LONDON — Mobile phones are killing off ghosts, a British expert who has spent years researching the occult said.
Tony Cornell, of the Society for Psychical Research, told the Sunday Express newspaper that reports of ghost sightings had started to decline when mobile phones were introduced 15 years ago.
"Ghost sightings have remained consistent for centuries. Until three years ago, we'd receive reports of two new ghosts every week," said Cornell, of Cambridge in eastern England.
"But with the introduction of mobile phones 15 years ago, ghost sightings began to decline to the point where now we are receiving none."
According to the paper, haunted tourist attractions in Britain could be under threat if the number of cell phones continues to grow from the present figure of 39 million.
Apparently paranormal events, which some scientists put down to unusual electrical activity, could be drowned out by the electronic noise produced by phone calls and text messages.