Do you believe in ghostly experiences, or do you think it is just coincidence?
I personally don't believe in ghosts, but my daughters have been telling me for years that we have a "ghost lady" living in our home, or that we are living in her home to be more precise. She lets us share her space because she likes us is what I'm told.
I've never seen her, nor have I noticed anything strange happening around the house, except that everyone who comes over always comments on the aura of peacefulness and wellbeing that overcomes them when they are in my home.
My younger daughter seems to have an uncanny knack for finding lost objects and predicting certain types of events. According to her, it's this "ghost lady" who communicates these to her. I think my daughter knows where to find these missing items because she is the reason they are missing in the first place, and we have had several rather intense discussions about this.
My mother talked to "spirits" from the time she was a child and I grew up thinking there was nothing unusual about this. She also had the same knack as my daughter of knowing about certain things and events for which there seemed to be no logical explanation. Talking to the spirits might have been some mental illness, but knowing when someone has passed on or when there is going to be an accident, well I can't attribute that to schizophrenia.
Looking at the picture, we need to understand a couple of things, first our eyes and how they work, and also electromagnetic radiation, as in this case; visible light.
The receptors in our eyes are based on seeing what is in the visible light spectrum. If we "see" the ghost, then the ghost must be generating that light in order for us to see it. So, we need to ask the question, how is the ghost generating the light for us to see, what source is it using and how does it emit the light?
And, if the ghost is generating the light, why is only generating light that makes it somewhat transparent as opposed to opaque?
All these contradict the laws of nature, so how can we see the ghost if it does?
Oh Beelyboy... one day, I'll come out of my body in the form of astral projection, and head to Canada to visit you. It's cheaper than airplanes and faster than buses. Will you believe then?
Sure, if you can. But first, I would have to have an understanding of what is occurring rather than just believe in it.
And of course, the probability and possibility of you doing such a thing is highly unlikely as it would violate so many of our physical laws. Our current knowledge of physics would be tossed out, just like if ghosts existed.
Not that I wouldn't enjoy the visit, of course.
The answer of this question has been stated in my Hub entitled "The UNSEEN". Since you ask this question in religion and philosophy forum, so think it doesn't matter if I tell you the point of view of Islam on Ghost. Islam does not believe in ghost. But we are asked to believe the existence of angels, souls, and genie. Yes, I've heard many stories told about ghosts. But, as a matter of fact, the ones that you call as ghost is not a specific creature, it is a kind of genie that once followed the human. Read my hub, and you may have another questions...................!
Consider that although sightings of ghosts have been reported for centuries there has never been one captured on film. As a camera receives and records the same wavelengths of light as the human eye, this would seem to be a contradiction.
As proving the non-existing of something that actually does not exist is next to impossible there will always be those that choose to believe in ghosts, but until there is actual, repeatable, evidence there can be no proof of existence, either.
The burden of proof lies with the believer and as every incident that has actually been investigated has been shown to be either fraud or at best explainable by other means we can only conclude that the "evidence" to date is overwhelmingly in favor of there being no "ghosts".
Maybe ghostly apparitions are only perceived as psychic projections which our brain manifests into understandable images for us. As such, they would not appear on film unless you invented a camera capable of capturing psychic energy.
I've seen a few ghosts in my time. I can't prove it, and to those who say it was just my imagination, I say yeah, maybe it was. It was fun for the few seconds it lasted.
Our body has several receptors for detecting various phenomenon. Eyes have light receptors, ears have the construction of the inner ear for detecting sound, taste and smell receptors for detecting small amounts of various chemicals. In all cases, the brain then "interprets" the signals into something familiar.
Where and what are the the receptors for detecting psychic projections, whatever that is?
Who knows, honestly?
But just a day or so ago, I read about a scientific experiment that seemed to indicate that humans actually do have some sort of "magnetic sensor" [which senses the presence of magnetic fields] which - as far as I could tell from the article - was previously unknown. From what I recall, the evidence was not strong enough to convince me yet that we do have this kind of sensor.
But still, if scientists are continuing to learn things that we have not hitherto known about human perception, who knows what sort of receptors will be discovered in the future?
WHAT!?
You mean those pictures and videos of ghosts were not real!?
I've been lied to!!!
XD
I have had many experiences of full apparitions right in front of my eyes. Yes, they do exist but they're nothing like Hollywood depicts them.
I believe in ghosts. Wholeheartedly. It would be easy for me to chalk up my own experiences to other causes; but to insist that every one that has ever had an experience with the supernatural is either lying or wrong about what they saw would be flippant.
I have seen and spoken to the ghost of an elderly woman, who lived in my home previously to me. It was a very seemingly real experience. Yet still, I do not believe in the survival of the human soul. I believe my experience, although seeming real was in fact an illusion created by my half-awake mind. My mother grew up in a home, where many different so-called ghostly experiences happened, yet she too does not believe in ghosts.
The one thing I cannot explain but happens to me often is Orbs in pics.
I used to blame it on the film but they appear in digital photos as well.
Anyone else get these?
Reality, you might be interested in a forum discussion about the topic from about a year ago. (I posted in that thread myself, and so did Beelzedad.)
http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/46293?p … ost1074231
Interestingly, just yesterday I watched (on hulu) an episode of "Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files" that included video footage taken by some ghost hunters, supposedly depicting a possible ghostly presence. The FF:PF team ran a few imaginative experiments to try to duplicate the effect, and they encountered some very interesting phenomena.
Beelzedad, I would be curious to know your reaction to their last discovery, if you have time to check it out.
http://www.hulu.com/watch/228766/fact-o … in-the-sky
Sorry, but when I clicked the link, I got this message:
"Sorry, currently our video library can only be watched from within the United States"
Bummer!!!
Well, to describe it briefly.... (Brief by my standards )
First, let me strongly emphasize that I realize this is a TV show designed for entertainment and entertaining education (in the very broadest sense of the word). It is not science. The "experts" on the team are qualified practitioners in their fields, but probably not what you or I would call genuine experts.
Second, their approach - trying to find ways to duplicate un-explained phenomena - is interesting, to say the least. It does offer some insights into various ways the Unexplained could actually be hoaxes. But, in the end, they are limited to some degree by their imaginations. Maybe they have tried everything they could think of, but didn't try the actual hoaxer's approach.
So, with that in mind, what they did was this: They were in a supposedly Haunted Theater where a team of ghost hunters had done some video recordings that showed a "ghostly" presence. (I'll try to take a screenshot and show this in a bit.) The TV group ran some experiments and got mixed results. They were able to duplicate the same effects to a certain degree, but not so successfully that they felt they had cracked the case.
Afterwards, they videoed some seats in the theater that showed thermal imprints, the kind that you would see if someone had been sitting in the seat. Each time they got close to the seat, the thermal imprint disappeared. They swore that no one had been sitting in the seat and no animal had been there. It was quite interesting, I thought. (The thermal imprint part was the section I wanted your opinion about.)
Okay, I'm off to hulu to try to capture some screenshots. BRB
Maybe the video is on youtube or another site that I can access? Is there anyway you could embed the video onto Hubpages via HTML methods?
Just got back. I'll check YouTube, etc. next. [Maybe just run a search for the title of the episode.] In the meantime, here are some of the screenshots I took.
Extra note: they did also say that there were no heat registers or anything else similar near the seats.
This is the heat signature (reddish) in a seat.
Same seat, when one of the investigators came close to it. The brilliant red is the human. The blue is the seats.
Seat in the balcony where the original ghost team had seen the ghostly image (below). The FF:PF team was able to fake the ghostly image to some degree, but they also got this thermal shot (much later). The blue to the right is the doorway to the balcony, where the air is cold.
This shows the original ghostly image and the FF:PF's "fake" side-by-side. They are both pretty small, and hard to see in this size. On the left, the whitish image above and to the left of the visible seats is the "ghostly" image from the original.
woo-hoo!! Great idea, B! I wish I hadn't run off to hulu so fast. This would have saved me a lot of time.
This episode is on YouTube, in three separate parts. I'm not sure it's a legal copy, though, so there's a good chance it could be taken down. Here are the three parts in order. If you can only watch one, choose Part 2. The first one is basically the show's intro, with samples of other videos and why they chose to investigate the ones on this episode. The final section, part 3, debunks a UFO sighting that I have seen photos of in numerous places. That section is actually extremely interesting, but it doesn't concern the ghostly phenomena.
Fact or Fiction: Paranormal Files - Fire in the Sky and Thermal Theater Ghost
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-R5fL01 … re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xUCl7uw … re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaGedZiX … re=related
While I do like the fact that those folks attempt to re-create video footage to show that it could be faked, I don't think they go far enough in their investigations. For example, in the Theatre case, they find heat signatures but do nothing more to follow up, but instead are later somewhat convinced the belief in the ghost has validity, thus perpetuating the myths of ghosts.
Oh, I definitely wish they had followed up, and I hope that they will in the future!
As I said, I know that it's a TV show that is meant for entertainment (and partly limited by their time frame and show format), even if it claims to separate out the fact from the faked.
Honestly, I felt that at the end, they were not quite as solidly behind a correlation between the heat signatures and a "ghost" as they have been about some other footage in other episodes. (But I have only seen a few episodes of the show, so my basis of comparison is somewhat limited.)
On the other hand, I thought they did a great job of debunking the three-part UFO videos. Maybe they'll keep investigating "ghosts" in the future and come back with more details.
How would you, yourself, follow up on the heat signature footage? I think that for me, one possible first step would be to set up a heat signature camera (what's it called?) in the theater to run continuously overnight (without the humans being present). Set it up with a panoramic view. Possibly simultaneously set up regular video cameras in any part of the theater where any visible light would allow for recording - to try to catch any animals that might actually be in the theater. - But it may well be that the expense of doing that would be prohibitive.
How would you set up the investigation?
I would search for the source of the heat, it has to be coming from somewhere within the theatre.
Right - agreed. And how would you go about doing that?
I do understand that there is some explanation for the fact that the signature disappeared immediately when the investigators moved right next to it - and that this happened in different locations in the theater. But that is one aspect of this story that seems especially bizarre to me, and I haven't been able to come up with an explanation for it yet, in my own mind. I'm not saying that I never will or that I'm convinced there was some spiritual presence there - I'm just still quite puzzled by it and hoping to learn more.
Not sure, but there are probably a number of methods and instruments available, and if one were to spend the time to do so, which would probably be a complete waste of their time when they eventually track down the source and find it to be an innocuous event.
The point is that they are also perpetuating the myth that ghosts leave heat signatures. That begs the question, from what source does the heat originate?
Most likely, the explanations for all of those "mysteries" have some natural terrestrial explanation, even if they can't readily find it. Spending time and resources to find out seems like rather a waste unless for some financial reason, like getting tv ratings.
A friend of mine took a picture of one of those white orbs. I have seen it. It is an
orb over a grave in Thailand. Looks real to me.
I have lived in a few haunted houses in my time, and with my own experiences I can say I firmly believe in an afterlife. We have taken pictures, had questions answered on digital recordings, and all kinds of interesting happenings.
I am very interested in seeing what Aficionada brings us.
Thank you! I can't see enough evidence and I applaud those that try to debunk an event. How else would we learn?
Sandy, I've just read your Hubs, and they are amazing! Did you ever write up any more of your experiences?
Also, did you ever find a way to post the sound files that you mentioned? What form are they in? (wav., mp3, etc.)?
The "ghost" I saw, and those seen my members of my family have appeared when we have just woken, to see a figure at the bottom of the bed. This seems to be a common experience. I used to think this was because in such a state, it was easier to see spirits. However, I have come to believe that this is a hypnopompic experience, whereby that state halfway between sleeping and waking is what produces the illusion of a figure, often that of an elderly woman.
i have actually witnessed firsthand activity so i know it's real for a fact. i have also went on a ghosthunt and used an Olivus, which translates things into real words. trust me when tell you this...the dead want to be remembered. that's the word i kept hearing over and over. and this was in the BOONIES where no one lived or was present at a gravesite, so i know it wasnt some cell phone or cb interference.
wow some people are so skeptical. i'm NOT discussing videos or EVPs which can be faked. i was relaying the fact that i LIVED through an experience...but fine remain skeptical those of you who don't believe. aficionada you are correct. there is scientific evidence we have energy as well as an aura around us and they are different colors. some people claim to "see" them even. now everyone is entitled to their opinion certainly...but i do not appreciate certain people here being snide when we express real things we have been through. that isn't called for, so grow up! you know who you are.
So true. Don't let it get to you, though. They would probably say "some people are so gullible."
They are just speaking from their experiences, history, and world view, just as you and I are. Most of the people here on HP, even the very skeptical ones, are mostly pretty decent, even if their way of looking at things does not always coincide with mine. As you get to know different Hubbers, you will find it easier to know what to ignore and what to take seriously. You will always find people here who disagree with you - about one thing or another - so it's a good idea to choose what things you will allow to bother you.
The fact is, as I'm sure you do know, that the things we experience can be very difficult to describe or prove, even when other people are present, and even when the experience is primarily a physical and/or visible phenomenon. How much more difficult is it to describe the things that are unseen?!
Oh, the stories I could tell on this subject - but there's not enough time. I look forward to hearing and/or reading yours!
Welcome to HubPages.
No, there isn't such evidence.
They are either lying, delusional or their eyes are not functioning correctly.
Isn't an aura simply the electromagnetic energy that surrounds us? I thought that was a scientifically proven fact.
What electromagnetic energy that surrounds us?
Where?
It was more of a question than a statement. I've read about it here and there. The last time in a Reiki newsletter. I take it from your response that this isn't true, or at least not agreed upon across the scientific community.
I don't quite understand why people would lay claim to it if it had been thoroughly debunked. Maybe the jury is out?
Here's a simple little story about unseen physical phenomena, perception, and knowledge.
When my husband and I were dating many years ago, he told me about once having had an episode of ferocious itchiness on his arm. He had gone to the doctor about it, but the doctor had no real explanation. There was no visible rash or other visible sign, nothing that he knew of to explain the itching.
During the years after that, I tried to collect ideas about what different people would have to say about such matters. Psychiatrists might have claimed it was a kind of hysterical reaction or something psychosomatic. Freud would have tried to dig into why anyone would project feelings, long buried since childhood, onto their arm. (And why this arm? what happened when you were six months old that affected that arm?)
Some people would have simply dismissed the whole idea of itchiness. There's no sign there - nothing that can be independently verified. Nothing that can be measured by any measures we have available today. Therefore it doesn't exist.
And yet millions of people actually have had similar physical experiences - sensations that they experienced, but which they could not prove in any way to other people. Obviously, there was - and is - an explanation. In my husband's case, it was a type of allergy to some food, but at a low enough level that it did not cause a visible manifestation. And that was an explanation that we learned about some thirty or more years after it happened.
So, what's the point?
First, that very real phenomena don't always have measurable, verifiable features - or, better said, they are not measurable or provable with whatever technology is current at the time.
Second, that highly intelligent, well-educated experts (even pathfinders) can be limited in their assessments by their own frame of reference.
Third, that what constitutes a burden of proof can vary from age to age.
Fourth, that different people can be sensitive to and can react to different phenomena in different ways. If someone else had eaten whatever food it was that caused the reaction my husband experienced, they would have had a different reaction (or none at all). - I also had a friend once who was highly sensitive to electricity. Other people didn't respond to it in the same way she did.
So, with my long-winded comments, am I trying to make the case that Spirits and Ghosts and other unseen entities actually do exist? No, I'm not saying that at all. What I am saying is that when I use the expression "the jury is out" (as Emile R did above) I don't really mean that I believe all the evidence is in and it's time to make the case pro or con. In fact, I believe that in this great, wide, amazing universe where we live, there's still plenty of evidence that hasn't even been gathered yet and that will amaze, surprise, and even shock a lot of people, once we see it. Including me. And you.
I don't care if they are real or not.
Whatever - they are more fun. Certainly a greater asset if they are there, than if they are not.
I absolutely believe in the existence of spirits - ghosts in the Hollywood sense? not so much. I've seen/heard and experienced many things that I cannot explain away and I try to keep a very open mind.
There was a time when humans were convinced the world was flat and that the sun revolved around the Earth too - in other words, there is so much that is beyond our understanding that I think to deny anything is to close one's mind and that would be unfortunate.
I do not believe in ghosts simply because it doesn't make any sense for a deceased person to re-appear around people. It just doesn't serve any purpose. I believe it is just one's imagination brought on by the strong emotionally feeling of denial that people experienced. They are having a difficult time accepting the fact that their love one is no longer with them. Besides, how does a non-corporeal image of a person with no source of energy forms when most people describe ghosts as something translucent, glowing, light as air, making sounds, causing air moment and etc. All these characteristics of ghosts as people described them violate all the laws of the physical world. They cannot exist based on these characteristics if there is no energy to give them the ability to do these things.
Ghosts? They are the same as spirits. I do believe in the spiritual realm, it is a supernatural realm. God is a spirit and we as human beings have a spirit, because we were made in the image of God.
As far as human beings coming back from the dead to communicate to us, I don't believe that is possible. After death the spirit goes to be with Christ or into a holding cell (hell) to await final judgment. We don't have the power in going to and fro the spiritual realm and the physical realm.
However, that is not to say that people can't have an encounter with spirits. Some have said that they have communicated with loved ones who have passed on during a seance or through another type of medium. I don't doubt that they've communicated with a spirit but I do doubt it was their loved one. Most likely it was a demonic spirit impersonating their loved one.
Angels have been known to communicate with humans or intervene in a situation on a someone's behalf. But they will take on the form of flesh, people have entertained and talked with angels, in many cases without knowing. Do you know that you have a guardian angel?
Do you know how much energy it takes for a ghost to be seen? If I were a ghost, I'd waste all my energy on scaring the shit out of people.
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