About
This site is for anyone interested in the paranormal. Paranormal is defined as events that
are beyond explanation
1
. In the last
decade or so ghost hunting programs have been gaining popularity and there are lots! But the
fascination with ghost, spirits and hauntings has been popular for a lot
longer. On this site I want to give you an introduction into this fascinating subject and
let you decide:
Do you believe in Ghosts?
Introduction
Belief in the paranormal is an ancient one, it is even mentioned in the Bible, and is the
main
storyline of thousands of pieces of literature and films.
2
In Victorian
England
spiritualism took
off in a big way especially among the ladies of the upperclass, with Queen Victoria herself
participating in spiritualist seances along with Prince Albert.
3
It wasn't until
1882 that the society for psychical research was started, prominent members were Henry
Sidgwick
(Philosopher), William Barnett (Physicist), Lord Raleigh (Nobel prize winner), Arthur
Balfour
(Philosopher and Prime Minister) and the original female ghostbuster Eleanor
Sidgwick.
2
Anthropologists
have found that belief in ghosts is almost universal and is present in various ways in
almost
every culture.
4
Interestingly it was found that
belief is strong enough among
Chinese
and Thai tourists that it becomes a travel barrier to places that have had disasters, it is
perceived as psychologically unsafe.
5
Classifications
Hauntings
Intelligent
In intelligent hauntings the ghost appears to be aware of the living world, directly interacting with people and objects within the environment. This includes answering questions with appropriate answers, although these are generally only a few words at most. People report objects moving, doors opening and being touched such as choked, pushed or tugged at. These kinds of hauntings make up 76% of cases. A rare subtype is an anniversary haunting where the spirit appears on their birthday or other personal date. 6
Residual
A residual haunting is one in which the ghost isn't aware of people or the environment, unlike intelligent hauntings repeated experiences are often the same or very similar. e.g the sound of footsteps going up the stairs and the sound of a door closing (no door actually moves though). A rare subtype of a residual haunting is a historical haunting, an example of this is hearing the sounds of fighting or seeing spectral soldiers at an old battle field. 6
Ghosts
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Apparition | Can be seen, approximates something physical or material, 45% of cases. |
| Phantasm | Similar to apparition but witness is in a dream state, so people put it down to imagination. Sometimes though these phantasms convey meaningful information to pass on to other loved ones that only they could have known. |
| Wraiths | Loved one appears as an apparition or phantasm to comfort the living. Very rare only 3% of cases. |
| Poltergeists | Makes noises, opens and closes doors and moves objects. Unlike others, they are usually experienced by multiple people and can go on for years! Accounts for 35% of cases. It's usually bound to a location rather than a person. |
| Spectors and phantoms | Respectively they account for 10% and 4% of cases and appear like apparitons and phantasms. Unlike them though they are usually angry, aggressive, violent and can cause symptoms in the living when present. Experience with a ouiji board has been found to cause problems with spectors. |
Theories
Stone Tape Theory
The premise of this is that traumatic events, or those which result in elevated emotional states can imprint on the environment with the energy that is produced. The minerals and chemicals in the stone around us act like the tape, which can be triggered to replay when the environment or energy is similar to when it was created. 7
Water Tape Theory
This is basically the same but that it's the water in the environment that has the capability of acting like a magnetic tape to record the events. Water is present in everything including bricks and stones.
What else could it be?
Scientific explanations to debunk the paranormal phenomena are mould or carbon monoxide
induced hallucinations.
Verbal suggestion and the power of belief, i.e because you've
been told somewhere is haunted you are more likely to have an experience or you see a
ghost
because you want to.
Another is electromagnetic fields, which have been found to be
unusual in places that are haunted. Its been hypothesised that these magnetic fields
cause
unusual activity in the brain which may lead to people perceiving a
presence.
8
Did you know?
Ghosts are the most widely believed of paranormal phenomenon with 43% of Americans and 34% of British people believing in them.