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In search of magnetic anomalies associated with haunt-type experiences: pulses and patterns in dual time-synchronized measurements
Journal of Parapsychology, The, Fall, 2004 by Jason J. Braithwaite, Katty Perez-Aquino, Maurice Townsend
Across a number of repeated investigations, the laboratory studies suggest that magnetic fields can induce potent hallucinatory perceptions in certain observers. However, what is not clear is how these findings are to be applied to the natural setting and the nature of spontaneous anomalous experience. If we accept the general case being made for magnetic anomalies, then the question becomes "How are these anomalies realized in the natural setting?" To put it another way, "How should we be thinking of EIFs in relation to reputedly haunted buildings?" These questions could be directed at potential sources such as geomagnetic field (GMF) and electromagnetic field (EMF) contributions summated into a distorted and complex magnetic microenvironment. However, these questions are more fundamental in the sense that what we really need to evaluate is the very nature of these "magnetically remarkable signatures" and what they can actually "look like." This should then allow researchers to evaluate what is both necessary and sufficient for a magnetic context to contain potential experience-inducing properties. This is important not just from the perspective of the environmental physics of such magnetic signatures themselves but also from the perspective of neuroscience and psychology, as establishing the crucial mechanism for interaction would greatly advance our current understanding of brain function and human-environment interaction.
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There are a number of theoretical possibilities, all of which are supported to some degree by the existing literature (see Braithwaite, 2004, for a discussion of these). We suggest that there are three fundamental possibilities for how such anomalies could be realized in the natural setting. For instance, EIFs could be transient, volatile instances that may accompany an experience or event more or less instantaneously (such as a pulse or train of pulses, as documented by Gearhart & Persinger, 1986; Persinger & Cameron, 1986). In the absence of these events, the location in question may not be magnetically distinguishable in any way. What this implies for researchers is that simply measuring the area at any given time may actually miss the important characteristics that define that particular anomaly, in that particular case. In order to demonstrate its existence and detail its characteristics the researcher would need to "capture" the anomaly as and when it occurred. We refer to this general concept as a transient anomaly (see Persinger & Cameron, 1986; Roll & Persinger, 2001).
A similar idea is that of a more prolonged, enduring and sustained anomaly. Under this scenario magnetic shifts may come and go, but when present they may be around for some time. Such a shift would reflect changes in magnetic components from the more usual background behavior of such fields. These changes need not be linked exactly in time to a reported experience (as the experience may be the result of continued exposure to these anomalies), but the magnetic context around that general time period could be noticeably different from other periods in some way.
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