Worlds first ghost sighting

[Mr.United_Nations]

When did the first ghost sighting actually came to light or be reported?

Apart from the bible but like actually documented.

[kannin]

oh wow man that prolly goes way to far back to accuretly pin point over the 100s of thousands of reports over the centuries

[kannin]

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080117154239AAum1lR the answer is a good one

[Eldorado]

I heard it coincided with the first use of daipers.

[kannin]

I heard it coincided with the first use of daipers.

epic

[Taun]

Hmmm... Ghosts appear in Shakespeare's plays (Hamlet's father comes immediately to mind)... So that's the 16th century...

Ghosts figured in Ancient Greek plays and myths (The "shades" from the myth of Orpheus, etc)... So that's 4th 5th Century BC (ish)...

Earlier than that I really don't know...

[Skep B]

*caveman walks into cave visibly shaken*

Grog see white floaty thing, grog think it spirit

His friend, Kronk sets at the fire, listening then says

"Grog see swamp gas, Grog silly"

"Kronk, prove it wasn't a ghost."

and thats where war began.

[Brian Topp]

When did the first ghost sighting actually came to light or be reported?

Apart from the bible but like actually documented.

There is first documented dates but no one knows the first claim was. It's like asking who was the first human ever to get mugged by another human.

[Eldorado]

There is first documented dates but no one knows the first claim was. It's like asking who was the first human ever to get mugged by another human.

Surely it was Adam, by Eve.

[tendo]

Well, according to an article about the History of Ghost stories, the first recorded mention of ghosts would be 1st century AD. This assumes that mention of supernatural sightings in the Bible do not count, as these are generally not spirits, but angels, prophets, or saints whom God is allowing to enter the earth again... The first recorded mention of a poltergeist was not until 9th century AD, though. Here's the article if anyone is interested. http://www.history.com/topics/historical-ghost-stories It is pretty interesting.

On an anecdotal note, Some cave drawings have images and figures which are not clear, which I've heard that historians speculate (and they can only speculate) that these images may represent spirits or aliens. What I know of ancient egyptian religion also has several spirit-like legends, but these, being religious, may not be counted as actual ghosts, much like in the judeochristian beliefs.

While I enjoy the thought that ghosts may be real, 99% of stories, I believe, are BS, Having said that, I'd say real ghosts sightings/stories came about when societies formed. When evolutionary fears were still in place, but people were, for the most part, safe. This scenario has two things happening; first, real fears may have begun to be minimized to keep the society (especially children) calm, but also romanticized, as warriors/hunters would be coming back from battle and the hunt with amazing stories - second, people, being safer than normal, are given time to cultivate imaginations and begin creating, whether on purpose or accident. Also, this is when people would begin to be forced to actually deal with death. Before societies, it may be small family groups, but death meant harder survival as opposed to a big loss but life remaining otherwise the same; losing a father wasn't a death sentence anymore, it just sucked really badly. So, with this occurring, people are going to begin having to try to reconcile life and death. This is a giant contribution to many ghost stories, at least in origin. This is a really fascinating concept that I've never thought about before, so I look forward to the discussion. I apologize for the rambling everyone!