I've never been one to believe in ghosts or at least Hollywood's interpretation of them, but I'm going to join you all on the Haunted Rails Ghost Train next week because Nick Groff of Ghost Adventures has given a pretty convincing scientific argument offering proof that the spiritual realm does indeed exist and is very much shall we say 'alive'.

Here's what Nick said that got my attention:

Energy can't be created or destroyed; it can only change forms -- that's a law of physics. Not a theory of physics -- a law. It's called the law of conservation of energy. It means that if you take an isolated system, such as a person, the energy contained in that person can't be destroyed. It can change forms from chemical energy -- like the signals that travel down your nerve pathways -- into kinetic energy, the energy required to move your arm, for example, but the energy is always there. This law makes sense to me. It means that when we die, our energy must go somewhere. The flesh and bones -- the empty vessel -- is left behind, but the energy survives.

 

The Hartman Group via Getty Images
The Hartman Group via Getty Images
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Coming from a religious background, this supports much of what I was taught about the afterlife but religion aside, this seems like scientific proof that when we die we don't cease to exist but rather just transform into something else. Like many of you I have to see something (or sense it somehow) to be convinced of it. What Nick says in the short excerpt of his book that I read explains a lot about both the physical realm and what might be beyond it. If all of our thoughts and memories are made up of energy (which we can't see) then it stands to reason that we can sense ghosts and apparitions and if they can be sensed be us through the electrical impulses in our bodies then those experiences (like when the hair stands up on the back of your neck) can also be validated scientifically through equipment or otherwise.

The ghost experience isn't just seeing an apparition. People can sense ghosts, like the way you can tell when someone walks into the room behind you. People can smell ghosts -- I can't tell you how many times witnesses have reported smelling perfume or a cigar when no source can be found. Smell is closely related to memory, so that scent may call up something specific in the case of a deceased loved one. People hear ghosts -- sometimes we hear disembodied voices in a location. And then, of course, there's actually seeing something. The ghost experience involves our senses. There's no way around it. So if spirits are energy, and if we need our senses to experience them, then we have a lot of equipment available that can be adapted to help us validate what we're experiencing in a haunted location.

I've always believed in the spiritual realm but didn't really think that there was a scientific perspective for it. The question still remains for me personally though about active communication between realms and if it's even necessary, especially in the 'haunting' sense. Like, why would any ghost (or formerly living loved one) want to contact me or even make their presence known in the first place? Are the reasons practical or are these apparitions only out to incite fear? At any rate, I'm definitely more open-minded than I was yesterday about this sort of thing, but I'm going to need a lot of convincing to really believe. Feel free to comment if this strikes a chord with you...

 

Phil Nye/NYSC
Phil Nye/NYSC
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