The Stone Tape theory is a

pseudoscientific Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable cl ...

claim that

ghosts In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

and

haunting This is a list of locations that are (or have been) said to be haunted by ghosts, demons, or other supernatural beings throughout the world. Reports of haunted locations are part of ghostlore, which is a form of folklore. Argentina * Cinco ...

s occur when historical information is released from rocks and other items. The idea of materials holding information from emotional or traumatic events aligns with views of 19th-century intellectualists and

psychic A psychic is a person who claims to use powers rooted in parapsychology, such as extrasensory perception (ESP), to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance; or who performs acts that a ...

researchers, such as

Charles Babbage Charles Babbage (; 26 December 1791 – 18 October 1871) was an English polymath. A mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer, Babbage originated the concept of a digital programmable computer. Babbage is considered ...

Eleanor Sidgwick Eleanor Mildred Sidgwick (née Balfour; 11 March 1845 – 10 February 1936) was a physics researcher assisting Lord Rayleigh, an activist for the higher education of women, Principal of Newnham College of the University of Cambridge, and a lea ...

and Edmund Gurney. Contemporarily, the concept was popularised by the fictional ghost story film ''

The Stone Tape ''The Stone Tape'' is a 1972 British television horror drama film written by Nigel Kneale and directed by Peter Sasdy and starring Michael Bryant, Jane Asher, Michael Bates and Iain Cuthbertson. It was broadcast on BBC Two as a Christmas ...

'' broadcast on

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

television in 1972. Following the play's popularity, the idea and the term "stone tape" were retrospectively and inaccurately attributed to the British

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

turned parapsychologist T. C. Lethbridge, who believed that ghosts were not spirits of the deceased, but were simply non-interactive recordings similar to a

movie A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

History

The idea that environmental elements are capable of storing traces of human thoughts or emotions was introduced by multiple 19th-century scholars and philosophers as an attempt to provide natural explanations for supernatural phenomena. In 1837 the

polymath A polymath or polyhistor is an individual whose knowledge spans many different subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems. Polymaths often prefer a specific context in which to explain their knowledge, ...

published a work on

natural theology Natural theology is a type of theology that seeks to provide arguments for theological topics, such as the existence of a deity, based on human reason. It is distinguished from revealed theology, which is based on supernatural sources such as ...

called the ''

Ninth Bridgewater Treatise The Ninth Bridgewater Treatise was published by the mathematician and inventor Charles Babbage in 1837 as a response to the eight Bridgewater Treatises that the Earl of Bridgewater, Francis Henry Egerton, 8th Earl, had funded. The Bridgewater Trea ...

''. Babbage speculated that spoken words leave permanent impressions in the air, even though they become inaudible after a time. He suggested that it is possible due to transfer of motion between particles. The "Stone tape theory" could also be derived from the concept of "place memory". In the early days of the

Society for Psychical Research The Society for Psychical Research (SPR) is a nonprofit organisation in the United Kingdom. Its stated purpose is to understand events and abilities commonly described as psychic or paranormal. It describes itself as the "first society to condu ...

, place memory was considered an explanation for ghostly apparitions - seemingly connected with certain places. In the late 19th century, two of the SPR-involved investigators, Edmund Gurney and

, presented views about certain buildings or materials being capable of storing records of past events, which can be later played back by gifted individuals. Another 19th-century idea associated with the "Stone Tape theory" is psychometry: a belief that it is possible to obtain knowledge about the history associated with an object through physical contact with it. In the 20th century, the idea that objects are able to store and play back past events was re-introduced in 1939 and 1940 by then- SPR president

H. H. Price Henry Habberley Price (17 May 1899 – 26 November 1984), usually cited as H. H. Price, was a Welsh philosopher, known for his work on the philosophy of perception. He also wrote on parapsychology. Biography Born in Neath, Glamorganshire, Wa ...

. Price speculated about "psychic ether" as an intermediate medium between spiritual and physical reality, enabling objects to carry memory traces of emotions or experiences from the past. In his works, he stated that the existence of such traces should be proveable by means of scientific methods and yet they remain unproven hypotheses. Following Price's ideas, an archaeologist turned paranormal researcher, T. C. Lethbridge, claimed that past events can be stored in objects thanks to fields of energy, which he believed to surround streams, forests or mountains. His 1961 book ''Ghost and Ghoul'' popularised these ideas, which allegedly inspired the creators of the 1972 BBC play ''

''.

Reception

In their book ''How to Think About Weird Things: Critical Thinking for a New Age'', authors

Theodore Schick Theodore Schick is an American author in the field of philosophy. His articles have appeared in numerous publications and include topics such as functionalism and its effect on immortality, the logic behind the criteria of adequacy, and applyin ...

and Lewis Vaughn dismissed the idea as an irrational claim, stating, "The problem is that we know of no mechanism that could record such information in a stone or play it back. Chunks of stone just do not have the same properties as reels of tape." p-326 Sharon Hill, science educator and geologist, claims that "stone tape theory" is a misleading term, as it suggests to encompass structure, credibility and explanatory power or scientific theory, while in reality it is speculation that lacks physical basis. According to her, it is an attempt to present a

claim in a seemingly scientific style. Hill also suspects that the "kernel of the idea of stone tape" is psychometry, which is criticised for being a form of cold reading rather than an unexplained supernatural phenomenon.

History

Reception

References

Further reading