Like the old stone tape theory, water is believed to be able to hold a memory!

There was a French scientist called Dr. Jacques Benveniste whose expertise was allergies. He was studying a blood cell which was involved in allergic reactions
called the polymorphonuclear basophil. The basophil when coming into contact with something the person is sensitive to is activated.

To enable him to study these better Benveniste invented a dye that would turn only
the inactive basophil cells blue, this enabled him to work out whether or not there
had been a reaction.

During one experiment however, something went wrong and a solution was diluted more than necessary - BUT - the basophils still reacted the same as if they had had an allergic reaction. The experiment was repeated again and again and still the basophils reacted. Hundreds of times it was repeated but still the same result. The water was then diluted until all traces of the original reactant was gone and it was just water but the basophils continued to react, the water appeared to have a memory! Having now been repeated by scientists all over the world, there seems to be a general consensus in the scientific field that water appears to be able to keep a memory of things it has come into contact with.

Now translating this research in to the field of praeternatural realms we are confronted with some interesting theories.

Baring in mind that most things contain water to some degree - walls, ground, earth, us, etc; could we indeed be faced with the source of residual hauntings? Could this be why things seem to be able to hold information? If strong emotional events happen and water contained inside such objects can pick up and hold this energy or information; perhaps this is what we pick up on when encounter a residual haunting. Perhaps it's not the stone that holds the memory in the stone tape theory but indeed the water inside the stone.

We once heard a man saying that he was due to have some work done on his house which included knocking down a wall or two. He then commented that he expected some form of paranormal activity after this event. Now we have no evidence to prove that things like this can generate activity but it has been stated by people over the years that activity has seemed to increase after structural work. Now it seems logical that if stone tape was indeed one cause of sightings, we must ask the question why disturbing the structural integrity of the building would release these memories. Wouldn't it also follow the logical line of reasoning that as water would also be released from the structure during this process (and if water can indeed 'hold' onto memories) then could this not be the real explanation as to why there is suddenly more activity?

We are also posed with the question, why do some places have more residual activity than others? I personally believe it's down to the material of the building. In the realms of geology there are certain rocks known as aquifers. These are rocks that are porous in nature and therefore absorb water like a sponge. Maybe it's only aquifers that have the ability to record the memory of events.

As a result of this topic CaSPIR UK will initiate a research into accounts of residual haunting and the structural material used at the locations of such reported activity. We predict that there will be greater frequency of reporting at those locations which utilise aquifers as the main material for construction.

Other variables that CaSPIR will be taking into account during this research will be the relationship of the location to natural water sources, temperature and the phase of the moon, due to the following observations.

Ghost sightings are more frequent near water. Might not be that surprising really when you think about the original Benveniste experiment?

Water reacts when it heats up or cools down and moves in regard to the phase of the moon.

Read more about Dr. Jacques Benveniste and the 'water memory' theory at www.digibio.com.

If you have any comments regarding this research please discuss this with us on the forum provided.

© County Society for Paranormal Investigation and Research - 2008

Last Updated 27/07/2008