AN+INVESTIGATION+INTO+THE+ALLEGED+HAUNTING+OF+HAMPTON+COURT+PALACE

Wiseman, Richard, et al. "An Investigation Into The Alleged Haunting Of Hampton Court Palace: Psychological Variables And Magnetic Fields."Journal Of Parapsychology December, 2002: 387-408. Web. This article gives a direct example of a place that has been reported as one of the most haunted places in England, with many visitors and staff reporting unusual activity. What this article does, is it investigates how much of what these people are seeing correlates with their prior beliefs in ghosts. What the study found was that when people had prior knowledge of a paranormal phenomena they tended to believe they saw something more often than those with no prior knowledge. They also did a study with believers of paranormal activity and non-believers and found that those with prior beliefs experienced paranormal activity much more often than those who did not believe in paranormal activity. The article also dives into the topic of magnetic fields and their effect on this specific location. The article investigated three specific variables: Belief in ghosts, suggestion, and magnetic fields.

The placebo effect is very real and can often influence ones experience, regardless of the study. In this article, it examines exactly that and how it affects people who believe they saw a paranormal phenomenon. It also takes into account the idea of magnetic fields affecting visitors and staff. It also brings into the argument the idea that geomagnetic fields (created by tectonic movement) created changes in the persons brain, which is a perspective which has not had many studies.