The Psychoacoustics of the Paranormal: Psychology, Sound, and “Paracoustics” 

This is a recording of an Acoustics Lunchtime Research Seminar given by Dan Pope of Delta Simons on the 3rd February 2021.
Paranormal phenomenon have been widely reported for centuries, and often have an acoustic factor, but very little exists in the way of actual evidence. Can “Paracoustics” (the acoustics of the paranormal) help us understand some of the perceived phenomena, and what does the psychology behind our auditory system say about what we may perceive?
Dan Pope is a Salford Audio Tech graduate (2000) is a professional acoustic consultant based in Bristol, where he is the head of the Delta Simons Environmental acoustics team. He watches too many horror films and as a geeky child took slightly too detailed an interest in magic tricks. When, several years ago, he was asked to write a book review about a textbook on Paracoustics for the Acoustics Bulletin he fell down a rabbit hole of pseudo-science debunking that he is still trying to climb out of.