right
This is my theory on the matter
I personally think that time can be used as a natural medium for recording such if you understand.
for example
a video camera records events just as time could
I think that for some reason nature sometimes records certain events/people or whatnot mabye they had to be really influential i don't know.
But then the "ghost" sightings are just a replay of these events.

this kind of explains why as time goes on certain ghosts apparently become less and less visible (due to deterioration) and is also an explanation for why most of them don't seem to react to people

also it explains about those old roman ones where they seem to be walking 2 feet below ground where the old roman roads were and how they all seem to go through walls because in their time there may not have been any walls there ya'see
also the reason why they seem to follow a fixed repetitive path and the "icy cold" feeling of the surrounding air could simply be the effects of the "playback"

Also the ones where they just hear voices in empty rooms and such could simply be cases where the ghostfigurechap has deteriorated (see up) to the point where it can't be seen anymore by the naked eye

Now i'm not good at explaining stuff so this seems daft but in my head it was dead good i'm telling you

i'm not posting this as fact just as a random theory

apologies for length and retardedness i'm not too great at doing these
be gentle i'm new(ish):)
(Freddles, Fri 4 Jul 2008, 11:09, 8 replies)

I clicked
coz I like your theory.
( SpikeyPickle wishes he was mabazaritchie, Fri 4 Jul 2008, 11:15, closed)

You're right.
There are energy lines.. kinda like a grid, covering the planet.

Everything around us, including us, is energy, and that energy can be imprinted on the fabric of time.

Alot of ghost sightings are simply a "playback", however there are other spirits that are angry that they are dead (poltergheists) or have a very strong emotional bond with a person or place etc. and simply refuse to leave.
(TheRiddler Hmmmmm... I concur., Fri 4 Jul 2008, 11:15, closed)

How come...

I agree with you. I have virtually the exact same theory which I posted earlier...only instead of the word 'replays' I used 'echoes'

However, why is it that when you post your theory, everybody agrees with you, yet when I posted mine earlier, everybody queued up to blow my ideas to smithereens?

IT'S A GODDAM POPULARITY CONTEST ROUND HERE!

*sulks*

nice to know someone agrees with me.
( Pooflake braces for an onslaught..., Fri 4 Jul 2008, 11:25, closed)

@Pooflake
If it makes you any happier, I think that this post is 40 thousand times flakier than yours. I didn't reply until now because I was trying to summon the will to live...

:)
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Fri 4 Jul 2008, 11:37, closed)

Here are some science
Changes in air pressure can affect the retina and under certain (not rare) circumstances can make you think someone is in the room when they are not. This is especially common in old, drafty buildings or buildings where air flow is artificial (fans, air con etc)

Walking through a park in autumn when the sun is low in the sky (filtering through the bare trees) can cause the same strobe effect that induces fits. Many people attest to seeing big devil dogs etc but these are just the brain going off on one due to the strobing.

or it could be invisible energy lines like you say...
( BadBadman saw an incorrect comma placement on, Fri 4 Jul 2008, 11:41, closed)

Not so random
It's actually a very common theory among ghosthunters usually known as "Stone tape theory" (Google has loads of info). I still think it's bollocks but at least you don't have to take that personally!
(GothicTechie, Fri 4 Jul 2008, 13:03, closed)

I think
everyone should read Anton LaVey's essay on the Law of the Trapezoid. It's a very clever theory about haunted houses. He is a bit mad though.
( Madam Marlboro wonders if you've found her yet, Fri 4 Jul 2008, 13:04, closed)

I think that instead
everyone should read Bertrand Russell's "An inquiry into meaning and truth".

You won't be seeing ghosts any more. In fact, you won't even be sure you're seeing mundane things like dogs ... instead you'll resort to a simple belief that you happen to be perceiving a "dog-shaped patch of colour".
(haberman is singing in the changes, Fri 4 Jul 2008, 14:06, closed)