Balloon Matters

Here is a series of caps I took on Christmas Eve of 2006 at from the ghostcam at Ordsall Hall in Salford, England. The manager left some balloons and other objects out as trigger objects in an experiment. The idea behind a trigger object is to see if it moves. You can see other objects to the left, a teddy bear, which did not move, and a Christmas decoration which untied itself and fell from the balcony. Usually, there is no movement. On this occasion, a total of 3 different balloons not only moved around, but left the room altogether and ended up down the hall in the kitchen. Two of them have already made their exodus on the previous evening. Here is a series of movements that I captured and put into a movie. It was a nearly windless night. There were no people in the building over the holidays to open and close doors. This balloon, which originally began its journey up on the podium against the back wall, is one of the ones that the next day gradually moved to the center of the room and then out the door. Enjoy the show.

One Year Later:Children, More Balloons, and a Ghostly Figure

Followup: In a similar experiment conducted over the Easter weekend 2008, the balloons again put on a show. In checking with the staff and visitors, I'm told it is drafty, so there are air currents that might account for the balloons moving. But, once again, two balloons left the room entirely and went down a hallway into the kitchen, where I am told such currents do not exist. So, still odd behavior.

Last but not least, here is a cap I took in December. This one sat on my desktop and then in a file for weeks before I looked at it again. I originally capped it because of the children playing with the balloons. I thought it was charming and that I would post it some time when I wanted to illustrate the fun that children have visiting the hall.

When I went looking for it again in January, I noticed something mysterious that I had not seen originally, and that is the white object up on the balcony in the upper left, which I had originally assumed was sunlight. But, when I went back and looked at the cap again, I saw that dusk had fallen, so what was that up on the balcony?

Because the manager of the hall was on vacation, it was another two weeks before she returned and stated:

a. it was not one of the employees

b. no furniture (such as a bench) had been placed on the balcony

c. no other objects were placed there by the employees.

In short, she could not say what it was, only what it was not.The object has clearly defined edges that would not be present if this were light shining in from a window, so, I submit this here may be one of the ghosts of Ordsall, perhaps the same one who played with the balloons a year before looking longingly at the balloon being bounced aloft in a game by the children down below. We've all played that game. I've never been able to resist the game of keeping the balloon in the air and not letting it hit the ground, have you? Why not a ghost?

To watch the Ordsall Hall ghostcam, click on the title of this post.

Spirited Ghosts or Ghostly Spirits?

What is the difference between a ghost and a spirit? You can click on the title above to go to the Wikipedia entry for a formal discussion of the terms and the languages and traditions, the etymology of the words, but what really matters is how people use them today.

For most people a ghost is something you see. According to Wikipedia, "the term ghost has been replaced by apparition in parapsychology, because the word ghost is deemed insufficiently precise." This makes sense to me as well. Apparition, from the same root as appear. A ghost, then is what someone might see, an apparition, an image.

So, what is a spirit? Are all ghosts spirits? I don't think so. As I have mentioned in the previous post (New Year, Time Slipping), some ghosts are apparitions seen as part of a residual haunting, but incapable of interaction. They are just images of what once was. They do not possess a spirit. The spirits of the persons involved have passed on.

But sometimes the spirit is present and capable of appearing or speaking or even manipulating objects and energies. This is also referred to as an intelligent haunting. Some people may experience a visit from a loved one who has passed, but others may wander into the territory of a hostile spirit, and this can be unsettling and even harmful. The spirit may or may not be visible (a ghost), but these spirits are just as real as that which animates each of us. As you think and therefore you are, so it goes for the disembodied spirit. It is from these spirits that investigators are occasionally able to get answers to questions in the form of EVP's (Electronic Voice Phenonmenon). (*Note: it's also possible that an EVP may be part of a residual haunting.) Some spirits may also interact with investigators by lowering or raising room temperature or causing a higher energy reading on an EMF (ElectroMagnetic Field) meter.

So, we call upon the friendly spirits to be with us, hope that the spirit of a loved one may join us from time to time, but after seeing an apparition on the stairs, we will likely turn pale and declare, "I think I saw a ghost!"

Empty Seats at the Table

This Christmas season my mind is on empty seats at the table. Since last Christmas both my husband and I have had our fathers pass on to the next world. My father-in-law spent the last three years of his life in a nursing home, and his wife passed long before him, so the table at which he might have sat for Christmas dinner is long gone, but my mother recently commented that this would be her first Christmas without my father. I can't help but wonder if he made a quiet, unnoticed appearance there at her table. The good news is that there were other family members there, so the chairs around the table were full. If he did come back, Perhaps he sat at the organ, where he used to sit and practice hymns, and watched his family around the table from across the room.

This all leads to what is really on my mind and that is ghosts that come back, not because they are attached to people and want to check in on the family left behind, but those that are attached to places and the things that they have left behind. A friend of mine owns a house that contains three apartments, and it seems that the ghost of a man is occasionally seen. His description matches that of the man who built the house. He appeared in one instance to an elderly woman who was living there with her granddaughter. He seemed surprised to see the old woman and asked her what she was doing there. This ghost appears to be lost, living in the house he built, mostly unaware that others are the real occupants. This story is not unique, of course. Many people report having to talk to their resident ghosts and win their agreement to allow them to cohabitate the premises.

I have to quote a Bible scripture, which is also a truism: "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ... For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." In the case of ghosts, it appears that those who have treasured their earthly possessions too strongly, may find it hard to leave them behind. Talk about the old ball and chain. There's a lesson here for all of us.

Our Fascination with Ghosts

Whether an episode of TAPS, a haunted tour of a city in a trolley bus with a tour guide, or an overnight investigation in a haunted location, ghost hunting is big business. Suddenly businesses and historic buildings, instead of hiding their ghosts in the closet, are bringing them out of hiding and broadcasting their existence on network television in an effort to bring in more customers, bring in the tourists. You don't have to wait till Halloween to enjoy the "fun" of being scared under controlled conditions.

Everyone wants to catch a ghost on film (speaking metaphorically) and provide the ultimate proof to convince the skeptics. Fuzzy photos, blown up so much the individual pixels can be seen are all over the net, usually with the ghostly figure circled and with an arrow pointing to it. This is necessary, since the images are not really visible and once pointed out, generate wildly different opinions as to what is being seen. Orbs were popular for a while, but people are finally catching on to the fact that they are just dust and moisture caught in the camera flash while flying too close to the lens. Similarly, camera straps and long hair create brightly lit examples of alleged ectoplasm. Does this mean there aren't any real captures of real ghosts on the net?. No, I believe there are some good examples out there, but one has to filter through a lot of dubious claims to find them.

The good thing is that more people are talking about their experiences and sharing them with a wider audience. When you consider that many of their experiences involve a loved one who has passed on and is attempting to communicate, this is a positive development. Some ghosts stick around a place they loved and end up being the unexpected co-resident who thinks of everyone else as house guests. Some stories bring a tear to the eye and a warm feeling to the heart. Others are incredibly sad, when you realize their ghosts are wayward spirits who have been unable to escape reliving terrifying events. Others are harrowing, since there are unhappy spirits who may wish to harm those still living. The house ghost, the visit from grandpa or your favorite aunt, or a child who died before his time - these are usually nothing to be afraid of, and if approached calmly can be good for everyone involved. The malignant or nuisance spirits, these need to be dealt with or avoided.

Halloween is about wearing costumes. Ghost hunting is about interacting with real persons whose bodies are gone, but whose spirits and personalities linger. If you are interested, there is plenty of information on the net on the different kinds of hauntings, how to go about trying to spot a ghost or contact a spirit and how to get rid of one; how to protect yourself; what kind of equipment is helpful. Watch for posts on these various topics . . . as I grow this blog, I will be adding helpful information on every topic I can think of related to ghosts, ghost hunting and all things ghost-related.