Making the case: Ghosts and the afterlife-Part 1

I find myself engaged in some interesting conversations involving the paranormal, and I am frequently asked if I really do believe in ghosts and an afterlife. I politely answer that yes, in fact I do believe in both, which I know will almost certainly be followed by the dreaded question, “Why”?

Each time I take a moment to ponder my answer, and each time it largely remains the same. First, I spent many years working in and around nature; and the one thing I have observed is that nothing just dies and goes away. Its purpose, state, or composition may change, but ultimately everything goes on in some way providing support in the ongoing cycle of life.

As a Christian, I have also been brought up to believe in life after death, so it’s always made perfect sense to me that if there’s an afterlife, and logically the possibility and probability that there are ghosts. I have also seen, heard, and experienced too many things to merely discount; they have touched my life in ways I am yet to fully understand.

I can understand to some degree why people remain skeptical. As human beings, we want to see, hear, touch, and feel things for ourselves. We should not just blindly accept what someone else tells us to believe, but at the same time, I am continually surprised that so many people remain willing to discount even the possibility that ghosts and the afterlife could exist.

If we look at this from strictly a legal standpoint, the “burden of proof” would require that we either prove or disprove the fact in dispute, which in this case, is the existence of ghosts and the afterlife. As ghost hunters & paranormal investigators, it is our burden to ensure that sufficient evidence is being captured and documented using recognized techniques and practices to deliver evidence worthy of consideration.

In this series of articles, I am going to present various legal standards including the rules of evidence and other information, to help you understand the importance of the evidence being collected. There are a lot of great paranormal teams out there doing a lot of good work; and one way to move our industry forward is to continue to acquire the knowledge and implement the practices that stand on their own merits.