This article is from 2021 and may be outdated. We're working on restoring a newer version.
I don’t believe that ghosts are “just energy.”
Maybe this is an issue of semantics, but I often feel as if we’re trivializing spirits when we describe them in entirely energy terms, instead of something connected to a spirit that once lived in our world.
Then again, maybe what we encounter at investigations is just energy. Perhaps the rest of our perceptions are… I don’t know… telepathic? Imaginary? Wishful thinking?
That doesn’t make sense to me. Not in every case, anyway.
If ghostly spirits have energy, we may be measuring that ghostly energy as EMF.
Likewise, we may be photographing it as anomalies.
At the moment, I don’t think anyone has reliable evidence, one way or the other.
I believe that if ghosts are real – actual spirits – they have a consciousness. They’re unique individuals, and each one finds unique ways to communicate with us.
If you’ve seen the Patrick Swayze movie, “Ghost,” you’ve seen how – as a ghost – he had to learn to interact with the world he’d left behind.
It wasn’t easy. He had to channel his energy.
Is that an accurate portrayal of what ghosts deal with, trying to cross the gap between the living and those who’ve passed on?
I’m not sure.
At the moment, we’re following any paths that ghosts are able to use.
- Sometimes it’s through EVP.
- At other times, they seem to make noise, or get a flashlight to turn on and off.
- Some have learned to communicate with talking devices such as the Ovilus, Frank’s Box, Ghost Radar, and so on.
Others are able to share impressions with psychics, mediums, and sensitives.
However, as communications devices, many of those range from tedious to unreliable. In many ways, our current tools are far too primitive.
And, whether it’s a recording, photograph, or someone’s impression, skeptical critics can debunk them. Sometimes, that’s far too easy to do, and it makes researchers look gullible.
It’s frustrating.
Now, I’m about to sound like the geek that I am.
Can we use computers?
First, remember that computers are based on binary activity. That is, something is on. Then it’s off. It’s all zeroes (nothing) and ones (something).
Maybe the on/off flickering of a flashlight or EMF surges with K-II device could be filtered into zeros and ones.
Anything that can produce zeros and ones can convey complex data with the right interpretive tools.
At this point, the issue is speeding up the data transfer. And how do we explain this to a ghost, even one from the 20th century?
(That was a rhetorical question. In fact, taken to an extreme, computerizing consciousness – aka mind uploading – is exactly what several researchers and engineers are working on. The question is: Are we ghost hunters making this concept too complex? Are talking devices worth the effort? For now, each person is likely to have his or her own opinions. We don’t have proof, one way or the other.)
Ghosts… energy or something else?
Something is creating the anomalies. We’re not sure what.
Energy seems to be involved. We can measure it with a variety of devices, from EMF meters to thermometers.
However, is that energy connected to consciousness? And, is it what we call a ghost?
It’s evidence, but we don’t know what it proves.
My bigger concern is that investigators are so busy focusing on ghost hunting equipment, they may be missing more powerful phenomena that could lead to breakthroughs in paranormal research.
Yes, the tools are helpful, if only so we can point to unexplained EMF surges and other anomalies. We can say, “See? That’s evidence that something odd is going on.”
But… what is it?
For now, we don’t know, but something is interacting with us. And, in most cases, it seems to be intelligent. Often, the spirit knows things that investigators didn’t know until after the investigation, when they researched whatever it is.
I believe that, at some haunted sites, something we can’t see (or see only briefly) is trying to communicate with us. That’s all I can say with confidence.