Infrasonics

By:

Terry Soward

North Texas Ghost Hunters 

What Is It?

Low frequency sounds generally under 20 Hz. The average person can not hear in this frequency range since average human hearing range starts at about 30 Hz.

Symptoms of exposure to infrasonic frequencies: - uneasiness, feeling of being watched, general paranoia, nausea, headaches, feelings of being cold or clammy, blurred vision. Generally a lot of the same sensations reported by people living in a "haunted house". In addition to making us feel as if we are being haunted it can cause realistic ghostly phenomenon, by moving small items with vibrations. Not everyone will be affected by infrasonic noise and the extent of affliction will vary with the amount of exposure.

Many have heard or read about Vic Tandy and his experience with infrasonic noise. It took place in a work area where many had reported strange occurrences. While working on a fencing foil he noticed that it was vibrating. To make a long story short, he discovered that a bad bearing in a ventilator motor was causing the infrasonic noise, once repairs were made, no more haunting.

Sickening silence
Why does infrasonic frequencies affect us this way? The reason low frequency intense sounds and electromagnetic waves can affect us is that our brains operate at these same general frequencies: 1.5-4Hz delta (sleep state), 5-8Hz theta (drowsy), 9-14hz alpha (relaxed) and 14-40hz beta (working attentive state). It has also been shown that infrasonic waves at frequencies between 18 and 19Hz will cause vibrations (resonance) in our eyes causing us to see things that are not there.

Here is a run down of frequencies and a few of the symptoms that have been reported due to extreme exposures:
2 - 5Hz at 100 to 125 dB difficulty swallowing and slight headache afterwards.
2 - 5Hz at 125 to 135 dB vibrations in the chest cavity, some difficulty talking, slight sense of vertigo, a sense of exhaustion, fatigue and headaches afterwards.
5 - 15Hz at 125 to 135 dB middle ear pain, difficulty talking, vibration of entire middle body area, sense of nausea, vertigo, lack of ability to concentrate, ringing of the ears, exhaustion and headaches afterwards.
15 - 20Hz at 125 to 135 dB middle ear pain, difficulty breathing, gag reflex triggered, eye watering, ringing of the ears, sense of apprehension, perspiration and or chills and then extreme fatigue and headache afterwards.

Common sources
The most common items in a household that can cause infrasonic noise are small horsepower motors. Most ventilation, refrigerator, can opener, ceiling fan, washing machine and dryer motors operate at 850 to 3450 RPM (revolutions per minute) with the most common being at 1140 RPM. Now if you divide the RPM of the motor by 60 seconds you will get the harmonic frequency of the motor in hertz (1140RPM / 60seconds = 19hertz). Interesting! There are lots of other man made sources of infrasonic sounds that we have to deal with, tires on a car, train wheels, wind blowing over a chimney or pipe, airplanes, the sources are numerous.

There are also many sources for natural infrasonic sounds: meteors, volcanoes, earthquakes, ocean waves, the jet stream, severe storm systems, tornadoes, auroras, sprites (an effect associated with lightening), wind in the mountains and many animals (elephants, whales, giraffe…).

Geomagnetic activity and Solar flares
Did you notice "auroras" in that last little bit? Even the interaction of ions and the magnetic fields of the earth can create infrasonic noise!  This means that on those days when geomagnetic or solar activity is at it's highest (aurora borealis is at it's most active), is also that time when ghosts are believed to be the most active. It will also be when we might be inundated with a low frequency madness, seeing and hearing things that are not there and feeling like we are not alone.

Has every haunting in the world just been debunked? Nope, not by a long shot, this explanation does nothing towards explaining EVP, photographic anomalies or anything that can be confirmed by being captured through some type of permanent recording. After his discovery Vic Tandy went about checking a few "haunted" places and found that many but not all had infrasonic noise. So just keep hunting for the paranormal but be just a little more careful on those special days.