How to Verify Signs of a Haunting

Listen for sounds. Phantom sounds can take the form of voices, music or repetitive noises that occur at regular intervals. The characteristic sound of footsteps in the night, laughing, crying or music that occur at regular intervals are attributed to a residual haunting. Intelligent or inhuman spirits may create sounds to get your attention or to communicate with you in some way. You may experience the sounds of knocking, tapping or scratching in the wall or loud crashes and bangs with no identifiable cause. Each is characteristic of specific types of hauntings.

Feel the temperature. Cold spots with no physical reason often accompany hauntings. The theory is that spirits need energy to manifest and draw energy from the surroundings, resulting in an area colder than the surrounding air by as much as 20 to 40 degrees. The cold spot seldom remains in one area for a prolonged period and may precede a manifestation or other paranormal activity.

Consider how you feel. Unusual physical sensations may signal paranormal activity. Dizziness, light headedness, a feeling of oppression or pressure on the chest, or nausea may suddenly become overwhelming when a spirit is present. Other physical sensations include the feeling of being touched, the feeling of being watched, hair standing on end or extreme apprehension.

• Unusual or unexplained physical and/or emotional feelings: experience being touched by something that cannot be seen, either lightly or with more aggression. In addition, clients frequently report the sensation of being watched by something unseen and the latter assertion is not in conjunction with any form of paranoia.

Listen for knocking. Rapping and banging: unexplained banging, rapping, and strange sounds are commonly reported by individuals experiencing paranormal phenomena. Rapping and banging are also commonly reported on sites experiencing poltergeist activity.

Check the animals. Animals behaving strangely: people are not seemingly alone when it comes to experiencing the paranormal; many animals living in haunted locations or locations where activity occurs also experience paranormal activity.

Notice any disturbances. Sudden unexplainable activity after recent remodeling of the location: A large number of the sites investigated by paranormal investigators in the field have been remodeled prior to the commencement of strange, unexplained activity. Some theories suggest that remodeling and paranormal activity is inextricably linked, and one theory suggests that any spirits/entities attached to a location are displeased with the changes that remodeling produces so they act out accordingly. Meanwhile, other theories suggest that remodeling creates noise disturbances, and therefore is simultaneously creating vibrational disturbances as well.