Temperature & Haunting Experiences

[Dr. C]

1) There are a number of different ways of measuring temperature in the field (e.g. laser thermometer, data sensors, thermal imager). Are each of these tools necessary or is there one that fits the job?

My feelings are that a laser thermometer is best for surface recording or skin temp and others (e.g. thermal imager) are ideal for cold spots and/or drafts.

2) What do you think are causes of a reported "drop in temperature"?

[Nicky]

2) What do you think are causes of a reported "drop in temperature"?


The ghosties draw their energy from the temperature thus making it go cold ... Woooooooo! :D ;) :D

Never really had huge temperature flucs in the invos I've run ... aside from noticeable heat increase prior to kinetic activity ..

[Ginger Rogers]

http://www.meta-religion.com/Paranormale/Ghost/ghosts_created_by_low_frequency.htm

apparantly this phenomena can cause all the effects of 'ghosts'

[Dr B]

ASSAP had an excellent discussion on this - i would advise a lurk over at their forum - though it was some time ago so you will need to go through the threads properly.

Basically - laser themometers are a big no-no. :D

[John Jackson]

2) What do you think are causes of a reported "drop in temperature"?


This is a good question.

There seems to be an assumption made (by some investigating teams) that a drop in temperature is the result of ghostly activity/manifestation.

Is there any good evidence that temperature drops are experienced more frequently in 'haunted' locations?

If so, are there any cases where explanations (whether physical or psychological) do not adequately cover the phenomenon?

I've never really been into paranormal investigations (as I've said on here elsewhere) but if I were to go on a vigil, why should I be measuring temperature fluctuations?

Is there a good scientific reason for doing so or is it because there's an assumption that a temperature drop means 'ghost'?

[median]

John

I think the sudden drop in temperature has become entrenched in ghost folklore.
It may also be the case that media driven images has, in some part, gone on to perpetuate this perceived phenomenon.

Whilst there is a great deal of variability of individuals when it comes to temperature sensitivity, there are a number of salient points that should be remembered.

1) A lot of haunted locations are old buildings and thus devoid of any type of heating (stone buildings because of their thermal mass can be particularly cool)

2) A lot of investigations occur at night in which chronobiological effects (as experienced by shift workers) can cause body temperature fluctuations (this could be exacerbated by the time of a person's food intake or general health)

Furthermore, I think that given a specific locale, a person with a primed expectation of haunted phenomenon will be more likely to perceive mundane physical events (draughts etc) as paranormal phenomena.

[vbloke]

Does that mean my fridge is haunted then?

[median]

I ex-spectre so :D ;D

[John Jackson]

I wonder how many people go a-ghost-huntin' with thermometers (emf meters etc.) without actually knowing why they're using them. ???

If I were to go on an investigation, I would want to know exactly why we were using the equipment and what the readings would mean should we get them.

At the end of the day thermometers measure temperatures (not ghosts) so there would have to be some useful hypothesis behind their usage otherwise the data obtained will be useless.

Unless you're an MH type investigator of course. ;D

[ali_baba]

is anyone aware of the ghost stories in warm deserts of arab? where temperature is almost over 110f normally in the day however at night it falls considerably ,thus, making it a HAUNTED place and arab stories mostly depict ghost activities at night
its just an observation which may break new ground in GHOSTOLOGY O0

[median]

Hello ali

I think it's probably the case that a majority of 'ghost' sightings occur at night in a lot of diffent locations. However you may have a point in that cross cultural references could be illuminating in terms of the social context of the phenomena.
For example, what are the experiences of those living in areas that are uniformly cold with little circadian temparature variation.

Welcome, by the way. O0