MESA:  Multi-Energy Sensor Array for Haunt Research
MESA:  MULTI-ENERGY SENSOR ARRAY IN A BASELINE VS. HAUNT SITE
Timothy M. Harte, David L. Black, Michael T. Hollinshead, and David Mitchell
The authors gratefully acknowledge William G. Roll, PhD, for helpful suggestions, and Michael Komen for important research support. 

MESA:  Multi-Energy Sensor Array for Haunt Research

Abstract:   Haunt phenomena, including RSPK (recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis) continue to be linked to the electromagnetic spectrum.  MESA (multi-energy sensor array) is a computer system and sensor array that can measure these energies in an environment (Harte, Black, Hollinshead, 1999).  This paper is an explanation of the utilization of a computer assisted environmental measurement of data at a baseline site versus a haunt site.  This exploratory study was done to achieve preliminary baseline data for comparison with other control and haunt sites.  The baseline was not a proper control site, but future sites will be matched for target and control characteristics.  A survey of some haunt and control sites is included, with denotations of the anomalous energies measured.  

            Haunt and RSPK phenomena includes object movement, erratic functioning of electrical or mechanical equipment, strange sounds, odd feelings of sudden rage or emotion, physical complaints, physiological alterations, intelligible auditory phrases, odd smells, sensed presence, and the perception of visual forms.  Human perception alone cannot verify these anomalous reports.  Checklists, psychics, and marking floor plans do not accurately explain what causes haunt or RSPK phenomena.  A laptop computer fitted with sensors and calibrated accordingly, is utilized to produce graphs of the physical activity that cause some anomalous activity.  The research so far has looked at geomagnetic fields, man-made electric and electromagnetic fields, and ion densities.  MESA can record eight channels of data from eight sensors, and the interaction of those data can be studied.  Future implementation will combine these energies on one graph for comparison across the spectra.  The energies measured and studied are in the electromagnetic spectrum, which includes infrared, visible and ultraviolet light; geomagnetic and electromagnetic fields; and vibration.

            The hypothesis was that in haunt and RSPK sites, electromagnetic energies would fluctuate, or change.  In control sites, the energetic fields would remain constant.  In this preliminary study, the hypothesis was upheld.  In haunt places, there are changes, usually in infrared, visible, and more rarely, ultraviolet light.  There are also fluctuations in the geomagnetic fields, and unusual vibrations associated with them.  Localized, powerful 60 Hz man-made fields can also cause anomalous activity.           

MESA:  Multi-Energy Sensor Array for Haunt Research

Introduction

            There is evidence that continues to link electromagnetic field activity with processes underlying some haunt and RSPK (recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis) phenomena (Persinger, 1983, 1988; Nichols, 1994; Gearhart & Persinger, 1986; Persinger & Cameron, 1986; Radin & Roll, 1994, 1996; Roll & Nichols, 1999, 2000).  This area of field research has been limited in that variables of interest are measured in isolation.  MESA, an eight-channel computer system, will detect, measure and record up to eight different frequency spectra in the electromagnetic domain.  The intended use of MESA is to document and correlate physical manifestations of various phenomena in the field by analyzing electronically recorded data. 

            Haunt and RSPK phenomena are reports of anomalous changes in the environment.  These changes may produce a wide variety of reported unusual experiences.  These experiences include inferred movement of objects, erratic functioning of electrical or mechanical equipment, strange sounds, odd feelings of sudden rage or emotion, physical complaints, physiological alterations, intelligible auditory phrases, odd smells, sensed presence, and the perception of visual forms.  These reports cannot be connected to one single mechanism or cause.  A computer system is advantageous to have more precise and objective measurement in environments where anomalous effects might occur. 

            Current research findings have provided strong evidence that known physical energies often contribute to the onset of some haunt and RSPK phenomena.  These

energies include ionization radiation, geomagnetic activity, electromagnetic and electrostatic fields  (Persinger, 1983, 1988; Gearhart & Persinger, 1986; Persinger & Cameron, 1986; Radin & Roll, 1994, 1996; Roll & Nichols, 1999, 2000).  Charles Tart (1965) was the first researcher to call for a more advanced system to document haunt and RSPK phenomena.  Still and motion-picture film, ôphoto-electric light curtains,ö Polaroid film, infrared, black and white, and color 35mm film, audio tape, magnetometers, thermometers, Geiger counters, random number generators, and people who claim to be ôsensitiveö or ôpsychicö have been used to document haunt and RSPK phenomena.  Subjective reports and checklists were initially used to quantitatively assess hauntings.  Observational and survey methods have also been utilized.  All of these approaches are based on reports by the researchers, and limit the research to what people thought they experienced.  Some research by Radin and Roll (1996) looked at electromagnetic and electric fields together, along with subjective reports of infrasound and emotion.  Roll and Nichols (1999, 2000) have measured geomagnetic, electromagnetic, and ion densities, but have not looked at types of light or vibration.

MESA:  Multi-Energy Sensor Array for Haunt Research

MESA can detect, measure and correlate electromagnetic fields (both 60 Hz and 0.5 Hz static fields), electric and radio/microwave fields, infrared, visible, and ultraviolet light, temperature, vibration, and galvanic skin response of a human subject.  This system was specifically designed to measure these energies in haunt and RSPK phenomena that may occur in the field, or perhaps artificially in the laboratory.

            The first site reported is a baseline site measured to establish normative data for a comparison with haunt data.  A baseline site was defined by the authors as one in which people did not experience or report anomalous or unusual phenomena.  We chose, for purposes of convenience, an office at the University of Illinois at Springfield.  The experiment was conducted on March 10th, 1997 for 12 consecutive hours, from 11 a.m. until 11 p.m.

METHOD

Apparatus

            MESA is a portable, computerized data acquisition system that permits one researcher to operate the computer system and collect environmental data.  In this way, internal validity can be maintained and contagion effects are controlled (Lange, Houran, Harte & Havens, 1996; Houran, Harte, & Lange, 1996).  Internal validity is important for research in that artifacts can be documented if caused by anomalous effects, the researcher, or by others tampering with the equipment.  This was also done using a motion detector in the vicinity of the equipment, and with a 8mm film camera.  Contagion effects are reports of experiences by multiple researchers in an environment that are built upon when one researcher believes it to be anomalous.

            MESA consists of 8 sensor inputs that lead into an analog-to-digital converter board and a laptop computer with a hard disk drive.  In addition, a phone link is used between experiments to upload to a larger computer system with greater disk capacity (in this case, a UNIX system in California).  The data can now be analyzed on the computer itself.  This program creates graphs of one-second averages for the entire experiment.  More technical specifications are listed in other publications (Harte, Black, and Hollinshead, 1999; Houran, Lange & Black, 1998).

Baseline Site

Procedure

            The computer and sensors were set up in an office approximately 8 feet by 9 feet, with a door and a small ceiling to floor window.  The door was locked and watched at all times from the outside for prevention of tampering.  The sensors were placed on a microphone stand, on its base, and directly on the floor of the office.  The measurement sequence was 12 hours consecutively, at a rate of 40 samples per second.

MESA:  Multi-Energy Sensor Array for Haunt Research

Hypothesis

            We expect to find significant differences between haunt sites and control sites.  At control sites, we would expect to not see the rapid fluctuations in the electromagnetic frequencies of the environment.  At haunt sites, we would expect to see fluctuations in the energetic fields.  

Results

Channel 1:  Infrared light.  The graph started at just above .06 footcandles, with some spikes toward .07 throughout the 12-hour period.
Channel 2:  Visible light.  The graph showed a constant level just below 16 footcandles for the 12-hour period.
Channel 3:  Ultraviolet light.  The ultraviolet light sensor recorded no measurable ultraviolet light over the 12-hour period.
Channel 4:  Tri-Field meter (Vertical).  The Tri-Field meter pointing vertical showed no data over the 12-hour period, in one-second averages.
Channel 5:  Tri-Field meter (Horizontal).  The Tri-Field meter pointing horizontal showed no significant changes over the 12-hour period, in one-second averages.
Channel 6:  Vibration.  The Raw 0 to 5-Volt sensor showed vibration of the floor and surrounding area.  There were no significant changes over the 12-hour period.
Channel 7:  Static electromagnetic field meter (UP).  The static electromagnetic sensor recorded a straight reading of û6 milligauss over the 12-hour period.  There were no significant changes. 
Channel 8:  Static electromagnetic field (NORTH).  The static electromagnetic sensor pointed NORTH (Fig. 8) shows a level reading of just above 0 milligauss for the 12-hour period.  There were no significant changes.

Discussion

            This is an exploratory study of a larger study, in which some 60 baseline and 60 haunt sites will be measured.  They will also be paired so that each haunt site has a comparable control counterpart.  The authors are now working on measuring more control sites, to establish control data.  These control sites are places that people do not report anomalous or unusual experiences in these environments.  The baseline site had no significant changes in the energetic field graphs, therefore they are not shown.

 Haunt site

            Haunt phenomena in cemeteries has often been the topic of folklore, research, and debate throughout time.  “Ghosthunting” groups around the world claim to have captured or recorded strange globes of light, smoke, mist, and fog-like anomalies on 35mm film, Polaroid film, and Kodak infrared or black and white Tri-X film (Radin & Roll, 1994; Roll, Moody, & Radin 1996; Roll & Nichols, 1999, 2000) also see Internet web sites"http://www.prairieghosts.com, http://www.prairieghosts.com or  http://www.ghostweb.com).  At times there are sudden drops in temperature recorded by the researchers, during the photographs.  The present haunt site was a cemetery in

MESA:  Multi-Energy Sensor Array for Haunt Research

 

Palmer, Illinois, known as Anderson Cemetery.  It was chosen because of claims of anomalous photographs, sudden temperature changes, and sensed presences.  During this study an Ouija board session was conducted at the request of a television documentary producer that was filming the proceedings.  This experiment was conducted on June 25th, 1997, from 8 p.m to 10:15 p.m.  

Apparatus

For the purposes of this study, the researchers chose to measure infrared, visible, and ultraviolet light, vibration, static electromagnetic and 60 Hz alternating current (AC) electromagnetic fields.  The computer was set for 40 samples a second, as in the previous experiment. 

Procedure

The sensors were placed in a 25 foot elongated area within the cemetery.  Temperatures were recorded by other researchers using thermal laser guns throughout the experiment.  The entire experiment was also recorded with 3-8mm film cameras, Sony Beta SP film, and 2 Canon L2 cameras fitted with night vision scopes.  Audio was recorded on 3 cassette recorders.

Results

Channel 1:  Infrared light.   The infrared sensor did not record any infrared light.   Channel 2:  Visible light.    Just before the 1.5 hour mark, the graph shot up to 150 footcandles in a period of minutes.  Just after the 2 hour mark, the light level drops to 0.  Then the light slowly rises back up to 125 footcandles in the half hour before the system was shut down (see Fig 1). 

Channel 3:  Ultraviolet light.  This sensor showed some activity, at the time of the Ouija board session, approximately between 1.25 and 1.5 hours into the experiment.  The ultraviolet light level jumped up to almost 5.4 mW/cm^2 (milliwatts per centimeter squared).  Then it stayed quite level until after 1.5 hours.  Then it seemed to fluctuate from 5.4 mW/cm^2 down to 4.5 mW/cm^2, after the Ouija board session began (Fig 2).

Channel 4:  Tri-Field meter.  The Tri-Field meter was set at 0-3 milligauss setting, as it is more sensitive to 60 Hz AC fields at this setting.  There were no dramatic changes or differences throughout the experiment.

Channel 5:  Vibration sensor.  This shows 0 to 5-Volt changes that occurred during the experiment, caused by movement of the ground around the sensors.  As can be seen by the graph, there was activity, especially during the Ouija board session (Fig. 3).

Channel 6:  Static electromagnetic field sensor (WEST).  This graph shows changes that went up, and maxes out (above 12 milligauss) just before the 1.25 hour mark, right when the Ouija board session began (Fig. 14).  It then maxes out again before the 1.5 hour mark (see Fig. 4).

Channel 7:  Static electromagnetic field sensor (UP).  The second graph also maxes out just before the 1 hour mark (Fig. 5). 

MESA:  Multi-Energy Sensor Array for Haunt Research

Channel 8:  Static electromagnetic field sensor (NORTH).  The third graph seems to be the most stable reading of the three, showing a reading of 1 to 0 milligauss throughout the experiment (Fig. 6).

Discussion

            This was an exploratory study of a baseline site versus a haunt site.  The authors think future data will show the similar effects in future studies:  i.e., large, rapid fluctuations of the electromagnetic fields at haunt sites.  There may also be interaction with the other energies measured.  At the baseline site, there were no fluctuations worth noting.  Only 2 static electromagnetic field sensors were utilized for the baseline investigation, as the researchers used 2 Tri-Field meters to record the electrical wiring.  The static electromagnetic sensors show changes in relative, not absolute value.  These

changes are shown very precisely -12 to +12 milligauss and they are very sensitive to the Earth’s field at 0 to 0.5 Hz.  For this experiment, only UP and NORTH were connected. 

At the haunt site, the most interesting activity occurred during the Ouija board session.  A film producer introduced the Ouija board as entertainment, but also to perhaps elicit physical phenomena during the filming.  Three individuals were touching the planchette at the time, two females and one male.  Two researchers observed the MESA computer screen at the time the questions were asked, and noticed changes in visible light, ultraviolet light, vibration, and perhaps most dramatically, in the static

electromagnetic field activity.  Other interesting events included some anomalous Polaroid photographs taken during the day (before the experiment) and very cold temperatures recorded with an Omega OS521 thermal laser gun (as low as 4 degrees Fahrenheit), both before and during the experiment.  Some strange images were also captured by the film group on the night vision motion-picture film utilized that occurred during the Ouija board session.  The visible light graph is interesting in that just before the 1.5 hour mark, the graph shot up to 150 footcandles in a period of minutes, and this was when the cemetery was completely dark.  During this period, the researchers took photographs.  It is unknown whether the photographic effects are anomalous activity.  There was a quarter moon this night, but this could not have produced the effects.  The light effect was invisible to the researchers, and there were no other light sources to explain this reading.  There were also no researchers near the sensor to justify this high of a reading.  Just after the 2 hour mark, the light level drops to zero. Two researchers were watching the MESA computer screen at the time of this anomalous activity.  It dropped down to zero, then slowly back up to 125 footcandles in the half hour before the system was shut down.  The researchers watching the computer screen had the impression that the light levels changed as each question was asked.  This was also during the time of the Ouija board session, and the researchers noted changes in the light levels on the computer screen as each question was asked by the participants at the Ouija board (Fig. 1).  The ultraviolet light should not have changed like this under the lighting conditions of the cemetery (Fig 2).  The static electromagnetic sensor graphs show perhaps the most unusual readings (Fig. 4-6).  These sensors measure natural, Earth electromagnetic fields

MESA:  Multi-Energy Sensor Array for Haunt Research

in the frequency range of 0 to 0.5 Hz in an orthogonal fashion.   Two of the sensors maxed out (above 12 milligauss).  These changes were felt physically, physiologically, or ôsensedö by the researchers.  Further study is needed at this time to measure many different baseline sites.  The MESA system has measured more than 60 haunt sites, and in most of these places, the researchers see unusual fluctuations in the static electromagnetic fields, sometimes in the 60 Hz electromagnetic fields, and other energies as well.  Care must be taken to leave human artifacts out of the data.  A new design has been implemented so that artifacts are kept to a minimum (see Harte, Black, & Hollinshead, 1999).  Some of the light sensor graphs are “blocky” and stepped at times.  This is because the researchers “zoomed in” to show detail at low light levels, and quantization steps may become visible in the graph lines.  In future work we plan to study the differences of the energetic fields in haunt places and improve the methodology of measuring haunt and control sites.

MESA:  Multi-Energy Sensor Array for Haunt Research

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MESA:  Multi-Energy Sensor Array for Haunt Research

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