I’m just going to come right out and say it, because it’s true, and voicing it might help. It’s a creepy sort of night. The super dark, wind blowing, kind of creepy that gets the imagination running out of control. Which, since I’m being honest, doesn’t always take that much. As in, right now. I’m getting seriously spooked very quickly here. You know that feeling, the one that you’re being watched even though there’s no one else around? The feeling that gives you goose bumps on your arms, and raises the hair on your neck; that’s the feeling I have right now. I could almost swear that I heard soft footsteps making a crackling sound on the grass too. I stop, listening hard (as opposed to any other type of listening, I suppose) to try and figure out if I am really alone. It was a stupid dare really; wandering alone in the graveyard to prove….what exactly? I don’t remember now, because my overactive brain is nearing the hysterical point and I’m ready to bolt. So what happened next, you ask? I screamed like a school girl and ran, sure that I had seen a shadow move right in front of me. Now that I’m in the safety of my car and driving away, I can reasonably say that I must have imagined it. However, imagined or not, I won’t be doing that again!
Some people firmly believe that ghosts are real. Whether it is born of superstition, religion, or an overactive imagination, there is a growing population joining the ranks of confirmed believers. The imagination can get out of control fairly quickly when certain emotions and the proper atmosphere factor in. However, there is simply no evidence available to factually confirm the existence of ghosts. There is real evidence that will help you look at the issue realistically and scientifically, an...
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...y would possibly discredit had they looked at the issue with logic and reason. My suggestion would be to question everything, and then make educated deductions of your own. Don’t blindly believe someone who claims to be scientific, but instead come to your own conclusions based on real evidence, and not fabrications. Ghosts and hauntings are simply a romantic notion.
Works Cited
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"Paranormal." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.
Radford, Ben. "Ghost-Hunting Mistakes: Science and Pseudoscience in Ghost Investigations."
CSI. Skeptical Inquirer, n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2014. November/December 2010
Radford, Benjamin. "Are Ghosts Real? Science Says No-o-o-o." LiveScience. TechMedia Network,
29 Jan. 2013. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.
www.theatcoghost.com--A site detailing directions on how to see the ghost with an accompanying message board in which individuals recount their own experiences of attempting to witness the ghost.
I was told a story about one of Cloudcroft's more famous ghosts when casually lounging in the undergraduate student physics lounge at the University of Maryland, College Park, with a group of students during a lunch break before class. This occurred during early April, 2005. I inquired whether anyone knew any ghost stories or folklore. A friend of mine volunteered that she knew several ghost stories from her travels. The storyteller was a 23-year-old Caucasian female from an upper-middle class family in Baltimore. She currently lives in Crofton, MD, and is a physics and astronomy major.
One night, around 1:00 a.m., my roommates and I were sitting in the common room, and I asked the group if they knew of a compelling ghost story. My one roommate, a 20 year old from Pennsylvania, said she had heard a ghost story at the summer sleep-away camp she had attended when she was younger. She heard the story around a campfire in the woods of Camp Tonikanee, which is in Quakertown, Pennsylvania. She described her story as one that the counselors would tell the campers to convince them the camp was haunted.
There was this rundown, old split-level on the edge of the town owned and inhabited by a young couple. This young couple did not have much money so they had to rent out the basement. The tenant that lived in the basement was a short, old man by the name of Louis. Louis lived there for about a year, but he NEVER came out of the basement. He NEVER answered the door during rent collection but just slid it through the mail slot. After a year, the couple was considering evicting Louis, mostly because they had a fear of Louis and his shady activities in the basement. Also, the couple was due for a baby in the upcoming year and they felt it was best for Louis to go. Louis did not respond well to the eviction however. So, when the couple was cleaning out the apartment, for another tenant, a skeleton fell out of the closet and landed on the floor with a loud CRASH! The couple ran out and called the police. After the whole thing with the police was sorted out, the couple moved out. More families would move in, but on the anniversary of the eviction, the Ghost of Louis would appear and haunt the inhabitants of the house, causing them to move out. The cycle continues today, and no one has seen Louis ever again, but rumor is he died after that eviction.
As I interviewed Annie Filban about her personal experience with spirits, I found to my judgment that it seemed she based a lot of her belief in her story upon faith. Even though she believed something was in fact out of the norm, and was making peculiar movements and noise in her home, she was still skeptical with some of her statements. Filban responded on different occasions to “I don’t know” and “I guess,” which lead me to believe her belief is not based upon evidence as much as it relies on her faith.
The article “Cinema Fiction vs. Physics Reality: Ghosts, Vampires, and Zombies”, written by Costas J. Efthimiou and Sohang Gandhi. The authors try to explain or prove that ghosts, vampires and zombies do not exist through scientific methods and explanations. The authors main argument to show that these claim are false, they say” we point out inconsistencies associated with the ghost, vampire, and zombie mythologies as portrayed in popular films and folklore and give practical explanations to some of their features” (Efthimiou and Gandhi “Cinema Fiction vs. Physics Reality: Ghosts, Vampires, and Zombies”) Their argument is obvious that they will point out the
There are many theories as to how someone or something becomes a ghost. This is called Paranormal which means beyond normal and scientific name is parapsychology, which means study of interactions between living organisms and their external environment that seem to transcend the known physical laws of nature (Britannica, 147). In 1920, Dr. William McDougall was the first scientific psychical who research about Paranormal Activity (Stefanik, 2000). According to Stefanik, Paranormal experiences often seem weird, uncanny, or unnatural. Typically they are quite rare but there are a few exceptional "stars" such as who have regular paranormal experiences and may show seemingly consistent paranormal ability (Daniel, 2004). Different types of scientists who researched about paranormal activity was spiritualists. The scientists accepted paranormal to be real. There are believers and nonbelievers about the paranormal phenomenon. Discussion about parapsychological phenomena has assumed emotional overtones, unsuitable to scientific discipline, and outspoken but contradictory opinions are still voiced (Cauz, 2010, p.147)
In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, the ghost of Hamlet’s father is intended to be seen as a real ghost. Around 1600, when the play Hamlet was written, many people believed in mystical creatures like witches, monsters, and most importantly: ghosts. With so many people believing in these characters, it makes sense that Shakespeare portrays the ghost of Hamlet’s father as a real figure. Many examples support this, such as when the guards in Act I scene i see the ghost, which proves it’s not just in Hamlet’s imagination. But some people can not see the ghost, such as Hamlet’s mother in Act III scene iiiii. Hamlet sees the ghost but she can not. This could be used as evidence to say the ghost is not real though. Shakespeare shows us though this information, the high complications oh having ghosts in a story.
Paman, Alex G. "Asian Ghost Stories." Yolk 31 Dec. 2000. Ethnic NewsWatch. Web. 14 Dec. 2011. .
The Nelly Butler hauntings is referred to as the first recorded ghost story in American history (LiBrizzi 5), and possibly the most exciting hauntings to date as there are still many unsolved mysteries. The apparition appeared on more than 30 separate occasions to over 100 witnesses in Sullivan, Maine, just over fifteen years after the American Revolution (5-6). Although the Nelly Butler apparition is one of the most convincing ghosts of all time, it was subject to suspicions of fraud. These claims turn out to be groundless as the evidence reveals the ghost to be genuine.
As long as one can remember, paranormal beliefs have always existed in human society. They are living in every man’s childhood and in every corner of human’s life. From the burning belief about Santa Claus’s gifts under a Christmas’s tree in the morning to a scary game about Bloody Mary and her coming back from the dead, it seems that people cannot help but draw themselves to these stories. Even when these beliefs fade, there would be a new one that eventually shows up. No matter how much science has progressed, the belief in paranormal phenomena still remains in society. Eventually, the question about paranormal phenomena seems pale in comparison to the human’s undying belief about such things. It is really hard to pinpoint an exact cause for human’s belief in the paranormal for only one cause is not enough; however, it is sure that psychological, sociological, and biological factors play an enormous role that contributes to this belief.
On September 19, 1936, the “brown lady” was sighted yet again. Colonel Loftus was visiting Raynham Hall in England for the holidays when he saw the brown lady. He told others of his experience and more people then came forward to say they too had seen a strange figure. Soon after this experience, a photo was captured. The photo of the brown lady is “believed to be one of the best and most convincing of all known ghosts photos” (Dennis & Cohen). Another ghost sighting happened in 1919, of the Goddard’s squadron which had served in WWI. A photo was taken of the squadron, and an extra ghostly face appears in the back of the airman placed in the top row. This figure is said to be Fr...
For many years, people have debated whether or not spirits are real. Some people get scared at the fact that there might be something unknown lurking in their house in the middle of the night making their footsteps known to everyone in it. Maybe that person feels watched upon or feel some kind of presence in their home, or even sees shadows moving their way through rooms. Different people around the world have their own opinions based on religion and experiences when talking about angels, demons, and the spirits that have life after death. New technology is getting closer to detecting these energies happening in the world today. The history of haunting dates back many years, and more people want to get involved because of the new technology.
I looked up at the black sky. I hadn't intended to be out this late. The sun had set, and the empty road ahead had no streetlights. I knew I was in for a dark journey home. I had decided that by traveling through the forest would be the quickest way home. Minutes passed, yet it seemed like hours and days. The farther I traveled into the forest, the darker it seemed to get. I was very had to even take a breath due to the stifling air. The only sound familiar to me was the quickening beat of my own heart, which felt as though it was about to come through my chest. I began to whistled to take my mind off the eerie noises I was hearing. In this kind of darkness I was in, it was hard for me to believe that I could be seeing these long finger shaped shadows that stretched out to me. I had this gut feeling as though something was following me, but I assured myself that I was the only one in the forest. At least I had hoped that I was.
It was dark that night, I was nervous that this dreadful day was going to get worse. Sunday, October 23, 1998 I wanted to start writing this to tell about the weird things i’m starting to see in this new neighborhood. Gradually I keep seeing pots and pans on the sink suddenly move to the floor. I would ask my sister but she is out with my mom and dad getting the Halloween costumes. When they got home I didn’t tell them what I saw because i've seen Halloween movies and I have to have dissimulation otherwise the ghost will come out and get me first. October 24, 1998 I think I got a little nervous yesterday with the whole ghost thing. 12:32pm, Went to eat lunch with the family today and I go to get my coat. I heard the words furious and madness,