Chasing phantoms on film

AD, Fairborn,OH — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 20:44:16 GMT

Joe Nickell is my hero

Chasing phantoms on film

Mary A. Rich, Wethersfield, Ct. — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 21:45:55 GMT

One morning several years ago I woke up to find an elderly woman standing next to my bed. She appeared to be praying over my rosary on my bedside table. Her lips were moving and I could not see her face directly. I didn't recognize her but she had the same white hair and body build as my recently deceased sister-in-law. After a few seconds she disappeared and I could see myself in the mirror door of my closet. I was quite puzzled and thought it might even be my deceased mother who was a tiny person also with white hair. It may be a coincidence, but a month later, my husband had a stroke and I felt that she had been trying to give me a warning This was in broad daylight and I still wonder....

Chasing phantoms on film

Tim S. Moravia, NY — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 22:05:13 GMT

Real spirits DO show up now and then quite clearly in some photographs. You need to research the material a little better. There are many very good examples on the web and by "researchers" or "investigators" that clearly unravel and fluster skeptics. Thousands of photos exist of other deceased "people" or other spiritual principalities who show up - these are not quirks of light, lens, or smoke... but other individual entities. I am also saying this from first-hand experience. I have, more than once, seen what would be rightfully described as ghosts - sometimes other people were present as well and saw the same. These were most often human figures dressed in 19th century clothing or misty white human forms - but distinctly human in form and not optical illusions.

Chasing phantoms on film

Jenny, Grant, NE — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 22:36:10 GMT

We bought a house on 10 acres outside of Portland, OR and were renovating it. The electricity kept going off while we were preparing supper. The fourth time, I decided to stay in the dimly-lit kitchen while the family went outside to flip the fuses. As I turned from the refrigerator to set food on the counter, there was a woman standing behind it. She didn't appear to be solid but very clear and only about three feet away. She had a pageboy haircut and was in her 50's, dressed in contemporary clothing and thin. When the lights came on, she vanished.

A month or so later, we left the kids for an evening out and when we came home, they were all sitting on the couch, nearly hysterical. Our daughter's friend had been sitting on the same counter and when our daughter turned to hand her friend something from the refrigerator, she saw a woman behind her. The friend turned to see what our daughter was staring at and saw the woman, too. They ran from the kitchen.

I had drawn the woman I saw and when the girls described the apparition, I showed them my drawing. They said it was the same woman.

I, later, found that the previous owners had a daughter who had a very difficult life but had loved the house and had been happy as a child. She had died about 15 years prior to our buying it.

I showed the drawing to a neighbor who knew the family and she said it was definitely the daughter.

Chasing phantoms on film

Jenny, Grant, NE — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 22:48:22 GMT

New Mexico used to have a string of restaurants called "Tinnies" that bought only old historic buildings for their businesses. One of these was the "Tinnies at Lincoln County." We took my visiting parents to see the area and stopped at this wonderful old stage coach inn.

It was late afternoon and the restaurant was nearly empty except for us. We were seated and my family went to get their salads. I was looking at the menu when I realized that a woman in full costume was standing next to me. I thought that this was really authentic. She had brown hair done up with ringlets down the back, a satin dress with draped area at the sides. I glanced at her and back to the menu, saying "Could you give me a few more minutes, please?"

I didn't notice she left, being absorbed with the menu.

I told the family. When the waitress came to take my order, she was in shorts and polo shirt. I asked where the other lady was because I wanted the family to see her.

The waitress got big eyes and started asking questions about what she looked like, etc. She called some of the other waiters and waitresses, telling them I saw the "ghost." Apparently, from what they said, each Tinnies has ghosts and this particular one was a woman who had been described exactly as I had seen her.

Wish I had paid more attention to her.

Chasing phantoms on film

Jenny, Grant, NE — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 22:55:28 GMT

If there are many wavelengths to light and our eyes can only see a small part of the spectrum, who is so arrogant and in fear that they would say there is nothing out there except what we can see with our own eyes?

There's lots of stuff out there. And you don't have to believe it's there to see it. But after you see it and have your own experience, you will believe.

Don't be foolish to think we are the only ones here.

Chasing phantoms on film

Bill Mehess, Portland Oregon — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 23:28:37 GMT

How legit are the scifi group "Ghost Hunters"

Chasing phantoms on film

Russell James — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 23:48:33 GMT

If you believe, or if do not ... it's no differant than feelings, there is no right or wrong feeling it just ( IS ). For the ones that have had a room go cold, or the hair on your neck stand on end, for no reason. Well from that point of view it is a feeling, albeit a spooky one. I allways find it funny that we are told at a young age to trust our feelings, and then told not to by doctors, PHD's and the like. They seem to spend a large amount of time trying to figure things out that mean very little.

If they wish to spend some of their time on something, that I have never understood. Why is it that the God of Abraham, the God of Islam, and the Father of Christ are all the same God. And everyone on each side states that if you do not believe in their story your soul will be sent to hell. As well as killing each other for 1000's of years, when each book Koran,Torah,and the Bible all ( States that we should not kill ) If god is to be the final judge of one's soul or ghost. Then why do we find it our duty to speed up the volume of people standing in line to have a hearing in front of god.

There are some people that still believe the earth is flat....The people that believe this do not ( Feel this ....They think it )

We come right back to the FACT that feelings are not right or wrong, they just ARE !

Chasing phantoms on film

Alex T, San Jose, CA — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 23:51:00 GMT

We lived in this alley barely wide enough for a car to pass through. one day a neighbor complained that there was a fire ghost appeared in front of her second floor balcony for several days every night. It start out as a flashing faint light at dusk but as the sky is getting darker the light became brighter and bigger. Skeptical as I am, I asked if I can be on her balcony to witness this phenomenon. The next evening as I seat there waiting for the sun to set, lo and behold, the ghost appeared in front of my eyes, my blood pressure shot up, my hand trembling, my knee went weak. I stares at the light for many minutes than with all my courage I reach out to touch the ghost and get an electrical shock that I almost fall off the balcony. As it turn out there was electrical cables crossing the house and one of them had a short that cause the flashing of light as the sky get darker the flashing seem to get brighter and bigger. I call the utility company to come and take her ghost away.
People can exagerate and jump into a conclusion when they can not explain a certain phenomenon.

Chasing phantoms on film

Mark20948 — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 00:14:56 GMT

The guys on Ghost Hunters don't spend enough time at any location to validate anything. Most of the episodes end with "well we didn't find much, but this was kinda weird - sorry we can't confirm or deny anything".

Chasing phantoms on film

Jim, Omaha, NE — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 00:16:18 GMT

Jenny in Nebraska wrote "who is so arrogant and in fear that they would say there is nothing out there except what we can see with our own eyes?"

To be fair, that's not what the skeptics are saying. They're making good arguments that much of what is offered as proof of "what's out there" is shaky at best. This doesn't mean that there are no ghosts. It only means that cameras and magnetometers aren't detecting them convincingly.

I give ghosts the benefit of the doubt. I would very much like for them to be real. But I've yet to see a ghost photo that's convincing. What I see are lots of dust motes, cigarette smoke, rather ordinary mist, hair, and camera straps. And obvious double-exposures. Disappointing all around.

But hey, if you know where I can go to see a ghost in Nebraska, let me know!

Chasing phantoms on film

Gordon, Charleston, S.C. — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 00:22:16 GMT

I am a ghost hunter, with a degree in Biology. A scientist. what strikes me is that the "nay sayers" can tell me what it's not, but can never tell me what it is. That's just their opinion.

One thing I have never seen is a speck of dust that is blue, or amber, but I have taken pictures of many. They are also in clear focus. To get a photo of a particle of dust, from which light is reflected by the flash, it must be at least 3 feet from the camera lense, for the flash, and 13 feet from the camera to be in focus. Fat chance of seeing a speck of dust at 13 feet.

I have video as well as stills of orbs. I have ectoplasm that is reddish in color. The flash should heve turned it white, if it is Breath, fog, or what ever else the "expert" says it is.

Go to my site. www.ghosttakers.com

As for Ghost Hunters on SiFi. I'm not sure. They seem to find much, and a couple of things that I thought might be authentic, they mis-interpreted. In my opinion. I'd watch the show, more often, if they would put an end to all the foul language.

When I do a "hunt", I don't go in like gangbusters. No self respecting spirit is going to show itself to a group of 40 people. Never have I had more than 6. I put the equipment in place and then leave. 2 days later, I'll come back and turn it on. Let the spirits get used to it. I'll do a walk through, with camera's and recorders, then leave. Next day come back, recover the equipment, and then do the drugery. Which can take up to weeks at a time.

I could go on and on. Think of it this way. There are plenty of references, in the Bible to the Spirit world. Almost all religions refer to the Spriit world.

Are they real? that's for you to decide.

Chasing phantoms on film

Marley — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 00:36:47 GMT

the only part that makes Nickell sound stupid is the fact that he says that when people dont know what something is they automatically assume its a ghost and then goes on to say the same about UFO's but doesnt UFO stand for Unidentified flying object therefore if someone doesnt know what it is and cannot identify it then they would be correct as to say it was a UFO i think the word he was looking to use was extraterrestrial like E.T

Chasing phantoms on film

skip, calgary, ab — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 01:13:02 GMT

Suffer 'severe' tinnitus. No visual experiences, but the audio..Whoa! Either Mormon Tabernacle Choir, or one from the cosmos belts a deeply Christian tune voluminiously unchecked.

Chasing phantoms on film

B Jensen, Boise, Idaho — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 01:26:31 GMT

Two of my dearest friends, attended at a church function featuring a buffet luncheon. The wife began choking on s small piece of meat, got up and indicated to others that she was choking. An elderly white haired man came to her rescue and performed the Heimlich maneuver. As others came forward to console and reassure her, she regained her composure; and she wished to thank the gentleman who came to her aid and dislodged the obstruction. As that person was sought out (from seconds before hand), he had disappeared. This event was verified by several couples.

Chasing phantoms on film

JDW, MI — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 01:44:56 GMT

Jenny, you sure see a lot of ghosts.

Next people will be posting they saw Nessie. Hmm, funny how we have all these high quality cameras, and other high tech devices like sonar, but yet no one can get a clear photo or definitive proof of any mythical beast or monster.

Chasing phantoms on film

Lori Ky — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 01:45:50 GMT

I am a doubting Thomas!

Chasing phantoms on film

Lou John Deevers, Wauwatosa,WI — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 02:17:35 GMT

I seen a real ghost once. I was down by Green Meadow
and this like smoke cloud appeared from behind the
rest rooms. It smelt awful bad like manure but no cows was there. The thing was, it was right where
little Jothan's body was found back in 81. The form moved slow toward me, then looped south over the fields, hovered for a second and disappeared.

Chasing phantoms on film

Dave, OK — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 02:38:18 GMT

I saw La Virgen de Guadalupe in the bark of an oak tree that had been struck by lighting. The image was charred into the bark of the tree, and was amazingly true to depictions of the virgin as reportedly imprinted supernaturally on San Juan Diego's cloth. Before I went to the tree I was certain the image would only be seen by those with overactive imaginations. I am an economist, and have very little imagination, but I saw it immediately upon looking at the tree. I think it is really amazing the things we can see when we look at nature; sometimes they look manmade, or even supernatural. Are they? I think many are just hoaxes, while what I saw was just a really amazing coincidence. I am not saying there are no ghosts, spirits, gods, or supernatural beings. I beleive there are, but there are precious few (if any) images that document real, supernatural events. Furthermore, science cannot prove that a paranormal explanation is the right one

Chasing phantoms on film

Matt Gertz, Snohomish, WA — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 02:38:35 GMT

That's right -- any time you come across an odd visual artifact in a photo, or you perceive a person in your room during your trip from sleep to wakefulness, the answer must obviously be "ghosts." Certainly, if someone tells you that a ghost haunts the premises, it couldn't simply be because they want to add to the mystique of their place of business in order do draw in more customers or are themselves misled -- that would be a needlessly cynical perspective. And absolutely no television producer would dream of cashing in on the credulity of their audience by propagating false ghosts stories merely to try to boost ratings.

"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof."

Chasing phantoms on film

done — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 02:58:04 GMT

[QUOTE=Bill Mehess]How legit are the scifi group "Ghost Hunters"[/QUOTE]

Enough to get syndicated and paid.

Why do you ask? Have you a case that causes you concern, or are you a 'proprietor' looking for a tourism bump?

I'm sure, if you gave them a bit of worthiness to run with, they'd respond.

Whether elusive or not. Bump you, will they.

Chasing phantoms on film

Not Alone In AL — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 03:04:40 GMT

I am some sort of antenna I swear.

I'm 36, and ever since I can remember I have had things happen to or around me (with the exception of my teen years).

I have had breathing in my ear, actually felt the vibration of of words pushed to my face, hands to the skin, hair moved oposite direction to fall back, etc. I could go on and on...

The thing I don't understand is it seems to be different ones doing it (hence antenna).

When it happens, most of the time I'm scared stiff, can't move, can't speak, sheer terror...
But there have been occasions when I have been able to control and try to connect. I can't get an answer or anything.

I have been doing research in night terrors as there are some simularities. Part of my problem with this is night terrors normally occur at stage 4 of sleep. I have had these things happen during the day, in public, etc. More often than not it is at night though.

Sometimes an occurance can last a couple of weeks, which kills my sleep and leaves me in a bad way at work. More often than not it's only a few days though.

When it happens I am in such a hurry for it to leave, but then after things are quiet for several months I get scared I've lost it.

And you know what really bites about the whole deal? You can't tell anyone. No one would take you serious. I have met people that tell a ghost story and I can read them like a book. It's all about attention. And I'm sure in some way, they may be convincing themselves that something has happened. But, until you have actually experienced it, you can't really understand.

The best way I can explain is to say: It's better than any horror movie ever made.
Reason: You get scared out of your mind you can just cut off the TV or put Barney in.
This you can't control, or at least I have not been able to. Although, I do feel like I can amplify it from something light to heavy and direct.

It would be great to have someone to share this with. But then, would I actually believe them? And, if I can't believ them, why should they believe me?

Can't wait for the next one.

Chasing phantoms on film

Jim, Waterloo Iowa — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 03:05:05 GMT

One morning when I was younger I awoke and looked out my bedroom window and saw 3 figures. It was my father, grandfather and Jesus. I had this feeling come over me, like Jesus was saying "don't be frightned, they just wanted to see you". I was 3 when my father was killed in the line of duty, and months old when his father died of heart trouble. I never knew my grandfather, yet somehow I knew it was him. I am a believer and will always remember that exact moment. I don't get mad at disbelievers, they just haven't experienced it so you can't blame them.

Chasing phantoms on film

John Score, PA — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 03:06:26 GMT

Im not taking one side or the other, but this point in the article...

"Once you've convinced yourself that you see something, you can't undo that," Hyman told me."

...applys to most every comment so far, very well. Most people are so convinced that what they are seeing are "ghosts" that they are not at all willing to accept the possibility that the images they have seen are either fake, or can be explained away with reasonable explinations, as is almost always the case with such images. Thats not to say tho, that the same is not ture for skeptics who are 100% set that they will never see a picture that really, truely is amazing.

But I will say this, I can take photoshop right now and in 10 minuts make a really nice looking picture that apears to show ghosts, spirits, orbs, aliens or what ever you want it to... and Im sure there are thoes that would believe me when I tell them its real. Once people make up their mind, its really hard to change it... even if the evidence is totally overpowering. (9/11 Conspiracy theorists anyone?)

My personal beliefe is at least some people more or less HOPE they are seeing ghosts, or spirits more then anything else. Because if they really are, that would be conclusive proof of at least some form of life after death. Something that, while most people have faith in, really lacks the support of any evidence... scientific or otherwise. Some people need more then faith to believe they will have an after life... and seeing a ghost in a picture, might offer that hope to them.

Im not saying ghosts don't exist, or that photos don't catch things very strange from time to time... but its not good to take such a firm stance on either side of the debate, untill there is actual firm proof that supports either side. Someone saying "I definatly saw a ghost" or showing a picture they claim was not altered is NOT conclusive proof... its not any kind of proof. People have a tendancy to lie, and pictures can be faked very easily by anyone who took graphic design in highschool. I know that makes it hard to come up with hard proof, but thats the way it is... lifes full of challanges, and proving life after death isn't going to be as easy as snaping a picture.

Chasing phantoms on film

Arletta Q, Portland, OR — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 03:32:35 GMT

I dont' have much to comment on the article it's self, but the picture that was submitted to the shutter website of the man with the "spooky" mist is just smoke, probably cigarette smoke that is right in front of the camera.

Chasing phantoms on film

H. Fleming Edmonton, Alberta, Canada — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 04:10:28 GMT

Just curious if you ever looked into the film three men and a baby? Rented a vhs copy once and saw the small boy standing in the background that was supposedly only on some of the tapes and is a ghost.Hadn't heard about the ghost thing at the time and just thought it was a missed edit. Never managed to find it again when I rented the film later,, and never thought to keep the copy.

Chasing phantoms on film

derek g, saint john, nb — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 05:06:25 GMT

All of these comments involve seeing things. My house has a "ghost" who likes to sing. Sometimes, particularly if I play Billy Joel tunes, I'll hear a voice singing along out in the hallway, definately an added voice coming from behind me, as the speakers are in front of my easy chair. If I quietly get up and pause the music, I'll hear the squeak of the two stairs that squeak when you go down from the bedrooms as though whatever was singing along actually has a weight. I have never seen anything, but usually there is a cold patch of air at the foot of the stairs that I walk into, and no, it is not cold air decending to the lowest part, as there is another flight of stairs to the tv room. Cold air would pool there, not half way up. There is also a mirror on this landing. I can stand in the cold spot and see nothing unusual in the mirror. Resuming the tunes never results in more singing, and it never happens if anyone else is home. All lights except for my music room have to be off as well. Science can't explain us having consciousness as we are just a pile of fat, carbon, water, calcium and trace elements. There has to be more to it than we are aware of...I'm not really sure I want to see what is doing the singing. What I have described spooks me out enough!

Chasing phantoms on film

G. Hall, Cheney, Wash. — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 05:31:58 GMT

I personally have seen at least three separate, individual "ghosts". One was in my yard, at night,
and two have been in houses I've lived in. Wait, make that four. I just remembered another one. All except one were also seen by others present. Doesn't
bother me whether others believe or not. I trust my own eyes.

Chasing phantoms on film

SDC, Vancouver, Canada — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 06:57:01 GMT

Gordon, Charleston you MUST be joking! I looked at your so-called "orbs" on your website. [...]

If you could think critically, your "orbs" are nothing more that particle reflection. You can clearly see a nonagon (9-sided) shape created by nothing more than the camera's aperture (roughly f5.6 for each photo). Would you like me to explain the color variations? [...]

Chasing phantoms on film

SDC, Vancouver, Canada — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 07:05:58 GMT

Arletta, it is possibly smoke, however, the pattern seems too complex to be smoke. The first thought I had was that it might be some very fine cotton thread, placed very close to the camera (out of the focal range) and lit by a flash. Judging by the shadows and contrast, I'd would also suggest that the room was lit entirely by the flash. In other words, this was a deliberately staged "ghost" photograph.

Chasing phantoms on film

Erich Spoor, Denton, TX — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 08:05:08 GMT

I am a scientist - a biologist by profession. That said, I am not at all ashamed to admit that I have in fact seen what I would call a "ghost". To be more precise, I would probably call it an extremely convincing hallucination, but now I'm just splitting hairs. The experience was terrifying (as I was 11 years old at the time) and it is burned into my memory. I had never believed in ghosts, or have since, and I have had no history of physical or mental medical conditions. I can describe exactly what happened:

I was lying in bed on the top bunk of a bunk bed, it was early, and the door to the hallway was open. Something caught my eye in the hallway, and I tried to see what it was. A purple mist was there, and as I watched it grew larger and closer to me. All of a sudden, it materialized into the image of a young woman wearing a white dress. She was not transparent - she looked just like a real person, but gave off a faint luminescence, almost as if you were looking at her under the light of a full moon. She walked forward and stared upwards - through the cieling, as if she was looking at the sky. She seemed to be oblivious to me. At one point, she was two feet away and I could see her face and body in intricate detail. I was paralyzed with fear, but finally climbed down and went to the door of my room and looked at her from behind. She was still motionless, staring upwards. She was there, before me, for about 5 minutes. I left and returned, and when I did she was gone.

Now, what are we except for our perceived perception of the world around us? Our brain receives information from our senses and interprets that as "real". Anybody who has ever experienced with a psychedelic drug can tell you that such sensory hallucinations are incredibly real and convincing. I have no doubt what I saw was real. It just wasn't REAL. It was real in my mind, a manifestation of neural circuitry gone awry.

Chasing phantoms on film

Erich Spoor, Denton TX — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 08:29:17 GMT

On a related note to what I just said about certain psychedelic drugs inducing extremely convincing hallucinations, I should say that the plant Datura stramonium, which contains atropine and scopolamine, causes intense hallucinations of apparitions that are indistinguishable from reality. The apparitions can be of people that are known to the user and living, or true apparitions of people they have never seen before. The deleriant effects and hallucinations persist for days after ingestion, and people often have conversations with these hallucinations - that's how convincing they are. The plant is extremely dangerous to ingest (since the active ingredient is atropine) and the realism of the hallucinations themselves can cause long lasting detrimental psychological effects.

So there you have it. One cause and effect example of how a few simple chemicals can severely alter brain function and cause someone to literally see an apparition and believe it is real.

Chasing phantoms on film

Tyson Moore, Eureka, CA — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 08:49:46 GMT

The photo cited in the article sure looks like cigarette
smoke in front of the camera lens: when the camera flashes--poof, you have an image of a ghost.

It used to happen to my Mom a lot--she used to freak when the photos were developed. I pointed out to her if she didn't smoke when she used her camera the 'apparition' wouldn't be there. When she stopped smoking, the apparition did not ever make an appearance again...
Hmmm...

Chasing phantoms on film

Josh B. Gosh — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 12:47:03 GMT

They do exist. I've seen them, talked to them, heard them talking (tho I sometimes don't understand their language). They've picked up my legs and pulled me almost off the bed. Some are neutral, some are truly demons. You can ward them off if you remember that you have the power to do that. They can walk into you if you are liquored up or thinking evil thoughts. They have a loose agenda, which is to live part of your life. Others have a very specific agenda and are organized. Protect yourself.

Chasing phantoms on film

John Cline Two Rivers Wisconsin — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 14:22:15 GMT

Did anyone notice that the misty pattern in the still photo is just a little too perfect? the misty pattern is obviously two nude persons. One is a seated male.(left) The other ( right ) is a standing female with arms above her head, and leaning against some unseen object. Blowing the photo up to larger size makes this scene clearly visible.

Chasing phantoms on film

Jennifer, Baltimore — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 14:32:52 GMT

A few years ago I was looking at pics (film, not digital) of a friend's vacation. They went to all sorts of gorgeous places - and also a trip to an island that had been a war prison years ago, where many people had suffered illnesses & died. When I got to the pictures of the island, I asked her, "oh, were you using old film? She said, no, it was brand new. But throughout the pics from the island there were the type of bright splotches I've always associates with old or left-in-the-sun film. The rest of the non-island pics were all fine. I don't believe in ghosts, since I don't believe God leaves dead people floating around - but, I do believe there are spirits. And I belive that spirits may hang out where there is or has been a lot of human emotional turmoil.

But this is the Only time I've Ever seen pictures that I thought possibly showed spirits.

But I do remember another, an optical illusion picture. Long time ago, my aunt visited a touristy place, supposedly haunted. Pictures taken in one spot would supposedly show a house that wasn't there (but had been, previously). After the trip, she showed us the picture. I was a kid then. I couldn't see anything but trees. But the adults saw a house. Then years later, all grown up, I looked at the picture again and, plain as day, there was a house right there. Obviously some sort of optical illusion

Chasing phantoms on film

KellyK, Tyler, TX — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 15:10:00 GMT

I don't think science will ever prove the supernatural. And as long as that is true there will be people like Mr. Nickell that have no sense of wonder. They'll be stuck in their hum-drum little black and white lives until they die.

For anyone to say so emphatically that it doesn't exist since there is no proof either way is foolish. There's no direct, observable proof of evolution, yet it's accepted as irrefutable fact. Science can't even explain how gravity exists, and it's been known about for almost 500 years and "it just is".

Yes, most pictures of "ghosts" are visual anomalies, smudges, reflections, etc, and I don't personally believe that any orb pictures are anything more than dust or insects. But I can't say definitively "I can't prove it therefore it doesn't exist" because I can't prove that it does exist, either.

But there are, without a doubt, those pictures and videos, and audio clips that cannot be explained away by normal means.

Chasing phantoms on film

greg w. — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 15:38:03 GMT

there's just so many things out there that are unexplainable it's ridiculus...i have had personal encounters with ghosts or energies in the past that i couldn't explain..that freak me out to this day cause i know that theres more to this life than meets the eye...and these skeptics like joe nickell, this is his career being a skeptic if he had a personal encounter with a ghost or ufo he would never admit it, cause if he did his CAREER would be over!!

Chasing phantoms on film

john Fairbanks, Ak — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 15:45:53 GMT

Arletta Q, please look closer at the smoke, I see what seems to be the portrait of a man directly to the left of the bigger stream of 'smoke'. He is wearing a coat with the lapels partialy opened, a white shirt and a tie. he has short dark hair with a moustache also. My faith is very strong, I realize that any of the sightings of Christ after he rose from the dead are sightings of spirits, ghosts have been discussed in every culture on Earth and for all times and not every one has the gift of insight or common sense. I personally have had "feelings" that could rank but dont necessarily put them as solid truths because there is no tangible evidence. But not being able to prove something also shows that it can not be disproved. We cant see the ends of the universe let alone the bottom of the sea and if 99.99% of all living things that have ever been on this planet are extinct and there is still as much variety as there is, why put the horse blinders on instead of admitting that it is at least possible?

Chasing phantoms on film

Alexa E, New York, New York — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 16:15:00 GMT

When I was younger, I was laying in bed with my lamp on. I had the covers over my head, but I had a feeling to look up. When I did I saw a figure that looked exactly like Jesus and a young boy below him, praising him. The scary thing was that the young boy looked a lot like my brother. I ,not knowing what to do in shock, just pulled the covers over my head again. I started breathing heaviliy in panic. When I had the courage to look back up again it was gone. I was so frighted, that for about a year I slept with my lamp on and the covers over my head.

Chasing phantoms on film

Carl E Davis, 4127 W Osborn Road, Phoenix, Arizona — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 17:19:05 GMT

About 66 or 67 yrs ago, my family lived in an old farm house back east. It was winter and early one morning after a fresh snow, there was one right foot print going counter clock wise completely circling our house. There was only one foot print in the snow, not two. There wasn't any foot prints leading to the single foot print or any set of footprints leading away from that one foot print.

Chasing phantoms on film

Dennis Miller, Huntsville, ALABAMA — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 17:26:38 GMT

I am an indepedent investigator. I do investigations of the paranormal with different paranormal groups that invite me along. I am a professional Thermal Imager operator (Thermographer). I have to say that I have not yet found anything that I can't rule out with knowledge of the thermal imager operations although I have run my camera for many hundreds of hours in reported haunted locations. However, I have to say I do believe in spirit forms and have seen atleast one with my own eyes. I did an investigation at Waverly Hills in Louisville Ky and even had my imager with me. I had just paused it for a few minutes to get the viewfinder light out of my eyes for a bit. I was looking down a hall and saw what appeared to be a small apparition walk through a doorway. I had another investigator with me at the time, I alerted him to what I saw and both of us saw the apparition walk back through the same door some 30 seconds later. There was no mistaking what we saw. Heading back to Waverly again in a couple of weeks to try to document this again.

Chasing phantoms on film

Jim Katorski — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 17:47:01 GMT

I took a picture of a statue at Milwaukee's Holy Hill seminary a few years ago, where the statue seemingly came to life and the outreached hands of Jesus seemingly anchored (3) glowing balls of radiant white light,(signifying the "Father", "Son", & "Holy Spirit" on Easter Sunday 2005. I can send you A Copy if you wish.

Chasing phantoms on film

Jamie Emerick, Dover, DE — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 18:13:38 GMT

Forget learning about ghosts, how about we learn about grammar and spelling? Or maybe just proofread before you submit.

Chasing phantoms on film

RW in Texas — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 19:02:24 GMT

'Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence' -Carl Sagan

As a facts oriented engineer, I totaly agree with that principle, however...

It is interesting that Barry Taff was involved with the "Entity" movie. Horror movies are simply fun; Saw, The Exorcist, Dawn of the Dead, all just make me laugh.

But then there's "The Entity", which was the ONLY horror flick I've ever seen that really, deeply scared me. It has been 30 years since the only time I watched it, and I still have nightmares about it.

If you think that any of this stuff could even possibly be true, then I strongly recommend that you do not watch that movie.

Chasing phantoms on film

charles e, moline, il — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 20:46:41 GMT

When I saw the photo above, my first thought was cobwebs

Chasing phantoms on film

BILLY KIDD ARIZONA — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 22:57:48 GMT

I HAVE GHOSTS IN MY HOUSE, THEY COME OUT AT NIGHT WHEN I'M SLEEPING AND I HEAR THEM WALKING IN THE HOUSE AND TALKING, I CHECK THE HOUSE NO ONE THERE.ONE NIGHT AS I LAY IN BED I HEARD THEM AND DISMISSED THEM, AS TIME WORE ON THEY GOT LOUDER AND LOUDER LIKE SOMEONE SAYING MY NAME, SO FINALLY I GOT UP AND RAN INTO MY LIVING ROOM ONLY TO FIND I HAD LEFT THE IRON ON A TABLE, STILL ON. THEY HAD ALERTED ME IT AND SAVED MY HOME FROM FIRE.

Chasing phantoms on film

Kris E Anchorage, AK — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 00:13:15 GMT

About 20 years ago I was in a supermarket in Anchorage Alaska and ran into a young couple that I had met in a Toastmasters public speaking group. I had heard that they had died in a plane crash on the way to a Fort Yukon Marathon Run. I talked to them for several minutes about nothing in particular. They were dressed in typical Alaskan sportswear but had no cart or purchases in hand. While I was speaking with them I noticed an Asian women circling me at a distance while looking at me with strained suspicion and incredulity on her face. After i got home i pulled out that years Runners Schedule and sure enough; there they were memorialized on the cover.

Chasing phantoms on film

Bobby Towe kentucky — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 01:20:41 GMT

I have seen all sorts of weir stuff show up in pictures,and 99.999percent of it can be easily explained in a very logical manner,for exaple on of the pictures show apears to have cigarette smoke or spiderwebs slightly out of focus in it ,if i were guessing i would say that is most likly exactly wht it is ,the other picture is staged by hollywood.

Chasing phantoms on film

Dave, OK — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 03:25:38 GMT

In the smoky pattern in the picture from the "Shutter" website I see achild on a rocking horse. Some see a man and a woman. Others a mustached man alone. So many different things can be pulled from the smoke that it certainly doesn't constitute any proof of anything. While there's no doubt the photo is interesting (and that there is a smoky pattern there), we can't even agree as to what it looks like. How, then, could we ever decide what it actually is? I once saw a cloud that looked like a rabbit to me, but looked at another way I suppose it could have been a dolphin. On the other hand, I have seen things that were amazing coincidences - like La Virgen de Guadalupe scorched by a lightning strike into the bark of a tree. The image looked almost exactly like the common depictions you see in Mexico, but less detailed and (of course) without color. I think it was just an amazing coincidence. Most of the personal descriptions of interactions with ghosts described in these comments could be explained as dreams. How many people were lying in bed upon seeing an apparition? Sleep deprivation can also trigger some very convincing auditory hallucinations. And, of course, various chemicals can do the same. There is no doubt this sort of thing can have a lasting impression on the mind that perceives it, but that doesn't make it proof of anything paranormal. Science cannot prove the existence or non-existence of anything outside the realm of nature, and can seldom determine the cause of a one-time phenomenon (i.e., any particular floating orb or smoky pattern). We usually cannot know with certainty what these things are/aren't.

Hoping that no one will take offense, I offer a word of advice to "Not Alone in AL." You need to see a psychiatrist. The come and go, upredicatble, and terrifying nature of the "interactions" you describe reminds me very much of symptoms of schizophrenia. Tactile and auditory hallucinations can be absolutely terrifying, even painful. I am certainly not joking around about this, as that would be disrespectful. I assume you have not told your friends and family about these horrifying experiences becasue you do not want to be judged, so perhaps no one has told you that you need help from a licensed psychiatrist. You can have a better life. Perhaps you have already considered all this advice previously, but I hope you figure out something to make you more comfortable in your own skin. John Nash and a number of very successful people in many professions have struggled with this and similar psychiatric disabilities.

Chasing phantoms on film

Deb, Clearfield, Utah — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 04:02:51 GMT

My husband died suddenly in a car accident. That whole next week I spent a lot of time on the phone talking with friends and family. Whenever I was on the phone, I would be in my bedroom looking out the window and staring at my husband's truck that was parked out in the parking lot of our apartment. I knew exactly where his truck was parked since it had not moved the entire week. It was parked partially under an overhang of another carport. The Sunday after the acccident, my cousin came and got me and my stepson and took us out on an all day roadtrip to get out of the house. We had just moved recently to the state and didn't know a soul. All friends and family were coming from out of state.
Anyway, my husband was a huge Eagles football fan, and on the ride home we were listening to the game on the radio were the Eagles just crushed the other team. While listening to the game, I just had the feeling that my husband was there hanging around. So, when we got home, my cousin dropped us off in te parking lot, and I noticed that the truck looked different. I went to upstairs to my room and looked out the window. The truck had been moved over two spots. I then went and asked my son to go look outside and see if there was something different about his truck. He even claimed it had been moved also, and he knew also what spot it had been in the whole time. There was no explanation for this at all. The apartment complex did not have it moved because it was in an legal spot to park; I even asked just to make sure. I was the only one who had the keys to the truck, and they were in the same spot I had them the whole time.
The only thing that I can figure is that he was coming down to let us know that he was still watching over us, and that of course he was still watching his football. There have been many little things that have happened in the last 6 months, but this was the one that had the biggest impact.

Chasing phantoms on film

Gordon, Charleston, S.C. — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 04:17:06 GMT

CDC. How do you explain the fact that the lenses I use have a 5 sided aperture? Some of the colour variation could be from other, reflected sources of light, just out of frame, but not all. Look before you leap. If you will look, as you say, critically, some of the orbs could be explained, as you say, but others are perfectally round. How do you explain them? Most of the orbs I shoot are white.

I have a series of photos, of the Blood Red Moon, taken last month, during the eclipse. Never mind.

Please tell me, what is you field of experitse? What experience or education makes you an expert?

Chasing phantoms on film

Cien is Ga — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 04:37:09 GMT

Not Alone In AL,
there are many other sensatives out there. I've been lucky enough to have one in DC as a friend for years as well as my mother...it makes it a bit easier. Also I've tol my close friends. they've never judged me and that has made life a bit easier. I hope you see this, so you know you're not the only one who's had these supernatural expirances that they can't control. for example i was doing a meditation for a college class and a voice came to me clearly, speaking, asking questions about me and i answered and asked who it was.they said they weren't anyone that i knew but that i was "a beacon" that they had to come and see. i remember this clearly and even discussed it with the professor who's interested in that kind of stuff. i still have no idea who it was speaking to me but it's one of the most intersting and pleasent expiriances i've had so far.

Chasing phantoms on film

Steven F. Durst, Bayard, WV — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 12:04:23 GMT

"There are more things in heaven and earth than dreamt of in your phylosophy." A famous quote thousands of years old. Yet still true today.
Every people of every language and culture, have "ghost" stories. Whereas we all make up our own minds as to what we believe. You cannot dismiss that there is something going on, and has went on since people wrote down their thoughts.
Many years ago I read od subliminal advertising. The author of the subject showed whiskey advertisments either being poured into glasses or glasses of whiskey and ice. His theory was that alcoholics were self destructive. So in the blurred pictures of the whiskey, one could see faces of tormented beings. Just like the ink blot pictures shown in psycology scessions, one will see what one's imagination will.
I really enjoyed reading over the comments of contributors. I think nearly every one has a ghost story. I cannot dismiss that the ability to capture an unknown energy on film or digitaly isn't a possibility. There is just too many unknowns out there in science. People who just say they don't believe in the paranormal aren't being totaly honest with themselves. They also are to be felt sorry for. They lack imagination and curiosity. Enjoy life and may I say Happy Easter to everyone...

Chasing phantoms on film

J.Ferreira, Lehi, UT — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 12:06:07 GMT

I have not seem ghosts but, the fact that you are not able to explain something, does not mean that you do not know it. We have senses that can detect beyond the material state. Whether we want to use these senses or not it is the real question. What is the matter that ghosts, or call whatever you like the after-death remains, exist? Same for UFOs, ETs, etc...

Chasing phantoms on film

Dan Conrad, Milwaukee, WI — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 13:25:41 GMT

I cracked up laughing when I read this ridiculous article about how "particles" could be "entangled" so that a change made to one would instantaneous cause the same change in the other, regardless of how far distant they were. Isn't that funny? How utterly un scientific. Or, the one about an infinite number of parallel realities splitting off every instant - which would mean that any possible condition does actually exist. How crazy and stupid. Uh, wait.. that was in Scientific American. Counter-intuitive experiences outside the scientfic community are trashed by "skeptics" yet the most weird and bizzarre notions, embraced by the "science" community are held without question.

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Bill, CA — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 14:15:48 GMT

I have never seen a ghost, but I have several friends who have lived in "haunted" houses. One friend married a widow. He was in bed, reading, when he looked up and saw a man standing next to the bed, glaring at him. "He" turned and walked into the wall. My friend felt the wall and it was ice cold. He never believed in ghosts before. His wife showed him some photos and he picked out her late husband.

Some people seem more sensitive to ghosts. One friend has seen several, including one of a Chinese miner in the local mountains above LA. He witnessed things flying from shelves in a megastore where he worked. Other employees, along with some customers, have witnessed similar things.

As to the skeptics and deniers, there is an old saying. "A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still."

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Joe — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 14:46:29 GMT

Joe Nickell is an absolute moron !!! He is a classic debunker.

Chasing phantoms on film

Dude,chgo,il — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 15:37:12 GMT

"To date, since the invention of photography, not a single ghost or spirit photograph has been authenticated by science. Not one," he told me.

He said it's a "fool's errand" to look for ghosts by waving around scientific instruments.
-----------------------------------------------------

Take note here, In one paragraph Joe nickell says prove it with science, then in another, he rants about trying to prove it with scientific devices....What I read, is opinions of a guy who is so bent on his views, he has a website and writes books....just reading his words you can see his attitude, it's too adamant for me to even respect anything he has to say. The guy lacks sincerity.

As for the guys on taps....put yourself ih their shoes. Thye said 90% of what they investigate is debunked. Investigations go into HOURS....air times what 30 minutes??

Lastly, I know of places haunted....my sisters place, ghost of a kid. She's seen it, her daughter has, son, even her SKEPTIC hub......(he will deny it she said, but it freaked him out)

Skeptics....when they go out on a limb and create websites and write books.....whatever

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Scott, St. Louis, MO — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 15:52:54 GMT

As someone who has both subscribed to the Skeptical Enquirer and experienced something "paranormal", I have to say I'm torn between the two.

Well, not really. I suppose I'm OK with the fact that my life is goverened by testable physics. Laws of physics that seem to apply to everyone and everything. I can't deny that. On the other hand, it is a fact that we don't know everything and that there is something "other" out there. I can't deny that. I've seen it. I have no idea what it was, but I know what it wasn't. It wasn't anything that Joe Nickell has an answer for. I suppose that fact scares him, or bruises his ego which is probably the real basis for his hard-headed, close-minded skepticism.

Seeing is believing, if not neccesarily knowing.

I believe in the supernatural. That is, I believe everything has a natural explanation. Super-natural occurences have natural causes which are explainable, but have yet to be explained. I don't believe contemporary science has discovered each and every natural law. I don't believe humans MUST be the only advanced intelligence in the universe or even, our world.

I don't believe in a benevolent being that bends the laws of known phyisics just for me . . . but I can't say he/she/it doesn't exist. If he/she/it does exist, I don't believe he/she/it will become a malevolent punisher if I fail to believe in he/she/it, as YOU define he/she/it.

Chasing phantoms on film

Deanna, Naples, FL — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 16:38:17 GMT

Please clean off your lenses. And take a few moments to think. If someone or thing was going to make its presence know to a mere mortal (camera or not), do you think it would at least bring a few friends?

Chasing phantoms on film

Rick DeYoung, Snohomish, Wash — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 16:48:24 GMT

Well, after reading through these postings and reflecting on my own experiences I dont have any definitive answers of my own. I am always struck by the fact that no ghost ever comes up to you and says "okay, lets go have that press conference now". And yet many reputable people have seen, or claim to have seen, something inexplicable that may require a new perspective into existence and the universe.

To me a key question about these sightings and phenomena is - why is there an assumption that this is connected to an afterlife? Where do people get that idea? Also, why dont ghosts ever ask you who won the election? Or who won the world series? On Ghosthunters, it always appears that the ghosts are just hanging around so that they can answer ghosthunter questions - knock once for yes, twice for no.

Its not that I dont believe in ghosts - I just dont have a clue what they really are, and I dont think anyone else really does either. Im not buying spirits of dead people, because I dont know what a spirit is either.

Anyway I have to run. The Rabbit just brought us some chocolate eggs and its time to celebrate the rising of the dead on this easter sunday.

Chasing phantoms on film

Christina Schumacher, Iowa — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 17:08:02 GMT

I spent a year working with a man on Spirit Photography writing a book called "A Gift from Spirit." Ron Bowers does not take photos of only orbs and ectoplasms, but also full bodied apparitions. Many people have been witness to the photos that Ron has taken at locations he's never been to previously. He is also not computer savvy, even having difficulty sending emails and he does not own Photoshop. People will look at his photos and immediately disbelieve and that's fine. The people who have been with him while taking these photos know that he is, for some reason, able to take photos that are actually quite detailed. You can see 10 of these photos at our website at www.nightwatchmanchronicles.com - go under paranormal, photos, then Ron Bowers. The book has over 72 photos that Ron has taken along with location history and how the photos came to be taken.

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MM in NY — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 17:57:06 GMT

To Not Alone in AL - Good for you, for being willing to speak out and to deal with and face the suffering and frustrations of these interactions, whatever their source.

It's hard to say what could cause it, you may be a sensitive antenna or other mental/emotional situations like "Dave in OK" says, or a combination of both.

No matter what, I have an idea that might help you reduce the suffering, and I urge you to consider it.

Please explore how emergency workers keep their minds clear and their stress lower when they deal with painful suffering and sleep loss- you may be able to work with someone to assist and train your mental and attitude approach to those voices like they do, and it could make your world much better.

I would say get in touch with someone who can help coach you, who has a background in stress management and emotional/mental functioning for emergency workers, because it sounds so similar, and your stress and sleep deprivation alone, will amplify whatever else is going on with voices.

I say that because voices and fears like you describe, occurs with emergency responders after long hours of traumatic service, and they get help like I recommend to you, so they can better manage symptoms of fatigue and stress in the horrific conditions they face in order to help people in emergencies.

I think you could benfit from people who help those fire, police and ambulance professionals. Ask your fire department or a hospital ambulance team for a referral to one of those emotional and mental health coaches, so you can minimize the effects of the problem caused by stress and sleep losss, and perhaps minimize the consequences with some strategies that the emergency workers use. They also may be able to assist with any other stress or frustration you are going through - it must be horrible to live with this situation and I hope you get help.

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Ron Martinez — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 18:35:27 GMT

I have always been skeptical of the paranormal however I have captured an image of what appears to be an angel on the water, it was captured in a cenote in Cancun Mexico on a snorkeling trip. I was using a 35mm disposable underwater camera and have a negative for authentication purposes. This image is amazing, the human like figure in this photograph has dark brown skintone and is cloaked in white. It is truly remarkable as it is hovering over the water. You can see it at angelonthewater dot com

Chasing phantoms on film

g shaffner — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 19:05:13 GMT

Nickell,Shermer and Randi want to appear "intelligent". They know more than millions of other people. They are worse than those who believe everything!. They have made their feeble minds up NOT TO beleive ANYTHING no matter what. Do they even beleive in GOD?

Chasing phantoms on film

Thomas Ashby, Calgary — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 20:15:26 GMT

This reads a lot like UFO stories. Deb, sorry but you were wrong about the truck, it was always in the same spot. Your mind has played a trick on you. We all want loved ones to not just be gone forever, but that is the way it is. Live with it.

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Jess Winters — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 20:32:16 GMT

I photograph tombstones to place on line under a national web site, on occasion I alter the sunlight striking a stone to get a better image, I photographed a stone three times and there was always an orb near the top left of the stone, talking mostly to myself i wondered if there was anything to the orb stories i ran across from time to time, I wondered if they were always the silver blue in color so I decided to explore this thought by asking out loud at the grave marker if the orb could be placed on the right of the stone, and with digital camera the orb did move my next thought was to change the color, so I once again asked out loud for the color to be changed to yellow, and sure enough it was yellow no bright but no doubt it was yellow...the photos in question were taken just after dark with no unusual wind or climat conditions...i and now thinking that if one is yes and two is no could a communications be set up with the young woman who died well over a hundered years ago???

Chasing phantoms on film

S. Waters, Birmingham, AL — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 21:45:47 GMT

First if all, let me say that I hardly ever read the "comment" sections much less respond to them but this one has certainly caught my attention for a number of reasons. Mainly because of the quantity of responses, but also because of the content. Our world is very complex yet intricately designed. There is much that we still have yet to understand about the frailty of life and death. Although we have extensively researched these issues,one thing is definably clear, we do exist in a world that is both physical and spiritual. Believing or not believing in the things mentioned in these comments isn't the problematic question. The question is, do we realize that we are caught in a battle for the human soul. The activity that some have encountered(often repeatedly)can not be denied. The interpretation, however can be misleading. We are told in the Bible that forces of darkness have the ability to appear as good or as evil.(2 Corinthians 11:14) We are also made aware in Ephesians chapter 6 that we need to guard ourselves every day with the spiritual attributes of God's protection that are made available to everyone who calls upon the name of Jesus Christ. It also states..."For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers,against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness,against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." Ephesians 6:12
Yes, there is a very active spiritual world and we need to be aware that it is necessary to take action. The ONLY way this can be achieved is not through high tech equipment or photography, but through the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. To those of you who wrestle with these forces apart from Christ, maybe this message is for you. Hopefully, the editors will extend grace in this comment being published. If not for any other reason, just for balance in perspective.

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Roach Orage CA — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 22:46:55 GMT

As someone Who can Talk to and see the No longer Living Its Very important to be skeptical as am I. Its Very impotant to Have someone confirm the message, And Im sorry Sylvia seeing coins, butterflies, isnt a sign the phone ringing isnt a sign,"IM DOING FINE AND I LOVE YOU " is not a confirmable message, FOr example the best confirmed message was from a 27 yo lady who I never met before, her message was from her mother who I didnt know who passed, She thanked her daughter she loved the yellow dress with the red flowers and and she loved the job she done on her nails and makeup, but she said try to help frankie because he going to be next.... I dint know what any of these meant, she began crying and she told me that when she passed her sisters wanted to put her in a dress that she hardly wore but she argued that she wanted her mother burried in her favorite easter dress and she won the argument and when she went to view her mom at the funeral home they didnt do her make up in a way that she would never wear it, so she asked the owner if she can stay and redo her makeup and scince she had permission to do that and she was alone with her mom she also done her nails, so it all made sense TO ME..... SO i said whos frankie since she had no brothers she replied " Hes my cousin whos an I.V. drug user and been on the streets, she said she was gonna look for him and have him stay with her at her apt. know thats a "MESSAGE CONFIRMED"

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Greg Butler Terre haute ,In — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 03:57:52 GMT

Please believe this! there are no ghosts or loved ones returning from the grave. I have been a graveyard caretaker for years and have witnessed or seen nothing. I will tell you this what you see are nothing more than DEMONS playing games as they always have since the beginning of Eve. Having a laugh seeing how far they can push us Demons are bored easily that's why they become violent when fear isn't recognized they only want to toy with our minds.Stay away from these kinds of spirits they're around to amuse themselves i warn you beware they can follow you home and create hell for you and your loved ones. There is a way to get the spirits out of your home but i will keep that to myself. You will not want to know. Just remember you play with evil you burn with fire. Go with peace.

Chasing phantoms on film

Jim Haight — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 04:34:17 GMT

Hardcore Skeptics of all sorts are so closed minded that they will come up with the most ridiculous crap to explain away things that really do have no current explanation. unfortunately it works the same both ways, if your absolutely convinced you've seen a ghost, no one is going to convince you otherwise. On the other hand, if you are absolutely convinced ghosts do not exist and are either hoaxes or illusions, your not gonna change your mind even if one tap dances on your head and screams in your ear. As with so many other things the reality is very likely somewhere in between, the hubris of the skeptical community in thinking humanity knows everything there is to know about everything is patently absurd (and yes that IS the attitude most of you take)...of course believing everything everyone tells you is obviously silly. Take the middle road, keep an open mind, and realize that while we have learned alot about our universe and our place in it, we've barely scratched the surface of whats out there.

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MICHAEL A. PEREZ — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 04:44:57 GMT

MR. NICKELL LOST MY CONFIDENCE WHEN ON A SHOW DEALING WITH THE ROSWELL INCIDENT HE EXPLAINED THAT IT WAS RANCHER MAC BRAZELL WHEN IT WAS ACTUALLY ARMY INTELLIGENCE WHO GAVE THE STORY TO THE MEDIA, WHICH HE SEEMED TO FORGET. BOTH MY MOTHER AND GRANDMOTHER APPEARED TO ME AFTER DEATH AND PRIOR TO MY RECEIVING NOTICE AND I WAS AT WORK ,NEITHER SLEEPING OR DREAMING ON BOTH OCCASIONS. BUT I'M SURE HE COULD EXPLAIN THAT AWAY ALSO.

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Peter , Brandon, UK — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 12:09:17 GMT

A few years back I took a digital photo of my then girlfriend in an empty restruant. After I downloded it to my PC, in the thumbnail there is a boy behind her smiling. When I open the picture, there is no one there. There was no one there in the restruant but us at that time. All my co-workers have seen it and see the same thing.

Chasing phantoms on film

Jim — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 12:29:11 GMT

For Gordon in Charleston, there is a very rational explanation for the colors and focal characteristics of your orbs. I am not going to go into it here due to its complexity, but if you Google the term "chromeric abberation" you'll get the reason, with pictures and the math to explain the variations of the speed of light propogating through glass dependent on its thickness.

And yes the new compact cameras are more prone to dust orbs simply because the flash and lens are physicly closer together. An older SLR camera with hotshoe has the flash several inches from the lens; new digitals have it as close as 1 inch in some cases. Thus the angle allows light from the flash to reach the dust mote located much closer the lens. Simple geometry.

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Brandon, Austin, Texas — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 12:50:59 GMT

Shortly after my grandfather passed away (he was murdered), things in my room would move from place to place. I could hear footsteps and what can only be described as "clammering about" in my closet. I could feel the presence of someone else in the room with me, and I was alone. Then one day, I was going through some of his belongings in another closet and it suddenly became intensely cold. I looked toward the door, and there he was, plain as day. His hair was combed, he had on a red plaid shirt with mother of pearl buttons, blue jeans and boots. He smiled at me, and then he was gone. The noises and things moving stopped, and I've never seen him since. I am atheist, but in my humble opinion, ghosts and the energy that makes us live, continues to live. Energy cannot be created or destroyed, it simply changes forms.

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Gordon, Charleston, SC — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 13:45:18 GMT

Deanna, FYI iI clean me lenses with a microfiber rag between each shot, also, I do not smoke, don't take pictures around anyone that does, and hold my breath at lease 10 seconds before and during each shot. If I get a flash down from an over head tree branch, or the like, I'll move the camera just enough to get rid of it, and shoot again. If I still get a "mist", "ectoplasm" or apparation, with all the skeptics excuses ruled out, then what is it?

As a scientist, I am trying to find out.

If you say that you do not believe in ghosts, then I ask if you are a Christian. If so, you do. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy .............. Fill in the blank. spirit or ghost.

Chasing phantoms on film

Wayne, Alamogordo, NM — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 14:40:44 GMT

Let me start out by saying, I don't believe in ghosts. The main reason is because I've never seen one. It's the same reason I don't believe in ETs. But that's not to say I don't believe in each person having a spirit. If we are created beings, then we have a spirit and there's a purpose for each us being here. When we die, our creator (God) wouldn't leave our souls to wonder this earth until we see the "light". Sorry, the movie "Ghost" is just that, a movie. If you don't believe that we are created beings, then believing in ghosts would be counter-intuitive. No soul, no spirit. You can't have it both ways. Neither belief leaves room for having spirits aimlessly roaming the earth.

Chasing phantoms on film

Gavin Harris, Tulsa, Ok — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 14:48:47 GMT

I was one of the last people to believe in ghost spirits, or supernatural stuff, One night myself and some other Police officers where sent out to an abandant childrens hospital. There where reports of lights, and kids laughter heard and seen by passers by. Four of us arrived at the Hissom Center, and three of us went inside to check the building. It's a large complex with many buildings and rooms. As we made our way through the building we heard kids laughing, and sounds of kids in a pool area, as we walked we found ourselves walking into a pool area, but the pool was empty, no water, no kids, but we had heard it, so I sat my pocket tape recorder on a bench, and we went on through the buildings, as we finished I went back to the pool area to retrieve my recorder, which is sound activated, and found that the tape had recorded and was on.
I brought it out and the four of us listened, On the tape was some traffic stops, and then several moments of children laughing, splashing, the sounds of feet running on cement in the pool area. We all knew that the pool was empty, that the kids on the tape had not been there when we looked, and we all had a laugh, then One of the officers said look there's a little girl in the window, I looked and we saw her and where her hand was touching the window was the outline of a childs hand with condinsation around it, then the little girl and the hand print just disapeared. We made anouther walk through the building to make sure no child was there. We secured the building, and filed our reports, Which we all where ordered to re-write, and delete the story I just related to you. Did it really happen, yes, does it make you wonder if your working to hard yes, but then why did everyone that was there see it also ?

Chasing phantoms on film

Wendy King, New Orleans, LA — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 15:22:01 GMT

The "ghost" or "spirit" photos show us things that don't "show up" on "normal" photos: orbs, filmy or shadowy figures, disembodied heads, long-dead people at or near their tombs, etc. Those who debunk (or try to debunk) these photos remind us that nothing's what it appears to be: the orbs could be dust or light particles, the filmy figures or flashes of light could be a reaction between the light hitting the film (or other medium) and the film's chemicals or digital card, and the "child" ghost could be a "leftover" from a previous image on a film camera's lens. Many very old "spirit" photos were first taken with cameras that had been first used to take family portraits, so that what appeared to be a "ghost" of one's dearly departed often turned out to be a leftover image from the camera's "retina" or lens which had that image first burned onto it during a family's group photo session. The photographer may reuse a glass plate, and not realize that an old image is still on it.
That said, many paranormal researchers, using Polaroid cameras or other media, get images on their photos that they can't explain. They will tell of not seeing anything visible that can explain what caused the streaks of light on the photo. An ordinary photo taken in the 20th century will, when developed, show a figure dressed in 19th century clothes, when there was no one in the photo at the time it was taken.

Chasing phantoms on film

Kevin B. Selah, WA — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 15:32:43 GMT

I would only need for them to give me winning lottery numbers, then I'll believe them.

Chasing phantoms on film

Curtis Scott, Monterey, CA. — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 15:34:57 GMT

I have never seen a ghost, but on two separate occasions while staying at my Uncle's home (the only times I've stayed overnight) I was disturbed by slamming doors, the sound of drawers opening and closing and three times felt the bed being depressed by my feet. I know this because it was strong enough to make my ankles bounce together. A few years later I was with my wife while working in an old home where she and her family had once lived for several years. We were painting a mural for the current owners> We were discussing the stories her father used to relate about seeing apparitions and hearing things while he lived there. We were alone in the house and seconds after telling me that she had never seen or heard anything strange, I mean like five seconds after she finished the sentence, a door slammed upstairs. We went up and checked, no windows open and all the doors were open to the bedrooms etc. We both distinctly heard a door slam and latch. A few months later the new owners we had worked for began asking us if we knew whether the house had a "history" of unexplained activity. They were finding doors open that had been locked, hearing things and their teenage daughter was freaked out while seeing a door open by itself. Doors seem to be a common denominator in many cases. I have no doubt that there are phenomena with enough energy to interact with people.

Chasing phantoms on film

Chris, St. Louis, Mo. — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 16:07:05 GMT

I have had experiences with things that I cannot explain, my whole life, since I was even too young to remember. Off and on, things would come and go. There is no ryme or reason to it. I just think some people are more reseptive than others. I don't have a mental condition, I don't hallucinate, or take mind altering drugs, never have. But, I agree with some of the other comments that have said, "Until it happens to YOU, you cannot possibly understand it." Everyone's brain is different, what we percieve, or recieve is different. With that being said, I don't go looking for something that is not there. I don't try to convince myself that I have seen something, when it can be explained by reasonable, everday common sense. Then there are the things that happen, that all but slap you upside the head, and leave no explanation at all. I actually caught two very bright "lights" on a deer trail camera, placed in the woods on my hunting property. The lights are obviously in motion, one in a straight up motion, the other at an angle to the left and up. Both of them Moving! They are both too high off the ground for it to be a person, too low below the canopy of the trees to be a plane, car headlights, ect. The area is so remote, that only myself and my older brother are the only ones who have ever been in there. It is only accessable on foot. I have ruled out every possible explanation that I can come up with, and still end up with nothing. Only I know the situation behind the pictures that I took, and only I know the exact location, and only I know that they are 100% real! I've shown them around and had alot of interest over them, but no one can tell me what they are? Some say Ghost Lights, some say Ball Lightning, others just scratch their heads and say, "Man, I have no idea?" Great pics, though! So, knowing what I know about these photos, nobody will ever convince me that they were hoaxed, photo shopped, cropped, or anything else. Why? Because I am the only one who knew where this camera was, I am the only one who touched it, and I am the one who recovered the photos. They are real, and they are what they are. Even if they ARE ball lightning, it is by far the best pictures of that phenomena that I have ever seen!

Chasing phantoms on film

Curtis, Bowling Green, Ky — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 16:17:36 GMT

What upsets me is that skeptics ask for scientific proof. Then when people try to use scientific means to explain what is going on (Such as EMF detectors). They wave it off as "fools errand" the reason people use these machines is because there seems to be some kind of connection between High EMF(for example), and these phenomena. Not trying to say that it is a haunting or not, just that there is a connection.

Chasing phantoms on film

deb — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 16:33:36 GMT

Sorry, Thomas, but my mind was not playing tricks on me. I know what I saw, and other people who had been coming over the whole week even confirmed it. My son even knew exactly what spot the truck had been in orginally, without any prompting coming from me. That is fine if you don't believe it. But, I just can't seem to find the two or three people needed who must of picked up the truck to move it over two spaces.
My husband is gone, and I am living with it, Thomas. Thanks for the great advice. Wow, why didn't I think of that to begin with?

Chasing phantoms on film

Bill Fink, So. Charleston, WV — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 16:50:02 GMT

I've got some strange pictures and no I don't know what they are. I'd like to have some one who is a pro. take a look at them. Contact me if you are interested:
wfink@state.wv.us

Chasing phantoms on film

Jason K, Augusta GA — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 17:19:08 GMT

I see dead people...

Hey, H. Flemming, I believe that "ghost" in Three Men and a Baby has since been confirmed as a cardboard cut out of Ted Dansen as a child. It was on set as a joke, but apparently made it's way into the film. Makes you wonder if it wasn't purposely placed there. I remember when the ghost rumors kicked up, sales of that movie shot through the roof.

Chasing phantoms on film

John, TX — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 17:19:33 GMT

I can't believe how many people fall for stuff. Apparently people haven't learned very much from history. It is a shame to me to see news covering this as if it were a serious thing.

Chasing phantoms on film

spacebeagle — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 18:08:17 GMT

Re "How legit are the... Ghost Hunters?" If I may interject a lay viewpoint, I note that they have, it seems recently, publicly acknowledged being plumbers by profession, plumbers who solved so many 'ghostly' sounds by fixing pipes that they got a terrific idea that really paid off for them. Despite their non-scientific background, I think they bring a reasonably scientific method (forget the em detectors, though) and a relatively intelligent attitude to their investigations, yet I would also agree that their one-night stands cannot be said to amount to real investigations. I would love to see some real money and time wasted on an effort that essentially comports with GH's calm, debunking outlook.

But I told ya all that to ask ya this: Didja see that one clip where the chair moved across the floor in the lighthouse? Kiss my brass if that don't spill the milk of conventional reality all over the kitchen floor of stark empiricism, or something. I mean seriously, magnetic forces tend not to affect wooden objects, right? So I ask you, my dear old scotch and sodas, how was this feat accomplished? (Ruling out for the sake of argument, and on the basis of personal opinion, the possibility that the film was doctored.) The lighthouse keeper guy that watched the clip with the hunters, though he expected something, simply freaked out, technically speaking, and his reaction lent a real ring of credulity to the whole thing. I would be very interested in your well-considered hypotheses in this particular regard. Regards, my fellow skeptics and fellow believers alike, for I am of two minds on this. (Interestingly, one of them sounds a lot like Bugs Bunny.) So, Dave OK, same advice?

Chasing phantoms on film

Rick, Snohomish, Wash. — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 18:25:09 GMT

I love all the comments. There are some great stories here. I could provide some of my own, but it wouldnt detract from the fact that no one in this forum has offered up any kind of coherent idea about what it all means. I saw the salt shaker move, I saw the ghost of unt Ada by the fireplace, there are knocks on the wall at night. There may well be ghosts - I wouldnt know. The spirit photography story, for instance - really cool, puzzling, intriguing - but what does it mean? This seems to be a sticking point, unless you want to inject the god aspect into the discussion. Otherwise it's all personal experiences which seem to point to some kind of other...something...

I find it strange that we don't know if there is an afterlife or something beyond, but we all assume there to be one. That so many people believe in life beyond death is probably the biggest evidence that it exists.

Chasing phantoms on film

R Noyle — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 19:01:51 GMT

My sister claims she has seen several ghosts, though no-one else in my family has. Her boyfriend handed me a photo of him in a graveyard at night, claiming that the glowing orbs of light scattered across the picture were ghosts, I instantly recognised them as the cameras flash reflecting off rain drops. He didn't like that explaination, apparently it wasn't raining that night, though it looked wet to me. I think that if you want to see a ghost in a poor quality picture you'll see one, as long as you ignore the facts. As for people seeing things with their own eyes, well. The mind is a funny thing, and some things in life can't be explained. Maybe someday though.

Chasing phantoms on film

Colm D — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 19:05:58 GMT

I've never seen a ghost, or a UFO, or an alien. Why should I believe in them? Most paranormal things can be exlpained away easily, some people just don't want to hear or see the truth, and rather believe in silly fantasies.

Chasing phantoms on film

S.B. Stein E.B. NJ — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 20:03:32 GMT

It will be impossible for some to believe that there is something more out there. There will also be those that always believe despite people saying that they made a story up. What is really going is somewhere in the middle. We maybe witnessing people that are in other dimensions that are only slightly connected with our own. It could be that there is a way from this level of conscience to another and these are after effects of what was done.

Right now, we don't have the understanding to really investigate what it is; spirit crossing from beyond or a dimentional convergence via the 9 (or was it more) dimentions mentioned by quantum physics.

Chasing phantoms on film

Kristin, Orland Park, IL — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 22:16:38 GMT

I can't say for sure what I believe one way or the other. Of the several things that have happened to me, a few can be explained away by concventional causes..others cannot. I wouls liek to believe that there is something "other" going on, brcause it is facinating...and just because something is labeled as supernatural, does not mean it is not natural...what couldn't the things we sometimes percieve be "ghosts" and part of the natuarl way of things. Why can't the energy of a dearly departed loved one stay with us, isn't it terribly arrogant to assume that we have the sum knowledge of the universe at our fingertips, or that we have the capacity to understand that knowledge? Could it be explained by quantum physics...maybe, could it be spiritual...maybe. The picture here is most assuredly smoke, being a smoker who likes her pictures...I have seen that often. I also live near Bacholor's Grove in Illinois, and since it is part of a closed forrest preserve that doesn't really have any tourist attraction to offer...I don't know what the park rangers would gain in purpotrating hauntings...b/c I'm sure the State cops enjoy kicking kids out of there at all hours of the night. I have seen soem stuff there. As for all the spectoral photos being debunked, well, I very sincerely doubt that Nickell has personally seen every spiritual photo ever taken so... There are some very compelling pictures associated with Ghettysburg, the one that comes to mind is one taken in the early 1900's (before photoshop)...very cool, full-bodied Confederate apparition. People will believe what they are comfortable with, and none of us have all the answers. The key is to hold your belief, btu have an opened mind, and never discount the impossible
"It is impossible to begin to learn that which one thinks one already knows" ~Epictetus

Chasing phantoms on film

jacfalcon — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 01:15:26 GMT

I believe in Nessie, I don't believe in ghosts.

Chasing phantoms on film

You people are fools — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 07:35:39 GMT

I thought this was MSNBC.com. Not some crazed looney bin. Most of you [...] want to believe there is something out there, so you convince yourself you saw something. [...]

Chasing phantoms on film

Chris, St. Louis, Mo. — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:29:18 GMT

After reading the interview with Ray Hyman, I do really understand his point of view. I reccomend everyone to read it. He has a strong analytical sense for examining the unexplained. In many ways, I am the same. I want to find reasonable explanations for so called supernatural occurances. I can also understand how the mind can somehow blur the senses into thinking that you actually see, or feel something that is just not there. But, like I said before every now and again you come across something that just goes beyond reasonable explanation. This blog is proof of that. Everybody here has a story to tell, and they want someone to listen. I don't think anyone is asking for the next person to believe what they say? I don't really think that even matters to the person telling the story, because in their mind it is real. They just want to be heard. Here's a challenge for the skeptics. You tell me how there are documentation of UFO's, and strange creatures, as far back as 4,000 years ago? These people had never seen a plane, hot air balloon, weather balloon, ect. Yet, they documented their experiences, by drawing them on cave walls, scribbling in scrolls, or whatever means they had. There are numerous 16th century paintings of seemingly normal backdrops, then way up in the corner of the painting, barely noticable to the naked eye, a small disc shaped craft is placed. How did they come up with that image? There were no flying objects at that time. Or where there? Food for thought. Could it also be that for fear of ridicule by their peers, or worse yet, fear of exocution by the mobs, claiming witchery, they wanted to communicate and document an event that happened in their lives without making it blatently obvious? Only visible to the most scrutinist observer?

Chasing phantoms on film

Dave — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 23:49:05 GMT

Yes this is true. These are fallen Angels. The bibles speaks of them. God created them as Holy Spirit Beings before they Sinned. All Christian will judge them on day.

In Jesus Name, The Name Above all Names

Chasing phantoms on film

M, California — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 18:46:09 GMT

"We are spirits in the material world . . ."

- The Police

Chasing phantoms on film

Julie Arita, Sacramento, CA — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 06:19:58 GMT

I was always told while growing up "that if you believed in God, then you should believe that anything is possible".

Chasing phantoms on film

Julie Arita, Sacramento, CA — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 06:21:40 GMT

My husband grew up with a spirit in his house that would suddenly move all the books off the shelf!

Chasing phantoms on film

pamela, georgia. — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 06:45:25 GMT

well I never belived in ghosts until i moved into the house with my daughter ,an husband, and two kids. I understand that everyone that has stayed here as in workers for my son in law has heard this and my daughter has also. the first time i lived here i heard what they heard and that was when your in the downstairs apartment it sounds like everyone is home upstairs running around. But when you go up there no one is there. This time I hear non stop footsteps over my head for hours on end. sometimes it only stops when my daughter gets up to get kids ready for school at 7 am.at first it only happen when they went to bed now it happens in the day time as well. when the footsteps would stop I could feel a presence very strong in my room. Once I felt a mans hand on my leg! I was not asleep I had just turned off the lights and layed down!I care for my 84 yr old mother and something pulled on her feet while she was in bed!when I try things psychics tell me to do some of the things work but only for one night . we figured out the source comes from my 33 yr old daughters room. she moved to the sofa and it stopped for a few nights. then it started back again an she could hear nothing at night .I cant seem to find anyone or a team to rid the house of this! are investigator teams for real??? I heard a childs voice behind me as i was on the computer one night, when I turned nothing was there thank god! I hope I dont ever see anything but I am exausted I cant sleep until I just drop!It's here every night , it's loud, and seems to know when you try to get rid of it and it makes things worse!This is for real and now everyone in the house can hear it and the dog goes crazy and looks up as if its looking at a person standing there.The voice of the child I heard once prooves my point there are more than one ghost in this house. I can tell also by the footsteps when it's the child it sounds like a child. This is for real and im by no means crazy! If there is anyone out there for real and can get rid of this please contact me!!!! I am in georgia. email is ponytail053@msn.com there has been a couple more things happen but I rather not go into it..

Chasing phantoms on film

VRLeshin, Littlerock Ca — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 06:59:09 GMT

As to the boy ghost in the movie Three men and a baby, that was explained very well. There was a cut out from another set that was of a small boy and it was accidentally left and was picked up in the shot. When you see again that the ghost boy is gone, it's because they realized the error and removed it! No ghosts just dummy set operators

Chasing phantoms on film

Debbie Bird — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 12:30:38 GMT

I too have seen a ghost in my home. She's about 10 years old and very timid. 1800 dress. She has never spoken to me. I have taken photos and have many orbs in them. I don't smoke. I have a great camera. No light leaks....etc...

I know what I see and feel. I'm not crazy.

It's a simple as this....."Ghosts/Spirits" do exist!

I believe you have to be accepting to them. I've been told they could be our "Spirit Guides" (which we all have)

Chasing phantoms on film

J. Smith — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 12:46:19 GMT

My wife passed away in 1994. I was feeling bad after the funeral. I was laying on my bed crying about my wife when I felt some one rubbing my back. I turned over and looked to see who it was, no one was there. Through the years since I have had vivid dreams of here. I have been gently pushed sideways. I feel she is telling me to go the other way with something i am involved with, or buying.

Chasing phantoms on film

Jennifer, Chicago, IL — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 13:19:51 GMT

Six tears ago while I was sleeping, I had a dream of my sister. I dreamt that she was trying to tell me something, my niece was in the background and my sister was telling me something about herself and i could feel her presence almost wrapped around me. She was telling me something that was angering me because it was something that was going to affect my niece. I became so angry with my sister in the dream that I hauled off and punched her in the face. It was so real and vivid that it jarred me awake. I got up and told my husband about the dream and went onto work and told my girlfriend about it there. I went to see my father later that day and told him about the weird dream because it just kept sticking in my head. My sister and I were never violent or physical with each other, we had our differences due to her "life style" but we were never violent with each other. My sister passed away that morning at the age of 40. My neice who was two at the time was alone in her crib for 12 hours until my sisters boyfriend came home from work. I believe with all my heart that when my sister passed away she was trying to tell me that I would have to take care of my neice, because she knew I loved her like my own child and I would take care of her. Until this day I can still feel that feeling I had that day when I woke up, and I can remember vivdly every detail of that dream. I have had many other instances happen since my sister has died. My mother died four years ago and a month before she passed I dreamed that she died of a massive heart attack. April 3rd 2004 my mother had a heart attack in her sleep and died at the age of 61. I believe that there is life after death, and I believe that we will have the ability to return to a place or a person we cared about for a momment. Just so we can be close for that instance to thwe things that we loved most in my life. It is sad that people are so closed minded to this, because everyone loses someone they care about during their lifetime. For them to believe that there is nothing after this life, makes the toils, troubles, and heartbreak that EVERYONE experiences during life absoulutely futile.

Chasing phantoms on film

Jim — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 13:47:48 GMT

I've believe I've had what I consider three paranormal events in my life.

About 6 or 7 years after my father passed away, I awoke about 3:00 AM with him sitting on the end of my bed, one leg crossed over the other knee and kind of bouncing a little--just he he SOMETIMES sat during his life--and smoking a, I presume, a Lucky. He gave me some much needed advice, we apologized for the way we had treated each other when I was in my teens, and shot the breeze about things from his time. I went back to sleep and when I waked up in the morning I was strangely peaceful and felt like I knew everything I needed to know. By the way, I NEVER, EVER remember dreams. The best I can ever do is remember that I think I had a dream.

The next occurance involved a living person I knew who I met one night while both of us were home in bed. I knew this very nice woman, who I both admired and secretly carried a torch for. I say secretly, but I'm sure she knew and she just was smart enough never to acknowledge it. And I'm not too unsure that she felt the same about me, but she was married to a really nice guy and I'm pretty sure she loved him more than she cared about me. Anyway we met in the fog on a low hill with large, bare branched trees all around us. We were spirits--without our bodies--and didn't do anything but share thoughts and time. The next morning I wondered if I had finally remembered a dream, but I was slightly apprensive when I went into the office. I thought maybe the heavy fog that morning had unnerved me a little My friend was very formal and would not look me directly in the eyes. We had nearly a standing lunch date, but about 10 AM shew called and told me she had to run an errand. Now I was sure that I hadn't had a dream. After a few days things returned to normal. By the way, at the time of this experience it was the normal season of heavy fog occurances, and the many, many giant oaks in the area all had dropped their leaves with the season. I thought about this every day after that and finally decided I was nots or just obsessed with my friend, so after about 6-months, I brought it up. At first she acted like I WAS nuts, but I just kept talking. Then she started talking and told me: that she remembered that morning clearly and told me she had a dream so vivid, she was embarrassed. Not because she had done anything, but because of the intimacy her experience presented. But, her,"dream", as nearly an exact mirror of my out of body escapade. Where I was romping around in extreme darkness, in a wet, wispy fog, in the dead of winter, she described it as almost light--twilight maybe--clear, and trees heavy with leaves. she also could smell the orange blossoms. We laughed about it, falsly I might add, and she refused to believe it was an out of body trip she made, although she could not explain why she felt my presence on the same night I believed I was with her and why our surroundings had been mirrors of each other.

My final ecperience is simply about a cat. I lost a cat to owls, coyotes, or??? I loved this cat because he was full grown, yet was so petite he looked like a kitten. Al was feral but had tamed enough to let me pet him and occasionally pick him up, so I took him to the vets once a year for shots and such, but he was a wild little rascal even after being neutered. I lost Al and looked for him everywhere, the neighborhood, the Pound and SPCA, but I knew he was lost. Nearly 3-months after losing him, I was driving past the SPCA and just turned right in without much thought. Of course, Al wasn't there and I continued home, but about a mile away I pulled into a convenience store and bought a lottery ticket, something I do so rarely that I would tell you I don't ever do. I got home and in pulling in the driveway saw a little black cat on the front porch, right by the door, just like Al used to do. I got out of my car and called Al?, but he would not let me approach him. He did not run away, he just stayed away and was very reluctant to leave. I went through the garage and looked at the fron door and Al's ex partner in crime was at the front door patiently sitting. I went back out and Al was under the front window in the bushes where he used to sleep through the day, but when I tried to approach him he skulked a little further away. Al could never be approached outside of the garage, so that was pretty normal. Eventually he went over a fence and when I called him he stopped, turened around and flipped his tail up and took off. Al may be still alive, but he had no reason to leave here, he had a buddy that was indoor-outdoor, he had a dry warm place to sleep in the garage, and he was fed three times a day, everyday. I don't know why I stopped at the SPCA, or why I bought the lottery tickets, but I think it was to coordinate our times at being home. I don't know if animals can be a ghost, because although they do not have a free will, they do have a soul or spirit--call it what you will, so . . . ?

Chasing phantoms on film

Duh — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 15:26:09 GMT

why are all ghosts from the last few current centuries. Why aren't there caveman ghosts. Not cool enough, probably.

Chasing phantoms on film

micheal fakecity california — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 19:04:01 GMT

I dont know about that Dave,OK. I can count at least 8 ghost stories recounted here that did not occur at night in bed or waking up in the morning.

Chasing phantoms on film

Sally Couvillion,Houston, Texas — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 19:46:16 GMT

How would the ghost hunters and others explain the presence of a family photo made on Christmas Eve 2005 in which the mother was resting her arms on a table and on top of her arms was resting a baby dressed in a christening dress on which the viewer could clearly see the details of lace, tucks, embroidery, etc.? This couple had a still born son 6 months previously who had been buried in what was to have been his christening dress. This image was a little soft around the edges but clear enough for all to see the details of the christening dress. There were 3 photos taken with a 10 year old Leica camera on a new roll of 200 film from slightly different angles and all show the baby and dress. The parents and 3 other children were sharp images and nothing was out of focus or even a little soft on the edges but the image of the baby and dress. No other photos take that day either before or after this pose show the baby. There was no smoking in the house, no candles during the daylight and no other source of odd light. I was present for the photos and did not see anything unusual nor did anyone else. However, the developed photos have this image. I designed and made the christening dress and therefore could easily recognize the various embellishments on it. There were no photos taken of the baby in the dress and the parents did not see the baby after it was taken from the birthing room. Everyone who has seen these photos see and remark on the image of the deceased baby.

Back in the summer of 1990 I was a guest at a gentleman's 95th birthday gathering of family and friends. Many of us were taking candid photos of family and friends we do not see often. I had my film developed and noticed nothing different until a cousin called and asked if I saw the photo of Mattie (the gentleman's long deceased wife) in her wedding dress in the big oval frame over the fire place in the parlor? I looked at my photos taken in the parlor and every one that had this picture in the background showed only a young lady in a Gibson girl hairdo and dress. The only wedding photo they ever had was a rectangular one that was always in on the wall in their bedroom. The oval frame was bought for their 50th wedding anniversary portrait and had never had another picture in that frame. One of the cousins had a photo taken in the bedroom that afternoon and the couple's wedding portrait was in its usual place. Every one we contacted who had photos of the parlor that showed the fireplace portrait the photo in it was Mattie alone and in her wedding finery. Again, no smoking was allowed, no fire in the fireplace, etc. In all the photos Mattie is clearly seen as are the details of her wedding hairdo and clothing. Mental illness does not run in this family and around 15 people got photos of this event. How would all the folks explain this one? Personally, as a scientist I do not want to believe what I cannot prove but these photos go beyond usual explanations of ghostly sightings. How would the experts explain these?

Chasing phantoms on film

Anna, Chicago, IL — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 03:53:45 GMT

I'm not sure if I ever saw a ghost, but I definetely saw a spirit of my great grandmother before she died. The night she died (she was in another part of the world as my family immigrated here), I had a dream about her all dressed in black saying good bye to me and that everything is alright and that I shouldn't be worried. Ever since then, I've been believing in ghosts and have had minor psychic experiences. Several times when I am really anxious to find out about something (such as my grade in school or scholarship) I have a dream about it (usually a week or a month ahead and in Spring, around the time that my great grandmother died) and then know that will happen and, of course it does. Its kind of creepy but it eases my anxiety.

Chasing phantoms on film

Dan Dunnigan, Branford, Connecticut — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 05:44:08 GMT

I think that second picture looks like a sword in a sheath and you can see what looks like a belt buckle, while the bottom part is like the pants. Interesting picture.

Chasing phantoms on film

Ann, Manchester, UK. — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 15:47:12 GMT

In the early 1980's my regular typewriter mechanic confidentially told me this tale. His mother-in-law died the same day, in the same Manchester Hospital, when his wife gave birth to their second child. A couple of months later their 4yr old son, kept telling his parents "that grandma used to come in the bedroom at night." The baby & 4yr old slept in the same bedroom. The 4yr old was not frightened at all. The wife also started to hear hearing footsteps in the overhead bedroom. It began to frighten her, as she also heard them when at home in the day. My colleague said he decided one night to go up and 'talk to his invisible deceased mother-in-law", whilst his children were sleeping. Telling the deceased mother-in-law that she was frightening her daughter. Following this, the footsteps stopped. Later their 4yr old suddenly said "grandma doesn't come to the bedroom". My colleague took this course of action, as he conjectured because the death and birth coincided in the same hospital, the grandmother kept coming to look at her newest grandchild. Mike if you, by chance read this. This is your story. Later you went to live in the IOM.

Chasing phantoms on film

Mlundy Indianapolis — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 14:37:08 GMT

"Not alone in AL," we need to talk. I don't know how to get in contact but I will check this for a few weeks to see if you respond back. I will then put in my addy for you to contact. I know huge risk, but I feel the same as you. When I am asked, sometimes my description is, I just know things, I just know.

Chasing phantoms on film

Rick, buffalo, NY — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 16:16:58 GMT

Wow, so many comments...

If, and I say If, there are such things as ghosts, then why don't we see more of them from much farther back in history? Why don't we see cavemen, or other ancient peoples?

Just a thought.

Chasing phantoms on film

Rita Saladino, Lee's Summit, Missouri — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 02:12:58 GMT

Our family had not all been together since my father's funeral. It has been 10 years. This past weekend we were finally all together and in one of the photos I took there is an orb infront of my 4 yr olds face. It has an S in the center of it. Our last name begins with S. I found this very strange and would like someone to look at it. NONE of the other hundreds of pictures taken on this camera have anthing like this.

Chasing phantoms on film

Jim Reiter, Tiffin Ohio — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 19:10:28 GMT

Joe Nickell's explanations are often more convoluted than whatever phenomena he is trying to sweep under the rug. He is NOT a skeptic, he is a cynic. Scientific overview requires an open mind, Mr. Nickell might find developing one useful.

Chasing phantoms on film

Dinah elizabeth new jersey — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 09:27:53 GMT

some people might think your crazy if you tell them the truth.The energy of positive and negative beings is all around us.I did video one occassion and showed it to friends and basically anyone who would watch.I find that no matter what people see they are gonna belive what they want. Truth,lies or videotape

Chasing phantoms on film

Rae S — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 10:04:39 GMT

First of all let me say that I am rather ambivalent about the existence of "ghosts" or "spirits" as they are generally understood. However when I was growing up there were a couple of unexplained incidents. The first was in early April, I was about 14 or so. It was after dark, and I was in my reading, when I heard what sounded like a bumpy walnut, about the size of a softball rolling down the west side of the roof. I jumped up, hit all the light switches, and ran downstairs. None of the rest of my family had heard it. The second time was about three years later, late May, near the end of school. I had decided I needed a day off school, (coff coff ;)). It was around lunch time, bright sunny day, I was watching TV, and I heard it again. to this day I don't know what it was. I wasn't the only one who heard it. Different members of my family have heard it different times, but never all of us together. I probably would not have made much of an impression, except that the first time my mother heard it, she was reading a Reader's Digest story by Hans Holzer, famed ghost hunter. There after, we had a resident ghost.

As an aside to Mr. Steven F. Durst, your quote is from Shakespear's Hamlet, and is there silghtly over 400 years old, not "thousands of years old".

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
Hamlet Act 1, scene 5, 159–167

Chasing phantoms on film

Karla, West Olive, MI — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 23:57:53 GMT

I may be a bit delayed in my response to this article, but upon reading all the comments on the first page, it has put a few thoughts into my mind that I would like to share with others. I looked at the picture quite a while, and it does seem to have a shape to it, I just can't seem to get my eyes to form it into a set shape. Which...I think with others looking at it, they may TRY to see it into something, such as I did...and perhaps some can and some can't. I am a smoker but hate a smokey house, not only does it stink, but the smoke seems to stay around much to long. In saying this, smoke tends to cling to sun beams in your home; what I think I see on the picture is light coming in from the ceiling forming a beam, and when smoke hits a beam of light it really forms some awesome effects. Of course that's my opinion, I was not there to be able to truly know. Now my other thoughts are...My mother (Rest her soul) had a kidney by-pass surgery when she was in her 40's, she had died briefly during the surgery, and months later began to speak of her death experience. She said that she had a very peaceful feeling, thought she was dreaming, and it was all dark with a light in the distance that she was trying to reach. Does anyone really know what or where that light might take someone that passes? What happens to people when they die, do they all see a light? Or is this world full of the dead as it is the living, are we sharing all our spaces and just don't know it? After all...we are led to believe that we have to kinda wait in limbo till judgement day, don't we? I will write another message in case it is to long to post, so to be continued in a few minutes. :0)

Chasing phantoms on film

Karla, West Olive, MI — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 00:30:45 GMT

Cont...
I love watching Ghost Hunters because I think that they go somewhere to disprove a haunting, and of course I'm not there, but I seem to think that it is much more real then most other shows out there. Now back to my mother's experience...what she saw may have been her mind going on vacation, perhaps, but we shall never know for sure. My brother has schizophrenia, and when he is not medicated he hears voices, and really believes someone is talking to him, so I can see where Dave in OK could say something like that...but maybe not everyone who hears voices is disabled. Do we truly know? On all these investagations why don't they ask the ghosts, what is your name, why are you here, do you know that your not visable to me, am I visable to you...etc? Maybe only then would we be able to truly know what happens in the after-life. When I was very young we lived in a home that my grandma and grandpa died in, a few years apart from each other. Upon walking into my grandpa's old room with my brother we picked up his old wine bottle that was sitting on a dresser, and was just getting ready to take it to my dad...and...I got a chill that went from my head to my feet, the hair on my neck and arms stood straight up, and I ran out of there scared of what happened. Was this just a normal reaction that one gets when they know they are in a place where one dies? I also lived in an apartment while in my late 20's for about 6 months without any problems; I then found out that a woman had been a drug addict and sent her children to the upstairs apartment while she went into the bedroom closet and shot herself in the head and died. Once hearing that, my mind started playing tricks on me, I was scared to be there at all and did end up moving from there a few months after the news. So I don't know that I could judge others, because maybe it is possible that ghosts are among us, or maybe not. How does one really know, other then maybe trying to talk to them and record what they are saying. But for the pictures if you know the story that comes with it then you already know what your mind is going to make of it. Do I believe in the unknown, of course I do, the only problem is my mind decides to make it into the known and sometimes my mind can really scare me into how it perceives things.

Chasing phantoms on film

M. Aguiar — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 20:11:52 GMT

I am one of those people that investigate the paranormal. To the person that indicated that Ghost Hunters don't stay at a location long enough to determine whether there is activity there, I would suggest that you do some research before making that assumption. You may only see an hour of the investigations that they televise but there are countless investigations both televised and un-televised that span the course of days and are often followed up with repeat investigations.

Though I have experienced many things that, after careful consideration, could only be described as Paranormal (which simply means beyond normal), I have yet to personally collect photographic evidence that I can not find another plausible explanation for. I have seen orbs, unexplained hazy or smoky figures, a shadow person, objects move, heard clearly audible disembodied voices, as well as captured numerous EVP. While wisps of smoke and orbs in pictures are almost always attributable to something that can be explained, I have seen them in situations with my own eyes. I don’t feel like orbs and smoke can ever be demonstrated to be unarguable proof of the paranormal, because those anomalies are so common in flash photography (particularly digital), and so easily debunked in most cases, it would really take a video where there are people reacting or acknowledging an unexplainable ball of light or a hazy apparition that is both being seen and captured on film for me to take it as any kind of evidence of anything. I have personally experienced enough to make me believe that the paranormal exists and that there might be ghosts (I haven’t gained enough evidence to have an understanding of what the nature of paranormal activity is to be able to say unequivocally that it is caused by ghosts, or spirits, of the departed). Though, I must say, I have seen both photographs and videos that have made me scratch my head and think that it is possible catch the paranormal on film, so I will keep trying. But even as I search, I always understand the simple fact, there will never be enough proof to sway a skeptic. Some people are so firm in there belief that there is nothing extraordinary that they will never let themselves see anything but the ordinary.

Chasing phantoms on film

Heather, Oregon, Ohio — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 04:28:06 GMT

Anyone see the footage taken by Ghost Adventures crew? It shows an aparition walking across the room. The crew claims the footage has been ivestigated and verified as authentic. The crew also shows a brick flying across the room. Again, it is claimed to have been investigated and authenticated. I don't know about these so-called experts, so I'm skeptical.
But these die-hard skeptics, the people you just can't ever convince, seem to waste a lot of time and come up with wild explanations to dismiss a sighting. Even on Ghost Hunters. Someone takes a video clip and analyzes to death and say it's a hoax and can be duplicated. Maybe it can. That doesn't mean it the original is the hoax.

Chasing phantoms on film

Julie, Maui, Hawaii — Fri, 23 May 2008 05:51:34 GMT

Where to begin? My life has been haunted for the past two years not by visual spirits but by what appears to be EVP's. I began setting out surveillence equipment because my ex-boyfriend was stalking me. What I recorded has been partially based in reality (I hear his voice on one of the recordings) but I moved as far away as I possibly could and I am still getting recordings. On two occasions I even talk back and I have no memory. I don't know if it could be EVP's and my subconsciousness can hear them as I sleep or if I am channeling while I sleep, if it is aliens (listen to the one I call Aliens ??? on Myspace)or perhaps just some elaborate hoax to drive me crazy. I just know I go to bed and I set out a recorder and in the mornings I wake up and I have other voices on my recordings.You can go to Myspace.com/jaemaui and listen for yourselves.

I'm not trying to fool anyone. My life has been hell. I have given up my business and the life style that went with it in order to get away from this.

Chasing phantoms on film

Chase, San Diego, CA — Fri, 23 May 2008 20:28:32 GMT

I was recording music with a friend of mine in a dormitory room in college some years ago with just the two of us, plus my sleeping roommate who was in bed (somehow he slept through our jam session). The windows were closed, and so was the door... big thick wooden door, hard to hear anything from outside.

About 6 months after, I played back one of the recordings from that session, and noticed something strange. I thought I heard a woman say something at the end of the track. I went back, cleaned it up, reducing the ambient noise, and raised the volume. Right after the last words I spoke, a middle-aged-sounding woman says, "Say," or, "Save," very slowly, drawn-out, clear as day, and very sad-sounding. And she sounds to be no more than a foot from the mic.

We were all guys with deep voices, in an all men's dorm with the door and window shut tight. This was CLEARLY a middle-aged woman's voice, sounded CLEARLY to be next to the mic, and we DEFINITELY did not hear it at the time. I still have that recording on my computer, and it still gives me goosebumps every time I listen to it.

Chasing phantoms on film

Ryan, Chicago — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 13:22:50 GMT

Anyone who says that there is no such thing as ghosts, obviously never got up from behind their desk and went out looking for them.

Chasing phantoms on film

Don Joe, Washington City WA — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 03:00:25 GMT

Scientists and honest skeptics will always have a hard time validating phenomena that do not present themselves to be dissected, sampled, or dance on cue. This is true of regular phenomena as well as more peculiar phenomena. The moronic aphorism, "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof," is a symptom of a certain level of arrogance and ignorance that some fall into because of the social stigma associated with certain classes of phenomena. ON the contrary, extraordinary claims only require ordinary proof. One coelacanth, one giant squid, one bigfoot, one flying saucer, one chupacabra, one Nessie/ogopogo etc. is all that is necessary.

Chasing phantoms on film

Jaden Aeon Ether Tucson, Arizona — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 01:29:20 GMT

I'm not a skeptic nor am I a Scientist, but for some people that typed down on here that says "you got to see to belive." I agree with them though, I never seen one myself, I did in fact heard some... of corse hearing it and seeing it are two different things when it come down to this type of comments. I mean, all I heard was footsteps. (which sounded more like it was boots then shoes) And mostly when I'm alone walking to some place with nobody else around (and I mean nobody, not a single person walking where I was) I hear someone or thing (though it was lightly as if it was a wispher or as if someone was screaming it at you from far away) call my name. That even happens when I'm at home, I here my name being called and I ask my mother what she wanted (btw the voice I hear always sound like her for some reason. And no she is still alive) she said then she never called me or she isn't even home at the time.
I don't Drink, smoke, take any type of meds, nor do I have head problems.
But anyway, all the storys that was posted here gets me more and more interested in going out and find/hunting them. I would like to join a Paranomal Investagtion or group/team and help them solve or find if this place is haunted or not.

I love "ghosts" (not the movie it stinks) and I would like to at lest see one. My mom did and she also had a incounter with a Demonic dresser. But that is not about me.