Skeptics Vs. Believers

Pictured above is what is commonly known as the most famous and most authentic image of a ghost ever captured on film. It is the picture known as, "The Brown Lady", taken from Raynharn Hall in England, in 1936. In this era, it was a tad more difficult to deliberately alter a picture to make an image like this appear. Was it impossible? NO. There's always the double exposure factor. Experts have diligently investigated every aspect of the photo, and most of these experts have yet to be able to completely "debunk" this photo. However, there is a slew of skeptics who have done all they can to prove that this picture is as false as their imaginations. I look a this picture and I only have one conclusion.....It's a ghost!

My name is Mike and I reside in Phoenix, Arizona. I have some family members and a number of friends, like my blogging partner Julie, who share this same paranormal interest. My sister Kelly and I first took a serious interest in the ghostly world about seven years ago while we were still living in southern California. It was around Halloween and I remember that we saw some Travel Channel special that talked briefly about a house in Old Town, San Diego called The Whaley House (pictured below). Check out my blog about it: America's Most Haunted: The Whaley House. We realized how close it was to us, just a forty minute drive from our house in Oceanside. We went there, learned more about the history, and have been hooked on this paranormal field ever since.

Being a believer in ghosts is like being a believer in anything that's a little out of this realm. You have to deal with you share of people who believe the exact opposite (known as skeptic). There is a fine difference, in my opinion, between believers and skeptical people. Believers in ghosts just believe. Sometimes these believers have had some kind of experience in their past with an actual spirit. some, like me have never had any true contact with a ghost but I still believe because I have no reason not to believe. I fell like it's a much easier path. I was once quoted as calling skeptics close minded. I still believe that to a degree, but have slightly changed my view.

Personally, I still do think most skeptics are closed minded, because they only believe one thing and that's it. This makes them stubborn. Now I'll be the first to admit that I'm stubborn, but isn't everyone to a degree?? Anyway, these skeptics, they do all in their power to prove every bit of ghostly evidence that is caught is something explainable (refracted or reflective light, a camera malfunction, etc.). These people analyze ghost pictures for hours on end, doing fancy tricks on photoshop and other computer programs on the sort, just to prove us believers wrong. Funny thing is, us believers will look at a picture for about twenty minutes, do a photoshop analysis and still come to the conclusion it's a ghost. We (at least MOST of us) aren't out to prove skeptic wrong, but to just show evidence trying to prove our case. Skeptics do the exact opposite....they try to suck the fun out of our experiences. What's their motives behind that? I may never know, but I just want to have my fun!

Yes, close minded skeptics sole purpose is to prove us wrong. Why? What is your reasoning for this? Do you feel you have to be right? Because on my end, I don't have to be right. I am fully aware that a lot of evidence can in fact be explained to common every day, human factors. I understand that reflected light can appear in a photo in the form of ghostly face. That's what separates some of us believers, like me, from those skeptics I deem as close minded. It's in my opinion, that to firmly believe in something, you have to willing to accept the opposite could be possible. I am an avid believer, it would take a lot to change my mind on the subject (there's that stubbornness we all possess) but I am open to the fact that this whole world I've immersed myself in has been one giant hoax.

I may get criticized for this, but I'm going to say it for the purpose of this article. I am a believer in God. I'm a believer in Jesus and a Divine power. This isn't my point, however, Religion is one of the most debatable things on this planet. There are so many religious beliefs, so many supposed God's, no one really knows what's true and what's not, but we all still have our beliefs that every other religion tries to point out as being the wrong one. Thing is, I've never seen Jesus, I've never seen God with my own true eyes, but I still firmly believe in them and you won't alter that belief in me. I'm sure most people in most religions have never physically seen their "God", but they still believe. It is a big thing with skeptics to say, "Well I don't believe because I've never see it"......Psh. I can believe in a divine power such as God, why is so hard to believe in things like aliens and ghosts, and why is so hard to accept that we believe in them? Most of us won't see God while living on the current Earth, but we know we will see Him in Heaven, that's SUCH a strong thing to believe in even though I've never seen Him. Are you getting my point?

Question, aren't there a lot of physical thing in this world you haven't seen? How many of you have seen an actual two headed snake? Like, in person? Well there's a picture below for you to see. A common thing for skeptics is they have to see it to believe it. Which is perfectly fine and understandable. But it's the skeptic who use that as their crutch in being so defensive that everything I believe in isn't real. Just because YOU haven't seen it and choose not to believe in it, doesn't mean I'm not allowed to believe in it for my own reasons. If I asked that question, have you ever seen a two headed snake, some would say, "well that's stupid". There are hundreds of pictures of them, hundreds of accounts of people who have actually seen them, there's video, articles, on and on they would go. that's weird, isn't their thousands of article , book, first hand accounts, pictures, videos, etc. of ghosts?? Hmm.

I'm not trying to point fingers and call all skeptics idiots. I have skeptical friends. None of them are these close minded ones. they are all at least open to the possibility. That's all I ask for. I will reiterate my point: To be a true and honest believer in something, you have to believe that there is the slightest potential of the exact opposite of that belief. If you believe in Heaven, you have to at least thing there could be a Hell. If you believe in ghosts, you have to at least think it's all been a world full of fake. We can't all just believe in the light and bubbly side of things. I mean, we CAN, but just at least stretch that belief a smidgen. Same goes true for non-believers: If you believe ghost aren't real, you have to at least be willing to think they could be real. If you cannot believe in the possibility of an opposite, you may be close minded. That is the kind of skeptic I can't stand.

I guess you could argue that I'm being one sided here. I'm really not trying to come off that way. Every single human being is entitled to their opinions and beliefs and every one of those people should stay true to those beliefs. I'm not saying you have to read this article and change your mind if you are a skeptic. That's the opposite of what I want. I'm just trying to enhance my point and my opinion on that matter, and take it for what you will. I just get a little irritated at the people who are only willing to accept one side of something and not even give a single thought to the other side.

I hope I haven't come off as being mean, I'm really a nice person. A nice person who loves ghosts! This blog will be dedicated to that. With the help of my best friend's Mom, Julie, my sister Kelly and maybe some other guest blogger, we will provide enough knowledge on the world of ghosts. We aren't here to rub these things in your faces, we are just here to provide what we have.

We have called ourselves TAGO, which stands for The Arizona Ghost Organization. The picture above is the TAGO group that went with us to the Copper Queen Hotel in Bisbee, Arizona. Not all in the picture are true believers but are open to seeing the posibilities. We are all however fans of TAPS, The Alantic Paranormal Society, led by Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson. They have a show on Sci-fi called Ghost Hunters. It's one of my favorite shows.

It is sci-fi's most watched program and deservedly so. Their technique on Ghost Hunting is very effective and very smart. They go into a house, or old building that claims to be haunted and try to debunk every claim. doors that open by themselves, phantom smells of cigar smoke or perfume, voices, phantom footsteps, etc. They do all they can to prove those things are happening for human or physical world reasons. A lot of the time, MOST of the time they are able to debunk these claims due to bad plumbing, or maybe wood expanding in the humidity to make a door open. These are smart guys, and also, they are not skeptics.

They set up an average of four digital video cameras throughout the place they are investigating. They do walk through with thermal imaging cameras, electronic voice recorders, hand held video and digital still cameras. After their investigation, they go over everything and try to catch evidence of a ghost. Whatever evidence they can't debunk, is evidence of the paranormal. It's a very noble way of ghost investigation, and one I love.

TAGO is just getting started in investigating haunted places. Last August, 2008, we stayed the night at the haunted Copper Queen Hotel in Bisbee, Arizona. Click here to read about what happened. We hope to go back there and other haunted places Arizona. We also hope to expand to other states as well.

BOO....

--Mike--