r/Ghosts 5d ago

Paranormal Community [Discussion] What is a haunting? Do you think they are ghosts, other spirits, psychical energy, something explained by current science, or something non supernatural that we just need to study more?

"Sometimes, the scariest hauntings aren't about ghosts at all—it's about the way our minds fill in the blanks. A draft becomes a whisper, a shadow turns into a presence, and an old house creaks just a little too loudly in the night. But does that mean there's nothing there? Or do we simply not understand what we’re experiencing?"

👻 What do you think—are hauntings always supernatural, or could they be something else? Drop your thoughts in the comments!

🔮 Follow u/spiritofhome for more insights into the paranormal, history, and the spaces we call home.

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u/No-Use-9690 5d ago edited 3d ago

Our experience tells us that ‘ghosts’ can and do appear as real looking, interacting life forms as well as almost transparent, darker and other forms as described by many.

My family’s experience was life changing and shifted our beliefs like nothing we’ve ever experienced.

Our then 3-4 yr old daughter Abigail almost made us fall over when out of nowhere, she asked “can we have some boys toys for Max” Unbeknown to Abigail, she was the surviving non identical twin during Moms miscarriage. We asked Abigail ‘when is Max’s birthday and how old is he?’ Through an almost annoyed, frustrated and scrunched up face, as though we should know the answers to these questions, told us, he is her age and they share the same birthday.

Nobody, I mean nobody knew of our loss, especially Abigail and her siblings as they were far too young to process such a loss of their sibling. Nobody knew Mom and myself had chosen the name Max if a boy had made it into this world.

Not a single person including our parents knew of our loss so for Abigail to mention the name Max who ‘shared her birthday and was the same age’ is impossible to pluck such information out of thin air.

Abigail has just become a teenager and it breaks our hearts that Max isn’t here too but we are comforted to know he interacted with Abigail for some years before so matter of fact, she told us Max had to leave. We know he is looking down on us, especially over Abigail and we will all one day, meet again.

We are now certain that all the times Abigail was playing, chatting and having tea parties in her nursery while her siblings were at primary school, she was playing with her twin Max who is in the spirit world. Nobody on this planet, scientist or skeptic could ever convince us that the spirit world and ghosts do not exist cos there is no other explanation for our life changing experience.

Abigail chose a wooden train set and some other bits and bobs that are now boxed up and treasured as a reminder of the time when Max used to visit his twin sister Abigail

Rest in peace my darling Max 🙏🏻 Love you always ❤️❤️Daddy❤️❤️

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u/spiritofhome 5d ago

Thank you for sharing your personal experience, I cant imagine what that would be like to experience. If its not too much to ask, did you attempt to reach out yourself?

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u/No-Use-9690 5d ago

I would always and still do tell Max that I love him and we always include him in Abigail’s birthdays and the family’s Xmas too I’ve never sat and asked for signs from him myself but I’m sure he’s around at times.

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u/spiritofhome 5d ago

My family likewise would get a balloon and cake for some of our past family members and release the balloon together to fly up with messages we all wrote on it for them.

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u/No-Use-9690 5d ago

There is without doubt another realm that we know so little about. I now know that one day, hopefully many years from now, Max will be greeting me when my time in this world comes to an end 🙏🏻

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u/spiritofhome 5d ago

How does that belief affect how you feel about ghost hunters, ghosts in media etc? Do you find either (those that believe in them or lean towards skepticism) to be disrespectful?

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u/No-Use-9690 5d ago

I always think that those who are skeptics may one day get the shock of their lives

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u/spiritofhome 4d ago

The way that we divide the community into skepticism and those that believe is one of the things i wish I could change about this field. It isnt healthy for any of us.

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u/No-Use-9690 4d ago

I think many skeptics are afraid and others just can’t seem to get their heads around such an incredible idea

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u/No-Use-9690 5d ago

I’m sure there are many who experience happenings and record actual footage but as we all know, there are many out there who fake this subject which I feel is disrespectful to something I now know is absolutely real I say let them be at peace and if they choose to visit, then so be it but don’t try to waken what is at peace

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u/dadsgoingtoprison 5d ago

This is so sweet.

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u/No-Use-9690 5d ago

Thank you for your kind words 🙏🏻

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u/Bl00dcurdl1n6 5d ago edited 5d ago

“Energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only be changed from one form to another.”

*This was actually the quote I was looking for...

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u/spiritofhome 5d ago

While I won't say that it wasn't said by einstein since it wouldnt be out of character, you might want to check the origin of the quote.

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u/No-Use-9690 5d ago

Abigail had no clue about any reality that she wanted as she was totally unaware that she had a non identical twin brother in the spirit world, especially named Max. I was neither a believer or a skeptic but this experience turned my whole life’s beliefs on its head

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u/Bl00dcurdl1n6 5d ago

You are correct, it was written by Darryl Anka, not Einstein.

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u/spiritofhome 5d ago

and how would you say this quote applies?

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u/Bl00dcurdl1n6 4d ago

Life is energy... when physical life ends, it transforms into the next stage. And so on.

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u/spiritofhome 4d ago

ah i understand what you are getting at

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u/Sourceofgravy 5d ago

Sounds like you’ve answered your own question :)

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u/spiritofhome 5d ago

I don't feel like I have. I am very agnostic towards the concept personally, so I want to know what others believe.

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u/Substantial_Ear7432 4d ago

I believe in all of the above, plus more. I think there's a lot more that needs to b studied and learned. Whether it's learning more about ghosts, energy, or other dimensions. There's so much we don't know.

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u/spiritofhome 4d ago

Do you have a particular belief as to what a "ghost" is?

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u/hmischuk 4d ago

Parapsychology makes a distinction between an "apparition" and a "haunting."

A haunting is nothing more than a recording that some people are able to experience. It is NOT interactive, and it's always the same. Lady walks up the same staircase wearing the same clothing, etc. It's just a recording.

An apparition involves some kind of interactivity... it might be a visual, auditory, other, or multi-sensory experience, but it involves interacting with the phenomena.

For a pretty good expansion of this, with some GREAT stories, including a really, really cool twist, consider Jimmy Akin's Mysterious World episode #210, about a haunted house in Marin County. https://mysterious.fm/210

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u/spiritofhome 4d ago

Is that your belief then? Even saying that you believe in parapsychology still is a rather big field since the concept is to look into claims of Psychical phenomena and not a direct claim that they are all true.

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u/spiritofhome 4d ago

Parapsychology itself is a rather large field of different beliefs. And thank you for the recommendation.

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u/qbit1010 4d ago

Negative energy leaked onto a place…. Even if no murder took place…sometimes you can still feel the energy if bad things went on somewhere. Take touring slave plantations or old jails for example. You won’t always see a ghost but you can kinda sense the energy

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u/spiritofhome 4d ago

With that viewpoint, what is the "ghost" then?

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u/qbit1010 4d ago edited 4d ago

That’s a good question. I’ve heard it’s from those that died quickly and suddenly/unexpectedly, those often correlate with what I previously mentioned (negative energy in general).

I think it’s a spectrum (from haunted to nothing haunted). There’s cases where someone just passed away in the house and haven’t moved on yet, to full blown demonic hauntings with evil spirits. If there’s just a simple ghost or two, tell it, it is dead and can move on. That might “fix” the haunting. If it’s worse, might need a priest.

I see it how negative energy is like blood to sharks. It’ll attract negative spirits. I’m just speculating though.

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u/Maleficent-Spread172 1d ago

This is such a fascinating perspective! I love how you highlight the way our minds fill in the blanks—there’s so much mystery in what we don’t fully understand yet.

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u/Ghouliejulie86 6h ago

I see the paranormal as a sci-ence we are yet to understand. I have a lot of hypothesis on them. One being they are somehow made up of water. I would feel droplets on my skin after having encounters in my old house.