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Are ghosts real?

The Week Junior Science+Nature UK|Issue 80
Plenty of people believe in ghosts, but it's hard to find proof.
Are ghosts real?

In a 2021 poll of 1,000 adults in the US, 41% of them said they believed in ghosts, while 20% said they had personally experienced them. If they're right, that's more than 50 million spirit encounters in the US alone.

These supposed encounters include a shop owner who believes his place is haunted. When asked what convinced him of this, he showed people dozens of eerie security camera video clips. He also brought in ghost hunters who strengthened his suspicions. Some of the videos show small orbs of light gliding around the room.

In others, you can hear faint voices and loud bumping sounds when nobody's there. Other recordings show a book flying off a desk and products jumping off a shelf. It's not uncommon to hear stories like this. However, in the spirit of critical thinking (looking at information without taking sides to help you understand it), it's important to consider the following three questions:

Are ghosts possible?

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