What do the Kardashian’s ‘talent’ and ghosts have in common? There’s very little evidence that either exist, but despite this thousands of people across the planet believe in them anyway.
Interestingly though there may be a very good reason why people think they’ve been visited by a spirit from beyond the grave and it has nothing to do with people dying in your home, Ouija boards or demonic forces.
In fact the reason that people see ghosts or otherworldly apparitions is all down to something called ‘infrasound‘ a frequency of sound so low (20Hz to be precise) that the human ear can’t hear it but that doesn’t mean we can’t feel it.
This particular frequency can be generated a number of ways including, earthquakes, nuclear bombs and even pigeons.
The idea is that if infrasound hits the human eye at just the right frequency and strength it can cause the eye to vibrate, distorting a person’s vision causing them to see spooky ghosts and whatnot.
Infrasound can have another effect as well, it can cause people to feel uncomfortable as though there’s a person to feel like there’s something else in the room and some subjects who’ve been exposed to the frequency have reported a profound sense of dread, nausea and a general sense of unease.
No doubt though all you believers are thinking: “Well UNILAD that’s all well and good but I saw a ghost and here wasn’t a nuclear blast for miles” and you’d be right! But infrasound can also be generated by something in every house in the UK.
Namely the pipes in your wall which are more than capable of generating the 20Hz needed to bring on nausea, anxiety and uneasiness.
The connection between infrasound and ghosts were first noticed by Vic Tandy, a part-time lecturer at Coventry University.
Tandy noticed was working in a supposedly haunted laboratory at Warwick, when he began to feel anxious and saw a grey blob out of the corner of his eye. When he turned to face the blob though the mysterious mark disappeared.
While investigating the cause of the grey blob he discovered that the lab’s extractor fan was emitting a frequency of 18.98 Hz, very close to the resonant frequency of the eye. He believes that this is what caused him to see the ‘ghost’.
Of course this is just a theory for why people see ghosts and we can’t disprove that it’s the souls of the dead visiting but on the balance of probability what’s more likely?
More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.