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WHAT IS A GHOST?

Ghosts, what are they? Are they a figment of our imagination or are they a manifestation of our former selves? Here is a little insight on how they inhabit our world.

Many people believe a ghost or a spirit can be several things. Usually, it can be a person or many who have died suddenly in some tragic or violent way. This could be a murder, suicide, accident, or perhaps even a causality of war. On the other hand, sometimes a person may pass away from natural causes, but remain earthbound. The law of conservation of energy states that “energy can neither be created or destroyed.” If this is true, when people die, their energy should still be present and active. People, who die a normal death, typically don’t experience agony and are able to readily pass onto the next state of consciousness or spirit world. However, the people who die a tragic or violent death remain earthbound and are referred to as ghosts.

There are three kinds of ghosts that cause hauntings. The first can be a friend or family member who has died but has some unfinished business to attend to before they cross over to the next plane. They may want to deliver a message to a loved one to let them know they are ok, or may simply comfort them in their time of grief. This could be a relative, parent, child or friend. They may look solid and human just like we do. These sprits will not cause harm to anyone who crosses their path. They are sometimes considered to be like a guardian watching over someone. They have a strong emotional attachment to the loved ones that they left behind.

Another type of haunting is called a residual haunting. This may be a ghost or several ghosts repeating the same actions that happened at the time of their death. These spirits remain earthbound because they are unaware of what has happened to them, and that they have died. They keep acting out the same scene over and over again. Usually, they don’t contact anyone. They just appear as if they were still living; unaware of their surroundings. This type of haunting is said to happen quite often on the fields of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. There are many eyewitness accounts of soldiers marching in unison, preparing for battle, and then slowly disappearing; only to reappear and start the cycle again and again.

The third type of haunting is usually a poltergeist or an entity. These spirits are usually evil and may want to cause harm to someone. They may be attached to where they lived, the occupation they held, or to a specific person. They may not want to leave their house for example, and anyone who moves in may cause a threat to them. Therefore, the poltergeist may rattle chains, moan, cause knocking or unusual sounds, move objects around or break things. Basically anything they possibly can do in order to scare the inhabitants of the house. This type of spirit is not always evil. Sometimes the poltergeist is a nuisance ghost, only wanting to play or make contact. This may be a child who has died some tragic way and doesn’t realize it. It may bounce objects, laugh, or possibly be a prankster. This type of ghost doesn’t mean any harm but just wants to make its presence known. An entity, on the other hand, may be evil or demonic wanting to take possession of a person for its own gain. There really isn’t any explanation why these hauntings happen. But for centuries, there have been many documented cases of this phenomenon.

There have been many recent cases of poltergeist activity that are affiliated with not a ghost but the actual person who is being haunted. They may be causing this build up of energy, which is misinterpreted as a poltergeist, when it is actually the person causing this extreme activity. Sometimes a person may be going through some emotional turmoil and they release their pent up energy in the air which causes objects to move, similar to telekinesis, which is the ability to move objects with your mind. They may sense things that are really not there. A lot of poltergeist cases involve teenagers who are going through adolescence. Sometimes adults can also experience this type of haunting, for instance, a woman going through menopause. She may be experiencing emotional upheaval and channel her energy causing poltergeist activity.

Ghosts exist in their own realm. A ghost can phase in and out of a location. They can come and go as they please without a specific purpose. Some hauntings can be daily, weekly, or once every few years. There is no pattern for a ghosts existence. Many ghosts haunt places where they have lived or perhaps where they have died. They are attached to their homes or places that they have loved spending their lives, such as vacation areas. One very popular haunted area is Cape May, New Jersey. I have vacationed there myself many times.

One theory that I have discovered during my research claims that there are different kinds of ghosts. One in particular is called a “traveling ghost”. It can move distances by willing its energy around. This means they can look at something and will themselves to it by transporting themselves from one place to another. This is what most ghosts do. Some ghosts walk around but only for short distances. They remain haunting only one area. However, other ghosts move around quite a bit. This can explain why a spirit may die somewhere else but return to a different location that they loved while they were alive. The ghost plane is a realm different from ours, but it is not as advanced as the “other side”. The “other side” is the next higher plane that the majority of spirits cross over to. Once this happens the spirit can no longer make contact with the living. They are in a better place and watch over us and perhaps even guide us through our lives. Most ghosts like where they are, that’s why they stay earthbound. They have more freedom than when they were alive. Ghosts can interact with each other, socialize and even exist as if they are alive.

Ghosts are all around us. They are everywhere. They can appear anywhere at anytime whether it be in a house; building; inn; hotel; hospital; jail, or cemetery. Ghosts feed off energy in order to appear. This is why there is a high concentration of hauntings on stairways. This is a place where most people expend alot of their energy by walking up and down the stairs. Renovations on houses or buildings also stir up alot of paranormal activity. It could be because the spirit’s energy sat docile for so long and now it’s being exposed or it simply doesn’t like the changes being made. It may feel threatened by this. Spiritualists believe that we all have some type of ability to contact spirits but many of us either don’t know how or choose not to.

I have the ability to detect the presence of a ghost. Usually, when I sense this, I start taking pictures. I am very intuitive. I can’t see or hear ghosts but I can sense that they are there.

I have caught on film, over the past few years what I believe to be anomalies caused by paranormal activity. I have compiled many photographs over a span of seven years. These were taken on many ghost tours that I have attended throughout this time. They extend from the east coast all the way to the Southwest where I currently reside. I have gotten the most activity in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and Salem, Massachusetts.

In all the photographs of these haunted places there are similar lines, colors, and flashes of light. These have been known to be called tracers, vortexes, or bands of light. They may look like a thick rope or a small tornado. In my pictures they look like broken lines. They show up in various colors. I think they are a cluster of orbs moving together. An orb is a collection of energy which usually is affiliated with paranormal activity. This, however, is harder to prove as paranormal since in most cases an orb can be nothing more than a speck of dust. Another view is that these lines may be an opening into another dimension or world. The vortex is the actual portal where good and evil spirits may be able to cross over into our dimension.

Ghost hunters consider orbs, ectoplasm, paranormal mist, and vortexes evidence of spirit activity. I have been able to photograph all of these types of anomalies.

The collection of pictures I have are somewhat harder to debunk, even for the most critical skeptics. They have alot more detail and color then most paranormal photos. It is harder to dismiss these because they are in focus and very clear. It looks as if something is moving in front of the camera. All of these were taken on clear nights. There wasn’t any rain, fog, or mist to taint these photographs.

I also usually bring someone along with me as an eyewitness to the current weather conditions, and to verify that I am only shooting into darkness. The camera can capture movement on film that the naked eye cannot, so I don’t see any of these images when I am taking these pictures. These images only appear when the film has been developed.

Ghosts can manifest in many ways. Usually, on film, this can be captured in the form of mists, orbs or anomalies. These lines that I have photographed I believe are forms of energy from a spirit trying to manifest itself. Ghosts need to draw energy off of things such as cameras, tape recorders, lights and batteries. For example, the battery on my camera as well as my friend’s were immediately drained the night we where taking pictures in the Howard Street Cemetery and the Old Burying Point in Salem, Massachusetts.

Sometimes the energy can be trapped inside something physical, like a rock, gun, or sword. This scenario is possible with some of the artifacts that were recovered on the fields of Gettysburg. These objects have remained there since the war. This is perhaps how some of the ghosts in Gettysburg are able to appear even in broad daylight as well as in the pitch dark.

Some people experience the paranormal and others do not. We are all born with natural differences in perception, psychic abilities, or even just sensitivity to psychic occurrences. Some people are born with a more astute sensitivity to the paranormal. For instance, one person may smell pipe tobacco burning followed by seeing an apparition of a ghost while the other person standing next to them does not. This means one person is more sensitive to the paranormal then the other. Experts believe such an individual can develop their own psychic abilities. I believe I am sensitive to the paranormal. On July 5, 2006 I revisited Gettysburg for the third time. Although I didn’t get much activity in the photos compared to the previous year, I did encounter something strange. As I was walking down the street I smelled gunpowder, but a friend standing beside me, did not. So there is some validation to that theory in I actually experienced it.

Many spiritualists believe there is a very thin veil between the spirit world and our world. As it gets closer to Halloween this veil gets thinner and thinner. So by October 31st they say the dead can cross over into our dimension. This is why I believe I was able to photograph so much activity when I was in Salem on October 30 and October 31st, Halloween. Especially when we were walking around the Howard Street Cemetery.

According to the International Ghost Hunters Society they believe this cemetery is a doorway into another dimension where good and evil can pass through. There is an entrance and exit, so it is open to any type of spirits during this time.

Irish immigrants brought the custom of Halloween to America in the 1840’s. Originally, the Celts believed that the souls of the spirits would come back during Halloween to possess the bodies of the living for the next year. So on October 31st, the Celts would dress up in costumes to ward off these evil spirits. Halloween did not originate from evil practices. It started in the Catholic Church. This was a day to honor the saints. It was called “All Hallows Day’, or “All Saints Day”. November 1^st was called “All Hallows Eve”. In Celtic Ireland, October 31st was the day their summer ended. This was considered the Celtic New Year. Overtime this holiday adopted the name “Halloween,” and it became more ceremonial. The belief of possession dissipated and the act of dressing up became more traditional. Whether you’ve had a ghostly encounter or not I hope this book provides you with an insight into the realm of the unknown. Perhaps you may think twice the next time you are alone and you feel like someone is watching you or standing behind you. Could it be a presence of a ghost? Or just the product of your imagination? You decide. Perhaps it’s just a lonely spirit trying to make contact with those who are sensitive to their energy.