There are plenty of various theories about the paranormal to be found on the internet, in books or television. Below we cite the most popular theories. However, the following theories about the nature of paranormal phenomena are - without exception - not scientifically proven. They are only speculations. The members of CEPI distance themselves from those theories.

We are thriving to find natural explanations to those allegedly unexplainable phenomena.

Different kinds of ghostly apparitions:

Ghosts are said to differ in their appearance as well as in their nature. It is believed that ghosts show themselves either in form of globular objects emitting light (orbs), in a nebular or smoky form, in form of ectoplasm, or maybe even as shadowy figures (shadow people). Probably the rarest kind of ghostly appearance is the full-bodied apparition. The ghost is said to appear in the shape of the body he occupied during his lifetime.

Even amongst believers doubt has been cast on the existence of orbs and ectoplasm as well as nebular apparitions. In most cases pictures depicting them have easily recognised natural causes (like cigarette smoke, condensation, dust etc.). Ectoplasm was forged by many self-proclaimed mediums during their spiritualistic sessions mainly during the 19th century. Photos and videos can nowadays be easily forged with a multitude of different computer programs.

It’s controversial if the so called “shadow people phenomenon” falls into this category. There are many theories reaching from parallel dimensions over the restless souls of the dead to extra-terrestrials. Science tries to explain this phenomenon either with malfunctions of the eyes or with pareidolia, stating that the brain automatically interprets unclear pictures as known objects or even faces.

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Ghostly apparitions attached to a certain place:

Believers distinguish between different kinds of ghostly apparitions, not only in their outer appearance, but also in their nature. One of them is said to be sort of a fingerprint in spacetime, repeating itself over and over again in a certain place at a certain time. This imprint is said to be caused by a dramatic experience, setting free very strong emotions. Allegedly this kind of ghostly apparitions can neither interact nor communicate with us.

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Intelligent hauntings:

In addition there are said to be also intelligent types of ghostly apparitions, which can either be bound to a certain place or free to move wherever they want. Believers think that they are able to perceive us and can also interact with us. Some of them allegedly have the ability to physically affect their surroundings, i.e. move objects or even attack living humans, though this seldom occurs in reports. This type of ghosts is said to be able to verbally communicate with us, though their voices most of the time can only be heard when recorded, amplified and filtered. Believers also state that ghosts need a lot of energy to manifest or speak, which should be the reason that hauntings most of the time don’t show themselves in a bodily form or only as faint shadowy figures (see above). Intelligent hauntings usually are recognised by believers as the disembodied souls of the deceased. Next to humanoid apparitions there are also reports of animal spirits.

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Demons and nature spirits:

There are also reports of hauntings, which can neither be credited to “imprints” nor to disembodied souls. This certain type of haunting is said to be caused by non-human spirits, so called nature spirits, like fairies or leprechauns, or possibly also by demons.

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Poltergeists:

This phenomenon, which manifests itself mainly through banging noises and the movement of objects, is not a classical haunting and – so the saying goes - normally not caused by a spirit. The word poltergeist is derived from the German “poltern”, which means to rumble or bumping noises and “Geist”, which simply means ghost. Poltergeists are nowadays by many believers linked with outbursts of strong psychokinetic energy and said to be often caused by adolescents in their puberty or people under extraordinary psychological strain. However, probably most “poltergeist” cases are fraud.

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The following theories about the nature of paranormal phenomena are - without exception - not scientifically proven.  The members of CEPI distance themselves from those theories.

Cold spots: When temperature suddenly drops!

Frequently reported phenomena are the so-called “cold spots” (also cold drafts). A sudden, unexplainable, temperature decrease in the range of several degrees. If an area of a room suddenly becomes rather chilly, believers think that this might be a sign of a spirit’s presence or a manifestation building up. The explanation they usually give for this phenomenon is that spirits need energy to manifest or become visible. Therefore, they drain nearby energy from their environment. This can be thermal and/or electromagnetic energy. In this context it is often reported that fresh batteries suddenly run empty in the presence of a paranormal apparition, causing a malfunction of electronical battery-operated devices, e.g. camcorders.

Tools for detecting cold spots include rapid-reading digital thermometers as well as thermal imaging devices. The latter work by collecting the upper part of the light spectrum (e.g. infrared radiation) which is emitted or reflected as heat by objects. Hotter objects, such as warm bodies, emit a higher level of infrared radiation than cooler objects (e.g. buildings, furniture, etc.). Infrared scanners and thermal imaging cameras are frequently used for detecting spirits.

In some cases subjects have the feeling of coldness, but the thermometers do not render any proof. This subjective feeling is likely based on their own expectations towards the paranormal.

Skeptics say that cold spots may often be explained by natural temperature fluctuations.

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EMF spikes:

An AC EMF-meter measures fluctuations in the electro-magnetic field (with a frequency above 0 hertz). As ghosts are said to consist of energy believers try to locate them with an EMF-meter. Ghosts are said to disrupt the electro-magnetic field and the EMF-meter then gives higher than normal readings. Before starting an investigation ghost hunters do a base reading to make sure that the EMF-spikes aren’t caused by natural energy sources such as microwaves, clock-radios or fuse boxes. Many ghost hunters use EMF-meters which aren’t very exact and most of the time they don’t even know what such a meter actually measures.

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Electronic voices:

“EVP stands for electronic voice phenomenon.” This sentence is probably known by all ghost hunters.

The history behind it:

One of the first reported discoveries of allegedly ghostly voices on tape was made through the Swedish artist and opera singer Friedrich Jürgenson in 1959. He tried to record birds’ voices, but also captured human voices, which are said to have addressed him with his name and knew things only he could know. From this time on he studied this phenomenon and captured many more EVPs. He showed his discoveries to Hans Bender, the former head of the institute for parapsychology at the university of Freiburg, Germany. Together they made a few experiments in the years 1964 and 1970. The outcomings however didn’t stand the test of the strict analytical methods. In 1967 Jürgenson published a book on the topic (ISBN 3-4421-1727-5). Since then EVP has become one of the most popular and definitely most modern ways of spirit communication.

Most of the time, the voices can only be heard on tape, but not during the investigation. The recordings sometimes have to be filtered and enhanced with special programs. A popular explanation amongst believers is that ghosts don’t have an unlimited amount of spendable energy and “speaking” to us uses a lot of energy. That’s why the outcomings are usually quite faint and sometimes can only be heard when enhanced.

Skeptics think that the recorded voices are caused by interferences of radio waves or CB. There are also theories stating that they are caused by electromagnetic pollution (immission), previously magnetified tapes or acoustic hallucinations (the brain interprets unclear sounds as familiar noises or words). 

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Orbs on pictures:

Orbs are globular mostly semi-transparent objects that seem to be free-floating in the air. In recent years thousands of orb-pictures appeared in various paranormal fora and on websites, in books etc. It seems that orbs are the modern version of ectoplasm.

But in spite of many believers in the paranormal stating that orbs are spirit energy, we think that orbs are only dust-bunnies, which are enlightened with a flash or other sources of light. They are mainly captured with digital cameras, though they sometimes appear in pictures taken with analog cameras as well.

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The following theories about the nature of paranormal phenomena are - without exception - not scientifically proven. They are only speculations often cited throughout the internet. The members of CEPI distance themselves from those theories.

Phantom or phantasm?

There are many theories about paranormal phenomena appearing all through the internet.
It’s a challenge for our organization to find out the truth behind all those theories using scientific methods.
For this reason we questioned physicists and asked their opinion on some very common theories on ghosts.
Below you can both find the summarized theories and the answers given by the physicists, who were kind enough to assume as a working hypothesis that ghosts exist.

Theory 1: ghosts draw energy from their surroundings
The first of our theories says that ghosts draw heat energy from their surroundings which lowers the room temperature.

Theory 2: ghosts can be measured with a Gauss meter
The second theory states that ghosts can be traced with the help of a Gauss meter, resulting in a high reading on the scale.

Our question: What attributes would a ghost need to have in order to affect its surroundings in the stated way? Would that be physically possible?

Answer of physicists (summary):

Working hypothesis: ghosts are real and are drawing heat energy from their surroundings. They also can be measured with an EMF-detector [note: Gauss metre].
To possess these qualities ghosts would - according to the laws of physics – have to consist of matter, with a specific inertia, density, specific heat capacity etc.
But if a ghost is made out of matter, then how could we explain that it can go through walls and the like (which is a very popular statement)? Out of which elements would this matter consist? Ghosts are said to be invisible – does this mean the matter is gasiform? Maybe a ghost consists of pure energy? But what would keep that energy together?
Does a ghost generate ionised gas or a kind of plasma during its manifestation, just like (ball)lightning? The required energy could theoretically be drawn from the surrounding area and would probably also explain a possible spike on an EMF metre [note: Gauss metre]. But if that is so, then what makes this stationary plasma hold together, so that it won’t dissolve after a couple of (split-) seconds?

CEPI: To summarize this statement, it would hypothetically be possible that something exists, which owns these above mentioned qualities, but there is no known force that would be able to keep this thing together. It’s said that apparitions of that kind are only seen for a very short time – for a second – and then disappearing again, dissolving again . It appears very sudden and also disappears suddenly. It seems like ghosts would be something rather unstable.

Theory 3: Life energy and memories can be imprinted in matter
Herewith we are approaching a further popular theory, which states that images or voices (human or beastly) can be replayed again and again in a certain location, like a kind of video/audio recording. It could be compared to some form of holographic projection, which is triggered by certain conditions.
Assuming this phenomenon existed, could such a „video recording“ be saved in matter in a natural way and triggered by certain stimuli?
Our question: Would a thusly created holographic „video recording“ in the described com-plexity be possible in a natural way?

Answers from physicists (summary):
First you should differentiate „images“ and „voices“. There are holographic techniques, where you can store 3D images on foil. A good catchword would be „optical illusion“.
Light phenomena can physically be explained quite well. How this will be interpreted that’s another story. Physically it’s not impossible that a broken cup reassembles itself. But that’s a question of probability.
The „voice-phenomenon“ on the other hand seems physically totally impossible. It’s not possible that accoustic information is stored in matter in a natural way and moreover being re-played in good quality. Above that the memory capacity would suffer.

That means following the current status of research it’s impossible that complex maybe even moving images could be stored in matter. The same is true for acoustical components of the above mentioned „video recording“.
Even if it was possible to save information on a natural data storage medium, the quality of the replay would be extremely bad and fragmented.
Through the effect of heat, chemical reactions and electrical energy things can quite easily be made to glow. If this light is bent or fractioned by something, the illusion may arise that we see an image [note: the human brain interprets optical and acoustical stimuli in a way that they are making sense. Fragmented information is automatically completed by the human brain. This is called pareidolia.]

Closing words of the physicists:
It seems to be physically impossible that ghosts exist, even though up to now there’s no precise definition of a ghost.
This topic is surely interesting, but also very difficult to explain with a rational approach.

CEPI: Thank you very much for the interview!

The consulted physicists prefer to stay anonymous. The questions were asked in 3 different physic forums.

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