Paranormal Entities around the World

Artificial ghosts

So before I begin talking about reported ghost phenomena i'm gonna talk about artificial ghosts which are created by interfering with the brains sensory signals. Are ghosts only created in our brains? The following experiment says that they are. The experiment was conducted in Switzerland led by Professor Olaf Blanke. The team located at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) of Switzerland stated that the research they conducted has given up the ghost to science. Professor Olaf Blanke explained why: "Our experiment induced the sensation of a foreign presence in the laboratory for the first time. It shows that it can under normal conditions, simply through conflicting sensory motor signals. The robotic system mimics the sensations of some patients with mental disorders or of unhealthy individuals under extreme circumstances. This confirms that it is caused by an altered perception of their own bodies in the brain."

Credit: Current Biology

The experiment recreated the feelings of presence or FOP. The illusion was achieved from a programed delay (500 milliseconds) between the brains processing of the body's movements. And this did not just conjure up feelings of being watched and feeling a presence but also two participants asked for it to stop because they were too spooked by the experiment. The scientists say the experiment that what some people experienced is just a trick of the brain. Co-Author  Dr Giulio Rognini from the EPFL said: "Our brain possesses several representations of our body in space. Under normal conditions, it is able a unified self-perception of self from these representations. But then the system malfunctions because of disease - or in this case, a robot - this can sometimes create a second representation of one's own body, which is no longer perceived as 'me' but as someone else, a "presence".

I know what you may be thinking..so its all in our minds? Well the experiment was conducted on 12 individuals with various neurological conditions like epilepsy, stroke, migraine, etc. The experiment robot was controlled by the volunteers who were blindfolded to move its jointed mechanical arm with index fingers.

Credit: Alain Herzog / EPFL

The movements were translated to another robot arm behind them which touched their backs. The volunteers felt weird but nothing special, only when the back arm robot touch was delayed by 500 milliseconds occurred the sensations began and all the strange feelings were conjured up. Also the participants had records of encountering FOPs in their history.

Credit: Alain Herzog / EPFL

Credit: Alain Herzog / EPFL

There has been criticism but keep in mind that the sensations were triggered by an outside source, this doesn't not disprove that all sensations are of our minds but that outside factors can interfere with our brain senses and cause unnerving feelings of something near, either by the air, emotional feelings, disease, or something else...

For more information visit the EPFL Post here.

Haunted Vessels 

Haunted Vessels can be anything inanimate like for example ships, cars, machinery, that has had contact with many people who have been around it. Thus after years this energy tends to build and give the vessels it own life according to legend.

Many stories have been told of ghost ships which are plentiful in occurrences. Many stories tell of ships being abandoned and found with no evidence of a struggle raid or otherwise. One famous legend is about a ship named Caleuche in southern Chile. The legend describes the ship as its own conscious being that sails the sea carrying the spirits of people who have drowned in sea, most commonly near the island of Chiloe. The sightings of Caleuche are described as looking beautiful and bright accompanied with sounds of music like from a party and laughing. When the ship disappears it does so by submerging itself underwater similarly like the legendary Ghost Ship the Flying Dutchman. Today the legend of Caleuche is considered one of the most important myth of the culture of Chile.

Crisis Apparition Spirit

Caergwrle Bridge Ghost

Crisis Apparition Spirits are recently deceased people who visits someone they strongly connected or had strong emotional ties with usually to say goodbye before moving on or when in a severe state of health. The Apparition occurs in many ways, one for example when a person is close to death and they seemingly send out a message usually images of the location to the person they have strong connections with but unknowingly meaning the person who is dying is not aware of it at all. Sometimes they appear after death to the one the love to show how they died before having any knowledge of what has happened.

Crowd ghosts

Crowd ghosts are ghosts that appear only when there are many people in one place like train stations, sports arenas, musicals, operas, etc. Many types of these ghosts also appear in photographs of parties, celebration, family portraits and are often not recognized by anyone. Some are recognized as a friend, family member, brother sister, person who used to be around the area a lot. Crowd ghosts can be friendly and demonic in some cases.

Photo dating from World War 2 (in Egypt) in a drinking party, labeled as a friendly soldier ghost 

Another famous ghost photo

Ghosts That Are Unaware They Are Deceased

Ghost Guard taken in Geelong Gaol, Victoria 

If there is something that many people find creepy is that they may be dead. Knowing that nobody sees you and everything seems to repeat itself in a loop trying to escape. Many accounts of ghosts are of those who don't know they are dead. This happens when the person dies in a fast manner, in their sleep, shot, car accident, or without them having a clue that they have died. And encounters describe the ghost as performing normal tasks that they used to do while alive like if its another day. In theory it is thought that they create their own reality and continue interacting with people they knew like if they were alive. Reports from people who have experienced the ghosts describe feelings of confusion, sadness, and feelings that are like of desperation usually where the person who died lived or spend most of their days.

Ghosts With Unfinished Business

Credit: Hernan Marin

Another types of ghost are those that have unfinished business. The ghost will actively pursue his/her goal or telling of information. An example are stories of when someone gets murdered and the killer escapes without the police finding anything. The ghosts will try to tell someone close to them about who the killer is or how to find them. Other times they can appear as monster or disfigured but not to haunt purposely but usually correlates to how they died. Sometimes it can be totally different like showing someone the location of treasure of were they died or where something big happened. Once the information is showed or told the ghost moves on and is never seen again. 

Ghosts that are Trapped or Lost

Credit: Christophe Gilbert

Another type of ghost is one that are bound to the living world or hopelessly lost to wander in a location or locations. Many accounts of this type of ghosts are supposedly trapped by an event that caused them to get stuck or that another entity is keeping them bound to earth. The ghost can be suppressed by an evil entity or by another energy. And the trapped ghosts usually in homes, caves, and forests mainly but varies. 

The ghosts that are lost can be from people that were traveling to another place to live or just traveling and died in an accident. The ghosts that are lost are usually seen where a long road or stretch of water that was used to get to one place to another also highways, etc.

Ghost Lights

Marfa Lights 

One of the most common types of sightings are ghost lights. They are not bound usually in one location but can travel long distances  and are often attributed is to extraterrestrial activity. Ghost lights can vary in form and color. Sometimes with ghosts it can be from old candles and torches from the time the ghost was alive or the firing of weapons like guns and canons. The phenomena is mainly seen near mountains, hills, rivers, oceans, forests, around homes and the sky. The origins of these lights can sometimes be connected to a person or event but in many cases they are connected to aliens or some other form of energy. Rare natural phenomenon can cause lights by a complex blend of circumstances but are dismissed due to the lack of evidence of it happening were a sighting occurred.

There are also stories of lights guiding people to safety or away from a certain place. The most commonly locations of these guiding lights are reported in forests. Some people believe that they are the nature spirits or even fairies.

Another explanation is that they are caused by aliens, drones, secret government experiments, or a vortex. Today many places experience ghost lights that seem to have no origin and disappear as suddenly as they appear. 

Hornet Spook light being observed by onlookers

One of the most famous documented lights are the Hornet Spook lights in Joplin, Missouri. The lights are well documented and have been described by the military as lights from an unknown source. The place where they appear is located twelve miles southwest of Joplin in a remote location but the lights attract many people that want to experience the lights themselves. Its origin is often attributed to local legends of Indians that were killed or are searching for their remains or someone. When a person tries to get near the lights the light seemingly disappear without a trace and when they backup they reappear.  They range in color and are seen near treetops and many people have tried to explain its origin but end up with more questions than answers. There are many videos online that show the elusive lights and accounts of their experience seeing them.

Artists rendition of a Will-o-Wisp

Lastly there is another type of ghost lights that manifest in a unique matter that are called Will-o-Wisp and appear in many folktales. Probably the most used in stories of ghosts and haunting are of lights that manifest without a source and have had a great impact in superstition since their sightings in the past.

Vengeful Ghosts

Eugene Thiebault 1863 Famous photographer created ghostly photos by using double exposure before photoshop

Vengeful ghosts are spirits that return to the living world to get revenge due to unfair death or murder and can come back not just in human ghost forms and also animals. Vengeful ghosts are more violent than most other ghost and have been reported to attack anyone when they disrupt the place that they either lived in or died. Vengeful ghosts make up a good amount of sightings that purposely scares the person and can attack. Injuries include scratches, nightmares that repeat every night or when they sleep, also creating a mess around the house. Stories of these types of ghosts have been told since ancient times, and is part of several cultures around the world. 

Hungry Ghosts

Hungry ghosts are a type of spirit that in Chinese Buddhism and tradition are driven by intense emotional needs in a animalistic way. They are mainly told in Chinese and Japanese beliefs. Hungry ghosts are told to be formed when the persons whole family died or stopped respecting their ancestors. 

The term hungry ghost can be referred as to a form of punishment and is told that the person can return as an animal as well. Hungry Ghosts are described as people who were greedy, jealous, selfish, or envious.

Ghost Festival offerings being prepared 

In Hong Kong their is a belief that their ancestors are granted permission to return to the living world and are ready to eat because they were either not given offerings or sufficient offerings and people prepare offerings to the hungry ghosts in what they call the Ghost Festival. 

Mischievous ghosts

Mischievous ghosts are ghost that manifest paranormal activity for its own amusement or unknown cause. They can often be confused for evil ghosts but do no harm. They are reported to take stuff and move it around the house or whisper random things. They often require attention and when ignored then expect some of your stuff to go missing specially something that you may need. They have been described as troubled for some cause when they were alive but why they are bound is a mystery. 

Residual Ghosts

Credit: Lollomelo via Flickr

Residual ghosts are very popular. In many cases the apparition of a ghost encounter is usually the same like a video in a loop. In this case communicating with the ghost(s) may not be possible. It can be described as an imprint of the life of the person that lived in the place.

Reports vary from people with horses traveling to nowhere, libraries with extra unknown staff, industrial companies talking to employees that later are discovered to have worked there years ago, noises of a party that originate from nowhere, singing, children playing, and in homes can be relatives that loved doing a certain thing. Many accounts also talk of ghosts that join in gatherings but later are never seen again and many more. Also deceased pets have been reported as appearing like any other day.

Child Ghosts

Child ghosts are a common type of ghost. Child ghosts remain in the living world due to not knowing what to do after its death or being trapped by another entity. Child ghosts are considered as a sad type of ghost because usually was a child that died young and has no idea of what has happened and stay were they played and grew up. They usually stick or cling to someone in order not to feel alone. They are also hard to communicate with because they tend to move around just like children do. When child ghosts are upset they can create a mess around were they appear and just like a child if you talk to it like a little brother or sister they calm down.

Ghostly Sounds and Smells

This type of ghostly phenomenon is reported as one that happens usually to someone who lost a relative or a person that was prominent to a location/place. The phenomenon is described as a smell that the person recognizes such as a certain perfume that a deceased one used to wear or smells that correlate to an event that happened there. One example is reports in hotels of a strong perfume smell that seemingly comes out of nowhere and then disappears. And usually whispers/voices , scratches are heard when ghostly smells manifest. Many reports also show that sometimes the spirit associated with the smell respond to actions of the person that experiences the phenomena. 

Orbs

Credit Via Flickr by Spectrefloat

Orbs are the most commonly known phenomenon around the world. Orbs are highly debated whether they are attributed to paranormal activity. Many researchers explain them as nothing more than camera retro-reflection off from dust, pollen, etc. But many cases describe orbs as being in differently colors and different than what appear in photographs. Many video recordings exist where Orbs move as with intelligent control and disappear without explanation. They are also associated with it being the energy of the ghost or its form that ghosts turn into to move around. Even though Orbs are commonly described  as spherical many interesting videos of orbs are usually in many different forms such as spinning shapes, rotating squares, or misty ovals that change as they move around essentially they can be any shape but are always concentrated in a small amount of space. They also appear when a ghost communicates or activity happens, and also are seen going into people. The effects of orbs can be from just being frightened to reports saying that the person that had an orb go in or out of the person suddenly gets dizzy, angry, sleepy, or even in some extreme cases possessed. Also Orbs are seen pretty much anywhere where paranormal activity is reported which makes them the most known type of phenomenon in the world and its explanations vary from ghosts to aliens to elementals.

Shadow people

If there is a phenomenon that truly can be very frightening is the sighting of shadow people. Shadow people are apparitions that resemble the human form but are observed to be made of nothing but black smoke or just dark matter that is like a void in space. Shadow people are seen all over the world in practically everywhere. 

Shadow in forest Gif via Tumblr

They have a tendency of appearing out of nowhere and certainly freak out anyone who see them. 

Their origins can sometimes be explained by people who,used to work or live in a place but many cases have no explanation. Some say they are people who lived long ago and others say they are from a different dimension. Whatever their origins they are the most known to inhabit any place even in forests or underwater anywhere. Shadow are not known to attack or be harmful but do scare and are photographed and film in many places and all are just like how they say they look like: shadows with a human shape.

Succubus and Incubus

A Succubus is a demon in female form to engage in sexual activity with man and an Incubus is a demon in male form to to the same but to women. The Succubus or Incubus do sexual activity to take away the life of the person afflicted slowly. Many stories say that they are able to conceive children and the offspring are referred to as a Cambion. A way to get rid of the demons is to perform an exorcism but many debate whether it works. Another way is to just moved the afflicted person to another location. Today not many stories exist of encountering these beings but are referenced in the bible. Many stories tell of being paralyzed when in the presence of the Succubus or Incubus in the past and today researchers say that it may have been a type of sleep paralysis which people labeled as it being a demon specially while being in bed.

Angels and Demons

Angels are the mostly known entity in the world, they are benevolent beings that act as intermediaries between God or Heaven and Earth. They are described as guarding spirits or guiding spirits. The roles of angels are said to be protectors of humans and the ones that carry out Gods tasks. They are commonly described as humanoids with bird like wings, a halo or lights that follow them and show braveness and loyalty to all. Angels are found in various religions and mythologies. Many reported sightings explain that the person who witnessed or even talked to the angel(s) were overcome by a feeling of bliss, calmness, and peace. And angels are also reportedly seen in where a miracle occurred. 

They are sometimes reported being with small children protecting them from harm. And also when someone survives a horrific accident.

Demons often referred to as fiends are malevolent beings that are said to be fallen angels, unclean spirits, or an unknown spirit origin that may cause possessions. It is believed that they can be conjured and even controlled but with immense risks. Demons appear in mostly all of the worlds most known religions and are feared due to its history and beliefs. Demons though are not  all evil in many stories, they are described as the ones that makes sure people believe in God.

They can vary in form , from someone familiar to animals and creatures. Exorcism is a main way of getting rid of demons but comes with a risk of death to the one either possessed or performing the exorcism or anyone in the vicinity of the demon. Reports say that when in vicinity of a Demon that a smell like burning is reported and scratches mostly three marks , and sudden feeling of draining energy. Poltergeist activity is mostly attributed to Demons and can become very extreme such as total change of the area to show frightening and foul things. 

Demon Captured at window in Indiana more info Here

Etheric Revenants

And finally Etheric Revenants are very rare entities that are described similarly as shadow people but are considered extremely dangerous for taking energy from the area they are in. They are so mysterious that many believe they are not from this planet but another dimension or origin. These beings are hardly talked about because of how rare they are. Reports say that they take a physical and emotional toll on its victims.