The Haunted Brain Reports of Alleged Ghostly Activity Tell Us a Great Deal About the Innermost Workings of Our Brains
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SI_SI new design masters 7/21/11 12:57 PM Page 46 The Haunted Brain Reports of alleged ghostly activity tell us a great deal about the innermost workings of our brains. 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 ghost?” 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 ghosts, 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 paranormal 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 46 Volume 35 Issue 5 | Skeptical Inquirer SI_SI new design masters 7/21/11 12:57 PM Page 47 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 thought.” 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 Skeptical Inquirer | September / October 2011 47 SI_SI new design masters 7/21/11 12:57 PM Page 48 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.