One thing I've often wondered is why certain ghosts appear transparent and others don't. The famous Roman Soldiers in York looked completely solid to the witness who famously saw them in the 1950s, while the Brown Lady of Raynham Hall always appears transparent. Many ghost phtos also show phantoms of varying transparency- the Tulip Staircase ghost(s), however look really solid and "human".

What are anyone else's thoughts on this?

Perhaps matt it is either an indication of age, or an indication of the spirits ability to draw on other power to display themselves?

This is an interesting point about the power spirits could use to make themselves appear. Perhaps the Roman Soldiers' ghosts might draw a great deal of power to make themselves appear, as when they were alive, it seems that they had just been defeated, as the witness said they had sad expressions on their faces.

Good point Matt!

Perhaps its the type of ghost too... perhaps images that replay themselves like residual ghosts are clearer then those who, as sentient beings, have to collect the energy to interact and appear?

Perhaps things like lay lines have an influence too?

Hi Chase, you've made a good point as well. I don't know much about lay lines, though, what are these? The name sounds familiar.

Could also depend on the strength of the circumstances that ties the phantom to this plane. A violent death may have more to it than granny who liked her favorite spot in the garden, if you get my meaning.

Matt, Ley Lines are supposed geographical lines of energy that are all over the world. Usually places of profound worship or other important monuments, occurances etc seem to correlate to these lines. Here is what Wikipedia has to say about them.

Hi Gigan,

I've read the Wikipedia article about ley lines, it contains some good points. I agree with what you were saying about how a violent death could lead a ghost to manifest itself by using a great deal more energy, due to the reason why it haunts a particular location.

...which could also explain why our mysterious monk friend was such a vague shape

an interesting theory for sure!

And a particularly valid one... I wonder if the majority of ghosts are linked to violent or unhappy deaths? I know theres no statistical data on this, but it could prove interesting!

This is really interesting. The Newby Church ghost could appear transparent cos the spirit can't manifest itself as well as others- if his spirit haunts the church because he is praying for help then this of course is a much more "innocent" reason than the ghost of someone who died violently making themself appear.

Another good hypothesis Matt

It would be interesting if there was some thorough research on this

yes, but just as ghosts can appear themselves on our plain, perhaps we do appear ourselves on theirs ? and that makes me wonder, would I be a solid shape or a transparent one?

well, to play devils advocate, would we not experience people trying to send us 'to the light'?

LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, aaaaaah, I can picture it, people from the other realm trying to "cast me away" from my own home haha

..well, some entities do try to scare people from their homes.
Like when they report voices saying GET OUT! that's a pretty good sign

woah now that you mention it more specifically sammy, it might just make sense why there are ghosts that attack people and want them to leave their homes, perhaps in the other realm they're "living" a normal life and we are ghosts to them, and just as we try to cast ghosts away they might do the same with us, and that' swhere the violence begins.. interesting..

yeah, kinda like "The Others" I guess

I can think of several people I'd send to the light... Ms Hilton being first in line...

HAHAHAHA!! Chase, that was brilliant.
I am in total agreeance

Can we send that Richie broad along with her??

I have never seen the others but if it has my theory on it I'm sure to watch it

and what about Donald Trump? he must be paranormal in origin, for that is no earthly hairdo....

Maybe the transparent ghosts are trying to camouflage themselves so that they can sneak without us seeing them?

nah, i don't think so
when ghosts appear, that means they definitely want us to see them

i agree with your point of view, matt
the way a person died, his/her character and the reason why it "haunts" seems to have a heavy influence on how solid ghost appears
maybe that's why there are more encounters with vicious ghosts,
additionally they suck vital energy off us, to amend their existence, so they can feel stronger

Interesting point Iwona.. do you think that ghosts 100% conciously decided to appear?

I guess what Im trying to say is do you think its possible for a ghost to appear without choosing to do so? Can they, hypothetically, appear when they least desire to do so?

well i think, yes, it's possible, like on this video you've seen for sure, about "ghost soldiers" caught on tape, passing by in the woods...
some entities may not be in need to be seen, although it can happen that we spot them randomly

but the majority of sightings concerns ghosts who want us to see them, more, who wants us to react somehow...
at least it's my point of view

Yes that was what I was thinking! Sometimes I've heard of ghosts of Roman foot soldiers in my local town walking through cellars... I would love to know how and why they wanted to be seen... I think its a very human trait though - the desire not to be forgotten.

I've heard stories of ghosts of relatives appearing at births/marriages/funerals etc, important family occasions... almost certainly where they would want to be seen and involved

you might want to read this Chase:
http://www.ghost-mysteries.com/forum/index...ic=2967&hl=

I believe that to a certain extent, but what gets me is when they appear to a kid, and an adult in the same room can't see it. That suggests to me that they're totally capable of manipulating how they are seen by others. Maybe it's sort of like that ringtone that's been out recently that only kids can hear. Maybe the same deal happens with our eyesight, and ghosts know how to take advantage of that. What's transparent to an adult may be solid to a child or animal.

Honestly (ignore my earlier joke), I suspect that many ghosts are totally unaware of living beings at all and thus possible motives in appearing solid or transparent are completely irrelevant. Poltergist's, on the other hand, seem to be very aware of the living, but these may not be spirits in the traditional sense, but other kinds of psychic manifestatations associated with living people (who are not aware of the poltergeist they 'create').

I agree with that. A residual haunting for instance is probably not going to produce ghosts who are aware of you, or even aware of themselves. So how they would appear would indeed be irrelevant. I also agree that poltergeists aren't "traditional" spirits, though I do find it interesting that they interact so forcefully with people, and yet don't ever seem to show themselves to the people they're tormenting. You never see a "Here is a poltergiest holding a plate right before throwing it" picture. As far as being psychic manifestions created by living people... you lost me there. I'm not saying it's not possible, but just that it's difficult for me to wrap my mind around the type of circumstances that would lead to a psychic manifestion of a poltergeist.

All that aside, there does seem to be a small percentage of ghosts who make themselves known in a way that appears self aware, and aware of others. I feel Hezgirl's story over in her Response about children being more sensitive to the paranormal thread, is a good example of that.

It has been seriously suggested that poltergeists result from abnormal psychic tension - particularly from adolescents (especially around the age of puberty). I'll try and find a reference later.

that would be nice
i've seen a poltergeist video yesterday tho, a very creepy one (can't say it's genuine or not), and i could hear someone breathing while all these strange things kept happening...can be simply faked, but...i don't know, it was after midnight and i was alone so i didn't manage to cool down and take a closer look

Grrrr. I am moving soon and I have packed all my books into boxes.

I am thinking of a book called Poltergeist! by Colin Wilson.

Ah. I didn't pack this book!

From chapter one:

"One of the first thing (sic) that struck the early scientific investigators of poltergeists is that there usually seemed to be a disturbed adolecent in the house - usually a girl. Lombroso himself had noticed how often teenage girls seemed to be involved in his paranormal cases - like the girl who could see with her ear."

WOOOT?

Strange yes? Apparently a well documented case!
I think the book also mentions someone seeing with their foot or elbow.

This book is written by a very rational person, but he has researched some very strange cases.

i tried to google it, but found no results
shame, it's very interesting!

How annoying!

The book was published in about 1980.
I think it is currently out of print.

seems like it is out of print, Goat
tried to find something on pages about Colin Wilson, but it's really hard
have you seen how many books this guy wrote? i was impressed

anyway it sucks there's no information, if you say this case was well documented

It's a while since I read this.

He has written a lot though.

Interesting point Greygoat!!!

I wonder how ghosts can't be aware of us if they have been us? They must know we exist? Or do you think we forget that as we pass? Almost like a rebirth...

This is a really interesting point. I've heard quite often, though, that ghosts are meant to be aware of us- I'm not sure if this can be totally proved. With the famous sighting of the Roman Soldiers in the museum cellar in York, it has often made me wonder if the ghosts could have been aware of "our world" in this case and if the could detect the presence of a person near them.

Ghosts and or Spirits are very aware of everything here on Earth.

When the spirit leaves the body here on Earth they take with it its intelligence, memories and even feelings the only difference is they do not have their Earthly Body but everything else is the same.

They still feel love and hate and the need for Revenge sometimes as in the case of brutal murders and the like but hopefully as time goes on they adjust to their life there and begin to let go of the bad feelings they had here on Earth and accept their new Life in the World beyond.

I know all of these things because this is what I have been told by the many spirits I am in communication with every day.

(Some) ghosts may simply be images of people imprinted on the physical environment in which they manifest.
Do you expect a photograph of yourself to be aware of its exisence?

This is really interesting information, Rosemary. I was aware of the way spirits feel the need for revenge. I have not heard, though, of a ghost communicating with a person at a haunted site when it is seen.

I did not mean to imply that there are a lot of spirits who seek vengance, and in fact I have in twenty years only come in contact with four mean spirits and three of them were my realtives and one Dr. P also a man I knew when he lived here.

They are the only four mean spirits I have ever come in contact with and while in the Spirit World some may refer to them as Evil Spirits and or demons the fact is the only thing that has changed about them is they are now in the Spirit World hurling insults and Barbs much like they did when they lived here on Earth.

Of course when mean vicious people walk the earth we don't call them Demons we just call them mean and Spiteful but when those same Spirits shed their Earthly bodies and to the Promised Land we expect them to sprout wings and suddenly turn into angels but the truth is sometimes it takes some of them a good long time to get their wings, and they can only do that by letting go of the Earthly pleasures they miss and go to be with the Lord on a Higher Realm of the Spirit World where Heaven is Located.

As to ghosts at haunted locations, some of them may get up enough power to appear but they may still not have enough power to do voice interaction with humans.

Good point! So this ties in with the theory that says stone/buildings/earth and general environments can record and replay events in time?

Residual ghosts as opposed to active ghosts?

Yes Chase. There may be many different phenomena responsible for those events which we - in our ignorance - lump together as 'spirits'.

Ahhh... Its amazing how ignorant we can be sometimes... I don't know how to phrase this but without saying "I can't wait to die..." I am looking forward to finding out the truth about the science of it someday... hopefully while I'm still alive