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That ghostly visitation may be sound of a wind turbine
BUILDING more wind farms in Britain could lead to an increase in reports of ghosts. Chris Benfield
There is considerable evidence that noises which are too low to hear through the ears can cause symptoms attributed to hauntings, such as palpitations and the rattling of windows and doors.
Now a GP in the West Country has come up with evidence that the low-frequency noise caused by wind turbines might be felt by a lot of people.
And the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, has hired a university to look at ways of measuring low-frequency noise.
Amanda Harry, a GP in Plymouth, is conducting a survey of low-frequency noise sensitivity among people who live close to wind farms and would like to hear from anyone from Yorkshire interested in taking part.
Her survey began with 14 people living within a mile of the Bears Down wind farm near Padstow, Cornwall, and, she says, all but one of them reported getting more headaches since the 16 turbines were put up two years ago. Some also blame the turbines for insomnia, migraines, nausea and depression.
She said yesterday: "I now have results from 36 people, from Wales, Cumbria and Cornwall, and two thirds of them feel that their quality of life has been adversely affected by living near the turbines."
The British Wind Energy Association says her survey is not a scientific one and more organised surveys have found no evidence of a problem.
A spokeswoman said: "Wind energy is a mature technology, with over 50,000 wind turbines installed around the world, some of which have been operating for over 20 years. During all this time and with all these machines, there have been no medical conditions arising from the normal operation of a wind turbine."
But a report for the Government, delivered last year, said: "Low frequency noise causes extreme distress to people who are sensitive to its effects."
An low-frequency noise specialist at Salford University, Andrew Moorhouse, said it could make people think they were being haunted.
An Italian professor had told him about reports of a haunting in a village. He found a weir had been modified so the water fell in such a way that it set up vibrations in a pipe. It was resounding like an organ pipe, strongly enough to rattle windows.
Vic Tandy, a Coventry University researcher who solved a "haunting" by tracking down a faulty ventilation fan which was causing temperature drops, said: "I have wondered if more wind farms might mean more ghosts. It is a difficult area to research. If you ask about ghosts, you tend to pre-empt a response."
Dr Amanda Harry can be contacted via chris.benfield@ypn.co.uk or 0113 238 8426.
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Weather for Yorkshire
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -2 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: South
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