Let Go My Ecto A look at ecto and it’s impact in the paranormal world By: Sam Little

Mention ecto and several thoughts will spring into the mind of a paranormal researcher. The first being a thick smoke like mist often thought to be that of a spirit forming. The second thought is a substance left behind by a spirit after manifestation. The third, which is pretty common among non researchers as well is the car driven by the Ghostbusters in the popular movies. Not many people realize before ecto was considered a misty manifestation it was a secretion of thick matter that came from the orifice of a medium as she/he made contact with the spirit world. That definition of the term ecto became known as ectoplasm, or ecto residue. What we will look at is the more modern version of the word ecto, that being the smoky mist seen in many pictures and images throughout paranormal research. I wish I could tell you there are so many examples of true ecto out there but sadly there is not. A vast majority of pics floating around as ecto are in fact simply smoke, a person’s breath or exhaust from a car. I have seen so many sites claiming to have genuine ecto but that have nothing of the sort. I want to first start off with showing you what fake ecto looks like and how to tell if that is what you have. Let’s look at a pic for reference.

A very clear mist is present and one might assume I have managed to cap ecto in it’s misty state, but if one did, they would be wrong. Notice the loops in this mist are very close to the general formation. They are also very tight in the way they curl close to each other. You must also notice that the outline of the mist is very thin and not at all definitive of the formation. Also notice how it comes from a prime location under the picture. This my friends is smoke from incense I lit. I also intentionally took the picture by my incense collection. Sometimes what is in the pic is more telling than the pic itself. Let’s try another.

This time the outline is very pronounced, but notice the swirls are still very tightly packed and the whole formation is coming from out of the picture. The reason the outline is so pronounced is that this pic was taken with the light coming from outside the glass door setting a backdrop for the formation. This would confuse most researchers as it does have the outline and a very structured form but alas it is simply more smoke.

One common misunderstanding on the matter of ecto is that if no one was smoking at the time how can there be smoke in the pic? Simple! Smoke lingers for some time. It may even linger without being visible to the naked eye but a camera will easily pic it up and then you have a picture that may fool you. Smoke tends to be stringy and diffused after some time lingering and is not defined by a common form and outline. If someone was smoking up to at least 30 minutes in a room prior to the pic odds are the ecto that shows up is not ecto at all but more smoke. A key factor to decide if you are looking at smoke or ecto is the way the mist swirls around itself. Ecto generally is making a form; an arm or sometimes even an entire body while smoke just wisps around itself. Let's look at another very common element mistaken for ecto.

This is actually breath in a cold night. Breath can highly resemble ecto but in fact it lacks form and has a thin look to it.

Now for the real deal

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