8 scientific explanations why you might have met a ghost

All scientists in the world are sure that there are no ghosts in nature. Nevertheless, people continue to see people from the afterlife everywhere, or at least claim it with absolute certainty. Here are some explanations for why such "meetings" happen.

1. Impact of infrasound

Human ears have a range of sensitivity: we cannot hear sounds above ~20,000 Hz (ultrasound) and below ~20 Hz (infrasound). But these fluctuations still do not remain completely invisible to our body.

Specialists from the National Physical Laboratory in England and the University of Hertfordshire establishedSounds like terror in the air / The Sydney Morning Heraldthat infrasound causes strange feelings in people: intense sadness, anxiety and frustration, chills and the feeling that someone is in the room and is watching them.

The tested volunteers complained of disgust, fear and anxiety.

Not surprisingly, infrasound in the 18.9 Hz range - just below the threshold of human hearing - some researchers

are calledSome "Ghosts" May Be Sound Waves Just Below Human Hearing / Gizmodo frequency of fear. Such fluctuations can influenceInfrasound: The Fear Frequency / Stranger Dimensions not only by hearing, but also by sight, because the human eyeballs resonate at about the same frequency. So spots before the eyes and other optical illusions are added to the feeling of anxiety.

Various equipment can generate infrasound in the house, for example, fans on extractor hood, musical instruments or passing trains. So ghosts will not necessarily visit only residents of remote quiet villages - rather, they will prefer owners of houses near busy freeways.

2. Ideomotor act

Chances are you've heard of Whitja's chalkboardThe Strange and Mysterious History of the Ouija Board / Smithsonian Magazine. This is a séance tool - a piece of wood with letters and the words "Yes" and "No" painted on it.

The principle of use is as follows: a group of people, putting their hands on the planchette, drive it along the board. It is believed that if you call on some restless spirit and ask him a question, he will answer by shifting the pointer to the desired letters.

Legend has it that the name of the toy came about when, in 1891, inventor Elijah Bond asked a blackboard what to call it. The answer was Whitja, Ouija.

This phenomenon has been studied by scientists for more than 100 years, and the reason for the talkativeness of ghosts moving into a piece of wood has long been determined. Numerous research1. Cheryl A. Burgess, Irving Kirsch, Howard Shane, Kristen L. Niederauer, Steven M. Graham, Alyson Bacon. Facilitated Communication as an Ideomotor Response / APS
2. Predictive minds in Ouija board sessions / SpringerLink repeatedly showed that the pointer was involuntarily moved by the subjects themselves.

Participants in a seance, touching the tablet, unconsciously perform the so-called ideomotor act, when mental stress causes a real muscle contraction. This is the "Carpenter effect", which is named after the physician and physiologist, who discoveredIdeomotorischer Effect. Carpenters Originalarbeit von 1852 / Internet Publication für Allgemeine und Integrative Psychotherapie him in 1852.

That is, if spirit summoners believe that ghost must answer the question "Yes", "No" or even "I'm Napoleon!", the nerve impulses in their bodies will lead to unconscious movements pushing the planchette to the right letters.

Naturally, in experimentsComparative Observations on the Involuntary Movements of Adults and Children / JSTOR the supposed ghosts were able to speak only on topics that were familiar to the subjects.

3. Phosphine chemiluminescence

Imagine: you got out into nature, you walk through a rural swampy area, you don’t touch anyone. We cast a glance into the dark forest - and there is a gloomy otherworldly glow! What is it? Is it possible that the ghostly physiognomy of a mushroom picker who disappeared there a few years ago leaned out of the thickets?!

No, you just encountered the so-called will-o'-the-wisp. This phenomenon is often found in swamps. When organic matter - in particular, fallen leaves and aquatic plants - breaks down, then producesJ. Roels. Biological formation of volatile phosphorus compounds / Bioresource Technology a chemical compound called phosphine.

Combining with oxygen and nitrogen in the air, it oxidizes and creates a ghostly, mystical glow.

So the swamp ghosts and lost souls that tourists and outdoor enthusiasts talk about are not newcomers from the other world, but the result of chemiluminescenceL. Garlaschelli, P. Boschetti. On the track of the will-o'-the-wisp / Dipartimento di Chimica Organica, Università di Pavia phosphine.

4. Mycotoxin poisoning

As you know, especially often ghosts are found in all sorts of gloomy abandoned mansions. The phrase "haunted house" has long been established in many languages. And such a love of the undead for uninhabited premises is quite understandable from a scientific point of view.

Specialists from the Independent Neurodiagnostic Clinic in Atlanta establishedL. D. empting. Neurologic and neuropsychiatric syndrome features of mold and mycotoxin exposure / Toxicology and Industrial Healththat spores of various types of fungi and molds that live in the humid environment of abandoned buildings, if inhaled, can lead to neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders.

Mycotoxins causeL. D. empting. Neurologic and neuropsychiatric syndrome features of mold and mycotoxin exposure / Toxicology and Industrial Health pain sensations, disturbances in motor functions, balance and coordination, a feeling of irrational fear, delirium, and even dementia.

Add to that the banal aspergillosisAspergillosis. Symptoms and causes / Mayo Clinic - infection of the lungs with fungal spores. The disease is accompanied by symptoms such as allergies, asthma, cough and fever.

Findings? If ghosts have begun to walk around the house, it's time to start reading our management to get rid of mold.

5. Inhalation of carbon monoxide

Various mental problems, such as hallucinations and voices in people's heads, are caused not only by fungal spores, but also by other toxic substances, such as carbon monoxide released during combustion.

You may have heard that in the 19th century in England and America there was a very popular1. Ghost stories: why the Victorians were so spookily good at them / The Guardian
2. M. Wingett. Conan Doyle and the Mysterious World of Light: 1887-1920 spiritualism. Well, that is, belief in the afterlife and the possibility of talking with spirits through mediums.

Many celebrities were staunch supporters of spiritualism, for example, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of stories about Sherlock Holmes.

A number of researchers connectsA. Smith. The ghost story 1840 -1920: A cultural history such a fascination with ghosts with a total gasification of cities in that period is an industrial revolution, after all.

The lanterns produced a lot of carbon monoxide when burned. In combination with the then fashionable heavy curtains and the common practice of closing windows more tightly, this ledP. Lamont. Extraordinary Beliefs: A Historical Approach to a Psychological Problem to permanent carbon monoxide poisoning.

Ever since the 1920s, paranormal researchers noted1. Five Scientific Explanations for Spooky Sensations / Smithsonian Magazine
2. M. Jenkins. What's Gotten into Us?: Staying Healthy in a Toxic World the relationship between the gasification of the house with the presence of "ghosts" there. Poisoning carbon monoxide causes visual and auditory hallucinations, nausea, weakness, headaches. And superstitious people easily acceptCarrie Poppy: Can Science Reveal The Truth Behind Ghost Stories? /N.P.R. this is for the activity of demons and other otherworldly entities.

In the American Journal of Ophthalmology in 1921, for example, describedFive Scientific Explanations for Spooky Sensations / Smithsonian Magazine a case of how one woman constantly heard the sounds of steps and strange voices, and also experienced the feeling that an invisible person was strangling her in bed at night. But as soon as her oven was repaired, which turned out to be faulty, the ghosts took over and self-destructed.

6. Pareidolia

Pareidolia is a visual illusion that makes you see the outlines of familiar objects where there are none. Look at the cloud and understand that it looks like a unicorn. We looked at the potato - wow, that's your uncle's face. Faced at night with a blanket lying on a chair - the ghost of a creepy old woman wrapped in a shroud!

Counts, what pareidoliaNeural underlying mechanisms visual pareidolia processing: An fMRI study / Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences developed in humans as a result of evolution. The brain warns us of danger even when it is not exactly sure of its presence. It seemed - just in case, scared.

As they say, it is better to see a tiger where there is none.

Pareidolia is not only visual, but also auditoryApophenia, Audio Pareidolia and Musical Ear Syndrome / HearingLossHelp.comwhen we distinguish familiar sounds in random noise. So people sometimes hearWhy We Hear Voices in Random Noise / Nautilus voices in radio interference.

This is a useful quality of our mind that allows us to quickly find sources of danger in a hodgepodge of visual images and noise. But because of him we often seeThe science of ghosts / Science News for Students something that doesn't really exist. For example, ghosts.

7. sleep paralysis

Many peoples of the world have stories about ghosts, brownies, vampires, succubi, maras and other evil spirits that come to a person in a dream and strangle him.

You lie down, do not touch anyone, and then you feel how something terrible materializes in your bedroom, pulls off the blanket from you and starts grabbing your throat. And you can’t even move, except that you drive your eyes back and forth. Unpleasant sensations.

Scientists believe that the rampage of night ghosts is associated with a phenomenon called sleep paralysis. The fact is that our body in a dream immobilizes musclesSleep paralysis / NHSso that the limbs do not twitch much.

This is a natural mechanism. Useful to keep from falling out of bed at night, you know.

Sometimes the brain wakes up at night, and the muscles are still relaxed and do not respond to commands from the nervous system. This condition has been experienced at least once in a lifetime. aboutLifetime Prevalence Rates of Sleep Paralysis: A Systematic Review / Sleep Medicine Reviews 7.6% of people in the world. It quickly passes, although subjectively it seems to people that the nightmare lasts a long time.

Sleep paralysis is completely safe, but it can be frightening, especially when accompanied by nightmares. Because of him and bornsee ghosts? There may be a medical reason / NBC images of terrible spirits that attack people at night.

8. The "stranger in the mirror" effect

Many people believe that mirrors are the door to the other world. In a house where someone has died, they are hung up so that the ghost of the deceased does not reflect in them. In the old days, girls were guessing in front of mirrors, trying to see the outlines of their future lover there.

Abroad, these objects were also considered a means of communication with spirits. The ghost of Bloody Mary, for example, was supposed to be called in a dark room with a mirror and a candle - compare with Slavic Christmas divination.

However, all this is also quite understandable from a scientific point of view. Psychiatrists know that sometimes people with mental disorders observedM. Coltheart. The mirrored-self misidentification delusion / Neuropsychiatry problems with the so-called mirror self-identification.

Patients with right hemisphere dysfunction resulting from traumatic brain injury, stroke, or other neurological disease sometimes lose abilityDelusions in the hypnosis laboratory: Modeling different pathways to mirrored-self misidentification / APA recognize yourself in the reflection. And they see their relatives (sometimes deceased) or strangers.

But a similar effect is regularly observed in absolutely healthy people.

Researchers at the University of Urbino in Italy conducted a series of tests in which volunteers looked in a mirror in dim light for more than 10 minutes.

The subjects started seeG. b. caputo. Strange-face illusions during inter-subjective gazing / Consciousness and Cognition in the reflection of strangers, their own deformed faces or living or dead parents. The participants of the experiment also distinguished archetypal images1. Illusory Scenes Fade into and out of View / Scientific American
2. R. Ferrucci. Visual Perception during Mirror-Gazing at One's Own Face in Patients with Depression / The Scientific World Journal: an old woman, a child or a portrait of an ancestor, as well as animal faces. For example, cats, pigs or a lion. They even imagined various fantastic creatures and monsters. All these images inspired fear and anxiety.

This phenomenon is called the “stranger-in-the-mirror effect.” When a man is too long focusesIllusory Scenes Fade into and out of View / Scientific American on his own face in the mirror, the brain gives a slight glitch and for a second begins to take the reflection for an outsider.

Quite a natural phenomenon. But at night, in the dark, suddenly colliding with a mirror in the corridor, you can get a little scared.