By Russell White
P.I.T.T. / Paranormal Investigation Team of Tulsa

This article originally appeared in the April, 2004 online issue of Ghost Magazine in the Spirited Science: Mainstream Science Meets Paranormal Studies column. Posted with permission of Russell White.

"Let's not fall into the trap of abandoning science and logic because of curiosity and imagination. Rather, let's use curiosity and imagination as a springboard to the scientific method in order to draw accurate conclusions regarding mysteries of the universe." Farha, Bryan. (1996) Looking Up to Logic [Electronic Version]. The Skeptical Inquirer, Vol.20

In a world where the government regulations have replaced common sense, it is no wonder that the concept of the scientific method has fallen by the wayside. It is a given that ghost research takes place miles away from a controlled lab environment, but until a Spirit strolls into the Physics Lab at MIT, the paranormal researcher is relegated to using these time-honored steps to prove or disprove the existence of life after death. So what is the scientific method?

Simply stated by Jose Wudka “The scientific method is the best way yet discovered for winnowing the truth from lies and delusion.”

In its simplest form the scientific method can be organized as follows:

1. Observe some aspect of the universe.

2. Invent a tentative description, called a hypothesis, which is consistent with what you have observed.

3. Use the hypothesis to make predictions.

4. Test those predictions by experiments or further observations and modify the hypothesis in the light of your results.

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until there are no discrepancies between theory and experiment and/or observation.

Now the whole premise behind the use of the scientific method falls in the replicability of the theory. This means that anyone can get the same results by following the same protocol. It is this very thing that will determine the validity of both the theory and the experiment. Something that can be reproduced again and again by many different people is considered scientifically sound.

Probably the best thing about using the scientific method is that if followed correctly it removes any bias, one doesn't have to believe the individual researcher who presents an idea, and one can simply attempt the experiment on their own and then interpret the findings. Many times people become too close to their research and in wanting, even willing it that they be proven right, put themselves in danger of skewing the data. This is where strict adherence to the scientific method comes in handy.

In other words, many "ghost hunters" see anomalous things simply because they want to. They want that round ball in the picture to be a ghost. They want that voice that was recorded to be a voice from beyond. It is IMPERATIVE, however that they maintain a healthy level of skepticism.

Probably the biggest problems facing paranormal researchers everywhere is how do they replicate these occurrences? How do they consistently get truly anomalous figures in a picture? How do they consistently record intelligent, interactive E.V.P.? Simple answer ... they can't. 

So, then the biggest question would seem to be how in the world can a ghost hunter apply this methodology to prove the existence of an elusive and unpredictable sporadic phenomenon?

The answer lies between the pages of a high school physics book. I can hear most of you groaning now, but bear with me. Of all the scientific disciplines I still find more correlations between that which we seek and the field of physics. It is through this discipline that I feel the afterlife, or whatever your moniker for it, will some day be proven. In physics things are accepted as fact, for instance astrophysicists claim to know the temperature on the Sun. Has anyone ever gone there with a thermometer? How do they know? But by applying the laws of physics with the help of mathematical models scientists are able to theorize, predict and quantify, things like the temperature on the sun, the speed of the earth’s rotation or even the existence of unseen planets in the solar system. And the beauty of this is that because they use a given set of equations and known empirical data; everyone who replicates these models will get the same results.

What this basically boils down to is that we know that it is possible to replicate results when working with intangible variables and subjects. The ghost hunter must next discern ways to quantify the anomalies he deals with. To do this, he must begin to think outside the box, using science as a tool.

In 1665, while in his home in London, Isaac Newton turned his eyes toward the heavens. He saw the finite universe while his mind could see the infinite universe. But to prove his theories Isaac Newton had to quantify the laws that governed this infinite universe and to do that he created the mathematical principals that came to be known as Calculus. With calculus came physics and with physics came the theories of planetary motion, gravity and the wavelengths of color within white sunlight.

Science currently views the endeavors of the ghost hunter as fanciful “leaps of faith”. He can see a world filled with orbs and listen to the sounds recorded on tape and believe that an unseen world exists. But to move beyond that, he needs to take a stance, and use science to validate his work. In essence he must give up searching for the pretty shells on the beach and look out at the greater ocean of truth that lies undiscovered before him. The ghost hunter spends way too much time and exerts way too much effort to have his theories laughed off as a “pseudo-science”.