EDDIE BRAZIL ponders the question: Do ghosts exist?
This may seem like a pointless question to the many devotees of Spooky Isles. Perhaps I should rephrase it – Do you believe in ghosts?
I ask the question because recently I took part in a radio talk in with parapsychologist Ciaran O’Keeffe on this very query. He was in the red “Ghosts don’t exist” corner, while I was in the blue corner defending the poor dead wretches.
O’Keeffe was given a bigger slice of airtime pie to put forward his sceptical argument whilst I was left playing catch up. At one point I did think I had scored a decent right hook when I asked him his views on the Cardiff Poltergeist.
He conceded that it was a classic case of the paranormal. But he insisted that despite positive evidence collected by none other than David Fontana, at the time president of the SPR, who concluded that there was a compelling case that a discarnate entity was causing the haunting in a lawn mower repair shop, and that the entity could also at times display intelligence, the ghost or poltergeist did not exist. I was puzzled.
ARTICLE: Things that go guffaw in the night
What O’Keeffe meant was that ghosts cannot exist unless science declares it so with irrefutable evidence. Scientists, of course, can only act within the confines of unquestionable proof. Yet it seemed that O’Keeffe view was akin to some form of rigid, religious orthodoxy that if proved to be wrong would result in the total destruction of his philosophy.
No matter how much I jabbed and weaved my argument passed O’Keeffe’s defence, he still clung to his blinkered position. If a ghost had got in to the ring and knocked him out he would have disputed it and rejected the 10 count.
Do ghosts exist?
For someone like me, who never enjoyed the luxury of an arrogance-instilling university education, I say, “if it looks like a ghost and walks like a ghost and sounds like a ghost, it probably is a ghost”.
But at the end of the day how does one convince others of the existence of ghosts?
The people of Missouri in the United States have a saying “Show Me”. But I say, like the guy in the movie Night of the Demon (1957), “You say show me?, I say, look for yourself”.
Here are five cases of haunting which anyone interested in whether ghosts exist or not should study. If you are not convinced after reading them, then I suppose nothing will.
The Cardiff Poltergeist
An extraordinary case of poltergeist haunting, which curiously did feature a repressed, prepubescent teenager as its focus.
A lawn mower repair factory in Cardiff was from the late 1970s until 1984 plagued with stone throwing, shows of coins and the seemingly boyish pranks of a playful Poltergeist.
On several occasions the apparition of a boy in 1940s school uniform was seen.
The Black Monk of Pontefract
A terrifying haunting which took place during the 1960s in an ordinary semi-detached house in the northern town of Pontefract.
The family were subjected to typical poltergeist phenomena of bangs , thumps and furniture being violently moved and smashed. The figure of a monk in black was seen on several occasions.
The most terrifying incident of the haunting was when the focus of the disturbances, a young girl, was dragged, screaming up a flight of stairs by an unseen force as her parents desperately held on to her.
It was this case which convinced writer Colin Wilson that poltergeists were spirit entities.
The Stocksbridge Haunting
The Stocksbridge Case is perhaps one of the few haunting to be reported by police officers and the incident written up in to an official log.
In 1987, two police constables witnessed the apparition of a monk like figure and were attacked in their patrol car by an invisible assailant.
The figure of the monk was observed by many other Stocksbridge residents throughout the area of the town. Phantom children were also seen dancing in fields at night.
Perhaps the most bizarre incident was when a couple travelling in their car watched in disbelief as the figure of a monk swiftly crossed a field to appear from nowhere in front of their speeding vehicle.
The Enfield Poltergeist
The case is a classic haunting of poltergeists, ghosts, violent psychokinetic power and enough terrifying incidents to make the movie The Exorcist seem pale by comparison.
Lasting for nearly 18months the phenomena was witnessed by countless people and became known throughout the world.
Like Colin Wilson’s experience of the Pontefract haunting, it was the Enfield case which convinced investigator, Maurice Gross of the reality of the paranormal.
Ghosts on the Underground
Ghosts on the Underground is a stylishly-produced DVD relating the astonishing paranormal experiences of the staff and workmen of the London tube.
When one considered how impermanent life could be on the permanent way for those who built and are employed on the capitals underground, it is no wonder the place is awash with ghosts and phantoms.
Many of the accounts are made all the more incredible, and given added veracity by the sincerity of the men relating them.
These are tough no nonsense working people conscious of the stigma of ridicule. To hear them tell their tales without fear of their colleagues put downs and jibes only gives their accounts indubitable credibility.
Do ghosts exist? Tell us what you think in the comments section below.
I definitely believe in ghosts, and also that they are of different types, i.e.: spirits of the dead, residuals, “stone tape theory” , apparitions of the living, elementals and demons. This is largelybecause I have had first hand experience of the paranormal since early childhood, as did my late mother. Almost everywhere I have lived and many places I have worked seem to have had something uncanny going on. Even living on a canal boat for a time I still found myself being contacted by the spirit of someone attached to the place where I was moored. Naturally, I am really interested in all things paranormal but I have to say I don’t like the feel of those ghost hunting programmes where they expect spirits to react to their every comment and speak to them disrespectfully. Whenever I have been in a position to, I have always tried to move a spirit on if that is what they want. Mostly, ghosts reach out to us by tapping us, moving things etc. because they need help, not to be showcased like performing animals! Not to say all those shows are bad though; I have seen some in which the investigators get a great blend of more scientific approaches and sensitivity when they do come across a soul who needs to move on. To anyone on this site who is reading this and is interested in ouija boards and summoning: please please don’t! I do believe there are demons out there who can disguise themselves as spirits of dead people and can cause physical and mental harm if contacted. My mum related to me a horrible experience she and her friends had many years ago when they messed with a ouija board and it certainly did sound like some kind of dark energy that wanted to scare them, rather than an actual human. In my experience, certainly, ghosts will come to you if you are open minded; no need to call them! I could probably write a small book about the ghostly/ paranormal experiences I have had, including one incident where my father saw an apparition of me! (I was in my bedroom at the time.) I bet I’m not the only one, and if people really take notice of what they are sensing, they will probably remember that strange man on the train the other morning who suddenly wasn’t there, that white shape that they saw out of the corner of their eye… we could all be seeing ghosts as we go about our lives, without even realising!
‘arrogance-instilling university education.’
When faced with logical reasoning, what else but to dismiss it as ‘arrogance’. The clue is in the word ‘education’ and HE is available to all ages. Reminds me of Michael ‘The’ Gove and his ‘people are tired of experts’ line. Yeah, coz dilettantes are so much trustworthy than those who have studied and researched a subject.
Have you ever seen a live exorcism? Have you ever entered an empty house after the owner called the parish priest because it became dangerous? I entered the house because I was a stupid sceptic and scepticism is not healthy because just because you have never experienced something it doesn’t mean it does not exist. The house was empty and the first welcoming thing I saw was a knife that came at speed and missed my face by centimetres. Then the drawers of a wardrobe suddenly detached themselves and were thrown at us by invisible hands . My cameraman was not fast enough and he was injured in the head. As for exorcism – I saw a live one in a hospital. A 15-yearold child wrestled five well built men and threw them away like rag dolls. then she picked an iron chair and reduced crushed it like a cardboard box. She casually grinned and walked up the wall and along the ceiling casually as if she was a spider and then , despite we discovered she was illiterate, she started addressing the exorcist in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. I suggest you read books by parapsychologists who are more sceptic than you: parapsychologists, Dr Dean Radin, Dr. Thomas Zinser and Dr. Stephen Braude. These taught me parapsychology at the University of Edinburgh. You really think that those who believe in spirits both good or evil are illiterate and have no education? Well let me assure you I have several university qualifications including from Edinburgh University in this field and a doctorate as well.
Having lived in a haunted house with assorted aural phenomena and a few sightings I definitely believe in paranormal phenomena. That doesn’t mean I’ll believe every story that comes my way but I won’t dismiss them out of hand either.
Mr. Brazil,
Your analysis of Mr. O’Keefe is particularly accurate. It is surprising that someone allegedly highly educated refuses to keep an open mind in order for any sort of learning to occur.
Still available on the BBC Sounds iPlayer is a podcast on the Battersea Poltergeist, in which Mr. O’Keefe took the same sceptical position as during the radio show you stated. It is well worth a listen to hear the quasi-religious posturing occupied by some sceptics who say they represent Science but, appear to be advancing their own philosophy, as you so aptly state.
I’m reaching the end of my trip on earth (85), and I dearly want to believe in the after-life. My beliefs have changed over the years, from a practicing catholic to a near atheist. I sincerely hope that my demise is not as final as a mosquito’s . I keep looking for reassurance that it’s not simply “Dust to Dust”