Page 25 - Encyclopedia of the Unusual and Unexplained Vol. 3

Ghosts and Phantoms 5

first organized effort to study such phenomena evant details have been read back into the
occurred in 1882, as the first major undertaking narrative after the event?
of the newly formed Society for Psychical Today, over 120 years after the British
Research (SPR) in London. By means of a cir- Society for Psychical Research began its
culated questionnaire, the SPR asked whether earnest efforts to chart and categorize ghosts,
its recipients had ever, when they believed 42 percent of the residents of that metropoli-
themselves to be completely awake, experi- tan area believe in ghosts and almost half of
enced some kind of visual or auditory phenom- this number said that they had seen or felt the
ena. Of the 17,000 people who responded, presence of a ghost, according to a survey
1,684 answered “yes.” From this, the committee released on March 20, 2000, by television sta-
members who were conducting the survey esti- tion GMTV in London.
mated that nearly 10 percent of the population
of London had experienced some kind of para-
normal manifestation, and they sent forms
requesting additional details to all those who A poltergeist is a projection of psychic energy.
had indicated such encounters. Subsequent
investigation and interviews enabled the early
psychical researchers to arrive at a number of
basic premises regarding ghosts. In the exploration of the paranormal, it is
found that most types of phenomena appear to
For example, the committee was able to
conclude that although ghosts are connected be universal, the individual circumstances of
with other events besides death, they are more the accounts fitting themselves to the unique
likely to be linked with death than with any- cultural interpretations of whatever area in
thing else. Visual sightings of ghosts were the which they manifest. The ghostly beings
most common, and of such cases reported, near- described in this chapter are listed by loosely
ly one-quarter had been shared by more than defined categories, for it will soon be apparent
one percipient. Those who answered the second that these entities know no strictly set bound-
form of the questionnaire requesting more infor- aries—especially those established by humans
mation stated that they had not been ill when who attempt to explain or to identify them.
they had witnessed the paranormal visitations
M Delving Deeper
and they insisted that these manifestations were Associated Press. “Haunted Experiences Draw Skepti-
quite unlike the bizarre, nightmarish creatures cal Society Together.” Boston Globe, July 22, 2001.
that might appear during high fevers or high [Online] http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/
alcoholic consumption. Of those cases in which 203/metro/Haunted_experiences_draw_skeptical_
the percipients had experienced auditory phe- socie
nomena, such as hearing voices, one-third were
Murphy, Gardner. The Challenge of Psychical Research.
collective, that is, witnessed by more than one
New York: Harper & Row, 1970.
percipient at the same time.
“Spooky! We’re Still Haunted by Ghosts.” Sydney
After the findings of the research commit- Morning Herald, July 23, 2001. [Online] http://
tee had been made public, the SPR began to www.smh.com.au/news/0107/23entertainment/
be flooded by personal accounts of sponta- entertain2.html.
neous cases of ghosts and spirits. In order to Steinour, Harold. Exploring the Unseen World. New
aid the committee in the handling of such an York: Citadel Press, 1959.
influx of information, the SPR worked out a
Tyrrell, G. N. M. Apparitions. New York: Collier
series of questions that could be applied to
Books, 1963.
each case that came in. Among the questions
were the following: Is the account firsthand?
Has the principal witness been corroborated? Animal Spirits
Was the percipient awake at the time? Was Just as a large percentage of the population of
the apparition recognized? Was the percipient all cultures believe that the ghosts of the dear-
anxious or in a state of expectancy? Could rel- ly departed members of their human families

The Gale Enc y clopedia of the Unusu al and Unexplained