Phenomena

Entities

1. A generic name for a person or other conscious being

2. Sometimes used to mean any unexplained energy capable of causing change in the temporal world.

Ghosts

1. Generic: An imprint of energy detectable by people or recording equipment.

2. Generic: A human or human-like form, or the form of an animal

3. Generic: Occasionally used as a term for any unexplained phenomenon

4: Specific: A person who has died, but stays in our existence rather than "cross over" or go to the spirit realm

Poltergeists

1. Literally, German for "knocking ghost" or "noisy ghost"

2. An entity capable of causing noise, destruction, or the movement of objects

3. The movement of objects attributed to a spirit, though often tied to the energies of the observer through subconscious psychokinesis

Note: some investigators have classified poltergeist activities into five stages. The first involves the senses in vague anomalies, such as odd noises or an eerie feeling. Stage two involves communication in a distinct manner, such as specific sounds, dights, and even smells. Stage three is a physical presence which interacts with the world, such as tangibe items moving, electrical phenomena, or physical contact. Stage four occurs when the poltergeist becomes a trickster. Objects flying around a room, breaking mirrors or windows, or frightening noises fall into this category. A category five poltergeist involves real danger. This occurs when the ghost has gotten violent, dangerous and threatening.

Spirits

1. The departed spirits of the once-living

2. A being of energy capable of interacting with the living

3. An evil entity (evil spirit)

Note 1: Are spirits dangerous? It depends on the type. Generally, they're less dangerous than living people. Actually, if you think of them as living, they're easier to understand. They may be curious, playful, angry, annoyed, or just bored. Sometimes they just want to know who is in "their" space. Positive spirits may come to deliver a message or just look in on things.

Note 2: There are evil presences too. Some of these were living, and others were never living people, but are other entities. These are most closely associated with the negative side of the "shadow people" phenomenon. There have been recorded cases of these beings holding people down or attempting to do physical harm, although most often they're associated with a horribly negative feeling described as intense fear or evil. Because the human has a physical body and much more energy, there are limits to what these can do.

Shadow Person

A being which has never lived on earth, and never will. These are often associated with negative energy. See also "Spirits."

Intelligent Haunting

A haunting where the entity is conscious and can interact with living witnesses.

Residual Haunting

Paranormal phemonena where there is no consciousness on the part of the witnessed entities.

Note: A being in a residual haunting isn't the same as a spirit, which can interact with the witness, but is more like a "play back," similar to a recording on a CD or phonograph record. Energy can be recorded in matter (such as a house, region, or even an object) and that energy later released. This type of haunting cannot interact with or injure a person, although may easily startle or scare.

Sensing Ghosts

Sight

Sightings of paranormal activities vary greatly. These can range from a shadow out of the corner of the eye to a full sighting. Ghost lights and fogs have been seen too.

Sound

Sounds range from "ordinary" such as banging, tapping and thumping of tangible objects by unseen beings, to voices or all sorts. Sometimes voices cannot be heard audibly at the time, but can be recorded. One of the most common ways of capturing ghostly voices is with EVP (See section on recording.)

Touch

Touches range from temperature changes to a prickling or electrical feeling, being bumped, feeling an unseen hand, being tugged at, being pushed or held down.

Smell

Often scents are connected with spirits. Positive experiences usually have positive smells, such as cologne, flowers, or other familiar odors. Bad smells, especially burning odors, are often associated with negative encounters.

Emotional/Other

The most common experiences with the paranormal involve feelings. People have reported feeling watched, uneasy, nervous, fearful, confused, angry, depressed, or any other number of emotions as a clue that a spirit or ghost was near. Some people, often called sensitives, will either have a stronger sense or an earlier sense of paranormal activity near.

Recording

EMF

Electro-Magnetic Frequency - a rise in electrical energy is often associated with the presence of a paranormal phenomenon. EMF detectors, which are used to detect electrical fields of appliances, can be used to detect paranormal fluctuations too.

EVP

Electronic Voice Phenomenon - The recording of often inaudible voices onto digital or analog media. Often a recorder is left in an area where paranormal activity is suspected and then reviewed for extra voices.

Film

Paranormal phenomena has been recorded on film, both tape and digital.

Photography

With the increase of digital photography, the number of unexplainable photos has increased. Ever since the early days of photography, individuals have tried to capture the paranormal.

Temperature

Spirits of all sorts need energy. When a spirit is about to manifest, it must draw that energy from somewhere. Sometimes the energy is drawn from the surrounding area, causing a drop in temperature. There have been instances where an entity gives off a lot of energy as well, causing an increase of temperature.

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