WHAT IS A GHOST?

Theories have abounded for centuries so let's try and condense the more plausible hypotheses.

ATMOSPHERIC RECORDINGS

Also known as the Stone Tape Theory. This is a popular theory that has more of a scientific basis. At the time of death, or of great trauma, a person may leave an imprint on the atmosphere that is played out over and over again, some might say like an old style vinyl record that has stuck. Viewed, or heard, by anyone else, this recording will seem terrifying and confusing, but is it simply like experiencing a recording stuck in a perpetual loop?

Too far fetched? Think about it. If you showed a medieval person a video being played on a TV screen, the panic and terror caused would be tantamount to the reaction you would have at seeing a paranormal recording on the atmosphere.

Perhaps this phenomena will be explained in a hundred years and the people of that future time will exhibit the same smug reaction we would when observing the reactions of the medieval person watching the video.

There's an old saying 'History repeats itself, historians repeat each other.'

To add fuel to this theory you only have to look at some of the stories where this theory fits. One of the most famed British ghost sightings was in York in 1953 by the then plumber Harry Martindale. Working in the Treasurer's House cellar, Harry suddenly became aware of a Roman legion of men and horses stepping out from a solid wall and passing him by. They did not acknowledge him and he could only see the Romans and horses from the knee up as though they were effortlessly wading through the solid floor. It was uncovered later that the floor in the cellar had been raised at some point in history after the Roman occupation. If the floor were still at the same lower level, Harry would have seen the ghosts' legs.

Have you ever seen a film projected onto a wall? Parts of the projected images will be missing because the wall is not large enough for the recording. Is this proof that what Harry saw could well have been a recording, etched onto the atmosphere somehow, and played on an earthly backdrop no longer large enough to maintain the entire image?

How these recordings are made, viewed, even powered is still anyone's guess. Maybe Harry was like a spiritual 'play' button which triggered the effect. Perhaps not everyone can tune into these images because not everyone's mind has the right equipment to do so. Not yet anyway.

Recommended viewing 'The Stone Tape' BBC Productions, available on DVD.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS A soul may refuse to pass onto the next plain if there is a vital piece of unfinished business in the material world. Is this a compulsory thing? You often hear the phrase 'He tied up all his affairs before he died.' So when a soul becomes disconnected from the shell can it remain here to try and complete whatever it is that must be done. Many are the tales told of people having visions of friends or loved ones who are supposedly far away, even in other countries, but on later investigation it is found that person is already dead. So is that simply their unfinished business was to see a loved one final time before passing on.

Living people are said to have a soul. Our bodies are containers for the soul which is a receptacle for all our experiences, knowledge and personality make up. When the body fails or ceases to function does the soul carry on to another plain of existence? So you actually don't die, only your shell does.

Do you take with you, to wherever it is, everything you have in your soul?

THE FACTS OF LIFE. You're born. You die. What happens in the middle is entirely up to you.

Do we retain in death what we have achieved in life? Does a bad person become a bad ghost?

Recommended viewing 'The Ghost Whisperer' Living TV, and on DVD.

POLTERGEISTS

Poltergeist is a German word meaning mischievous spirit. Not often seen, poltergeists have a bad reputation for doings misdeeds ranging from mildly irritating to downright petrifying. Is it feasible that a ghost who has the power to pass through solid matter and interfere with the placement of solid objects would use it hiding people's car keys, switching lights on and off or rapping on walls?

An interesting theory is that poltergeists are not ghosts at all, they are in fact manifestations of living, human brain activity we do not understand yet. A kind of Accidental Telekinesis. Scientists only understand 10% of the human brain so who knows what powers lay dormant in there. Think about how amazing your brain is already. Memories, feelings and experiences stored in a sponge-like blob of matter. There's no magnetic tape or micro-chips up there, just solidified goo and connections, all naturally formed. It's an astounding piece of kit you get free when you are born.

And consider the 90% of our brains we supposedly don't use. Have we turned off some sections of the human brain over the centuries because we simply didn't need them anymore? Indeed, there are many cave drawings dating back thousands of years where ancient people have drawn human figures onto walls with a second outline. Could this be how our ancestors saw each other, actually taking for granted the visible human aura that nowadays only 'gifted' people claim to see? Perhaps we all have telepathic and telekinetic abilities, but because of the nature of our hi-tec society these gifts are redundant. It's only been in recent years that we have discovered what our spleens are for, (the disposal of old red blood cells.) For centuries we never knew what it's purpose was! And if we do have paranormal abilities up there, laying dormant, could it be that they are sometimes accidentally jerked into action by traumatic events or mental stress. Equate this with the classic behavioural patterns of poltergeist activity, namely moving objects from somewhere they should be to somewhere they shouldn't. Maybe poltergeists feed off anxiety?

Poltergeist activity is more often than not connected with puberty. The mental torture and confusion this period of anyone's life causes is bound to have reverberations around one's system. If anyone ever tells you they think they have a poltergeist in their house, ask them if they have any stroppy, arrogant teenage kids.

Recommended reading 'The Raiment Of Light' a study of the human aura David Tansley.

Recommended viewing 'Poltergeist' available on DVD