What does a "GHOST" look like for real ?

Rich describes a vivid apparition:As Mary and I lay sleeping on our sides and back to back in our King size bed, I felt a hand gently pressing down on my side at the waist. Still in a light sleep state, I slowly reached up and around with my right hand with the intention of placing my hand on top of hers.

But when my hand got around to my side, nothing was there. Not a big deal, I just wasn't fast enough to catch her hand I figured. So I slowly lifted up on my right elbow and turned my head and shoulders around to look over her side. She was obviously sleeping very soundly, as her breathing was slow and rhythmic, and her arms and hands tightly nestled close to her body. It didn't really look as if she could have moved her hand around that quickly without stirring more from her very comfortable position.

It was about 3 AM, and the room was softly lit with light filtering through the window curtains. Outside, a street lamp and soft moonlight supplied just enough light to see inside the room.

Suddenly, as if turned on by a light switch, a gently swirling, glowing, blue-grey cloud (about the size of a soccer ball) appeared about three feet over the bottom half of Mary's body. It immediately began to change shape, quickly flowing into the outline of the upper torso of a human body. As the shape formed, more organized and intense shades of grey formed the outlines, and the head and shoulders took on a more realistic appearance. Within mere seconds, it became clear that the form was a female, her facial features deeply shadowed and not recognizable, but amazingly the light reflected details of her shoulder length wavy locks of hair and contrasted with the soft glow of the apparition which seemed to be now completed in less than ten seconds.

Out of the stillness, Mary suddenly spoke..." I'm sick" she said clearly. I quickly sat up and leaned over her and asked her what she had said, but she was still completely relaxed and obviously in a deep sleep. And in the same moment, I witnessed the immediate virtual evaporation of the female image floating above Mary's sleeping body. "What the Hell..." was about all I had to offer at that point....

The next morning I asked Mary if she remembered anything about this experience and all she could say was that she had a dream in which her full blooded Cherokee Indian grandmother came to her and asked how she was doing. She said she replied "I am sick" ( Indeed, it was true that Mary had been having some difficult health issues at the time.)

That night we both slept soundly, but the following evening I was again awakened to find the same spirit had returned but this time it appeared in a very different manner.

Fully formed when I first laid eyes on her, the gently glowing female form was in a most unusual position. She was floating on her back about two feet over Marys body. The ghost's feet were over Marys head and with hands at her side she appeared to be staring at the ceiling from the end of the bed opposite our heads.

Something did not look right as I stared, trying desperately to take in and remember as much detail as possible. I realized upon closer inspection that even though she was on her back, her hair and clothing (long sleeves and ankle length dress) did not hang down as gravity would have it do under the circumstance. The obvious then became clearer as I realized that she was actually in a different plane ! Her feet were about two feet above Marys head, but the ghost's head was more like three feet above Marys feet at the end of the bed. This gave the apparition a position in its own plane located at about a 15 degree incline to our plane of existence. The spirit body was standing straight and tall, but in a totally different dimensional plane.

It appeared to be the same female form I had observed two nights ago, and as before, Mary was soundly sleeping and apparently unaware of the scene unfolding before us.

Now I was intensely interested in getting to the bottom of this mysterious appearance. I sat straight up in the bed and the spirit stayed right where she was. I was feeling absolutely no fear. In fact, I felt very calm and completely assured that the presence was friendly. I slowly extended my right arm towards the apparition, hoping that I could actually touch her. At this point the spirit seemed to have been there for 15 or 20 seconds, and I moved very slowly so as to not cause her to vanish.

But alas, as ghosts are known to always do, she began to dissolve just as I was within inches of her. I was very frustrated at the sight of her slow dematerialization and spoke out loud "No...don't go !"But only a second later, I was sitting in the bed pointing my hand at empty space .

Mary remembered nothing of this night, and because of her dream, she speculated that maybe it was her grandmother, whom she was close to in life. However, the spirit form had a very youthful, slender appearance which was quite unlike her grandmother as Mary remembered her.

Several other possible explanations came to us, such as maybe her grandmother chose to be in the form of her youth at this time. Still, that didn't quite seem right... Another option we considered was the possibility that this image was in fact Mary, having appeared while having an "out of body" experience. And then yet another quite different explanation was that the ghost was "Vanessa" the lady who, according to an EVP message given to me by an old soft spoken man speaking in biblical language, had lived in an old homestead on the location of our Santa Fe home and was buried under the sun deck at the rear of the house. "Thou hast Vanessa under yonder deck..." stated the fellow in an EVP session outside our home.

Although for a short time I developed a habit of looking over my shoulder for this spirit when awakened during the night, I have not seen her since . Mary and I both have the ability to often see spirits in our home at night. Fortunately, we have grown accustomed to this, much like one becomes accustomed to their dream experiences. Rarely do we have frightening visions, but when they do occur, we know that no harm is likely to come to us as long as we control our fear. RICH

Where's all the GHOSTS ?!

The most common question asked of me by new ghost hunters is "Where do I look to find some ghosts?" Well, the best way to answer that question is just to give some pointers to head you in the right direction...and then the best ghost hunting will come to you in time after you have improved your awareness and developed your "sixth sense" for locating the haunted hot spots according to your needs.

Of course, it goes without saying that cemeteries are usually good bets. Look for large ones with lots of older dates on the stones. When you see an interesting gravestone, "talk" out loud to the spirits and ask them to allow you to take photos, record their voice, etc. Believe me, it will make a difference.

Look for building locations with a history, perhaps something with a tragic occurence in its past such as a murder, a fire, civil war experiences, etc. Old hospitals, hotels, schools...old courthouses, jails, etc. If you are doing EVP, you don't even need to gain access to the inside of the building, just walk the perimeter and talk to the spirits ! In fact, in some cases the building can even be gone, and lingering spirits can haunt the grounds !

Museums are great places for hauntings and especially EVP. All of the artifacts in such a place seem to be like a magnet for spirits! Check out any places where lots of people might have congregated over years of time, such as stadiums, ball parks, etc. Old railroad station locations are usually full of lingering unfinished spirit business...travelers have lots of stories to tell !

Old hospitals and mental institutions harbor many unhappy spirits...be prepared for anything when going to those kinds of spots. Happy ghost hunting ! RICH