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So, I’m doing a few posts to cover multiple types of ghosts.  This time we have two that are fairly similar.  One could say they are the same thing, but I kept finding them mentioned as different things.  I can see how they do differ though, which is what I’m going to explain here.  At least, I’m going to try.

Residual Hauntings

These are location-specific events that replay during certain times, dates, or situations.  It involves ‘ghosts’ that do not interact with their surroundings.  Instead, they always go through the same motions until the haunting is complete.  Think of it like watching an old home movie that has poor quality and stuck on repeat.  They are supposedly created by strong emotions imprinting on the area, which is typically caused by a traumatic experience.

Many examples tend to focus on auditory and olfactory hauntings.  The Gettysburg battlefield is said to have moments of gunfire and gunpowder smells.  There are hotels where people hear dancing and music from empty rooms.  The Colosseum is said to have times where you hear cheering for gladiator fights and Edinburg Castle has a Headless Drummer Boy who people hear.  All of these tend to be chalked up to a person’s imagination, but it does make one think.

Crisis Apparition

The only true similarity between residual hauntings and crisis apparitions is that they involve strong emotions creating a ‘ghost’.  These are not repeated events, but solitary ones that can be sent from far away.  Basically, a person is either near-death, about to dying, or extremely stressed out.  They send part of themselves to a loved one to either say goodbye or let them know they are in trouble.  It can be a visual manifestation, a voice, a touch, or anything that triggers a ‘I know someone is in trouble’.  People have stated getting this sensation right before a loved one dies or when they are in trouble.

Now, this can be included in simple psychology, ghosts, or even psychic connections between between.  The interesting thing is many people can point to a time where they ‘sensed’ a loved one was dying or in trouble.  For myself, I remember when I found out I was going to be a father.  One of the first things I felt that I had to do was call my grandfather who was in the hospital to let him know.  Didn’t know why since I was previously told he was on the mend.  I was halfway done dialing the number for the hospital when I got the call that he had passed away.  This has always nibbled at my mind because it’s strange timing.  Now, this isn’t an apparition in the way you see something, but there was definitely an internal push that my grandfather was the one I had to contact as soon as possible.

Crisis apparitions stories are revolved primarily around seeing or dreaming of a loved one then finding out their dead.  Many people got these senses in the aftermath of 9/11 as their missing loved ones were being searched for.  One story talks of a man seeing an image of his brother in his home then getting a call about him dying in an accident.  This is why they seem to be final goodbyes, which people don’t recognize in the moment.