"However, I would assume it would show some prankster having a laugh myself."
and thats my point. those who dont believe will rarely change their mind, its the same with religion. I dont believe in a God, and cant see that i ever will, though i accept that others do. :) we all have our own opinions.
Where "ghosts" are concerned Im more of a critical believer, i dont just accept that what people claim to be ghosts are ghosts, I'd rather try and see what could be other causes.
for example, we visited a place once where the business relied on a strange history and ghostly tales for the tourists money. The team set up, called out, had responses to questions related to the supposed history. Some of the team got excited, the "ghost" was replying to them. It was then that the questioner started to alternate between calling loudly and then whispering. It was found that the replying knocks were only heard when the questions were loud. On further investigation it was found that the next door neighbours were knocking on the walls, perhaps the owner of the property was trying to increase her (media publicised) ghostly publicity. Nothing was found in record books of any of the history the property claimed either.