Ghosts: Are They Real?

[◕‿◕]

So, this is my senior term paper I had to do a couple years ago. It's not a story or anything, I know, but I thought I'd put it up because it got me an A and I just found it. xD Maybe someone will find it interesting. This is seven pages of my hard work, so don't steal it to use for your own essay or whatever.

Ghosts: Are They Real?

Mostly everyone fears the idea of a ghost. We know what a ghost is, but other than that we know very little about ghosts. In order to more fully understand paranormal beings, one must know the definitions of paranormal beings, their instruments, and apparitions, the different types of hauntings, and the theories involved with paranormal beings.

Paranormal beings, or ghosts, are thought to be the essence or spirit of the deceased. They are often found to be the size and shape of a human being, although there have been reports of apparitions in the shapes of animals. Usually, the ghostly apparitions are described to be silvery, shadowy, semi-transparent, misty, or fog like. Ghosts do not have a physical body like humans, but only an astral body, which is referred to as an emotional or desired body. Sometimes they don’t manifest themselves visually, but in terms of an object moving, a light switch turning on, strange noises, etc. are supposedly ghosts because there are no other explanations for those things happening.

In the West, people who believe in ghosts say that they are souls that couldn’t find rest after death so they linger around on Earth. Under “Beliefs” on Wikipedia, Asian cultures believe it is reincarnation. In Chinese tradition, they believe that a ghost can become immortal and become a half god, or it can go to hell to suffer for eternity, or it can die again and become a “ghost of a ghost”. They also believe that some ghosts kill people so they can become reincarnated.

The traditional view of ghosts is that they are the spirits of the deceased who are stuck between our dimension, and the next due to either tragedy or trauma. Many ghost hunters and psychics believe that the spirits don’t even know that they are dead. According to one ghost hunter, a ghost is a human being who has passed out of the physical body from a traumatic state and isn’t aware that he or she is dead. A ghost that is stuck in our world needs to be released to go on into the next dimension.

There are many words that are used for ghosts and different types of ghostly encounters. Below are a few words with their definitions.

Haunting – A place in which people have experienced unexplainable phenomena.
Anomaly – Something found with no explainable source.
Ghost Hunter – Someone who looks for and documents what they believe are ghosts in probable locations such as cemeteries, abandoned buildings, old churches, battle fields, old schools, and other such places.
Kinetic Energy – Physical manipulation of objects and movement by an unseen force.
Orb – Shows up as a ball of light in photos, varying in size. They usually end up being specks of dust.
Plasmoid – “Orbs in motion” that show up as a short streak of light.
Ectoplasm and Misting – Usually shows up looking like smoke or fog in photos.
Vortex – Long streaks across photos
Spook Lights – Tend to show up in the same place frequently as balls of light.

There are quite a few tools and instruments used when ghost hunters are out searching for ghosts. Their names and definitions are listed below.

Electronic Voice Phenomenon – Recording something in an empty room and hearing a voice when you play it back.
Sound Anomaly – Sounds that have no apparent explainable source.
EMF Meters – Measure electromagnetic fields.
Temperature Monitors – Temperatures are either infrared point and shoot style, or have a hand held probe.
Camera and Audio Recorders – Used to document sites and record for EVP’s.
Motion Detectors – Used to monitor any unseen heat, movement, or object movement.

Certain apparitions that you see have different meanings behind them. Below are the definitions of most apparitions people see.

Atmospheric Apparition – Not believed to be a real ghost, but more of a visual kind from a past event.
Historical Apparition – Ghosts that haunt older homes and appear in solid forms acting natural. They are usually dressed in old clothing and do not speak or acknowledge the living.
Recurring Apparition – Ghosts that occur in regular cycles, usually once annually.
Modern Apparition – Spirits of present day ghosts.
Crisis or Death Bed Apparition – Common ghost sightings that usually don’t occur less than four days after death.
Family Apparition – Spirits that attach themselves to a particular family. They will haunt every member of the family through each generation until they come to an end.
Haunted Objects and Object Apparition – Objects that move when no one is around them or near them.
Modes of Transportation – Manifestations of non living vehicles such as buses, bicycles, carriages, trains, etc.
Photographic Apparition – Ghosts that are not seen visually, but can be photographed.
Out-Of-Body Apparition – A ghost of someone who is still alive.


There are a few different types of ghosts you can be ‘haunted’ by or see. One type is poltergeists. A poltergeist is a ‘noisy spirit’, which is a good way to describe this type of ghost. This type of spirit can cause a family to move out of the house it resides in, leaving their items behind. Poltergeist activity is relatively common. Many people have experienced it in normal situations. Poltergeists are usually described as malevolent, disruptive, mischievous, and noisy and unwelcome entities. According to MysticalBlaze.com under Poltergeists located in the third paragraph, this type of paranormal activity has been around since the medieval times. Poltergeist activities might include flying objects, foul odors, loud noises, banging, pounding, unexplained light activities, and sometimes apparitions.

Another type of ghost is ‘shadow people’. Shadow people are spirits whose energy is denser than what we encounter as far as apparitions go. As of now, there isn’t a lot of information on shadow people.

Messengers are another type of ghost. According to paranormal.about.com located under Messengers in the first paragraph, these are the most common. They usually appear shortly after their deaths to people who are close to them. They know that they are no longer living and they can interact with the living. Usually, they bring messages of comfort to their loved ones so they know that they are well and happy.

Buildings can be haunted by an assortment of ghosts. One building that’s haunted is the Crescent Hotel and Spa in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. At Crescent-hotel.com located under ghosts, there was a man that used to own the building and he used it as a morgue and as a place to operate on people, even though he wasn’t a licensed doctor. A few of the rooms are haunted by unseen spirits. In one room of the rooms, a ghost actually moves the person’s suitcase to the door. There is sometimes a woman in a nurse’s uniform seen pushing a metal cart down the hall. The hotel was also featured in Sci-Fi’s show Ghost Hunters. The team got actual footage of an apparition of a man in an old civil war like hat standing by a locker in the basement. The door of a room that one of the guys was staying in was blocked by his suitcase, which he didn’t put there. Another building that is haunted is a high school auditorium located in New South Wales. When there alone, you can hear evil laughter and sometimes, things are thrown across the stage. The Chillingham Castle in Britain is known as the most haunted castle. According to www.chillingham-castle.com under ghosts, the most famous ghost in the castle is the ‘Blue Boy’ whose cries can be heard from the passageways around midnight. A light surrounds a four poster bed and the boy is said to be seen for a few seconds before disappearing.

Land and territories can also be haunted by ghosts. Bachelor’s Grove in Chicago, Illinois is a haunted cemetery. A small white house that lies in the cemetery is said to have a light burning in its window, but when people go up to it, the light disappears. Park rangers also speak of a ghostly farmer with a horse and a plow disappearing in the mist. Unexplainable noises, such as horses, crackling, and human voices are also reported. Another haunted cemetery is one located in Barrington, Illinois. It’s called the White Cemetery and strange apparitions and noises are said to be seen and heard there after night. Drivers passing by sometimes see orbs floating around the graves and they follow the car for a short amount of time before disappearing or going back to the cemetery. Camp Chase, another haunted area, is located in Columbus, Ohio. During the American Civil War, it was used as a primary training camp for the Union Army. The camp held up to 9,425 prisoners. More than 2,300 men died of disease, and 2,260 of them were buried there in the camp cemetery. One of the most recurring apparitions is of the Lady in Gray. She can be seen walking through the cemetery with her head hung low and she appears to be weeping. She is thought to be the spirit that usually leaves flowers at the graves. These flowers are fresh and have been seen many times over the past 130 years and they are always at the same grave stones.


Although ghostly encounters have been reported throughout history, there is very little information on ghosts themselves. In this case, there are a few theories that might be able to explain some things. Under The Nature of Ghosts on mysticalblaze.com, the first theory is that ghosts are earthbound souls of the deceased. This is one of the most common sayings when confronted with an apparition. Most people are comfortable with this one because it hints that there is a life after you have passed from the physical body. One example of this type of manifestation is when a person becomes aware of the death of a loved one through one or more senses. Usually, it’s visual but sometimes it happens with a certain type of feeling. According to science, everything is composed of energy which includes our thoughts, feelings, sensations, experiences, and our souls. This theory explains that when the physical body dies the energy continues in some kind of form and can be tapped by living people who are sensitive enough to perceive it. Animals are also very sensitive to this type of energy, causing them to avoid certain rooms or places.

Also under the Nature of Ghosts on mysticalblaze.com, another theory is that ghosts are actual beings living in one or more parallel dimensions. This theory suggests that there are one or more complete universes co-existing with us on a plane we aren’t aware of. Any type of circular appearance, sight, sound, or anomaly can fit into the theory of parallel dimensions. So, when someone sees an apparition, it could be that we are getting a rare glimpse into another dimension or reality and we are seeing events develop in that area of existence. It is also said that each of us have a parallel self living on different lanes in different stages of development and we can sometimes be aware of that.

One more under The Nature of Ghosts on www.mysticalblaze.com, a third theory is that ghosts are only a part of our imagination. Medical studies have proven that when certain parts of the brain are stimulated, some perceptions are disturbed like visual and hearing. This can cause hallucinations or voices to be seen or heard. Schizophrenics relate to seeing hearing, and talking to ‘real’ ghosts that nobody else can see or hear. Located in the second paragraph of The Nature of Ghosts on mysticalblaze.com, medical science hasn’t found a reason for this yet. There are a lot of questions that are still unanswered about this theory, like when more than one person sees the same ghost over a period of time. Skeptics call it ‘mass hysteria’ for reasons like that, but nobody really knows what causes this. Until proven that ghosts either exist, or don’t exist, people will continue on with their beliefs.

In conclusion, nobody knows for sure if ghosts really exist. Though there have been supposed hauntings and sightings, we can’t be sure if it was caused by someone or something from another dimension. Skeptics will continue to try and disprove these things while others try to prove that their really are ghosts out there. Until something is proven, the same question will be asked: Are ghosts real?

[Nessie the Emo Queen]

Very well done... If I were a teacher (As yours did) would have given you an A.