Many people say that they believe in spirits and hauntings, of course there may be just as many that say they don't. Let me say at the outset that I am not a believer. Oh, I believe in the here after but that is really not what I am talking about. Sometimes people who have experienced what they thought was death have a completely different outlook on life. I myself thought that I had died. When I was 18 years I had a job that required heavy lifting. One day I was walking through my unit and experienced a tremendous chest pain and blacked out. I really thought that was it for me. The next thing I remember was being in a doctor's office laying on an examining table with the doctor leaning over me and smiling. I remember his words, "thought you died didn't you?" He went on to explain to me that I had ripped a chest muscle and the pain was so severe that it had caused me to pass out. As if that wasn't enough he grabbed me by the side of my chest and I must have jumped three feet off the table from the pain. He then said "see?". Of course this is not the same as people who were actually clinically dead for minutes even though I didn't know the difference. I do remember that there was only blackness, no light. But why would there be, I was the only one who thought I was dead?

People who have had near death experiences seem to see lights, tunnels, deceased loved ones, and God to mention a few things. But this is not the experience that is reported when people say that they see ghosts. I though it might be interesting to try and put ourselves in the shoes of a ghost, so to speak.

The first thing you would notice is that you might not be aware of humans around you. It seems that there are reports of some ghosts that just seem to do the same thing night after night. It is sort of like watching the same movie over and over. There are other reports that state you might be aware of people around you but you have a hard time communicating with them. Apparently they can't hear you but electronic devices might be able to pick up your voice for some unknown reason. The trouble with this is, it seems you can't get more than one to three words on the recorders. Have you ever wondered about that, I have? If you are powerful enough you might be able to make some objects move but this is hardly a form of communication. Maybe you can rock rocking chairs, move pieces of paper, turn over picture frames and the like. If you were a cruel person in life, you might still be cruel in death. You might resent people living in YOUR house and scratch them while they sleep and try and scare them away. You don't seem to have a normal sense of time, or maybe time doesn't exist for you. This is born out by the many stories of ghosts of people that died hundreds of years ago looking for loved ones.

In some instances you might completely ignore humans and go about your business like the ghosts that were reported on retired US aircraft carriers. such as the Hornet. It seems more and more dead naval personal are coming to the old aircraft carrier. If you were in the US Navy at one time and were dead, you might want to meet up with old friends. Hatches and doors been found open when no one was onboard, well no one but the ghosts, and they could be heard being slammed. Many people have seen crew members walking down hallways only to disappear into thin air before getting to the end of the hall. You might even enjoy playing practical jokes on people if you are powerful enough. One tourist had to use the restroom but was not a happy camper when he came running out. He said he was slapped on the back of the head but no one was in the restroom but him. I guess someone has to be in charge because a new ghost has joined the crew, it is the ghost of Admiral Joseph James Clark. He is a former commander of this carrier and has been seen by many people.

Another thing, you may not be able to interact with the other spirits. There have not been many reports of ghosts talking to each other. But you might not even realize that your are dead either. It seems that you would retain your memories but may not be aware of anything that happened after your died. In other words if you died in the 17th century, you would still think that it is that time.

Maybe there is a basis for all this. Some churches teach that when a body dies, the soul must go to purgatory until it is cleansed of its sins. Could it be that the soul stays here for awhile and this is purgatory? That would mean that three different things could happen when you die. You could go to heaven, stay here for awhile and suffer until your sins are forgiven or, excuse the expression, go to hell. I guess this is something we will never know. Like every other area of human endeavor, there is so much fraud involved with the paranormal that it is almost impossible for any serious study to be believed.