Ghosts
(added 1/17/2005)
Description:
In folklore, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes to realistic, lifelike forms, whether they resemble humans or animals. Other terms associated with it are apparition, haunt, haint, phantom, poltergeist, shade, specter, spirit, spook, wraith, demon, and ghoul.
Various Artwork
Sightings:
Countless historical and modern encounters have been documented. Notable cases include the Enfield Poltergeist, with 18 months of investigations, and the Rosenheim Poltergeist, observed by physicists.
The Enfield Poltergeist (1977):
In August 1977, single mother Penelope Hodgson called the Metropolitan Police to her rented home at 284 Green Street in Enfield, London, saying she had witnessed furniture moving and that two of her four children had heard knocking sounds on the walls. The children included Janet, aged 11, and Margaret, aged 13.
A police constable reported witnessing a chair "wobble and slide" but "could not determine the cause of the movement." Later claims included disembodied voices, loud noises, thrown toys, overturned chairs, and children levitating.
Janet Hodgson
Over a period of 18 months, more than 30 people, including the Hodgsons' neighbours, paranormal investigators, and journalists, said they variously saw heavy furniture moving of its own accord, objects being thrown across a room and the sisters seeming to levitate several feet off the ground. Many also heard and recorded knocking noises and a gruff voice.
Multiple paranormal investigators had visited the Enfield house, including the well known American demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren, who were convinced that the events had a supernatural explanation.