Able to detect the potential presence of spirits, EMF meters have become one of the most basic parts of any paranormal investigators tool kit. While you can purchase a detector for less than $50, intrepid DIYers can open up a world of infinite possibility by building their own EMF meter using the open source Arduino hardware platform.

This design by Make Magazine’s Collin Cunningham uses a LED bar graph to display the meter’s reading, but as with all Arduino based projects, there are endless possibilities for modifications. This project replaces the LED bar with a LCD readout. Other possibilities include combining the EMF meter with a camera trigger to create a camera trap or you could build in an audio recorder that starts recording when a spike is detected creating an automated EVP setup. The only limit is your imagination.

Making the Arduino EMF detector @ Make: Online

Malaysian state-run newspaper, the New Straits Times, reports that Sekolah Menengah Sains Dungun (a coed bording school in Malaysia) had to close due to hysteria caused by a mass ghost sighting on the campus. Beginning Sunday female students reported seeing ghost-like apparitions flying around classrooms, assembly halls, and dorms. The panic caused by the event forced school officials to cancel classes for most of the day. The event reoccurred the following day, causing classes to be canceled. As of Thursday, normal classes had not yet resumed.

The father of one student spoke to reporters saying, “My daughter kept telling me that she saw the figure of a woman wearing all white flying around her classroom before closing in on her. She said she felt a sudden chill just before the ghostly figure reached her, and she just screamed.” Other students claimed to have felt sick to their stomachs and passing out durring the event. Students whose families live nearby were sent home until the situation at the school could be returned to normal.

Bouts of hysteria after ‘ghostly sightings’ [via The Anomalist]