14 DAY TRIAL // Since scientists generally tend not to believe in anything that cannot be explained, like the supernatural happenings, some of them have embarked on the mission of proving the (non-)existence of ghosts and other Poltergeist phenomena. Believing that the source of spectral sights or other cases of abnormal presences lies in the perturbation of the human brain by external factors, such as electromagnetic fields (EMFs) or low-frequency sounds, the scientists set out to prove their theory.
Michael Persinger, a neuroscientist from the Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, thinks that electrical equipments, from power grids to clock radios, somehow affect human imagination via their generated EMFs. There was a case of a 17-year-old girl who suffered a small form of brain damage when she was born, and who claimed she was being regularly visited by the Holy Spirit at night. Next to her headboard, 10 inches (25 cm) from her head, there was a clock radio. When Persinger removed it, the visits ceased.
Relying on the same premise, a psychologist at Goldsmiths, University of London College in London, Christopher French, developed a “haunted” room, in order to test the impact of EMF and infrasound on human imagination. He had EMF pulses up to 50 microteslas, as well as infrasound waves generated in the room, and invited 79 people – previously tested in regard to their beliefs and imagination – to spend some time there. Unfortunately, the experiment couldn't prove beyond all doubt that the sightings and abnormal manifestations were linked to EMFs or infrasound.
“Most people reported at least some slightly odd sensation, such as a presence or feeling dizzy, and some reported terror, which we hadn't expected,” shared French. “People are mistaking their attribution, feeling a product of their own mental processes as something that's taking place in the real world. Anything that can lead to making your mental events more similar to events that take place – a vivid imagination, for example – will make it more difficult to distinguish between the two.” It would be funny, though, if one day a ghost would switch off the EMF-generating computer of a dazzled French, claiming it made its teeth ache.