If there’s one question I’ve heard more than anything, it’s “What are ghosts?”  As with anything else in the paranormal field, speculations and theories abound with this subject.  I’ll attempt to explain which theories I have subscribed to regarding this question.

The most common (and most benign) of all paranormal activity is that of “residual hauntings”.  These are the type of hauntings where the same thing happens everytime, over and over again.  An example of this would be a case where a family repeatedly witnesses a figure moving up the stairs.  The figure does not interact with the people in the home, it simply does the same thing every time.  Last week on Ghost Hunters (Sci-Fi Channel), there was a person who claimed that their closet door opened by itself on a frequent basis.  Interestingly enough, that closet used to be an open area, leading into a hallway some sixty years ago.  This is another example of a residual haunting.  The spirit is unaware of its surroundings, it only knows the building as it had known it while alive.  The current state of construction in the building is irrelevant to the spirit. 

So, why residual hauntings?  Frankly, it is unknown why it happens.  Some believe it is a collection of energy somehow linked through either external sources (such as granite, underground water sources, etc.).  It is also theorized that there may have been an emotionally charged incident which causes the energy to replay itself like a record; the energy is never released.  These types of hauntings are generally completely harmless and are nearly impossible to rid of.

The second type of paranormal activity is that of an “intelligent haunting”.  This is a haunting which is fully interactive with it’s physical surroundings and the people inhabiting the dwelling.  It may speak, touch people, move things, give off odors, play tricks or be mischievious.  This is the second most common category of hauntings.  Obviously, an intelligent haunting can be quite frightening to those experiencing it.  Fortunately, even intelligent hauntings are generally of good intent. 

Why are there intelligent hauntings? 

The theory is that the spirit causing the commotion in the dwelling is that of a once-living human being.  There may have been personal attachments to the dwelling for whatever reasons, or even an attachment to a person.  They may feel there is “unfinished business”, or simply cannot move on from where they are. 

The third type of haunting we’ll examine is the all-too-famous “Poltergeist”.  Poltergeist is a German word, meaning “noisy spirit”.  Made famous by the 1982 film of the same name, it is a word that invokes feelings of fear and evil.  Poltergeist activity is generally negative in nature and may include sightings of apparitions, violent movement of items in the dwelling, voices and other supernatural activity.

Poltergeist activity almost always revolves around a distressed adolescent female.  The theories as to why this is are many.  The following are two theories as to what may make a Poltergeist “tick”. 

The first theory of why Poltergeist activity revolves around adolescent females is simply a form of Extra-Sensory Perception (ESP).  Unbeknownst to the young female is her ability to physically manipulate her surroundings with her mind.  Her highly stressed state of mind (whatever may be causing it) acts as a catalyst in the process.  She doesn’t understand that she’s shaking her bed with her mind alone. 

Far fetched?  Maybe.   

The other theory is that a spirit is using the emotionally charged, pure mind of the adolescent as a “power source” if you will.  It is through her emotions the spirit causes commotion in the dwelling.

Again, far fetched.  But one must ask themselves, why are these types of hauntings almost always associated with a young female?  Intruiging to consider the reasons, isn’t it?

The fourth, and last type of haunting we’ll look into is that of Demonic activity.  This, like Poltergeist activity, is extremely rare.  These are “low” spirits with a negative agenda.  Possession, physical attacks, frightening inhuman voices, movement of items and a general oppression of the occupants is generally linked with Demonic events.  There may be unexplainable hot spots of air and undesireable scents (sulfur is most commonly reported).  Demonic activity is commonly caused by inappropriate use of spiritual medium devices (such as Ouija boards).  The most common way to rid of this type of activity is through spiritual intervention involving the clergy.

Again, all of the hauntings discussed here are theories.  There is no hard science in the world of the paranormal.  We can only examine the evidence, claims and our own experiences to mold ideas as to why there are these differences in paranormal activity. 

The paranormal world hides beneath a shroud of secrecy and randomness.  One day we may have hard answers to what it exactly all means, but I’m betting the only real way to know is when we one day make our own journey to “The Other Side”.  ‘Til next time…

Thank you for visiting, and welcome to “The Other Side.” My name is Dan Olson, I am the founder of the Black Hills Area Paranormal Society, also known as “BHAPS”. We’re a team of paranormal investigators that take an objective, professional approach to paranormal investigations. Our first mission in any claims of paranormal activity is to debunk what some may have been labeling as paranormal.

We can be reached at www.BHAPS.com. You can also reach us at: 1-866-510-6130. We also have a public forum ( http://bhapsforum.phpbbhost.net/). All of our services are without charge and completely confidential.

There, now that I’ve gotten my “plug” out there, let’s talk about some of the content we’ll be having in this blog. My ultimate goal with this blog will be to offer those with questions and worries an informative, reliable source to turn to as well as offering a creative discussion group for those just interested in the paranormal. I will attempt to provide thought-provoking subjects and maybe a dash of controversy here and there (controversial issues are great for some amazing discussions).

I truly hope that this blog will shine some light on the otherwise dimly lit world of the paranormal! That being said, let’s get on with our first blog, shall we?

The paranormal…is it all just a bunch of hogwash? Obviously if you were to ask me, I’d shake my head and say “Of course not!”

Many people do not feel this way. In fact, the reason why so many people are reluctant to come out and speak of their own paranormal experiences is based solely on the fact that they’re afraid of being labeled! Society as a whole has not embraced the possibility of paranormal activity, mostly because science hasn’t. In fact, if you were to visit The United States National Science Foundation, you’d find that not only do they consider the paranormal a “pseudo-science”, they state that it is harmful for people to believe in it (I only wonder if they feel the same thing about religion!). Here is a link to the N.S.F. article discussing the paranormal: http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind00/access/c8/c8s5.htm.

Funny, the government will pay $600,000 of our tax dollars investigating the sex lives of South African ground squirrels, but they won’t even acknowledge an issue experienced by thousands of American households every year (google the ground squirrel thing if you don’t believe me, but I’ll warn you, it’s nauseating). Television shows such as Ghost Hunters and Paranormal State have helped bring paranormal activity into the spotlight, but let me speak from personal experience; it hasn’t changed the public’s attitude toward all things paranormal on a full-scale level. More than likely, nothing will. It is somewhat like debating religion. You’ve either experienced it, or you haven’t.

I can’t see the government ever getting involved in a true study of the paranormal. After all, science is all about repeatable processes, and last time I checked, ghosts weren’t real excited about sitting at a table in a lab answering questions. In fact, there’s a fellow out there named James Randi who has offered a cool $1,000,000 in cash to anyone who can “prove” ghosts exist. Now that’s worth going out and doing some hard-nosed ghost hunting!

So why hasn’t anyone gotten the cash yet? Why am I sitting here writing a blog on a website instead of sitting in Fiji with a cold drink in my hand?

Because at this point in time, there is no scientific way to prove ghosts exist! It can’t be done…not in a way that will satisfy the scientific community at least. If you had a high-quality videotape of yourself having a two-hour conversation with a ghost sitting on your couch, the video would be labeled a fake. Guaranteed. As long as this is the case, people experiencing the paranormal in their own homes will always have a hush-hush attitude about stepping forward with their claims.

Until then, it’s up to the pioneers of this infantile frontier (aka paranormal researchers) to keep amassing our piles of “evidence” and our piles of stories. I’ll probably never see it in my lifetime, but what a fantastic day it’ll be when they can finally prove “The Other Side” really exists.

‘Til next time…