Apparitions:The supernatural appearance of a deceased person. It is often too distant to be in the normal range of a persons view and is uncommon to see an appearance. A full bodied apparition shows the entire body of an animal or person. A partial bodied apparition are shown more often but only show part of a body such as; torso or arms. They often appear as white (or various shades of white/gray) or solid black. Usually apparitions can appear to hover in the air. It is rare that apparitions show their legs or feet.
Angel:An Angel is a spiritual or celestial being sent to earth to relay a message to a person, serve as a protector or help them in their transition into the afterlife.
Anomaly:An irregular image that appears on photos or video taken by film, or digital media.
Asport: The disappearance of an object or objects during a haunting that reappear again at a later time.
Automatic Writing: The ability to write intelligible messages without conscious control of what is being written. Often used in conjunction with trying to channel a spirit or entity into yourself. This can be a very dangerous method! As with all channeling methods (Ouija boards, crystals, etc.) you are opening a door way and have no control over who or what may come through, and no way to be sure to make it leave and "close the door".
Apport: The sudden appearance of an object or objects during a haunting that seems to come from nowhere.
Astral travel/projection: This is the process of a human spirit traveling outside the human body. Also called Out Of Body Experience, OBE or OOBE.
Clairaudience Means clear hearing:a psychic ability which enables someone to hear voices or noises unheard by other people.
Clairgustance Means clear tasting:a psychic ability which enables someone experience a sense of taste associated with a spirit.
Clairvoyance Means clear seeing:a psychic ability to see a objects, people or events not perceived by the 5 senses.
Contagion:The act of being followed by a paranormal entity, such as an earthbound spirit from a haunted location.
Cold Spot: A small, defined area of intense cold (at least 10 degrees colder than the surrounding area) that can not readily be explained by other natural or mechanical causes (e.g. air conditioning, a drafty window, ice or snow). In paranormal research the prevailing theory is that when an entity is trying to manifest itself it draws on many sources of energy. One of those sources is the heat energy in the air. As the entity draws the heat out of the air the area in that specific immediate location becomes unusually cold. See our article on Paranormal Temperature Theory.
Deja vu: The feeling that a current situation has been experienced previously.
Dematerialise: To suddenly disappear, e.g. an object or spirit.
Debunk: Reported paranormal evidence or paranormal activity is said to be "debunked" when a simple, logical and non-paranormal explanation can account for the reported event(s). Even if the activity is genuinely paranormal, if a simple and reasonable explanation can also be applied, because of this ambiguity a prudent paranormal investigator has to side with the debunking explanation until further evidence of paranormal activity can be obtained. Care has to be used since it is easy to be skeptical of any report or evidence. Usually if the non-paranormal explanation is complex or requires many assumptions it may be over analyzing the situation.
Demon: An evil spirit or being which is said to have not ever lived on earth in human form.
Demonic Haunting: A haunting by a nonhuman entity. Can be very dramatic, even violent. Demonic hauntings often start out with subtle and relatively simple paranormal activity, then quickly increase to stronger activity. Most often effects people or families that are already under great personal stress from conditions such as alcohol or drug use, psychological or emotional problems, family or marital problems, etc. It is believed the nonhuman entity takes advantage of people in such weaken psychological and emotional condition. Persons who believe they and/or their families are the subject of a demonic haunting should immediately seek both professional paranormal assistance and counseling help. Click Here to read more about demonic hauntings.
Demonology: The study of demons.
Disembodied voice: A voice heard that does not have a known source.
Dowsing: The ability to use a pair of rods (often metal) held in the hands to locate objects, most commonly water. A Y-shaped tree branch can also be used fro finding water. In the paranormal investigation field Dowsing Rods are sometimes used to locate energy sources that could be paranormal in nature.
Earthbound spirit: A spirit trapped or bound to the earth plane, usually referred to as a ghost.
Why would a spirit be trapped on earth? Perhaps they do not realise that they are dead, are stubborn, or are afraid to move on to the next world for whatever reason. Perhaps they have unfinished business or feel that they cannot move forward until something is fixed or achieved.
As in life, in death each person controls their own fate and makes their own choices.
Ectoplasm: An ethereal substance, especially the transparent presence of a spirit or ghost.
EMF Meter:An instrument used by to measure electromagnetic energy.
ESP (Extra sensory perception):
Communication or perception by means other than the physical senses.
Electronic voice phenomena (EVP):
Audible voices recorded on cassette, or digital recording media., that were not heard or present at the time of recording.
Ghost:
The spirit of a deceased person or animal. It is often said that a 'ghost' is an Earthbound Spirit.
Guide:
See spirit guide.
haunting : paranormal phenomena that frequently occurs in an area, building or object over a long period of time.
Hot spot:An area or place where frequent paranormal activity occurs, such as the appearance of UFOs or ghosts.
Incubus:A demon (taking male form) who seeks sexual intercourse with a woman. Also see succubus.
Intuition:
The act or faculty of knowing or sensing something without the use of normal senses (e.g., sight, taste, feeling, smell, or hearing).
IR (INFRARED): Infrared light is light from the lower end (short wave length/high frequency) of the electromagnetic spectrum (between the visible light spectrum and microwaves). IR light is not visible to the naked human eye without the use of special equipment. IR is not to be confused with thermal imaging. While IR and thermal energy are both on the short end of the electromagnetic spectrum they are not the same thing. There is evidence that ghosts/spirits and other paranormal entities may be more susceptible to being viewed (including video and image photography) using the IR light spectrum. IR sensors are also often used for measuring temperature and detecting movement.
Karma:The effect of a person's actions and conduct during the successive phases of the person's existence, regarded as determining their destiny.
Kinetic Energy: Energy needed to force an object at rest into motion. Objects in motion have kinetic energy. Energy is neither created nor destroyed. As the kinetic energy diminishes it changes into potential energy.
Levitation:The rising of a person or object, defying gravity.
Lights Out: A paranormal investigation, usually conducted indoors and at night, where all the light sources and other electronic devices in the building have been turned off. The equipment used for paranormal investigations is typically more sensitive at night and in the dark. Having lights off reduces the possibility of false or misleading evidence caused by reflections and glares.
Living Ghost: The manifestation of a ghost or entity, usually a living close family member or friend, that appears a long distance (sometimes hundreds or event thousands of miles away!). This event usually coincides when the other person (the one manifesting) is facing an immediate great stress or life-threatening danger. Examples include a aircraft pilot or crew flying through a storm, a soldier on the battle field, an automobile driver or passenger during a sever accident, etc. Some believe this is related to astral projection and out-of-the-body experiences. This phenomena is related to the moment of mortality manifestation.
Materialisation:
The process of a spirit or ghost becoming visible to the human eye in some form.
meditation
Meditation is the process of relaxing, emptying your mind of all thought or reaching a different state of consciousness. Meditation can aid in spiritual development and/or inner peace. There are many types of meditation.
Medium :A person who can communicate with deceased persons, a go-between to or intermediator of the spirit world.
Metaphysics:
The study of phenomena not accounted for by known physical laws.
Mist:An energy field that looks like a cloud or haze but has a paranormal ectoplasm substance. There may or may not be any particular shape, color (typically white or light colored), thickness, or consistency.
Night Shot: A setting common on hand held video cameras. Originally it was a term used to describe the night vision (total darkness) recording capability of the Sony Handicam series of camcorders. This term has since become synonymous with meaning any night vision/total darkness video camera or recording device regardless of the manufacturer. The night shot feature uses a built-in IR (infra red) illumination source. An external IR illuminator can often be attached for additional viewing range. Click Here to read our discussion of using alternate light spectrums for paranormal investigations.
Nonhuman or inhuman spirt: An entity (ghost or spirit) that is not the result of a human person that once lived on Earth. Sometimes referred to as angels, demons, devils etc. It is not known exactly where these kinds of entities come from but it is reasonably well accepted by the paranormal community these spirits are not from people who had lived on Earth and have since died. Encounters with non-human spirits is rare and usually dramatic. Extra care should always be used if dealing with a potential inhuman spirit!
Orb:
An orb is a sphere of energy which is thought by some to be created by spirits. Another theory is that orbs are phenomenon created by natural & man made electrical energy and are not related to spirits of the dead.
Most orbs tend to be picked up on film or digital media however they in some instances also seen by the human eye. (See our Anomalous Photos section for examples of orbs)
Ouija board:
A board or place mat made up of letters & numbers, and usually the words "Yes", "No", and "Goodbye" used in try and communicate with spirits.
The name "Ouija" is made up of the words QUI which is "Yes" in French, and JA which is "Yes" in German.
Paranormal:
Events that are beyond the range of normal experience or scientific explanation
Poltergeist:
A German word that literally translates as "noisy and troublesome ghost".
Precognition:
Knowledge of an event before it happens.
Premonition:
A forewarning of a future event.
Presence:
The feeling that an unseen person, spirit or being is nearby.
Psychic:
A person who has the ability to see, hear and feel by use of senses other than the natural senses.
Psychometry:
The ability to sense information in an object, or in the surrounding environment
Reading:
Information given to a person by a medium.
Retrocognition:
Knowledge of a past event obtained psychically.
Residual Haunting: Non conscious and unintelligent (no thought or purposely actions), usually appear as person but can sometimes be a group of people, and animal or any non living thing. An example is the famous "Flying Dutchman" legend. There are no interactions with observers. They stay in same location replaying the same event over and over usually on some rhythmic cycle or pattern (though what the pattern is can be hard to determine). Sometimes causing electrical environment interference to occur. Often compared to a video recording that automatically plays itself over and over.
Sensitive:
A person who has psychic abilities.
Shadow people:
Spirits or ghosts which are usually black in appearance and have no discernible features.
Sixth sense:
A power of perception independent of the five senses (touch, smell, sight, feeling, taste).
Skeptic:
A person who is yet undecided as to what is true. One who looks for rational explanations as to why something occurs.
Spectre:
An unusual appearing ghostly figure or image.
Spirit:
The soul, essence or energy of a living or deceased person, animal or being.
Succubus:
A demon (taking a female form) who seeks sexual intercourse with a human man. Also see incubus.
Supernatural:
Beyond or exceeding the laws of nature.
Spirit guide:
A spiritual being who is assigned to a particular person to assist them in their spiritual or life journey. It is said that each person can have more than one spirit guide. These guides can be highly evolved spirits of people who have lived before.
Spirit photography:
The art or process of taking photos using traditional film, or digital media to capture images of spirits.
Telepathy:
Communication of a persons mind with another by means other than the normal senses.
Teleportation:
Movement of people or objects from one place to another by supernatural means.
Touched: The act of experiencing physical contact from a ghost, spirit or other paranormal entity. Can be as simple as a tug in your shirt or pressure on a part of your body to scratches, burns or being pushed/shoved. However, serious physical injury is very rare.
Vortex Vortices, Vortexes: A concentrated yet brief area of high electromagnetic energy often found in photographs taken at paranormally active locations. The often appear as sold (opaque) white or silver tubes, rods, or elongated ovals. They can also appear to be braided like a rope or chain (care has to be take to ensure it is not a rope, chain, camera strap etc). A vortex is not an entity. However, some paranormal researchers believe a vortex is a momentary doorway or portal to another realm that allows entities and other paranormal phenomena to come into our world. Some researchers also belief vortexes are linked to the Earth's own electromagnetic field which at least in part help determine when these portals open/close. It is also believed that some locations are more prone to having active vortices due to the alignment of the Earth's magnetic field and local geological structure.
White Nosie: White noise is the random non-descript static sound produced by various electronic devices. The sound covers and combines all wavelengths and frequencies. In this way it is like the color white which is really a combination of all colors. Hence the name white noise – the combination of all sounds. Examples of common white noise sources are the radio or television static when set to an empty channel, the hum of an electric fan motor and the babbling sound of a fast movie stream or brook.
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