If it is a subject which makes cast some ink among the fans of saga Outlander, that they are the readers where the viewers, it is definitely that of Jamie's ghost aparaissant under the windows of Clear while this last is still in 1945 and what it not connait the existence.
I gathered some texts hunted out to the liking of my reading here and which I altered so that there are not too much redundancies. Also I cannot credit this or that site, nor this or that author. Some of hypotheses come of discuss forums, groups, French, English or even Portuguese and others finally of my own cogitation.
It is necessary to know that this subject returns on social networks vicinity every 10 days, it is to say if it is far from being rounded off! And that's why I decided to devote him a particular page.

In the saga 

Upon arriving in Inverness, Frank explains to clear that some ghosts can walk the streets, with good or bad intentions. And that, as the date of Beltane approaches, they should be careful if they approach a cemetery.
Subsequently, while returning to the pension one evening of rain and wind, Frank surprises a man under the window watching clear to brush his hair. Frank describes him as a tall, Scottish man wearing typical clothes including a sporran and a beautiful brooch holding the tartan on his shoulder. Frank's description of the spit with a deer is very similar to that of Jamie.
Because of this man's attitude, Frank thinks he could have been a soldier who met Claire during the war, and with whom she could have had a relationship. However, he confides in clear that when he came across, he was so close that he should have felt it but that was not the case. It puzzled him so much that he turned to look at him, but he had already disappeared. He also noticed that despite the strong wind, neither the kilt nor the tartan moved.
In the saga, he is therefore described as a ghost and is never mentioned again. 

The mystery of the ghost

Diana's explanations 

After being questioned by the readers, Diana Gabaldon revealed that the ghost in this scene is Jamie and has stipulated that the mystery would be revealed in the last scene of the last book of the saga. 

However, in the first few days of filming, Diana gave Sam Heughan and Ron Moore (the producer) some details, including the reasons that make this scene sad. We will know nothing of these revelations except that the ghost of Jamie is 25 years old at the time of this apparition.
In the television adaptation, it is easy to understand that the ghost is Jamie, because he has the same clothes and the same posture. Moreover, in episode 8 of the first season, the portrait-robot that Frank entrusts to the police has the face of Jamie. 

A) an imminent death experience after Culloden 

After the Battle of Culloden Jamie was seriously injured and may have an imminent death experience or died for a few minutes. He was 25 years old on that date since he was born on the 1st but 1721 and that the battle of Culloden took place on April 16, 1746. So it is the age of the ghost.
This impending death experience could also explain Jamie's ability to see the future in dreams as we are told later in the saga.
It is said that those born to Beltane, like Jamie, have special powers that could justify their extracorporeal skills. 

B) The time loop 

The presence of the ghost looking clear that night, a few days before it travels back in time, may indicate that everything is a cycle.
Jamie's soul travels after her death to take care of Claire, until they meet again.
This hypothesis would explain the presence of the flowers at the feet of the stones of Craig Na Dhun who make return Claire to study them. It would be Jamie, who of course knows Claire's attraction for these flowers, who would have placed them at the stone's feet to make sure she came back and that she would make the trip well, again and again.
Diana Gabaldon said recently that these forget-me-nots were indeed of great significance. However, she denied the idea of ​​a loop, stating that the time in her story ran in a linear fashion and that events only happened once. 

C) The promise of Jamie 

Diana has said many times that Jamie can not travel back in time and that her only way of being with Claire would be in the form of a ghost.
In the first book, during the wedding vows, Jamie says, 'I give my spirit until the end of our life.' So, if one of them dies before the other, his spirit will stay with the other
In the second installment: The Talisman, Jamie swears:
'- I'll find you again, even if I have to endure two hundred years of purgatory, two hundred years without you, it will be the punishment for my crimes: for lying, killing, stealing and betraying.' 

If he keeps his promise, that's what he does, after his death, he waits for 200 years to find her in Inverness so that their destiny crosses again. 

Beyond all these theories, we can still ask ourselves a question: 

How is it that Claire, who seems endowed with a great memory and a keen sense of analysis, has never made the connection between Jamie and the ghost seen by Frank? How is it, especially, that she did not immediately make the link when she saw, for the first time, the spit of the fraser? 

The hypotheses

Different lines of thought

We can not deny the importance of this revelation! First of all, is it a coincidence that Otter's toothpeak appears on a stormy evening, just like Jamie's ghost in Inverness?
Otter tooth, we are told, went through the stones to warn the Mohawk people of its future extinction. He tried, until his death, to reverse this terrible fate. In vain. That's why her ghost appears to Claire, because she may be able to do what he has failed.
If we know what Otter's tooth meant, we do not know what Jamie's ghost (who, unlike Otter's tooth is not a time traveler) had to say to Claire. Did he come to ask him to cross the stones of Craig Na Dunn to straighten out the past? Is it he who planted the forget-me-nots at the foot of the stones so that it is there at the right time? 

Upon arriving in the past, Claire saves the Highlanders group from an ambush by the red tunics by informing them of their habit of standing on the crest of Cocknammon Rock. Then, she heals Jamie from a gunshot wound that would surely have been infected if she had not been there and probably would have been fatal. 

From the outset, Claire changes the story and it can not be a coincidence either. One more day and Jamie was no longer in this world! But if he is no longer of this world, he can not know Claire's existence, and therefore can not come to haunt her at Beltane's evening in Inverness in 1945. 

The loop does not loop.
Not yet 😊 

In the final episode of Season 4: 'A Man of Honor', Claire, Jamie and Little Ian meet Wahkaiiosta, one of the women of the Mohawk clan, who wants to recover the otter tooth stone that Claire wears around her neck .
Claire tells how she met the Otter's tooth ghost on a stormy night when she had just found her skull next to the stone.
She said, 'I believe that spirits exist only when there is something to remember, a story worthy of being told or a message worthy of transmission.' 

Valérie Gay-Corajoud 

By Valérie Gay-Corajoud 

D) Dream memories 

(Theory mentioned by Lucie Bidouille - Attention, spoiler up to volume 6) 

We know for certain that:
1/ It's Jamie's ghost. Diana confirmed it;
2/ Diana said Jamie's ghost looks 25 years old;
3/ Frank saw the ghost;
4/ It's not the same as the dreams that Jamie has about the future. 

But what if the ghost and the dreams were still linked?
The most common theory (and the most "logical"—if you consider there may be any logic to it—) is that Jamie's ghost came from some sort of near-death experience when he was wounded on the battlefield of Culloden. Jamie's age indeed matches the ghost's appearance.
However, we know that a fortune teller made a prophecy to Jamie: "You will die nine times before finding rest in your grave." (volume 6) Jamie and Claire even do the countdown at one point. We have the ax to the head, the flogging, the torture by BJR, Culloden, the Laoghaire gunshot and the snakebite and maybe others.
And if with each "death", a part of him went on a ghostly journey, without his remembering it? So, in Culloden, his spirit would have gone to see Claire. But also, during another "death", he would have traveled to Claire again, seeing her writing under electric light. Another time he would have seen Brianna and placed a kiss on her birthmark behind her ear. And finally, he would have gone to see Bree, Roger, Jem and Mandy in the future.
But he has no memory of it when he comes back to life, and it would only come back in dreams. For example in the moments of his life when he would need it the most… During his "travels", he would have been visible only once, because that night was special: it was Samhain.
This trip, he will only dream of it at the end of volume 10, probably when his real death will occur, in order to show him that he can leave in peace because his Claire will come back to him...
It's a way to link 3 mysteries surrounding Jamie: his "prescient" dreams, his ghost and the prophecy of the 9 lives of the fortune teller... 

E) A postponed death 

Jamie is said to have died the day Claire arrived in the 18th century. That's why we saw his ghost. He then had the same hairstyle and the same outfit. He died because he couldn't defend himself during the English ambush because of his dislocated shoulder.
When Claire and Frank arrived in Scotland on the day when ghosts are free to roam the Earth, Jamie's ghost came to find this beautiful, caring and competent carer of soldiers (including Scottish). He calls her to the past, to a time before his death so that she can put his shoulder back on him.
That's why they have such an unbreakable bond, because if Claire hadn't been called/pulled back to her time, Jamie would have died fighting the Redcoats they encountered shortly after.
It also explains why he was so amazed when he saw him after he lost consciousness and fell from the horse, following his gunshot wound. In his dazed state, he returned to the first moment his ghost saw her in the 20th century (he doesn't know he saw her when he was a ghost) perhaps feeling that this beautiful lady he dreamed of or had a vision of before, is actually here with him. Jamie lives because Claire cured him so they are "united for life".

We know that Diana Gabaldon revealed her secret to Ronald D. Moore (who wrote the script for the first episode) and to Sam Heughan and, as luck would have it, the staging puts Claire's two interventions to treat Jamie well in parallel ... 

Most of the talk about the ghost has focused on Jamie as well as Claire. All reflections focus on understanding what could have linked these two souls so that, 200 years after their meeting, the ghost of Jamie appears to Claire. 

But lo and behold...he doesn't appear to Claire, but to Frank! What if this ghost wasn't meant for the one we thought? What if Frank was an actor in history past and future? 

For some time (I'm writing this chapter at the end of April 2023), we learned that Diana plans to write a book about what Frank knew.
Indeed, anyone who has read the saga knows, the historian knew more than he let his wife know! Let's not forget that he had been a spymaster during the war! So a man capable of discovering secrets, and even more, of keeping them quiet. 

Over the course of her writings, Diana revealed some details to us.
For example, when, in volume 4, Roger finds a letter from Frank addressed to the Reverend Wakefield in which he admits to him that he carried out research validating all of Claire's words! Even though he still wonders if Claire made it all up by referring to facts she allegedly read, he still had a fake headstone built with James Fraser's name on it, placing it right at next to Jonathan Randall's! He allegedly did this, supposedly to leave a clue for Claire and Brianna.
He ends his letter thus:
“Sooner or later Claire will take Brianna to Scotland, I'm sure. If she goes to Sainte-Kilda, she will see them. No one visits an old Scottish church without taking a look at the tombs that surround it. If Brianna wonders, if she wants to know more, if she asks Claire questions…well, I'll have done my part. What happens after I leave I can only leave to chance." 

Much further, in volume 8 of the saga, Bree finds a letter that Frank wrote to her and which was hidden (by whom???) in Brian Fraser's office.
He confirms knowing the truth about Claire, her marriage to Jamie, and most importantly, that she also inherited the power of time travel. He is aware of the prophecy that made Geillis want to attempt to assassinate him! He ends up advising him to take refuge in the past, with his real father. 

So we can see that Frank has a role to play!
Could we imagine that his involvement goes even further? 

Pascale Perin's hypothesis (on a FB group) is that after all, it was Frank the historian obsessed with his ancestor who took Claire to Inverness, then to Culloden to see the Fraser and of the Mackenzies. It is he again who invites him to observe the dance of the druidesses at Craigh na Dun, and again he who evokes Sandringham on the assumption that, although proclaimed a Jacobite, he was probably the protector of Black Jack Randall! It is also Frank who gives Claire the diamond watch, essential for crossing the stones! And finally, it is him who meets the ghost of Jamie and not Claire who is however at the window, only a few meters from the fountain! 

One can also wonder about the very detailed description that Frank provides to Claire and then to the police.
As a spy, he might be expected to have a keener sense of observation than most people, but still! He saw the ghost mostly from behind, on a stormy night! The ghost only turned on him for a split second before vanishing, yet he was able to paint the brooch in great detail and produce a perfect match! 

Also... why in his various letters, especially when he confesses to having learned of the existence of Jamie and the Fraser clan, does he not refer to this Ghost? It is absurd to imagine that he forgot it or never made the connection! 

Let's push the theory even further.
In the letter he writes to his daughter, Frank warns Bree about what the Secret Service could learn about his ability to time travel. 

Could it be that the entire story is a confidential file? Much like those offered in the Xfiles series? Claire, Jamie, Bree, Roger, and all those people we've grown to love would just be figures on a government file! 

Okay, I digress, I know that. 

And you ? Do you have any other theories?
Do not hesitate to propose them to me by writing to me at contact.sassenach@gmail.com 

And Frank in all this?

Let's push the theory even further.
In the letter he writes to his daughter, Frank warns Bree about what the Secret Service could learn about his ability to time travel. 

Could it be that the entire story is a confidential file? Much like those offered in the Xfiles series? Claire, Jamie, Bree, Roger, and all those people we've grown to love would just be figures on a government file! 

Okay, I digress, I know that. 

And you ? Do you have any other theories?
Do not hesitate to propose them to me by writing to me at contact.sassenach@gmail.com 

Astral travel

But now in volume 6 (and season 7), Jamie tells two incredibly precise dreams! 

First of all, he saw it, in his time. 

… 

- I saw you there. 

– Where did you see me? 

He gestured vaguely towards the window. 

- Over there. I dreamed of you. I didn't know where I was. But I knew it was there, in your time. 

This time, every hair on my body stood on end. 

- How do you know ? What was I doing? He frowned. 

– I don't remember, but I knew I was in your time, in the light. Yes that's it ! You were sitting at your desk, holding an object in your hand, maybe a feather. There was clarity all around you, on your face, your hair. But it came neither from a candle, nor from a fire, nor from the sun. I remember thinking, "So, this is the famous electric light!" 

I stared at him, dumbfounded. 

– How can you recognize in a dream what you have never seen in your real life? 

“I always dream of things I've never seen, Sassenach, don't you? 

Volume 6, A breath of snow and ashes, chapter 68, the savages 

Then, a little later, he sees Bree and the children in a house which he describes in great detail (it is the presbytery, the former residence of Reverend Wakefield that Claire never described to him). A young dark-haired woman opens the door to them. the door, her name is Fiona (indeed, Fiona, Mrs. Graham's granddaughter is now the owner) 

… 

“Ah… and just at the end, before I woke up… Jemmy was fiddling with whatever he found handy, as usual. There was this... thing... on a table. I did not understand what it was; I had never seen anything like it. 

Hesitantly, he placed his hands about six inches apart. 

– It was wide like that and maybe a little longer. It looked like a box... but with a bump. 

– A bump? 

– Yes, and on it was a strange object, like a club ending on each side with a ball. It was attached to the box by a cord wrapped around itself like a pig's tail. Jemmy saw him and reached out to him saying, “I want to talk to Grandpa. That's when I woke up. 

He tilted his head back to look at me. 

“What could it be, Sassenach! I have never seen anything like it. 

Light and quick as the steps of a ghost, an autumn gust lifted the dead leaves in the yard. My hairs stood up on my forearms. 

- Yes I know. I already told you about it. 

However, I didn't think I had ever described one to him, except in general terms. I cleared my throat. 

- It's called a phone 

… 

Volume 6, A breath of snow and ashes, chapter 121. On the other side of the abyss 

What if it was all just a dream? 

Since volume 4 (and therefore, season 4), we have become accustomed to listening to Jamie tell Claire dreams incredibly spécifique to a future reality that he is not supposed to know. 

The birthmark behind Brianna's ear is the first one that catches Claire's attention. 

… 

'I've had strange dreams up there on the mountain,' he announced. 

- Oh yes ? What did you dream of? 

"All sorts of things," he answered a little timidly. I dreamed a lot about Brianna. 

- Really ? 

I was a little surprised, because I too had dreamed of her in our shelter... which rarely happened to me. 

“I was wondering…” Jamie hesitated. Doesn't she have a birthmark? Or did you tell me about it? 

"Yes," I replied, thinking. And no, I don't think I told you about it. She is barely visible. Besides, it's been years since I've seen her myself. It's a... 

He squeezed my shoulder to stop me and answered for me: 

- A small brown spot, diamond-shaped, just behind the left ear, right? 

- Yes. 

A cold shiver ran through me. 

- How do you know ? Did you see her in a dream? 

“I gave it a little kiss while she slept. 

Volume 4, Drums of Autumn, Chapter 21, Night on a Snowy Mountain 

It is absolutely certain that this ability to dream of the future is a special gift possessed by Jamie who was born, let us remember, on May 1, 1721, that is to say during the Beltaine period, a hinge between winter and in summer, conducive to magic and enchantments. 

It is therefore possible that these dreams are in truth astral journeys during which Jamie would transform into a ghost. He does not dream! He is there, on the spot, and this is the reason why he is able to tell what he saw in a precise and exact way. 

If we accept this theory, there is only one mystery left to solve. 

Why did Frank see him by the fountain the night Jamie's ghost was under Claire's window at night in Inverness. Can the fact that it is the night of Samhain be enough?