The human mind has a lot of trouble dealing with some of life's problems and most of life's mysteries. This is not exactly a news flash for anyone but it is still pertinent to some reports of "ghostly activity". Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not taking out a broad brush and painting all phenomena like this and the theory I'm going to relay here only accounts for a small percentage of reported ghostly phenomena.

Below is a "fictitious report" for demonstration purposes only...

Case in Question: One night, at about 11:30pm, our reporter's bedside lamp suddenly burns out. The light bulb in this lamp had been only recently changed and was less than a month old and the lamp nor the electrical outlets in the home in question are prone to sudden surges or, in other words, lights burning out.

Even stranger is after this incident and deciding to turn in, the reporter turns off his/her television and nods off only to be awoken at 2:30am to find the TV is now on with apparently no logical explanation.

The reporter then finds out at EXACTLY 11:30pm on that same night, his [insert loved relative or friend here] had passed away.

Author's Conclusion: The electrical weirdness MUST be caused by [insert loved relative or friend here] and was either a warning or [insert loved relative or friend here]'s way of saying goodbye.

Now, this MAY be true and the author MAY be right but I'd ask, would they have drawn the same conclusion had it happened WITHOUT [insert loved relative or friend here]'s death? Probably not.

It is a well proven human trait that we must have a logical "chain of events". To break this down, here is a rather boring version of a logical chain of events...

It's Dark.

Person needs light to see.

Person finds electric light.

Person flicks switch

Light goes "on".

Person accomplishes task.

Person flicks switch.

Light goes off.

It's Dark.

Seem's simple. But what if something we deem is unexplainable happens...

It's Dark.

Person needs light to see.

Person finds electric light.

Person flicks switch

Light goes "on".

Light, inexplicably, blows light bulb.

Lightbulb shouldn't have blown?

Why did lightbulb blow???

It's Dark.

So, as humans being induced over the centuries to accept certain things on faith, we make the "logical jump"....

It's Dark.

Lightbulb burnt out weirdly.

Found out tragic news.

Tragic news MUST be related to light burning out.

Tragic news is CAUSE for light burning out!

It's Dark.

Now, add to this the television but this has happened to all of us part-time insomniacs. Is it possible the person went to sleep leaving the TV on but it was a "black screen" as the station had ended it's broadcast day? What jarred them awake at 2:30am?

As human beings, we are well conditioned to accept on faith a lot of answers to things that normally would have gone unnoticed or written off as coincidence and to be honest, sometimes we should.

Now again, I do point out that these types of things are in a SMALL minority of incidences but before you leap up and claim that "Dearly Departed Aunt Edna" sent you a message from the beyond by causing your screen door to open and close rapidly one day, maybe check the wind first. Ask people in the home if it's happened before "Aunt Edna" went to her final rest.

Again, watch to see if maybe you're putting too much stock into a mundane occurrence because you want to believe that it's a sign of a greater and more unknown element. Have you decided that the "ghostly phenomena" is definitely "ghostly" because of something that normally, you'd not even really take notice of.

EDITORS NOTE:
Before I get hit by angry e-mail, let me tell you a story like this about myself...

The night my father passed away when I was seventeen, I was going to be going to an after-hours nightclub I used to frequent. I'd "done myself up" for the evening as (to sound like Grandpa Simpson,) was the style in that day which took me over forty-five minutes to do.

It was 10pm and without hesitation, I stepped out of my front door onto the small landing when, without "fear" or "dread", I decided to turn around, wash myself and head to bed. I can't strongly point out that there was no reason for me to do this and the feeling when I changed my mind was NOT like a "nagging" feeling or the like... It was more "Feh! I don't really want to go tonight. Forget it." No anxiety, no weird voices. Just apathy.

Had I gone, I would not have learned of my father's death until probably noon the next day. Instead, I was there with my mother and family all through the night. (He passed just after midnight.)

Was it paranormal? Was it "my angel"? Was it dumb luck? I can honestly say I WAS looking forward to seeing my friends at the nightclub and I had told people that I would be there that afternoon so my sudden change of mind was not only odd but terribly uncharacteristic of me at the time.

My opinion of what happened is... "I don't know." I'm sure there are many, many different opinions and to be honest, I'm happy that whatever did happen, happened. I, personally, have not looked for or needed an explanation. It was a lucky thing for me and I have learned, it's best not to "look a gift horse in the mouth".

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