Quote:
Originally posted by fernweh
Gee, people sure do seem to take a lot of pictures of empty chairs, old windows, and dark, empty warehouses with nothing in them 
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That's because a lot of these pictures are taken with the intention of trying to capture something not seen with the naked eye. I personally don't believe 99.9% of ghost photos, though. Partly because the phenomenon is based on a scam from the mid to late 1800s, during the spiritualist movement. The scammer would overlay a faint image of a dead, beloved relative over the shoulder of the client's portrait, making it look like the ghost was there at the time the photo (or daguerrotype, in this case) was taken. It's a primitive form of double exposure.
When you add in people trying to discern the impression of a face in a wall from a grainy, poorly-lit Polaroid; ghostly emanations that are usually the product of an errant camera strap captured on a slow timer; and double exposure tricksters, there isn't much room for legitimate spectral photography.
I do believe in ghosts, though.