I think that when most people think of a ghost, what they’re thinking about is an intelligent haunting.  I could be wrong of course but honestly since a residual haunting doesn’t jump out and say “BOO” I think I’m on pretty firm ground.

What we’re talking about here is very simply a deceased human being.  It may be someone known to the observer like a friend or family member, referred to as a Familial.  But that isn’t always the case.  Often the entity is one that is attached more to the location than the observer.  A long ago sailor on a ship is a good example, or a soldier at a fort.  These are usually called Historical.

There are spirits that don't easily fit in either of those categories, and they're generally referred to as the Anonymous.

These types of ghosts are usually capable of interacting with the living, and that interaction can take many forms.

A visual manifestation is possible.  Entities are often heard audibly or telepathically as well as sometimes producing odors.  Cigar smoke or perfume for example.  There are many cases of this type of entity making physical contact with the living, to that I can personally attest.

These spirits may not only be “Intelligent”, but like the living they may display the full range of human emotion.  These entities can be friendly and somewhat playful, or they can be angry and in some cases dangerous.  There are occasions when their feelings or emotions seem groundless, and others where they make perfect sense.

I’ve been in contact numerous times with a sailor on a decommissioned U.S. Navy ship and he’s always been considered angry.  After many encounters a sensitive told me that his anger is based on the fact that the area where he can most often be found (one of the ship’s mess areas) was his workspace. He was simply angry that no one else was working!

All of these factors explain several things.

One of which is that the reason residual hauntings are considered so much more difficult to remove from a location is that they can’t be reasoned with.  In some cases an intelligent haunting only needs to be made aware of his or her situation and that it’s time for them to go.

It also explains to some degree the wide range of responses to encounters with paranormal entities. Clearly the emotional state of the observer is a factor (which will be the subject of a later essay on this page) but the experience is as varied as one’s experiences with the living…