A study conducted to track the progress of haunted locations has found that the United Kingdom is more haunted today than it has been for 25 years. For those who think the ghost invasion may be stepping aside to be replaced by other paranormal happenings, these studies resoundingly indicate quite the opposite to be true. The UK is more haunted now than it has been since the mid-eighties.
Of the 968 reported in the past 25 years, when the survey began, 74 of them have been from the last two years. This is a spike from previous years which have held a steady medium of about 20 reports per year with spikes in 1993 and 1999. Still, this year’s curve shows a steady increase in the presence of poltergeists, residual phantoms, demonic possessions, and “demonic encounters.” And the place with the most reported hauntings in the UK over the past twenty five years is easily Yorkshire with 74 serious cases. In distant second is Devonshire with 57 serious cases. The other top eight haunted places in the UK are Somerset, Wiltshire, Inverness, Dorset, Norfolk, Lancashire, Sussex, and Derbyshire.
What has been the cause of this increase in paranormal activity? Some analysts have claimed that it’s simple really: As population increases so will the number of cases where people see ghosts. And when taking into account the ratio of population growth and these numbers, there does seem to be a steady relationship. Others are claiming it could be due to increased social acceptance of the paranormal, and an increase in education about what a haunted house would be like. As the hollywood image of the haunted castle on the hill is replaced by reality television depictions of haunted houses, the theory goes that more people will have the tools necessary to tell the similarities between the encounters they have had in their own houses with those on television. Furthermore, there is more ability and propensity for witnesses to gather evidence. Where cameras were relatively clunky and uncommon in the 80’s, now most cellular phones have cameras allowing witnesses to be constantly within arms reach of the necessary tools to document their paranormal experiences. In addition, EVP is taken far more seriously by the average investigator than ever before. And late night programs often offer “how to” workshops on what to do in order to properly document a residual haunting. With this increase in training introduced to a larger population will no doubt come an increase in quality of evidence.
Or is it something else? Is it possible the veil between the realm of the living and that of the dead is somehow thinning, allowing more paranormal activity to slip through unhindered? Could this be an indicator of something else that will come to pass within our own lifetimes? Of course such a notion is purely speculation, but the words “more people are seeing ghosts than ever before in recorded history” certainly does bring to mind the possibility that something else may be going on. What do the next 25 years have in store for us?
