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I have taken an interest recently in doing research on areas that are supposedly haunted. I haven't seen a ghost on any of our trips, but I have felt 'spooked' or like someone else was near. I have pretty much written it off to nerves, but other 'ghosthunters' mention that these may actually be presences.

So my question to you is this: what exactly are ghosts? There are a few different theories that I will drop down below for you to take a look at.

The general Hollywood concept of a ghost is not accurate but it's what many think about when they speak of ghosts. There are basically three types of hauntings.

The first type of haunting is exactly like a video playback of a historic or tragic event. This is called a residual haunting. The event unfolds in front of you and there is no interaction between you and the ghosts. They seem to not notice you and go through the motions of the event that occurred in the past. This event has been imprinted on the area or building and is replayed back later when conditions are right. The ghosts that you see in this type are not earthbound spirits, they are just visual play backs. Since everything is made up of energy, the theory is that some of the energy from an event can be recorded by certain materials and played back when the atmosphere triggers it. Remember that video and audio tape is just oxidized (rust) film that enables the images and sounds to "stick" to it. This type may be frightening when you see it, but you are in no danger so enjoy the experience.

The second type of haunting is an interactive spirit that manifests in many ways. You may see a full bodied or partial bodied apparition. More frequently than that, you may here voices, music, footsteps, etc. You may also smell odors which sources cannot be found (i.e. pipe tobacco when no one smokes). You may also see orbs, mists and other light effects. You may feel touches, cold spots, and other light physical contact. This ghost is the spirit of a deceased human being. They may be stuck here (earthbound) for reasons such as tragic sudden death, fear of moving on, guilt or unfinished business. They also could be here visiting loved ones or to warn or pass along a message. These human spirits are the same as they were in life, so they may be good or bad, but not really evil. Think of all the people you know, probably a bit of good and bad, some worse than others. This type can cause some scary situations but you must think about the situation they are in, you don't see them but they see you. They will try to get your attention any way they can. Many times this is the terrifying event people will write to me about like the lights going on and off, items moving, noises, etc. For the most part these are just attention getters and nothing more. There are a few more mischievous human spirits that will do these things to bother you and scare you on purpose. They may just be a prankster or maybe they want you to leave the old home or not to change something in the home. They have all the same motivations you and I would have. These human spirits account for a majority of the hauntings we encounter and are relatively harmless. Yes, there are extreme cases and sometimes they can cause dangerous situations, but this is not the norm and is rare.

The third type of ghost you may encounter is not a rare one, but is rare that they interact with the living. They are non human spirits, commonly known as demons and devils. They are mentioned in the bible numerous places in both the old and new testaments. People like Ed and Lorraine Warren have been dealing with this type of spirit for years. This type is dangerous and can cause you harm. I believe that if there is good, there must be a counter balance, evil. These non human spirits often disguise themselves and friendly and helpful human spirits. They often appear in cases dealing with Ouija boards, black magic and satanic worship. This is why I recommend not trying to contact spirits and doing ghost hunts without some understanding of what's out there. It's also why I recommend you go with or learn from experienced people before hand. That way you can ghost hunt with relative safety from these entities.

These are cited from: www.TheShadowlands.net. While the website is pretty crude in design, it has a lot of information.
they are hallucination...
ghosts...I often wonder about them....it seems that if ghosts were proven to exist it would cahnge my whole perspective on s**t...thats sort of why I haven't made a dead set judgement on them...I'm sorta in a ethical spiderweb..
They are putting the cart WAY before the horse.

There is no evidence for "ghosts" aside from perceptual flaws whatsoever.
Yami no Hitokiri's avatar
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Ghosts are able to manifest themselves when the magnetic fields of the earth are lined up just right or when there's a source of power for them, such as the presence of animals. All muscle movement and emotion generate electricity. They also love electric stuff such as lights, cameras, TVs and battery powered stuff like laptops and cell phones. That's why these things tend to work poorly in haunted areas. The ghosts are draining them to manifest themselves. When there's no source of power, the ghosts are still present, but are dormant.
Uh huh. well I believe in the supernatural but I just dont see how people can know exactly how and what a ghost is.
I always figured they have a reason for their presence, like some kind of unfulfilled deed to do but I wouldnt go so far as to say there are set ways in which they might act. Humans dont do everything in a set way, we screw up, alot. So why should a ghost follow a set way?
Emotion is a strong energy - enough to move and change a mind and enough to affect a body to catch or develop illness.

I believe 'ghosts' exist. After all, ghosts are merely memories of strong vibrational imprints.

Spirits, I'm not too sure about. Maybe - just maybe they exist. If there is something psychological that goes wrong when the death happens, a person's shadow might be left confused as to what and where and how everything is as it is so.

Otherwise, I am unsure. =/
Sotek
They are putting the cart WAY before the horse.

There is no evidence for "ghosts" aside from perceptual flaws whatsoever.

Still possible though. And from my experience, that all sounded about right =/
ghost are the spirits of people who have unfinished business,therefore they can't leave,though there body has expired.
Hallucinations, nothing more.
well... these theme is really... hard to be discussed!
if you believe that there is SOUL within you, ghost may be considered as a soul without a body, which have denied to leave this world and go... where it is supposed to go...
there were some scientists who about 5-6 years made an experiment - one dying man was messured and in the moment he died the body become lighter with a few grammes. they tried to prove that this was caused by the leaving of the soul, but nobody important believed them.

there is and another theory - that the so called ghost is caused by the difussion of different gases with very high speed. this makes you feel cooled and strange presense.

and i have also heard a theory that ghost are not DEAD people`s souls or whatever, but a broken image which comes from a parallel world.

but all these theories are much closer to sci-fi than to reality.

i personally believe in ghost. or at least i would like to be true, because this will mean that there are life after death and other worlds. and this is a really lovely opportunity!
The Goddess Eclaire's avatar
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we have a ghost in my house.....a couple of them in fact...so i know they exist. as to wha they are i have not one friggin clue except the fact that they are dead and unwilling to accept it or something. i have a freind who's mother told me they were the demons of saten or something like that................ eek but anyway it sat on me and i was incapable of moving for 5 straight minuts. crying crying and there is no way anyone will convice me otherwise. and it did the same thing to my sister a couple of months before...
yup ghosts exist..... redface
I believe in supernatural/unexplainable events because my own experience with them (though I was once a huge critic.)
However, I will not give name to these events, since I dont know what they are.
I know they weren't hallucinations, because nothing happened that would've induced them, and hallucinations can't be recorded.....

Of course, the scientific/mainstream view is exactly the same with ghosts as it was with the chance of animals feeling not too long ago.
In other words, stict denial.

Actually, if you want to study into paranormal activity at all, your automatically considered "crazy" or at the very least, not respected at all by other scientists.
This, in my opinion, is just as ignorant as insisting that aliens visit you every night, or other intense assurances of whatever event.

Nothing should be believed blindly, but science has a tendency to refuse that anything can exist beyond their explenations, and are eager to think up explenations for many an event that don't actually make sense.

Once again, just my opinions....
Yeah, I've also had 'unexplainable' phenomena happen to me, over the years. I've experienced that being sat on thing too. Feels like a large weight is on you. You can move, but it is weird, too, because it defies your logic - there is a lot of weight but nothing is seen on you.

I won't try to explain anything that I can't prove. It could be anything. Could be our mind.

A lot of me doubts it, though, with the kinds of things I've experienced.

I don't know - I'm at a loss most of the time.

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