Here are some of the comments and suggestions I received.

What we attribute to ghosts today may in fact be a mixture of several types of things:
1. The sould (spirit) of a dead person.
2. Demons (who have never lived in a physical body)
3. Psychic impressions.
There is evidence that all three of these exist, and do have similar types of manifestations.

NOTE: There were many people who wrote something along the lines of the above. I have picked out a few of the more interesting comments, but won't print all of them here since most of them were so similar.

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I own a condo in a home in San Francisco that was built in 1894. We are currently remodeling to make it look more period authentic. When we stripped the wallpaper down to plaster (over 100 yrs worth of wallpaper) there were noises in that house that I couldn't even describe. Apparently whoever shares the house with us likes us now, because they play with us (lights going on and off that sort of thing) and sometimes when I walk rough the house I get a whiff of Bayrum aftershave. I have 2 parrots and 2 cats who inexplicably stare at things or get spooked when nothing is there. Anyway, I know ghosts exist!

I don't think any one theory applies to all hauntings. I think some are the result of "poltergeist" activity caused by the living, some are of the "lost soul" variety, some are of the "guardian spirit" variety, some may be time/space anomalies that let us view the past (or perhaps even the future, or the present at a distant location), and some are residual energy left from previous occurances. And some may be caused by other things we haven't thought of yet.

While I have not actually "seen" a ghost, I have experienced two encounters with "otherworldly" presences. The first was when my grandfather died. He visited me just after his death. The second was the presence we lived with in our first home (you have my story in your archive).

I believe that a person(s) can "call" up a spirit. It is usally for distructive means.

I think that "ghosts" are a combination of the middle three choices, but I also think that the term "ghosts" can be used to describe good and evil spirits that may or may not have ever been human. I have a feeling that there is only so much that we can perceive with our limited senses. Life exists on so many different levels, who knows what all is out there.

I have been experiencing ghost activity since I was 11 or 12. The most activity has occurred since I married my husband 8 years ago. It started on our wedding night, and has followed us through 2 apts., one townhouse, and our presnt house we are living. My husband's father was murdered, and we believe that this might be him. Things move in our house, that could not possibly happen on their own. My daughter , when she was 2 1/2 talked frequently to this ghost. And visitors staying with us have experienced them. and even one night on AOL in the sightings area I was talking about our ghost, I was dumped offline and could not figure it out till I looked at the modem, and found the switch moved to the off position.

I think that you must ask this question from haunting to haunting. In some instances I believe that it is the trapped soul of the deceased, particularly when it is someone who does not know that they have died. In other instances, when an entire area is affected, such as with people finding themselves in the middle of long gone battles, I beliive that it is a space/time anomaly. There are still other times that I feel that it is a phychic scar on the landscape. It is a highly subjective area.

Thank you for a woderful site!!!

What are ghosts made of? I wonder if "ghost smells" are associated with the fact that the olfactory nerve best conjures suppressed memories. I wonder if ghosts might "need" those smells to help them appear, or if maybe they smell an old smell first, and so are conjured to appear. This question isn't as well-written as I would like, so I'll work on it and post it to AFGS in the near future.

Thank you for all the work you've put into the newsgroup, mailing list, and these webpages.

I tend towards the psychic impression idea because I believe in reincarnation, and unless the soul is caught or attached to this 4D plane, it moves on into another life. (As far as I understand). I do think, however, that we can pick up on these psychic impressions, and they can somehow channel information that is personal or relevant to us.

A person that has lost it's way after a terrible death, or a soul in search of something he/she lost in life

About time I found a good ghost website that had nothing about ufo's.

i believe that a ghost is a spirit of one person who refuses to go into the light, or the spiritual realm because he has business that is unfinished...

In my personal opinion, the buttons could be done better, have you considered trying to use buttons created with 3-D modelers and such things?

Great website! I especially love the "Haunted Places" to visit. However, I would like to see more local haunted places (I'm from a town 1 hour west of Boston, Massachusetts). Thanks!

I haven't heard a good guess yet.When you don't know what you're talking about,the right answer is, "I don't know."

A ghost can be all of the above (a wandering soul, a time/space anomaly, or a strong impression of some type) - it can also be self-created, in the sense of a poltergeist, but this ability is not limited to teenagers, although it is most often seen in them.

I love this site! I am so happy I found it. :)

I haven't a clue what they are. But they do exsist.

Perhaps any of the above, or perhaps an independent spirit (demon, etc.) with a will and purpose of its own

I believe a ghost is not the soul of a deceased person, but another dimension. Also, I believe ghosts can be another dimension of a person not yet born.

I don't think a ghost is always the wandering soul of a dead person. Personally I believe that a loved one or someone with a message can come back to the "real world" to take care of unfinished business or to help a loved one over come specific problems. Sometimes it might just be to let that special person know that the person is alright or that they will always try to protect that special person.

usually just figments of someone's imagination, or a desperate attempt to "see the unknown." However, I'm open to believe that perhaps it is a lost soul or what not.

Ghosts, in my opinion, have many characteristics that combine all (except the first answer) the choices listed above. I beleive that what we classify as ghosts, be it physical manifestation, sounds, or poltergeist intrusions are caused by different occurences, be starnge, yet natural events (i.e. ball lightning, swamp gas); actual communication from the dead (physical manifestations, Ouja boards, etc); telekenisis, namely in "poltergeist" intrusions; impressions left by the past, etc., etc. All of this phenomena, plus ones I haven't mentioned, can be interpereted as a "ghost".

I have never actually seen what one would call a ghost, but I have experienced unexplanable occurences, such as dreaming the future adn seeing things out of the corners of my eye that wern't there. I am especially interested in spirit photography. although I have yet to try it.

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