Infrasound as a Factor in Reported Anomalous, Paranormal & Psychical Experiences Within a Disused Merseyside Shipyard.

Steven T. Parsons (1) Ann R. Winsper (2)

1 Department of Psychology, Liverpool Hope University, Liverpool, UK.

2 Department of Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK.

In recent years Infrasound, normally defined as acoustic energy that has a frequency below that of normal human hearing i.e. 20Hz has increasingly been suggested as a causal factor in some reports of personal paranormal experiences. However to date, this hypothesis remains poorly substantiated by field measurements. Apart from the seminal studies conducted by the late Vic Tandy at Coventry University (Tandy & Lawrence, 1998, Tandy, 2000) there is almost nothing that directly links subjective paranormal experiences with naturally occurring or man-made infrasound. A number of studies exist, mainly conducted by the US Military and Government agencies that have demonstrated that exposure to high and very high amplitude infrasound does alter the physiology and psychology of test subjects (von Gierke and Nixon, 1976).

During 2004, the authors were invited by members of staff employed at a two-storey office building within the former Cammell Lairds shipyard in Birkenhead to investigate a series of alleged paranormal experiences. Only the ground floor level was in use at the time, the upper floor had been abandoned for several years and was now used only for storage. The staff reported a range of personal anomalous experiences including the sighting of apparitions, cold spots, feelings of anxiety and unease and a sense of presence. Interviews revealed that all six members of staff had recently experienced something which they considered to be paranormal. Staff members had also reported sounds described as "the slamming of doors" and "footsteps" apparently coming from the abandoned upper floor. During their infrequent visits to the upper floor the staff described apparition encounters and feelings of foreboding and anxiety which at various times could be overwhelming. The investigation notes obtained over hundreds of hours showed that team members who were unaware of the staff experiences independently reported a range of anomalous experiences, including nausea, ear pressure, sudden onset headaches and anxiety, the sighting of apparitions and many instances of fleeting shadows and peripherally seen movement.

The first author has developed infrasound detection and measuring equipment and the offices provided a convenient location for this equipment to be field tested. We did anticipate a degree of environmental infrasound would be present as the building is surrounded by industrial premises and major roads, both of which are well documented sources of infrasound. The background infrasound level was found to be in the region of 30dB-40dB Sound Pressure Level (SPL) for much of the time. We were however, surprised to discover that the infrasound was at times much higher than the measured baseline levels, being up to 85dB (SPL) and manifesting as a series of periodic emissions within the range of 5Hz to 18Hz. Initially, we speculated that that these powerful but inaudible sonic energies where being caused by the nearby Mersey Tunnel, its entrance 500 metres away and directly in line with the office building. The Mersey Tunnel at 4.6 kilometres length and 13.4 metres diameter, we hypothesised may be acting as a gigantic infrasound generator - a traditional method of producing low frequency sound and infrasound is by blowing air through a very large pipe as in the case of a church organ. The Mersey Tunnel is continually fed a large volume of fresh air via a series of massive fans that blow up to half a million cubic metres of air through the tunnel at times of peak traffic flow and could be thought of as acting like an enormous organ pipe. During periods of lower traffic flow such as at night these fans can be systematically shut down, thus reducing air flow considerably.

Continued infrasound measurements and reference to the investigation team notes revealed that whilst it was likely the Mersey Tunnel was generating infrasound, it could not be demonstrated to be the cause of the high amplitude periodic infrasound which we observed mainly at night when traffic flow and thus fan air flow was significantly lower. Infrasound measurements were additionally taken at periods of high traffic flow during the evening and morning rush hour. These did show a general rise in the overall infrasound but failed to show the periodic high amplitude infrasound emissions that we had observed and recorded. An extended series of measurements was then carried out over a number of weeks during the autumn of 2006. This series of measurements finally traced the infrasound source to the generators and engines on ships moored in the basin of the adjacent ship repair facility less than 150 metres from the office building. The repair facility was only in use intermittently and when no ship was present the particular infrasound emissions were absent. When a ship was observed to be moored in the basin with its generators running powerful infrasound emissions were measured at amplitudes of up to 85dB (SPL) at frequencies in the range of 5Hz-18Hz throughout the entire office building. These occasions also corresponded exactly to the written notes of investigation ream members who reported sudden onset headaches, nausea, anxiety and an increase in reports of fleeting visual anomalies and apparitions. On one occasion a large car ferry was moored with its engines running, producing infrasound of >83dB (SPL) at 5Hz. This coincided with the visit to the building by an invited Medium. Without prior knowledge of the location he had been asked to walk around the building indicating areas within the building which he considered to be psychically active. His notes and indications on a plan of the building of those areas being spiritually active or having "denser" psychic energies corresponded remarkably to those areas where the highest levels of infrasound were being simultaneously measured. In areas of the building with lower levels of infrasound i.e. <70dB (SPL) the reported nature and extent of investigation team's personal experiences were greatly diminished. The Medium reported "lighter" psychic energy present and less spirit activity whilst in the same lower infrasound areas of the building. These early discoveries lead us to suggest that: High ambient levels of infrasound or specific frequencies within the infrasonic region may be able to affect individuals and cause them to have unusual and unexpected physiological and psychological experiences. These personal experiences may then be interpreted with respect to an individual's personal belief, knowledge and expectation as being of a paranormal or psychical origin.

This initial infrasound field study forms the basis of future measurements at a range of geographically and typologically diverse allegedly haunted locations and associated control locations which it is hoped will produce a series of baseline measurements and also possibly link or otherwise ambient infrasound to reports of personal anomalous experiences. This series of field studies is being partially funded by a grant from the Society for Psychical Research (SPR).

References

Gierke, H. E. von and Nixon, C. W. (1976). Effects of intense infrasound on man. Infrasound and low frequency vibration, edited by W. Tempest. London. Academic .
Tandy, V. and Lawrence, T. R. (1998). The Ghost in the Machine. JSPR 62, 360 - 364.
Tandy, V. (2000). Something in the Cellar. JSPR 64, 129 - 140.