When you think about "hauntings," particularly with children, you have to think about the implications.
Where is the love of God? Is this an "echo" while the soul behind it has passed to heaven?
This is not idle speculation. If you rub down the goosebumps, the idea of self-aware spirits who are sad and yet somehow experience their existance is very deeply disturbing.
Creepy story! I am a strong believer in "hauntings" and "ghost phenomenons" and I should know because i have MANY stories about it.
(this isn't quite a ghost story, but it is still one of my personal favorites) My aunt had a son that died in a car wreck several years ago, and immediately after he died, my aunt prayed and prayed that he would not leave this earth and to be able to visit him every night in her dreams.
It indeed happened, for a good two years or so...every night in her dreams she would call out to her son, and every night he would answer, "I'm right here, mom" and she would just hug him closely.
After the course of two whole years and one day when she called out to him, he replied in a sad and sorrowful voice "I'm here mom, I've been right here all along" and when she came up to hug him, she stepped back and literally exclaimed. "You smell like a dead dog!" he replied by saying that he wanted and needed to pass on to the after life, and in order for that to happen, she technically needed to "spiritually" release him. She prayed for his release the next night...and after that, hasn't seen him or heard from him since in her dreams.
Maybe they're earthbound spirits not ready to move on --- some unfinished business they have to take care of first. I read somewhere that "RIP" or Rest in Peace was originally done in hopes the soul would be at peace and not out doing whatever.
Don't be disturbed, Freeper Friend. Whatever those things are, they are not the souls of deceased persons, because Scripture assures us over and over that the dead go immediately to either Heaven or hell.
I believe many of these things are simply demons, "getting their kicks" by fooling people. It is also possible that the enemy of our souls somehow filmed some people while they were alive on earth, and those films are being played back so the demons can laugh at the reaction they get.
Be at Peace in our Loving God, my friend. Remember, the Enemy of our souls is a Liar, and one of the main Tricks of his Trade is Deception.
You could get lucky and some fool would be separated from $65,000 (of other peoples money) to buy Gramps old cane!
I know nothing about scientific or intellectual speculations concerning 'ghosts' or 'hauntings', but I do have an extraordinary experience I'd like to share...(also, I admittedly lack technical skill as a writer, so please bear with me as you read this):
Years ago we lived in a house which was situated on a hill in a way that allowed a clear and direct view of 3 other homes from our bedroom window. These homes were newly built and although 2 sold immediately one remained empty for quite a long time. The builder finally opted to lease out the unsold house and soon it too was occupied.
I happened to be home sick with the flu shortly after the tenants of the leased house had moved in and as I lay in bed I notice 2 small terriers looking out a big window of the newly leased house. The dogs looked to be of the same breed as my own little terrier ~ which was not a common breed by any means and it seemed like a neat coincidence that our new neighbors owned 2 of these great little guys. I was kind of excited at this prospect but I was also really sick and felt like crap so I just made a mental note to go over and introduce myself (and my dog) to our new neighbors once I was on the mend.
Well, before the week was out (and before I'd had a chance to go over and say "Hi") I was surprised to see a moving van back at the leased housed and the new tenants were gone almost as quickly as they'd arrived. We thought it was odd but not so odd as to cause concern. The hill on which these homes were located had really steep driveways that were very difficult to maneuver ~ cars often missed the sharp turns and ended up going over the edge. Not really dangerous but very costly to extract and repair, so we sort of figured the leasers might have found living there too much trouble and opted out.
The following week I returned to work and, after a day or so, I notice our little terrier began to behave in a way that was both startlingly and bizarre. The best way I can describe this behavior is that he suddenly seemed to have invisible friend. It was the strangest thing ~ it was like watching him when he played with one of our nieces or nephews, except that there was no one there. He'd do his tricks....he'd play chase.....he'd even gently lick the air like he was giving "kisses" to someone. Sometimes he'd get tired of 'playing' and, just as he'd do with a bothersome child, he'd go into his little ears back, lip slightly curled, mock snippy "leave me alone now or I'll bite ya" routine!! It was fascinating to watch!!
Often, in the evening when we'd be in bed watching TV or reading with the dog sleeping quietly next to us, the dog would wake up, raise and cock his head for a moment or two (like he did when we'd give him an ear scratch or chin tickle) and then he'd give his gentlest puppy licks to whoever this special friend was that only he could see.
This relationship between dog and 'friend' went on for months ~ visiting friends and family members watched in utter amazement as this dog 'played' with his invisible friend. Watching him so obviously interact with something none of us could see was mind-blowing to say the least!! It really freaked out several folks ~ there were two very old and very large cemeteries on the hill our house set on and the general consensus came to be that a spirit or a ghost from one of those cemeteries had moved into our home.
My mother was a deeply religious woman and while watching our dog play with his "friend" for a while one afternoon asked me if it frightened me that a unknown spirit seemed to have taken up residence in my home.
It was an interesting question because I really hadn't thought about it in those terms ~ so I thought about it for a minute and realized that, while it was disconcerting, it wasn't really frightening in any way. Whatever or whoever it was unclear but what was clear was that our dog genuinely liked it ~ watching this dog play with his "friend" was like watching him interacting with a child he liked very much. So much so that I told Mom, if this was a spirit, it must be the spirit of a child and the spirit and the dog seem very happy together. (BTW, I did have the dog checked out by the vet to make sure he was suddenly experiencing neuro or physiological problems ~ he checked out fine) At any rate, weird as it was, we all finally came to except that this dog had a special invisible "friend" only he could see.
Finally, late one evening, I heard a loud commotion outside and when I went to my window I could see lots of police cars parked at the bottom of the hill. Police officers were rushing up and down the driveway that led to the 3 homes I could see from the bedroom window and there were TV news crews, complete with lights and cameras, crawling all over the place. My first thought was big a drug bust must be going down ~ I couldn't think of anything else that would generate that much police and media attention in the middle of the night. Curious, my hubby and I dressed and went out to find out what was going on.
It turned out that the "leased" house had been leased by 2 young women (ages 20 and 22) who, shortly after they moved, had met up a young man in a bar and invited him to move in with them. Apparently this young man was new in town from out of state, he was dealing drugs, had a brand new BMW and lots of cash so these enterprising young 'ladies' decided they could kill him, hide his body, split his wealth, move away and no one would ever know. They murdered him, stuffed his body thru a small trapdoor in a closet floor and cemented his remains into the one of the walls in the crawl space under the house! They then divvied up the young man's money and belongings and moved out the following the day.
The man had no family or friends in the area and was never reported as missing there and, after the failed leasing attempt, the builder decided to put the house back on the market for sale and it had remained empty. These women really would have gotten away with this crime completely (and the body might never have been found) had one of the young woman not eventually joined some religious cult in another state and finally confessed to the members there what she'd done. Thankfully, the cult members reported the crime to the authorities which led the police to makeshift 'grave' next door us.
It took the police most of the evening to extract the poor man's remains from beneath the house and, after the remains were removed, we never again saw our dog play with his "friend"!
Like I said, I know nothing about "ghosts" and "hauntings" but there isn't a doubt in my mind that the spirit of that murdered young man sought out, befriended and stayed with a creature who was aware of his presence ~ our wonderful little terrier.
I often think of this young man ~ mind you I've no warm spot in my heart for drug dealers but I cannot help but cherish how tender and childlike his relationship with our dog seemed. I think, too, of this young man's family ~ what it must have been like for them to receive the news of this son's death. I've always sort of wanted to let his family know that, while his body lay hidden away in the dank, dark crawl space of that vacant house his spirit had a very, very dear friend who lovingly kept him company until his remains could be taken and laid to rest.
PS ~ I think my Mom's favorite Einstein quote might also be 'relevant' to this thread: