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Article II - Hauntings and History by Clayton Williams When studying the paranormal we often see that an intense history at a location seems to give rise to a greater degree of paranormal activity. In this article I will discuss specifically historical factors which seem to give rise to more perception of paranormal phenomena. To start, I am going to talk a little bit about assumptions. Personally, I do not care for assumptions, especially when it comes to working at the frontiers of "accepted" science. However, in this field, both on TV and by those of us working for free in the trenches, many assumptions are often made when it comes to quantifying paranormal phenomena. This is not intended as a criticism, but as a warning. In their place, assumptions are a great tool. They save time, resources, energy and effort. I am not going to waste a great deal of time questioning my assumption that the sun will rise in the morning. I will take some time to question my assumptions about the paranormal. Observable and recordable evidence in this field is so recent and the phenomena so intermittent and varied that I am uncomfortable jumping to many conclusions merely due to my years of personal research and experience. By definition, the scientific data I gather in the course of my work with Scientific Paradigm needs to be held to a higher standard than merely remarking that I think ghosts act a certain way because of something I have gleaned over the course of my general life experiences. Determining causal relationships is the foundation of science. What causes a haunting? When your life expires, what circumstances need to be present in order for you to "come back" as a ghost? If a place has a violent history does it always become haunted? If I fall and break my neck in the Stanley Hotel, do I stand a good chance of being around in a non-corporeal form to scare the next generation of hotel guests? Why are some entities stronger than others and some entities more malevolent than others? Like all interesting scientific realms, the best ones are the ones where we have more questions than answers. It seems to be often assumed that a violent, depressing and brutal history naturally gives rise to circumstances where various and more intense types of manifestations will occur. Historical research is a common and useful component of paranormal research and investigation. What actually happened at a location in the past can sometimes expose clues concerning what paranormal activity is happening now. Sometimes whom or what is causing it can be revealed. When the historian can link the sound of a particular EVP to a known person in the past who experienced a traumatic death at the site, it makes for a great deal of closure and provides a more substantial profile of evidence. In addition, for the client of a paranormal investigator, it may serve to humanize the entity and either make them feel more comfortable with their presence or expose the most effective ways to dismiss or "cleanse" the site for those wishing that type of service be performed. Unfortunately, what makes for good TV and human stories of pain and death and existence after death all wrapped up in a neat little bow only seem to rarely occur in the field of paranormal investigation and research, at least in my experience. Given that history is, at best, a contributory factor in a haunting, what other elements could cause paranormal activity to be more readily witnessed? The first factor is of course the fallibilities of human perception and psychology. However, given the wealth of currently unexplainable evidence captured at places like Waverly Hills, I believe it is safe to say that more is going on there than people being scared of a creepy place. I will discuss the particular issue of psychology specifically in a later article. Violent history and paranormal activity DO seem to be linked in some way. Many of the most active locations in the world are sites which were extremely unpleasant for their formerly living occupants. Waverly Hills Sanitorium, Trans-Allegheny Sanitarium, the USS Arizona, The Ancient Ram Inn, Eastern State Penitentiary; all of these places have very strong paranormal activity which have been well documented by eyewitnesses and investigators alike. However, how many places of genuine human tragedy have no reports of ghosts? I have seen no credible evidence of hauntings in Hiroshima, Nagasaki or Stalingrad (now Volgograd), although these are places which encountered levels of human misery and untimely death that are simply staggering. Human history, even recent history, is more often than not filled with a stunning amount of pain and brutality. In fact, as a sentient species, we long ago passed the point at which more people were alive than dead. Given how many deaths have occurred (and in the past how many more violent deaths), shouldn't the whole planet be overrun with ghosts? And where the heck are all the caveman ghosts? Scientific Paradigm has recently undertaken two investigations of Russell Gulch Cemetery outside of Central City, Colorado. This is one of the rare cemeteries where notable events actually took place within the grounds. It was the site of a suicide in the early 20th century, as Alois Ferganchich took his own life some four years after the untimely death of his wife, Mary. One would expect, given this event, that his shade would still be roaming the grounds. However, given preliminary reviews of our captured footage, there is no indication that this particular location is haunted. The next factor that seems to be a common thread is length of history. Places that have been occupied consecutively by many generations do seem to have a greater incidence of this type of phenomena. Living in Colorado, there are a number of places which are purportedly haunted. Scientific Paradigm has over 190 locations in this state in our database which have at the least some "ghost story" associated with it. Of these publicly known locations, we have investigated only a handful since our formation earlier this year. Within our database there are very few reports of what are considered to be the more profound manifestations of paranormal activity: full body apparitions, physical attacks, poltergeists, etc. Even by other groups within the state, most of the evidence captured (at least what they are able to post on their websites) is of EVPs, orb photographs and a few shots of video. There is, of course, the exception of the Stanley Hotel, but by and large activity reported here is not quite as profound as activity reported on the East Coast or California. The most easily noted difference is that areas of Colorado have only been populated with a significant relatively urbanized population since the early to mid 1800's. Prior to that, there were native Americans, however in much smaller and more nomadic bands. By weight of comparison, the East Coast has had urban people living there since the mid 1600's. Some of the more substantially evidential sites overseas have had populations for thousands of years. Certainly, length of populated time seems to play a role, but again we are left with a tenuous causal relationship. My personal view, and admittedly it is not a scientific one or one that I carry with me into an investigation, is that historic events can cause a sort of wound in the nature of an area. This is just an analogy I employ to try to explain something that we have not yet found a way to measure. Over time, that wound can either heal or fester as more events of personal significance occur. If trauma is heaped on trauma then it tends to fester, but not always. In addition, just like a wound, other factors come into play as to how deep the wound is, how long it will take to heal and how easy it is to re-injure at a later time. Smashing my fingers with a hammer will break my hand. Smashing my abdomen with a hammer will only knock the wind out of me. Can a single wound prove bad enough to linger over the course of many years? Certainly. Ask any football player or boxer. In my final evaluation, while events of historical pain or death certainly seem to lend themselves to the haunting of a particular place, the confluence of event and phenomena are simply too inconsistent to form a true, 100% causal link between them. The all to human tendency to want to find the why of a haunting in pointing at a history is very tempting, and occasionally makes sense. Historical research is an exceedingly valuable tool from a paranormal investigation perspective. It is one of the more satisfying aspects of work in this field as it is one of the few that provides relatively concrete answers. However, I believe that inferences based off of historical research alone should be made very carefully. | |
