Paranormal
Everybody thinks they know what ghosts are. But the real question is: are
ghosts real or fake? That can be your choice to believe in them. In this report,
you will read: What is a Ghost, Stories about Ghosts, Famous Ghosts,
Famous Scary Sites, Mediums, and the Fact File. So don‟t be afraid to
jump right in and read!
What is a Ghost?
“Whoa! What was that! I‟m starting to think we‟re not the only ones in
this house!” said the tourist to the guide. “That‟s exactly why we‟re here!”
the guide answered. In this subtopic, you‟ll learn lots of ghostly information!
Some people believe and some don‟t. In fact, 1/3 of adults currently believe in
ghosts. There used to be more believers, but beliefs started to fade away in the
1800s. Ghosts and spirits are really just the same thing.
Spirits are made of energy and the spirit-part of a person is believed to
control their thoughts and feelings. Bodies used to be wrapped up in sheets and
long cloth so that if the spirits rose, they would be wrapped up in the cloth.
There is a certain spirit called the Avenging Spirit that lives for a
purpose: to get even with those who harmed them while they were still alive.
Another type of ghost it the poltergeist. The poltergeist is a kind of
disturbance that usually happens around young women, especially girls. Some
ghost researchers think that poltergeist activity comes from the living, and not
spirits.
Ghosts are thought to be dead people that can make themselves known to
humans and can be good. They are called super-natural and paranormal
because it means “beyond nature” and “outside what is normal.” In addition,
some other names they call ghosts are: spooks, specters, apparitions, and
phantoms. There are some special things that these “spooks” can do. For
example, they have a strong, powerful hold on our thoughts and imaginations.
They can give you signs that you are soon going to die, and some even try to
lead people to their non-properly buried body. But they always visit the living
for a reason. They have been described as vapors, balls of light, filmy and
transparent, and even ordinary people!
Stories about Ghosts
Have you ever wondered if ghost stories are real? Well, here are two
stories that you can decide if they‟re real or fake.
In 1878, there was a woman that lived in Amherst, Nova Scotia named
Esther Cox. There were rumors that there was a ghost in her home that
wouldn‟t leave her alone. This bothersome ghost would make things fly across
the room, and it even wrote a message on the wall saying, “Ether Cox! You
are mine to kill!” There were twelve witnesses, including a doctor that saw
strange events going on in Esther‟s house. For example, the doctor heard
pounding and saw writing on the walls. One of the weird things, though, is
that when Esther left her home, the peculiar events stopped, but when she came
back, they started again. And there weren‟t any odd thing going on in her
other homes. Since none of her neighbors saw anything, a man put her onstage
to see if the ghost bothered her at all, but it never did. Eventually, when Ether
got married, the paranormal events stopped. Another story is a short one.
Don‟t worry though; I‟ll talk about it later.
There was a ghost girl called the Vanishing Hitchhiker. Every year on
the anniversary of her death, she hitchhikes home. But when the chosen driver
gets to her home, something happens. You‟re going to have to wait though,
until I get to the second ghost in Famous Ghosts!
Famous Ghosts
Some ghosts become famous from being seen a lot and by their stories being
passed down from generation to generation. Here are 5 in particular.
1. Floyd Collins died in Kentucky‟s Mammoth Cave during 1925. He got
his foot stuck in a rock and died before rescuers could save him. Now,
there have been many ghost sightings of his ghost being seen.
2. The Vanishing Hitchhiker event usually happens in Minnesota or
Montana. The ghost hitchhiker is a barefoot girl in a dress with a green
shawl. What happens is when someone picks her up and drives her to her
house; she has disappeared from the back seat. When you go to the door,
the parents explain how their daughter died 20 years ago on the very day
she hitchhiked. And inside on a peg is her green shawl.
3. I‟m sure you‟ve all heard of Bloody Mary. Nobody really knows exactly
who she is. Some people think her name is Mary Worth and she died in
a car crash, others think she was a witch burned at stake and wants
revenge. Others believe that she„s the devil itself! Supposedly, you can
see her if you do the following: go in bathroom, turn off the lights, and
stand in front of the mirror. Then, you have to repeat her name 3-100
times and spin around. Some people think that when you summon her,
she scratches your eyes out.
4. The Bell Witch event happened in Tennessee at the Bell Farm. She
made frightening things happen. For example, she shot at an animal and
it disappeared, tormented the family by making terrifying sounds and
making the house shake. She even attacked their daughter Betsy! This
happened for years. Finally, Andrew Jackson, who was president at the
time, investigated the farm. Later, the Bell son was supposedly killed
by her with poison.
Famous SCARY Sites
Imagine being stuck in a haunted house. Most likely, you wouldn‟t
really like it. But for one thing, you probably wouldn‟t like staying in these
scary sites!
1. The Whaley house is titled the most haunted house in the U.S. There
were sightings of more than three ghosts. So, the famous psychic Sybil
Leek visited the house and claimed to have sensed ghosts there.
2. Myrtles plantation is another place where there are many ghosts. More
than 4 ghosts live there! And there‟s a grand piano that plays the same
haunted tune over and over again. Plus, there were 10 murderers that
killed there. Stacy Jones, the founder of Central New York Ghost
Hunters, even stayed there!
3. You all should have heard of this one! The Gettysburg Battlefield here in
Pennsylvania is, of course, where the civil war took place. 8,000 died
and 40,000 were wounded or missing by the end of the horrible 3-day
battle. Supposedly, the ghosts repeat terrible events that happened
during the battle and don‟t respond to people.
4. The White House is definitely another famous place. Abraham Lincoln‟s
ghost supposedly haunts the place. One person that saw him is Calvin
Coolidge‟s wife Grace Coolidge. She was one of the first people to see
him. He was also seen during Franklin D. Roosevelt‟s term in office
(1933-1945) and was claimed to be seen by Queen Wilhelmina when she
answered a knock at her door.
5. And last but not least. The Bermuda Triangle. There have been around
100 planes and ships that have vanished there, but yet no bodies or
wreckage were found from the vehicle that disappeared. Nobody saw the
vehicles disappear, but travelers reported that their cell phones and radios
stopped working once they entered the Triangle. There are a couple
possible explanations though. For example, sharks could have eaten the
bodies; waves could have washed away the wreckage. A strong storm or
mechanical problems could have caused the plane or ship to sink. It‟s up
to you to decide for yourself, though, what you think happened.
Mediums
Everybody thinks the word medium is a size. When it comes to ghosts,
though, a medium is something TOTALLY different. A medium is a
person that claims to be able to communicate with the dead and can
supposedly deliver messages between living people and the dead. Some
mediums even help the police solve criminal cases! Some of the first people
to claim they were mediums were Greeks. But remember, just because
someone says they‟re a medium doesn‟t mean they really are one. For
example: The Fox sisters lied and made the noises by cracking they‟re toes.
Some fakes even make fake ectoplasm using cheesecloth, sheep‟s stomach,
and other substances. Another thing the fakes do is a system called cold
reading. Cold reading is when they make guesses about people that are most
likely true and make it look like they know stuff about that person when they
really don‟t. And just in case you were wondering, ectoplasm is a
mysterious gas that‟s cloudy spirit energy that takes physical form so it can
be seen.
Fact File
So far, you‟ve learned a lot about ghosts. Here are some more facts that
didn‟t really fit in the other subtopics.
1. Mysterious events happen ALL over the world.
2. When you record something and hear something, it could just be a white
noise (a background noise).
3. Some people make fake spirit photos called “spirit photographs”.
4. When ghost hunters see a ghost, they record changes in temperatures
between 6°F to 12°F.
5. Noreen Reiner, a medium, has helped the police solve over 500 cases!
6. In German, the word poltergeist means “noisy” or “knocking ghost.”
7. Ancient Greeks and Romans used to think that ghost were dressed in
burial shrouds.
People think that ghosts have a reputation of being bad and nasty.
Sometimes though, ghosts can really just be harmless.