Now we begin to look at some of the confusing issues concerning ghost hunting. There is a phenomenon known as a “psychic projection” or an “energy imprint.” What we have here is a case where there appears to be a spirit but in actuality, it is nothing more than a projection. In this case, a person may walk into a room and see the form of a woman standing by the window. Needless to say, that person becomes frightened. After all, there is a ghost in the room. He knows that she is a ghost because although he can see what she is wearing, he can also see right through her. Well, as the frightened person watches, the woman seems to float away from the window and moves across the room. The frightened man is glad to see that she was walking away from him. As she moves away from the man, he hears sobbing. Slowly, the apparition fades away. Even more slowly, the man’s fear fades away too.

However, unknown to him, the scene he witnessed actually took place thirty years earlier. What he was seeing was not a ghost at all; it was a sort of projection or energy imprint. How did the imprint get there? The accepted belief is that during a time of great stress, a person’s energy can be “burned” into an environment. An example might be the case where a woman stands by the window, watching with growing anxiety for her husband to come home. It is a cold, rainy night and he should have been home hours earlier. As the time passes, her anxiety grows. Finally, the phone rings and she finds out that her husband was killed on his way home to her. This terrible energy somehow remains behind to be view by another person at some later date in time.

In this case, the exact conditions would have to be duplicated and a psychically sensitive person would have to be present. If those things occur, the psychically sensitive person will be able to view the projection. The amazing thing about these energy imprints is that the person seen in this case may well be still living. Yet, the question arises: how can you tell the difference between a ghost and an energy imprint?

The answer to that is simple; in the case of a psychic projection, there is no actual spirit present. Therefore, it cannot react to the presence of a person. So if this man were to scream, the imprint would not react to that. If he had walked in front of her, she would have played the scene out, passing right through him if he remained in her path. Had she been a spirit, she would react to his presence. So whenever you see what appears to be a spirit, the key is to see if it reacts to you.