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Ghost illustration/https://unsplash.com/Lan Gao

It turns out that the experience of interacting with ghosts is something that almost half of the world’s population has. A 2019 survey found that more than 46% of Americans believe ghosts are real. In fact, another survey found that 47% of Canadians and 28% of Brits believe in ghosts.

Additionally, more than 90% of Taiwanese people say they have seen ghosts. Asian countries like Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, Japan and China also celebrate “Ghost Day” and “Ghost Month”, during which ghosts, demons, spirits and other creatures are believed to roam around humans. This is similar to celebrating Halloween or Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).

But the question is: can this incident experienced by almost half of the world’s population be valid proof of the existence of ghosts around humans? On the other hand, science is also unable to concretely explain this supernatural phenomenon.

2. Hallucinations

A scientific explanation that comes up often is the link between ghost experiences and sleep disorders, such as sleep paralysis or hypnagogic hallucinations. Sleep paralysis is a condition in which a person wakes up but cannot move, often accompanied by very frightening experiences.

Hypnagogic hallucinations are a type of hallucination that occurs when a person begins to fall asleep or has just woken up. Both of these conditions can create experiences very similar to the ghost experiences reported by many people.

There is also pareidolia, which is a natural human tendency to recognize patterns or faces in objects or situations that are actually unrelated to that thing. This may explain why we often see ghostly faces or shapes in shadows or in objects that shouldn’t have any particular shape. This illusion often creates the impression of a paranormal experience which can actually be explained by this psychological phenomenon.