Ghosts laid to rest in the Vaults

Published on Wednesday 21 May 2003 01:00

GHOSTS are the result of people’s imaginations according to a study of hundreds of volunteers around two of the UK’s most haunted locations - the South Bridge Vaults in Edinburgh and Hampton Court Palace in London.

Psychologists said ghosts are the mind’s way of interpreting how the body reacts to certain surroundings. A chill in the air, low-light conditions and even magnetic fields may trigger feelings that "a presence" is in a room. But that is all they are - feelings.

Dr Richard Wiseman, of the University of Hertfordshire, said they found some data to suggest why so many people can be spooked in the same building but it provides no evidence that ghosts are real.

In the Vaults - alleged to contain a ghost called Mr Boots who is said to push people, whisper obscenities and stomp around the corridors - the volunteers were asked to face their fear.

They had to record any unusual experiences, such as hearing footsteps, feeling cold or a presence in the room, as well as marking the location and intensity of the experience on a floor plan.

Dr Wiseman said: "Hauntings exist, in the sense that places exist where people reliably have unusual experiences. Ghosts are a way of explaining these experiences."

Dr Wiseman and his colleagues are not so sure ghosts are real. They claim that the hauntings exist but the ghosts do not.

"People do have consistent experiences in consistent places, but I think that this is driven by visual factors mainly, and perhaps some other environmental cues," he said.