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Ghosts In The Dark: Impossible To See?

GNC

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You know how many people see ghosts at the bottom of their bed on waking in the middle of the night? It's a common trope. But how can they see them if it's dark? Unless you sleep with the light on, if the curtains were closed and it was between dusk and dawn, you wouldn't be able to see a thing, would you? So do ghosts carry their own highlights to be better seen in the gloom?
 
You know how many people see ghosts at the bottom of their bed on waking in the middle of the night? It's a common trope. But how can they see them if it's dark? Unless you sleep with the light on, if the curtains were closed and it was between dusk and dawn, you wouldn't be able to see a thing, would you? So do ghosts carry their own highlights to be better seen in the gloom?
They glow in the dark.
 
Some ghosts are seen realistically for the light conditions some are self illuminating, I would recommend "seeing ghosts" by Hilary Evans, he goes into this and a lot more in that book.
 
Some ghosts are seen realistically for the light conditions some are self illuminating, I would recommend "seeing ghosts" by Hilary Evans, he goes into this and a lot more in that book.

Is that because this is what witnesses expect to see, or is it the actual physical manifestation at work?
 
Did you witness it in the dark (sorry to give you the 3rd degree)?
Yes. I was working late at the office with 2 other employees. The office was a big open plan room lit by uplighters. We just had our uplighters on and the rest of the office was dark. This thing sailed past in the corridor area. As soon as I saw it, it seemed to fade pretty quickly.
 
Yes. I was working late at the office with 2 other employees. The office was a big open plan room lit by uplighters. We just had our uplighters on and the rest of the office was dark. This thing sailed past in the corridor area. As soon as I saw it, it seemed to fade pretty quickly.

Thanks for the info! I wonder what causes it to glow? No way of finding out, is there?
 
you wouldn't be able to see a thing, would you?

I'm not sure how many of us have the luxury of sleeping in the pitch dark; I certainly don't. There is a streetlamp not too far from my window and a certain amount of light drifts in from downstairs, where I keep a light burning. Not to mention the moon, which can be very assertive at times.

I see all of these, at times. No ghosts, though. :(
 
I'm not sure how many of us have the luxury of sleeping in the pitch dark; I certainly don't. There is a streetlamp not too far from my window and a certain amount of light drifts in from downstairs, where I keep a light burning. Not to mention the moon, which can be very assertive at times.

I see all of these, at times. No ghosts, though. :(

But would you be able to make out a figure in the dark (or mostly-dark)? Ghostly or otherwise?
 
and a certain amount of light drifts in from downstairs, where I keep a light burning.
Why do you keep a light on downstairs when you aren't there? :evil:

Yes, I agree with your actual point: lights are everywhere so it's not very dark anywhere anymore. Incidently, all this light kills a lot of insects, which means less food for the birds and bats that depend on them.
 
I'm not sure how many of us have the luxury of sleeping in the pitch dark; I certainly don't. There is a streetlamp not too far from my window and a certain amount of light drifts in from downstairs, where I keep a light burning. Not to mention the moon, which can be very assertive at times.

I see all of these, at times. No ghosts, though. :(

Sleep masks are your friend here. I work shifts and sometimes find it hard to sleep long enough when the sun's up early in summer. A mask makes it all dark again. The only problem is when one slips off and falls down behind the bed.
 
Smart people bought it when it first came out, £20 hardback. It is worth buying, even at a higher price.
 
Is that because this is what witnesses expect to see, or is it the actual physical manifestation at work?
Yes, no, maybe, what would a witness expect too see? Most of the lucky basts that see a ghost are not expecting too see anything, if it's culturally determined then would most people see a glowing white bedsheet?
 
Yes, no, maybe, what would a witness expect too see? Most of the lucky basts that see a ghost are not expecting too see anything, if it's culturally determined then would most people see a glowing white bedsheet?

This subject fascinates me! The 'bedsheet' idea is supposed to derive from the use of shrouds in the past to wrap corpses. The illustration of Dr Dee raising the dead shows one. These days the ghost is expected to wear the clothing the deceased was buried in.
 
Yes, no, maybe, what would a witness expect too see? Most of the lucky basts that see a ghost are not expecting too see anything, if it's culturally determined then would most people see a glowing white bedsheet?

I was thinking more, if they see a ghost of someone they know, they'd expect to see them in good light when alive, so do they see them in the same well-lit imagery when the deceased are phantoms, even though it's in a darkened room?
 
In low light, people see things in black and white. That might be why ghosts often appear white, they are in living colour so to speak but we can't register it.
 
Sleep masks are your friend here. I work shifts and sometimes find it hard to sleep long enough when the sun's up early in summer. A mask makes it all dark again. The only problem is when one slips off and falls down behind the bed.

I recommend the "Mindfold". Great for, um, other things than just as a sleep mask.. Absolutely ghost-proof, too!
 
The one I might have seen (see the "Anyone Seen A Ghost" thread) was definitely luminescent, although the room wasn't totally pitch black (nearby streetlamp). It looked a bit like those glow in the dark transfers you used to get with Shreddies to be honest, a bit light and a bit vague and rubbish.

It was such a long time ago that details are a bit sketchy but on that other thread someone said when they saw a ghost being a bit like when you press your fingers into your eyes hard and see colours. That was definitely the case with mine. I often wondered if it was just a trick of waking up in the dark, but then why would it have been in the recognisable shape of a lady, plus why didn't it fade away? I now sleep with a light on! :)
 
Thanks, @Tapeloop ! I think what I want to know is, do ghosts bring their own light source, or appearance of it. Seems they may well do.
 
If ghosts are something we express ourselves, i.e. in some way imaginary or as a projection of our own emotions or imaginations, they can have any amount of light (and be whatever colour and be dressed in) they want to. Or what WE need to see.

If we dream of the dead, there's no requirement for an external light. Nobody questions that!
 
If ghosts are something we express ourselves, i.e. in some way imaginary or as a projection of our own emotions or imaginations, they can have any amount of light (and be whatever colour and be dressed in) they want to. Or what WE need to see.

If we dream of the dead, there's no requirement for an external light. Nobody questions that!

Exactly. This whole question hinges on the age-old unanswered question of what is a ghost?

If you believe there could be something in the stone tape theory, whereby a ghost is something analogous to a recording, then there would be no more need for any additional light source, any more so than an audio recording requires the actual musical instruments to be present.

If a ghost is a mental projection from the observer, then, I guess, it could be as light or dark as their imagination.

If ghosts are disembodied spirits of the dead, though, then all bets are off.
 
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