Is that Casper or am I seeing things again

Okay. I admit it. I believe in ghosts. I believe in spirits; both good and bad. However, I do not believe that everything that goes bump in the night or goes flitting past my eyes is paranormal in nature. I am intensely interested in the paranormal and watch Ghost Hunters faithfully. I subscribe to their theory that in order to prove something is "paranormal", you have to prove there is not a rational explanation for it and the proof should go beyond the merely "unexplained".

So what is up with all these silly photos of dubbed in images, serious matrixing, and out and out, "what? where?"? Even funnier than the obvious photos where images have been put in using editing software or badly costumed people pose for the camera are the photos upon which people have circled the apparition they see, and for the life of me, I cannot see a darn thing!

And don't get me going on the religious figures and symbols people keep finding on their toast, in the arrangement of leaves on trees, or (and this is my favorite), in the rusty scum behind a toilet. Do people REALLY believe Jesus Christ makes His presence known by appearing as a tiny figure in a BATHROOM?

I see things in clouds all the time. On any given day I see the image of a whale, a minivan, dragons, condors... and guess what? The images I see are merely shapes in clouds that appear to be specific objects or living things. Spirits of whales and dragons are not haunting me and those clouds shaped like wings? They are not angels. They are clouds. Shaped. Like Wings.

I believe there is life after death and it is fully possible that souls choose to stick around or are trapped here for whatever reason. I believe there are good and evil entitities. There are angels that guide and protect and there are the demons -- the dark entities that have no other purpose but to create fear. Personal experience that goes right to the bones will do that for you. I don't believe it because I saw clouds shaped like the face of a saint, heard a creaking noise, or saw a barely make-out-able image in a photograph of a mirror. I believe out of personal experience. You don't have to believe it. Your opinion is not going to change anything, anyway. :)

Should you believe that I've seen and heard things that would make anyone's blood curdle? "Should" isn't that word. It implies that by not believing me, you are making a mistake that will surely cost you in the future. It doesn't matter either way. What if I took a quick picture and a floating bubble appeared "in the upper right"? Would you say, "Oh, see! There ARE ghosts after all!"? I hope not. I sincerely, sincerely hope not, because in truth, if you walk around and look at patterns in nature and the play of shadows and light, you will see dozens of faces and images in a few hours' time and the chances that any of the things you see being "paranormal" are slim to none.

I did see a very cool picture of a woman sitting at an outside table. There is a man (clearly) standing behind her. If the story behind the photo is true, this is indeed a ghost. He would be the woman's deceased husband. There is a photo of a ghostly female image coming down a staircase. It is a very old photograph and nobody has been able to find any trickery. That's kinda cool.

But they might not be real. They don't prove that ghosts exist. Too much can be faked and so much more is easily misunderstood, especially if you are one of those who sees what people tell them to see and believes a story because the teller pinky promises it is true.

The paranormal world exists despite the crazies, fakers, and fooled.

I love a good ghost story. If you have a story you would like to share, I would love to read it.

But please. Please. No photographs.

If you see the rabbi in this ghost photo, can you tell me WHERE?