Do You Believe in Ghosts?

[jessica]

I am so hooked on that show on the Discovery Channel, Haunting. It's very fun and creepy. I was starting to freak out last night with all the lights turned off. I got to stay home yesterday caring for my toddler who was too sick to go to daycare and I was able to watch two episodes of it. I love this stuff...

[Marvelmania]

I've never experienced anything spooky but a friend of mine in junior high said she lived in a haunted house. The house was built back before the Civil War and in the dirt basement (what they called an old food storgae area) it was said slaves were hung there. She always talked of strange things always happening throughout the house. Of course i never did pay a visit there.

[imp]

I want to reiterate what a great thread this has become. Fascinating entries from all who have contributed.

I realized, shortly after writing the original blog, that every strange 'occurrence' I experienced happened on a Tuesday. Thus, I eagerly awaited yesterday, to see if anything unusual would happen.

I'm happy to report that absolutely nothing happened. It was actually a pretty boring day. In fact, NOTHING strange has happened since I first posted.

I guess I'm back to being a cynical skeptic. Well, except to say that reading some of these posts has me curious about the possibilities...!

Benjamin

[cjefferys]

We once lived in a house where we experienced some odd phenomena. It was a newer subdivision that was built on land where a particularly bloody battle apparently took place during the War of 1812. Several times, my father would be home by himself and clearly hear footsteps in the upstairs bedroom. One time these were accompanied by a crash, and running footsteps. He ran upstairs and found nothing. I thought he may have been pulling my leg, but one time my friend and I were watching TV in the living room when no one else was home. We both clearly heard footsteps of someone slowly decending the stairs (not visible from where we were sitting). They were clear footsteps, not creaking, or the house settling or whatever, they were unmistakable. We were both freaked out of course, and went to look at the stairs but nothing was there.

We only lived there for about 6 months (my parents were renting it, in between selling one house and buying another one). I have no idea what was going on there, but I can't really deny it as being something like a ghost. I'm open minded that way, I can't say for certain what weird things may or may not be out there. No one really can for sure, we all just have opinions on what we believe is or isn't real.

[Bo8a_Fett]

I saw a man with a hat once...it was on back to front

[Hulk]

I've seen what I believe to be UFO's.

I've encountered what I believe are ghosts.

I'd say more, but Zuul is strongly advising me against it.

[ramsey37]

I do believe in spooks, I do believe in spooks, I do I do I do I do I do!
Sorry, I couldn't resist
George

[Bo8a_Fett]

BOO!!!!

[Bizarro Amy]

I love talking about ghost stories. I'm getting chills from reading this thread. But as much as I'd like to believe, I can't. I have never experienced anything that logically indicated the existence of ghosts or anything else mentioned here. I've done some travelling in Europe, through castles, battlefields, etc, and if I was going to see anything, you'd think I'd see it there. One of the places I visited was a concentration camp called Mauthausen. I was freaked out from what I knew had happened where I was walking, but I did not see/hear any ghosts. I've also spent a lot of time at the Gettysburg battlefield, and although my father-in-law has ghost stories out the wazoo, I have yet to find any real ones.

[Vortigern99]

I find this thread to be a fascinating repository of paranormal experiences, and I'd like to thank everyone for contributing. I am a skeptic (in the sense of "fact-discerning" as opposed to "fact-dismissive"), but at heart, like Agent Scully, I want to believe -- or rather, I want to know. If there is any evidence for any paranormal event, I would certainly like to see it. In fact, I await it with great eagerness.

[johnmiic]

I haven't given ghosts much thought actually. I am more a Bigfoot guy. I don't know if this was Ghost related but my family used to live in my Grandma's house for a few years. She and my Mom fought a lot due to their personalities. I don't usually visit her grave or anything. One night I was assleep in my room at her house long after she passed away and I had the feling that someone was pushing down on my arms-shaking me in the bed to wake me up. I can say I was definately shaking up and down. It did wake me up. Whatever it was, I was not ready to face any possible ghosts that night-especially if it was my Grandmother angry at me for not visiting her in grave. So pulled the covers over my head in case I opened my eyes I didn't want to see what the hell it was shaking me awake.

My brother is a bit of a loner and has harbored resentment towards everyone in the family. Since my Mom died 6 years ago he told me he has seen strange things in his room. he said he often sees a depression on the top of his bed like someone was or is sitting there. The most astounding thing he said he witnessed was he caught the tail end of a smoky mass of something leaving the room through the corner of the celing. It was like a cloud thing just rising and drifitng out thru the top corner. I told him he should take pictures of his room even if it looks quiet and nothing seems to be happening but so far he has not done anything about it.

[jwyblejr]

I once had what I call a "black shadow ball" go across my living room wall. This was Christmas Eve a few years back. It was the wrong color to be from a car's headlights. It wasn't from a person walking outside. You'd have to be at least seven feet tall to make it where it was on the wall. Throw in the fact my Christmas tree was in front of the wall the shadow went across. To this day I can't explain what it was and I'm a pretty big skeptic of this sort of thing.

[Vortigern99]

I would like to politely point out to those offering photographs as evidence of ghostly phenomena that a camera is a mechanical device which allows light to come in through an aperture in the lens. Any additional places through which light might enter -- say a pinhole break in the camera casing, invisible to the naked eye -- will allow additional light to enter and be captured in the image-making materials (silver oxide or pixels of information), spoiling the image. Also, minute dust particles -- once again, invisible to the naked eye -- floating before the lens will appear magnified and luminous under the flash of the camera, or from the light source in the area photographed. I might suggest that these technical malfunctions be considered and exhausted before the appeal to a supernatural explanation is made.

[RG]

Maybe. It's all digital and the pictures I have taken with this camera have never had those orbs before the party. And I haven't seen any orbs anymore with my newer shots.

I have never seen any "orbs" in any kind of pictures except digital ... so I'm thinking it's something about the electronics that distort light etc., and not really any ghosts.

In my picture I took at the grave yard, I saw the "orbs" with my own eyes when the camera flash, flashed ... I have a strong felling that it could have been moisture in the air and light reflecting off of that. it wasn't raining, but there was very high humidity ... until I see a floating head ... I'm not too worried about orb ghosts. Still kind of fun to have something show up ... even if it's nothing more than a bad image lol

[toys2cool]

Maybe. It's all digital and the pictures I have taken with this camera have never had those orbs before the party. And I haven't seen any orbs anymore with my newer shots.

yeah that would freak me out a bit