ABSTRACT
An apparition entails a perceptual experience in which a person or animal appears to be present though they are not. The ghost of folklore is seen as an apparition of a dead person who may 'haunt' the same place repeatedly. Apparition and ghost experiences are common to most cultures. Most spontaneously occurring apparitions are of people, who may be dead, dying or alive at the time their apparitions are sensed. Random surveys of the general population in the USA and Europe have suggested that something like a third of the population believe they have had 'contact with the dead'. Various intrepid investigators, including many amateur investigators, spend nights in reputedly haunted houses which are usually reported to have one or more ghostly apparitions. McCue offers an overview of theories of hauntings. Natural interpretations range from misinterpretation of normal sounds, to the effects of subterranean water, seismic effects, electromagnetic effects on the brain and the effects of standing waves.
