SOME COMMON PARANORMAL TERMS AND THE DEFINITIONS:

Anomalies - Deviation from the normal.

Apparition - The phenomenon where a spirit takes on a physical form that can be seen.

Calling Ghosts - These are ghosts that call out the name of the living in order to get their attention.

Clairvoyant - Someone with the psychic ability to see events or people which have not occurred yet.  

Clairaudient - The psychic ability to hear voices and sounds that are inaudible to the normal human ear.

Clairsentient - The psychic ability to feel things that are not normally felt by most people.

Collective Apparition – An apparition seen by several people at the same time.

Dematerialization - The paranormal fading or disappearance of a physical object.

Discarnate - A spirit that exists without a physical body.

Disembodied Voice -  A voice that is heard that comes from no physical body, also known as EVP.

Ectoplasm - A substance that emanates from a medium during a trance. It often appears as a mist-like or vapor substance.  

Electromagnetic Field (EMF) - An electric and magnetic energy that radiates from radio and light waves to gamma and cosmic rays. 

EMF Detector -  A device that measures and detects changes in the electromagnetic field.

Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP) - The use of audio equipment to capture voices and sounds of the dead.

Ghost Lights - Closely resembling orbs, but are much larger and brighter in appearance. 

Haunted - A person, place or an object to which a spirit is attached.  The spirits can be human or inhuman in nature.

Haunting - Paranormal phenomena such as apparitions, unexplained sounds, smells or other sensations that are associated over a lengthy period of time with a specific location.

Intelligent Haunting - Paranormal activity that takes place around a person or location that is caused by an intelligent or conscious spirit. 

Malevolent - A malevolent spirit is one that wishes to do harm.

Malicious -  These spirits will destroy or damage things of a personal or financial value for the sake of hurting others.

Manifestation - The appearance or taking of form of an entity. 

Materialization - The formation of a visible physical form of a spirit. 
 
Medium - A person that acts as a bridge between the living and the dead.

Orb - A spherical shaped, translucent mass of energy resembling a ball or globe of light. They appear in all ranges of brightness and colors. 

Paranormal - Phenomena which seem to defy the known laws of science. 

Poltergeist - "Noisy or mischievous ghost."  A spirit that has the ability to move objects.

Residual Haunting - Believed to be a psychic imprint of a scene that keeps repeating itself. With this type of haunting no interaction with the ghost occur. 

Shadow People - Shadow people are a seen as a dark form at the edge of a field of vision that disintegrates, or moves between walls, within a split second. Shadow people have no human features and never tries to communicate. 

Spirit - Spirits are believed to exist in an invisible realm that can only be seen under certain circumstances or by people with special abilities

Vortex - This is a swirling funnel shape when in motion. They can also appear long and narrow and having a tread like design. Some theorize this is a vehicle to transport spirits in the shape of orbs from their realm to ours.