions, solar activity, electrical thunder- Despite his gadgets, Price still was shapes perceived due to the mind’s ten- storms, and many other influences—even unable to prove the reality of ghosts. dency to “recognize” images in random the human body! Watching hapless ghost Worse, he “is suspected of fraud in con- patterns (Nickell 2004). hunters on TV crocumentaries, one often nection with several of his investigations, Orbs. Typically unwitnessed but sees them operating EMF meters while including the most famous one, the Borley showing up in photographs—especially holding them in the hand and moving Rectory haunting” (Guiley 2000, 299), flash photos—orbs are bright spheres about—a sure recipe for “unexplained” which he wrote about in his The Most touted as “spirit energy” (Belanger 2005, (to them) fluctuations. See figure 1. Haunted House in England (1940). (For 342). In fact however, orbs are easily made Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP). a discussion, see Dingwall et al. 1956.) anywhere (as I have done in experimental Following the nineteenth-century at- Ghost hunting began to be popular photographs). When they are not mere tempts to amplify spirit voices with tin in the late 1970s with the founding reflections from shiny surfaces, they most trumpets, Thomas A. Edison suggested of the Chicago-area Ghost Tracker’s often result from the flash rebounding it might be possible to make an elec- Club. It became the Ghost Research from particles of dust or droplets of water tronic device that permitted spirit com- Society (GRS) in 1981, being headed close to the lens (Nickell 2002). The munication (Gardner 1996). That never the following year by Dale Kaczmarek, characteristics of orbs can vary, depend- materialized, but today’s ghost hunters a former Army chaplain’s assistant ing on how they are photographed. Orbs make audiotape recordings of what they turned grocery-distribution employee. are more likely to be caused by cameras believe are “voices of the dead.” These According to The Encyclopedia of having the flash located close to the lens, are unheard during taping but are mani- Ghosts and Spirits (Guiley 2000, 157), according to Fujifilm (What’s 2006). fested on playback. Skeptics contend they “most GRS members, including Kacz- Also, digital cameras, having a greater are either voices from radio, television, marek, have seen enough unexplained depth of field, may be a more frequent or two-way radio transmissions, or that phenomena to conclude that ghosts offender (Orbs 2006). Respond ing to the they are imagined. Like visual simulacra, do exist and that there is survival after evidence, some ghost hunters now claim syllable-like effects may be perceived in death”—a typical example of arguing to be able to differentiate “genuine” ghost the randomness of static and background from ignorance. orbs from “false orbs” (Guiley 2000, noise (Guiley 2000, 120–121; Flynn The popularity of the Ghostbusters 270), while still being unable to prove the 2006). movie of 1984 may have boosted the existence of the former. Cold spots. Ghost buffs tout tem- proliferation of ghost clubs. Some include Ectoplasm. Ghost hunters often tout perature fluctuations and “cold spots” as psychics and dowsers, but virtually all the existence of “ectoplasm”—originally evidence a house is haunted. Supposedly, utilize high-tech equipment for the sup- a substance supposedly extruded from they indicate areas where ghosts reside, posed detection of ghostly “energy.” the body of a medium. It was shown and in the past they were picked by Unfortunately, that is un known to in photographs, extending umbilical-like alleged psychics. To counter the inherent science, and the approach of the typi- from the medium’s mouth, nose, or ears, subjectivity of such an approach (a spooky cal ghost hunter—a nonscientist using but again and again it was revealed to place may give one “cold chills”), modern equipment for a purpose for which it was have been faked with strips of gauze, ghost hunters employ heat sensors, such not made and has not been shown to be chewed-up paper, concoctions of soap as digital thermal scanners which mea-

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER September / October 2006 25 sure instant temperature changes. The cause when all natural explanations have Psychics & Other Mysteries. Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus Books. practice persists despite a lack of scientific been decisively eliminated. Investigation Belanger, Jeff. 2005. Encyclopedia of Haunted evidence or theory to support equating seeks neither to foster nor debunk myster- Places: Ghostly Locales from Around the the temperature with ghosts and the fact ies but instead to solve them. World. Franklin Lakes, N.J.: New Page Books. Dingwall, Eric J., Kathleen M. Goldney, and that temperatures can vary throughout a This approach can involve scholarly Trevor H. Hall. 1956. The Haunting of Burley building due to normal causes (Warren methods (such as historical research and Rectory. London: Gerald Duckworth & Co. 2003, 171–172; Guiley 2000, 155; Baker folkloristic analysis) as well as scientific Duckett, Jodi. 1991. News item in The Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.), cited in Nickell 1991, 1992, 123). techniques like those used in crime-scene 65–66. The pseudoscientific approach is pre- investigation. Indeed, in pursuing the Finucane, R.C. 1984. Appearances of the Dead: sented—one might almost say carica- Atlanta House of Blood mystery of 1987, A Cultural History of Ghosts. Buffalo, N.Y.: tured—by a ghostly reality show airing Prometheus Books. I learned that after the suburban home ———. 2001. Historical introduction, in Houran weekly on the Sci-Fi Channel. Called was reported to spurt blood “like a sprin- and Lange 2001. Ghost Hunters, it features two hap- kler,” police had taken samples and made Flynn, Thomas. 2006. Personal communication, less paranormalists—Jason Hewes and January 12. photographs. I was able to have the latter Gardner, Martin. 1996. Thomas Edison, para- Grant Wilson—who, by day, are Roto subjected to blood-pattern analysis. It normalist. SKEPTICAL INQUIRER 20:4 (July/ Rooter plumbers in New Jersey, and, by revealed that the blood had not sprung August), 9–12. night, leaders of The Atlantic Paranormal Guiley, Rosemary Ellen. 2000. The Encyclopedia from the floors and walls as alleged by the of Ghosts and Spirits, 2nd ed. New York: Society (TAPS). With some skepticism to residents but indeed had been squirted Checkmark Books. enhance overall credibility (a token non- onto the surfaces—indicating a hoax Hauck, Dennis William. 1996. Haunted Places: believer on each show), the duo present The National Directory. New York: Penguin. (Nickell 1995, 92–97). ———. 2000. The International Directory of “evidence” for alleged hauntings. Another hoax was uncovered by sim- Haunted Places. New York: Penguin. Apparently ignoring my debunking ple interrogation. This was an Indiana Hibbard, James. 2005. In search of ghost stories. of the “haunted” in case I investigated with my friend and Television Week, August 22; 1, 19. Louisiana (Nickell 2003), they visited the Holzer, Hans. 1991. America’s Haunted Houses. colleague the late A. Baker, famed Stamford, Conn.: Longmeadow Press. site for their second-season premier, July psychologist and inveterate ghostbuster. Houran, James, and Rense Lange. 2001. Hauntings 27, 2005. Among their presentations was The subject, a little boy questioned by and : Multidisciplinary Perspectives. a video sequence of a lamp gliding across Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 9–17. Baker, soon blurted out, “You aren’t Nickell, Joe. 1994. Camera Clues: A Handbook a table in the plantation’s “slave shack.” going to tell on me are you?” (The answer for Photographic Investigation. Lexington, Ky.: Many viewers were outraged, according was no, and the matter was handled dip- University Press of Kentucky. to Television Week (Hibbard 2005, 19): ———. 1995. Entities: Angels, Spirits, Demons, lomatically; see Nickell 2001, 219.) and other Alien Beings. Amherst, N.Y.: Upon close inspection, fans concluded, On-site investigation solved my first Prometheus Books. the lamp was being pulled by its own haunting case, that of the Mackenzie ———1996. Ghost photos. SKEPTICAL INQUIRER 20:4 (July/August), 13–14. cord. Even worse: a night-vision shot House in Toronto in 1972. Caretakers appears to show the cord extending ———. 2000. Haunted inns. SKEPTICAL INQUIRER from behind the table to Mr. Wilson’s abed late at night really were hearing 24:5 (September/October), 17–21. hand. And the so-called slave shack, footsteps on the stairs when there was no ———. 2001. Phantoms, frauds or fantasies? In Internet researchers said, was built Houran and Lange 2001, 214–223. one else in the house. But the footfalls ———. 2002. Circular reasoning: The “mys- recently and never housed slaves. were coming from a parallel iron stair- tery” of crop circles and their “orbs” of light. A Sci-Fi programming executive said case in the adjacent building (Nickell SKEPTICAL INQUIRER 26:5 (September/ October), 17–19. lamely, “It’s definitely important to us 2001, 217). ———. 2003. Haunted plantation. SKEPTICAL that this show is not manufacturing any- As shown by these and other closed INQUIRER 27:5 (September/October), 12–15. thing, and our assurance comes from cases (I call them “ex-files”), it is the ———. 2004. Rorschach icons. SKEPTICAL INQUIRER 28:6 (November/December), 15–17. those doing that show, because it’s even scientific approach that solves mysteries. Orbs—the skeptical approach. 2006. Online at more important to them—Jason and Indeed, we could see the advance of sci- http://www.btinternet.com/~dr _paul_lee/ Grant’s reputations are riding on this ence as a progression of solved mysteries. orbs.htm; accessed Jan. 17. more than anybody’s.” He added, “I Pliny the Younger. Ca. 100. Letters, tr. William Acknowledgments Melmoth (in Harvard Classics series), letter believe the show is real and I’m the big- LXXXIII; available at www.fordham.edu/ gest skeptic, out there.” Vaughn Rees, Thomas Flynn, and Timothy halsall/ancient/pliny-letters.html; accessed Dec. Binga were critical in helping me research 28, 2005. Scientific Investigation and evaluate many of the claims addressed Price, Harry. 1940. The Most Haunted House in in this article. England: Ten Years’ Investigation of Borley The scientific approach to hauntings does Rectory. London: Longmans, Green and Co. not begin with the unproven, seemingly Prol, Elbertus. 1993. Interview by Joe Nickell, June 12. References Warren, Joshua P. 2003. How to Hunt Ghosts. contradictory notion that entities are at Altemus, Kathy. 1988–92. Personal journal, copy New York: Simon & Schuster. once nonmaterial and quasi physical. provided to Joe Nickell, with cover letter of Warren, Ed, and Lorraine Warren, Al Snedeker, Rather, in scientific inquiry one seeks to January 16. Carmen Snedeker, with Ray Garton. 1992. In Baker, Robert A. 1992. Investigating Ghosts. . . . a Dark Place: The Story of a True Haunting. gather, study, and follow the evidence, Chapter 4 of Baker and Nickell 1992, 113–151. New York: Villard Books. only positing a or paranormal Baker, Robert A., and Joe Nickell. 1992. Missing What’s gone wrong? 2006. Online at http://home. Pieces: How to Investigate Ghosts, UFOs, fujifilm.com/products/digital/shooting/flash.

26 Volume 30, Issue 5 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER