A Real Haunted House

In 1921 Dr. William Wilmer, the first director of the ophthalmology department at John's Hopkins, published an article in the American Journal of Ophthalmology. The story chronicled the mysterious occurrences surrounding his patient Mrs. H and her family's encounters with supernatural activity within their home. Was this a true haunted house or was there a scientific explanation for the eerie events that transpired?

Mrs. H and her husband Mr. G purchased their home on November 15, 1912. The house had been unoccupied by permanent residents for ten years prior to the family's purchase. Built in 1870, the house had fallen into a state of disrepair. It lacked electricity; instead relying on sunlight from the windows and gas from the furnace for lighting.

Days after the family moved in, Mrs. H became inexplicably depressed. She began to hear unusually loud footsteps coming from the floor above her despite the thick carpeting, which normally muffled the footfalls of the servants and created a tomb-like silence within the home. On more than a few occasions, investigating the origin of these resonant footsteps yielded no results-- the entire area would always be vacant.

Several weeks later, Mrs. H developed severe headaches and complained of weakness and lethargy. Mr. G reported the sensation of being watched whenever he was alone. Even their two children were not immune to the strange ongoings within the house. They became listless and pale and had little or no appetite. They were more prone to cold and flu-like symptoms, which would greatly improve almost immediately after leaving their home. In time the kids refused to go into their upstairs play area for no discernible reason, adamantly requesting to move their toys into their downstairs bedroom.

The family and their servants continued to be plagued by visual and auditory disturbances. Strange persons would appear out of nowhere, ofttimes at the foot of a family member's bed, only to dissipate back into nothingness. All who lived within the home frequently experienced heavy footsteps, unexplained ringing, and disembodied voices. In one instance, Mr. G awoke to the sound of a fire engine blaring outside. When he rushed to the window, he was greeted by an empty street. The servants believed the house was haunted, though the family wasn't entirely convinced.

Mrs. H's research into the house's history revealed that the previous tenants had remarkably similar experiences, with the exception of figures witnessed creeping around at night dressed in purple and white. All past occupants had also been under the care of a physician, with no definitive diagnosis for their symptoms.

Soon the activity turned violent. Mr. G claimed he was abruptly awoken in the middle of the night by the sensation of being strangled. His first thought was that their home had been invaded by burglars, but the stillness of the house made him think otherwise. He entertained the notion that his wife was playing a joke on him, but she lay nearby in a deep coma-like sleep. Another night while the husband and wife were away at the opera, the family's nurse witnessed one of the children run out of his room in terror, begging her to protect him from "the fat man." That same night the other child questioned why his Nanny had been sitting on top of him while he slept.

When Mrs. H shared these events with her brother-in-law, he was quick to suggest the possibility of poisoning; influenced by an article he had read several years prior. A home inspection revealed a furnace with incomplete combustion. In a functioning furnace, oxygen reacts with fuel to create the harmless by-products carbon dioxide and water. However, in this instance there wasn't enough oxygen to complete combustion, which produced the dangerous gas carbon monoxide. The toxic gas had steadily seeped into the house instead of exiting through the chimney.

According to the American Lung Association, low levels of carbon monoxide in the body cause nausea, headaches, dizziness, weakness, disorientation and confusion. Regular exposure to the harmful, odorless gas at low levels may lead to permanent mental or physical problems. At high levels, carbon monoxide poisoning causes the same symptoms as low level exposure plus sleepiness, vomiting, anxiety, depression, and both vision and motor disturbances. Prolonged inspiration of elevated carbon monoxide levels will lead to loss of consciousness and eventually death.

Mrs. H and her family moved out of the house immediately. Fortunately, they left early enough to prevent permanent disabilities. Once removed from the harmful gas, the entire family and their servants were able to make full recoveries. The strange occurrences that had plagued them for months came to an abrupt end. While carbon monoxide poisoning does not account for all reported hauntings, in this case it was clearly the cause of the alleged haunted house.

How to Build a Flying Saucer

Inspired by a recent episode of “Physics of the Impossible” (Discovery - Science Channel) with Dr. Michio Kaku, I decided to explore the possibility of building a flying saucer. While modern UFO sightings consist of myriad objects ranging from triangles to orbs, I will focus on the classic flying saucer-shaped object portrayed in countless science-fiction films. Please understand that this is merely an attempt to create a theoretical framework for the construction of a flying saucer. I will assume that the aliens will have sufficient technology to engineer a craft capable of exploiting certain physical principles explained later.

Disclaimer - I will not count on any fringe science in my exploration. That is to say, such matters as anti-gravity and multiple dimensions will be ignored. These topics are wildly fascinating to consider; however, I will limit my discussion to matters that can be explained within our current understanding of physics. Another disclaimer – some of what you read here is original, however some has been inspired by the aforementioned documentary.

Based on common features found in sightings and in the movies, the flying saucer should be able to perform four maneuvers in relative silence and with no visible exhaust.

1) Take off vertically and hover

2) Accelerate/travel from over distances

3) Maintain lift (stay airborne at constant altitude)

4) Zigzag or abruptly change direction

Take off vertically and hover
Ion propulsion. It sounds like Star Trek, but it could actually work. It starts with an extremely large voltage source used to create a large current in a loop of wire attached to your flying saucer. At a sufficiently large voltage, stray current will ionize air molecules by knocking out an electron, leaving the molecule positively charged. A positively charged plate above the wire loop and a negatively charged plate below the loop force these molecules to move in a downward direction. According to Newton’s third law (for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction), the downward force on the ions is accompanied by an upward reaction force on the saucer. The result is upward acceleration. Want to descend? Simple. Just switch the polarity on the charged plates.

One catch, though - you must have air present for this to work. So we are limited to a planet with an atmosphere. Follow this link to a neat example of ion propulsion on a small scale:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulP1UB5PIN0&feature=PlayList&p=A18DD7F53E4F1D02&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=3

Accelerate over distances
Since we want our UFO to be silent and free of exhaust, a traditional jet engine will not do the trick. Furthermore, we can potentially design our flying saucer to take advantage of Earth’s existing magnetic field. Loading up our craft with traditional (dipole) magnets won’t do the trick, however. The north pole on such a magnet would be attracted to the geographic north pole (magnetic south) and the south pole on the magnet would be attracted to the geographic south pole (magnetic north). This tug-of-war would result in zero net force. Perhaps a current hot topic in theoretical physics – magnetic monopoles – could help us out….

Unlike charges such as protons and electrons, a single magnetic pole has never been observed. Take a bar magnet, break it in half, and you end up with two bar magnets. While a magnetic monopole has never been observed, some theorists speculate they may exist in nature. If these monopoles could be harvested, they could be used to accelerate our flying saucer. Switch on the north monopoles, and the flying saucer accelerates along the magnetic field line towards the north pole. Switch on the south monopoles, and accelerate towards the Antarctic. Essentially, these invisible magnetic field lines could serve as a super-highway for our flying saucer.

Maintain lift to stay airborne
This is one where the sci-fi folks had it right. That’s because the technology needed to stay airborne is really nothing new. If you have ever thrown a Frisbee, then you can visualize the forces at work to keep our flying saucer in the air. The forward motion of a Frisbee forces air to move across its curved surface, generating a low pressure region above its surface, while maintaining a higher pressure underneath in accordance with Bernoulli’s principle. The net result is an upward force which allows the Frisbee to stay airborne while it is moving forward. Designing our flying saucer with a curved rim should generate the necessary lift.

Frisbees spin to maintain stability. Conservation of angular momentum tells us that the faster the Frisbee spins, the less prone it will be to wobbling and tumbling. So we can put a motor on the flying saucer that generates rotation in order to maintain stability during flight.

Zigzag/Change Direction
The monopoles used in our flying saucer allow it to travel along magnetic field lines. However, this only permits motion in the north or south direction. In order to fly east and west we need to employ some other means of acceleration. Dr. Michio Kaku suggests a rudder to accomplish this maneuver – much like a boat or airplane uses. I propose an alternative method which again takes advantage of Earth’s magnetic field.

The principle that we can exploit here is that a magnetic field exerts a force on a moving charge such as a proton or electron. Since electric current is comprised of electrons, a magnetic field exerts a force on anything that carries a current. In fact, the force is always perpendicular to both the magnetic field and direction of motion of the charge. See a demonstration of this phenomenon here (skip to the 1:00 mark): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_X8jKqZVwoI

If we could somehow incorporate a static charge over the surface of our flying saucer, then as the saucer moved vertically, the charge would be viewed as a moving charge (current) with respect to Earth. Assuming a positively charged craft moving upwards and a magnetic field pointing north, the force the craft would feel is directed to the west.

So the key is that our saucer has to move up or down in order to move east or west. Using this at the same time as the magnetic monopoles would allow the craft to travel in any ordinal direction such as northwest. Increasing the charge or upward/downward velocity would magnify this effect. Also, moving up and down varies the direction of the force, thus producing the zigzag effect.

So what?
So we’ve designed a flying saucer – at least in a theoretical sense. Could this be built today? Probably not considering we are needing to use magnetic monopoles. If alien flying saucers actually exist, it is probable that they use some form of technology that we are totally unfamiliar with. Still, it is an interesting exercise to explore the possibilities and limitations for a flying saucer using physical principles that we currently understand.

The Third Eye - Gateway to the Paranormal?

The spiritual concept of a "third eye" refers to one's unique capacity to reach a higher level of consciousness. Within this state, a person is more prone to visions and out-of-body experiences, and may possess clairvoyance, precognition, and the ability to visualize ghosts and other paranormal phenomena. In Hinduism and Buddhism, the third eye symbolizes enlightenment. In Taoism and other Chinese religious sects, it is the pathway to an advanced state of meditation and universal harmony. Regardless of the third eye's spiritual source, one common thread shared is its anatomical location: centered between the brow. Coincidentally, the pineal gland resides on the same latitude, albeit further within the cranium, at the geometric center of the deep brain. Could this supposed gateway to the paranormal be related to an anatomical structure and physiological process?

Rene Descartes, renowned French philosopher, mathematician and scientist labeled the pineal gland the "seat of the soul;" the point at which intellect and the body connect. Ancient Greeks believed it served as the connection to realms of thought. When this diminutive organ of the endocrine system is stimulated, the pineal gland was alleged to elevate a person's level of awareness. Whereas the normal level of consciousness is primarily concerned with identity and self, a higher functioning pineal gland could presumably allow one to bypass the ego and achieve a heightened, or extra-sensory, perception, drawing irrevocable comparison to the spiritual concept of the third eye.

Located deep within the center of the brain between two hemispheres, the pineal gland's primary function is to produce melatonin, a hormone that chemically regulates the sleep-wake cycle by causing drowsiness and lowering body temperature. Increased melatonin levels, like those effected by exogenous supplements, are even said to produce a mild hypnotic effect. The resulting dream-like state created by an overly-stimulated pineal gland may provide insight into what happens when the third eye is "activated." A person with an active pineal gland can theoretically have a sharp increase in their melatonin level, become entranced in a semi-hypnotic state, and ultimately lose sight of the real world. Consequently, this altered mental state may create a feeling of extra-sensory perception and engender hallucinations that blur into the person's reality.

Though it remains unproven, the pineal gland may also be the culprit behind producing the chemical dimethyltryptamine (DMT) found in trace amounts within every human brain. DMT, a psychotropic chemical usually found in certain plants, is said to induce dreams, near-death experiences, deep meditation, and hallucinations. It is often used in South American shamanic practices, though it is banned in the United States. The actual source of endogenous DMT within the brain remains unknown. However, the ramifications of elevated levels of a self-produced perception-altering chemical cannot be ignored and warrants further study.

Whether it is a spiritual portal to a higher realm of existence, an overactive hormone-producing organ, or the result of an abnormal amount of an endogenous psychotropic chemical, the third eye plays a vital role in understanding paranormal phenomena. Unlocking its secret may be the missing link to explaining the mysteries of the unknown.

Reincarnation - The Numbers Game

According to a 2005 Gallup poll, 20 % of U.S. adults believe in reincarnation. The belief that our souls live on after our bodies die is as old as the earliest semblance of religion. Many people debate whether this means the soul goes on to an afterlife existence, or reincarnates on Earth in living form. There is seemingly a numerical problem with reincarnation if one considers population growth, though. Consider at one point in the early history of humanity a total population of 100 people. Under an assumption that more people are born than die in a given period, this number will increase to 300 people at some later time. The question that arises is, “Where did the extra 200 souls come from?”

Reincarnationists have provided numerous possible explanations for this. One model of circular migration suggests a fixed number of souls, let’s say 10 billion, may have existed before the first human came into existence (See Bashai’s article: http://www.scientificexploration.org/journal/jse_14_3_bishai.pdf). Those souls that do not occupy human bodies wait in some other form of existence for their chance to occupy a human form. As the population grows, the “dwell time” decreases. For instance, in 50,000 B.C. each soul would have needed to wait 57,114 years to reincarnate. Today, the “dwell time” would only be 30 years. What will happen when the souls run out?

Another school of thought is that some new births coincide with the creation of new souls, while still other births involve reincarnated souls. This limits the frequency of reincarnation, and thus provides a potential solution to the numbers problem. This also implies that the majority of souls go on to exist in some other realm, or that souls are destroyed at the time of death. Why would a soul then be reincarnated? Many accounts of past life regressions describe tragic deaths due to accidents or murder. Could a premature or traumatic death be the reason that a soul would come back?

Still others believe that reincarnation can occur across dimensions and forms of life, which helps address the numbers problem. Others suggest that past civilizations, undocumented through history, might make up for the missing souls.

Here is a link to an interesting story about a young boy believed to be the reincarnation of a WWII pilot.  http://www.reversespins.com/proofofreincarnation.html