Laura Wright 
This article is a reprint from The Hauntmasters Club, a link is provided below. I thought it was incredibly interesting and wanted to syndicate:
The composition of ghosts has been debated since the philosophy of spiritualism began in the 1840s. Even with sound arguments that ghosts are hallucinations and antiquated sermons that ghosts are demons, the most commonly purposed hypothesis is that “ghosts are energy”, but what exactly does that mean?
The book Hauntings in Time-Life’s 1989 Mysteries of the Unknown series covers the different ideas of the composition of ghosts:
One of the first hypotheses on ghosts was purposed by the spiritualist movement beginning in the 1840s. Proponents of this philosophy believe that “the soul leaves the body at death . . . Under certain circumstances; this spirit may tarry on earth instead of proceeding to the Other Side and thus may be observed as a ghost.” (Hauntings, p. 22)
The Society of Psychical Research (SPR) began investigating claims of after-death communication. According to their website, the organization was formed in 1882 “for the purpose of investigating ‘that large body of debatable phenomena designated by such terms as mesmeric, psychical and ‘spiritualistic’ . . .” (The Society of Psychical Research). Eleanor Mildred Sidgwick [(1845 – 1936)] of the Society for Psychical Research proposed that ‘objects absorb psychic impressions and then broadcast them back to people who are in the vicinity.’” (Hauntings, p. 23) This phenomenon has become known as “residual haunting” in parapsychology, where images of the past are seen but do not seem to interact or even acknowledge the still-living.
In contrast, an “intelligent haunting” is a discarnate consciousness that interacts and sometimes communicates with the still-living. To explain this, “Italian psychical researcher and spiritualist Ernesto Bozzano [(1862 – 1943)] proposed that ghosts ‘are not the souls of the dead but rather telepathic messages from their lingering bodiless minds . . .’” (Hauntings, p. 22).
Believing in multiple dimensions, “Welsh philosopher Henry Habberley Price [(1899 –1984)] proposed the ‘psychic ether’ hypothesis, stating that ‘an image born of mental activity lives on in another plane or in multiple planes . . . even after its creator has died.’” (Hauntings, p. 23)
One of the most common theories even held by some parapsychologists is that ghosts are hallucinations. Psychologist William G. Roll ‘contends that in many cases the percipient’s mental state plays an active role, unconsciously creating haunting phenomena to satisfy emotional needs.’” (Hauntings, p. 23) Cognitive neuroscience researcher Michael A. Persinger explains this theory further in a 1988 paper titled “Increased geomagnetic activity and the occurrence of bereavement hallucinations: Evidence for melatonin-mediated microseizuring in the temporal lobe” for Neuroscience Letters, and purposes levels of endogenous melatonin is greatly reduced in the brain when exposed to electromagnetic radiation, causing visual and auditory hallucinations. Hallucinations occur because of complex partial seizures (CPS). If these seizures “[occur] in the area around the hippocampus and amygdala, it may briefly evoke a memory-like image of a person that can be subjectively experienced as an apparition.” (Public Parapsychology)
Another belief is the antiquated and medieval idea that ghosts are really demons. According to a forum on a website titled “Ghosts Are Really Demons In Disguise According To The Bible Why Do You Think?” some people believe that ghosts are demons masquerading around in disguise of the deceased.
In ghost-hunting, it seems the most commonly held hypothesis is that “ghosts are energy”. One of the first books to propose that “ghosts are energy” was Ghosts: A Strange Science Book by Sylvia Funston and Joe Weissmann in 2001.
However, simply saying “ghosts are energy” is cliché. If this is so, what type of energy are they? The U.S. Energy Information Administration explains on a website titled “Forms of Energy” that there are nine forms of energy which can be classified as either potential or kinetic energy. Potential energy includes chemical, mechanic, nuclear and gravitational energy; the website Apache Installation also includes elastic energy as a form of potential energy. Kinetic energy includes radiant (including electromagnetic radiation and light energy), thermal (heat), motion, sound and electrical (including magnetic) energy. Hypothetic dark energy is its own classification.
Another platitude often proposed is that ghosts mysteriously drain batteries and even people to respond to ghost hunters. First, ghost hunters are not taking into account battery life in a digital camera is measurable by how many pictures are taken. There is a vast difference between taking photographs at a birthday party and taking them during a paranormal investigation. During the latter, over 1,000 pictures can be taken in the span of an evening. No wonder batteries seem to “drain” during an investigation. As for investigators being “drained of energy,” one may look no further than circadian rhythms, which are “A daily cycle of biological activity based on a 24-hour period and influenced by regular variations in the environment, such as the alternation of night and day.” (Dictionary.com) The textbook Psychology: an Exploration, Vol. 2 by Saundra K. Ciccarelli explains that the longer through the night someone stays awake, the more melatonin they produce. Melatonin is an endogenous hormone that plays an important role in sleep. Since most ghost-hunts take place at night, there is no wonder ghost hunters feel like they are being “drained”, as they become more and more tired.
The majority of ghost-hunters purpose that ghosts are composed of radiant energy in the form of electromagnetic radiation because of anomalous spikes of electromagnetic radiation, without taking into account geophysical variables that is most likely the cause of aberrant electromagnetic radiation.
Thank you to the author, Justin Guess, and his permission for use of the piece. The full article can be found here.
Good stuff to read. Though I would have to say I have seen many a battery that where brand new or just charged drain in short order. New batteries should not go dead after 1 min of recording or 10 pictures.
It has happened to me.
Hi!
I thought it was thought-provoking, myself. I think, if a spirit is intelligent enough to interact with the living, it could do whatever it likes in that regard. I don’t have a personal opinion as to precisely what spirits are “made of,” I think it can change. Their activity can, it can go from just a knock or a thump here and there all the way to moving objects or even speaking aloud. Perhaps it may be a malfunction of the equipment, too, when certain energies of odd frequencies are near, so they aren’t draining the batteries so much as causing the equipment to short out and require more energy than normal. I just thought it was an interesting angle.
Thanks for visiting!
Or perhaps said spirits draw naturally on sources of energy for, say, sustenance or as a means of communication. The point: the energy depletion might be deliberate. Then again, as you have said, Loverly, the fact that the equipment is in a particular location could have something to do with it. In either case, this suggests that something, whether paranormal in nature or something else, is nearby. I wouldn’t automatically jump to the conclusion that malfunctions indicate the presence of a spirit; sometimes dampening fields or an area that is radioactive can result in equipment not working. Still, there have been many cases where some photos turn out, yet others haven’t. Quite often, for example, particular photos result in blurry images. This selective target-hitting would seem to negate dampening field or areas of radioactivity at work, since sources such as these tend to would likely cause total disruption, not just of the particulars. Again, after all natural possibilities have been discounted, I would be interested in knowing why spirits would cause equipment failure. The answers would lead us to further understanding as to the consistency and interactive nature of spirits. This would give a us a better idea whether or not spirits can actually perceive the living and what their intentions are for remaining in a particular location.
R1
Interesting article. This basically sums up the different theories behind ghostly phenomena so that a reader may be able to compare and contrast.
Laura, to which theory do you adhere and why?
Hi, Mark!
I don’t have a set theory…lol. I just told Frank, I think if they’re intelligent enough to haunt and to interact with humans, they can probably change their form as far as energies. That would explain why so many people can go to the same place, at the same time, yet report very different experiences. Say if a group visits a place, this person may hear a voice, while that person may hear noises, but the poor guy way over here may be assaulted with flying debris (or even unseen hands). If it’s aware enough to differ that greatly per person, perhaps it manifests in a different manner with each particular kind of manifestation. Say, appearing visible to us may cause an electromagnetic field that would drain battery life, but just speaking or moving an object may not require the same energy. If that makes any sense.
That’s entirely possible as far as what we know about the spirit world thus far. This is why we need to learn more about what spirits actually are, their consistency and their motivation. Apparently, they communicate in interact in a variety of ways, as many witnesses throughout time have experienced the touching, the sounds, the voices, the moving objects, apparitions, flitting shadows, etc. I would tend not to discount any of this due to the sheer number of those who have experienced such phenomena. There’s some consistency in these account in that such
phenomena, though varied, are still common.
Then there are the differences you have mentioned regarding paranormal experiences (such as spiritual interaction) in other cultures . . . .
R1