An old ghost appears sinister

So, I was at a familiar door recently when I noticed there was someone standing right behind me. It was disconcerting because the shadowy figure was silent, very close and moving about.

Regular readers will recall the ‘door ghost’ (see here and here) of years ago. This was indeed the same door and the same ghost, caused by a misperception of my own arm which I was able to demonstrate. It’s been such a long time that I’d forgotten about the ghost and genuinely first saw it as a sinister human figure. Interestingly, I recall the original door ghost seldom, if ever, moving.

Why has the door ghost returned so unexpectedly? I had put its disappearance down to approaching the door from a different angle to the way I used to. However, there was nothing different about the angle of this latest sighting. So the answer is, I don’t know. Could it be about lighting? I must have approached the door in every possible lighting condition over the years the ghost was away.

There is another theory – habituation. I stopped seeing the ghost because unconsciously I knew it wasn’t ‘real’. It is notable that I’d had forgotten about the ghost so completely this time that it took me several seconds to realize it was a misperception. If so, I could be a factor to consider in ongoing haunting cases where ghosts are seen multiple times and then simply stop being seen.