Everyone’s heard the word and most think of ghosts or aliens when they hear the term. Wikipedia defines the word Paranormal as “a general term that describes unusual experiences that lack a scientific explanation,[1] or phenomena alleged to be outside of science’s current ability to explain or measure.[2]” (Wikipedia, Paranormal)

So this could mean almost anything that happens that can’t be explained. It doesn’t necessarily hinge on alien encounters or ghostly visitors. Wikipedia goes further to say “In parapsychology, it is used to describe the potentially psychic phenomena of telepathy, extra-sensory perception, psychokinesis, ghosts, and hauntings. The term is also applied to UFOs, some creatures that fall under the scope of cryptozoology, purported phenomena surrounding the Bermuda Triangle, and other non-psychic subjects.[3] Stories relating to paranormal phenomena are found in popular culture and folklore, but the scientific community, as referenced in statements made by organization such as the United States National Science Foundation, contends that scientific evidence does not support paranormal beliefs.[4]”.

Dictionary.com gives a similar definition for paranormal. Their definition is “of or pertaining to the claimed occurrence of an event or perception without scientific explanation, as psychokinesis, extrasensory perception, or other purportedly supernatural phenomena.” (Dictionary.com: Paranormal)

So, two sources say that paranormal basically means an occurrence or event outside of scientific explanation. This covers a lot of ground. It’s also highly disputed that paranormal events do actually occur. There are basically believers and non-believers, which is true to a lot of things, including religion. Now, I’m not going to get into a religious or scientific debate, I just want to discuss my views on the paranormal. If I offend anyone, I apologize, I am not writing this to offend or point fingers.

I will come out and admit that I believe in the paranormal. Yes, I do believe that a person’s spirit, or ghost, can stay behind and “haunt” a place, person or object. Not all hauntings are scary or evil, and not all are nice. I’ve found in my discussions with others that hauntings range from violent to mischievous and even helpful.

We’ve all read ghost stories, they all have someone being scared out of their wits by an otherworldly encounter. Why is it that all or most of the ghost stories and movies that are widely available are scary or violent? Because to most it is just a fantasy world, like the wonderful world that houses unicorns, fairies, elves and other mythical beings. It’s just another tool to scare kids into behaving or not going somewhere that is not safe.

Ghosts and spirits have always been viewed as not real to most. In the Native American legends and beliefs, spirits are real. They commune with the spirits, they try to keep the spirits happy, for if a spirit is upset by something, that spirit can become vengeful and cause bad things to happen. I for one am one non-Native American person who believe that they are right. I would love to know more about the Native American society and culture.

During many days where I just didn’t have anything to do, I would do searches on places like Yahoo or Google on the paranormal. What I found is that there are many people who believe, like I do, that ghosts do exist and that paranormal activities of all kinds are very real. I’ve found that there are hundreds of Paranormal research societies and groups out there that investigate the phenomena.

Ottawa and Kingston, Ontario both host Haunted Walks, that take their customers on tours of the haunted places in each city at night. They tell the stories of the haunting and why it came to be haunted in a setting that will best scare the hapless person who paid to be taken on this tour. While I think these walks are interesting and informative, but they cost way too much to go on them. To me, it’s a rip off, but that’s my opinion.

Two of the most known groups out there are Penn State University’s Paranormal Research Society (PRS), featured in the A&E show Paranormal State (A&E’s Paranormal State site), and The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) which is featured in the TV show, Ghost Hunters (TAPS Website). Both of these shows are interesting to watch, and give the viewer a look at the various ways that one can investigate a paranormal phenomenon claim.

A lot of people will argue that these shows are fake, that they’re all just illusions used to get more money. I’m not going to pass judgement on these shows, but will  merely state that I like watching them, they are interesting and profile new technology that is quite interesting to me.

Have I seen a ghost? Yes, I do believe that I have seen one, or at least a shadow of one. When I lived in a multi level town home, I was the first to experience an unexplainable shadow moving up the stairs and into the room at the very top, which happened to be my bedroom. Most people say that the shadow could have been anything, but I ask, what shadow disappears the moment you turn to look directly at it? Yes, I’m fully aware that it could have been a figment of my imagination, but I don’t believe it was. My mom experienced the same thing, and she told me first, or at least came into my room asking me if I had just run up the stairs and if not if one of my brothers had come home. She described exactly what I had been seeing, without my saying a word to her about it.

I also picked up feelings of unwanted presences in the basement of that house. It was a fairly new house so I didn’t know why there would be such disturbing feelings in the basement, and before I could try to figure out what it was, we moved out of that house. Before that, I experienced a few unexplained things, a candle moving across a table in my brother’s room, a man’s face in the window of a dilapidated shack that used to be the original home on the property that was now completely full of junk and no one bigger than a child could fit in the house and shadows created by non-existent people in the wrong directions (to the left of a light, but looking like the light source was in fact to the right of the thing making the shadow).

I know I am not the only one who believes they have seen a ghost, or have been haunted. The two shows above definitely drive that fact home. I am a believer, but I still question some things. I still want to know what researchers are using to detect signs of paranormal activity and how these instruments work. I would love to be part of an investigation into paranormal activity, but cannot find the time to join in them. I am still sort of sceptical about most claims of paranormal activity, most of these claims just seem so out there that I cannot comprehend it actually happening, but then is the person detailing this phenomenon that creative or crazy?

I cannot make anyone else believe, but I can get them talking about it, intelligently debating about the topic. Do ghosts and spirits really exist? What of the other things associated with paranormal activities? Do aliens, demons, angels and otherworldly creatures really exist? Are spirits and ghosts just human, or are there animal ghosts as well? What are your thoughts on this?