Historical records clearly demonstrate that the Roman Poet Lucretius was a passionate believer in ghosts who devoted a great deal of time to investigating and researching claims of apparitions.
He eventually gathered enough material together to propose the theory, commonly known as Lucretius's shell, which ghosts were a kind of shell, which diffused or splintered from the body of a dying person and lingered in the atmosphere after death, moving at will.
This theory is considered the forerunner of theories regarding the possible existence of the astral body, which may separate from the body of a living being under altered states of consciousness, such as trance or deep sleep.
Lucretius is thought to have died raving mad from the effects of a love potion administered to him by his wife.
