In our age of reason, few people already believe in ghosts. Science came to the rescue of skeptics - scientists have found seven convincing explanations for why we see ghosts.
Physicists versus mediums
In the 19th century, even the most educated people believed that there were mediums who could communicate with the afterlife. The simplest way of such communication was the Ouija board, covered with numbers, letters and whole words. The participants in the session put their hands on a small board, and otherworldly forces allegedly made it move and point out the answers. This hobby did not pass even Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle - the literary father of the famous Sherlock Holmes, a doctor by training, arranged seances. But there were also those among the scientists who considered mediums and spiritualists to be swindlers. Physicist Michael Faraday put an end to this dispute. He proved that the movement of hands on the Ouija board is explained by the ideomotor effect. Simply put, people expected the tablet to start moving now, and subconsciously moved it. Most spiritualists were not crooks. Their muscles only did what the brain unconsciously ordered them to do.
Ghosts in the belly
Physicist Vic Tandy once saw a gray shadow near his desk during an experiment. At first he was afraid that his laboratory was cursed, but then he found a rational explanation for this fact. The fact is that he worked with infrasound below 19 hertz. The human ear is unable to hear sounds above 20,000 hertz and below 20 hertz. Anything that goes beyond this range, we, however, can feel. From here are taken not only the notorious "butterflies in the stomach", but also the causeless feeling of anxiety. It is all the fault of high and low vibrations. At times, they even cause panic attacks in animals and humans. But where did the ghostly figure come from then? Tandi explained that too. The low vibrations caused the scientist's eyeballs to wobble, and they created images that could be mistaken for ghosts. Cold Spot Imagine:you are examining an old mansion, of course, at night, and suddenly the air around you becomes colder. You take a few steps to the left or right, and the temperature returns to normal. Parapsychologists say that a ghost spends a lot of energy to get into the world of the living. In order to somehow replenish it, it takes heat from everything that surrounds it (including people). The places where such ghosts appear are called "cold spots" by ghost hunters. But physicists also found a rational explanation here. Cold air is likely to enter a room through a hole in the roof, broken windows, or a chimney. If all these options do not fit, there is another scientific hypothesis. It is based on a process called convection. All objects around us conduct heat differently. This causes some surfaces to get hotter.some are weaker. In order for the room temperature to equalize, some objects give off heat to the external environment, while others, on the contrary, take it away. This is where the "cold spots" come from.
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Shining balls
Many paranormal researchers proudly display photographs of strange glowing objects. These are, allegedly, the souls of the dead who cannot find peace. Maybe they have unfinished business or they want to expose their killer. It is a pity that these strange objects can only be seen in a photograph - they are not visible to the human eye. Skeptic Brian Dunning argues that anyone who is even a little familiar with photography knows where these glowing ghosts come from. Any small object, insect, or falling leaf placed in front of the camera during night shooting is illuminated by the flash. But the camera does not have time to focus on them. This is where these mysterious blurred spots come from. An even more common cause of blurry spots in photographs can be dust or water on the lens. So that,If you often happen to photograph a ghost, here's a tip from Brian Dunning - Wipe the lens!
Carbon monoxide
In 1921, ophthalmologist William Wilmer published a fascinating article in the American Journal of Ophthalmology. This article dealt with the curse hanging over the X family. At first, they began to hear strange sounds: someone was walking in the attic or slamming doors. Then one of the children was attacked by an invisible stranger. And finally, the mother of the family, waking up one night, saw a ghostly couple at the foot of her bed, which, in a second, disappeared into thin air. It turned out, however, that only their oven was cursed. When the fuel burns, it produces carbon monoxide - CO, also called carbon monoxide. Instead of releasing this gas through a pipe, she regularly supplied it to the house. Carbon monoxide poisoning is fatal, but at first you will experience nausea, dizziness, and hallucinations. This is the answer to the mysterious family curse.
And all for one …
In June 2013, 3,000 workers rioted at a weaving mill in Bangladesh. They did not demand higher wages or better working conditions. All they asked the director was to invite the exorcist to drive the evil spirit out of the factory. A similar story happened in one of the schools in Thailand. Twenty-two of the students were hospitalized after meeting the ghost of a hideous old woman. After the participants in these events calmed down, they were interviewed by doctors and psychologists. It turned out that none of them had seen anything supernatural, someone had heard about the ghost from friends, someone felt bad and attributed it to the machinations of an evil spirit. Such phenomena have been known to scientists since ancient times. They are usually called mass hysteria. When people are under stress, malnourished, sick or very tired, any hearing,any remark can cause collective panic. The "symptoms" spread like a plague, and soon everyone around is seized with terror. In the Middle Ages, mass hysteria led to witch hunts, today they make people see ghosts.
Ions are to blame
Modern researchers of the paranormal sometimes call on physics for help. For example, an ion counter has become a common tool in their arsenal. An ion is an electrically charged particle in which the number of protons and electrons is not the same. If a particle receives an electron, then it becomes a negative ion, if it loses, it becomes a positive one. So, ghost hunters count the ions in the cursed houses. But how do you interpret the results? Some believe that where ghosts appear, the normal amount of ions in the atmosphere remains, while others argue that ghosts absorb the energy of the ions at the time of their appearance. Both physicists answer: the presence of ions in the atmosphere is a natural phenomenon, the same as weather or solar radiation. And you shouldn't give it any mystical meaning. But it turns outions can still become an indirect cause of a variety of mystical phenomena. Negatively charged ions calm us down, while positively charged ones, on the contrary, cause anxiety, irritation, and headaches. But this is how the inhabitants of the "damned houses" describe their feelings.