Freaky Phenomena

Grilled Cheese Jesus.  The Face On Mars.  The Man in the Moon.  The ghost head of a Tyrannosaurus rex spotted in a curl of smoke in a picture of Neil Gaiman.  What do all these things have in common?  They are all excellent examples of pareidolia.

Pronounced "pa-ri-DOE-lee-a," pareidolia is an innate quality of the human mind that makes us see things in chaos.  If you have ever seen subtle patterns marching across a television screen of static (do they even have those anymore?) or made shapes out of the clouds in the sky, you have exercised a little pareidolia.

In ghost hunting circles, pareidolia is called "matrixing."  This frequently turns out to be the explanation for ghosts spotted in photographs, and for the results of some EVP sessions.  (Some people argue that almost every piece of EVP evidence is simply the result of matrixing on the part of the listener, perhaps aided by static bursts, or accidentally recorded electronic cross talk from broadcast stations and CB radios.)

Many people saw ghost faces in a photograph Roger Ebert recently snapped, of a stag in the fall woods.  He posted this picture to his blog, and soon people were seeing ghost faces everywhere - in the mist, in the stag's breath, in the clouds and the patterns of dappled light in the leaves, and in the bark of the trees.  This exercise in crowd matrixing was impressive indeed.

Pareidolia shows up in a lot of odd places.  For example, many forms of divination rely on pareidolia.  In tea leaf reading, the psychic spots pictures formed by the tea leaves in the cup, and bases their fortune accordingly.  Older forms of divination such as scrying and the reading of entrails similarly leverage pareidolia.

The Rohrschach Test is an instance where the viewer's pareidolia is turned inwards, to expose the inner condition of the person being tested.  Everyone who looks at an ink blot will see something a little different, and what you see in the inkblot is often the result of your mental state being projected out upon the world.

One of the most fascinating aspects of pareidolia is that it is so pervasive and reliable.  Humans of every age, from any culture on the planet, will look at a stick figure and see a human being.  This speaks both to our capacity for abstract thought, and to some interesting evolutionary questions.

Carl Sagan hypothesized that pareidolia is a valuable evolutionary asset, because it allowed prehistoric humans to spot friend from foe in an instant, or see an animal standing in a dense thicket of brush.  It turns out that we do indeed have a tiny center of the brain which is dedicated to facial recognition.  This center (the ventral fusiform cortex) is hard-wired to light up when a face is spotted. 

However, the ventral fusiform cortex is only part of the story.  Our ability to see the most fanciful images in a collection of chaos has as much to do with our imaginations and our storytelling skills as it does a biological urge.  Put simply, pareidolia is one of the things which truly does separate us from animals; a quintessential part of what it means to be human.

Photo credit: Flickr/NUCO

Is it true that trees can explode if it gets cold enough?  This belief is persistent and can be traced back several hundred years.  However, there is good cause for skepticism here!

As the theory goes, sap - which is a liquid - expands when it freezes.  If it expands far enough, fast enough, the tree would not have time to react, and explodes.  Many people report hearing loud bangs in the forest during cold snaps, said to be the sound of trees exploding.

(Of course, this could all simply be the work of the Splintercat!)

There are two conditions under which trees are known to explode for sure, beyond a doubt.  The first is in the case of lightning.  When lightning strikes a tree, the sap instantly boils and vaporizes from the heat.  This sudden catastrophic increase in pressure causes the tree to explode.

The second condition is during forest fires.  This is particularly the case for the eucalyptus tree in Australia, which produces a very flammable oil.

But can the same phenomenon happen just because of a drop in temperature?

The physics of cold causes the wood of the tree to shrink.  This alone can cause the wood to split along fault lines or weaknesses.  Trees in temperate regions are particularly prone to this kind of splitting or breakage. 

The cold and shrinkage also makes the wood brittle. Trees normally flex in a high wind.  If a wind kicks up during an unusually cold spell, the trees - unable to flex - could easily fall or split. 

Some people report that branches break "because of the cold."  More often, the branches which have been made brittle by the cold actually break because of wind, or the accumulated weight of snow and ice.  Cold alone is not likely going to be enough to break a branch.

However, trees exploding simply due to the freezing of their sap seems extremely unlikely.   For one thing, sap doesn't freeze as quickly as it boils during a lightning strike.  Wood is an excellent insulator, and even if the weather suddenly changed for the worse, it would take several hours before the sap inside the tree even began to freeze.  Hours in which the wood of the tree would have time to adjust to the increase in pressure.

Furthermore, trees are adapted to handle cold temperatures in winter.  Trees have been on our planet for a very long time, and they have had a lot of winters to acclimate.  Some trees distribute the water from the sap throughout their sapwood.  Other species add more substances to the sap, so that it acts as an antifreeze.  In most species the sap gets thicker and more viscous, less watery, and therefore less inclined to freeze.

If you have ever heard a roof beam pop with a temperature change, you know that it can be a loud, startling sound.  This sound happens when wood changes temperature, and it happens to trees, too. 

The most likely scenario for "exploding winter trees" is that someone hears the sound of a falling branch or a tree popping like a roof beam.  They look around, spot a tree which was damaged by a lightning strike ages ago, and attribute the sound to that tree having exploded. 

The best evidence against the theory that trees explode in the cold?  The robust and thriving northern forests of Vermont, Maine, Canada, and Alaska.

Photo credit: Flickr/Alastair Thompson

It's easy to get discouraged by all the fancy equipment you see on shows like "Paranormal State" and "Ghost Hunters."  But you don't need the latest and greatest toys to investigate the paranormal. Just a few simple items, luck, and an open mind.

1.    Location, Location, Location!
Scouting out potential locations is often the hardest part of ghost hunting.  It requires patience, persistence, and keeping an ear open. 

It also requires permission!  No matter how run-down and abandoned the location seems, someone owns it, and they will likely take a dim view of anyone tramping around there after dark.  Always secure permission from the property owners before investigating a site. 

No one wants to end a session with a ride in the back of a police cruiser, or a trespassing charge!

Always treat your location with respect.  Remember that you're a guest, whether you're investigating your best friend's house or an empty lot.  Leave everything just the way you found it.  If you open a gate, close it behind you.  If you finish a candy bar, put the wrapper in your pocket - don't just drop it on the ground.

And remember: safety first!  Many locations (such as abandoned properties) would be dangerous during the day.  Working a location after dark makes it even easier to trip, fall, get cut, twist an ankle, or worse.  Always investigate in teams of at least two people, just in case. 

You can find haunted locations by perusing the library, searching online databases, asking around, and keeping an eye open.  Many hauntings are sparked by renovation, so learn to recognize the signs of a home being renovated.  (A big dumpster out front is a good clue!) 

2.    Flashlights And Spare Batteries
You really can't have too many flashlights.  At the very least, bring a full-size flashlight and a penlight for each team member. 

Battery drain is often reported in the vicinity of ghosts.  If you lose all your battery power while you're out in the woods after dark, you will be in sorry shape!  Be sure to pack plenty of spare batteries, to keep from being stranded in the dark until dawn.

3.    Camera
A simple digital camera will let you take pictures of the location, and give you the chance to catch spirits manifesting that you may not otherwise have noticed. 

4.    Audio Recorder
MP3 recorders are cheap these days, and mini-cassette recorders are cheaper still.  I see tons of both types at the thrift store.  You can use your recorder both to try and capture EVPs, and to take audio notes in the dark.

5.    Cell Phones And/Or Walkie Talkies
Every team member should have a cell phone or a walkie talkie, so that they can contact the group in case of trouble. 

6.    Pen and Paper
Be sure that every team member has a pen and a pad of paper ready at their fingertips!    You can use it to jot notes, sketch the shape you just saw, communicate silently with your partner, and more.

Photo credit: Flickr/PHILIPPE SOKAZO

In the middle of nowhere, about a hundred miles east of Salt Lake City, lies a parcel of property with a long history of strange and terrifying occurrences.  The property is called Skinwalker Ranch, after the legends of the local Ute tribe, which holds that the property is the stomping grounds of the skinwalker.

The skinwalker is a Native American shapeshifting deity, attributed largely to the Navajo people.  The skinwalker is a malicious witch or warlock who can change shape by wrapping the skin of an animal around themselves.  Much like the werewolf of Western myth, the skinwalker's primary hobby is terrifying and attacking others. 

Skinwalkers may attack passing cars, or fling themselves at the doors and windows of a house in a furious attempt to get at the people inside.  The skinwalker can also emulate the call of any animal or person, and uses this power to lure people outdoors at night so that the skinwalker can attack them.

The local Ute tribe believes that this parcel of land was cursed by the Navajo hundreds of years ago, who doomed it to be plagued by skinwalkers.  Tribal members refuse to set foot on the land, and according to this article on the AlteredDimensions.net site have dubbed it the "path of the skinwalker."

From the 1950s to the 1970s, this particular area of Utah experienced a remarkable number of UFO sightings.  "More than any other place in the world," according to local science teacher Junior Hicks.  Reports of cattle mutilations are also commonplace, as they are throughout the cattle ranching areas of the West.

The ranch is also called the Sherman Ranch, after the family that brought the strange events to national attention.  The Shermans purchased the ranch in the early 1990s, after it had essentially been abandoned by its previous owners.  Presumably the Shermans knew little of the ranch's history when they began investigating their new home, and noticed deadbolts on both sides of all the windows and doors in the home, including the kitchen cabinets. 

The strange phenomena recorded at Skinwalker Ranch include:

• Unusual, brightly-colored birds.
• A semi-humanoid creature that climbed a tree to escape pursuers, and left raptor-like tracks in the dirt.
• Several extremely large wolves which behave oddly, and seem to be resistant to bullets.  The wolves have often been sighted in conjunction with a light that researchers have dubbed "flash drones."  The flash drones "have been seen transforming into other animal shapes."
• Cattle mutilations, and cattle which mysteriously vanish - sometimes right in their tracks. 
• One day Mr. Sherman remarked that he would be in big trouble if his four bulls were killed.  A few hours later, he discovered that the bulls had gone missing.  They were later located, dead and stuffed "like sardines" into a padlocked, unused trailer.
• Conversations between two male voices, which seem to come from the sky, which can be heard while out in the fields.
• Many strange lights, in various configurations (orbs, beams, and more), spotted at all hours of the day and night. 

The property is currently owned by a private party, billionaire Robert Bigelow who has long been fascinated by the paranormal. 

Photo credit: Flickr/T. Larson