Why do people feel the presence of ‘ghosts’? Scientists are starting to understand

New research reveals how spirituality and psychology shape our encounters with unseen presences.

You’re alone in a room. It’s dead quiet. There’s nobody behind you.

And yet, somehow, you could swear someone is there.

You can’t see them or hear them. There’s no movement, no footsteps, no shadow slipping across the wall. But the sensation is unmistakable. Something, or someone, seems to be sharing the room with you. How creepy is that?

For centuries, experiences like these have inspired ghost stories, religious revelations, and tales of supernatural encounters. But psychologists have another name for the phenomenon: felt presence. And they’re beginning to understand why it happens in some people — and why it’s much more common than you might believe.

The new study published in the journal Psychosis suggests that how people experience these invisible visitors depends partly on their beliefs and psychological state.

Researchers found that people who frequently felt connected to a god, spirits, or some higher power, and who also reported more unusual perceptions associated with psychosis, were especially likely to sense an unseen presence. For these people, the encounters tended to feel more vivid, happen more often, and cause greater fear or distress.

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