1 00:00:15,450 --> 00:00:28,000 Speaker 1: Pushkin. Chris Campbell is fighting a sudden drowsiness, but losing. 2 00:00:28,820 --> 00:00:32,630 Speaker 1: As a sandwich lunch settles in his stomach, Chris can 3 00:00:32,730 --> 00:00:36,670 Speaker 1: barely focus on the playing cards in his hand. Chris 4 00:00:36,970 --> 00:00:41,650 Speaker 1: sleepily stands and leaves his three fellow miners to play on. 5 00:00:42,310 --> 00:00:46,420 Speaker 1: He's off to find a place to nap. It's Britain 6 00:00:46,710 --> 00:00:50,240 Speaker 1: in the late 1970s, and the men are a third 7 00:00:50,260 --> 00:00:55,060 Speaker 1: of a mile below ground, hewing coal in Walton Colliery, 8 00:00:55,480 --> 00:00:58,580 Speaker 1: a mine not far from the Yorkshire city of Wakefield. 9 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:03,580 Speaker 1: This is a section of the mine where flammable gases gather. 10 00:01:04,500 --> 00:01:08,280 Speaker 1: Twenty years ago, it was the scene of a deadly explosion, 11 00:01:08,860 --> 00:01:12,220 Speaker 1: so now extra efforts have been made to keep fresh 12 00:01:12,420 --> 00:01:18,040 Speaker 1: air rushing through the mining chambers. For his nap, Chris 13 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:22,030 Speaker 1: searches for a warmer and less drafty part of the tunnel. 14 00:01:22,970 --> 00:01:26,550 Speaker 1: He walks further from his friends until they're out of 15 00:01:26,750 --> 00:01:32,990 Speaker 1: earshot and he's enveloped by darkness. The miner settles down 16 00:01:33,290 --> 00:01:44,290 Speaker 1: and switches off his own lamp. Chris wakes with a jolt. 17 00:01:45,010 --> 00:01:49,020 Speaker 1: It's freezing cold. and the darkness is no longer complete, 18 00:01:49,620 --> 00:01:54,700 Speaker 1: for an eerie glow greets the groggy miner's opening eyes. 19 00:01:55,940 --> 00:02:01,700 Speaker 1: A man looms over Chris. A stranger. His clothes and 20 00:02:01,750 --> 00:02:07,390 Speaker 1: equipment seem oddly antiquated. He wears an outdated mining helmet 21 00:02:08,150 --> 00:02:11,530 Speaker 1: and carries a lamp not seen in the Walton pit 22 00:02:11,790 --> 00:02:18,990 Speaker 1: for decades. At least, not since that deadly blast of 59. 23 00:02:18,990 --> 00:02:24,070 Speaker 1: Chris suddenly realises this stranger isn't standing over him. He's 24 00:02:24,470 --> 00:02:30,790 Speaker 1: floating above the tunnel's roadway. The figure fixes his stare 25 00:02:30,910 --> 00:02:37,300 Speaker 1: on Chris and speaks, inviting the prone miner to follow 26 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:42,780 Speaker 1: him deeper into the pit. Are you coming down the 27 00:02:42,840 --> 00:02:49,970 Speaker 1: back roads? Chris screws shut his eyes, pulls his helmet 28 00:02:50,050 --> 00:02:57,780 Speaker 1: over his face and screams. I'm Tim Harford and you're 29 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:28,530 Speaker 1: listening to Cautionary Tales. When Chris Campbell summoned the courage 30 00:03:28,590 --> 00:03:32,710 Speaker 1: to reopen his eyes, the apparition was gone and he 31 00:03:32,750 --> 00:03:37,570 Speaker 1: was alone once more in the dark. The miner raced 32 00:03:37,670 --> 00:03:41,700 Speaker 1: back along the tunnel to his workmates. The startled men 33 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:46,660 Speaker 1: were perplexed by Chris's panicked appearance. What's up, young'un? Has 34 00:03:46,700 --> 00:03:53,650 Speaker 1: there seen a ghost? This supernatural encounter is recorded in 35 00:03:53,690 --> 00:03:57,720 Speaker 1: the archives of the National Coal Mining Museum in Wakefield, 36 00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:02,780 Speaker 1: as is the aftermath of the sighting. Chris's card-playing colleagues 37 00:04:03,100 --> 00:04:06,840 Speaker 1: thought him foolish to believe in ghosts, but other men 38 00:04:06,920 --> 00:04:11,310 Speaker 1: at the pit slowly sidled up to share stories of 39 00:04:11,350 --> 00:04:17,990 Speaker 1: a similarly paranormal nature. One worker swore a shadowy figure 40 00:04:18,050 --> 00:04:23,290 Speaker 1: had sat down beside him to talk and then suddenly vanished. 41 00:04:25,390 --> 00:04:29,030 Speaker 1: Another miner was said to be so perturbed by encountering 42 00:04:29,070 --> 00:04:33,610 Speaker 1: a spectre that he refused to go back underground and 43 00:04:33,770 --> 00:04:40,290 Speaker 1: quit the mine. Before you scoff, more people have seen 44 00:04:40,450 --> 00:04:45,040 Speaker 1: ghosts than you might think. Polling by the Pew Research 45 00:04:45,100 --> 00:04:50,290 Speaker 1: Centre suggests that one in five Americans have seen some 46 00:04:50,450 --> 00:04:56,430 Speaker 1: sort of apparition. That's 61 million people. In the UK, 47 00:04:56,610 --> 00:05:00,320 Speaker 1: the proportion is similar. And a good number of these 48 00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:04,940 Speaker 1: respondents had never spoken to friends and family about these 49 00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:13,580 Speaker 1: spooky sightings. Perhaps fearing ridicule, If we widen the definition 50 00:05:13,620 --> 00:05:17,880 Speaker 1: of a supernatural encounter to include things such as hearing 51 00:05:17,940 --> 00:05:23,660 Speaker 1: voices or seeing objects moving, then 60% of Americans will 52 00:05:23,700 --> 00:05:28,900 Speaker 1: admit to having had a brush with the paranormal. But 53 00:05:28,940 --> 00:05:33,170 Speaker 1: let's put our sceptics hats back on and re-examine Chris 54 00:05:33,210 --> 00:05:39,690 Speaker 1: Campbell's subterranean tales. As the great Carl Sagan said in 55 00:05:39,770 --> 00:05:46,860 Speaker 1: his book The Demon-Haunted World, hallucinations are common. America's most 56 00:05:47,060 --> 00:05:51,220 Speaker 1: trusted science communicator wrote that he often heard the voices 57 00:05:51,280 --> 00:05:54,780 Speaker 1: of his parents calling his name, even though they were 58 00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:59,190 Speaker 1: both long dead. I miss them so much that it 59 00:05:59,230 --> 00:06:03,110 Speaker 1: doesn't seem at all strange that my brain will occasionally 60 00:06:03,190 --> 00:06:07,740 Speaker 1: retrieve a lucid recollection of their voices, said Sagan. He 61 00:06:07,760 --> 00:06:13,120 Speaker 1: stressed that these ghostly calls represented an internal rather than 62 00:06:13,260 --> 00:06:17,860 Speaker 1: an external reality. So there are many good reasons why, 63 00:06:18,340 --> 00:06:23,060 Speaker 1: deep underground, Chris Campbell might have vividly seen the Phantom 64 00:06:23,140 --> 00:06:29,520 Speaker 1: Miner and heard his ominous question. Are you coming down 65 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:35,130 Speaker 1: the back roads? First, Chris had sought out a dark 66 00:06:35,190 --> 00:06:39,100 Speaker 1: and quiet spot for his nap. These are prerequisites for 67 00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:43,460 Speaker 1: sound human sleep, but they're also the perfect conditions for 68 00:06:43,520 --> 00:06:49,660 Speaker 1: encouraging strange visions. An astronomer by trade, Carl Sagan liked 69 00:06:49,700 --> 00:06:53,140 Speaker 1: to compare this to the stars in the sky. The 70 00:06:53,160 --> 00:06:56,140 Speaker 1: stars of course are always above us, but we only 71 00:06:56,300 --> 00:07:02,250 Speaker 1: see them when the brilliantly bright sun dips below the horizon. Likewise, 72 00:07:02,650 --> 00:07:08,030 Speaker 1: our brains might constantly be producing dreamlike content, but the 73 00:07:08,090 --> 00:07:12,310 Speaker 1: noise and busyness of daily life blots it all out. 74 00:07:13,460 --> 00:07:18,040 Speaker 1: A quick experiment to do on yourself involves darkness. If 75 00:07:18,100 --> 00:07:21,220 Speaker 1: it's safe to do so, close your eyes, and perhaps 76 00:07:21,420 --> 00:07:24,180 Speaker 1: cover them with a hand to block as much light 77 00:07:24,240 --> 00:07:30,310 Speaker 1: as you can. What do you see? Certainly not inky blackness. 78 00:07:31,210 --> 00:07:36,680 Speaker 1: you're probably seeing flashes and splashes of colour, crazy irregular 79 00:07:36,760 --> 00:07:40,980 Speaker 1: shapes dancing before you. But even though your eyelids are shut, 80 00:07:41,720 --> 00:07:45,750 Speaker 1: your retinas are still busy collecting information to send to 81 00:07:45,810 --> 00:07:49,610 Speaker 1: your brain. Those colours you're perceiving are the result of 82 00:07:49,650 --> 00:07:53,930 Speaker 1: your brain trying to make sense of the insignificant signals 83 00:07:54,210 --> 00:07:59,260 Speaker 1: generated by background activity in your visual system. And evolution 84 00:07:59,320 --> 00:08:03,470 Speaker 1: has honed our brains to look faces, be they friendly 85 00:08:04,050 --> 00:08:07,790 Speaker 1: or menacing. So as a result, we sometimes see faces 86 00:08:07,850 --> 00:08:12,850 Speaker 1: in clouds, in rock formations, in tree stumps, and yes, 87 00:08:13,330 --> 00:08:18,180 Speaker 1: sometimes in those dancing, coloured patterns we see in the darkness. 88 00:08:19,580 --> 00:08:24,360 Speaker 1: This phenomena could explain the glowing human form Chris Campbell 89 00:08:24,420 --> 00:08:27,870 Speaker 1: saw in the dark. And as for the ghostly voices, 90 00:08:28,400 --> 00:08:33,100 Speaker 1: In quiet places, our brains equally strain to pick up sounds. 91 00:08:34,040 --> 00:08:38,910 Speaker 1: In doing so, they can misinterpret creaks, whirs and whines 92 00:08:39,030 --> 00:08:47,990 Speaker 1: as plaintive human calls. Another contributing factor could be mould. 93 00:08:48,670 --> 00:08:53,700 Speaker 1: Research has linked the effects of inhaling certain fungal spores 94 00:08:53,860 --> 00:09:00,570 Speaker 1: with reports of hauntings. Breathing in aspergillus mould, found in damp, 95 00:09:01,090 --> 00:09:05,730 Speaker 1: spooky houses and, you guessed it, mine workings, seems to 96 00:09:05,910 --> 00:09:11,480 Speaker 1: inflame the optic nerve, causing shapes to float across our vision. 97 00:09:12,260 --> 00:09:17,380 Speaker 1: The mould also triggers shortness of breath, which only heightens 98 00:09:17,480 --> 00:09:22,070 Speaker 1: our feelings of panic and dread. But if Carl Sagan 99 00:09:22,150 --> 00:09:25,920 Speaker 1: had heard Chris's story... he'd no doubt have latched onto 100 00:09:25,960 --> 00:09:29,160 Speaker 1: the fact that the sighting occurred in what the scientist 101 00:09:29,240 --> 00:09:35,390 Speaker 1: called that twilight world between being fully awake and fully asleep. 102 00:09:36,690 --> 00:09:40,690 Speaker 1: The napping miner said he awoke to see his apparition. 103 00:09:41,530 --> 00:09:47,650 Speaker 1: Such experiences are known as hypnopompic, that's as opposed to hypnagogic, 104 00:09:48,110 --> 00:09:51,000 Speaker 1: where we might see strange things as we drift off 105 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:56,100 Speaker 1: to sleep. hypnopompic waking experiences are a little less common. 106 00:09:56,880 --> 00:10:00,210 Speaker 1: A third of us have seen, heard or felt something 107 00:10:00,650 --> 00:10:04,090 Speaker 1: eerie as we sink into sleep, but only one in 108 00:10:04,140 --> 00:10:10,110 Speaker 1: ten have had these sensations upon awakening. If, like Chris Campbell, 109 00:10:10,430 --> 00:10:13,950 Speaker 1: you wake up and see a ghost, strictly speaking, you 110 00:10:14,050 --> 00:10:20,000 Speaker 1: probably aren't hallucinating. Full-on hallucinations are linked to things such 111 00:10:20,060 --> 00:10:23,840 Speaker 1: as mental health problems or drug use. Instead, you're most 112 00:10:23,900 --> 00:10:28,190 Speaker 1: likely having a kind of waking dream. Your eyes might 113 00:10:28,210 --> 00:10:32,370 Speaker 1: be open and taking in your actual surroundings, but parts 114 00:10:32,410 --> 00:10:35,450 Speaker 1: of your brain are still in a sleep state and 115 00:10:35,490 --> 00:10:40,470 Speaker 1: producing dream-like visions to populate that real world around you. 116 00:10:41,850 --> 00:10:45,530 Speaker 1: The sections of the brain that fire most during hypnopompic 117 00:10:45,610 --> 00:10:51,930 Speaker 1: experience are those associated with both identifying threats and spotting 118 00:10:52,170 --> 00:10:56,800 Speaker 1: human or animal forms. It's little wonder then that people 119 00:10:56,860 --> 00:11:01,600 Speaker 1: feel a sense of fear and report seeing menacing beasts 120 00:11:01,660 --> 00:11:04,910 Speaker 1: at the foot of the bed or the looming figure 121 00:11:05,430 --> 00:11:11,370 Speaker 1: of an intruder. When we fully awaken, these sights, sounds 122 00:11:11,470 --> 00:11:19,420 Speaker 1: and sensations vanish. But unlike visions that come before we 123 00:11:19,460 --> 00:11:24,810 Speaker 1: fall asleep, we tend to remember these terrifying, hypnopompic moments. 124 00:11:25,810 --> 00:11:29,470 Speaker 1: Some of us might realise what we just experienced wasn't real, 125 00:11:30,170 --> 00:11:34,670 Speaker 1: but others might begin their day certain they've just seen 126 00:11:34,730 --> 00:11:43,600 Speaker 1: a ghost. So that's it then. Chris Campbell was having 127 00:11:43,640 --> 00:11:47,160 Speaker 1: a waking dream that day, deep below ground. We can 128 00:11:47,180 --> 00:11:49,960 Speaker 1: all agree that there was no ghost haunting the mine. 129 00:11:51,270 --> 00:11:56,450 Speaker 1: But wait a moment, and hold your judgment, for I 130 00:11:56,510 --> 00:12:00,450 Speaker 1: haven't yet told you the story of that explosion in 131 00:12:00,470 --> 00:12:16,420 Speaker 1: the Walton Colliery. Cautionary Tales will be back in a moment. 132 00:12:16,540 --> 00:12:21,810 Speaker 1: In 1959, the Walton Colliery was a so-called safety lamp mine. 133 00:12:22,490 --> 00:12:27,490 Speaker 1: It was forbidden by law for workers to take matches, lighters, cigarettes, 134 00:12:27,690 --> 00:12:31,770 Speaker 1: cigars or pipes below ground. There were to be no 135 00:12:31,940 --> 00:12:36,340 Speaker 1: naked flames and even electric flashlights were built with thick 136 00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:41,780 Speaker 1: rubber cables and rugged housings to prevent the slightest spark escaping. 137 00:12:42,900 --> 00:12:50,740 Speaker 1: The reason for all these precautions? Fire damp. Damp is 138 00:12:50,790 --> 00:12:54,310 Speaker 1: the name for any gas other than air that's encountered 139 00:12:54,450 --> 00:12:58,810 Speaker 1: in a mine. And fire damp is the name reserved 140 00:12:58,890 --> 00:13:05,210 Speaker 1: for a fantastically combustible methane mix. Pockets of fire damp 141 00:13:05,490 --> 00:13:09,890 Speaker 1: often sit inside or close to coal deposits. If this 142 00:13:10,050 --> 00:13:14,080 Speaker 1: methane leaks into the confines of the mine workings, a 143 00:13:14,160 --> 00:13:17,860 Speaker 1: tiny spark can ignite it. Even the spark from, say, 144 00:13:17,900 --> 00:13:22,910 Speaker 1: a pit. or shovel glancing off something metallic. Fire damp 145 00:13:23,000 --> 00:13:27,890 Speaker 1: explosions have killed countless miners, often hundreds at a time. 146 00:13:28,490 --> 00:13:32,030 Speaker 1: And it isn't just the blast and flame that claims lives. 147 00:13:32,470 --> 00:13:38,390 Speaker 1: The ignition of methane produces a new cloud of toxic gases. Afterdamp. 148 00:13:39,930 --> 00:13:43,570 Speaker 1: No component of afterdamp is good for humans to inhale, 149 00:13:43,990 --> 00:13:47,790 Speaker 1: but its high content of carbon monoxide is the killer. 150 00:13:48,900 --> 00:13:52,140 Speaker 1: It prevents the blood from carrying oxygen to our muscles 151 00:13:52,220 --> 00:13:56,440 Speaker 1: and organs. Miners not struck by the initial blast wave 152 00:13:56,980 --> 00:14:03,600 Speaker 1: perish before they can flee. In Walton Colliery, the dangers 153 00:14:03,680 --> 00:14:07,540 Speaker 1: of fire damp were well known. Aside from the banning 154 00:14:07,580 --> 00:14:11,190 Speaker 1: of naked flames, the mine was designed to keep fresh 155 00:14:11,340 --> 00:14:15,490 Speaker 1: air circulating along its tunnels so that methane would never 156 00:14:15,530 --> 00:14:21,690 Speaker 1: collect in concentrations likely to ignite. But in April 1959, 157 00:14:21,690 --> 00:14:27,310 Speaker 1: this ventilation system wasn't working as planned, and unknown to 158 00:14:27,350 --> 00:14:32,600 Speaker 1: the miners, the pit was filling with dangerous gases. On 159 00:14:32,640 --> 00:14:37,220 Speaker 1: the early afternoon of April 22nd, most of the miners 160 00:14:37,260 --> 00:14:40,580 Speaker 1: of the early shift had left the coal face, while 161 00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:42,940 Speaker 1: the men of the late shift had yet to arrive 162 00:14:42,960 --> 00:14:47,730 Speaker 1: at the scene. Just a skeleton crew remained hard at work. 163 00:14:48,800 --> 00:14:52,610 Speaker 1: The coal they piled onto conveyor belts was carried back 164 00:14:52,690 --> 00:14:55,290 Speaker 1: down the tunnel to be loaded up and taken to 165 00:14:55,350 --> 00:15:00,550 Speaker 1: the surface. At about 1pm, the three men at this 166 00:15:00,630 --> 00:15:05,980 Speaker 1: loading point were plunged into darkness and the conveyor belt 167 00:15:06,260 --> 00:15:11,480 Speaker 1: stopped dead. Then they felt a rush of air and dust... 168 00:15:12,660 --> 00:15:16,400 Speaker 1: coming from the coal face. They phoned for help, then 169 00:15:16,520 --> 00:15:21,020 Speaker 1: set off down the tunnel towards the explosion. Along the way, 170 00:15:21,080 --> 00:15:24,360 Speaker 1: they met an injured miner who'd been working just short 171 00:15:24,380 --> 00:15:27,360 Speaker 1: of the coal face. He'd been bowled over by the 172 00:15:27,410 --> 00:15:31,730 Speaker 1: blast and was limping away from the scene. The rescuers 173 00:15:31,830 --> 00:15:37,130 Speaker 1: pressed on, passing machinery wrecked in the explosion. But the 174 00:15:37,430 --> 00:15:41,670 Speaker 1: air in the tunnel was becoming increasingly hot. and foul, 175 00:15:42,310 --> 00:15:46,090 Speaker 1: heavy as it was with coal dust and deadly after-damping. 176 00:15:46,900 --> 00:15:50,480 Speaker 1: Parts of the roof had also caved in, and dull, 177 00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:58,060 Speaker 1: ominous thuds signalled further explosions of methane up ahead. Two 178 00:15:58,120 --> 00:16:01,000 Speaker 1: miners tried to crawl on their bellies to reach the 179 00:16:01,060 --> 00:16:05,500 Speaker 1: coal face, but first one, and then the other succumbed 180 00:16:05,640 --> 00:16:08,880 Speaker 1: to the toxic gases and had to be dragged to safety. 181 00:16:10,630 --> 00:16:15,150 Speaker 1: Several more rescuers were rushed to hospital, overcome by after-damp, 182 00:16:15,870 --> 00:16:20,490 Speaker 1: until eventually men in breathing apparatus reached the remains of 183 00:16:20,510 --> 00:16:26,580 Speaker 1: the five missing miners. Their scorched clothing was searched for contraband, 184 00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:32,340 Speaker 1: those forbidden cigarettes and matches, but none were found. Investigators 185 00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:36,890 Speaker 1: later concluded that a damaged electricity cable had probably arced 186 00:16:37,410 --> 00:16:45,610 Speaker 1: and set off the fire damp. The official report criticised 187 00:16:45,670 --> 00:16:50,590 Speaker 1: the mine's poor ventilation, its poor maintenance of electrical wiring, 188 00:16:51,270 --> 00:16:54,990 Speaker 1: and a lax work culture where miners didn't always monitor 189 00:16:55,070 --> 00:17:01,650 Speaker 1: for fire-damp accumulations. True, mining in 1959 was nowhere near 190 00:17:01,690 --> 00:17:05,520 Speaker 1: as dangerous as it had been a century before, but 191 00:17:05,540 --> 00:17:09,660 Speaker 1: it was still an industry that claimed many lives. 53-year-old 192 00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:15,840 Speaker 1: Charles Ray died that April day, but his fate was 193 00:17:15,900 --> 00:17:21,060 Speaker 1: a grimly familiar one to his family, for Charles's brothers Albert, 194 00:17:21,420 --> 00:17:26,760 Speaker 1: Harold and Ike had all been killed in previous accidents 195 00:17:26,840 --> 00:17:31,720 Speaker 1: at the pit. So if anywhere is haunted, it's going 196 00:17:31,760 --> 00:17:35,270 Speaker 1: to be a place like Walton Colliery, the scene of 197 00:17:35,430 --> 00:17:41,890 Speaker 1: so much sorrow and so many horrific, untimely deaths. That 198 00:17:42,450 --> 00:17:46,870 Speaker 1: would certainly be an argument forwarded by the members of 199 00:17:46,930 --> 00:17:53,910 Speaker 1: the Ghost Club. Founded in 1862, the group counted Charles 200 00:17:53,990 --> 00:17:58,790 Speaker 1: Dickens amongst its earliest members. The club met to discuss 201 00:17:59,070 --> 00:18:04,860 Speaker 1: paranormal phenomena and placed ads in newspapers asking the owners 202 00:18:04,960 --> 00:18:09,220 Speaker 1: of haunted houses to grant them access to investigate any 203 00:18:09,620 --> 00:18:15,790 Speaker 1: ghostly goings-on. The present custodian of the Ghost Club's archives, 204 00:18:16,170 --> 00:18:21,730 Speaker 1: its chairman Alan Murdy, says that clear patterns emerge from 205 00:18:21,750 --> 00:18:26,190 Speaker 1: the records. When we look at accounts of apparitional sightings, 206 00:18:26,650 --> 00:18:32,130 Speaker 1: he says, a high proportion could be described as sudden deaths. 207 00:18:33,510 --> 00:18:39,220 Speaker 1: Murder scenes, race car tracks, castles and, yes, coal mines 208 00:18:39,820 --> 00:18:43,020 Speaker 1: all seem to have more than their fair share of 209 00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:47,610 Speaker 1: ghost sightings. Alan says it's often sites where there's an 210 00:18:47,670 --> 00:18:54,690 Speaker 1: intensity of emotion which produce hauntings. Many reasons are proposed 211 00:18:54,710 --> 00:19:00,080 Speaker 1: for this. Some people believe that sudden, violent or unjust 212 00:19:00,200 --> 00:19:03,980 Speaker 1: deaths cause souls to become trapped at the place of 213 00:19:04,040 --> 00:19:08,530 Speaker 1: their undoing. the trauma of their demise preventing them from 214 00:19:08,610 --> 00:19:13,510 Speaker 1: proceeding on to the spirit world. Others suggest that ghosts 215 00:19:13,590 --> 00:19:16,990 Speaker 1: remain to seek revenge on those who wronged them in life, 216 00:19:17,680 --> 00:19:21,560 Speaker 1: or stay on to fulfil a goal, or pass along 217 00:19:21,620 --> 00:19:28,180 Speaker 1: a message that their abrupt deaths prevented. Stories abound of mournful, 218 00:19:28,560 --> 00:19:34,410 Speaker 1: vengeful or angry ghosts, spirits unable to find peace in death. 219 00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:38,520 Speaker 1: And a belief in the existence of such ghosts was 220 00:19:38,660 --> 00:19:44,810 Speaker 1: particularly entrenched in mining communities. It was not uncommon for 221 00:19:44,870 --> 00:19:47,970 Speaker 1: miners to refuse to enter the section of a pit 222 00:19:48,150 --> 00:19:52,490 Speaker 1: where a fatal accident had occurred until all its victims 223 00:19:52,670 --> 00:19:59,600 Speaker 1: were buried. There is a shadowy belief, explained Anjali. newspaper 224 00:19:59,680 --> 00:20:05,200 Speaker 1: article in 1894 that the spirit of anyone killed in 225 00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:09,390 Speaker 1: a pit hovers round the spot until after the body 226 00:20:09,500 --> 00:20:14,970 Speaker 1: is consigned to sacred earth. When the newspaper dismissed such 227 00:20:15,030 --> 00:20:22,170 Speaker 1: beliefs as mere superstition an enraged miner registered his displeasure. 228 00:20:23,270 --> 00:20:26,850 Speaker 1: Tell your editor to confine his remarks to things of 229 00:20:26,950 --> 00:20:30,400 Speaker 1: this world, for he knows nothing of heaven and hell 230 00:20:30,710 --> 00:20:36,800 Speaker 1: and the workings underground. But burying the dead wasn't a 231 00:20:36,920 --> 00:20:42,220 Speaker 1: surefire way to ensure their spirits stopped haunting the pit tunnels. 232 00:20:43,110 --> 00:20:46,470 Speaker 1: One coal mine was said to be infested with ghosts 233 00:20:46,790 --> 00:20:52,110 Speaker 1: for years after an accident. According to a contemporary account, 234 00:20:53,090 --> 00:20:59,020 Speaker 1: they make their presence known by wailing and knocking. These diversions, 235 00:20:59,440 --> 00:21:03,480 Speaker 1: they vary by the singing of dirges and the roll 236 00:21:03,520 --> 00:21:08,700 Speaker 1: of muffled drums. It was observed that whilst miners were 237 00:21:08,960 --> 00:21:14,990 Speaker 1: undoubtedly very brave men, they are terribly afraid of ghosts. 238 00:21:20,340 --> 00:21:24,700 Speaker 1: Chris Campbell's brush with a phantom miner in the 1970s 239 00:21:25,040 --> 00:21:29,810 Speaker 1: fits snugly into this pattern. His account of the ghost, 240 00:21:30,550 --> 00:21:35,310 Speaker 1: dressed as it was in older-style mining garb, suggests that 241 00:21:35,330 --> 00:21:40,400 Speaker 1: the apparition was that of Charles Ray, killed so suddenly 242 00:21:41,030 --> 00:21:49,160 Speaker 1: in 1959. Or perhaps Charles's brother Ike, killed in 1957. 243 00:21:49,440 --> 00:21:56,480 Speaker 1: Or Harold in 1944. Maybe even Albert, who lost his 244 00:21:56,560 --> 00:22:02,300 Speaker 1: life in the same mine, aged just 19 in 1914. 245 00:22:02,300 --> 00:22:07,880 Speaker 1: It's easy for us, dwellers of the surface, to mock 246 00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:12,280 Speaker 1: Chris and the other miners who believe in ghosts. But 247 00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:16,500 Speaker 1: do we know enough of heaven and hell and the 248 00:22:16,560 --> 00:22:25,830 Speaker 1: workings underground to really pass judgment? Skeptics like Carl Sagan 249 00:22:25,870 --> 00:22:30,010 Speaker 1: would likely say that Chris's belief in ghosts is precisely 250 00:22:30,100 --> 00:22:33,660 Speaker 1: what caused him to see one, given the centuries of 251 00:22:33,780 --> 00:22:38,050 Speaker 1: mining lore. Chris had a framework to immediately explain the 252 00:22:38,110 --> 00:22:41,790 Speaker 1: strange sights and sounds that greeted him when he awoke 253 00:22:41,870 --> 00:22:47,100 Speaker 1: in Walton Colliery. For Chris, the obvious cause wasn't hypnopompic 254 00:22:47,180 --> 00:22:51,080 Speaker 1: visions or aspergillus mould, it was that he was being 255 00:22:51,180 --> 00:22:56,220 Speaker 1: confronted by the restless spirit of a long-dead fellow miner. 256 00:22:57,800 --> 00:23:02,460 Speaker 1: In his book The Demon-Haunted World, Sagan explores the incredible 257 00:23:02,540 --> 00:23:07,350 Speaker 1: power of suggestion. In religious times, odd lights or sounds 258 00:23:07,410 --> 00:23:13,670 Speaker 1: were regularly interpreted as visitations from angels or the Virgin Mary. Today, 259 00:23:14,150 --> 00:23:17,930 Speaker 1: science fiction has primed us to greet them as UFOs 260 00:23:18,450 --> 00:23:27,910 Speaker 1: and aliens. A minor steeped in stories of underground ghosts 261 00:23:28,030 --> 00:23:32,680 Speaker 1: is naturally going to conclude that any mysterious experience is, 262 00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:37,250 Speaker 1: in fact... an encounter with a spirit. And Sagan would 263 00:23:37,290 --> 00:23:40,930 Speaker 1: have an explanation as to why Chris clearly identified the 264 00:23:41,150 --> 00:23:45,400 Speaker 1: apparition as being dressed and equipped as a mine worker. 265 00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:51,440 Speaker 1: Once the key idea is suggested, wrote Sagan, the person 266 00:23:51,560 --> 00:23:58,400 Speaker 1: often plausibly fleshes out the supporting details. But this cautionary 267 00:23:58,460 --> 00:24:03,050 Speaker 1: tale isn't a debunking of ghost stories, not at all. 268 00:24:04,170 --> 00:24:06,950 Speaker 1: Not at this time of year. You may believe in them, 269 00:24:07,870 --> 00:24:10,730 Speaker 1: and you may not. But either way, I hope to 270 00:24:10,770 --> 00:24:16,530 Speaker 1: convince you that down there in the darkness, sometimes it's 271 00:24:16,590 --> 00:24:27,810 Speaker 1: the wisest option to take ghosts seriously. That's after the break. 272 00:24:35,010 --> 00:24:39,930 Speaker 1: Morpha Colliery was blessed in some ways. It was dug 273 00:24:39,950 --> 00:24:44,750 Speaker 1: into a rich seam of highly prized Welsh steam coal. 274 00:24:45,210 --> 00:24:50,600 Speaker 1: This coal ignited easily and burned brightly, producing little ash 275 00:24:50,660 --> 00:24:55,360 Speaker 1: or smoke. It was ideal for driving the steam locomotives 276 00:24:55,440 --> 00:25:02,000 Speaker 1: and industrial engines that powered the Victorian age. But Morpher 277 00:25:02,080 --> 00:25:06,280 Speaker 1: was also known as a fiery mine, for the steam 278 00:25:06,320 --> 00:25:11,460 Speaker 1: coal was found alongside deadly deposits of fire damp. The 279 00:25:11,500 --> 00:25:17,370 Speaker 1: colliery set production records, but it also outdid rival mines 280 00:25:17,710 --> 00:25:21,570 Speaker 1: in the number of explosions that ripped through its tunnels. 281 00:25:22,870 --> 00:25:26,390 Speaker 1: In the second half of the 19th century, this Welsh 282 00:25:26,450 --> 00:25:33,700 Speaker 1: mine witnessed increasingly serious accidents. At first, Fire-damp blasts claimed 283 00:25:33,760 --> 00:25:37,840 Speaker 1: the lives of a few miners at a time, then dozens, 284 00:25:38,660 --> 00:25:45,890 Speaker 1: then scores. On a March Monday in 1890, a massive 285 00:25:46,170 --> 00:25:50,910 Speaker 1: explosion rocked Morpha. The blast was even felt by the miners' 286 00:25:51,030 --> 00:25:55,360 Speaker 1: families in the village nearby. Attempts to reach the dead 287 00:25:55,600 --> 00:26:00,260 Speaker 1: and dying below only resulted in further casualties, as rescuers 288 00:26:00,280 --> 00:26:06,940 Speaker 1: were overcome by afterdamp. There were small miracles. Four men 289 00:26:06,980 --> 00:26:09,800 Speaker 1: and a boy somehow found their way out after a 290 00:26:09,950 --> 00:26:15,490 Speaker 1: hellish day of navigating cave-ins, fires and clouds of toxic gas. 291 00:26:16,690 --> 00:26:19,930 Speaker 1: A group of pit ponies was also found alive after 292 00:26:20,010 --> 00:26:23,480 Speaker 1: ten days. the water pumped into the mine to fight 293 00:26:23,540 --> 00:26:27,860 Speaker 1: the fires had partly flooded their underground stables, giving them 294 00:26:27,940 --> 00:26:32,980 Speaker 1: something to drink. Up to 89 men and boys perished, 295 00:26:33,920 --> 00:26:38,520 Speaker 1: and many of their bodies were never found. It's little wonder, then, 296 00:26:38,940 --> 00:26:44,760 Speaker 1: that Morpha became known as the Pit of Ghosts. And 297 00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:49,300 Speaker 1: those ghosts didn't stay quiet for long. In the winter 298 00:26:49,370 --> 00:26:56,010 Speaker 1: of 1895, Cries and wails filled the mine, with hundreds 299 00:26:56,070 --> 00:27:01,420 Speaker 1: of workers claiming to have heard the mysterious, otherworldly howls. 300 00:27:02,860 --> 00:27:06,460 Speaker 1: Someone suggested they might be emanating from a tomcat that 301 00:27:06,500 --> 00:27:10,260 Speaker 1: had strayed into the mine and become lost. But most 302 00:27:10,360 --> 00:27:15,530 Speaker 1: miners were convinced that they knew the true source. Ghosts. 303 00:27:17,380 --> 00:27:20,960 Speaker 1: These men threw down their tools, went to the surface 304 00:27:21,280 --> 00:27:25,360 Speaker 1: and refused to resume work. And it wasn't just the 305 00:27:25,480 --> 00:27:30,280 Speaker 1: moaning that had unnerved them. Banging and knocking had been heard. 306 00:27:32,140 --> 00:27:37,500 Speaker 1: And a slender, black-clad figure had also been seen above ground, 307 00:27:38,180 --> 00:27:42,480 Speaker 1: trudging forlornly from the pit head to a building across 308 00:27:42,540 --> 00:27:46,560 Speaker 1: the yard. The same building that served as a morgue 309 00:27:46,870 --> 00:27:52,390 Speaker 1: after that 1890 blast. It was said 90% of the 310 00:27:52,450 --> 00:27:56,360 Speaker 1: workforce believed that morpher colliery was in the grips of 311 00:27:56,400 --> 00:28:00,200 Speaker 1: a haunting. But there wasn't agreement on the reason behind 312 00:28:00,280 --> 00:28:04,740 Speaker 1: it and the potential remedies. Some miners felt that a 313 00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:08,970 Speaker 1: simple exorcism was called for. The crew working a place 314 00:28:09,030 --> 00:28:14,190 Speaker 1: that was particularly devastated in 1890 asked that renewed efforts 315 00:28:14,250 --> 00:28:17,750 Speaker 1: be made to find the remains of the dead, so 316 00:28:17,770 --> 00:28:20,890 Speaker 1: they could be given a proper burial and be allowed 317 00:28:21,150 --> 00:28:26,250 Speaker 1: to rest in peace. But there was another school of thought. 318 00:28:27,010 --> 00:28:31,520 Speaker 1: Men who'd worked at Morpha in 1890 and a previous 319 00:28:31,600 --> 00:28:37,300 Speaker 1: explosion in 1883 spoke of strange noises filling the mine 320 00:28:37,340 --> 00:28:42,660 Speaker 1: in the weeks before each of those blasts. One story 321 00:28:42,720 --> 00:28:46,300 Speaker 1: concerned a couple of men down on their knees emptying 322 00:28:46,370 --> 00:28:50,410 Speaker 1: a coal truck Their ears were suddenly pricked by an 323 00:28:50,630 --> 00:28:56,930 Speaker 1: unusual sound. What was that? one asked. And they jumped 324 00:28:57,010 --> 00:29:00,130 Speaker 1: out of their skin as a nearby door inexplicably flung 325 00:29:00,230 --> 00:29:05,860 Speaker 1: open and then slammed shut. The miners of Morpha became 326 00:29:05,970 --> 00:29:09,440 Speaker 1: increasingly convinced that the ghosts in their pit were not 327 00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:13,480 Speaker 1: trying to terrify the living, nor demand a proper burial. 328 00:29:14,080 --> 00:29:18,130 Speaker 1: they were instead trying to warn the men that yet 329 00:29:18,530 --> 00:29:25,490 Speaker 1: another disaster was imminent. Morphomine would stay closed until someone 330 00:29:25,630 --> 00:29:34,400 Speaker 1: summoned the courage to go below to investigate. Whether they're 331 00:29:34,460 --> 00:29:39,360 Speaker 1: digging for coal, gold or silver, miners around the globe 332 00:29:39,760 --> 00:29:46,120 Speaker 1: often admit to sharing their underground world. with strange paranormal beings. 333 00:29:47,100 --> 00:29:52,390 Speaker 1: Welsh miners call them coblins. and tappers. The tin miners 334 00:29:52,450 --> 00:29:57,450 Speaker 1: of Cornwall call them knockers and say they're tiny creatures, 335 00:29:57,930 --> 00:30:01,360 Speaker 1: not much bigger than an infant, but with the faces 336 00:30:01,480 --> 00:30:07,000 Speaker 1: of wizened old men. As with much folklore, their origin 337 00:30:07,100 --> 00:30:11,330 Speaker 1: story is confused. Some tin miners said they were an 338 00:30:11,660 --> 00:30:15,860 Speaker 1: ancient tribe of Celts who, when they died out, had 339 00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:20,560 Speaker 1: become trapped below ground, stuck in a purgatory between heaven 340 00:30:20,920 --> 00:30:25,170 Speaker 1: and hell. The more common belief was that the knockers 341 00:30:25,210 --> 00:30:29,730 Speaker 1: were the ghosts of Jewish slaves, brought to Cornwall to 342 00:30:29,790 --> 00:30:35,250 Speaker 1: extract tin for the Romans. Both stories are fanciful, but 343 00:30:35,270 --> 00:30:39,460 Speaker 1: either way, The knockers lived up to their name, tapping 344 00:30:39,580 --> 00:30:43,280 Speaker 1: and banging on pit props and the wooden shoring that 345 00:30:43,360 --> 00:30:48,430 Speaker 1: prevented tunnels caving in. The knockers also sang and even 346 00:30:48,610 --> 00:30:55,930 Speaker 1: spoke to miners, usually demanding food. One tin miner, Tom Trevorrow, 347 00:30:56,410 --> 00:31:00,610 Speaker 1: responded to calls to share his lunch by shouting,' Go 348 00:31:00,650 --> 00:31:03,770 Speaker 1: to blazes, you cussed old spirits, or I'll knock your 349 00:31:03,790 --> 00:31:10,320 Speaker 1: brains out!' Tommy Trevorrow, Tommy Trevorrow, came the knocker's reply. 350 00:31:11,100 --> 00:31:15,860 Speaker 1: We'll send thee bad luck tomorrow. As good as their word, 351 00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:19,930 Speaker 1: the next day Tom Trevorrow returned to work to find 352 00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:24,570 Speaker 1: his tools buried by a rockfall. The seam of tin 353 00:31:24,610 --> 00:31:27,210 Speaker 1: that was to provide him with his week's wages was 354 00:31:27,370 --> 00:31:32,510 Speaker 1: covered up too. It was best then to stay on 355 00:31:32,550 --> 00:31:36,640 Speaker 1: the right side of the knocker's. and there could be rewards. 356 00:31:37,540 --> 00:31:41,660 Speaker 1: Many miners claimed to have found rich seams of precious 357 00:31:41,740 --> 00:31:46,580 Speaker 1: metal by following the tappings of the knockers. And the 358 00:31:46,620 --> 00:31:50,140 Speaker 1: demands of the knockers were modest. One tradition was for 359 00:31:50,220 --> 00:31:53,980 Speaker 1: Cornish men to eat most of their pasties, a parcel 360 00:31:54,020 --> 00:31:57,890 Speaker 1: of vegetables or meat wrapped in pastry, but to save 361 00:31:57,970 --> 00:32:01,890 Speaker 1: a part as tribute to the knockers. The corner of 362 00:32:01,950 --> 00:32:05,450 Speaker 1: the crust they reserved and threw into the darkness was 363 00:32:05,490 --> 00:32:10,400 Speaker 1: the crimped section they used to hold the pasty. Tin miners' 364 00:32:10,460 --> 00:32:16,780 Speaker 1: hands were usually covered with harmful substances, including arsenic. Remembering 365 00:32:16,840 --> 00:32:22,100 Speaker 1: to feed the knockers helpfully prevented miners ingesting such poisons. 366 00:32:23,180 --> 00:32:26,970 Speaker 1: And knockers were said to save miners' lives more directly. 367 00:32:27,870 --> 00:32:32,290 Speaker 1: Sometimes their eerie hammering was not a signal that a new, 368 00:32:32,700 --> 00:32:37,000 Speaker 1: rich seam of ore was close, but a warning that 369 00:32:37,040 --> 00:32:45,660 Speaker 1: a pit collapse was looming. In 1895, the miners of 370 00:32:45,780 --> 00:32:50,580 Speaker 1: Morpha suspected that the ghosts of their pit were forecasting 371 00:32:50,720 --> 00:32:56,430 Speaker 1: just such a disaster. Inspectors, managers and a few brave 372 00:32:56,510 --> 00:33:01,360 Speaker 1: miners ventured into the abandoned works to check the miles 373 00:33:01,440 --> 00:33:06,100 Speaker 1: and miles of tunnels for potential problems. The leader of 374 00:33:06,140 --> 00:33:11,700 Speaker 1: the expedition had memorised a religious-sounding incantation should they come 375 00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:15,840 Speaker 1: face to face with a ghost. Angels and ministers of 376 00:33:15,920 --> 00:33:20,310 Speaker 1: grace defend us, he would say. Then ask the apparition. 377 00:33:20,950 --> 00:33:26,060 Speaker 1: Bringst thou heirs from heaven? or blasts from hell. The 378 00:33:26,080 --> 00:33:30,320 Speaker 1: party saw no ghosts, nor any evidence that the mine 379 00:33:30,360 --> 00:33:34,610 Speaker 1: was about to collapse or suffer a fire-damp explosion. The 380 00:33:34,650 --> 00:33:38,730 Speaker 1: pit manager held what were described as protracted discussions with 381 00:33:38,790 --> 00:33:43,050 Speaker 1: his men, and a return to work was finally agreed. 382 00:33:49,020 --> 00:33:51,910 Speaker 1: Whether you believe in ghosts or not, I don't blame 383 00:33:52,010 --> 00:33:58,220 Speaker 1: miners who halted work to take these spectral warnings seriously. Creaking, 384 00:33:58,740 --> 00:34:02,660 Speaker 1: tapping or moaning signs in a mine works could easily 385 00:34:02,740 --> 00:34:06,720 Speaker 1: precede an explosion or cave-in. But there's something else too. 386 00:34:08,150 --> 00:34:12,390 Speaker 1: The deep, rumbling sounds of earth moving and settling can 387 00:34:12,410 --> 00:34:15,790 Speaker 1: be outside the range of human hearing, but that doesn't 388 00:34:15,830 --> 00:34:21,430 Speaker 1: mean they don't affect our bodies. Research into so-called infrasound 389 00:34:22,030 --> 00:34:26,570 Speaker 1: suggests that its vibrations can resonate in our chests, making 390 00:34:26,610 --> 00:34:32,800 Speaker 1: us feel anxious and fearful. Infrasound seems also to affect 391 00:34:32,920 --> 00:34:37,600 Speaker 1: our eyesight, creating odd shapes and shadowy figures in our 392 00:34:37,680 --> 00:34:44,740 Speaker 1: peripheral vision. Research is ongoing, but it seems more likely 393 00:34:44,820 --> 00:34:48,550 Speaker 1: that the rumbling of the ground moving is prompted the 394 00:34:48,590 --> 00:34:53,570 Speaker 1: miners to feel unnerved and imagine ghosts, rather than ghosts 395 00:34:53,650 --> 00:34:59,050 Speaker 1: appearing to warn of impending roof falls, or the splitting 396 00:34:59,090 --> 00:35:04,050 Speaker 1: of the rocks holding back the deadly fire damp. We 397 00:35:04,110 --> 00:35:06,490 Speaker 1: miners aren't so simple as some would make us out 398 00:35:06,510 --> 00:35:09,950 Speaker 1: to be, one morpher man explained about the reasons for 399 00:35:09,980 --> 00:35:14,330 Speaker 1: the walkout. We carry our lives in our hands. And 400 00:35:14,350 --> 00:35:16,800 Speaker 1: we have a right to be assured that things down 401 00:35:16,860 --> 00:35:22,480 Speaker 1: there are as they ought to be. A fellow miner 402 00:35:22,520 --> 00:35:28,620 Speaker 1: then shared a story. Years before, he'd been underground and 403 00:35:28,680 --> 00:35:37,200 Speaker 1: heard ghostly noises. The groans and thumps and wails. A 404 00:35:37,240 --> 00:35:41,380 Speaker 1: man working beside the miner stopped digging to take in 405 00:35:41,420 --> 00:35:47,000 Speaker 1: the sounds. He then made an eerie prediction. Somebody will 406 00:35:47,020 --> 00:35:52,000 Speaker 1: be killed in this colliery very soon, he said. The 407 00:35:52,040 --> 00:35:56,650 Speaker 1: storyteller had discounted this warning and mocked it as silly superstition. 408 00:35:57,850 --> 00:36:00,570 Speaker 1: I laughed at him and said he was scared. But 409 00:36:00,590 --> 00:36:04,850 Speaker 1: before the night shift was over, he was killed by 410 00:36:04,870 --> 00:36:08,880 Speaker 1: a fall in of the roof. The old miner took 411 00:36:09,000 --> 00:36:13,110 Speaker 1: the pipe from his mouth and jabbed the stem at 412 00:36:13,130 --> 00:36:19,230 Speaker 1: his audience. I now don't jeer at men that hear 413 00:36:19,290 --> 00:36:31,580 Speaker 1: things like that. The primary sources for this episode were 414 00:36:32,180 --> 00:36:36,080 Speaker 1: Voices in the Coalshed from the National Coal Mining Museum 415 00:36:36,740 --> 00:36:43,570 Speaker 1: and The Demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan. Cautionary Tales 416 00:36:43,650 --> 00:36:46,910 Speaker 1: is written by me, Tim Harford, with Andrew Wright, Alice 417 00:36:46,950 --> 00:36:51,230 Speaker 1: Fiennes and Ryan Dilley. It's produced by Georgia Mills and 418 00:36:51,290 --> 00:36:55,050 Speaker 1: Marilyn Rust. The sound design and original music are the 419 00:36:55,090 --> 00:37:01,220 Speaker 1: work of Pascal Wise. Ben-Nadav Hafri edited the scripts. The 420 00:37:01,260 --> 00:37:03,980 Speaker 1: show also wouldn't have been possible without the work of 421 00:37:04,100 --> 00:37:10,400 Speaker 1: Jacob Weisberg, Corinne Gileard-Fisher, Eric Sandler, Christina Sullivan, Keira Posey 422 00:37:10,660 --> 00:37:15,540 Speaker 1: and Owen Miller. Cautionary Tales is a production of Pushkin Industries. 423 00:37:16,040 --> 00:37:19,500 Speaker 1: If you like the show, please remember to share, rate 424 00:37:19,720 --> 00:37:22,240 Speaker 1: and review. 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