Is Your Home Haunted?

Are you troubled by strange noises in the middle of the night? Do you experience feelings of dread in your basement or attic? Have you or your family ever seen a spook, spectre or ghost? These are the questions asked by your pals the Ghostbusters; but here's perhaps a handier checklist, courtesy of Dom Villella from Paranormal Investigation of NYC. Often, what you think is a spirit may actually be the result of too much electricity in the home.

—Many household items—like microwaves, TVs, alarm clocks and cell phones—give off electromagnetic fields. Explosure to these, sometimes even short-term, can cause frontal-lobe hallucinations. Reports include sensing a presence in the room, fear and general paranoia, seeing figures out of the corner of your eye and hearing unexplained noises.

—The heating systems used in many homes can often cause noises that vibrate through the home, resulting in what sounds like footsteps.

—During a geomagnetic storm our atmosphere is hit with higher-than-usual magnetic fields. This can cause electronic devices to malfunction and even sometimes start on their own.

—Sleep paralysis happens when your mind wakes before your body. You may still be in a partial dream state and feel that an apparition is holding you down.

—A low-level 17 Hz tone is used in horror movies to create a sense of fear and anxiety. Some household objects, like heaters, refrigerators and subwoofers also emit the same frequency ... with the same results.

—Low humidity and high heat in the wintertime can cause irritability and breathing problems. Countless investigations have turned out to be partially due to heat and humidity.

But on the flip side, here's what might be paranormal:

—Psychokinesis, or the ability to move or control object with the mind, was made famous in Stephen King's Carrie. But in a case of art imitating life, many instances of objects moving on their own eminate from an adolescent girl living in the home.

—Electronic voice phenomena, or voices or images captured on any type of electronic recording device. These voices are not usually heard at the time of the recording.

—Clear images that appear on film that were not seen at the time the photo was taken.

—Residual energy, or energy stored in structures, at certain times can act as a replay in time. This can appear often and usually at the same place.