This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Apparitions

Just how common are the sightings of apparitions? Have you seen one?

Throughout myghost investigating years I've covered over sixty haunted locales. One of the first questions people ask me is if I've seen an apparition. For non-ghost investigators I can understand why this particular question comes to mind
almost immediately. After all, it's ghostly apparitions which appear in movies,
TV and books, so people assume that seeing apparitions is a common occurrence
when actually it is really quite rare.

So if you are wondering if I've seen one, the answer is no. At least not yet
anyway. It is when I wake up in the middle of the night and walk through the
darkness to get myself a glass of water that I worry it will be the first time
I happen to see one. In all honesty, I don't know how I would react, and I've
been studying ghosts for years. If you've read my books you know that both
myself and paranormal investigator Joe Giaquinto have captured apparitions on
film. For me, my favorite is the photo I took of the ghost of a little girl at
Ketcham Inn in Center Moriches. It is so blatantly clear it is amazing, yet I
could not see her with the naked eye.

Joe has always told me that it takes a great deal of energy for an apparition
to form; that is why capturing orbs is more common. It takes less energy for a
spirit to form an orb apparently, than a full-blown apparition. I have
interviewed many people who have claimed to see apparitions however, and will
even swear to their existence. Interestingly enough, it tends to happen more to
skeptics than to believers.

Apparitions have been around since the beginning of time. It can be described
as a way in which a ghost manifests itself by appearing as a partial or full
figure. Although an apparition can sometimes appear to be solid, it is more
commonly transparent. Early apparitions have been those of religious figures
including saints, angels and Jesus Christ. Apparitions have also been found in
folklore and in literature. Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" is a
great example of a well-known fictitious story which tells how apparitions appeared to poor Ebenezer Scrooge. Just like in the story, sometimes apparitions appear to us to give us information, to warn us or to even help us along our journey. It's just a matter of being able to interpret it correctly.

In my first Ghost book I wrote about Peter Underwood's "Ten Types of
Ghosts". From London England, Peter Underwood is one of the most
experienced ghost hunters in the world, and he describes many different types
of apparitions. Probably the most common type of ghost or apparition is that of
historical ghosts. These are usually the ghosts that haunt old houses and
historical locations. The apparition is often seen wearing period clothing, and
oftentimes they have suffered in some way or died of trauma. They sometimes
cannot pass on to the other side, or they simply refuse to move on because they
are attached to the place in which they haunt. That would make them
"place-centered" or basically stuck in one location. One of the more
famous places to see this type of apparition is in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in
the old battlefields. More locally, at the Country House Restaurant in Stony
Brook, Long Island, the ghost of Annette Williamson has been seen by the
restaurant's owner, waiters and customers. Annette died in the house tragically
during the American Revolutionary War, and her spirit lives on in the house
today.

Another type of apparition is that of the modern ghost. These are ghosts of the
recently dead. People are more likely to see the ghost of a recently dead
person than any other type of ghost, although most people will not realize it
is a ghost until it has disappeared. Very similar is the crisis apparition
which are the ghosts of the recently dead that appear for a limited time,
usually not more than four days. Often it is the spirit of a loved one coming
to say goodbye or to give a final message. Thousands of examples of crisis
apparitions were reported during both World Wars.

If you believe that you have seen an apparition I would love for you to share
your story. It is perhaps, one of the most unbelievable paranormal occurrences
you can experience, and it one you most definitely will never forget.

Kerriann Flanagan Brosky is the author of Ghosts
of Long Island; Stories of the Paranormal
and Ghosts of Long Island II; More Stories of the Paranormal, both available on Amazon in hardcover and e-format. www.ghostsoflongisland.com

Find out what's happening in Huntingtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?