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The Haunted Reports of alleged ghostly activity tell us a great deal about the innermost workings of our .

RICHARD WISEMAN

here is an old joke about a university lecturer who asks The palace is famous for many things: It houses invaluable works of art from his class, “Has anyone here ever seen a ?” Fifteen the Royal Collection, contains the best- Tstudents put their hands in the air. Next, the lecturer preserved medieval hall in Britain, and says, “Well, who here has touched a ghost?” This time only boasts a giant Tudor kitchen. It is also considered one of the most haunted five hands go up. Curious, the lecturer adds, “OK, has any- buildings in Britain. Various spirits al- one actually kissed a ghost?” A young man sitting in the legedly haunt the palace. There is a “lady middle of the lecture theater slowly raises his hand, looks in gray” whose walks through the cob- bled courtyards are as regular as clock- around nervously, and then asks, “I’m sorry, did you say work, a “woman in blue” who continu- ‘ghost’ or ‘goat?’” ously searches for her lost child, and a Thankfully, the results from national of a bed as people are either waking up phantom dog that lives in Wolsey’s surveys have yielded more clear-cut or drifting off to sleep. Around a third closet. However, despite stiff competi- findings. Opinion polls have consis- of Houran’s reports involve rather fleet- tion, Hampton Court’s most famous tently shown that around 30 percent of ing visual phenomena, such as quick spirit is that of Catherine Howard. people believe in , and about 15 flashes of light, odd wisps of smoke, or Henry VIII ruled Britain during the percent claim to have actually had a dark shadows that move furtively first half of the sixteenth century, but he ghostly experience (Musella 2005). around the room. Another third involve did not have a great track record when James Houran has carried out a great strange sounds, such as footsteps from it came to relationships. He cheated on deal of research into the nature of these an empty room or ghostly whispering. his first wife, beheaded his second, lost ghostly experiences. Houran is an inter- The remaining third are a mixture of his third while she was giving birth to esting fellow. During the day this mild- miscellaneous sensations, including odd his only son, and divorced his fourth. In mannered statistician works for a well- odors of flowers or cigar smoke, sensing a move that would make even the most known Internet dating site creating a ghostly presence, or feeling a cold experienced marriage counselor raise an mathematical models that help promote shiver down one’s spine. eyebrow, the forty-nine-year-old Henry compatibility. By night Houran trans- For well over a century, scientists then became infatuated with a nine- forms into a real-life ghost buster, con- have attempted to explain these strange teen-year-old courtier named Cather- ducting surveys and studies that aim to experiences. Like much of the research ine Howard. After a brief period of solve the mystery of hauntings. Fifteen into alleged phenomena, wooing, Henry married Howard, pub- years ago, he analyzed almost a thou- their work tells us a great deal about our licly declaring that she was his “rose sand ghostly experiences to discover brains, beliefs, and behavior. without a thorn.” what people report when they believe The Rose without a Thorn A few months after getting married, that they have encountered a spirit Catherine found herself very much in (Lange et al. 1996). London’s Hampton Court Palace has love. Unfortunately, the apple of her eye Houran’s work revealed that reports been home to some of Britain’s most fa- was not her husband, Henry, but rather of full-fledged apparitions are very rare. mous kings and queens. Nowadays the a young courtier named Thomas Cul - In fact, they account for only 1 percent palace is a popular historical attraction, pepper. News of their affair eventually or so of sightings; when such figures do playing host to more than half a million reached Henry, who promptly decided turn up, they usually appear at the foot visitors each year. to fetch the garden shears and remove

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the head of his beloved rose. Upon hearing the bad news, Catherine was understandably upset. She ran to Henry to plead for her life but was stopped by Royal guards and dragged back through the corridors of the palace to her apart- ments. A few months later both Thomas Culpepper and Catherine Howard were beheaded at the Tower of London. The ghost of Catherine Howard is said to haunt the corridor down which she was dragged against her will. By the turn of the last century this area of the palace had become associated with a whole host of ghostly experiences, in- cluding sightings of a “woman in white” and reports of inexplicable screams. In January 2001, a palace official tele- phoned me, explained that there had been a recent surge in Catherine- Howard-related phenomena, and won- dered whether I might be interested in investigating. Eager to use the opportu- already slimed me. I replied, “Yes. This is Day one of the investigation went nity to discover more about hauntings, I going to be a tougher investigation than badly, with several participants wander- quickly put together an experiment, as- I first .” Although said in jest, my ing into the wrong corridor and then sembled a research team, photocopied comment was to prove prophetic. wondering why the floor plan was so hundreds of blank questionnaires, loaded Prior to the experiment, I had asked wildly inaccurate. On day two, we were up my car, and headed off to the palace the palace to supply me with a floor plan joined by a woman who claimed to be for a five-day investigation (Wise man et of the corridor that would have held such the reincarnation of Catherine Howard al. 2002, 2003). unpleasant memories for Cath erine and said that she could provide a unique The palace had called a press confer- Howard. I then met with Ian Franklin, a first-person perspective on the proceed- ence to announce the start of my study, palace warder who had carefully cata- ings (“Actually, I was dragged up the attracting the attention of journalists logued a century of reports of unusual corridor, not down it”; “Not sure that from all around the world. We decided phenomena experienced by staff and vis- the new paint job in the kitchens works to make the press conference a two-part itors, whom I asked to secretly place for me,” etc.). Day four turned out to be affair, with a palace official talking about crosses on the floor plan to indicate especially interesting. The team (which the history of the haunting in the first where people had consistently reported now included the reincarnated Cath - half, a brief break, and then my good self their experiences. To avoid any possible erine Howard) assembled in the morn- describing the forthcoming investigation. bias during the investigation, neither I ing as usual and reviewed the heat sen- A palace historian kicked off the pro- nor any other member of the research sor data from the previous night. It was ceedings by telling a packed room of re- team knew which areas had been marked immediately obvious that something porters what happened when Henry met by Franklin. very strange had taken place, with the Cathy. During the day, groups of visitors graphs showing a massive spike in tem- During the brief break, I stepped out- were transformed into ghost hunters. perature around 6 AM. We eagerly re- side to get some fresh air. The strangest After hearing a brief talk about the wound the recording from the thermal thing happened: A car containing two project, each participant was handed a imager to discover whether we had tipsy teenagers drove slowly past me. blank floor plan and asked to wander caught Catherine on tape. At dead-on One of the teenagers rolled down the along the corridor and place an “X” on 6 AM the doors at one end of the corri- window and threw an egg at me. The egg the floor plan to indicate the location dor burst open, and in walked a figure. smashed on my shirt. Unable to change, of any unusual experiences that they The reincarnated Catherine Howard I tried to remove the worst of the stains might have (essentially playing a game in stantly recognized the figure as a and then returned to the press confer- of “spot the ghoul”). Each night we member of Henry VIII’s court. How - ence. A few minutes into my talk, one of would place a variety of sensors and a ever, a few seconds later the proceedings the journalists noticed the marks on my £60,000 ($100,300) heat imager in the took a decidedly more skeptical turn shirt and, assuming that it was ectoplasm, corridor in the hope of catching when we saw the figure walk over to a asked whether Catherine Howard had Catherine mid-“boo!” cupboard, re move a vacuum cleaner, and

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start to clean the carpets. Thankfully, moved, and the participant is asked to pected of them, and their experiences the data from the rest of the investiga- complete a questionnaire indicating could therefore have been due to sug- tion proved more revealing. whether he or she experienced any gestion rather than the subtle magnetic People who believed in ghosts expe- strange sensations, such as the sense of fields. To rule out this possibility in his rienced significantly more strange sen- a presence, vivid images, odd smells, own work, Granqvist had all of his par- sations than the skeptics. Interestingly, being sexually aroused, or coming face- ticipants wear Persinger’s borrowed hel- we have obtained the same pattern of to-face with God. met but ensured that the coils were findings in several investigations at other After years of experimentation, turned on for only half of the partici- supposedly haunted locations. Time and Persin ger claims that around 80 percent pants. Neither the participants nor the again those who believe in the paranor- of participants tick the “yes” box to at experimenters knew when the magnetic mal experience more ghosts than those least one of these experiences, with some fields were on and when they were off. who don’t. As I loaded my equipment even going for the “all of the above” op- The results were remarkable. Granq - back into my car and said goodbye to our tion. The study has been featured in vist discovered that the magnetic fields well-meaning but intensely annoying many science documentaries, resulting in had absolutely no effect. Three of his Catherine Howard wannabe, one ques- several presenters and journalists putting participants reported intense spiritual tion nagged away in my mind: Why? Persinger’s magic helmet on their heads experiences, but two of these were not The Machine in the Ghost in the hope of meeting their maker. For being exposed to the magnetic fields at the most part, they have not been disap- the time. Likewise, twenty-two people Neuropsychologist Michael Persinger, pointed. Psychologist , reported more subtle experiences, but of in Canada, for example, felt as if something had the coils were turned off for eleven of believes that ghostly experiences are gotten hold of her leg and dragged it up them. When Granqvist’s work was pub- caused by the brain malfunctioning the wall, followed by a sudden sense of lished in 2004, Persinger argued that the and, more controversially, that these intense anger (which is exactly how I poor showing may have been due, in sensations can be easily elicited by ap - would feel if someone took my leg and part, to the fact that the participants plying very weak magnetic fields to the dragged it up a wall). who had their helmet coils turned on were exposed to the magnetic fields for only fifteen minutes and to the fact that Granqvist ran the DOS-based software controlling the coils in Windows and The idea of electromagnetic spirits has thus possibly altered the nature of the magnetic fields. The Swedish team de- caught the imagination of the media fended their work and stood by their and public alike. However, the scientific findings. The idea of electromagnetic spirits jury is unconvinced. So has anyone has caught the imagination of the media and public alike. However, the solved the mystery of hauntings? scientific jury is unconvinced. So has anyone solved the mystery of haunt- ings? Before we delve deeper, it is time to discover more about the power of suggestion. outside of the skull (Cook and Per - All was going well with Persinger’s The Subtle Hint of Silage singer 1997, 2001). theory until a team of Swedish psychol- In a typical Persinger study, partici- ogists, led by Pehr Granqvist from Upp- In the late 1970s, sensory scientist pants are led into a laboratory and sala University, decided to carry out the Michael O’Mahony from the Univers - asked to sit in a comfortable chair. They same type of experiments (Granqvist et ity of California took the power of then have a helmet placed on their al. 2005; Larsson et al. 2005). (For addi- suggestion to new heights when he per- heads, are blindfolded, and are asked to tional information about this work, see suaded the BBC to undertake an in - relax for about forty minutes. During www.nature.com/news/2004/041206/fu genious version of his well known sen- this time several solenoids hidden in ll/news041206-10.html.) sory study during a live program the helmet generate extremely weak It all started well, with some of the (O’Mahony 1978). O’Mahony con- magnetic fields around the participant. Swedes visiting Persinger’s laboratory structed some mock scientific apparatus Sometimes these fields are focused over and even borrowing a portable version (think a large weird-looking cone, the right side of the head; at other of one of his helmets for their own masses of wires, and several oscillo- times they switch to the left, and once study. However, Granqvist became wor- scopes) and managed to keep a straight in a while they circle around the skull. ried that some of Persinger’s partici- face as he told viewers that this newly Finally the helmet and blindfold are re- pants may have known what was ex - devised “taste trap” used “Raman Spec-

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tro scopy” to transmit smells via sound. prone to more extreme sensations and ported an amazing twenty-two weird He then proudly announced that the hallucinations. events, including the inexplicable mal- stimulus would be a country smell. Un- Findings from many studies support functioning of their telephone, their fortunately, the studio audience inter- Houran’s ideas. In my own work, those name being muttered by a ghostly pres- preted his comments to mean the smell who believed in ghosts reported far more ence, and the strange movement of a of manure, resulting in a significant weird experiences than skeptics, and their souvenir voodoo mask along a shelf. amount of laughter. After clarifying sensations tended to focus on the type of Hauntings do not require genuine that they would not be broadcasting the scary-looking locations that are fre- ghosts, underground streams, low fre- smell of cow shit into people’s homes, quently featured in horror films. Al - quency sound waves, or weak magnetic the research team played a standard though these findings are encouraging, fields. Instead, all it takes is the power Dolby tuning tone for ten seconds. Just the ultimate testing of the theory in- of suggestion. as the bottles in the more pedestrian volves taking suggestible people to a Ghosts, Gods, and Goblins versions of O’Mahony’s study con- place that does not have a reputation for tained nothing but water, so the tone being haunted, making them believe that Although the of suggestion did not actually have the ability to in- it does, and seeing if they experience the accounts for many ghostly phenomena, duce smells. same kind of ghostly activity reported in there still exists one final mystery—why Viewers were then asked to contact “genuine” hauntings. Houran has con- on earth should our sophisticated brains the television station and describe their ducted several of these experiments with have evolved to detect nonexistent experiences. A few hundred viewers re- intriguing results. ghostly entities? sponded, with the majority stating that In one experiment he took over a dis- Scientists have proposed various they had detected a strong smell of hay, used theater that had absolutely no rep- theories to account for what goes bump grass, or flowers. Although they were utation for being haunted and asked two in our minds. Psychologist Jesse Bering explicitly told that the smell would not groups of people to walk around it and (2006) from the University of Arkansas be manure-related, several people men- report how they felt (Lange and Houran has suggested that both ghosts and tioned that they had detected the subtle 1997). Houran told one group that the God help forge a more honest society hint of silage. Many respondents de- scribed how the tone had brought about more dramatic symptoms, in cluding hay fever attacks, sudden bouts of sneezing, and dizziness. Hauntings do not require genuine The “Raman Spectroscopy” was sim- ply scientific mumbo-jumbo. In reality ghosts, underground streams, the experimenters were exploring how the power of suggestion can cause peo- low frequency sound waves, or weak ple to experience various smells. James Houran (of Internet dating and ghost- magnetic fields. Instead, all it takes is busting fame) also believes that sugges- tion may play a vital role in unlocking the power of suggestion. the mystery of hauntings. Houran speculated that if sug- gestible people believe that they are in a , they may experience the strange sensations typically attrib- theater was associated with ghostly ac- by convincing people that they are con- uted to ghostly activity. In addition, he tivity and the other that the building was stantly being watched. Bering and his noted that those experiences are likely simply undergoing renovation. Those in team tested their idea by carrying out a to create a feeling of fear that will cause the “this building is haunted” group re- somewhat strange experiment. In their people to become hyper-vigilant and ported all sorts of weird sensations, while study, students were asked to complete pay attention to the subtlest of signals the other group experienced nothing un- an intelligence test. The test had been (Lange and Houran 1999). They will usual. In another study, Houran asked a carefully constructed to ensure that the suddenly notice that tiny creak in the married couple living in a house that had students could cheat if they wanted to, floorboards, the swaying of the curtains, no reputation for ghostly activity to and the experimenters could secretly or a brief whiff of burning. All of this spend a month making note of any “un- monitor each person’s level of decep- will cause them to become even more usual occurrences” that they noticed in tion. Just before taking the test, a ran- afraid and therefore exhibit even their home (Houran and Lange 1996). domly selected group of students was greater hyper-vigilance. The process Re port ing the results in the paper “Diary told that the test room was apparently feeds on itself until the person starts to of Events in a Thoroughly Unhaunted haunted. As predicted by the “ghosts become highly agitated, anxious, and House,” he noted that the couple re- make people more honest” theory, the

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students who thought that they were in stories to explain the cartoon, saying, for References a haunted room were far less likely to example, that perhaps the circle was in Barrett, J.L. 2004. Why Would Anyone Believe in cheat on the test. love with the little triangle, and the big God? United Kingdom: AltaMira Press. Bering, J.M. 2006. The cognitive psychology of However, perhaps the most popular triangle was attempting to steal away the belief in the supernatural. American Scientist theory to account for the evolution of circle but the little triangle fought back, 94: 142–49. ghostly experiences concerns the “Hy - and the small triangle and circle eventu- Cook, C.M., and M.A. Persinger. 1997. Exper- imental induction of the ‘sensed presence’ in per sensitive Agency Detection De vice” ally lived happily ever after. normal subjects and an exceptional subject. (Barrett 2004). Oxford Uni versity psy- In short, people saw agency where Perceptual and Motor Skills 85: 683–93. ———. 2001. Geophysical variables and behav- chologist Justin Barrett believes that the none existed. Barrett believes that the ior: XCII. Experimental elicitation of the ex- idea of “agency”—being able to figure same concept helps explain gods, ghosts, perience of a sentient being by right hemi- out why people act the way they do—is and goblins. According to the theory, spheric, weak magnetic fields: Interaction with temporal lobe sensitivity. Perceptual and essential to our everyday interactions many people are very reluctant to think Motor Skills 92: 447–48. with one another. In fact, it is so impor- that certain events are meaningless, and Granqvist, P., M. Fredrikson, P. Unge, et al. 2005. tant that Barrett thinks the part of the they are all too eager to assume that the Sensed presence and mystical experiences are predicted by suggestibility, not by the appli- brain responsible for detecting such events are the work of invisible entities. cation of weak complex transcranial magnetic agency often goes into overdrive, causing They might, for in stance, experience an fields. Letters 379: 1–6. people to see human-like behavior in amazing stroke of good luck and assume Houran, J., and R. Lange. 1996. Diary of events in a thoroughly unhaunted house. Perceptual even the most meaningless stimuli. it is angels at work, be struck down with and Motor Skills 83: 499–502. In the 1940s, psychologists Fritz Hei- an illness and see it as evidence of de - Lange, R., and J. Houran. 1997. Context-induced paranormal experiences: Support for Houran der and Mary-Ann Simmel conducted a mons, or hear a creaking door and at - and Lange’s model of haunting phenomena. now-classic experiment that provides a tribute it to a ghostly woman in white. If Perceptual and Motor Skills 84: 1455–58. beautiful illustration of Barrett’s point. Barrett is right, ghosts are not the result ———.1999. The role of fear in delusions of the paranormal. Journal of Nervous and Mental Heider and Simmel created a short car- of superstitious thinking. Neither are Disease 187: 159–66. toon animation in which a large triangle, they spirits returning from the dead. In- Lange, R., J. Houran, T.M. Harte, et al. 1996. a small triangle, and a circle moved in stead, they are simply the price we pay for Contextual mediation of perceptions in hauntings and -like experiences. and out of a box. They then showed the having remarkable brains that can effort- Perceptual and Motor Skills 82: 755–62. meaningless cartoon to people and asked lessly figure out why other people behave Larsson, M., D. Larhammar, M. Fredrikson, et al. 2005. Reply to M.A. Persinger and S.A. them to describe what was happening. the way they do. As such, ghosts are an Koren’s response to Granqvist et al. ‘Sensed Most people instantly created elaborate essential part of our everyday lives. presence and mystical experiences are pre- dicted by suggestibility, not by the application of transcranial weak magnetic fields.’ Neuro- science Letters 380: 348–50. On Publishing Paranormality Musella, D.P. 2005. Gallup poll shows that Americans’ belief in the paranormal persists. SKEPTICAL INQUIRER 29(5): 5. All of my previous books have been produced by large American publishing O’Mahony, M. 1978. Smell illusions and sugges- houses. However, when it came to my new book, tion: Reports of smells contingent on tones Paranormality (www.paranormalitybook.com), the sit- played on television and radio. Chemical Senses and Flavour 3: 183–89. uation was different. Many major publishers were Wiseman, R., C. Watt, E. Greening, et al. 2002. convinced that there simply isn’t a market for a skep- An investigation into the alleged haunting of tical book about the paranormal. When no serious of- Hampton Court Palace: Psychological vari- ables and magnetic fields. Journal of Para - fers came forward, I decided to take a bold step. I will psychology 66(4): 387–408. publish the unashamedly skeptical Paranormality as Wiseman, R., C. Watt, P. Stevens, et al. 2003. An an e-book in America and have my U.K. publisher investigation into alleged “hauntings.” The British Journal of Psychology 94: 195–211 ship physical copies of the British book to the United States. It is a daring experiment, and I have no idea is the how it will work out. I don’t have the large-market professor of the public understanding of psy- budget and connections of a large publishing house. chology at the University However, I hope that I will have the support of the of Hertfordshire, United skeptical movement and anyone else who cares about science. Psychic hot- Kingdom. He is a fellow lines and television shows are a multi-million dollar business. Many people of the Committee for do not want the American public to read books like Paranormality. For that Skeptical Inquiry and a reason alone, I believe that they deserve the largest audience possible. SKEPTICAL INQUIRER consult- ing editor. His latest book, Paranormality, was published in the United States in July.

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