This type of haunting is perhaps the most widely accepted kind of ghostly activity, although not as common as you might think. In this case, the spirit or entity involved is an "intelligent" presence in a haunted location. It is there because of a connection to the site of to the people in the location. This ghost is best (and most simply) described as the personality of a person who once lived and who has stayed behind in our world instead of passing over to the other side. This sometimes happens in the case of a murder, traumatic event or some unfinished business that took place in the person’s life. At the time of death, the spirit refused to pass over because of these events. The spirits often linger because of the emotions that tie them to the earth, from anger to love. It may not have been that the person did not pass because they couldn’t... it may have been because they did not want to. In other cases, there is the chance that the spirit did not yet even realize they were dead. This can occur when the death involved is sudden or unexpected. We have to remember that these spirits are now made up of the energy that once made up the soul of some living person. These Intelligent spirits are not evil or demonic, as some so-called experts would have you believe. I have never encountered an "evil spirit" in the time that I have been involved in this field. I have, however, run across a few "negative" spirits though, and realizing they were the personalities of people who were angry and bitter in life, I could explain the types of behavior they were manifesting in the location. Spirits are simply human personalities, or souls, and if the spirit was a kind and caring person in life, the spirit will most likely hang onto those qualities. On the other hand, those angry and cruel people will also keep those same qualities if they choose to stay behind after death. These negative spirits can be frightening, especially to people not trained in the paranormal, and in very rare cases they have been able to harm the living... but that is generally not the case. It is much more common to hear of an encounter with a benevolent spirit than with a negative one. So, what can you do if you if you get involved in a case like this? The fact that some of these spirits have remained behind because of some unfinished business is a hard obstacle to overcome. There are many spirits remaining in our world who have left behind relatives and love ones, or tasks which they feel cannot be completed by anyone other than themselves. They may not rest because of some injustice done to them or maybe because of something as simple as wanting to see their children grow up. For the most part, the idea of these spirits being still here in our world is actually very sad. In all of our excitement over finding a ghost, we also must keep in mind that many spirits are confused over what has happened to them, sometimes not realizing they are dead. Many of them died suddenly. Others cling to life, afraid to let go of something they no longer have. Because of this, they are drawn back to places where they experienced joy, peace and happiness during their lifetimes. Many of these spirits just felt they had too much life in them and have refused to pass over. These ghosts often need help to be convinced that they don’t belong here anymore. They don’t need to be exorcised (they aren’t demons), they just need to be shown the right way to go and introduced to the fact that there is now more for them in the next world than in this one. There are many different ways to accomplish this, ranging from simple explanations to perhaps a prayer from a clergyman of the spirit’s former faith.

SIGNS OF AN INTELLIGENT HAUNTING:

The spirit will usually manifest itself in physical ways like slamming, opening and unlocking doors and windows; strange sounds; voices; cold chills and a strong presence. It may make itself seen and it will most likely look as it did when alive. The witness should be sure however, that the visible spirit seems to interact and is not just an imprinted image. The annoyance factor with this type of haunting will be very high as the spirit seeks to get the attention of the living occupants at or in the location. These spirits are known for hiding objects; moving things about; turning things off and on and other nuisances that would be similar to a child seeking attention. In this sort of case, the spirit may be looking for assistance to pass over or to accomplish a certain task. It has also been documented that the spirit may just be seeking company from the residents, or even from the investigators themselves.

This type of phenomena is much more common than people think and I would even go as far as to say that it is the most common type of reported phenomena around. We have to remember not to confuse this type of phenomena with an "Intelligent" haunting because, while it is fascinating and unexplained, it may not be specifically related to ghosts. The easiest way to explain this haunting is to compare it to an old film loop, meaning that it is a scene or image that is played over and over again through the years. Many of these locations, where these hauntings take place, experience an event or a series of events, which imprints itself on the atmosphere of a place. This event can suddenly discharge and play itself at various times. The events are not always visual either, they are often replayed as sounds and noises that have no explanation. The famous "phantom footsteps" reported in many haunted places are a perfect example of this. Often the sounds and images recorded are related to traumatic events which took place at the location and caused some sort of disturbance, which we might call "psychic impression", to happen there. This is the reason why so many battlefields have become famous for their hauntings over the years. In other situations, the images have been created by events or actions that were repeated over and over again and cause an impression. Researchers have suggested that there exist so many haunted staircases because of the number of times people go up and down them and the amount of energy that is expended in doing so. These locations act as giant storage batteries, saving up the impressions of sights and sounds from the past. Then, as the years go by, these impressions appear again as if a film projector has started to run. How is this possible? No one really knows for sure but there have been lots of suggestions. Some believe that the building materials of the structure may absorb the energy. In England and Europe, some have suggested that the porous stones of the castle walls may soak up that energy and that may explain why there are so many haunted old buildings there. This might be the case.... even though it would not explain why we have residual haunts in America without the castles. Still, we should remember that many of these residual hauntings do occur in older structures, so there might be something to this idea. Personally, I think it is more likely that the number of people passing through old homes, and the tapestry of history played out in them, are the main reasons why these "hauntings" come into existence. I have another suggestion though, in which residual hauntings might be related to underground water sources. I have not done an extensive survey of such sites, but I do know of several residually haunted locations which are located above underground sources of water. One site, where I have conducted a number of investigations, is the old gymnasium at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois. Over the years, there have been numerous reports of strange sights and sounds in the old gym and I have found it to be one of the most active residual sites in the area. As it happens, the gym was built directly on top of an underground water source. Around 1900, when the university was being built, the future site of the gym was a small lake. The lake was drained and forced underground, where it remains today.

SIGNS OF A RESIDUAL HAUNTING:

Sometimes, this type of activity can make itself known in similar ways to an "Intelligent" haunting, but the most important signs will be different. A spirit, or an image in this case, will not interact with any of the living occupants of the location. The activity, and the sightings, will be random. There will be no missing items. While doors and windows may open and close by themselves, it will be because of energy expending itself and not because of spirit activity. Commonly reported in these cases are sounds of footsteps, walking and breathing and odd, usually repetitive sounds. Apparitions are commonly reported but they will not notice the living persons around them and will usually repeat the same actions over and over again. It is much more common to visibly spot an image in this type of haunting but remember, there will be no consciousness behind it.

Poltergeists (noisy ghosts) have commonly been blamed for any violent or destructive activity in a haunting. In the past, researchers believed that all such activity at a haunted location was the work of the spirits, or an outside force, but today, most investigators don’t think so. While interactive spirits may be the culprits in some cases, many of cases have a force behind them that is much closer to home. In a poltergeist case (and in its counterpart) there can be a variety of phenomena taking place. There are reports of knocking and tapping noises, sounds with no visible cause, disturbance of stationary objects like household items and furniture, doors slamming, lights turning on and off, fires breaking out and much, much more. While in some cases, this activity can be connected to ghosts, in other cases it probably isn’t. It certainly remains paranormal though and because of this, it is also unexplained and very controversial. The current theory behind this Poltergeist-like phenomena is that the activity is caused by a person in the household, known as the "human agent". The agent is usually an adolescent girl and normally one that is troubled emotionally. It is believed that she unconsciously manipulates physical objects in the house by psychokinesis (PK), the power to move things by energy generated in the brain. This kinetic type of energy remains unexplained, but even some mainstream scientists are starting to explore the idea that it does exist. It is unknown why this energy seems to appear in females around the age of puberty, but documentation of its existence is starting to appear as more and more case studies have become public. It seems that when the activity begins to manifest, the girl is usually in the midst of some emotional or sexual turmoil. The presence of the energy is almost always an unconscious one and it is rare when any of the agents actually realize that they are the source of the destruction around them. They do not realize that they are the reason that objects in the home have become displaced and are usually of the impression that a ghost (or some sort of other supernatural entity) is present instead. The bursts of PK come and go and most poltergeist-like cases will peak early and then slowly fade away. It should be noted that while most cases such as this manifest around young women, it is possible for puberty age boys (and even older adults) to show this same unknowing ability. As with the young women, the vast majority will have no idea that they are causing the activity and will be surprised to find there is even a possibility that strange things are happening because of them. In most cases like this, an excellent chance can be provided the researcher to document strange activity. Unfortunately though, the case will have nothing to do with ghosts and there is really no way to help the witnesses (or victims). It is usually better to refer the family to a good counselor or mental health care provider, rather than try to act as a paranormal investigator. A counselor is usually the best person to provide assistance under these circumstances because PK normally manifests because of emotional disturbance. But not all such cases involve disturbed individuals. We have already discussed that not all hauntings can be easily categorized and we must be careful not to jump to conclusions in any case. In some cases, what appears to be the work of a human agent may actually be that of the spirits, and vice versa. In addition, some genuinely haunted spots seem to be so filled with energy that witnesses at the location can manifest their own phenomena.

SIGNS OF POLTERGEIST ACTIVITY:

The already mentioned types of physical activity are most common in these cases, usually involving the violent manipulation of household and stationary objects, which seem to move about "under their own power". Watch for these reports of phenomena to escalate for a period as time goes by. Also watch for a female adolescent to be present in the household or for all of the activity to be centered around one person in particular. It is common that none of the activity will take place unless that person is present at the time.

This type of haunting, or paranormal phenomena, is the most controversial type of haunting that has been documented to date by paranormal researchers. The idea that this type of activity may actually exist is still mostly theory and conjecture... although evidence is starting to be collected which may actually prove these "portals" exist. The problem is that this type of haunting is the least understood and least traditional of all types of spirit activity. Many ghost researchers reject the theories behind "portals" because they do not fit into their accepted ideas of haunted places.... but we cannot afford to do this. We cannot afford to just reject off-hand something that we simply do not understand. Just think, if we had done this, many researchers would still be thinking that "poltergeist" activity was the work of evil spirits.... and not activity caused by the hidden depths of the human mind. So, strange and untraditional or not, the idea of the "portal" must be examined because evidence is starting to appear which just may surprise the doubters among you. The idea of a "portal" or a "doorway" to another dimension is not a new one. Many researchers believe that there are places all over the world that serve as "doorways" from our world to another. These doorways are thought to provide access for entities to enter our world. They may be the spirits of people who have lived before, or they could be something else altogether. Some researchers even believe that they could be otherworldly beings from another dimension. If that sounds far-fetched, believe me, it isn't as strange as it sounds. The entities sighted, reported and even photographed around what many believe to be "portals" could be the spirits of the dead.... or something much stranger. If locations like this do exist and they are "doorways", isn't it an easy assumption to make that these spots could have been labeled as "haunted" over the years by people who have seen things near them that they couldn't explain? I believe this has probably happened quite often and these places didn't become "haunted" as other places do (through tragic events or death)..... these locations had already been that way for many, many years. One of the most common locations for these "doorways" seem to be in cemeteries. Now, as a rule, most cemeteries are not haunted, but in the past few years, ghost hunters have collected dozens and dozens of anomalous photographs taken in cemeteries. There seems to be no explanation why many of these cemeteries would become haunted unless they provided access for spirits, or entities, to pass from one world to the next. Of course, some of the cemeteries are haunted in the traditional manner.... it's the ones that aren't which causes the puzzle. It is possible that these sites were "haunted" long before a cemetery was located there. It is possible that the psychic draw of the area was what caused our ancestors to locate a cemetery there in the first place. They may have felt there was something "sacred" or "spiritual" about the place and without realizing why, they placed a burial ground there and made it a protected place. The Native Americans chose their burial grounds in this manner, although they did it consciously. They found a place to bury and honor the dead which they felt was more closely connected to the next world. Many of these locations are now considered to be "haunted" or at least inhabited by spirits. So why not our own cemeteries? Could our own ancestors have not chosen the sites for our own burial grounds in the same manner, albeit in an unconscious way? These "doorways" could be passages to the next world and the entities captured on film here could be the spirits of the dead... passing back and forth between two worlds..... or they could be something far stranger. And, as I will show you in a few moments, graveyards are not the only places to find these doorways. I believe they exist in other places too. In fact, these doorways, and the strange entities that come through them, may just be the explanation for many of the sightings that have plagued the annals of paranormal research for years. For some time, investigators have attempted to dispel the some of the myths that "ghosts are evil" and that "they hurt people"..... but what if we are wrong, at least partially? I don't believe that ghosts can hurt you... at least not the discarnate personalities of the dead. There are certainly cases of people being injured in hauntings, but most of these cases boil down to poltergeist phenomena, caused by a human agent and not a ghost at all. It is the other type of case that worries me.... the cases of strange beings that cannot ever be described as human, terrifying visions, and yes, instances of people actually being injured by the entities involved in the case. What if these creatures are not ghosts at all? But strange entities that we cannot understand... who have passed into our world via these "portals"? We have to consider this... as it may provide many answers to cases where traditional methods of ghost investigation have not worked. This theory might even explain the "negative" spirits that are commonly reported! The following are 2 locations which I believe are "portal" locations. I have investigated both locations myself and would describe neither of them as being traditionally "haunted". I have also been able to collect evidence at both locations which may point to the "portal" theory being correct. Of course, this is my interpretation of the evidence gathered and I would be interested to hear from any other researchers, who have investigated the locations, and who may have evidence to the contrary.