Many ghost reports do not describe true ghosts, but might more properly be classified as "after-death communications" (ADCs). In 1988, Bill and Judy Guggenheim began a private research project on ADCs, collecting, cataloging, and analyzing thousands of reports from around the world about departed souls who briefly reappeared to say goodbye to their loved ones or take care of other unfinished business on earth. The Guggenheim's research indicates that the vast majority of ADCs occur within the first year after the person's death ; very few occur more than a few years after, and practically none after 15 or 20 years (suggesting that something, possibly a later division, prevents them from occurring later).

There are, of course, notable exceptions to this : apparitions of a very small number of religious holy figures have been reported century after century. In these apparitions, the religious figure always seems mentally whole and uncompromised : all mental functions still seem intact and operational, and they seem fully oriented to place, time, and person. Of all the different types of afterlife phenomena, such apparitions are the only ones that appear to demonstrate true "eternal life", showing that a person who physically died long ago still exists, and hasn't suffered any deterioration of his or her mental faculties even after extremely long stretches of time have passed.

Oh, a few others also still seem to exist after great stretches of time, such as (1) ghosts, (2) poltergeists and possessing spirits, (3) the personalities that are briefly reawakened during past-life regression, and (4) the miserable inhabitants of the Realm of Bewildered Spirits witnessed during NDEs. But these are, one and all, crippled personalities, dysfunctional beings, damaged goods, fractured psyches.

In most ADCS, on the other hand, our departed loved ones usually seem perfectly normal; they don't seem to be suffering any emotional or mental disturbances; they act the same way they used to, they still seem to know who they are and who we are and what's going on in the world. Their characteristic mannerisms, memory, and intellectual skills all seem unchanged. In other words, they show little or no evidence of any soul-division.

"I had just gotten into bed and ...was still awake when a cloud appeared right next to the bed. The cloud was all lit up, and the rest of the room was all black. My grandmother was in this cloud! I could see her from her waist to the top of her head. [...] She was beautiful! She looked so radiant and so happy. I had never seen my grandmother look that beautiful because she was always a hardworking woman. Her hair was gray, but it was like she had just come from the beauty parlor, and she appeared years younger. I said, "Grandma!". She didn't say anything, but she was smiling at me and radiating love and peacefulness. It was as if she had come to tell me she was fine and everything was okay, and that she was in a wonderful place."
- Cindy, whose grandmother had died two years earlier

As such, ADCs represent some of the best evidence that soul-division either does not occur in all cases, or at least doesn't occur immediately after dying in all cases. There are some peculiarities common to these reports, however. For example, much like NDErs' reports of the Realm of Light, our deceased loved ones frequently (but not always) seem unable to communicate verbally in ADCs; instead, they rely heavily on nonverbal gestures, scents, or symbolic images to get their messages across. Furthermore, when they do speak verbally the message is almost always very brief and one- sided; extended back-and-forth conversations during ADCs are extremely rare.

When ADCs include a visual apparition, the deceased's appearance is often subtly different, usually looking very healthy and happy; however, the deceased often seems to be surrounded by light or glowing from within. This is very similar to reports that can be found in many ancient traditions, such as Judeo-Christianity's angels and Egypt's aakhu, both of which were also described as having a luminescent radiance. An interesting difference, however, is that Egypt's aakhu were thought to be extremely rare -- the ultimate spiritual success story, while shining ADCs don't seem very rare at all today. The Guggenheims' research includes case after case in which the deceased was enveloped in a shining radiance, looking utterly happy, healthy, and whole.