Ghosts! Are they real?

The Brown Lady is without a doubt, one of the more famous ghost pictures or photos ever taken. Is it real? You be the judge!
To view the image larger click on the image itself.

Are ghosts real? This question has haunted the mind of man, since the first hominids climbed down from the trees and became aware of their own mortality. I'm sure these prehistoric humans wondered at what the life-force was that animated them, their fellow humans and even the animals within their midst.

Neanderthal graves have been found in Iraq, Croatia and Israel that are believed to be at least 60,000 years old, and these may not even be the oldest graves in the world. I believe that these primitive peoples would not have bothered burying their clan and family members with items, trinkets and talismans that they believed would be needed by the dead in their next life, unless they had some belief system on the continuation of the ghost or soul, and of life after death. And I'm also quite certain they wondered at where that life force went, when they did encounter, the death of one of their clan or family members.

An open minded skeptic

On the subject of ghosts and the paranormal, I do consider myself an open-minded skeptic. I do believe in the possibility that ghosts and other paranormal phenomena may be very real and do exist. Perhaps ghosts and other paranormal phenomena is real, but I am not 100% convinced, but by the same token, I am also not 100% convinced that ghosts and the paranormal is not real. I do have a tendency to lean slightly more toward being a believer than a nonbeliever, but I will continue remain cautious in my beliefs.

The reason I lean slightly more toward being a believer, is that I, personally have had some strange paranormal type experiences happen to me, in my own home, experiences that I cannot explain. I got up one evening around 2:00 AM to let my dog out and seen a shadow that looked like a person, hunched over, run across my kitchen floor. I don't remember if the moon was out or not, perhaps it was, and in reality, it really was only a shadow coming in through my kitchen window. I have also heard footsteps in my loft or attic room and went to investigate and found no one there, my wife has also heard these footsteps, and they have been heard on more than one occasion, and they have also been heard by other people. I have also heard voices in the middle of the night when no one was around and all the televisions in the home were off, and we don't live near any other houses, and this voice almost seemed to speak to me personally. Are these events paranormal or evidence of ghost or sprit activity? I really don't know. All I do know for certain is that I can't explain them. Maybe my own home is haunted! Or maybe it's just my own, overactive imagination running amok. But if my home is haunted, then I think that's pretty cool.

Paranormal Television

The ghost on the stairs is another now famous ghost photo or picture that was taken in the mid 1960's by a retired minister. Again, I'll let you the viewer be the judge as to the authenticity of the image!
To view the image larger, click on the image.

I do find the possibility of life after death and the possible existence of ghosts to be both fascinating and very interesting. I would love to learn and know more about the paranormal and related topics. I watch TV programs like Ghost hunters on the SyFy channel, and Ghost adventures on the Travel Channel. I really don't know how much of the evidence these ghost hunter programs present are real and how much may have been tampered with a for the benefit of the program and ratings, but regardless of that, I still find them interesting. The one program I did find the most believable was A&E's Paranormal cops

I do believe that the people, who act as paranormal investigators on these TV programs, are sincere and believe in what they're doing. But I am also a bit suspect of the evidence they present, because it is relatively easy to manipulate any photo or audio evidence with computer image and audio editing software. So before you believe in any of the evidence these ghost hunter programs present, think of the ways it could have been tampered with or manipulated. They also rely on what they call EVP's, or electronic voice phenomenon. The problem I see with these is that most of them are unintelligible, and the investigators seem to come up with whatever they think may have been said. I think some of these so called EVP's are nothing more than static or natural disturbances of the electromagnetic field in the area where the EVP's are being conducted, and that static may sound like words because the brain tries to make sense out of the chaos of that static. It's the same phenomenon that allows us to see figures in the clouds; your brain tries to make sense out of that randomness. But then again, I am open minded enough to believe that some of these EVP's may be actual ghost or spirit voices, it's just that i"m not convinced. I hope no one misunderstands, I am not insinuating that these ghost programs are faked, but you do need to understand that they are made for television and must continue to offer entertainment value, if they wish to remain on television.

There is one other thing that bothers me about these paranormal TV shows is that some of the paranormal research teams, seem to think that their investigative techniques are superior to those of other groups. And what bothers me even more about this attitude, is that they insinuate and display it in no uncertain terms during the making of the program. I think this does a real injustice to all paranormal research groups and gives a bad impression to the general public. I'm not going to mention the group or groups that I think are doing this, because I don't want to receive a bunch of hate email from their fans. But if ghost hunting or more precisely, paranormal research is going to become a real scientific endeavor rather than a pseudo or fringe science, then I think these groups should join together to legitimize the study of the paranormal. I also feel that some of the paranormal investigators on these programs tend to over act their reactions to potential paranormal activity just a little bit too much, but again I' m not going to mention which group. And who knows, perhaps I would startle just as easy as, or perhaps even more so than they, if I were to encounter a ghost.

Some of these paranormal investigative groups are open to the idea of using psychics and mediums in their paranormal investigations, while other groups and dead set against it. I think the ones that are against the idea of using psychics, are attempting to look more scientific in their approach to the paranormal. But the way I see it, as an observer, is that they, the paranormal investigators should use whatever tools they have at their disposal in their quest to understand, provide evidence of, or prove the existence of ghosts, and the paranormal. After all, even police departments will sometimes ask for and receive the help of psychics in criminal investigations, including murder cases. And they have been, at times successful, even to the dismay of the police officers involved.

Science and the paranormal

Most main stream scientists, including those with forensic careers, are rather skeptical when it comes to the paranormal and especially to the idea of ghosts and haunting's. Many of these scientists have a tendency to dismiss anything that can't be verified under laboratory conditions using scientific methodology. Their attitude seems to be, if they can't see it, measure it or quantify it under laboratory conditions then it just doesn't exist. But just because ghosts, spirits or some other paranormal phenomena, can't or possibly won't be quantified and verified in a laboratory does not mean that it doesn't exist. These same scientists, who dismiss as bunk the possible existence of ghosts and the paranormal, can't even satisfactorily explain the nature of consciousness or of reality itself.

I've watched programs on the Discovery Science Channel about the universe, black holes and other space phenomenon. The astrophysicists and scientists who narrate these programs talk of string theory and how there may be 10 or perhaps even 11 spatial dimensions. And some of these scientists even state there may be an infinite number of dimensions. They also talk of dark matter and dark energy, but they can't even prove to themselves that this stuff exists. And what I find amazing is that these same scientists, who believe in these unproven and bizarre theories, will often dismiss the possible existence of ghosts, the supernatural and the paranormal. I believe it was Carl Sagan who coined the term extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Well, I'd like to ask, where is the evidence or proof that their theories are anymore valid then the theories of the paranormal. They rely upon mathematics to prove and validate their theories, but they themselves invented the mathematics they rely upon. And even they admit that their theories sometimes contradict each other, and they have yet to come up with their so called theory of everything.

I sincerely believe that the scientists, who ridicule those who do believe in the paranormal, should step back for a few moments and take a look at the history of science itself.

It was less than a century ago, when it was considered science fiction to believe that one day; humans might walk upon the face of the moon. And there have been other strides in science, that at earlier times were believed to be impossible.

I sincerely believe that no one, and especially those with a scientific background should ridicule the believers in the paranormal and ghosts, until they, the scientists can come up with conclusive and verifiable proof that ghosts and the paranormal are not real! I do believe that the burden of proof does lie upon the believers, but to belittle and ridicule anybody for their beliefs, is, in my opinion, just not right.

Scientists have the attitude that everything in our universe can be broken down and understood and explained through science and the scientific method. Perhaps their right, but there is always the possibility that there are some things that just may be, beyond the scope of normal human and perhaps even scientific understanding, so I believe that everyone should maintain an open and curious mind, and not attempt to negate the beliefs of others.

If anyone would like to contact me with any comments, ghost stories of your own or images of what might be real ghosts or some other paranormal phenomenon, it would be greatly appreciated.

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