Things That Go Bump in the Night

Note to the reader:  You might find it beneficial to save the photograph, above, and open it in a separate window so you can magnify it in order to study the anomaly closer.

I've been taking photographs for most of my life.  My dad was a photo equipment technician, back in the day.  He owned his own shop and I would be able to use some of the equipment people never came back to claim.  From large format box cameras to 35mm and easily concealed smaller micro-format "spy" cameras, I used them all.  Black and white, color, and slide film would soon earn me a blue ribbon award for experimental photography.  I still dabble, though not enough to call it a hobby.  However, when photographing the paranormal caught my attention, I just couldn't resist the challenge.

I learned those minute anomalies occasionally show up in digital photographs.  I'll buy that, but it should show up occasionally everywhere, not just at the small cemetery I go to.  The examples I've seen online look nothing like what I photograph.  So, is it a spirit?  I don't know, I just find it fascinating to consider the possibility.

I happened to be in a local home turned antique store, recently, and passed through a heaviness at the top of a back staircase.  I retraced my steps several times to ensure it would come and go in the same spot.  I've always had an affinity for feeling and seeing odd things.  I could always feel a cold spot in an old Victorian home, and I still catch a glimpse of the occasional orb or "shadow" person in my parents home as well as my own.  And, that's not even taking into account the voices I hear, but then, that's a whole nuther story.  

As usual, I have digressed in order to give you a bit of my background before discussing the photo, above.

“Now I know what a ghost is. Unfinished business, that's what.”

-- Salman Rushdie, author, novelist

I went home to research the property and found the daughter of the 1848 original owner, was a special needs child relegated to the upstairs rooms.  She died at thirteen, in her upstairs room, from yellow fever.  This research, along with reports of sighting on the property, indicates the possibility of two more "entities" also inhabiting the house.  I should be so lucky.  The owners, upon my request, gave me permission to take photos and use a voice recorder upstairs.

This photo was the second to the last of 25 shots around the house.  I advised whatever supposed spirits present that I was taking only two more photos before packing it in to leave, and the photo shown above was the result.  It looks as if I took the photo through a material, a gel or oil, which would bend the light of the images behind it.  If I'd been using an old single-lens reflex camera, I'd say a greasy finger touched my lens but, no, this was a digital unit with a shutter which closes over the lens to protect the optic from wandering fingers.  Being digital, I have a clear view of the subject on the screen and can readily tell if the lens isn't clean.  This strange evidence earned me an invitation from the owners to return and continue my investigation.  I will, again, be taking this small Olympus camera as well as my larger format Nikon, with the tripod, and the voice recorder.

With my continued odd experiences in this supposed paranormal realm, I have been looking into an electromagnetic field (EMF) meter to add to my equipment and an infrared (IR) video camera with which to capture anomalies which may cause unusual temperature changes.  A modest investment of several hundred dollars for this extra equipment might be worth it.  If all fails I can always hire out as a photographer for birthday parties and bar mitzvahs.

So, what happens if the electronic voice phenomena, the EVP I capture, tells me to get out or die?  Well, I get out, of course.  I am a firm believer in not antagonizing something I cannot see that is threatening to do me harm and, besides, I already have the threatening EVP recorded, so mission complete.  It must be time to go have a bourbon... or three.  It's also time to call in one the ghost hunter groups from television's primetime who have less common sense and a shorter life expectancy, than I.  These idiots seem to get some thrill antagonizing, daring, or threatening entities which have been reported to mean people harm.  I get much satisfaction when the supposed spirits exercise fulfillment of their ignorant wishes. 

As far as the threat against my person is concerned, I'm all about a bit of payback, so sending a copy of the EVP to an exorcist will tickle my heart.  I much prefer research, confirmation, communication and, if possible, assistance in finding "spiritual" peace so the supposed entity can move on, especially if the supposed entity is a child, a special needs child, who might be confused about what "going toward the light" is all about.

You will have noticed I always try to refer to the "goings-on" as supposed entities or spirits.  Nothing is proven in this realm of pseudoscience, so I don't think anything should be referred to in a definitive manner, regardless of my personal belief.  My beliefs are based on my faith in the balance of the universe.  The light must be balanced by dark, life by death, good by evil, this reality by another, and so on.  Are there ghosts?  We seem to have much "evidence" to sway our opinion, but there is nothing definitive to tell us exactly what it is we have evidence of.  My faith tells me there must be something after this existence, as I believe our existence continues after we shrug off this physical shell.

Is what we see and hear, these ghostly phenomena, simply reruns of past drama, playing out in a neverending loop?  Possibly, but it doesn't explain supposed interactions between the living and whatever or whoever haunts us.  It doesn't explain the clearly heard recording from an aircraft crash site; a voice asking, "Did we crash?"  It doesn't explain a pilot, in the cockpit of a parked passenger jet, who watch numerous passengers at the next passenger boarding bridge (PBD) as they deplane from... nothing; no aircraft had just arrived, nor was one attached to the boarding bridge (See Video).  Nor does it explain the "shadow" people seen and/or recorded by so many credible people, including yours truly (See Video).

Gullibility seems to be a part of our nature.  Our ability to question what we see, hear, and feel, is also in our nature.  Having faith is understanding you are leaning into a belief in something for which there is little or no proof.  It is the ability to separate fact from desire, even though you hope your desire is well-founded and not misplaced.  Gullibility tends to take advantage of the closed-minded, those with an inability or lack of desire to question everything.

Things that go bump in the night?  They don't much bother me, but I do take notice.  Being an intelligence analyst, I try to make sense of them before determining my opinion.  Until the heater comes on and makes the same noise, it isn't the heater.  By the same token, if I'm the only one at home and I know I put the black cat outside, then, when I see a low black form wander across the living room... I know it isn't the cat and, yes, I'm torn between fetching a walking staff, a 9mm semi-automatic pistol, or a rosary and a Bible, before running the critter to ground.

“How do you plan to scare people tonight?" asked a hollow-voiced spector. "I'll wait until they sit down to supper, then scream whenever someone sticks his knife in his meat."

I'll haunt the bedchambers," said another. "A bloody ax at midnight always gets a good reaction."

A ghost with a purplish tinge to his aura spoke next. "I can top both of you. I'm going to dress like a guard and haunt the privy. I'll hide in the hole and when anyone sits down I'll wail, 'Who goes there? State your business!”

― E.D. Baker, children's author, "Once Upon a Curse"

Editor's Note

(Re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider an alternate viewpoint. 

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and while engaging in peaceful and constructive discussion, in an arena of mutual respect, concerning those opinions put forth. After over twenty years with military intelligence, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we learn from the experience, and what we do afterward.

Pastor Tony spent 22 years with United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and senior manager. He spent 17 years, following his service career, working with the premier, world renowned, Institutional Review Board helping to protect the rights of human subjects involved in pharmaceutical research. Ordained 1n 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As the weapon for his war on intolerance he chose the pen, and wages his "battle" in the guise of the Congregation's official online blog, The Path, of which he is both author and editor. "The Path" offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination for us all. He currently resides in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he volunteers as lead Chaplain and Chaplain Program Liaison, at the regional medical center.