According to one poll, 45 percent of Americans believe in ghosts and 28 percent claim to actually have seen a ghost.

根據一個問卷顯示，45% 的美國人都相信鬼，而 28% 的人宣稱真的看過鬼。

They show up in our movies, "I see dead people", books, and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony music videos.

他們出現在電影裡，「我看得見死人」，書裡以及骨頭惡棍與和聲樂團的 MV 中。

As far back as we can trace human life, there's evidence that almost every culture has expressed curiosity about what comes after.

當我們回溯人類生活，幾乎每個文明都有證據顯示，人類對於死後世界的好奇心。

Many people believe in them, but is there actually any proof that ghosts exist?

許多人相信鬼的存在，但是，有任何證據去證明它們的存在嗎？

I went to Buffalo, New York, to talk to Joe Nickell, a paranormal investigator who's been trying to answer that question for almost 50 years.

我去了紐約州的水牛城訪問靈異現象的調查員 Joe Nickell，他已經用了將近 50 年的時間試著解釋這個現象。

I'm the world's only full-time, salaried, professional, science-based paranormal investigator.

我世界上唯一一個帶薪全職且專業的靈異現象調查員。

I'm looking to explain a case, not debunk it, not promote it.

我試著去解釋案件，而不是揭穿或宣傳它。

Explain it.

我解釋現象。

Nickell is a true renaissance man, drawing from a wide variety of disciplines for his cases.

Nickell 是個多才多藝的人，他運用了許多學科去調查他的案件。

I mean, at one time or another I've used linguistic analysis, I've used blood pattern analysis, psychological insights.

我的意思是說，在不同案件上，我使用語言學分析，我也會用血型分析或心理學的見解。

Nearly anything could be used if it would illuminate a particular case.

幾乎任何東西都可以用來調查，只要它能對案件有所啟發。

So in the hundreds of cases over his half-century of investigation, has he ever found anything that would make him believe in ghosts?

在半個世紀調查的上百件案子中，他是否曾經找到任何會讓他相信鬼魂的東西？

Not only have I never found a single case that I thought was proof of a ghost, neither has science.

我不但沒有找到可以去證明鬼魂的任何案件，也沒有任何科學可以解釋。

Not a single ghost or haunting has been authenticated by science.

沒有任何一個鬼魂或靈異現象可以用科學去佐證。

Part of what makes it difficult to investigate is all the different ways people have defined “ghosts.”

讓調查如此困難的其中一個原因是，人們對於鬼魂的定義有所不同。

Books flying off a shelf?

書從架上飛下來？

GHOST

鬼

Orbs in photos?

照片裡的不明球體？

GHOST

鬼

Mysterious footsteps in the attic?

閣樓裡神秘的腳印？

GHOST

鬼

Patrick Swayze seductively helping you throw a vase?

Patrick Swayze 挑逗地幫你做個花瓶？

Definitely ghost.

這絕對是鬼魂。

All of the would-be evidence that ghosts exist consists of ambiguous photographs, videos.

所有可能證明鬼魂存在的證據都含有模糊不清的照片或影片。

“The next day, his HDTV literally begins rocking violently from side to side all by itself.”

「隔天，他的高畫質電視開始劇烈地自己左右搖晃。」

And first hand accounts.

或是親身經驗。

"Even if it's during the day, there's this eerie feeling that you get that there's someone there."

「即使是白天，你會有種奇怪的感覺，好像有人在那。」

Which, while fun and spooky, are not exactly scientific proof.

這些都很有趣跟詭異，但不太算是科學證明。

Ghost hunters often use gadgets such as EMF meters, a tool that measure electromagnetic fields, which ghosts can supposably manipulate.

捉鬼人時常使用儀器如電磁檢測器掃描儀，這是一個工具，可以測量鬼魂操控的電磁立場。

But nobody's been able to explain exactly what the link is, and most scientists are pretty skeptical of this stuff.

但是沒人可以準確地解釋之間的關聯，而大部分科學家都對這儀器抱有疑惑。

So there might not be any empirical, scientific evidence that shows that ghosts exist, but that doesn't actually mean that you're crazy if you think you see one.

所以沒有任何具實驗且科學性的證據，可以佐證鬼魂的存在，但是如果你看到鬼魂，不表示你瘋了。

There are plenty of logical explanations for paranormal experiences.

對於超自然的經驗，有許多合乎邏輯的解釋。

One is infrasound, a sound that falls below the audible 20Hz frequency.

其中一個證據是次聲波，它是個低於 20 赫兹的低聲率。

Infrasound can be produced by many things, including severe weather, humpback whales or certain machinery like engines or fans.

許多東西可以製造出次聲波，包括惡劣的天氣、座頭鯨或特定的機械如引擎或電扇。

Researchers have hypothesized that exposure to infrasound can induce feeling of depression, chills, and the sense that somebody's presence is near you.

研究員假定如果人暴露在次聲波裡，他們容易產生沮喪、寒冷以及有人在身旁的感覺。

The sound can even cause visual hallucinations.

這聲音甚至可以讓人產生幻覺。

At the frequency of 18Hz, it resonates with the structure of the human eyeball.

而在 18 赫兹的頻率時，次聲波能與人類的眼球構造產生共鳴。

And if you have a sound that resonates with something material, it will make the material vibrate at that frequency.

而當一個聲音與某種事物產生共鳴，會使之與它的頻率震動。

And when that happens to you, your eye begins to see things that are in fact not there.

而當這樣的事發生在你身上時，你的肉眼開始看到不存在的東西。

Swiss scientists have also been able to simulate a ghost in a lab.

瑞士的研究員能夠在實驗室裡模擬鬼魂。

They made a robot that mimics the movement of the subject's hands with a mechanical arm that touches your back, but with a slight delay.

他們做了一個有機械手臂可以模仿手動作的機器人，它能夠緩慢地碰觸你的背。

When you delay the movement, it creates an unmistakable sensation for subjects that there's a ghostly presence in the room.

當你將動作延遲變緩時，它能對物體創造一個絕對不會錯過的感知，就是有鬼魂正在房間裡。

This time it really felt like I was playing with somebody, something.

這次我真的覺得我正在跟某個人或某種東西在玩。

So it wasn't myself that was poking me in the back, but it was as if I was playing with an animal, a monkey, that was poking me in the back or something like that.

所以不是我從後面戳自己，而是好像我在跟某種動物玩，也許是隻猴子在我背後戳我，或者是某種像那樣的東西。

While most ghost sightings can't be written off as a robot poking your back, this experiment does highlight how manipulating certain parts of your brain can produce what researcher Olaf Blanke calls misperceived self-representation which can easily be misconstrued as a ghostly presence.

雖然大部分的見鬼事件不能以機器人戳你的背來解釋，但這個實驗顯示只要操弄腦子的某些區塊，我們便能產生研究員 Olaf Blanke 所說——誤解的自我表達，對於鬼的存在所創造的錯誤認知。

Sometimes even just a person's state of consciousness can make them feel or see presences.

有時甚至一個人的意識感知，也能讓他們感覺或看到靈異現象。

We can actually have people see ghosts, and those tend to be waking dreams that occur in the twilight between being fully asleep and fully awake.

我們能真正地讓人看到鬼魂，而這些易於在黎明，介於熟睡與完全清醒的錯覺時發生。

These kind of waking dreams can also be called sleep paralysis, which about 8 percent of people experience at some point in their lifetime.

這種錯覺也被稱作夢魘，大約 8% 的人會在他們的一生中體驗到。

You feel like you're awake, but you're unable to move your body, and it's often accompanied by terrifying visuals like shadows, people, or even monsters, which, if you didn't know what was happening, would be easy to confuse for having seen a ghost.

你覺得你醒著，但是沒辦法動你的身體，這時常伴隨著可怕的影像，像是黑影、人、甚至是怪物，你不知道發生什麼事，所以你會很輕易地認為你看到鬼魂了。

Another possible explanation for ghostly sightings is grief.

另一個見鬼的解釋是悲傷。

One study found that up to 60 percent of people that lose a spouse claim to see or hear their dead loved ones.

其中一個研究顯示，60% 失去伴侶的人宣稱他們能夠看到或聽到他們逝去的愛人。

In his book about hallucinations, neurologist Oliver Sacks said that seeing the face of a deceased loved one can actually help you cope with your grief.

神經學者 Oliver Sacks 在他關於幻覺的書中說到，看見死去愛人的臉龐能幫助你緩解憂傷。

This sort of hallucination is not frightening, it's often very comforting.

這種幻覺不恐怖，反而時常讓人覺得安心。

It seems to be part of the mourning process.

這被視為哀悼的其中一個過程。

And it really a sudden hole has been left in one's life, and this helps it to heal over.

一個空洞忽然出現在人生中，而這幫助他們復原。

There is no question that most of the paranormal promotes something very positive.

無庸置疑的是，大部分靈異現象促進著某種正面的意思。

There are a few exceptions, but all have to do with our hopes and our fears.

有幾個例外，但這全都跟我們的希望以及恐懼有關。

We're hopeful that ghosts exist because then we don't really die.

我們對於鬼魂的存在充滿希望，因為我們不希望我們真的死掉。

Our loved ones are not gone from us, they are real and alive.

我們愛的人不會真的離開我們，他們是真實且活生生的。

I remember when my grandmother died and how much I did not want that to be the case.

我記得我的奶奶過世的時候，我多麼希望這不是真的。

But the ghost idea, the idea that we just get up out of our bodies and continue on, is powerful.

但是有鬼魂的想法是我們能夠讓身體振作並堅持下去的理由，這是很強大的。

Because who doesn't have an instance in which he or she would say, I just wish I could've told my mother this one thing.

因為誰都會有這樣的經歷，他們會說：「我真希望能告訴我母親這一件事。」

Or I wish my father knew I wasn't really mad at him that time.

或是：「我希望我的父親當時沒有真的生我的氣。」

So ghosts may not actually exist, but that doesn't mean that you might not see one.

所以鬼魂可能不是真實存在的，但這不代表你不會看到它們。