Apparitions

Throughout my ghost investigating years I've covered over sixty haunted locales. One of the first questions people ask me is if I've seen an apparition. For non-ghost investigators I can understand why this particular question comes to mind almost immediately. After all, it's ghostly apparitions which appear in movies, TV and books, so people assume that seeing apparitions is a common occurrence when actually it is really quite rare.

So if you are wondering if I've seen one, the answer is no. At least not yet anyway. It is when I wake up in the middle of the night and walk through the darkness to get myself a glass of water that I worry it will be the first time I happen to see one. In all honesty, I don't know how I would react, and I've been studying ghosts for years. If you've read my books you know that both myself and paranormal investigator Joe Giaquinto have captured apparitions on film. For me, my favorite is the photo I took of the ghost of a little girl at Ketcham Inn in Center Moriches. It is so blatantly clear it is amazing, yet I could not see her with the naked eye.

Joe has always told me that it takes a great deal of energy for an apparition to form; that is why capturing orbs is more common. It takes less energy for a spirit to form an orb apparently, than a full-blown apparition. I have interviewed many people who have claimed to see apparitions however, and will even swear to their existence. Interestingly enough, it tends to happen more to skeptics than to believers.

Apparitions have been around since the beginning of time. It can be described as a way in which a ghost manifests itself by appearing as a partial or full figure. Although an apparition can sometimes appear to be solid, it is more commonly transparent. Early apparitions have been those of religious figures including saints, angels and Jesus Christ. Apparitions have also been found in folklore and in literature. Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" is a great example of a well-known fictitious story which tells how apparitions appeared to poor Ebenezer Scrooge. Just like in the story, sometimes apparitions appear to us to give us information, to warn us or to even help us along our journey. It's just a matter of being able to interpret it correctly.

In my first Ghost book I wrote about Peter Underwood's "Ten Types of Ghosts". From London England, Peter Underwood is one of the most experienced ghost hunters in the world, and he describes many different types of apparitions. Probably the most common type of ghost or apparition is that of historical ghosts. These are usually the ghosts that haunt old houses and historical locations. The apparition is often seen wearing period clothing, and oftentimes they have suffered in some way or died of trauma. They sometimes cannot pass on to the other side, or they simply refuse to move on because they are attached to the place in which they haunt. That would make them "place-centered" or basically stuck in one location. One of the more famous places to see this type of apparition is in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in the old battlefields. More locally, at the Country House Restaurant in Stony Brook, Long Island, the ghost of Annette Williamson has been seen by the restaurant's owner, waiters and customers. Annette died in the house tragically during the American Revolutionary War, and her spirit lives on in the house today.

Another type of apparition is that of the modern ghost. These are ghosts of the recently dead. People are more likely to see the ghost of a recently dead person than any other type of ghost, although most people will not realize it is a ghost until it has disappeared. Very similar is the crisis apparition which are the ghosts of the recently dead that appear for a limited time, usually not more than four days. Often it is the spirit of a loved one coming to say goodbye or to give a final message. Thousands of examples of crisis apparitions were reported during both World Wars.

If you believe that you have seen an apparition I would love for you to share your story. It is perhaps, one of the most unbelievable paranormal occurrences you can experience, and it one you most definitely will never forget.

Ghosts of Inanimate Objects

Ghosts of inanimate objects are quite unusual and are very often misunderstood, with visions of the infamous "Chucky" doll coming to mind. Believe it or not, ghosts of inanimate objects are recognized as a type of ghostly phenomenon like any other type of haunting.

I have learned a lot about this type of paranormal phenomenon from paranormal investigator Joe Giaquinto who spent years studying haunted objects, namely dolls. Dolls are not the only objects that may appear to be haunted however. Haunted objects can range from chairs to clocks to music boxes to basically anything.

One thing that needs to be cleared up is that the object itself is not haunted. In most cases there is a spirit attached to the object who is using the object as a means of communication. In other cases there is residual energy left behind on an object which can make it appear as if it is haunted. For instance, in the case of a doll you may have a little girl who owned a doll she loved with all her heart. She took the doll everywhere, she hugged it, slept with it, cried with it and treated it like a real person. The girl's energy over time can leave "imprints" on the doll. The girl loved the doll for several years and then one day when she was older, she didn't want the doll anymore. Maybe the doll winds up in an antique store or in Good Will. If the doll was exposed to the psychic and emotional imprints of the previous owner, this "energy" could surround the doll and the object could actually pick the energy up. The doll, to the new owner, may then appear as if it can move, change in appearance or shake, when all that it really is, is leftover energy that is dissipating.

In other cases, it may be an actual spirit who is causing the phenomenon to the object as I mentioned earlier. If a spirit has not crossed over, or even if a spirit comes back simply for a visit, they may go back to objects that were once important to them while on the earth plane. That is why another common haunted object is a chair. We all know someone who has their favorite chair; a chair that is always sat in by one person, a chair that was a special gift, a chair that just could not be thrown away. It would make sense then if a relative who is in spirit form who comes to check on us, takes up temporary residence in that familiar old chair, causing it to move or rock. To us though, it would appear to be "haunted". You may also find that when photographed, certain objects may have orbs around them. Again, this could simply be a spirit coming back for a visit.

Of course if you are witness to an object moving on its own, it's cause for alarm for most people no matter how much I try to explain things here. We are just not accustom to viewing such phenomenon. It usually is not something you should be afraid of though, especially if you yourself are familiar with the object and it's something that's always been a part of your home.

In some situations we obtain items that we don't know where it came from or the history behind it, such as when we buy things from antique stores. We don't know if there is energy or imprints attached to these items. Nor do we know if its past owner, possibly now in spirit form, was willing to give the item up. I'm not saying to never buy antiques, I'm just giving you a warning that anything is possible.

I have a story in Ghost I about a house that was very active in unexplained phenomenon and it wasn't a positive experience. Nothing bad had ever happened in the house or on the grounds before it was built and nobody had died in the house. It had been lived in by only one family. All of a sudden over time, all sorts of things began to happen. The house was clearly haunted. The owners were completely baffled as to how this could be. Not knowing what to do, the family called in a group of psychics to check the house out. The psychics came up with nothing. It was then suggested that perhaps they had items in the house that were haunted. The family thought this was ridiculous, but as it turned out the owner's father had been in the US Merchant Marines for over thirty years and had travelled all over the world. During his travels he brought home all sorts of items: daggers, a pistol, a bayonet and a flintlock pistol from India. No one knew the history behind these items, but it was likely that they contained negative energy. The family got rid of the items but unfortunately the incidents in the house did not cease. It is possible that the previous owners of these items did not cross over and stayed with the items and ultimately stayed in the house even after the items were discarded.

This story is of course the extreme, but it is a good example of how objects can be haunted. Just remember, there are things that are sometimes beyond our comprehension, but they exist none-the-less. Ghosts of inanimate objects, although it may be hard to believe, is a type of paranormal phenomenon that is both researched and studied.

If any of my readers have experienced a haunted object, I would love for you to share your story on my blog.

Shadow People

Shadow people are probably the most mysterious of all ghostly phenomenon, and they are also perhaps the most misunderstood. I decided to write about this topic because I am amazed at the amount of people who have experienced them, and have asked me about them. In most cases they have no idea who or what they are seeing.

Many people have not heard of the term "Shadow People" but it has been a part of paranormal lingo for quite some time. There have been reports of people seeing shadow people as far back as the 1800's and within all types of religions. They can also be known as "Shadow Beings", "Shadow Figures" or "Shadow Men" but "Shadow People" is the most common term for the paranormal phenomena I am about to reveal.

When someone reports seeing a shadow person they describe a dark, shadowy, humanoid-type form which they see in their peripheral vision or out of the corner of the eye. It is often fast and fleeting and cannot be looked at straight on. Shadow people lack mass and features and appear to move into walls or furniture. Unlike a ghostly apparition where clothing or facial features can often be seen, shadow people are dark, distorted and two-dimensional and have no features at all. There have been some reported cases where shadow people have tiny red or yellow eyes, but this is uncommon.

I had never heard of shadow people until I met paranormal investigator Joe Giaquinto who described the phenomenon to me. Since then I have spoken to or interviewed many people who have experienced them, and I have written about some of these accounts in both of my Ghost books. The people who have seen them tend to be skeptical because they can't put a finger on what exactly it was they saw. They usually begin by saying "I've seen a dark figure, like a shadow, out of the corner of my eye. It moved quickly and along the wall. When I turned to take a look at it, it disappeared". Right away I tell them they have seen a shadow person.

In a story I did on DEK's American Restaurant in Rocky Point, NY, one of the owners claimed to constantly see shadow people when he was working behind the bar. He would turn quickly in the hopes of getting a better look at it, but every time he did, it was gone. Shadow people can also appear in mirrors, but will quickly flee if looked at.

Scientists and skeptics alike have come up with all sorts of possible explanations, and some claim they are not ghostly at all. Some say it is a type of extraterrestrial being. Others claim they are "inter-dimensional" beings whose "dimension of origin" overlaps with ours on occasion. Of course there are those who simply believe it is a figment of the imagination, a hallucination or drug induced phenomenon, while some religious groups believe they may be demonic.

The people I have spoken to who have experienced shadow people have been regular, functioning people in the community, so I do not believe for a minute that they were hallucinating. Besides, they all have described exactly the same thing to me yet they knew nothing of the term and even doubted themselves. I always say the skeptic is the best witness.

Who are these shadow people then? Are they disembodied souls who are lost or did not move on so they hide in "the shadows" as not to be seen? Whatever the case may be, it is extremely rare that shadow people are harmful or dangerous. The best thing to do if you find yourself in an area where they continue to appear, is to talk to them and tell them it's okay to move on. It's up to them whether they do of course, but it's worth the try.

If any of my readers have experienced this type of phenomenon I would love for you to comment on my blog, with the hope that all of us will get a better understanding of these dark, mysterious, ghostly beings known as shadow people.