Georgia Ghost Hunters

The word wraith, marked by the Oxford English Dictionary as being of obscure origin, is first attested in 1513, with the meaning of ghost or spectre (that is, an apparition of a living or once-living being, possibly as a portent of death). In 18th century Scotland it was applied to water spirits, and in England it became used in a metaphoric sense to refer to wraith-like things, and to portents in general.In the case of a living person being doubled it is thought that the wraith is an omen of the person’s imminent death.

A ghost light is any one of many unusual visual phenomena that appear in specific areas around the world. This describes the appearance of lights where one presumes there should be none. There is no single explanation for what causes ghost lights, but possible causes are mirages, refracted light from automobile headlights, swamp gas, ball lightning, St. Elmo’s Fire, Will o’ the wisp or the piezoelectric effect from underground quartz crystals.

Another meaning of the term comes from the theater. There is a superstition that a ghost might take up residence if an empty theater is ever left completely dark. To prevent this, a single “ghost light” is left burning on-stage when the theater is empty