Soundwaves cause spooky sensations
A TOP spook scientist has busted the theory that it is ghosts that scare us in creepy spots.
Professor Richard Wiseman claims to have found the reason why “haunted” settings cause goosebumps.
He said the creepy sensations in strange old buildings could be put down to silent ultrasound waves from cars.
The professor is an expert in debunking tales of the paranormal and has spent years carrying out experiments in some of Britain’s spookiest locations.
He was drafted into Henry VIII’S palace at Hampton Court to discover the truth behind tales that two of the king’s six wives – Jane Seymour and Catherine Howard – stalk the corridors.
The former magician said: “We were the first ghostbusters to be called into a royal palace. We stayed for 10 days.
“They have a part of the palace called the haunted gallery and lots of people have had weird experiences there. So we did experiments, as we did in the underground vaults in Edinburgh, which allegedly are also haunted.
“What we saw in each case is that there is something to the claim that people do have weird experiences in these places, even if they don’t know the reputation of them.” He said feeling strange or hearing funny noises is “environmentally driven”. He said: “One hypothesis is ultrasound – very low frequency sound waves that cars and air conditioning units can produce. “They make you feel very uneasy but you can’t hear them, and it’s possible haunted locations have a large amount of that.”