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History
Throughout history, people have told stories of seeing spirits and ghosts of the deceased. These paranormal phenomena have been seen by many different cultures that celebrated a variety of religions. Tales of the experiences included reports of seeing the deceased, hearing their voice, and even feeling the spirits touch their very own skin. With so many reports of such similar experiences, scientists and researchers sought to look for logical reasons as to why people were having these experiences. One of the main theories is, that magnetic waves in the environment of a haunted house are unusual or abnormal, and are capable of causing these paranormal hallucinations. Other theories are that people are more likely to report seeing an illusion if they: 1) believe in ghosts and spirits 2) have prior knowledge of a location being haunted 3) have lost a loved one in the home they believe to be haunted. Researchers believe that conditions must be precise for people to be able to have the hallucinations, making these paranormal events all the more rare.

Origins in religion
Tales of spirits of the deceased can be found in the doctrines of multiple religions. With slightly different variations, most of these religions believe in the spirit reincarnating or taking the form of a ghost or phantom. Some religions believe these paranormal forms are taken up by previously human spirits, while others believe they are taken by angels or demons. These are some of the beliefs from the biggest religions in the world:
 * **Christianity -** Christians believe that there is no in-between period separating life and judgement, they do believe that there can be demons that appear as deceased humans and can have the same haunting effects as ghosts. In Mark 5:1-20 a legion of demons possesses a man and use him to haunt a graveyard.
 * **Islam -** Muslims believe that Allah created spirits known as jinn that live in a parallel universe to that of humans. They are invisible and have the power to take on different kinds of physical forms.
 * **Buddhism -** Buddhists believe that when it comes to reincarnation, a person can be reincarnated as ghosts, and can live to either work out bad karma or to live out a comfortable life.
 * **Hinduism -** In Hinduism, many believe that ghosts are associated with those who died unnatural deaths, like being murdered or a horrific accident and were not given proper Hindu deaths.
 * **Judaism - **The Jewish believe that there are good ghosts, known as ibbur, and bad ghosts, known as Dybbuks. Ibburs, are disembodied beings that inhabit or possess the living but inhabit the living for positive reasons. Dybbuks possess the living but do it for negative reasons.

There are hundreds of other religions that also believe in ghosts of some form. While their theories on how these paranormal beings came to be range in explanation, the idea of a ghost living in the human realm is very common. It causes researchers to question how there could be so many similar experiences among such a vast variety of people, and have no scientific explanation. It caused scientists to search for an answer

Magnetic Fields
Theories have arisen and many come with intricate explanations. The primary theory is that haunted locations experience disturbances in the magnetic fields surrounding the location. These experience-inducing conditions are most commonly associated with two kinds of disturbances: electromagnetic and geomagnetic fields. Researchers have discovered that anomalies among magnetic fields in the environment of a haunted location play a large role in these paranormal phenomenon. It has been discovered that there have been strong periods of magnetic disturbances in areas with reports of paranormal haunting experiences. Researchers have confirmed that magnetism can affect the neural functions that can potentially cause visual hallucinations, auditory hallucinations, and even create a physical feeling of being touched. Action pulses can be altered by electrically charged particles caused by unusual electromagnetic waves entering the neural functions of the brain. Since the magnetic fields cause unusual wavelengths, the particles entering the brain can cause a disturbance in neurological patterns in the brain, such as causing the eyes to perceive things at unusual rates possibly creating illusions. The origin of these magnetic disturbances is believed to be caused by bursts or spots on the sun that create cosmic rays of electrically charged particles which can reach the earth at over four million miles per hour. While the earth’s atmosphere deflects these rays, a certain amount penetrates the atmosphere and creates these magnetic storms. It is therefore believed that in most cases the reason for these various hallucinations is not magnetic fluctuations themselves, but the cosmic rays that disturb and cause these magnetic fluctuations.

Conditions for paranormal hallucination to take place
Researchers believe that there are many factors that must be considered in the event of a haunting. In previous studies, the factors that researchers have included are: (1) context of a reportedly haunted location (2) specific lighting in location (3) air drafts (4) the infra-sound levels affecting the location (5) changes in geomagnetic fields (6) electromagnetic field levels varying throughout the day (7) and tectonic events that have taken place in the haunted location. All these events must be factored in when researching whether or not a place can be haunted or not. The context of a haunted location is very important, because it can determine whether a person will be more susceptible to letting their mind see or hear things that aren't there. It is more likely that a person who does not believe in ghosts or spirits will not hallucinate. The lighting in a location also plays a major role. Dim lighting in certain rooms of the haunted location can cause the eyes to see something that is not there. Lighting can cause shadows to move or appear out of nowhere, depending on the surroundings. Air movement and air drafts can cause a susceptible victim to hear a strange noise or even feel like they have been brushed by a ghost. Old air ventilation and unusual shapes can cause for very strange noises, making it very easy for people to mistake the noise as a voice. Infrasound has been reported to be able to cause strange feelings in humans including anxiety, sorrow, and even the feeling of being watched. Changes in geomagnetic fields, caused by tectonic activity or solar activity, can cause a disturbance in the environment and create changes in wavelengths making people be more susceptible to these paranormal events. Differences in electromagnetic fields throughout different times of the day can cause more or lesss susceptibilty to having hallucinations. Daytime and evening magnetic field levels can cause for a person not to perceive anything unusual during the day, but would be far more likely to perceive something bizzare during the night. Finally, tectonic movement and activity could greatly shift the areas of a haunted location, even if the people near the location never felt it. These tectonic shifts could cause for disturbances in electromagnetic/geomagnetic fields that are a considered the most possible explanation for these visual, auditory, and even sensory hallucinations.

Hauntings
The Hampton Palace Court in London is known for being haunted and in recent times people even claim to have caught a ghost on camera. In the Hampton Court Palace of England, researchers decided to conduct surveys and do experiments to determine whether the palace was haunted or not. The researchers mainly studied two locations in the palace, the Haunted Gallery and the Georgian Rooms, and measured magnetic fields during the day and evening. They measured these variables before sending in groups of visitors into the two rooms to determine whether or not they saw something unusual. Researchers also surveyed people beforehand on some psychological aspects. They first surveyed the visitors on whether or not they believed in ghosts. They would then take the visitors into the Haunted Gallery or Georgian Rooms in the evening, and the visitors would report what they saw. They also surveyed the visitors based on prior knowledge that the palace was haunted. Those who believed in ghosts had a significantly larger amount of paranormal experiences while in the Haunted Gallery. It was attributed to the belief in ghosts, and expecting to see ghosts due to prior knowledge led many of the visitors to have paranormal experiences.

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