Are Ghosts Real?

Most people classify ghosts as Hollywood and literature have depicted them, filmy people (as in Patrick Swayze's "Ghost") or terrifying monsters (Poltergeist). The debate still wages between skeptics and believers. Although parapsychologists and ghost hunters have caught some strange anomolies on film and video, that's all they appear to be--anomolies.

Psychologists conclude that paranormal phenomena is caused by emotional distress or psychiatric conditions. I would have to agree with them to a point. About 14 years ago, I lost my younger brother suddenly and tragically. Much of what my family and I experienced could be chalked up as grief.

Now, I'll share the story which made me wonder if ghosts do exist outside of our imaginations. In 1992, I worked as a receptionist in a shipping warehouse of a computer company. One morning, I was working at my desk and felt someone staring at my back. I looked over my shoulder, but didn't see anything except the copier and a large rubber plant. My co-workers were chattering away in their cubicles.

The feeling refused to go away until I left the area. When I returned to my desk, everything felt normal. I shrugged off the experience and went back to work.

Several weeks later, my boss asked me to work on Saturday. I was the only one in the building. There were no cars parked in the lot but mine.

Again, I experienced that strange sensation of being watched. Just like last time, no one was there. Then I heard someone walking around in the warehouse. Their footfalls echoed off the concrete, a very distinct and loud sound.

The noise lasted but a moment, and I don't remember if I went to investigate. I finished up my work, and then I went home. The following Monday, I approached a co-worker about my experiences, thinking that she would just smile and shake her head at my skittishness.

Her face got dead serious before she said, "Oh, yes. This place is haunted."

As it turned out, several of the women I worked with experienced the exact same thing. These occurrences were well known, but not discussed. Did we all imagine this, or was the building really haunted?

I find myself straddled between skepticism and believing. There are plenty of hoaxes as well as some famous, documented cases. It is the latter cases that pique my interest in the paranormal.