#phantom odors

[neurosciencenews]

That Stinks! 1 in 15 People Smell Odors that Aren't There

A new study finds that 1 in 15 Americans (or 6.5 percent) over the age of 40 experiences phantom odors.

The research is in JAMA Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. (full access paywall)

[realtimeslive]

Why is It That You Smell What Others Don’t?

Why is It That You Smell What Others Don’t?

Phantom Odor Perception could be responsible for the unwarranted smell that people over the age of 40 experience, finds a new study. The findings of this study are published in the JAMA Otolaryngology journal.

The study was led by Kathleen Bainbridge, Ph.D., of the Epidemiology and Biostatistics Program at the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), part…

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[snugglexpuff-blog]

My entire house smells like a garbage fart and I don't know why.

[breelandwalker]

Smells have a tendency to be absorbed by different things. Clothing, fabric, furniture, wood, plastics, all absorb odor, and you can smell these things if the object is warmed (like from sunlight) or disturbed (by sitting in a chair or wind rustling curtains), as well as for other reasons. A chair that people smoked cigars in a 100 years ago will still smell of cigar smoke at times. Just a thought!

Faolan got a point there...

[breelandwalker]

See, that's the thing. It seems like I can physically smell them, but there's nothing to cause them and it seems to be confined to random occurrences in my bedroom. Which should creep me out but it always seems to be similar scents and rather soothing. And I say seem because I have no idea how to tell "normal" from "supernatural" or "other", despite magick and psychic abilities running in my family.

That sounds more like phantom odors then, although you could still have a touch of clairscent.

Who knows, maybe you've got a friendly visitor. These things do happen. (I recall an incident of visitation from my dear departed Mom-mom where a room was suddenly filled with the scent of perfume and bread for no reason.)

If you start getting rank scents, then you might want to worry, but pleasant things are generally a sign of something good, particularly if you smell roses or something you can identify with a loved one who has passed.

[breelandwalker]

Hello Bree, I wonder if you can me out as I don't know if this is "supernatural" or not. For the past year, at random, there will be inexplicable scents suddenly catching my nose, but there is nothing physically present or happening to make those scents, and when I leave the room and return a few minutes later, the scent is gone. Could this be the work of something I can't see, or am I maybe thinking on it too much?

*pounces the Nonny and weeps tears of joy* I KNEW I WASN'T ALONE! T_T

If these scents are truly inexplicable, and there is no conceivable physical source for them, and you feel like you're sensing them rather than physically smelling them, you might have clairscent, which is the olfactory version of clairvoyance. (This is something that happens to me a lot, actually.)

There is also a phenomenon known as "phantom odors," which involves smells that have no earthly cause showing up where they do. The difference between phantom odors and clairscent is that phantom odors may be detected with the physical nose and smell receptors and may also be detectable to more than one person if a group is present. Clairscent may only be detectable to one person in the group and is sensed psychically rather than physically.

So to answer your question, it could be supernatural, it could be that your sniffer is psychic, or it could be random smells wafting up through your vents that you haven't found a source for just yet. Try a little investigation and see what develops!

Thanks for sharing this!