Electromagnetic field (EMF) readers have become so common in ghost-hunting circles that some of them are even being marketed as “ghost meters.” This is a bit silly; a weird EMF reading doesn’t automatically mean there’s a ghost nearby; at best, they just you a clue as to where to look. Even if there are no appliances nearby, that jump could come from a radio tower quite a ways away. It’s also worth noting that practically no one ever uses the things correctly in the first place.
But I suppose they’re a step up from using guns. This 1888 article from the Tribune is worth reposting in full – it looks to me like the result of a bored reporter on a slow news day. The idea that a ghost would show up so regularly that large crowds come come to shoot at it simply seems fainly ridiculous, don’t you think?
Every paragraph contains a mention of large numbers of shots being fired at the ghost. If the ghost was showing up THIS regularly, shouldn’t it have warranted a MUCH larger article?