THE COMMON CHARACTERISTICS OF A GHOST ENCOUNTER By RANDY POWER Integrated Studies Project submitted to Reinekke Lengelle in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts – Integrated Studies Athabasca, Alberta August, 2007 Abstract The primary goal of this endeavor was to research some of the common elements of a ghost encounter (GE). The topics covered include: electronic voice phenomena (EVP), ghosts appearing in photographs, the ‘cold spot’, psychoactive drug induced encounters with the paranormal, emotional state of the witness, haunted buildings, and memorates or first-person retellings of a GE. I have taken a grounded theory approach throughout my study which allowed me to be lead by the research as opposed to focusing steadfast on any one area. In this essay evidence from academic journals published by various experts in the fields of parapsychology and paranormal research is provided. I have avoided the more mainstream or pop-culture oriented books simply because most of these authors have not demonstrated rigorous enough inquiry into the subject. The academic journals will be complemented by the experiences recounted by close friends whom I interviewed. As opposed to proving the existence of ghosts I feel I have accumulated a repertoire of common characteristics of a GE; thereby substantiating the possible existence of such an experience. It is my hope that by bringing to light the characteristics of this experience further research may be undertaken in this area. Things that go ‘bump in the night’ have plagued and excited humankind throughout history. While scientists have become far more adept at explaining previously unexplained phenomena (i.e. like Haley’s comet, which in earlier times might have been viewed by people as an apparition or spiritual ‘sign’) they have not been able to explain away so-called paranormal phenomena – like that of the ghost encounter (GE). However researchers have been able to find common characteristics associated with the GE and this paper intends to describe each of these in depth and provide examples. There are many unexpected phenomena that have not been explained by scientists. For instance, the persistent reports of objects in our sky, such as UFOs, or the presence of spectral entities1 in old buildings continue to defy explanation based on science2 (Butler, 2002, p. 215). People from all over the world have reported encounters with ‘ghosts’ or reported bizarre and terrifying experiences that many claim are linked to those who have gone before. Yet, it is a leap of faith for many of us to say that such seemingly common events like hearing inexplicable voices and seeing shadowy forms may be caused by ‘spirits’. Todd Shy (2007), a book reviewer and critic of paranormal research, says: “People still believe in ghosts, of course, and most of us, if pressed, would confess to experiencing the uncanny. Coincidences accumulate a little too frequently; our dreams seem smarter than our waking worlds; we feel acted upon by things we can’t explain” (p.36). In 2005 a Gallup poll was released which stated that three in four Americans believe in the paranormal. This statistic has changed little since 2001 where 38% of Americans believed in the paranormal. In 1998 a MORI poll was conducted which showed that 13% 1 For the purpose of this paper a spectral entity or specter is synonymous with ghost or apparition. 2 The term “paranormal” refers to anything beyond the normal scope of scientific explanation and therefore not possible to explain using current scientific laws. Ghosts and unidentified flying objects (UFOs) fall into the category of the paranormal. of Americans reported having an encounter with a ghost (MORI, 1998). While many of these supposed encounters and experiences have proven to be artifacts of our everyday technology or to simply originate from such mundane sources as solar activity or distant lightening, many have remained unexplained. For example, lightening can make lights flicker which could also be misinterpreted as being caused by a playful spirit.3 It is not my goal to try and figure out exactly what the unexplained occurrences are, but rather to make a summary of what many of these experiences have in common and to give examples of what has been reported about these encounters, using information from both the literature as well as from personal experience and from private conversations. Although I am aware that the latter sources constitute anecdotal evidence, my reports will be substantiated by the work done by experts in this field. Cold spots, electronic voice phenomenon, photographs of spirits, and actual hauntings are the characteristics of a GE I will attempt to explain. In addition, I will be looking at how drugs may induce a GE, as well as the emotional states of witnesses prior to a ghost encounter. It is debated whether or not the ghost encounter is actually a confrontation with a once living person or of some other origin, such as a hallucination or dream. Evidence from the article, “Electronic Voice Phenomena: A Tool for Validating Personal Survival”, from The Journal of Religion and Psychical Research suggests that the GE does exist and originates from some form of intelligence. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine that the events described below could have occurred without some kind of intelligent 3 Such playful or childlike paranormal occurrences, such as lights flickering on and off and cupboard doors suddenly flying open, have been attributed to a particular class of entity – the poltergeist. communication fueling the event4. Whether or not this intelligence was once of human origin is more of a battle of belief than fact; one would have to question whether or not our living intelligence is carried over to the spirit world. EVP is a scientific, technology-based, method for recording the sounds of entities. A definition of entity is an energy-bound form of an intelligent being; for the purpose of this study I will say that the intelligent being was once a human being. EVP stands for electronic voice phenomena whereby one uses a microphone, a means of recording, and a computer program with the ability to segregate noise variants, such as background, foreground, and sound which does not register in the range of normal human hearing - anyone can record these unknown voices. Tom Butler, in his article “Electronic Voice Phenomenon: A Tool for Validating Personal Survival”, claims that when someone conducts an EVP experiment there are a set of common characteristics that emerge. First, EVP has a distinctive frequency and volume merged within the background sound. Second, EVP are complete words or phrases lasting approximately two seconds in length and which are not truncated at the beginning or end. Third, EVP are always in the language of the experimenter. For example, Alexander McRae, a leading EVP researcher, has conducted experiments in a place which has only Spanish radio and television stations yet when his recordings are examined it is found that the EVPs are in English, which happens to be his native tongue. This is especially intriguing and might serve as evidence that no matter the situation, an entity is trying to communicate with the one observing the phenomena. This might convince even the most stalwart critic of ghost encounters or it could give those critics reason to believe that the observer is in some way 4 In cases of EVP there are recordings of answers to specific questions and personalities which I believe must come from an intelligent source. influencing the results. Fourth, EVP are appropriate to the circumstance, for example there are numerous cases where a direct response to an observers question has been reported. Finally, EVP experimentation have been known to produce the voices of deceased loved ones (Butler, 2002, p.216). The EVP experience proves to the believer that ghosts can be recorded no matter how elusive they may be; however to the skeptic it proves little more than the ability to record low-frequency radio noise. Regardless, without the use of modern technology the EVP experience would never be known. Afore mentioned research has shown that each EVP tie the researcher to the environment or “circumstance” in which it is confronted. Before moving on, an interesting hypothesis for EVP has been suggested by Butler. He states that there are many levels of energy and reality. There is the physical form which has become our ‘reality’; however there are also levels of ‘life’ which go beyond the physical. “Physical death is when a Self transitions out of a physical lifetime into a nonphysical lifetime” (Butler, 2002, p. 223). The Self is considered the consciousness and personality of the person which does not die with the physical body, but continues to live on a different level of reality in energy form. Another characteristic of a ghost encounter is the phenomenon of ghosts appearing on photographs. I have found that photographs play a very important role in exploring spirit phenomena. While doing a study of ghost encounters at Memorial University I had the opportunity to interview a childhood friend. For the purposes of this retelling I will call him Dave. He claimed to live in a house haunted by his grandmother. He claimed that his grandfather had murdered his grandmother by shooting her in the head with a shotgun. One Christmas, when Dave was still a child, he and his family were opening gifts around the tree and had stopped the frolicking long enough to pose for a family picture. Dave was holding a favored toy and the dog was sitting in front of the family. When the picture was finally developed, the background showed an image of the deceased grandmother wearing the nightgown she had been murdered in – her head was missing.