Since the advent of photography, we have discovered a multitude of ghost photographs and videos. While many of them are blatantly fake, there are still a large number that seem to defy explanation. The topic of this “Your View” is ghosts – do you believe in them? Do you believe that we have managed to capture them on film? As always, give some support to your views – and, better yet, video clips or photographs as evidence.
Do Ghosts Exist?
My answer is probably not – while a lot of photographs of “ghosts” are probably not faked, they are most likely photographs of natural events such as electric disturbances or light fluctuations. This is not necessarily a reflection on my views of the afterlife, but rather a reflection of my views of the alleged connection between the afterlife and the present. I am probably agnostic on this point – convince me one way or the other. If you have seen a ghost or experienced some kind of supernatural event, tell us about it.
I don’t think there are ghosts as hollywood portrays them. I believe more in spirits or lost souls. But I don’t believe in “hauntings” or anything of that nature.
“ghost hunters” and “ghost hunters international” do an interesting job at attempting to “scientifically” attack the question. of course, science can not definitively prove ghosts, but the ghost hunters have captured some interesting evidence on thermal imaging cameras, voice recorders, and video cameras. the fact that they disprove some of their clients’ claims of activities, helps me believe their findings more. shows that use mediums really have a hard time making me believe their findings, because i’m supposed to believe someone and can’t verify for myself what is happening.
I met them one time at the buffalo ariport it was so cool I’m a ghost hunters freak
no i honestly do not believe so. i am not religious and i do not see humans lasting longer than their own lifespan.
if there were ghosts then why are there not ghost roaches and dogs and things other than humans? it just seems like a random stupid superstition that gained popularity.
beacuse animals don’t have souls like human does. duh.
I don’t believe in ghost either but your reason for not believing in ghost is just dumb. lol
Mankind likes to belive the world revolves around them, and a soul that is only a human thing proves that.
Of course, there are other things that reflex on this concept. In example, we’re so unique that we can’t end, and that we continue to exist even after our death.
Avi: How do you know that there arent? I mean, although you and I may not have experienced the supernatural at first hand, that does not mean that it does not exist.
i have no belief in a soul or anything that is not corporeal. no religion, no superstition, and nothing that has no possible explanation.
Carl Sagan is the best person to look to if you want to see logic about all this.
i dont think ghosts are real because it goes against the laws of science. Think about when someone dies, part of them is left behind. how does it get their? and what is the thing that gets left behind that you cant feel in life?
Im glad you mention Sagan. Speaking as a fellow secular Humanist. I actually do belive in left over energy from the dead. I use the basic principal of the law of conservation of matter. In which it states that energy can be neither created nor destroyed in a non-nuclear reaction. And since the human body is a wonderfuly intragate power plant it leave the question to be asked about where dose that energy go when one dies?
Yes, I’m sure they exist. Call me nuts, but when I was younger, I could see and hear them. And, yes, ghosts are the number one thing that I am afraid of. I can’t watch ghost hunting shows or it keeps me up at night.
Well, I think there is quite a bit of anectodal evidence to suggest there is a phenomenon here (apparitions, etc.) I know I witnessed a radio and a television spontaneously turn their volumes up very high within about 15 minutes of each other. On the other hand, I am irreligious and extremely skeptical of the idea that one’s “spirit” can survive after death. Bottom line: I believe in “ghosts” in the sense that I think there are a lot of unexplained things that go bump in the night. What the causes of those unexplained things are I have not even the faintest clue.
As for the idea that one’s energy “goes somewhere” when one dies, well, your energy is held together in the framework of your body and brain when you’re alive and I would think it would just dissipate randomly when you die. Thinking that the energy holds itself together as your spirit when you die is sort of like saying that the energy your toaster uses floats away as a spirit toaster after your toast pops.
There are no ghosts. How can there be? To see they would need eyes to catch light, to feel a nervous system, to think a brain etc etc.
People who believe in ghosts forget these fundamental facts. Sight, feelings etc aren’t “magic”. Our body parts are responsible
look look. Many pictures have very faint faces in them, but if you look hard enough anywhere a face will appear because that is what your mind is structuring in the picture for you. Plus Jaji is right. They would need a functional brain to be aware and they would need vocal chords to say those faint messeges. Where would they come from and how would they be aware of… anything?
Sorry i meant Yaji. Not Jaji
I have had enough personal experiences that I do have belief in supernatural phenomena. I don’t, however, have any proof or even faith that such occurances were the result of anything that had ever been human.
To those of you who don’t believe. If you actually see one, you’ll change your mind real quick. It happened to me. I saw a man walking up a flight of stairs at my grandparents old house. It wasn’t really scary. It was just there, then it was gone.
taking bets on this turning into another debate on religion, ill give you good odds
I guess I must be crazy or something because I’ve personally experienced things of the “unexplainable” variety when it comes to hauntings or events we attribute to ghosts (whatever that word means). For this reason I firmly believe there is something that has yet to be explained. I don’t want to call it “ghosts” or “hauntings” but I do call them paranormal. But again, I’m just out of my mind-oh, and so is my husband, and my mother, and my brother who’ve all experienced something of a paranormal nature. We’re all just a happy bunch of nut jobs over here!
I do believe in ghosts, very much. I don’t know about “left over energy”. I believe that the soul lives on. Wether is goes to heaven, or it lingers for awhile. Most ghosts haunt because they were killed tragically, or are in purgatory. Spirits do remain, I get vibes when a spirit or ghost is around. my sister actually sees ghosts, the women in my family have a very strong ability for ESP. What are you talking about toaster ovens for? Also my very best friend is a Paranormal Investigator, and she actually gets pose-es-ed by spirits. They talk threw her, it sounds not real. I have seen it first hand..Have you ever seen “The Excorisem Of Emily Rose”? (excuse me I can’t spell) That was a true story, based on true events. Read up on it!
no, its a childish belief that gained popularity because people are afraid of death.
yes. i believe in them. there are too many unexplained things that have happened in the past. my aunt sees them all the time and i have even seen one. but they scare me to death to be honest!!!
xxxx
Actually Steve you can go about your little life, and believe what ever you feel. I am afraid of death, but that simply has nothing to do with the supernatural. A Childish belief you say, hmmm. Well I guess your the only grown up, cause the 98 percent of us chilern to believe in this. Sorry your life is completely boring.
no, i don’t believe in ghosts, however i do believe in evil spirits who are sent to distract and scare those with weak religion.
yes, i believe in the Christian God, and the Bible, which clearly states:
For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten. Ecc. 9:5.
It’s quiet black and white for me, however, all of the atheists out there will not agree based on my premise. Thats fine, I’m just stating what I believe.
@Ladygalaxy26: that sounds like a personal attack because you don’t like his opinion. As for the 98% number, that’s not believable by any means.
It’s not a personal attack, I was just commenting to his using of the “Childish”….I consider that a personal attack!
Ladygalaxy26: 98% of people believe in ghosts? Judging by the comments alone about 50% believe in ghosts. Which is a much more reasonable estimate i think. By the way there is no such thing as ghosts. Its impossible to have a functioning (for lack of a better word) “body” without a central nervous system.
I think that many people believe in supernatural and paranormal activity in the back of their mind, even if the don’t wish to. I think that ghosts are created by one’s mind and thoughts of one’s subconscious. This however, does not mean that they are not real.
“I am probably agnostic on this point..”
you said agnostic? OMG! *grinz*
but uh, no. no ghosts. tricks of light or camera or whatnot.
no lol
theres a good chance this will turn a into a debate about religion, but until then lets talk about ghosts.
My answer is no, i believe all ghosts are just a trick of light, although i am a little believing since i used to live by Waverly Hills Sanitorium, about 64,000 people died there and i always heard moans and ***** at night.
i wonder why i havent seen one =[
people who believe in them sees them, why? because their belief in them is so strong that they are fooled by their own brain
I love reading the posts here. Instead of just giving our own view points we seem to try and bash other’s belief system whether it be science or religion or the belief in ghosts or what not. personally i believe in ghosts why i have no idea. i have no factual documentation to back it up for our scientific folk i just believe good enough for me.
i guess there are so many things that are unexplained in this life that too shut ones mind down because it doesn’t fit our preconcieved notions is a little small minded in my opinion.
I doubt they exist, but I’m not sure. but I do know one thing; the human mind is unstable and not very reliable.
I think it has something to do with a longing for life after death. Personally I don’t believe in ghosts as they are widely believed, like creepy figures and stuff like haunted houses.
“Ghosts” are not real, like the whole white sheet for Halloween thing. I do, however, believe in spirits that you can feel or sence, but not see.
I don’t think I’ve posted on this site before, although I have be reading and enjoying the lists for a couple of months now. This ‘Your View’ piqued my interest because of my experiences, albeit very weak experiences compared to other people’s.
At one time when I was younger, I stayed at an converted barn house owned by an old lady who was renting it out so she could afford to stay in the house just next door. Anyhoo, one night there was a power cut. Now I know this sounds very clichéd but there was a power cut, and we were forced to bring out the wax candles. I needed to loo, and went upstairs with a candle. I placed the candle on the side of the bath, and proceded to unzip. After around 5-10 seconds I began to feel faint, and rather than just falling backwards – I felt as though I were being gently lowered. Note that my parents and brother were still downstairs at this moment. When I awoke the candle was out, and I was lead on the landing. The room my brother and I slept in looked out onto that landing, needless to say I didn’t sleep the whole night.
Also, on a ‘ghost walk’ I got dragged along on, my dad supposedly caught an ‘orb’ on camera – a week after his aunt had died. I find no proof in ‘orbs’ though, and often put them down to other light sources or dust and such.
My own view? I’d like to believe there was some sort of afterlife linked to the paranormal, but I can’t seem to believe it, there just isn’t enough proof for me.
I was brought up in an atheist family, though we do have close Christian friends.
i think there is ghosts and such. ive never actually seen anything which would definatly convince me though, however im sure i have a few ghost cats in my house. hahaha. i was walking down the hall and saw a cat run under my feet, and i leaped about 4ft into the air out of its way! after that, i saw cats in the corner of my eye, and my dad even saw one run across his bedroom. its kinda strange really.
(id like to point out that we dont have any pet cats, and they deff. arent living ones in my house…haha)
RANDOM “GHOST” FACT!!!
I forget where I heard this, but there were experiments done(not evil experiments) and apperantly the human soul weighs 21 grams or something like that.
I just thought I’d add that…
bull*****
@ goof_ball
I believe that was scientists or someone weighing a person before their death and after, with the difference being 21 grams, thus believing that the soul had left and weighed 21 grams. I don’t know about souls, believe it was actually something to do with loss of bodily fluids, as that definitely happens when you die
@ Goofball It was Dr. Duncan MacDougall.
Heres the article. http://www.snopes.com/religion/soulweight.asp
Of course ghosts exist! I mean there are five things that can happen when we die:
1. We go to either a heaven or a hell.
2. Reincarnation.
3. We become ghosts.
4. Everything is black, (which is the scientific theory.)
and 5. Everything is a dream and whatever you think about, like your family, friends, playboy bunnies, a big house with a green yard, anything comes true!!
PS: I personally love number three, and by the way, this is what I think could happen, It’s just a theory.
Ghosts are awesome!!
Just to clarify, I’m not religious and certainly not Christian.
Arisma: Yeah the only thing worse than a Christian is a Scientologist! XD
Ghosts? Probably not. Some of my friends think they’re real, but they have a ghosts-are-real mindset, where every strange noise, temperature change, lost item, corner-of-the-eye sighting and hypnopompic hallucination (where you’re half dreaming and see stuff in your bedroom) is interpreted as a ghost.
As Joe Nickel put it, “There’s no haunted houses, just haunted minds”
Yeah, I believe them because I saw one… Although nobody believes me which gets annoying…
If you want a story, I was home alone. Something touched my shoulder, and when I turned around I saw a young man’s face. He waved at me and faded away.
JL: That’s cool!
It actually surprises me at how many people don’t believe in them.. Though of course, these days, you can easily photoshop a picture to make it look like a ghost, and people start to believe a hair or a spot on the lens is a ghost or an orb.
Call me crazy, dismiss me all you want.. I believe in them, and I’ve seen one.
I lived in a supposedly haunted house for awhile. Weird things happened, but they were fairly mundane and easily explainable, so I won’t list them all. The one weird thing that wasn’t so easy to explain was the man my family kept seeing. Just your average, middle aged man. I saw him walk by a doorway, my mom saw him walk up alongside her. She turned to him and he was gone. My youngest sister saw him to, walking down the stairs.
Sure, this is all explained by over active imaginations, spots in your eyes, being tired… And if you really pressed me to say “i saw a ghost,” I’d probably say “nah, probably not.”
But what it comes down to for me is, I can’t prove they exist, I can’t prove they don’t, and frankly it is more fun to believe. Does it really matter if I say they do or do not exist? Does it become a huge part of my personality? No, so I am not going to worry to much and just enjoy believing. Doubt I’ll ever change my mind, even if they are unlikely. If they exist, it probably doesn’t have much to do with science as we know it anyway.
Jfrater – I’m just thinking of how creeped out I got at that old listverse list with the top ten ghost videos. If I got that nervous, I must believe!
And while this is just begging to turn into yet another religious debate – allow me to formally enter my plea that it does not.
Personally, I believe, though I am a child so please do not judge. I had quite a paranormal experience when I was roughly 9 years old, I was trying to go to bed in an old house in which my family was vacationing (it was our first night there, in Stonington, Maine), and it felt as if there were cobwebs everywhere. All around me, there were cobwebs (under the covers, that is), and I just couldn’t get rid of them. I ran down to my parents, brought them up there, yet they felt nothing, though I still did. I was naturally horrified, and I remember vividly staying up the entire night, unable to fall asleep until daybreak.
It should be mentioned that from then on, I have suffered from a sleeping disorder and I have a (fraternal) twin brother. I am 12.
Oh, and allow me to also formally express my plea that this will not turn into another religious debate, it just clouds the heads of the people here, and steers us away from the original topic.
in my mind, it’s a similar question to “do aliens exist?”.
i have a hard time saying absolutely not. though i’ve never seen evidence of either, there are a lot of things i’ve never seen evidence of.
so, long story short, i guess my answer is yes, i think ghosts exist in some form or another.
Although I have yet to see any real proof of paranormal, right now I do believe ghosts are real. Being an atheist, I have no belief in god and the whole life after death in a better place idea, but I do believe that we may still have a way to influence our environment after we pass on if our will at the time of death is exceptionally strong. One thing I would like to do before I die is actually visit and experience the places that are claimed as “haunted” throughout the world. People may convince you ghosts do or do not exist through argument, but the only way of truly finding the answer is through personal effort. While I do not have the means of such a thing now, I would definitely like to do so sometime either alone or with others who share the same need to find out. And face it, it is a pretty big question, as silly as it may seem for some. I’m just surprised someone has not investigated this on a mass scale professional level.
Actual solid proof or mere existence of something, anything really, after death would shatter our whole view of the world.
spence425: you can’t really compare aliens and ghosts, for one, its logical that aliens exist because theres such a large universe and we can’t be the only life-form, and two, most ghosts pictures are a trick of light, the others photo-shopped, so you can’t be sure unless you see ‘em, or you live by a truly haunted place like i have.
I most definitely believe in not just ghosts, but the supernatural as a whole. I’m by no means religious, but in the war of faith vs. science, I’m definitely on the side of faith. Science is not the be-all and end-all of what is and isn’t.
ghosts? yeah, i think so.
living objects on earth must leave some sort of imprint on the time/space fabric. some are just stronger imprints than others. and there have been reports of ghost animals (usually horses in “haunted” battlefields).
have i experience a ghost? no. but i don’t have to see or feel something to believe it.
I’m somewhere between alexlwe (1st comment) and jfrater on this one…
*Warning Book alert* You do not have to read the whole thing. They are just ghost stories that may or may not be ghosts.
I am not sure I believe in ghosts and usually discredit most pictures of them. I will share some possible ghost stories tho. I think there are logical explanations for the ones that happened to me. The ones my mom told me are a bit harder because I did not experience it. I will start with my mom’s stories. The house my stepdad lived in with his exwife had a figure that kind of stood in the wall in the kitchen. I never saw this so am not sure of how to explain. She also said when going to the basement you walked down some steps, then there was a landing and you turned and walked down more steps. When on the laning she said oyu could hear a party. Clinking glasses, music, and people laughing. As soon as youwere off the lanidng you didn’t hear it anymore. Again I didn’t experience this.
Here are my stories. We lived in an apartment. The smaller room always kind of gave me the creeps. Just an odd feeling. This turned out to be the room we used for the kids. When they were very small (pretalking) they would laugh and “play” with something over my shoulder. This happened once when I was feeding my oldest son. I said whatever it was needed to stop because I needed for him to eat. He stopped. Now that could be because he heard me say this. A few times the kids’ toys would play by themselves. There was an electronic Mickey and Friends moiton activated Merry Go Round in the playpen in the living room. It just started playing by itself. Course we lived in an apartment that was older and the toy was kind of on its side. Maybe a vibration in the building set it off. Someone closing a door or something. We had a tinkle duck. Like a weeble. When you pushed it it made a tinkling noise. It did this once on its own in the bathroom. Again old building, vibrations, yada, yada. When the boys were out of town things happened more. Once we heard pots and pans make noise in the kitchen. Again vibrations? Same with a spoon scraping a metal bowl. This one I am not so sure how to explain. Maybe a cobweb or some thing we couldn’t see. I was sitting at the puter. There was a bookcase next to it. I felt something very lightly touch my arm. I thought maybe a hair or web. I felt all around and was really creeped out. My husband didn’t believe me. He sat there for a bit. Suddnely turning to me with wide eyes. I yelled, “Something touched you didn’t it!” He nodded slowly. My youngest son had an “imaginary” friend he would “play” with. He said Chucky protected him. Shortly after telling us about Chucky he stopped “showing up”.
Sorry for the novel. I know it is against the rules, but it was this or spam the boards with each individual story.
They are good material for movies and books etc. But to think seriously that there is spirits floating around us is pretty ridiculous. What would they do all day? Im sure the novelty of being able to pass through walls would wear off pretty quickly!!!
I’ve been a believer in the paranormal my whole life. It’s only natural that there are some things in this world that still cannot be explained. Whether they will have an explanation one day remains to be seen.
In the meantime, I will continue to wonder who it is that stands behind me and taps my arm and whispers my name; who knocks glass ornaments and photo frames off my shelves; who used to make my dog stare over my shoulder and get all excited like he could see a friend behind me; and I will continue to wonder who it was I saw standing at the base of our staircase in the middle of the afternoon when I was the only one home.
So yes, I’m a believer.
Swear ta God frickin’ ghost swear ta God.
I ain’t afraid of no ghosts…
I’m not one to be a true believer in anything. I don’t believe in God, and I don’t believe in heaven or hell, but one question I keep asking myself is — What makes a human being tick?? In other words, we humans have a body – organs, blood, brains, etc. (I know, you’re thinking, No *****, Sherlock), but put all those together, and, by evolutionary means and biological needs, our minds should just be set on the simple tasks of eating, sleeping, going to the bathroom, etc. (surviving, basically) because we are, in fact, animals, but the thing that makes us different from all other animals is the fact that something gives us the ability to rationalize and be intellectual with each other. What is it that makes us humans tick like that?? Now, I’m no scientist, but I’ve got this sort of “theory” that sure, humans have souls, but I don’t think that there is an ultimate soul (a God) that passes judgment on all other souls when they physically leave the body. I kinda think that when a soul leaves a dead body it sort of “floats” about to find another “host,” I guess, in an unborn child (just deal with me here . . .) Just imagine a tiny spec from a flower floating in the wind, and imagine it landing on something and bringing it to life. A lost soul landing in an unborn child could be the exact moment life starts for the tiny human. Who knows??? That’s one way I look at it. Still, how do you explain psychics and all that? Sure, I don’t believe that someone can tell you your future or everything about yourself, but I’ve had some friends and my sister who have gone to see psychics before, and these ladies (they all seem to be ladies, don’t they?) knew about MY existence — people whom I’ve NEVER met before. For instance, this lady told my sister that the spirits knew she had one sister (me), and her name began with an E (my name is Emily) WTF? I know that something like that isn’t too impressive, but still, the fact that there are “things” out there that cannot be seen by the naked eye — things that are just as aware of their surroundings as living humans — things with the ability to recognize and memorize — things that carry with them an ounce or more of knowledge — freaks the ***** outta me (I don’t know about you guys). But it kinda makes you wonder what the hell goes on in the “beyond.”