Are mobile phones killing our ghosts?
19/11/2007
Sightings of ghosts have plummeted over the past decade - and mobile phones may be responsible for their demise. It may seem like a slightly mad idea, but well-respected paranormal investigators are starting to take the idea seriously.
Tony Cornell, a scientific investigator for the Society For Psychical Research (SPR), which was established in 1882, said: "Until a few years ago we'd receive reports of two new ghosts every week. Now we're receiving none. Not a dickie bird. And the decline exactly mirrors the increasing use of mobile phones."
Some scientists believe that ghostly apparitions may be caused by unusual electrical activity, and mobile phones are known to produce intense electromagnetic fields and microwave radiation. Tony Cornell believes that, in principle at least, the increasing use of mobile phones could be "drowning out" ghosts and other types of paranormal activity.
He says that sightings of ghosts have remained fairly constant for centuries. Then they began to decline fifteen years ago, just as mobile phones were introduced into the UK. Ghosts then went into a long slow decline until ten years ago, when the number of reports plummeted, just as mobile phone use rocketed across the world. And the pattern seems to be mirrored in other countries: American researchers have begun travelling to Britain to investigate ghosts, only to face an even greater scarcity.
"We've found it very embarrassing," said Tony Cornell. "They've spent a fortune on scientific equipment and meticulously planned their expeditions to Britain. When they get here, we have to tell them that yet again, we have no ghosts."
Although paranormal investigators are keen to stress that “correlation does not mean causation” they are genuinely concerned that phones may indeed be responsible. Phone use does not appear to be affecting the reported incidence of other phenomena such as ESP, psychokinesis, and faith healing. These continue to occur at the same rate as they have done for decades or even centuries. Curiously, some phenomena such as Electronic Voice Phenomena do seem to be occurring at increasing frequency, perhaps reinforcing the idea that EVP is actually a result of radio interference rather than being a real effect.
The SPR has pledged to look into the problem and is considering sending ghost hunters to isolated parts of the world. They hope to see if areas with low mobile phone usage have greater numbers of ghosts. The Society has recently stepped up its investment programme in equipment to study ghosts and other types of paranormal activity.
Their prized posession is the "SPIDER -Spontaneous Incident Data Electronic Recorder. This automatically logs changes in temperature and fluctuations in magnetic fields, "listens" for ghostly noises and is capable of "seeing" in infrared. When it detects a change, it takes a series of photos and activates video cameras. In the long run they hope it will answer not only the vexed question of whether ghosts do really exist but also whether they are being wiped out by mobile phones.
And perhaps investigators may one day put the effect to good use, jokes Tony Cornell: "Perhaps we could use mobiles with a slightly different frequency to phone them up and get some bloody answers!"
In the words of the famous psychiatrist C.G. Jung: "I shall not commit the fashionable stupidity of regarding everything I cannot explain as a fraud."
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