A Rival Tool for Ghost Hunters: iPhone Apps

Ghost hunting this weekend? Well, you can lay down your trusty electromagnetic meter and open an iPhone app to detect spirits—or so say some ghost hunters. A spirited debate is emerging between old-school hunters, who rely on the K-II EMF electromagnetic reader, and those who prefer apps like Ghost Hunter M2 and Ghost Seance. "Plus, if it gets boring, I can play Angry Birds," one hunter tells the Wall Street Journal.

Purists roll their eyes at apps that offer to track electromagnetic fields, translate a ghost's thoughts into words, or predict the lunar activity that fosters apparitions. "A phone is just spewing this stuff," says the inventor of the K-II, referring to the pings of emails and text messages that can distract serious hunters. Also worth noting: Almost all of the 30,000 K-IIs made every year are sold to ghost hunters, and Ghost Radar has now been downloaded 6 million times. (More ghosts stories.)