To those who believe in ghosts, haunted things:

[rainroosty]

Originally Posted by Chango

My best theory is that it involves human emotion. Places that have been the site of intense human emotion, places that were extremely loved (or hated) always seem to be the haunted places. Places where tragedy occurred and lives were cut short are often "haunted"; obviously there is a lot of emotion generated by such an event.

Originally Posted by Chango

I think somehow a brain's emotional response and/or memories are somehow "recorded" into the environment and "replayed" under the right circumstances... perhaps straight into the brain as an induced hallucination. Certain other scientific,natural events like ELF waves have been shown to cause hallucinations too. That would also explain why inanimate objects can appear as "ghosts" too; nothing is really there... it's just being played back like a TV signal beamed into an unlucky observer's head.



BUT...
We can't get around the fact that purported "haunted" places more often than not evoke emotions in real people just by virtue of being spooky, dark or even simply by their dark, spooky reputation. There is no doubt that simple fear factor plays heavily on a person's emotions and causes a lot of "hauntings" that are nothing at all.

For example; I've wandered the bottom of the Queen Mary (I got complete access once and went all over it from top to bottom, even around the infamous swimming pool and through the dressing room area) and never saw or felt a hint of the paranormal.

The dressing room area of the pool is a famous "hot spot" that is purported to be a vortex of spiritual energy (whatever that is). When I was there the electricity wasn't working so it was only lit by flashlight; it was oddly proportioned (it was too tall and too narrow), small, uncomfortable and very dirty. The whole thing made for spook effect but it was all psychological simply because of the odd room design and it's current condition.

All and all, I was sure the famous "ghost ship" was far more hype than substance... I doubt it's even haunted at all. Historical, fascinating and sad, yes (most of the ship has been gutted and lost forever), but not necessarily haunted.

....but oh how wrong you are! I assure you, speaking from first hand experience, that there is a haunting in the lower area of the Queen Mary.
That is something I will never ever forget for the rest of my life. Something I very rarely speak of.
I sailed across the ocean on that ship back around 1962.