Types of Hauntings Spirits/Entities 
The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes”
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 

Please keep in mind the following information is theory, and to date there is no absolute evidence to support them.

What are Ghosts?
ghost [ gōst ]
1. Spirit remaining after death: the spirit of somebody who has died, believed to appear as a shadowy form or to cause sounds, the movement of objects, or a frightening atmosphere in a place.

Well, nobody knows for sure what they are. The theory is, they are the spirits of the once living, and that is what we have always believed them to be, and until we have evidence to the contrary that’s what we will continue to assume.
A lot of people who have, or are currently experiencing some type of paranormal activity tend to believe that they are being visited by a lost loved one.
This could be a possibility, however most of the available evidence tells us this is usually not the case.
Ghosts, or Spirits, or whatever you want to call them seem to be attached to one of the following things, and yes one of them is people. But we have found, and this is only our interpretation of the events we have observed, that more often than not the spirit is usually attached to the location, or something in, or around the location meaning an article of furniture or even something as small as a photograph, it could also be something that was recently brought into the location, and sometimes they are attached to whatever was there before it was a house or other structure.
But what we have surmised is, with the exception of some very rare types of spirits, for the most part they mean us no harm.


 Orbs: 
The “Orb” is a phenomena that appears to be a free floating light or energy sphere that some in the paranormal field consider to be evidence of spirits or souls.  It should be noted that an “Orb” in theory is suggested to be a ball of energy and therefore should produce its own light, you should be able to see it with your eyes and should not simply appear in photographs and only be seen with the aid of a camera flash.  This phenomenon is often confused with “Phantom” or “Dust” orbs.

Phantom Orbs:
Also known as Dust orbs. This type of “Orb” is simply dust particles or bugs that are illuminated by a camera flash and appear to be floating near the target of the photograph, normally the bugs or dust particulates are fairly close to the camera lens and out of focus giving them a spherical shape. In photography the term "orb" describes unexpected, typically circular objects that occur in flash photography sometimes with trails indicating motion especially common with modern compact and ultra-compact digital cameras. 
Orbs are also sometimes called backscatter, orb backscatter, or near-camera reflection.  
Phantom Orbs are captured during low-light instances where the camera's flash is applied.  Phantom Orbs are especially common with compact or ultra-compact cameras, where the short distance between the lens and the built-in flash decreases the angle of light reflection to the lens, directly illuminating the side of the particles facing the lens and increasing the camera's ability to capture the light reflected off normally sub-visible particles.
The orb image can result from retro-reflection of light off solid particles (e.g., dust, pollen), liquid particles (water droplets, especially rain) or other foreign material within the camera lens. The orb will usually appear as either white or semi-transparent circles though may also occur with whole or partial color spectrums, purple fringing or other color anomaly. With rain droplets, an image may capture light passing through the droplet creating a small rainbow effect.
We have found that most "orb" photos are taken with a small digital camera, or a camera with the flash located just above the lens.  If you notice on this type of camera the flash is approximately 1 inch above and slightly to the right or left of the lens therefore illuminating any dust particulates that are close to the camera. Even the small digital cameras that have a focusing lens that protrude away from the camera face only extends an inch from the flash, placing the distance only 1 inch above and 1 inch behind the lens.  In choosing a camera for paranormal research the best rule of thumb is, the farther away from the lens the flash is located, the better.  
If you place a bright focused reading or LED lamp on a table in a room and watch directly in front of the light source you will see dust particulates floating in front of the light, these are the same particles that produce "Phantom orbs". 


Vortex:  
Like “Phantom Orbs” O.M.P.I. does not recognize “Vortexes” as anything paranormal.  
A “Vortex” is believed by some in the paranormal field to be a gateway for the spirits.
It appears in photographs as a funnel or beam of light presumably out of nowhere. 
Like “Phantom orbs” it is usually caused by a ray of sunlight, moon light or the reflection of the flash from a camera on moisture, dust, pollen, hair, a strap from the camera, a finger in front of the lens, or fog. Lens flair is another cause for a so called “vortex” to appear in a photograph.

 It is because of the number of possible causes for this type of  phenomena to appear in photographs that OMPI can not consider "vortexes" or "Phantom orbs" as evidence.


The following are ways an entity or spirit might make its presence known:
The Apparition: The apparition is when a spirit or entity makes itself visible to us, we don’t know if this is done consciously or if the conditions in the atmosphere must be just right for the event to take place.
An apparition can be a full-bodied image of a spirit.
Some full-bodied apparitions have been seen as a normal person and did not appear to be what one would think of as “ghostly” in any way, they have also been seen as a vapor or smoke like, when the apparition appears as vapor or smoke you will notice it does not dissipate like steam or smoke but usually lingers in one spot before just vanishing.

 The full body apparition is extremely rare and considered to be the holy grail of paranormal investigators; normally in the event of a body apparition you will see just a portion of the body; a head, upper body, lower body, arms, hands or legs. In many sightings the image appears suddenly and vanishes just as quickly seldom lasting for more than just a few seconds. 
And don’t just write off a flash in your peripheral vision, everything should be checked out, you may have seen something.
Materialization:  This is the act of the spirit or entity making itself visible, this is not to be confused with apparition. Materialization is the ACT of showing itself, or the actual process of becoming an apparition.
The Manifestation:   Manifestation is an entity or spirit making itself  known by other means, for instance, knocking on walls, disembodied voices, pushing things over or creating cold spots, anything other than showing itself to you as an apparition.
Cold Spots: A paranormal “cold spot” is usually a drop of 10 to 20 degrees or more in a localized area, in most cases you will observe the “cold spot” move throughout the room.
 The theory is the cold spot is created when a spirit draws energy from its surroundings to manifest, the cold spot is the area where the energy was absorbed not the spirit itself.
Batteries have also been known to be drained during this phenomena. 

Warm Spots:  A Paranormal "Warm Spot" is pretty much the same theory as the "cold Spot" with the exception that when the spirit manifests instead of the area being left cold the energy absorption leaves the area much warmer than the surrounding area.  We have not noticed any difference in the activity between the two however.

Types of Hauntings:
Keep in mind the differences between "Spirits" and "Entities" 
A "spirit" is believed to be the energy left behind after the death of the body.
An "Entity" was never human, it never had a corporeal body 

The Residual Occurrence:
The best way to describe the residual occurrence is it’s like watching a video or listening to a recording.
The event is not aware of you, and there is no interaction with you because there is no consciousness, it is a scene played out over and over again and will happen whether you are there or not either visually or audible, meaning you will see the event or in most cases you will only hear it; for instance you will normally hear footsteps, voices, or the sound of movement. Sometimes doors will open and close but it is only the discharge of energy NOT A HAUNTING, there is no ghost or spirit presence. The residual type of occurrence is the most common.
The theory is that the energy is stored up in porous material such as lime stone, brick, mortar, etc. and is released and played back when the atmospheric, and environmental conditions are right, unfortunately it is unknown what these conditions must be. 
The residual type of occurrence is not dangerous, but can be frightening to someone who is not aware of what they are viewing or hearing.


The Intelligent Haunting:
This type of haunting the spirit or entity is very much aware of you and of its surroundings.
It is capable of interacting with you, moving objects, even physical contact. It is not known why the entity does these things, it could be an attempt at communication or it is simply getting a kick out of frightening people.
This type of haunting is very rare.  

Demonic or Inhuman:
The word "Demon" comes from the Greek word "daimon" which means "intelligent."
There are several theories on the "Demonic" type of haunt. Some call them demons, they are also known as ”Elementals", "djinn", or "Fallen Angels".  
Whatever they are called the theory is pretty much the same.  
They are believed to be evil entities that never walked the earth in physical form, meaning they at no time had a corporeal body.
A couple of indicators are the smell of rotting flesh or a strong sulfur smell, growls have been heard that seem to come from all around and not just one specific area.
The demonic type of haunt is EXTREMELY RARE, but it has been reported to have occurred and when it does there is no mistaking it for any other type of haunt.  
The activities seem to be focused on breaking down ones will, using fear, violence, and manipulation and it does not care how long it takes, it has nothing but time and a hatred for the living.
The demonic entity has been known to attack and injure or even possess its chosen victims; this type of entity is extremely powerful in the art of manipulation and will prove it to you.  
It is said that its main focus is on torture, torment and total control, make no mistake, it will become extremely violent and aggressive at convincing you it has authority over you. You will need help dealing with this type of entity.
The entity has also been known to stop all activity and hide when other humans are present to make it appear as though the person being victimized is imagining it all.  
This is only one of hundreds of theories on this type of haunt, but it is agreed by anyone that has ever dealt with a demonic presence, they are not to be trifled with, keep in mind they are extremely vindictive.

The "Demonic" type of haunt differs from other haunts in that it does not appear to be attempting communication.  As mentioned above it appears to be bent on destruction, harm and complete control, it knows what frightens you and it will feed on your fears.


If you are experiencing events such as objects moving, the feeling of being touched, or things that are scaring you, that does not necessarily mean you have a "Demonic" type of haunt as I said they are EXTREMELY RARE. 
This type of haunt is often misinterpreted and more often than not turns out to be something as simple as a "Residual" type of occurrence.
In other words, don’t be quick to sell that house that’s been in the family for generations because you think the devil himself is residing there.
Please contact a local, and reputable, paranormal research team to investigate and make a determination using their experience as to what you might be dealing with.  
If you are outside our area of operation we would be more than happy to refer you to an experienced team in your area.

The Malevolent Spirit: 
While the demonic entity is definitely malevolent, not all malevolent spirits are demonic. 
This type of presence is often confused as being a "Demonic" entity because this type of spirit is of a mischievous or angry personality.
The malevolent spirit seems to get a kick out of frightening people by moving objects, causing items to appear as though they are being thrown across the room, touching or slapping those present, disembodied voices, etc. 
The difference is, while this behavior is similar to the demonic type of entity, this spirit was human.  
The theory behind this type of spirit is that when a person dies they take with them their personality, if someone is a caring and loving person in life they will be of that same personality after death, so if a person has an angry or destructive personality, then the same applies. 

That being said, we do not know for sure if the spirit is intentionally being mischievous or just becoming more and more aggressive at their attempt to get us to pay attention to them.

Poltergeist:
n. An entity that manifests itself by noises, rappings, and the creation of disorder. 

 The Poltergeist or “noisy ghost” entity is a controversial one, some in the paranormal field refer to them as ghosts, others refer to them as PK (psychokinesis) meaning a human agent is causing the disturbances, and still others have referred to them as demons.  However the poltergeist entity does usually center around one person and in most cases the activity will cease when that person is absent, most of the claims of this type of activity are very similar, at first the activity is very minor starting out as tapping or knocking, objects disappearing for days just to reappear back where they were left or in some obscure location, then the activity increases to something like doors and windows opening and slamming shut, objects moving or flying through the air as if thrown by some unseen force, and furniture being moved.
At some point the poltergeist becomes violent and can injure both people and or animals.
Another thing you should watch for is your pet suddenly running out of the room as if it were being attacked.
The poltergeist activity seems to increase over a period of time then the activity will drop off for a while, in some cases the activity will start all over again increasing in severity over time, and in other cases the activity seems to stop and never return.

Shadow People: There have been an extremely large number of reported sightings of this entity; some have described them as two dimensional and without the physical human appearing form.
Others have described them as having the appearance of someone wearing a long cloak and strangely enough, what appears to be a 1930's style hat. 
A face has never been seen, it has also been said that the shadow person or shadow ghost as they have been referred to, moves very quickly, sometimes seen as only a dark flash in their peripheral vision.
They are described as being anywhere from 2ft to 7ft in height and always described as a male presents
The shadow type of entity is not the type of shadow that one would cast by standing in front of a light, it is a shadowy figure that appears as having mass or as mentioned above, a two sometimes three dimensional dark figure.

Paranormal Mist or Ecto Mist:
This phenomena is an apparition assumedly that of a spirit.  It appears as a heavy mist or smoke that does not dissipate as smoke or fog does, it holds its consistency almost as if it has some sort of unseen outer force holding it together.  It normally lasts only a few seconds then vanishes as quickly as it appeared.  The “ecto mist” is usually preceded by a cold spot approximately 10 to 20 degrees lower than the ambient air temperature of the rest of the area.  The appearance is that of a swirling mass. The colors that have been reported are a bluish gray, white, light gray, or black and in some cases it has appeared to be producing light or a glow.  The mist varies in size and has been reported to be anywhere from only a few inches from the floor to several feet off the floor.  In my experience there was no sound and I have not heard of any sounds or noise accompanying it.  It can appear as a mass that looks as though it has the consistency of a large cloud that swirls and moves throughout the room or entire location




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Dust Orbs
Dust Orbs