Wind whistles through the moonlit streets of Grahame Park, flipping a discarded newspaper off the pavement and spinning it down Lanacre Avenue, where it comes damply to rest.

A lonely traveller fumbles through his knapsack for 'Ye Olde A to Z' while a rat darts across the road. As he gazes down at the map, bright colours catch his eye, reflecting off a puddle of water. The journeyman raises his head and is confronted with the sight of a ghostly donkey shimmering in incandescent light, radiating colours as it trots down the road.

This is the story of the Dazzling Little Donkey of The Hyde, one of Barnet's most intriguing ghost stories, but by no means the only one. Barnet is teeming with tales of supernatural.

Claims have been made that the borough is the most haunted in Britain, and that Monken Hadley is the most haunted village in the UK. But how much credence should we pay to these boasts? Is Barnet really more haunted or has it just got more than its fair share of oddballs?

According to some, a haymaker who killed a fellow worker with a pitchfork sometimes accompanies the dazzling donkey and tries to attack anyone who sees him.

But Barnet's best known ghost tale is that of Geoffrey de Mandeville, a medieval earl who reputedly haunts East Barnet and Hadley Wood. Oak Hill Park, East Barnet, has had the most ghost sightings, including knights on horses, headless dogs and wandering noblemen. De Mandeville is said to have died through an accident while trying to bury his treasure, and his spectre has apparently returned to watch over his fortune.

But Dr Richard Wiseman, a professor in psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, believes that the particular feel of the park and atmospheric conditions such as temperature and light have created these 'sightings', and that de Mandeville is simply the hook on which these unconnected visions are hung.

On winter nights mist can hang over the park, and most of the visions have occurred over the Christmas period, when both bottled and ghostly spirits are on the mind.

"Mist could affect the sightings, and the reputation of the park could also," said Dr Wiseman. "I lean towards a psychological explanation — more about the perception of places, air movements, temperature changes, which can give you unusual experiences. It is psychological and physical."

Less sceptical is Dr Oliver Natelson, of the Barnet History Society, who is currently gathering information for his own ghost tour of Barnet and believes that the area is a bastion for the paranormal — and for good reason.

"There are some very strange things that happen in Barnet," he said. "Friern Barnet lies on a ley line. And many people escaping the plague in London died on the road north which is Colney Hatch Lane, Friern Barnet Lane now. It is a haunted area."

According to local lore, Monken Hadley is home to a spectre of a pirate who appears around Christmas and Hallowe'en at St Mary's Church. A gravestone in the churchyard marked with a skull and crossbones belongs to Walter Walmsley, who died in 1729. Legend has it that anyone who walks around the stone three times and knocks on it will receive three raps in reply.

On East Barnet Road the ghost of a murdered man, Mr Danby, is said to return with a gaping wound where his throat was slit. His apparition is said to terrify animals, and horses have been reported to bolt on encountering the ghost.

A black monk has apparently been heard and seen under the staircases of Tenterden Church of England Junior School, Hendon. St Mary's Church, Hendon, has a phantom monk who becomes active during Christian festivals and can be heard walking and singing around the church. The Edwardian actress Lily Langtry lived in Alexandra Road, Hendon, and her spirit has been blamed for eerie voices and screams that have been heard in the area.

A nun's body was discovered beneath Lawrence Street, Mill Hill, in the 1960s and a number of strange incidents around the area have been related to her un-Christian burial. A cloaked figure seen there has vanished when approached.

Ghost stories gain notoriety from the frequency of reports, and Dr Wiseman believes the clustering of paranormal visions in one area is the result of a heightened awareness of previous ghost stories and particular aspects of the sites.

He conducted experiments at two of Britain's most haunted sites, Hampton Court Palace and the vaults of Edinburgh Castle, where throngs of willing participants, with no prior knowledge of the spooky myths, turned up to record their experiences.

The results were striking: participants recorded a much higher number of ghostly sensations in places were the spirits traditionally appeared. Experiences such as feeling a presence, hearing footsteps or feeling cold were reported at points where the ghosts had been seen before. The findings were interpreted by Dr Wiseman as proof that people do indeed experience hauntings, but they derive from the surroundings rather than paranormal phenomena.

"Hauntings exist, in the sense that places exist where people reliably have unusual experiences," he said. "But this derives from psychical and psychological factors. Magnetism is one of the more controversial explanations. It is possible that some people are sensitive to these natural magnetic fields [which make them feel a ghostly presence].

"Also, it can be that a reputation has grown around an area, that can be part of it."

The most commonly recounted stories in Barnet have been reported by people from different cultures, in some cases separated by hundreds of years. But whether these experiences are a natural or supernatural experience is still a matter of interpretation.

"I think people have genuinely strange experiences, but I do not believe in ghosts," said Dr Wiseman.

Even if he's right, Barnet will remain a haunt for ghosts as long as there are people around to believe in them.