Q&A: What are some atheist perspectives on hauntings?

Question by Mark: What are some atheist perspectives on hauntings?
As a Catholic Christian I have my own opinions and theories about hauntings; that is, the seeming presence of some kind of echo or intelligent existence of a deceased person or persons who are able to interact with the living.

While I fully realize that atheists do not believe in a deity and largely do not believe in an afterlife, do any of you have beliefs about ghosts, haunted locations, etc?

Some have described "hauntings" as nothing more than some kind of electromagnetic recording within a building or area that "plays back" kinetic effects, as if the building itself functioned like a gigantic video or audio recording device. Others believe that, as the human mind operates on bioelectric energy, that some aspects of our existence are embedded into a location.

Of course, some atheists may very well believe that the spirits (or the animated intellect, or whatever you'd like to refer to it as) of the dead can exist in an environment and interact with the living. I honestly don't know, ergo my question.

I myself do believe in the presence of spirits and the manifestation of those who are no longer physically alive. I believe that they exist as a part of God's overall plan, or that they may be a reflection of the brokenness of the world due to the Original Sin of Adam. I know many of my Christian brethren have different opinions on this, but I've never heard what the atheists among us think.

And please, if you're just going to say "it's stupid to even ask" or "I haunted your mom last night" or some other pathetic attempt at humor save it. This is a question for mature people of different belief systems.

Give your answer to this question below!