-By DeAnn T.
Have you heard of an apparition of a woman standing on the shore waiting for her long lost lover to return? 
Or maybe laughter in a darkened hallway? The sentry that stands guard and can be seen every Friday of a full moon? Or footsteps up and down the stairs at certain times of the day? Children’s laughter is a common sound found amongst ghost hunting groups, yet many ghost hunters (myself included) don’t believe in child ghosts. Is it a demon tricking us or a residual sound?
The theory is residual hauntings. These are hauntings that are not intelligent. These “hauntings” don’t involve spirits. Some people think this is the most common type of hauntings. They are more like watching a movie that was previously recorded, albeit faded. These are events that actually happened in the past and somehow are able to be viewed over and over again at certain times and or in certain conditions. Some of the more popular theories of residual hauntings are that the energy is somehow stored in an area. Water seems to be a major factor, as are items like stone, and wood. Items that conduct and absorb.
One idea is that the emotions of the event were so strong that they linger. Another idea could be that the energy simply lingers and is able to be heard or seen from time to time in the quiet hours, such as footsteps.
A theory that I heard not too many years ago, however, I find the most intriguing and one that I want to spend a little more time on. That is residual hauntings and time.
We aren’t sure exactly how time works. We know that it passes, that we can’t slow it down, and that at times we either have too much, or not nearly enough. But where does it go when it passes? Does it just disappear as an event that has happened never to be seen again, or does it simply march forward, out of our dimension, but still able to be viewed, like a supernatural filmstrip uncoiling in an unknown realm?
When we hear those footsteps, that laugh, when we see a sinister man standing in the window, or the woman walking along the beach, is it a fold in time? Is it a loop circling the earth? Is it something in space? A time warp here on earth? We simply don’t know the answers to that, but it is a darn good theory and one that I tend to give a lot of merit too. As someone highly interested in science I realize there is nothing wrong with coming up with a theory and testing it. This is what we do as ghost hunters, test our theories. This theory of time warps, wraps, time folding on itself leaving echoes is one of the more fascinating to me. I first heard of this theory from Zac Baggins book, so a nod to Zac for the insights on time and residual hauntings.
Again, I think there is merit to all my theories and part of what makes ghost investigating interesting is figuring out what is what and which theory is in practice at each individual investigation.
I hope that this has caused the creative juices to flow and opened up another avenue of study for you. I know I eagerly look into all theories.