Many paranormal investigators claim to have captured evidence of the paranormal. Whether it’s in the form of a spooky photograph, mind-boggling video, or a ghostly voice from the grave captured on a tape recorder – some people firmly believe they have caught something truly unbelievable. The unfortunate reality is that their "evidence" has fooled them.

I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard people say "I just saw something out of the corner of my eye!" Their excitement for what may have been is coursing through their veins, and it is evidenced in their voice. But did they actually see anything at all? Peripheral vision is very sensitive and can easily mislead, especially at night, when the brain is tired and is more likely to misinterpret sights and sounds.

But what about hard evidence that solidifies what you thought you saw? What about that stunning video footage of an apparition that the hotel owner swears is proof that their hotel is haunted? What about that photo of a "ghost" that the local saloon keeps behind the bar, like a historic trophy? And have you heard some of the eerie sounds that have been caught on tape at proclaimed "haunted houses?" All of these things appeal to our sense of ghostly adventure, and our desire to believe in life after death. However, it’s extremely rare that any of these cases actually exude an ounce of paranormal legitimacy. Here’s why…

Ghostly-looking photographs have been around for a long time. I’m sure at one point or another, someone reading this article can remember seeing a photo someone took of a creepy specter that they caught on their digital camera. This is often in the form of a strange shape, or vaporous, misty form.

Misty, vaporous anomalies can actually just be the result of someone smoking. This is known as a "false positive." Our first instinct is to label this a ghost, but we MUST scientifically look at the most reasonable solutions first, before labeling something paranormal. What’s more logical and reasonable? This is someone’s cigarette smoke, or this is the figure of a ghostly image from the grave? Rational minds will choose the former.

How about the almost unmistakable images that we’ve seen of ghostly faces appearing in photos? I’ve seen countless paranormal investigators capture an image of what appears to be a face of a ghost, but like many before them – they are being fooled by their own evidence. These "faces" play with our minds and trick us into seeing something significant, when there’s nothing there at all.

We all remember the face on Mars. The other photo is of someone’s bathroom sink! The point is, human beings are programmed to look for order in disorder. We are programmed to find things that make sense to us, amongst chaos. Carl Sagan once said: "As a survival technique, humans are hard-wired from birth to identify the human face. This allows people to use only minimal details to recognize faces from a distance and in poor visibility, but can also lead them to interpret random images pr patterns of light or shade as being faces." Sounds true enough to me.

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