As darkness falls there are spooky goings-on all over the country
with would-be ghost hunters desperate to make contat with the
afterlife.Debbie
Attewell investigates this latest paramormal craze.
There's something about a good ghost story or horror movie that does more
than give you the shivers. Making the hairs on the back of your neck stand
to attention and your heart beat unnaturally fast, especially if you're turning
the pages of a book, has always had it's faif share of advocates. But
now it seems that we are no longer content to be frightened in the comfort
of our own homes. No, at this time of year when the nights are at their darkest,
moreof us than ever before are signing up to be scared out of our skins in
the hope of spotting a glimmer of something paranormal, perhaps as an antidote
to all the gaiety that Christmas celebrates. After all, even Dickens didn't
shy away from introducing the ghostly character of Jacob Marley to show old
Ebenezer Scrooge the error of his miserly ways in A Christmas Carol, The
popularity of TV programmes like Most Haunted, Derren Brown's paranormal
series and various other psychic documentaries is currently feeding a new
craze ghost hunting. Believe it or not people young and old are paying to
become
members of ghost hunting clubs or for nights of fright for birthdays,
anniversaries and hen or stag nights.
"There is a very long tradition of ghost sightings and myths in Britain,"
explains Rosie Murdie, 32, a marketing executive by day but the Investigations
Organiser of The Ghost Club in her spare time. Established back in 1862,
The Ghost Club is one of the oldest paranormal clubs in Britain, "It's something
that comes in and out of fashion the last time ghosts were so fashionable
was in theVictorian age when seances were all the rage and communicating
with spirits was a society must do. At the time photography was in it's infancy,
so ghostly images captured on film fuelled the issue even further." With
360 current members, The Ghost Club organises investigations into well-
documented cases as well as looking into smaller, individual cases of people's
homes being haunted. But if you thought ghost hunting was more about mumbo
jumbo than science you'd be wrong. A recent investigation into Ham House
in Richmond involved a huge amount of scientific equipment. Then paranormal
investigators set up motion sensors as well as heat and electromagnetic
monitoring equipment to supplement the intruder alarm system already in place.
Over a sustained period of time, monitoring on different nights and at different
times, Rosie recalled, "There was wheelchair movement from 6ne side of the
room to another as well as other, unexplainable psychic phenomena. Temperatures
dropped, small items moved around and footsteps were heard in an area that
had all its entrances and exits locked and periodically checked. Spooky stuff
- and that's not something I say lightly. Lots of investigations don't turn
up anything interesting. Besides, if something can be explained away logically,
then we'll do that. But Ham House in my opinion was definitely haunted."
Occasionally members of the public come to The Ghost Club for help. These
cases are rarer, but just as important. A couple of years ago, a lady who
moved into her council house with a young child contacted the Club in despair.
"She'd woken up a number of times in the night to see a man in the corner
ofthe room," recalls Rosie. "He would turn, sit on her bed - she'd feel the
bed go down - and then disappear. At the same time this happened her daughter
would appear to have breathing problems.
"We believe in the afterlife of
the spirit and so in that sense we presume there are things
that are spiritually unhealthy. If you think you've seen a ghost or experienced
something difficult to explain,it can help to make some sort of sense
of that"
She wanted the council to re house her but needed 'proof' if you like that
something paranormal was happening. "We organised for three separate psychics
to visit the property independently of each other and without giving them
any clues as to why they were there. Each described a man in the exact corner
the lady had originally reported. Thankfully the council took our findings
seriously and the lady was re-housed." Traditionally people would turn to
the Church when they experienced something spiritually disturbing. Despite
the falling numbers of people attending Sunday services, it may surprise
you to know that both the Catholic and Anglican Church still have highly
trained members ofthe clergy to deal with paranormal and occult issues. The
Right Reverend Dominic Walker, The Bishop of Monmouth is head of this area
of spirituality in the Anglican Church.
"It makes sense to turn to the Church if you experience spiritual problems,"
he explains. "We believe in the afterlife of the spirit and so in that sense
we presume there are things that are spiritually unhealthy. lfyou think you've
seen a ghost or experienced something difficult to explain, it can help to
make some sort of sense of that. I wouldn't say we are inundated with
reports of ghosts but we do have a steady flow." The Church is also keen
to point out that not everything 'seen' is 'ghostly' and that they firmly
believe every paranormal experience must be treated holistically. "It is
important to talk about what is happening to get a background view of what
may have occurred previously," Walker says. "In most cases where only one
person has seen a ghost it is likely they are projecting out the image because
what they are going through may be too painful to keep inside. In these instances
it may be appropriate to suggest counselling because it is a bereavement
or trauma issue that must be dealt with by professionals." However, for more
complicated cases, where
more than one person experiences something at different times, the matter
would be passed on to someone with more experience. "While there's not much
the Church or indeed anyone can do with sightings called
'place memories'
- what we call replays of something that happened years ago - we can reassure
people that they're not threatening or meaningful. 'The sighting doesn't
interact in any way with whoever sees it, it's just there. Neither good or
evil it's more a kind of memory that goes round in a loop, which means that
depending on the conditions at the time, more than one person will have seen
it. There are a number of famous sightings up and down the country. One involved
a fox hunt through infamous country house.
"In most cases where only one person has seen a ghost it is likely
they are projecting out the image because what they are going through may
be too painful to keep inside"
At certain times of the year, a fox would run through the ballroom
area, followed by dogs, followed by riders. When the owner had to do some
work on the house which raised the level of the floor, the family noticed
they no longer saw the fox running through and only the tails of the dogs,
followed by the riders on horses whose legs were below ground!"
Great stories aside, the Bishop is keen to point out that for more disturbing
instances, when the ghost is of a less-savoury character - the kind that
throws things around, disturbs your sleep and generally makes a nuisance
of itself-they can and do help put things right.
Thankfully this type of occurrence is rare. They seem to involve an unrested
soul that has somehow become earth-bound. In this case we may feel a house
blessing or Requiem Mass would be helpful - to pray for the soul to rest
and to allow it to leave. It takes around 20 minutes and most people report
that this often does the trick and they're not bothered again." Someone who
hasn't yet turned to the Church for help is Vic Tandy, an electronics scientist
and senior lecturer at Coventry University. A few years ago he accidentally
stumbled across a provable explanation for a number of 'ghostly' encounters.
"About ten years ago, I used to design life support machines. The offices
were long and thin and I'd been warned that they were haunted when I joined.
There were times when I did feel watched, so when the cleaning lady complained
she'd seen a ghost I decided to do some checking." First Tandy looked at
the equipment, testing for anaesthetic leaks, which could cause hallucinations.
Nothing. Then one night he was
working late and alone. "After about ten minutes I felt someone watching
me. I also felt fear, coldness and despair. Then I thought I saw a grey mass
on the edge of my vision but when I turned my head it disappeared. The next
morning I came in early to change the blade on my foil - I'm a keen fencer
and the office had the best equipment to do this - and noticed that it was
vibrating."
As a scientist, he knew there had to be something nearby that was vibrating
at the same frequency to cause this resonance and investigated the whole
lab. The area where it was most pronounced was by the desks. Calculations
showed he and his colleagues were sharing the lab with a low-frequency standing
wave- something you can't hear and are rarely aware of. Once he'd made this
discovery, Tandy asked himself two questions: where was the energy coming
from and what does a low-frequency standing wave do to people?
"While standing waves can account for feelings of fear, coldness and
peripheral visions that disappear, at the moment science still can't account
for poltergeist activity or place memory visions recorded over time by many
people"
It was a darkand stormy night...
We sent Candis photographer Zak Waters down to Lanyon Quoit,
Penzance1 to experience a ghost hunt with Tony Watson, Bookings
Co-ordinator of the Paranormal Research Organisation
It's about 10pm and there's a beautiful full moon lighting
up a freezing cold night. There are about ten of us ranging in ages from
mid twenties to early sixties, sitting in the middle of a field about to
begin the mile long walk from the standing stones to an ancient celtic well.
Accompanying Tony are psychics, dowsers, crystal ball readers, orb photographers
and a couple of interested onlookers like myself who are waiting for something
unusual to happen. Just as we're about to follow a track through a dense
forested thicket, the moon chooses to hide behind a cloud and it's pitch
black. There are no bird sounds and the area is eerily silent. Images of
being stalked in a wood like the characters in The Blair Witch Project
leap into my mind and, swallowing decisively I banish them quickly. At
the chapel, Tony and the others do an electromagnetic field reading and declare
that everything is normal. At about 10.30pm I become aware that I've felt
some taps on my shoulder but have put them down to my parka hood, lifting
and falling in the breeze. But there isn't any breeze here and I realise
my hood is pointing upwards. As my back has been against the wall, and no
one could sneak up and tap me I feel slightly unnerved. Suddenly one of the
mediums tells us there are three women there, spirits he can talk to. One
he says is a fifteen-year-old girl with blue eyes and messy hair, a victim
of a sacrifice. I can't see anything and ask where she is. "In front of you,"
he says in a very matter-of-fact voice. Even though my senses are saying
there's nothing there, the dark atmosphere is making me jumpy. Talk of three
negative entities outside the safety of the chapel doesn't help. I try to
take pictures of the altar area where people have left offerings - pieces
of slate with faces drawn on them and small coins. But my camera, which is
like an cxtension of my arm, is suddenly playing up. I check everything and
can't work out what's wrong. I'm spooked. "Let's have a cup of tea," suggests
one of the women who'sjust held a seance. It's bizarre to find everyone switching
offand talking about non-paranormal matters as they sip drinks from their
flasks and munch on rolls. That said I don't complain, my fingers are frozen
and coffee will keep me alert.
At midnight, there's more activity from the mediums speaking to the 'ghosts'.
Some of the women return from a trip down the track and they're visibly
disturbed. They feel they've been followed by one of the negative entities
and are relieved to be in the chapel and relative safety. Again I see and
feel nothing, but strangely I don't feel like I'm being taken for a ride.
These people genuinely believe in what they're doing. Tony explains that
he approaches all these investigations with a sceptical mind. He likes to
take notes of everything people experience so that he can go back and make
the historical checks to see if there is anything that people pick up that
might fit. I ask his opinion on what's happening tonight and he explains
that he accepts that other people feel things but that it's their interpretation
of it not a truth. By 2am, everyone feels they have got what they came for
and are ready to pack up and go home. I'm a bit disappointed. I suppose I
was expecting a bit more science, a lightening moment or maybe to see something
spooky myself. Nevertheless, I find my appetite for ghost hunting has been
whetted. Although I think I'll sign up for an indoor hunt next time
around! |
The first was answered when it was found that a new fan had been installed
in an extraction system. When the fan was off, the standing wave went away
- and so did all the weird feelings. "The second question," he said, "required
more research." Tandy found a reference to low-frequency sound causing
'sensations of fear, including excessive perspiration and shivering'. These
waves are more easily picked up by animals, which is why dogs often feel
uncomfortable in a 'haunted' room and why animals were able to 'instinctively'
know to run away from last year's Tsunami, Tandy explains. And sure enough,
once modifications were made to the fan, the standing wave disappeared and,
along with it the 'ghost'. Since then, Tandy has investigated a number of
ghostly occurrences. Almost all of them involved standing waves - often from
electrical equipment. However, on a recent investigation at Warwick Castle,
where there was no machinery present, Tandy discovered a standing wave in
the Haunted Tower. People had often experienced the hairs rising on the back
of their necks and seeing movement from the corner of their eyes, he explains.
"Using our low-frequency equipment we discovered a standing wave near the
big fireplace - in this instance it was caused by the wind blowing over the
chimney that went right up to the top of the tower."
But a last word before the sceptics among you reach for a mince pie, feeling
smug that you were right all along or the believers turn to their mulled
wine feeling let down, Tandy has this to say, "What's interesting is that
science often leaves just as many questions as it solves. While standing
waves can account for feelings of fear, coldness and peripheral visions that
disappear, at the moment science still can't account for poltergeist activity
or place memory
visions recorded over time by many people." And that is, indeed, a thought
to keep you up after lights out, when the night closes in and the wind prowls
outside the comfort of your own home.
TOP TEN MOST HAUNTED SITES IN UK |
|
Ian Addicoat, a paranormal researcher, has compiled a list based on frequency
of sightings, longevity of reports and sightings that have corroborative
evidence. The most haunted sites are:
~VILLAGE Pluckley, Kent
~ PUB The Skirrid Mountain Inn, Wales
~ BATTLE SITE Marston Moor, Yorkshire
~ STREET High Street, Prestbury, Gloucestershire
~ LANDMARK Marsden Grotto, Tyne & Wear
If you're feeling brave take a trip to Pluckley in Kent |
Since being interviewed, sadly, Vic Tandy has died.
December 2005 Candis 75 |
