 [ Symptoms ] why do i smell smoke and there is no smoke [ Disease ] i am sorry but there is not any way around my answering this question without injecting some medical terms into the discussion the sense of smell is referred to in medical terminology as the olfactory system what you are describing in your question is called olfactory hallucinations in the medical community the technical name for olfactory hallucinations is called phantosmia probably derived from phantom phantosmia can present itself in a very real manner suffers smell an odor like smoke or some other odor and may even experience a gaging sensation in actually there is really no smoke or environmental cause supporting that reaction phantosmia can be caused by some serious medical conditions that require discussion and investigation with a doctor these may include brain damage caused by tumors or trauma epilepsy and infectious damage to the olfactory system