Infrasound
As paranormal investigators we measure all sorts of changes in the environment. We measure EMF fluctuations, temperature changes, slight vibrations, radiation and ion counts. But there is one very big and important thing that is over looked. That one thing in infrasound. Infrasound is known to directly cause strange feelings, like being watched and anxiety. More importantly it can cause visible hallucinations. Its effects have been experienced first hand by scientists and in large scale group studies. You can’t hear infrasound and it can come from virtually anything. It effects can resemble paranormal experiences. Infrasound is difficult to measure and is often over looked by paranormal investigators.
Our bodies and ears are constantly bombarded with all sorts of sounds. For all the sounds that we can hear, there are many sounds that we can’t hear. The frequency of a sound waved is measured in a unit called hertz abbreviated as Hz. Hertz are the number of waves or cycles per second. Humans can hear 20Hz to 20KHz (20,000 Hz). Anything above 20KHz is called ultrasound. Anything below 20Hz is called infrasound. We will be focusing on infrasound, sounds below 20Hz.
An important thing to known about when studying the paranormal and infrasound is something called resonance frequency. All objects have a resonance frequency, including parts of the human body. Resonance frequency is the exact frequency that makes an object vibrate or resonate. Some people have the ability to match the resonance frequency of wine glasses with their voices. When they do this they can shatter the glass with just their voice.
While we may not be able to hear infrasound, it can affect our bodies in different ways. It can cause us to feel nauseous, anxious, sadness and dizziness. Some studies suggest that it can make people feel uneasy, hallucinate and even feel like paranormal events are taking place. This could make since especially sense the hallucinations can consist of seeing shadows out of the corners of their eyes.
Infrasound is found throughout nature. Elephants’ use it to communicate with one another. It is emitted during natural disasters such as earth quakes, tornadoes and even volcanic eruptions. Meteorologists and geologists measure and study infrasound to help make early warning systems for storms and earthquakes. The human body can make infrasound. This can occur naturally when your heart beats or when your muscles slide over top each other.
Researchers in the United Kingdom conducted an experiment to see how people would react to infrasound. On May 31th, 2003, they played musical pieces for 700 people. Some of these pieces were laced with a 17Hz sine wave. The infrasound wave was produced by placing a subwoofer 2/3 of way in a 7 meter long plastic pipe. The researchers played 4 musical pieces in one set and played a total of 2 sets.
In the first set, two of the musical pieces contained the 17Hz infrasound wave. The other two musical pieces in this set did not contain the infrasound. In the second set none of the pieces contained infrasound. The musical pieces that contained the infrasound in the first set were swapped out for other musical pieces in the second set. This was done so the participants would not focus on a particular musical piece. Obviously, the participants were not told which musical piece contained the infrasound.
Their results of their experiment concluded that 22% of the participants reported feeling different when the infrasound was played. Some of the feelings reported included feeling nervous, fearful, general uneasiness, sad, depressed, pressure on their chests and anxious.
The researchers presented their results to the British Association for the Advancement of Science. Professor Richard Wiseman commented on their findings. He stated “These results suggest that low frequency sound can cause people to have unusual experiences even though they cannot consciously detect infrasound. Some scientists have suggested that this level of sound may be present at some alleged haunted sites and so cause people to have odd sensations that they to attribute to a ghost, our findings support these ideas."
Ghost in the Machine
Vic Tandy was a British lecturer for information technology at Coventry University in Warwickshire, he was an engineer and an avid fencer. In the 1980’s he was working in a laboratory for a medical manufacturing company. The laboratory he was working in already had a reputation for being haunted. Vic Tandy began to see shadows figures and blob like figures out of the corner of his eyes. When he would turn face them, they would disappear. When working in the lab he also felt different. He was quoted saying "I was sweating but cold, and the feeling of depression was noticeable – but there was also something else. It was as though something was in the room with me”.
Tandy brought is foil (fencing sword) to work one day. He wanted to use the vice at his work to hold the blade so he could polish it. When the sword was placed in a vice and he noticed that the sword blade was vibrating. He turned on his oscilloscope and tracked the source of the vibration. It was coming from an extractor fan. Tandy discovered that this extractor fan was emitting an infrasound frequency of 18.98 Hz. According to NASA the resonate frequency for the human eye is 18Hz. It gave him an idea and he wondered if infrasound could be responsible for the “haunting” in the lab. Tandy believed that the shadows he had seen were a result of an optical illusion caused by the fluid in his eyes resonating. The alleged paranormal activity ceased to occur after eliminating the infrasound coming from the fan.
Vic Tandy paired up with Dr. Troy Lawrence. They were able to recreate paranormal events such as that occurred in Vic Tandy’s laboratory. They did this with an infrasound wave of 19Hz. In April 1998, VicTandy and Dr. Troy Lawrence Published a paper titled “The Ghost in the Machine” (volume 62 no851) in the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research. They concluded that infrasound can cause people to have experiences that may be construed as paranormal events. Infrasound has been known by scientist for years but Dr. Lawrence and Vic Tandy were first to link infrasound to the paranormal.
If an investigating team determines that there is no infrasound present during an investigation and paranormal investigators see shadow figures, this could strengthen the cause as a true paranormal event. If a client is reporting paranormal activity and infrasound is present and detected, it could be stopped and end the “haunting”. This could be a great relief to worried or scared clients.
It is common knowledge to paranormal investigators that paranormal activity can increase when renovations are done to a home. What if, during the renovations an item like a new circulating fan is placed in the home and is gives off infrasound. This could be the cause of the activity and not a ghost that is upset with the changes done to the home. Animals have been proven to have the ability to detect infrasound. Could infrasound be the reason they are acting strange in a particular area or not want to go in a certain area of the home? Investigators should also keep infrasound in mind when investigation alleged residential hauntings. Could a particular electronic device be on a timer and when it is activated it emits infrasound? Thus causing “paranormal activity” at the exact time of day on a repeating schedule. Also be sure to check for fault lines near the place you are investigating. Check topographic maps for fault lines and with the USGS for recent earthquakes. Some earthquakes may have been so insignificant and slight that they were not even felt by people, but recorded on seismic sensors. Compare this data with the time frame details that the client has provided you.
Microphones that can detect infrasound are very costly. However, there is a company called Infltec that makes a product that can record infrasound from 0.05Hz to 20Hz with the help from a computer. Their program data logs the data. Through the help of another program they provide, you can hear the infrasound after it is amplified and sped up to the audible range.
Some other more costly options are;
Earthworks M50 high definition microphone is capable of recording down to 3Hz, the price $1300.
Rion has some sound meters. The Rion NL-62 is a sound detector that has a range down to 1 Hz, the prices vary depending on the meter options but are generally over $1,000.
There are plenty of “do it yourself” options. One of the options is from techlib.com. They give detailed instructions on how to build an infrasound detector.
Be sure if you are buying sound meter to measure infrasound that it measures levels below 20Hz.
Could ghosts and hauntings all be caused by infrasound? My opinion is no, not all haunting can be caused just by the presence of infrasound. Infrasound cannot explain the movement of objects including opening and closing of door. Since infrasound cannot be heard it cannot be the cause of audible voice phenomenon. With this being said it still good to rule infrasound before calling a place haunted. It is a something that needs to be measured and documented. It should not be neglected or forgotten about. It is just as important as an EMF and temperature reading. When doing an initial walk through of a location infrasound should be noted just as base line temperature and EMF readings.
As paranormal investigators we measure all sorts of changes in the environment. We measure EMF fluctuations, temperature changes, slight vibrations, radiation and ion counts. But there is one very big and important thing that is over looked. That one thing in infrasound. Infrasound is known to directly cause strange feelings, like being watched and anxiety. More importantly it can cause visible hallucinations. Its effects have been experienced first hand by scientists and in large scale group studies. You can’t hear infrasound and it can come from virtually anything. It effects can resemble paranormal experiences. Infrasound is difficult to measure and is often over looked by paranormal investigators.
Our bodies and ears are constantly bombarded with all sorts of sounds. For all the sounds that we can hear, there are many sounds that we can’t hear. The frequency of a sound waved is measured in a unit called hertz abbreviated as Hz. Hertz are the number of waves or cycles per second. Humans can hear 20Hz to 20KHz (20,000 Hz). Anything above 20KHz is called ultrasound. Anything below 20Hz is called infrasound. We will be focusing on infrasound, sounds below 20Hz.
An important thing to known about when studying the paranormal and infrasound is something called resonance frequency. All objects have a resonance frequency, including parts of the human body. Resonance frequency is the exact frequency that makes an object vibrate or resonate. Some people have the ability to match the resonance frequency of wine glasses with their voices. When they do this they can shatter the glass with just their voice.
While we may not be able to hear infrasound, it can affect our bodies in different ways. It can cause us to feel nauseous, anxious, sadness and dizziness. Some studies suggest that it can make people feel uneasy, hallucinate and even feel like paranormal events are taking place. This could make since especially sense the hallucinations can consist of seeing shadows out of the corners of their eyes.
Infrasound is found throughout nature. Elephants’ use it to communicate with one another. It is emitted during natural disasters such as earth quakes, tornadoes and even volcanic eruptions. Meteorologists and geologists measure and study infrasound to help make early warning systems for storms and earthquakes. The human body can make infrasound. This can occur naturally when your heart beats or when your muscles slide over top each other.
Researchers in the United Kingdom conducted an experiment to see how people would react to infrasound. On May 31th, 2003, they played musical pieces for 700 people. Some of these pieces were laced with a 17Hz sine wave. The infrasound wave was produced by placing a subwoofer 2/3 of way in a 7 meter long plastic pipe. The researchers played 4 musical pieces in one set and played a total of 2 sets.
In the first set, two of the musical pieces contained the 17Hz infrasound wave. The other two musical pieces in this set did not contain the infrasound. In the second set none of the pieces contained infrasound. The musical pieces that contained the infrasound in the first set were swapped out for other musical pieces in the second set. This was done so the participants would not focus on a particular musical piece. Obviously, the participants were not told which musical piece contained the infrasound.
Their results of their experiment concluded that 22% of the participants reported feeling different when the infrasound was played. Some of the feelings reported included feeling nervous, fearful, general uneasiness, sad, depressed, pressure on their chests and anxious.
The researchers presented their results to the British Association for the Advancement of Science. Professor Richard Wiseman commented on their findings. He stated “These results suggest that low frequency sound can cause people to have unusual experiences even though they cannot consciously detect infrasound. Some scientists have suggested that this level of sound may be present at some alleged haunted sites and so cause people to have odd sensations that they to attribute to a ghost, our findings support these ideas."
Ghost in the Machine
Vic Tandy was a British lecturer for information technology at Coventry University in Warwickshire, he was an engineer and an avid fencer. In the 1980’s he was working in a laboratory for a medical manufacturing company. The laboratory he was working in already had a reputation for being haunted. Vic Tandy began to see shadows figures and blob like figures out of the corner of his eyes. When he would turn face them, they would disappear. When working in the lab he also felt different. He was quoted saying "I was sweating but cold, and the feeling of depression was noticeable – but there was also something else. It was as though something was in the room with me”.
Tandy brought is foil (fencing sword) to work one day. He wanted to use the vice at his work to hold the blade so he could polish it. When the sword was placed in a vice and he noticed that the sword blade was vibrating. He turned on his oscilloscope and tracked the source of the vibration. It was coming from an extractor fan. Tandy discovered that this extractor fan was emitting an infrasound frequency of 18.98 Hz. According to NASA the resonate frequency for the human eye is 18Hz. It gave him an idea and he wondered if infrasound could be responsible for the “haunting” in the lab. Tandy believed that the shadows he had seen were a result of an optical illusion caused by the fluid in his eyes resonating. The alleged paranormal activity ceased to occur after eliminating the infrasound coming from the fan.
Vic Tandy paired up with Dr. Troy Lawrence. They were able to recreate paranormal events such as that occurred in Vic Tandy’s laboratory. They did this with an infrasound wave of 19Hz. In April 1998, VicTandy and Dr. Troy Lawrence Published a paper titled “The Ghost in the Machine” (volume 62 no851) in the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research. They concluded that infrasound can cause people to have experiences that may be construed as paranormal events. Infrasound has been known by scientist for years but Dr. Lawrence and Vic Tandy were first to link infrasound to the paranormal.
If an investigating team determines that there is no infrasound present during an investigation and paranormal investigators see shadow figures, this could strengthen the cause as a true paranormal event. If a client is reporting paranormal activity and infrasound is present and detected, it could be stopped and end the “haunting”. This could be a great relief to worried or scared clients.
It is common knowledge to paranormal investigators that paranormal activity can increase when renovations are done to a home. What if, during the renovations an item like a new circulating fan is placed in the home and is gives off infrasound. This could be the cause of the activity and not a ghost that is upset with the changes done to the home. Animals have been proven to have the ability to detect infrasound. Could infrasound be the reason they are acting strange in a particular area or not want to go in a certain area of the home? Investigators should also keep infrasound in mind when investigation alleged residential hauntings. Could a particular electronic device be on a timer and when it is activated it emits infrasound? Thus causing “paranormal activity” at the exact time of day on a repeating schedule. Also be sure to check for fault lines near the place you are investigating. Check topographic maps for fault lines and with the USGS for recent earthquakes. Some earthquakes may have been so insignificant and slight that they were not even felt by people, but recorded on seismic sensors. Compare this data with the time frame details that the client has provided you.
Microphones that can detect infrasound are very costly. However, there is a company called Infltec that makes a product that can record infrasound from 0.05Hz to 20Hz with the help from a computer. Their program data logs the data. Through the help of another program they provide, you can hear the infrasound after it is amplified and sped up to the audible range.
Some other more costly options are;
Earthworks M50 high definition microphone is capable of recording down to 3Hz, the price $1300.
Rion has some sound meters. The Rion NL-62 is a sound detector that has a range down to 1 Hz, the prices vary depending on the meter options but are generally over $1,000.
There are plenty of “do it yourself” options. One of the options is from techlib.com. They give detailed instructions on how to build an infrasound detector.
Be sure if you are buying sound meter to measure infrasound that it measures levels below 20Hz.
Could ghosts and hauntings all be caused by infrasound? My opinion is no, not all haunting can be caused just by the presence of infrasound. Infrasound cannot explain the movement of objects including opening and closing of door. Since infrasound cannot be heard it cannot be the cause of audible voice phenomenon. With this being said it still good to rule infrasound before calling a place haunted. It is a something that needs to be measured and documented. It should not be neglected or forgotten about. It is just as important as an EMF and temperature reading. When doing an initial walk through of a location infrasound should be noted just as base line temperature and EMF readings.