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The Sceptic and The Ghoulies
Written by: Armi
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I must confess that I increasingly find myself sliding from scepticism to who-gives-a-shit-ism. I’m tired of ‘possible’ paranormal phenomena which can only be described as ‘interesting’ owing to its lack of clarity. More and more, I am starting to think that there’s nothing to this ghost malarkey, at least not in terms of the spirits of dead people. I get excited at the start of all investigations – I get a lovely feeling of, ‘But what if it really IS real?’ – but this generally wears off within the first hour. That’s not to say I consider investigations a waste of time; as an inveterate chatterbox I love meeting up with people and I am oddly addicted to the fairground-like bolt of terror I feel at finding myself in the pitch darkness. In addition, I do think that some of the research conducted by reputable types such as Critical Thinkers and Paranormal Dimensions could well go some way to explain phenomena in mundane terms and as such investigations are not a complete waste of time.
What exasperates me are the tiny, futile hints at possible phenomena. Odd noises for which no explanation can currently be found, technical glitches, shadows…I’m an impatient woman and I frequently have to suppress the urge to bellow, ‘FFS!!! If there IS someone there then sodding well show yourself so we can all go home! Do something that can be ONLY explained in supernatural terms!’ It irritates me beyond measure that after hundreds, if not thousands, of years of people supposedly experiencing ghosts and consequently going looking for them, there is no evidence whatsoever to suggest that they actually exist.
Once one starts thinking along these lines – usually at about 3 a.m. when sitting in a cold, dark place longing for a fag and yet another cup of coffee – the whole enterprise starts to seem utterly futile and can cause a severe attack of the ‘fuck’ems’. I don’t want to piddle about with little tiny odd occurrences – I want the works….a huge bang, a massive crash, everything in the room flying around (not simply falling over, mind, or being ‘thrown’), a full manifestation of a recognisably dead person, in a well lit room, viewed and filmed by several witnesses from a variety of angles and who engages one in lively conversation. Given the number of supposed ghost sightings, this surely shouldn’t be beyond the realms of possibility. There are hundreds of people who spend their weekends on a regular basis looking for ghosts…..why are they not seeing what others supposedly see? Why are they not capturing this evidence on film? There are more people than ever before engaged in investigating the paranormal, with increasingly sophisticated equipment….so why does no-one, NO-ONE, actually see and video anything remotely evidential?
Are we to assume that ghosts are wily creatures who are worried about being filmed from an unflattering angle? I find this unlikely. Given that ghosts are supposedly the spirits of dead people, and by the law of averages some of those dead people will be of the sort that like plenty of attention it’s most bizarre that they don’t take the opportunity to dance around on camera.
What if ghosts are ‘forbidden’ by some sort of higher power from revealing themselves? In which case, why do they supposedly appear to people who aren’t conveniently armed with recording equipment? Why do people report seeing them at all? If, perhaps, someone reported a sighting which was never repeated by another individual, then maybe there would be some credence to this idea – said ghostie having been roundly chastised by the Higher Power, grounded and sent to bed with no jam for tea. But instead we repeatedly hear of the same sorts of sightings at the same locations. Why is this?
Perhaps ghosts are not interactive in any circumstances (despite anecdotal reports to the contrary). Perhaps we’re talking of the Stone Tape theory, whereby under certain atmospheric conditions there is a ‘play back’ of activity from years ago. In which case, given the blanket coverage of investigations in many allegedly haunted locations in all types of weather conditions, why is there still no evidence?
What I find disheartening is that I would love to believe it all. I would dearly love to discover that dead relatives are still skipping around, that there is life after death. However, the more investigations I attend, the more I think it’s nothing more than a load of wishful thinking, misperception and flimflammery. It’s enough to drive a girl to drink.
©Armi 2007
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