Introduction
There are many unexplained events on the world, such as ghosts and the pyramids. When people experiences illogical events, they turned to the explanation of supernatural or extraterrestrial beings. Or is it that we are too lazy to seek the truth and find the easy way out?
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The experience of a friend of mine tells me the other way. Last year, he went hiking with some other friends of his to Sunset Peak. On his way down, he saw an old man painting the view of the sea in front of him. At that time, his friend’s shoe laces went off. She decided to tie her laces right in front of the old gentleman. My friends asked her with all the space in the peak why you have to tie it right next to the old man. She questioned him what old fellow he was talking about. At that moment, the guy vanished into the thin air. Later on, this friend of mine told me this as a ghost story. He believed it to be a supernatural experience. He was convinced that what he saw a spirit. To be honest, I highly doubted it is a ghost.
Before making any hypothesis, there are a couple specific characteristic of this case. The setting of the event was in the morning, on a mountain. It was ten in the morning. He was with two other schoolmate. The wind was blowing hard that day. Base on the above evidences, there are three possible hypothesis. To know what caused it to happen, logic is to determine whether what the answer is.
Explanation???
Hypothesis one: The old fellow was indeed a spirit. According to our understanding, ghost is immaterial. Humans cannot see nor touch it. This puts the claim unable to be testified. Also, I do not have the access to the technology that is needed. Therefore, the event will be analyzed form a different prospective. The environment and the testimony of witnesses proved it to be otherwise. First of all, it was eight o'clock in the morning. All most all of the haunted events happened in the middle of the night and at some 'creepy' place. The peak was technically not the first place that pops out of your mind. Especially when it was in the morning, the sun was shining bright. In addition, his friend never witnessed the spirit. The fact is that he is the only one that saw the painting old average joe. According to the conditions above, it certainly did not disprove the hypothesis. Even so, it put the theory into a very lower possibility to be true. It certainly did not best explain the circumstances.
The second possible explanation is that the illusion was created by the influence of infrasound. Before judging whether it is under the influence of infrasound, the term ‘infrasound’ should be defined. According to ‘McGraw-Hill Dictionary of science and Technology’, infrasound is the vibration of the air at the frequency too low to be received as sound by human ear. (Lapedes., P 1076.) It causes shivering, feeling cold and seeing ‘gray objects’ at the edge of vision. To prove my point, a church at St. Augustine's Episcopal Church in Santa Monica’s churchgoers claimed that they saw gray spirit. It was proven that infrasound was involved. Pipe organ creates a vibration. Anyhow, the effect varies from one another. Infrasound is an environment factor. Everyone in the scene will react to it either they know it or not. But once again, there was only him that had unusual reactions. None of the others had cold sweat or shivering. The existence of infrasound can be proven by at least more than one human being’s common experience. Comparing the two hypothesizes, the second speculation describes the condition a little bit better. Because of lacking the right tool, there is no way to attest the existence infrasound. In my opinion, the thesis lacks the necessary firm foundation to support itself.
The most reasonable proposition is just an illusion caused by a brain glitch. In ancient China, there was documented reports of the existence of ‘a ghost city’. It appears from time to time in the middle of the sea. The ‘ghost city’ will fade in five minutes. In science, this occurring was called mirage. Mirage is an obstacle illusion happens when the light ray are blended into the sky projecting an image or an object in the sky upside down. Poems were written based on that illogical event. Furthermore, this event can also be written in a more scientific language. Human brains works in mysterious ways. Images that was sent to our brain are processed. This skill was developed through time. This is because when humans in the ancient times saw a movement in the grass, human beings associate it with danger. This proved to be supremely handy. It gave them the necessary time to escape before being killed. In this case, it was more likely that a random image pops up when we are tired or not focus. Our mind tends to make up images to compensate. That explained the image of an old individual painting appeared for only a second. The other solid prove is that no other saw that but him.
Conclusion
To draw a close, the three possible explanation have their own reasons. The first claim had its reason although it missed the common testimony of the others. The second postulate came closer to the truth but lacked the critical element to prove itself. The third and the most significant assumption best describes the condition. As well as it was the most rational answer. To be honest, it is really hard to say that was that a ghost or not. There is no way objectively to proof which hypothesis is ture or not. I hope the biggest takeaway for anyone reading this blog is that there are always explanations for "super-natural " events. I think it is important that we seek reasonable explanation before categorizing events as "super-natural".
Work Cited
Adachi, Y., and A. Yagishita. "Gangliogliomas: Characteristic Imaging Findings and Role in the Temporal Lobe Epilepsy." Neuroradiology 50.10 (2008): 829-34. ProQuest. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.
Lapedes, Daniel N. McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Physics and Mathematics. 6th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1978. 1076. Print.
Nordheim, Teresa. "GHOSTS: Seeing Is Believing?." Faces 29.2 (2012): 8. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.
Profile: Infrasound. Washington, D.C.: National Public Radio, 2004. ProQuest. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.
Sippo, Arthur C. "Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife." New Oxford Review 05 2007: 44-5. ProQuest. Web. 24 Nov. 2014 .
P.S: This is entirely my opinion. Please do not take it offensively. Additionally, I do not own any of the image in the post.
