Hayley Stevens, a writer for The Sceptic, external magazine and a researcher of paranormal activity for about 20 years, suggests not.
She says involuntary muscle movements can cause dowsing rods to move.
“It’s like why we close our eyes when we sneeze – things we don’t do on purpose but our body does to respond to a situation,” she says.
“I have this golden rule of ghost-hunting – if you have to touch something to allow the spirit to move it then it’s you that’s moving it.”
Hayley says spirit boxes might pick up frequencies used by radio stations or taxi offices, creating an “audio illusion”.
“Humans are very good pattern-seekers and find meaning in the random,” she says.
Hayley adds: “The power of expectation is always going to have a role here, and the power of suggestion.
“If you are told a lady haunts a location the chances are you are going to interpret sounds as being associated with that ghost.”
Both sceptic and believer could probably walk away from Starthpeffer satisfied.
While we were packing up to leave there was a thud above us.
The sound came from a vent where the attic is.
An old building settling in the cool of the late afternoon, or a cheeky ghost saying “cheerio”?
