Paul Seaburn March 22, 2022

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, funeral home to cemetery … we know where our bodies go after death. We also know that there are always more bodies to replace the departed ones. But what about ghosts? Many believe ghosts eventually leave Earth and pass over to another place, but some seem to never leave – think of the ghosts that continue to haunt ancient battlefields. Do the ghosts that depart get replaced? Are they in danger of overcrowding? A ghost hunter in England says no – in fact, he says we’re now suffering a shortage of them. We know how this could affect a ghost hunter, but does this have an impact on the rest of us?

What if you threw a haunted house party and no one came?

“Since January 2020, I have contacted all places that are believed to be haunted on my app and asked if residents, owners or staff have experienced any unexplained activity. So far I’ve had almost 800 responses and even so-called very haunted places like Conisbrough Castle in South Yorkshire, the Ettington Park Hotel in Stratford – considered one of the most UK’s most haunted – and Fortnum and Mason in Piccadilly, say they have not experienced anything in recent years.”

Dr. Paul Lee has a PhD in Nuclear Physics from the University of York, however he may be better known as a professional ghost hunter born on Halloween who says he has looked for spirits since he was young. On his website, he has a link to his “UK Ghost Excursion Map” app which has info on many of the thousands of haunted locations in the UK. That app helped Dr. Lee in his research on the dwindling ghost population and the Daily Star reveals one of his theories why it’s happening.

“But it does seem as though many famous ghosts are either dormant or have faded away or moved on. It could be that a spirit had a natural source of energy to begin with which has dwindled away over time, leaving them without the reserves to manifest anymore. It may be that ghosts can be recharged. You sometimes hear stories of ghosts suddenly appearing again after many years’ absence.”

Ghosts that run on renewable energy? How trendy! However, on his website and in an interview with Lynn News, Dr. Lee turns to his scientific side for an alternate theory. He points out that many commercial ghost hunts rely on equipment that could be faulty – orbs are often problems with lighting or cameras, ‘voices’ can be the result of extraordinary efforts to amplify faint noises that distort them into what the ghost hunters want to hear.

‘I’m a paranormal researcher, and here’s what I think of the ghosts in y…
Dr Lee has written a book about local hauntings.

Orbs, orbs, orbs.

“And why would ghosts resort to such difficult methods of communications if they were desperate to communicate?”

Finally, he points to what he calls the “Most Haunted effect.” As paranormal shows like “Most Haunted” became popular, more ghosts, haunted places, hunters, wannabe hunters, new equipment, scary situations and the like were needed to feed the TV beast. In addition, many places saw the money being made and jumped on the “we’re haunted too – come see out ghost and have dinner” bandwagon. As a result, the number of ghost and haunted places seemed to go up. However, after the TV crews leave, the sounds, orbs and other alleged sightings went with them, resulting in so many sites reporting no ghosts for Lee’s survey.

When legitimate paranormal researchers go hunting, will they see an increase in “recharged” spirits? Dr. Lee hopes that the TV interest will eventually die down and the real ghosts will return.

If ghost-hunting TV shows die, will their ghosts come back to haunt us?

MU*