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Several headlines grabbed my attention this week, all concerning the same 'revelation'...

Three cups of brewed coffee a day 'triples risk of hallucinations' - Telegraph
Caffeine Linked To Seeing Ghosts - Sky
People who drink too much coffee could start seeing ghosts... - BBC

The popular media hard at work, happy to declare that 'scientists' had discovered coffee and other caffeinated beverages are responsible for the creation of ghosts - there are no dead people wandering around, only imagined caffeinated cadavers... could forsaking the coffee bean spell the end of hauntings and the haunters?

Simon Jones and Charles Fernyhough from the Department of Psychology at Durham University were investigating a theory that caffeine may intensify the body's response to a hormone (cortisol) released during stressful situations. 214 students were recruited, with an average age of twenty years. The recruitment process excluded only smokers. The volunteers were asked to fill out a questionnaire concerning their caffeine intake and stress levels (using the Perceived Stress 30-item Questionnaire, or PSQ), and the only other information to be requested was the sex, weight and age of each participant.

As you may have guessed, I have a problem with this. To recruit only students is hardly representative of a cross section of the population. An average age of 20 is also at odds with true demographic representation. There is no question about family history. There is no question about whether a volunteer can answer the PSQ without bias or error. There is no question concerning sleep deprivation. It is also important to note is the lack of interest in any other drugs, other than nicotine. No interest in whether the student is a recreational drug user, on antidepressants or antipsychotics.

To give Jones and Fernyhough their dues, they were open with the limitations of their findings, expressing that the survey was only preliminary research, and that the questionnaire dealt with the volunteers' 'predisposition to hallucinations' and not the actual experience. As for actual results, Jones and Fernyhough reported that caffeine consumption is linked to stress levels, and that ingestion of caffeine is related to hallucination. Therein lies the rub. The findings do not say people who drink too much coffee could start seeing ghosts (indeed, Jones and Fernyhough do not mention phantoms in their report). Do people hallucinate because of coffee, or do people drink more coffee because hallucinations brought on by other factors stress them out? The report's findings can not tell us, and therefore the media appear to be making some highly incorrect assumptions. Slow news day, anyone?

Dates for the Paranormal Diary this week...

19 January

Lostwithiel (Cornwall)
Braddock Down is the battle site of a Cromwellian defeat that fell upon this day, the anniversary of which is marked by phantom hoof falls.

Biggin Hill (Kent) Observed flying overhead, and sometimes heard, a phantom Spitfire haunts the skies of Biggin Hill - January would appear to have become its favourite haunting month. Airmen dressed in trench coats have been reported in the village; they stop people and ask directions before disappearing.

20 January

Redditch (Hereford & Worcester)
The small, moated island of Moon's Moat is reportedly haunted by Lady Mohun, who is reported to appear every St Agnes Eve (even though the last sighting of her occurred on the 21 January).

25 January

Nether Lypiatt (Gloucestershire)
An owner of a horse once hanged a blacksmith for failing to complete a piece of work within a tight time limit - the date of the death is marked by the appearance of a large white horse carrying the dead smith around the estate of Nether Lypiatt Manor.

Darren Mann
www.paranormaldatabase.com