The question came up at the breakfast club: Do you believe in ghosts? And most responses came from the light side. As for me, I could only answer that I have not had an experience with ghosts.

There are many television productions about the “paranormal.” Some people claim to have haunted houses, and supposedly there are those people who go out and investigate reports of the paranormal. I watched one of those shows recently,  and all I could conclude  was that if ghosts are real, they can’t talk plainly.

So I got to thinking about ghosts and spirits. And it dawned on me that the Bible alludes to ghosts and spirits. So I suppose if one wanted to use the Bible as a source, then perhaps a strong “yes” argument could be made from that perspective. So where do angels fit into all of this?

 I did a little research via Google and sources there say monsters, ghosts, items of the supernatural are everywhere these days and belief in them is “as strong as ever.” And one commentator said purveyors of these reports often put a lot of money in their pockets.

 I’ve never been to a seance. And the people I’ve talked to who had, said they did it as a novelty. None of them got a distinct answer when they summoned uncle Freddy.

Another commentator said many people “just want to believe in these things.”

“The human brain is always trying to determine why things happen, and when the reason is not clear, we tend to make up some pretty bizarre explanations,” said Brian Cronk, a professor of psychology at Missouri Western State University.

 Contrasting with a Biblical perspective, one commentator said, “People who practice religion are typically encouraged not to believe in the paranormal, whereas those who aren’t particularly active in religion are more free to believe in Bigfoot or consult a psychic.”

But on the religious angle, rather than getting clearer, it seems to get murkier.

“Christians and New Agers, paranormalists, etc. all have one thing in common: a spiritual orientation to the world,” said sociology Professor Carson Mencken of Baylor University.

A report on Google said in a 2006 study, researchers found a surprising number of college students believe houses can be haunted.

I think that in addition to some people wanting to believe in the supernatural, there are people who just like to be scared once in a while. Otherwise, why would they ride roller coasters? Maybe it gets their juices flowing. Or maybe they had too much juice from the getgo.

There have been numerous surveys on this subject. And I guess I’m proud to say that my home state of Georgia did not make the top 10 of those states where most believers of the paranormal, aliens and such reside. One survey put Georgia at near the bottom at 44.

The top state for paranormal believers was New Mexico. Well we can understand that because of the alleged spaceship that reportedly crashed there near the town of Roswell.

Wyoming was the second state from the top of this list. Then came Nevada. I suppose the infamous “Area 51” is a factor there.

The remaining states in descending order are Maine, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Washington, North Dakota and Kentucky. (Note: Only one state from the Southeastern Conference made it, and it was number 10.)

So I leave this commentary with an observation I’ve made before: Why are there no haunted doublewides?

(Email: dwain.walden@gaflnews.com)