Ghost hunting

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ghost hunting is a general phrase used by paranormal enthusiasts to describe the process of investigating an alleged haunting.

Taking reading with EMF meter

Typically, a 'hunting party' will involve 4-8 individuals who work as a team to collect evidence of paranormal activity. Each team member performs duties that are related to their particular field of expertise or interest. It is common practice for ghost hunters to behave in a scientific manner as they observe and record data using a variety of electronic gadgets, such as; EMF Meters, digital thermometers, infrared and night vision cameras, handheld video cameras, digital audio recorders, and computers.

Some teams make use of non-conventional methods in their investigations by incorporating a psychic or medium (spirituality) into their group. However, this practice is considered controversial amongst paranormal research organizations who seek to acquire empirical evidence.

It is common practice for most ghost hunting teams to advertise their services online in hopes of finding new and interesting places to investigate. The majority of ghost hunting teams profess to provide this 'service' free of charge, seeking only to discover and analyze ghosts in the name of science.

1 Origins
2 Growth
3 Criticism
4 Notes
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Origins

^[1]Pliny the Younger recorded what has been regarded as the first story of a ghost investigation in 100 AD. A hearsay tale already a century old when Pliny told it, the story concerns an allegedly haunted house in ancient Athens being investigated by a philosopher named Athenodoru.

In the mid 1880's, William James, philosopher and founder of the American Psychological Association and brother of Henry James suggested applying scientific method to mind-reading and spiritualism, two of the late 19th century's most tantalizing fads, along with the possibility of an afterlife and supernatural questions such as the existence of ghosts or spirits.

He found allies in England such as Alfred Russel Wallace, Cambridge philosopher Henry Sidgwick and his wife, Eleanor, Edmund Gurney, and others to form the core of the Society for Psychical Research. Their purpose was twofold - first, to carry on systematic experimentation with hypnotic subjects, mediums, clairvoyants, and others; and, second, to collect evidence concerning apparitions, haunted houses, and similar phenomena. The investigators gathered case studies, attended séances, designed tests of claimants' veracity, and ran what came to be known as the Census of Hallucinations, which counted apparitions of persons who were said to have made spectral appearances on the day they died.

Similar investigation into alleged hauntings was undertaken by researchers such as Harry Price through London's National Laboratory of Psychical Research during the 1920s, and later in the 1950s by American independent researchers such as Hans Holzer and Ed and Lorraine Warren. Other paranormal/parapsychological investigators like Loyd Auerbach, Christopher Chacon and William Roll were each independently conducting field and laboratory investigations long before reality TV cast a spotlight onto this subject matter.

Ghost hunting among part-time hobbyists began to be popular in the late 1970s with the founding of the Chicago-area Ghost Tracker’s Club, which became the Ghost Research Society (GRS) in 1981. The popularity of the Ghostbusters movie of 1984 may have boosted the proliferation of such "ghost clubs".

In the last decade, the term "paranormal investigation" has increasingly been adopted by part-time hobbyist groups who do not investigate any other aspects of the paranormal such as ESP and Psychokinesis, but whose sole purpose is ghost hunting.

[edit] Growth

Easy access to information on the world wide web, movies like White Noise, and TV shows like Ghost Hunters are thought to be partly responsible for the current boom in ghost hunting. There are now hundreds of Internet message boards and web sites across the nation dedicated to the pursuit, often festooned with cartoon ghosts and spooky music. Many of the sites declare themselves free of Ouija boards, which are frowned upon as unscientific among some paranormal enthusiasts. Along with ghost tracking tips, the sites discuss everything from high-tech equipment to analysis of investigations. Many feature ghost photos and videos, often appearing as blurry mist or blobs of refracted light, called “orbs” by insiders. Similarly, audio recordings are referred to as "EVPs," or electronic voice phenomena, sometimes sounding like garbles and warbles amid background noise.^[2]

Scores of small businesses, selling ghost-hunting equipment, ghost investigation services, and even ghost counseling, are booming outside of their prime season, Halloween. Several companies recently introduced new devices billed as ghost detectors, along with the traditional electromagnetic-field detectors, white-noise generators, and infrared motion sensors. The paranormal boom is such that some small ghost-hunting related businesses are actually starting to make a decent living at it through podcast and website advertising, books, videos, and other commercial enterprises. ^[3]

^[4]In the U.S., the popularity of the hobby has led to some property damage and injuries, according to news sources. While a group of teens in Ohio checked out a local spooky home, a homeowner fired shots to scare off the trespassers, shooting a teenaged girl in the head. Another group of teenagers in Peru, Maine admitted to accidentally starting a fire while hunting for ghosts inside of a former wood mill. Trespassing or vandalizing ghost hunters have also been arrested in cemeteries in Illinois, Connecticut, and other states.

While interest in the paranormal heats up, so does the competition between ghost hunting organizations. As many groups scramble for publicity, rivalry and feuds are common. Commercially-active groups such as TAPS (The Atlantic Paranormal Society) and IGHS (International Ghost Hunters Society) often attempt to discredit the other's legitimacy. Observers say the real struggle is over the future of paranormal investigation, and that ghost hunting must move beyond a profit-motive to earn mainstream legitimacy. ^[5]

[edit] Criticism

Ghost hunting is practiced by many paranormal investigation groups whose members sometimes promote their findings on the web as proof of hauntings. These findings are generally challenged by skeptics as wishful thinking, Pareidolia or the product of scientifically unsound practices and beliefs. Critics question ghost-hunting's methodology, particularly its use of instrumentation, as there is no scientifically-proven link between the existence of ghosts and cold spots or electromagnetic fields.

An offshoot of ghost hunting is the commercial ghost tour conducted by a local guide or tour operator who is often a member of a local ghost hunting or paranormal investigation group. Since both tour operator and 'haunted' site owners share profits of such enterprises (admissions typically range between $50 and $100 per person), some believe the 'haunted' claims are exaggerated or fabricated in order to increase attendance. The city of Savannah, GA is thought to be the #1 US city for "ghost tours" having more than three dozen at last count.