Laura Dent, owner of Safety Harbor Ghost and History Tours (in Florida), operates a business that offers day and nighttime walks along and around Main Street. Her Ghost Tour seeks out areas that are supposedly populated with ghosts. This kind of ghostly tour is found in almost every major city and resort area.
In the two years she’s been conducting the tours, Dent hasn’t personally seen any spectres, but a few on the tour have reported seeing angels and spirits along the way.
She said she and tourgoers have felt strange sensations and sudden drops in temperature. Ghostly orbs have shown up in photographs, which some consider to be concentrations of spiritual energy, while others say it’s refractions of dust or lint.
“Paranormal investigators have been here and their equipment went crazy,” she said.
Other ghostly encounters have been reported by locals: A black hooded figure that roams City Hall. A YouTube video showing surveillance footage of a book flying off a shelf at the Safety Harbor Library when no one was there. Eerie voices requesting service at the Safety Harbor Resort and Spa from vacant rooms. The “farmer” that hangs out at the Chamber of Commerce. From article by Terry Bryce Reeves, the Tampa Bay Times
One may well ask, what about those who, like the people on Dent’s tours, claim to see angels and spirits, feel sudden drops in temperature, see black hooded figures, and other phenomena?
Any of these reasons may explain those reactions:
* They are expecting or wanting to see something, so imagination provides it.
* There are natural explanations for what is seen.
* Possibly, there are actors involved to spice up the tour.
* Ghostly orbs in photos are undoubtedly caused by lighting or reflections.
* The equipment of paranormal investigators means nothing; there is no evidence this equipment can do anything other than possibly react to heat, movement, or noise.
* Demonic activity
In the case of ghost tours, demonic activity is unlikely. That option is more plausible for someone who was or is involved in the occult, in spirit contact, or in some activity that is occult but is not recognized as such. Consulting mediums, psychics, astrologers, tarot card readers, or anyone similar may also lead to seeing figures believed to be ghosts because one has opened a door to such activity through those consultations.
In cases such as ghost tours, experiencing what is called a ghost is probably due to imagination or natural explanations, including manipulations to produce effects.
A Ghost App is Offered
To add interest and excitement, Dent starts each tour by encouraging people to download a ghost app on their phone to help detect activity along the tour. She uses the free Ghost Radar Classic, which allegedly senses fields of energy in the area.
During a preview of her tour, several “ghosts” were picked up by the app…..”I don’t consider Safety Harbor haunted,” Dent said. “In my opinion we just have spirits roaming here. It’s a vortex for spiritual energy.” From same link as above
What is ghost activity anyway? There is no objective standard for that. An app that supposedly senses fields of energy is probably programmed to pick up noise or movement, which could come from many places, especially outdoors.
The tour guide referred to spirits and to a vortex for spiritual energy. The vortex is part of a belief system that does not match reality and is commonly found in New Age beliefs. Either the tour guide has occult beliefs or is saying these things as part of the tour business drama.
Society is fascinated by the idea of ghosts and hauntings; the number of films and online programs alone attest to its popularity. This also applies to stories of hauntings, which are often a part of public relations or provided for entertainment.
However, there are no ghosts anywhere because there is no such thing. No one can hang around after they die. One goes to be with God or one goes somewhere away from God to wait for judgment. The latter leads to eternity without God. It is a sobering topic but the ghost stories, ghost tours, and ghost programs all obscure that truth. Do not allow ghost tales to shroud the truth of Jesus and the afterlife.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.” John 5:24
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23
“And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.” 1 John 5:11
Resource off CANA website: Article by Marcia Montenegro, “I See Dead People,” published in Christian Research Journal
Short link for article: https://tinyurl.com/bdct6csj