UNEXPLAINED - Ghostly goings-on at Edinburgh Castle

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BBC Monday, 16 April, 2001, 11:45 GMT 12:45 UK

Scientists report ghostly goings-on

High-tech equipment was used by ghost hunters

Scientists are studying reports of ghostly goings-on at Edinburgh Castle following a high-tech spook hunt.

Members of the public have reported apparitions and physical contact during the 10-day investigation into the vaults and tunnels around the historic fortress.

One volunteer was almost reduced to tears during one night time experiment in the castle.

The investigation, carried out as part of the Edinburgh International Science Festival, involved more than 250 members of the public.

Led by Dr Richard Wiseman of the University of Hertfordshire, a team of researchers using sophisticated recording equipment have been trying to get evidence of paranormal activity.

The scientists - who said their discoveries were encouraging - also discovered some anomalies, including dense spots and a green blob, in photographs taken in reputedly haunted vaults.

Dr Wiseman said: "Quite a lot of the experiences reported by members of the public were fairly extreme, some saw figures, a lot felt they were being observed and some felt their clothing was being grabbed or touched.

"We and the volunteers were unaware of the history of the vaults, but the volunteers reported experiences more often in the vaults reputed to be most haunted.

"It could be something quite trivial such as being damper or colder and we are taking physical measurements at the moment to gauge air temperature, air movement and magnetic fields.

"But whatever the explanation, it means there is something going on because otherwise we would expect the distribution to have been more random.

"I must stress that these are only initial results, but already they are looking quite interesting.

"Often the reports were quite trivial, but in one overnight session we asked one female volunteer to sit in one of the vaults in the dark and just tell us her thoughts.

"Almost immediately she reported hearing breathing from a corner of the room which was getting louder.

"She thought she saw a flash or some sort of light in the corner but didn't want to look back.

Volunteer 'part scared'

"She was not far off crying for 20 minutes but she kept talking. The lady is an intelligent woman and while she was part-scared, she was also curious and she kept talking to the camera.

"She didn't move, even after we went in. It was a very unexpected reaction, but 20 minutes later she was fine."

A full report of the experiments is due to be presented at a media conference in Edinburgh on Tuesday.

-- Anonymous, April 16, 2001

Answers



-- Anonymous, April 16, 2001


Boo!

Did I scare ya?

i hope you will monitor this and post a follow-up.

-- Anonymous, April 16, 2001


Ghosts or not, wouldn't you love to call that place home?

(well, maybe with the exception of the heating bill)

-- Anonymous, April 16, 2001


Since around 13-1400, the monarchs of Scotland have called the Palace of Hollyroodhouse home and the Queen stays here when she is in Edinburgh. Here's what it looks like:

If any castle has ghosts, this one should. It's where Mary, Queen of Scots was married to Darnley and Bothwell, and where Rizzio and Darnley were murdered.

The Queen's favorite Scottish home, though, is Balmoral Castle:

And the Queen Mother's family home is Glamis (pron. "Glahms") Castle:

Princess Margaret was born at Glamis.

-- Anonymous, April 16, 2001


just looking at them makes my feet hurt thinking about having to walk around those places.

And just how often are those windows cleaned, anyway? I ain't gonna be upset if I never live in one. LOL

Nice to look at tho.

-- Anonymous, April 17, 2001



Then there's the mowing. . .

We have a friend who moves in those circles and when he was a young 'un he rode his tricycle everywhere 'cos it was too far for his little legs to walk to the places he wanted to go!

-- Anonymous, April 17, 2001


Back in my days of touring Britain via youth hostels, seemed like the hostel was invariably in the highest, oldest part of town. That meant, for instance, Sterling Castle. For whoever was wondering about the heating bill...what heat?

My favorite was the hostel at Tintagel in Cornwall, supposed next to King Arthur's digs. You couldn't see the hostel from the road cuz it was over the side of the cliff, with most of the drop not too far from the building. Australian bloke who managed the place woke us to Cat Stevens, "Morning has woken". All you could see from the window was the Atlantic ocean. Just make sure you didn't sleep walk too far!

-- Anonymous, April 17, 2001


Heat--there are fireplaces bigger than most closets in which enormous logs--half trees?--were burned night and day. Tapestries helped keep out some of the drafts. Nowadays, resident families tend to live in private apartments within the castles or stately homes; the rest of the structure is often open to the public

Tintagel is magic. The whole of Cornwall is magic.

Sterling ain't bad, neither.



-- Anonymous, April 17, 2001


ET - ISSUE 2154 Wednesday 18 April 2001

Ghostly goings on in vaults of Edinburgh

By Auslan Cramb, Scotland Correspondent

PEOPLE who volunteered to be left alone in "haunted" vaults under the streets of Edinburgh reported a range of "negative" experiences including apparitions and physical contact.

The scientist in charge of the 10-day experiment said the results deserved further examination. The 250 volunteers were left for 10 minutes in semi-darkness in 10 different vaults near Edinburgh Castle and the adjacent Royal Mile. Over the past six years, more than 300 visitors to the vaults have reported "unusual" experiences.

Forty-four per cent of the volunteers had paranormal experiences such as temperature changes, burning, touching and pulling sensations and the sound of breathing. One woman reported seeing a male figure in a leather apron walk in front of a doorway. Dr Richard Wiseman, of the University of Hertfordshire, said most of the unnatural experiences were reported from the five vaults identified in the past by frightened tourists.

Revealing the findings at the Edinburgh International Science Festival, he said: "What was interesting for us was whether or not those experiences would stack up in the vaults with the reputation for being haunted, and the answer is that that definitely does happen." He remained sceptical about the existence of ghosts, but said he would be carrying our further tests.

-- Anonymous, April 17, 2001


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