The Science of Ghosts | Earth Science

Have you ever seen a ghost or experienced something paranormal? Greg Foot takes a look at what science has to say about ghosts.

Footnotes
2 Wiseman, Richard. (2011). Paranormality: Why We see What Isn't There. Macmillan. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-230-75298-6

[beers]

My favorite spoof was when I was sitting at my computer and my cup slid over a foot towards me. My computer desk is glass and I guess it's slightly off tilt towards me. The condensation that built up around and under my cup caused it to slide. It took me quite some time to figure out what was happening because it happened so rarely. It freaked me out the first time lol

[cupcakelolita]

I can tickle my own feet but it's 300x worse if someone else does it.

[kapitolking]

I got into ghost hunting about 5 years ago. I have experienced things so unexplainable with multiple people its hard to chalk it up to sound waves. The one thing I have always wanted to see is a scientist go along with a crew for a few sessions to explain some of what happens.

[monstermetalmachine]

Most of my ghost encounters have been in my most awake moments. If I wake up in the middle of the night, I’m just tired and I could care less if there was a ghost in there with me.

[josephthompson]

I tend towards skepticism when it comes to the supernatural, but I've seen some pretty weird shit. Personally, I don't think science is equipped to explain *everything* simply because everyone has their own bias.

[IEnjoyBeans]

Im really confused on why we get bored? i recently became bored and decided, 'lets ask brit lab'.

[wamblecropt]

Sleep paralysis is the single most unsettling thing I've ever experienced. At the same time though, I look forward to it as it's just so damn fascinating in that moment.

[DCojo]

We still can't explain dreams though, and that encompasses sleep paralysis. Some dreams or sleep paralysis experiences are hyperrealistic and sometimes have an affect on the real world in some form or another. Example: My friend saw a shadow-like child at the end of her bed with glowing red eyes that would giggle and tug at her feet during sleep paralysis. She then saw it stop; run away; and knock a bottle off of her table while proceeding to stomp down the stairs. Of course this is anecdotal evidence but when you hear enough of these stories and have experienced them yourself you begin to realize that we know nothing about dreams and their impact on the real world. For this reason I personally believe these experiences fall under the paranormal (beyond normal) category and is still very much under question.

[gordonlawrence]

There are two things I have found almost every time. Castle towers are built in similar but much larger proportions to a flute. The "natural resonant frequency" is pretty much always infrasound type frequencies. The other is a bit less obvious. Many castles are built on top of a bedrock of some sort. Many have fissures in the rock that organic matter can fall into. This can break down and produce measurable quantities of xylene gas which is both toxic and hallucinogenic. That's why castles exhibit "ghost" activity on either windy nights or exceptionally still nights but never ones with a light breeze.

[pissedhulk]

when there's something strange in the neighborhood, who you gonna call? scientists :)

[skelbyoof]

Please explain why the pictures on my walls fly off directly towards my head next

[sparkitup]

I experienced sleep paralysis 1 year ago. I was woken up by a figure who I thought was my roommate after hearing door open and close. I gave the figure a handshake, thought my roommate was taking to me, that figure leaves. I hear door close an go back to sleep. I wake up what I thought was a hour later from the door opening a closing again. This time when I woke up I seen the same figure who I thought was my roommate again, the figure was saying something to me, but I couldn't speak or move. Next day I go to my roommates barbershop to ask what did he wake me up for and tell me. He said he never was home, he slept over his girlfriend place. I was completed confused.

[KINDALIKEOF]

There's an expression for sleep paralysis phenomena in Korea. We call it "being pressed by scissors". Mostly people see a human like figure approaching them(or crawling on their bodies) while they can't move. A trick to escape the situation is to concentrate your strength on a tiny part of your body like a finger or toes.

I've gotten to be a non-believer in souls after reading some neuroscience books. It robbed me of some fantasies but it also freed me of unreasonable fears like encountering scary ghosts.

I think humans are hard-wired to think there's a soul that can last even after a body is dead. That can be overcome through education and that's important, I think, when we're facing with new moral challenges such as euthanasia, AI and so on brought up by ever advancing science knowledge and technologies.

[taojingwu]

I once awoke in the middle of the night terrified because there was a warm weight on my face and it was difficult to breathe. Turns out that my cat managed to open my door and decided that my face was a great place to sleep on. My only ghostly experience

[jeremyj.]

4:35 You assholes, I nearly spilt my cereal.

[devilhunterred]

I have had first hand experience of sleep paralysis once. I knew exactly what was going on scientifically, but it was still very scary.

[Knightimex]

Scientists: Ghosts are not real!
The curious: Why not visit sites where others have experienced them?
Scientists: Because that makes too much sense.

[thomashan]

My friend freaked out for a year by feeling of presence. Later she claimed she even hears voices and sometimes being chocked.
Turns out there’s CO leak in her house.

[arnotown]

I had an interesting experience with sleep paralysis. Prior to the experience, I was already aware of the sceince behind sleep paralysis and have had past experiences of it, as well. Most of the hallucinations I get aren't visual, instead it's more auditory. So here's what happened:

One night, I was having a very happy dream where me and other people were celebrating some occassion, like a birthday. Then I had sleep paralysis. I couldn't move, it felt difficult to breathe, and my mind was conscious. And because I was half asleep, and I felt fear that I couldn't move (despite the awareness), and because my brain wanted me to wake up, the sounds of people cheering and laughing quickly turned into sounds of women wailing and crying. It was creepy. But I immediately knew what was happening to me. I was aware this was sleep paralysis and that the sounds of women crying were nothing more than just hallucinations. Because of that, it took away my fear of it. So I steadied my breathing and waited patiently, because I knew I was going to wake up any second now. As I keep trying to move my fingers and facial muscles to wake up, keep hearing the women crying until I finally woke up.

It feels weird experiencing a hallucination while at the same time knowing it's just a hallucination. My advice would be to just ignore any hallucination you experience, whether visual or auditory, to the best you can (knowing its just your brain trying to wake you up), and focus on staying calm and trying to move your fingers or facial muscles.

Honestly, when I get sleep paralysis, I'm more scared of the thought of not being able to wake up and die due to lack of oxygen, rather than the hallucinations that accompany it.

[marrouken]

When I was 7 y/o, my 9 y/o cousin and I slept in the “middle room” one night with the door open and seen a ghost in the middle of the night.

(“middle room” being the room that is at the end between two hallways, connecting them.) The house has 6 bedrooms and 2 hallways. There’s the hallway on the front yard side along with 3 “front rooms”, and the other hallway on the back yard side with the 2 “back rooms.” At that time there was a total of 14 people living altogether in the house. Being a big family we stay awake and active until 11pm and then it’s lights out and total silence the rest of the night until the sun is up.

So my cousin Bert and I fell asleep in the middle room with the door wide open to front hallway side of the house, and the door locked and closed to the back hallway. I suddenly jolted awake completely terrified and afraid. I then shook my cousin awake to tell her that I was afraid, which in response she said, “Afraid of what?” I said, “I don’t know I’m just so scared.” She then said, “there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

Just as she finished her sentence we heard loud stomping footsteps running from the kitchen/living room coming all the way down the front hallway where the door was wide open. When the footsteps had just started, I looked to my cousin with fear in me and she said, “it’s probably just Jordan going back to his room, from the kitchen.”

Even though Jordan was 5 at the time and there’d be no reason for him to be in the kitchen/living room so late in the night. The exact time is unknown. Could’ve been anywhere from 1am - 4am. All we had in the room was a small plug-in night light, that barely shed any light around the outlet.

We stare at the opening of the door, into the pitch black hallway as we listen to the footsteps getting closer to the door.... The footsteps reach the entrance of the door way and it’s silent once again. Though only for a few seconds as a pitch black shadow, with a green outline, steps into the room and faces my cousin and I, just to stare at me with a smile. I suddenly get the random thought that it is there specifically for me, as I sit there beside my cousin stunned and unable to move or speak. Immediately, upon seeing the figure face us, my cousin puts the palms of her hands together and begins muttering prayers, until the shadow suddenly just vanished as quick as it appeared. That was the last time I’d ever see a ghost in the house. There were others, but that last one was something else.