History of Ghost Inv

The History of Ghost Investigation

Alexander, John. Ghosts! Washington Revisited. Atglen: Schiffer Publishing LTD., 1998: 41,43,49.

Auerbach, Loyd. Ghost hunting How to Investigate the Paranormal. Berkeley: Ronin Publishing,
2004: 57,58,59,142.

Fodor, Nander. An Encyclopaedia of Psychic Science. Secaucus: The Cetadel Press, 1996: 145,146.

Gardner, Martin. “Thomas Edison, paranormalist.” Skeptical Inquirer July – August, 1996. 5 March 2007
http://www.findarticales.com/p/articales/mi_m2843/is_n4_v20/ai_18535410 .

“Ghost hunting”. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 5 March 2007, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ghost_hunting .

GotQuestions?. What does the Bible say about ghosts/ hauntings?. 2002-2007. 5 March 2007.
<http://www.gotquestions.org/ghosts-hauntings.html>.

Guiley, Rosemary Ellen. The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits. 2nd ed. New York: Checkmark
Book, 2000: 151,222.

IMOVES. QandA. 2001-2007.16 March 2007. <http://www.imoves.net/QandA.html>.

---. Where’s Waldo. 2001-2007.16 March 2007.
<http://www.imoves.net/WheresWaldo.html.>.

---. Preserving Investigation Evidence Integrity. 2001-2007.16 March 2007.
<http://www.imoves.net/PreservingInvestigationEvidenceIntegrity.html>.

Kelly, Lynne. The Skeptics Guide to the Paranormal. New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press,
2004: 57.

Knoche, Grace. HPB and The Society for Psychical Research. 1997. 5 March 2007.
< http://www.theoscciety.org/pasadena/sunrise/46-96-7/th-sprgk.html >.

Randles, Jenny. Strange & Unexplained Mysteries of the 20th Century. New York: Sterling
Publishing Co., Inc., 1994: 106

“Society for Psychical Research”. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 5 March 2007,
< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_for_Psychical_Research >.

“Spiritualism”. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 5 March 2007,
< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritualism >.

Strander, Dr. Philip, and Scholling, Dr. Paul. Poltergeists & the Paranormal. St. Paul: Llewellyn
Publications, 1996: 14,15,16,21,23.

Works Cited

Stories of life after death have appeared in our folklore for a long time. From these stories of mystical and magical beings today’s ghost researchers have emerged. Growing in numbers and aided by modern hi tech equipment they go in search of the truth behind the myths, urban legends and things that go bump in the night. As people first tried to understand the mysteries of nature they turned to supernatural entities to explain things like the movements of the heavenly bodies, birth, death, etc. Most cultures recognize spirits in one form or another. Babylonians believed in ghosts, as did the Ancient Greeks and Romans (Strander & Scholling 14,15,16,21,23). Ghost stories have appeared throughout history, even in the Bible (Got Questions? What does the Bible say about ghosts/ hauntings ?). The American Indians performed ghost dances and other ceremonies in hopes of communicating with their ancestors who have gone to the “happy hunting ground”. Some ghost folklore has been verbally handed down from generation to generation. In many countries it is common to assume ghosts are with you continuously.

But it wasn’t until the late 1800’s and the birth of The Spiritualism Movement that it became clear that proof of the existence of ghosts was needed. This religious movement, based on the belief that we can communicate with the dead, spread throughout the United States and England. The spirits of the dead “are believed to lie on a higher plane of existence than humans, and are therefore capable of providing guidance in both worldly and spiritual matters” (Wikipedia Spiritualism) through séances, trances, rapping’s, automatic writing and other forms of spiritual communication.

The three Fox sisters from New York are credited for the birth of the religious movement known as Spiritualism. On the evening of March 31, 1848, in Hydesville, New York, two of the three Fox sisters, their parents and a dozen neighbors crowded into the girls’ bedroom to witness rapping noises that seemed to surround them. The sisters asked the spirits many questions. The spirits correctly answered the questions by way of raps. During the questioning it was revealed that the spirit’s throat was cut and he was dragged through the house and buried. Although some human bones and hair were located buried in the cellar, it took over 50 years before the rest of the skeleton was located (Foder 145, 146).

The two younger Fox sisters were joined by their older sister and started communicating with spirits through the use of the alphabet. The spirits rapped a message about the new era and the start of the Spiritualist Movement. On November 14, 1849, the first Spiritualist meeting took place in Rochester, New York. In 1888, the two younger Fox sisters confessed they were frauds. This announcement had little effect on the Spiritualism Movement (Kelly 57).

During the beginning years of the Spiritualism Movement, a group called The Cambridge Ghost Club was formed. It no longer exists, but in its wake The Ghost Club was organized in 1862. Based in London, the Ghost Club is one of the oldest clubs. “The Ghost Club was formed by a select group of London gentleman with the idea of unmasking fraudulent mediums and investigating psychic phenomena” (Guiley 151). This club went inactive for a time but started up again as a men’s only organization with members who included “Sir William Barrett, Sir William Crookes, Frederic Bligh Bond, Harry Price, Nandor Foder and the poet William Butler Yeats” (Guiley 151). In the late 1930’s women were able to become members. Also, one of the first organizations created for the purpose of paranormal research was The Society for Psychical Research founded in 1882 in London (Knoche HPB and The Society for Psychical Research). It was the first to examine claims of paranormal activity scientifically and without prejudice (Wikipedia Society for Psychical Research). Some well-known people in American history were also in search of the truth and documentation of ghost activity.

Abraham Lincoln was not only interested in the paranormal but is also the subject of many alleged ghost sightings. “In a letter to his friend Joshua F. Speed in 1842, Lincoln observed that he had “always had a strange tendency to mysticism” and had often felt controlled “by some other power than my own will”, which he felt came “from above”.” (Joshua F. Speed as quoted by Guiley 222). Many mediums visited the White House during Lincoln’s years as president, but it is his dream of his own assassination that is the most prophetic and documented in his own journal. Alleged sightings of Lincoln’s ghost have been reported at his tomb, his family home and Ford’s Theatre. However, the most documented sightings have been at the White House (Alexander 41,43,49).

One of the first and most successful debunkers was the famous illusionist, Harry Houdini who used his talent to explain impostors and expose mediums that were conjurers and frauds. Spiritualism played an active part in Houdini’s life. He wanted to believe but remained unconvinced. He had tried unsuccessfully for years to contact his late mother. Before his death Houdini and his wife Bess set up code words he would speak if he could return from the other side. The code words were needed to help weed out frauds. Bess never heard from Harry.

Inventor and believer in the occult Thomas Edison also tried to communicate with ghosts. “In an interview titled Edison Working on How to Communicate with the Next World, in American Magazine (October 1920), B.C. Forbes…revealed that Edison not only had come to believe in an afterlife, but was actually working on an electrical device for communicating with the dead!” (B.C. Forbes as quoted by Gardner Thomas Edison) Edison passed away before this project could be completed or confirmed. No diagram, blue prints or prototypes have been found to substantiate Edison’s statement.

Although the first ghost investigation is said to have been conducted in ancient Athens (Wikipedia Ghost Hunting), it wasn’t until the mid 1880’s when science was first applied to the investigations of ghosts and spirits and evidence started to be collected. Every year seems to bring new ways of investigating ghost occurrences. However, eyewitness accounts are usually the starting point of an investigation. Some of the eyewitness accounts that used to be considered evidence of a haunting have been scientifically explained. Dizziness, headaches, moving items, hair standing on end, fireball sightings, seeing things out of the corner of your eye and unusual lights or shapes can possible be caused by a shifting house foundation, an audible hum or electromagnetic energy, slight earthquakes, static electricity, static electricity triggering methane gas, low frequency sound, and reflections. Therefore further investigation and documentation is needed to rule out naturally occurring phenomenon. However, some new technologies have their flaws also. Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP’s) and some pictures and videos can trick the viewer’s ears and eyes (Auerbach 57,58, 59). The human mind looks for the familiar and can be tricked into hearing and seeing voices and faces on mumbled or clouded evidence. This is known as Simulacra or matrixing (IMOVES Where’s Waldo). Equipment used to measure unexplained magnetic fields can accidentally pick up power lines, etc. Cold spots have also been associated with ghosts but may be ruled out due to drafts or underground water (Auerbach 142). Although most possible paranormal phenomena can be explained by natural occurrences, documentation and evidence integrity of the event and investigation has become an important part of the ghost investigators job (IMOVES Preserving Investigation Evidence Integrity).

The paranormal research field has increased in popularity over the past 30 years. Through television and the World Wide Web this field has blossomed. Different types of shows and movies have criticized or inflated what really transpires during an actual investigation. They fail to explain “that Paranormal Investigation is 95% boredom” (IMOVES QandA) and what consumes most of the investigators time is research, reviewing evidence and reports, the 3 R’s of ghost investigation.

Ghost investigators are all different in the way they investigate. Some try to debunk eyewitness accounts, while others consider eyewitness accounts as 100% factual and as all the evidence needed to declare a location haunted. Yet others require many forms of collaborating evidence before declaring a haunting. A well-rounded group of ghost investigators must be willing to look at all angles, the scientific as well as the spiritual. They must also be willing to except what can be explained as naturally occurring phenomenon or possibly paranormal in nature.

A lot of today’s ghost investigators have had their own personal experience which has driven them to find out what is really out there. However, some are only looking for a thrill, which may never come.
Many urban legends started out as eyewitness accounts but have been retold and exaggerated so much that it is difficult to tell where the truth ends and where human imagination takes over. Variations of the story about the young ghost girl who is found hitchhiking on a dark lonely highway, for example, are too numerous to account for. Mediums communicating with the other side, ghosts making nightly visits on highways, and many other stories of ghostly activity have spun a steady stream of claims that need to be verified. Stories like the haunted house in Amityville, are they fact or fiction (Randles 106) There have been pictures and eyewitness accounts, but there have also been rumors set in place declaring the stories a hoax to make money. They are not unlike the fakes Harry Houdini exposed.

Although most who have other worldly experiences are honest, upstanding people, it only takes one dishonest person to blemish all. Therefore, irrefutable evidence of life after death becomes more important as the unmasking of frauds grows. Today’s paranormal investigator must remain ever in search of the elusive undeniable evidence that ghosts do exist.