Spirits and supernatural entities’ existence are often a debatable topic. Some believe they do exist while others don’t. From a young age, many people grow up hearing legends and myths about these spiritual beings. Popular stories consist of “La Llorona”, “Bloody Mary”, “Hanako-San”, “Black-eyed Children”, “Chupacabra” and many more. What can be concluded from these various stories, is that every culture believes in some capacity that evil spirits were souls of the wicked dead. Although legends from the past differ from what we consider modern-day horrors, many are skeptical of their true nature.

No matter how different the modern horrors are, they still have a striking resemblance to their roots. For example, one of the most popular horror films “The Conjuring” is adapted from a real story. The story of Carolyn and Roger Perron along with their five daughters moved to an old Arnold Estate in Harrisville, Rhode Island back in 1970. Although the old property is secluded, it was a perfect fit for the family. At first, everything was going well then strange things began to unravel turning their beloved home into a demonic threshold. Ed and Lorraine Warren, a well-known medium, conducted a séance, which led Carolyn Perron to get possessed by an evil spirit. According to Freesat, she was levitated off the floor and spoke in an unknown language before getting thrown back forcefully. She was almost killed in this horrifying experience. Lorraine Warren declared these paranormal activities as Bathsheba Sherman’s (rumored to be a demonic witch) doing (more information here).

Ally Carr from Cronkite News (CN) interviewed Gary Schwartz, a director of the laboratory for Advances in Consciousness and Health at the University of Arizona on the topic of spirits. He conducted thorough experiments to prove the ability of the Mediums – individuals who specialized in connecting with the deceased– to be authentic. In other words, his research further supported Lorraine Warren’s input on the Arnold Estate being haunted and the existence of spirits. In his experiment, Schwartz validated whether genuine mediums could connect to the spirits they were conversing with. He would ask them for intimate details that the mediums could not research ahead of time. He concluded that yes spirits are real, and some people could truly connect to them. Schwartz went ahead and developed a possible way to measure the presence of a spirit by an increase in photons in a black box where the spirit would appear inside this box (his research paper). Not only did his research provide concrete proof, but also a scientific way of identifying these unexplained entities.

As ghost hunting became popular due to the profound technologies of the modern day, investigators utilized these tools and made a shocking discovery. Researchers have measured magnetic fields in haunted locations and have discovered them to be stronger than normal or exhibit unusual swings. Through the use of electromagnetic field (EMF) detectors, ghost hunters can detect two types of radiating electromagnetic emissions: ionizing and non-ionizing radiations. These two emissions are arguably the presence of otherworldly beings. Other than using the EMF, investigators would also use special thermometers and infrared cameras to measure ambient temperatures. Since abrupt temperature changes are often signs of paranormal. In other words, spirits make their surroundings colder which is why the investigators would use specialized thermometers and cameras to capture their presence (more information here). These tools are more reliable than Ouija Boards, dowsing rods, and Ghost Boxes for science research purposes.

We interviewed a fellow junior student at Polytechnic High School, Meagan Salazar for her insight on this spooky subject. “Yes, I believe in spirits because I’ve personally experienced things of the paranormal, such as having doors shut by themselves, light flickering, random footsteps,” Salazar spoke. `I’ve also heard stories of other spiritual things mainly in Mexico, like La Llorona… I heard her cries when I visited. These never really bothered me though; I love hearing about the paranormal since I believe that they just want to be respected. Once they find what they came there for they will rest peacefully.” Salazar continued to share her view on this matter.

Another junior student, Fatima Jimenez from Patriot High School shared with us, “I do believe in spiritual beings; that they [the deceased] become a ghost before they go to heaven. In my culture, we believe that there are good ones and bad ones [spirits].” On a similar topic, Jimenez stated, “I also believe that guardian angels exist to keep them [the deceased] safe.”

Francis Yu, a Financial Algebra teacher at Eleanor Roosevelt High School, has experienced a variety of paranormal activities in his classroom on multiple different occasions. He said, “During back-to-school night, I had a parent and a student sitting here. They saw the meter stick from the whiteboard shelf fall. The mom and the student were shocked.”

Yu claimed that strange things often happen in his classroom. “I had all the lights on, and they all turned off except for one.”

He continues on, telling another story “I had a room of students, and they witnessed the whiteboard sliding, students from my fourth period had seen the posters fall down from the wall,” he said recounting the ghostly stories.

However, quite a few people claim that these supernatural occurrences don’t exist. Most tend to use the scientific argument in these cases. After all, supernatural phenomena aren’t something that can’t be fully explained scientifically.

We took into account these scientific perspectives and interviewed some science teachers at Eleanor Roosevelt High School. “There is no scientific evidence” claimed Roel Zamora, a chemistry teacher at Eleanor Roosevelt High School. Yet even the most skeptical of people can’t be completely certain, as Zamora continues “I do have many friends who have experienced events with no logical reason to them and I have faith in their beliefs.”

Another chemistry teacher at Eleanor Roosevelt High School, Chuong Vu shared a similar sentiment “See, with modern-day technology, it is hard to get proof because you can’t prove 100% of the time with ghosts it’s mostly stories passed down,” he spoke. “Electromagnetic fields are a good way to detect anything but that doesn’t mean it is always a ghost.” However, Vu shared a similar uncertainty in his stance “It’s hard to explain what she [his daughter] saw.” He elaborates stating “We were at my wife’s father’s house and my daughter saw something in the living room and she looked so terrified that she held onto my legs, but I couldn’t see anything.”

According to ScienceNewExplores most footage taken of potential spirits doesn’t offer any good evidence. They claim that most sightings are more than likely hoaxes reliant on other factors that have nothing to do with such entities. Individuals who had sworn to have seen paranormal phenomena, continue to argue that sleep paralysis and misconceptions are more likely responsible rather than a spirit of some kind. Another scientific news site by the name of, LiveScience, points out the many inconsistencies within the lore of the paranormal. People have very differing views on what makes a ghost, and which rules they must abide by. Such as if they can interact with objects or not and if ghosts are lost souls or projectiles from the human mind. Britannica offers some plausible other scientific explanations to explain some ghostly occurrences. One such thing they suggest is infrasound. Infrasound is the sound that falls below the audible human range which is caused by earthquakes and other natural lifeforms. This can cause the unexplained voices and visions many could’ve attributed to spirits. Another explanation offered is Earth’s geomagnetic fields. Studies have shown that these geomagnetic fields are capable of stimulating the temporal lobe of the human brain creating the feeling people may experience due to paranormal activity.