Mary King's Close, Edinburgh

Started by Devious Viper, May 16, 2006, 04:13:10 AM

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May 16, 2006, 04:13:10 AM
A scientist investigating one of the UK's "most haunted" locations has said
"something quite odd" was going on. Professor Richard Wiseman used 200
volunteers to carry out a study of Mary King's Close in Edinburgh. It yielded
reports of apparitions, phantom footsteps, unexplained cold spots and unseen
hands. But Prof Wiseman does not believe the experiences were paranormal. He
said environmental and psychological factors were responsible for the hauntings.

Mary King's Close is a warren of underground streets sealed off from the outside
world more than two centuries ago. It became entombed when Edinburgh's Royal
Exchange - now the City Chambers - was built in 1753. The top floors of the
houses were demolished and the lower floors incorporated into its foundations.
The rooms of many houses still exist, and according to some reports, so do a
number of their former residents.

Prof Wisemen sent groups of volunteers to four locations, without telling them
that only two sites had a strong reputation for being haunted. The aim was to
compare reports from the different sites. About 70% of those visiting the
"haunted" locations reported unusual phenomena. In contrast, only 48% of people
exploring the locations not reputed to be haunted had spooky experiences.

At the "most haunted" site, where a sinister figure in black has repeatedly been
seen, more than 80% of the volunteers reported something strange happening.
"There was a massive difference between the locations," said the professor from
the University of Hertfordshire. "Sometimes people just felt very cold, but
there were some quite extreme experiences - feelings of being watched, being
touched and having clothing pulled, apparitions of people and animals, and
footsteps. I was really surprised at the extent of the experiences."

Experiments by the researchers showed that the two "haunted" locations were
significantly less humid than the other sites. This can generate a feeling of
coldness, said Prof Wiseman. There was also evidence of "infrasound" - low
frequency sound waves which are too deep for the human ear to pick up, but are
known to produce feelings of unease. In the most haunted site there was a
continuous infrasound rumble, which may have been due to traffic overhead.

A psychological test also found that people rated photos of the haunted
locations as significantly more "ghostly" and sinister than the other sites,
without knowing their reputation. This suggested that subtle visual features,
such as shape, lighting, or the presence of doorways, may be eliciting a sense
of fear.

Prof Wiseman said: "It could be that the ghosts were down there, but I think the
explanation is primarily psychological."
May 18, 2006, 06:52:09 AM #1
Ghost hunters to gather at haunted close

A Paranormal conference is to take place in one of Edinburgh's most haunted locations.

A host of mediums, psychics and fans of the paranormal will descend on Mary King's Close next week for the Ghost Fest event. Organiser Scottish Paranormal will hold vigils, some of which will be all night long, in the famous tourist landmark off the Royal Mile as well as the Edinburgh Vaults on Blair Street.

Members of the public will get the chance to accompany an investigating team that will try and establish if ghosts are present.

Mary King's Close, which was closed off due to plague from the Christmas of 1644 to the autumn of 1646, opened its doors to guided tours in 1995 and has been a fully-fledged visitor attraction for almost three years.

Ewan Irvine, an Edinburgh-based clairvoyant, said: "I have taken part in a couple of vigils with Scottish Paranormal, both in Mary King's Close and the Edinburgh Vaults.

"Hopefully, I can bring forward some of the characters and people who lived and worked there in distant times of our city."

Ryan O'Neill, of Scottish Paranormal, said: "Research of the paranormal is a serious thing."

[This took place a few days ago - I am putting together a post-fest report...]
May 18, 2006, 06:55:29 AM #2
Close to having ghostly evening
Adrian Mather

Stories of headless horsemen . . . wandering spectres . . . foul apparitions . . . everyone likes to be scared by tales of the unexpected and the paranormal.

In Edinburgh, there are countless accounts of ghostly apparitions at the Castle and in the scores of winding walkways in the depths of the Old Town. Guided city tours thrive on the Capital's ghoulish reputation and take glee in promoting it as one of the most haunted cities in Britain.

So when the opportunity to preview some of the events of this year's Mary King's Ghost Fest - a special festival of all things paranormal that is now in its second year - came along, I jumped at the chance to discover whether there's any truth to such myths.

And the taster session of three of the special events at Mary King's Close underneath the City Chambers at midnight on Saturday proved that, just maybe, there might be something out there. . .

PSYCHIC POWERS
When psychic Ruth Urquhart, who also goes by the name Ruth the Truth, starts to hand around rubber bands to her audience, claiming they will help protect them from malevolent spirits, it's clear that her paranormal investigation will be more than a little bit surreal.

She's taking part in a special five-night event alongside some of the other top psychic mediums from across the UK, and each will conduct a series of private investigations in some of the most "paranormally" active areas of Mary King's Close.

At first, we're led into the ancient close where she immediately announces that there are numerous spirits surrounding and mingling with our group, ranging from a drunken old man to a couple of young children who are supposedly dashing around in front of us.

With a crew of die-hard sceptics in attendance, many of her findings are taken with a pinch of salt but, rather surprisingly, most of the group still take a tentative step backwards when she points out where some of the "ghosts" in the room are hovering.

It's a slow, deliberate tour that appears to get Ruth just as excited as her intrigued audience whenever something strange happens.

She points out cold spots in rooms where she has sensed spirits and starts to come up with names and experiences from some of the Close's historical inhabitants - which match those of real people who lived there over the years.

Then, after she gets someone to hold a simple metal pendulum still while she poses questions to the so-called spirits, there are gasps when it starts to swing and move on its own - especially from each of the people she picks to hold it.

Of course, there are no apparitions, ghoulish wails or clinking chains, but it's still a little unnerving.

And when you can actually feel her pendulum inexplicably tugging and pulling while you hold it still in your hands, it's even more bizarre. Holding it myself, Ruth was asking questions of the "spirit" of a young chimney sweep. "Did you die stuck up a chimney?" she asks. The pendulum starts to spin round in a clockwise direction, apparently indicating yes - and I know I wasn't moving it. Unnerved, I quickly hand it back.

Of course, it could all be an elaborate act but if that's the case then it's one that is well-researched and phenomenally well-rehearsed.

As they use a series of electric currency meters and temperature gauges in their investigations, it's easy to think that Scottish Paranormal is a science-oriented team of sceptics rather than group of ghost hunters.

But despite the fancy equipment, its members still have a number of psychic members who attempt to "sense" spirits in each location they visit.

In Mary King's Close, their investigation was aimed at discovering unexplained phenomenon such as cold spots or dramatically fluctuating temperature as well as patches of electrical activity.

They are also on hand to perform a group seance to try and contact spirits from beyond the grave.

Of course, standing in the dark and holding hands in the middle of the night splits the audience straight away in terms of believers and sceptics.

A few baffled looks are exchanged as the circle is being formed, but there are also a fair number of sweaty palms and thumping heartbeats once it is in place. As the team are giving the audience the chance to join in with the investigations and record any eerie goings-on they may experience, they are keen to encourage anyone who feels or sees anything strange to tell them straight away so it can be recorded or logged.

But despite the best efforts of seance leader Rachel to coax a paranormal occurrence out of the surroundings, it doesn't happen.

It's a shame, but as team founder Ryan O'Neill points out afterwards, it's not unusual given the fact we only had 45 minutes in the room. As their events during the festival range from two-hour experiments to all-night vigils, however, hopefully other participants will be luckier than we were.

GHOSTLY VOICES
As we're taken down to one of the cordoned-off rooms at the bottom of the close, we're informed by our guides - paranormal investigators Ghost Finders Scotland - that this is not a typical ghost hunt.

There are no fancy temperature readers or physic mediums on display and the only thing that team manager Mark Turner is carrying as we make our way into the dark room is a simple digital dictaphone.

"We're going to look for ghost voices," he happily explains before our small group of six falls silent and watches the red LED light on the silver recorder - which starts flashing to indicate that there is no noise to pick up. It is - rather appropriately - deathly quiet and you could hear a pin drop as Mark starts to ask questions of anyone unworldly who happens to be in the room. And as we peer into the darkness straining to hear anything, I wonder just how mad he actually is.

"If there's anyone there, please come forward and say your name," he asks clearly.

But when nothing happens, he asks the question again. And after a few seconds he asks again.

We're about to give up hope altogether when, suddenly, the light flickers to show the machine is picking something up and Mark starts to ask more questions such as what year it is and whether the person actually died in the room we're standing in.

After a few minutes, once the light stops flickering rapidly, he stops the dictaphone and everyone lets out a massive gasp of disbelief when he plays it back. There is a voice on the recording. And it isn't his.

The fact that it's barely audible and comes across as a whisper is a bit of a shame, but there's no mistaking the fact that it's definitely a response and we look at each other in shock, barely able to comprehend what's just happened.

And when it's played back on a PC in the visitor centre, Mark amplifies the recording until the hoarse whisper is slightly clearer and we hear a man's voice saying that his name is Jackson and that the year is 1867 - which causes another barrage of disbelieving gasps.

Other responses are less clear, but the team say that they will store all the data and clean it up fully using different computer programmes.

Of course, again, it could be an elaborate hoax, but there's little to suggest that this is the case since the team are obviously as excited and intrigued about the results as we are.

Maybe the mysterious Mr Jackson on the tape suggests that there might be something out there we don't yet fully comprehend. Whatever the case, it certainly proves what the star attraction of the Ghost Fest is likely to be.

October 10, 2024, 12:52:12 PM #3
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