[Donna]

There is speculation far and wide as to whether or not ghosts exist. If they truly are real, then why do they inhabit the places they do? And what exactly are they? The walking dead? Forlorn spirits with unfinished business destined to wander the earth until their karmic debt is repaid? An imprint of energy left over from a traumatic event? And if we are lucky enough to witness an apparition, why are we unable to directly communicate with the spirit? Researchers have identified several different types of hauntings that take place worldwide.

Energy cannot be created nor destroyed -- but it can be left behind. There is a direct connection between a tragic, violent or untimely death and a haunting. An untimely passing robs the victim of a future, stops him from fulfilling his goals and dreams, cuts his life's plans drastically short, rips him away from his soul mate. He doesn't even have a chance to say goodbye. The shock of this sudden and unexpected departure is so intense that it leaves an imprint on the location, which results in a residual haunting. Residual hauntings are by far the most common, and are often compared to the data stored on a video recorder. The extreme energy emitted at the time of the tragedy is recorded onto the environment. When you experience the sound of phantom footsteps, images, apparitions or scents, what you are actually experiencing is a recorded playback of what happened in the past. There is no interaction with the living -- the ghost does not see or hear you because the ghost is not actually there. Only his energy remains, it is a remnant of his living form that you are seeing, just like when you watch a video. This cycle continues in the same place at usually the same time of day or year indefinitely until the energy is exhausted or diminishes to a low enough level that it is undetectable by human perception.

Traditional, or intelligent, hauntings are extremely rare, and yet these are the hauntings that people are most familiar with. If you've ever seen the movie "The Sixth Sense", you'll recall that Hayley Joel Osmond's character could hear, see, and speak with the ghosts around him. These were actual human spirits that had not crossed over into heaven and had some unfinished business with a living person, or a message they wanted to deliver before they could move on. The spirit is either so emotionally connected to his loved ones that he refuses to pass, or his death happened so quickly that he has not yet realized he is dead, and thus continues to live as though he were not. These ghosts will unlock doors and open windows, run the faucets and even interact with you directly because they are an "intelligent" presence, the personality of a person who was once alive but has stayed behind rather than passing over.

The third type of haunting, and undoubtedly the most frightening, is a demonic, or inhuman, haunting. In this case, the entity is similar to a traditional haunting because the spirit is intelligent and is existing in the present moment with you. Unfortunately, the emotion that is tying them to the earthly realm is usually anger. These spirits are malevolent and hostile, suffering from psychological instability or distress stemming from an unresolved conflict with the people who are being subjected to the demonic activity. Demonic presences tend to be ‘unleashed' in order for them to manifest. This is one reason why the use of a Ouija Board is customarily discouraged among many ghost hunters. As Carl Johnson of The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) put it, "...while some of these devices may at first appear to be utterly harmless and regarded as tools to aid in tapping into one's subconsciousness, the results can be likened to leaving open one's back door in a country setting. Now, you may only have some little squirrels and chipmunks wander into your kitchen, but odds are that eventually you'll find yourself facing down a bear, maybe a small cub, IF YOU'RE LUCKY. And keep in mind, where there's one "bear," others are lurking somewhere close by!"