| Chasing phantoms on film |
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Page 3 of 3 Ghost-hunters with gizmos What about the idea that high magnetic fields can generate anomalies? "There's not good evidence for that," Nickell said. "I've investigated haunted houses for more than 30 years, and the idea that there were high concentrations of electromagnetic radiation in the places where people were experiencing those things is unlikely in the extreme. ... I believe that's a pseudo-explanation. A far more powerful influence is the power of suggestion." Nickell doesn't necessarily dispute claims that the electromagnetic field meters are picking up high readings. "The problem is, the instrument may be measuring something indeed, just exactly the kind of thing that the instruments are made to detect, such as faulty wiring or microwave radiation from nearby broadcast towers," he said. "What it is not measuring is ghostly energy." He said it's a "fool's errand" to look for ghosts by waving around scientific instruments. "Much of what is offered as evidence for ghosts, or other forms of paranormal activity, is something where the person who is reporting it does not know what it is, but is drawing a conclusion about it," he said. "It's a logical fallacy called 'arguing from ignorance.' Because we don't know what's causing the sound of footsteps on the stairs late at night, it must be a ghost. Well, no, if you don't know what it is, then you don't know. "You can't say, 'I don't know, therefore I do know.' ... That's at the root of so much of this." Nickell applies that rule not only to ghost photography ("I don't know what caused this blur on the photos, so because I was at a haunted place, it must be a ghost"), but also to UFO sightings as well as claims of miraculous cures ("My cancer is in remission, therefore it's a miracle"). Psychologist Ray Hyman, another skeptical inquirer (and sometime magician), emphasized that most of the fake ghost pictures are not intentional hoaxes, but rather cases of misinterpretation known as pareidolia. Just as some people can see the Virgin Mary in a grilled cheese sandwich, or a man in the moon (and on Mars?), they can also jump to conclusions about a spooky spot in a snapshot. "Once you've convinced yourself that you see something, you can't undo that," Hyman told me. Copyright: MSNBC |
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