Do you believe in ghosts?

[bellebud]

It also makes no sense that some ghost sightings feature ghosts wearing clothing- why would the clothing come back from the dead?

I've always thought that too. And it's always old-timey clothing... why don't we see ghosts with funky 80's clothing on?

I don't necessarily believe, but I don't disbelieve either, and I think it's really interesting.

 

[DLgal]

No. "Ghosts" can be scientifically explained by the existence of Infrasound.

If ghosts were actually a real thing, everyone would see them all the time. Just think about how many people have died on earth. Literally billions. They would be everywhere and statistically, everyone would have seen one at some point.

Also, I love how ghost sightings are always people from "olden times." Why don't we ever see the ghosts of people who passed recently, wearing 90s tracksuits or something?

 

[scoutie]

And it's interesting that there are few modern day ghosts in modern day clothing. That being said, I do believe in spirit presences. Ha ha, DLgal. We posted the same thing at the same time!

 

[DLgal]

I've always thought that too. And it's always old-timey clothing... why don't we see ghosts with funky 80's clothing on?

I don't necessarily believe, but I don't disbelieve either, and I think it's really interesting.

LOL. Same thought at the same time.

 

[belle032]

Absolutely I do. And I find it fascinating.

I don't really believe in the traditional angel/devil or heaven/hell idea, but I do believe there is some kind of energy or spirit that can "hang around" after we pass. I don't think everyone becomes a ghost after they die, but I do think we leave an imprint on the earth in some form, which can manifest in different ways.

 

[Mysterian]

I've always thought that too. And it's always old-timey clothing... why don't we see ghosts with funky 80's clothing on?

Also, I love how ghost sightings are always people from "olden times." Why don't we ever see the ghosts of people who passed recently, wearing 90s tracksuits or something?

And it's interesting that there are few modern day ghosts in modern day clothing. That being said, I do believe in spirit presences. Ha ha, DLgal. We posted the same thing at the same time!

That's a good point, you mutual minds you. We never see a ghost in hammer pants or parachute pants, sporting a fanny pack.

Edit: Or ghosts in capris.

 

[DLgal]

That's a good point, you mutual minds you. We never see a ghost in hammer pants or parachute pants, sporting a fanny pack.

I mean, to be honest, if I am going to have a ghost sighting, that is EXACTLY what I want to see.

 

[china mom]

About three months ago, our offices were moved from our building due to upcoming renovations. We are temporarily housed in a former courthouse built in 1790. Local lore says that the building is haunted. We have heard occasional thumps and one office in particular has an eerie feeling to it but most of the "hauntings" are myself and my co-workers pranking each other (while I typed this, one of my co-workers just yelped and screamed "G..D.... and the other one is laughing. I guess she just got "haunted")

We do have one unexplained event, though. There are three of us that are the pranksters. We got into the tiny rickety elevator together to go to the basement (where the bathrooms are). The elevator got stuck between floors. There is no cell service in the basement. We rang the alarm bell but knew no one would hear it because we were the only ones in the building. Then, we heard a woman ask us through the closed elevator door if we were OK. Yaay, we are saved. Donna, the cleaning lady could get help. Well, no one got help. After a while, our boss came back from being out of the building, found us and effected our rescue. He said Donna wasn't there when he found us. She showed up much later. We asked Donna if she was the one who checked on us and she said no. She didn't know anything until halfway through the rescue. We have exactly one other female employee and she was off that day. Our building requires card access to enter. Who was the woman who checked on us?

BTW, prior to this incident, we had all been referring to the courthouse ghost as a woman.

 

[FigmentSpark]

About three months ago, our offices were moved from our building due to upcoming renovations. We are temporarily housed in a former courthouse built in 1790. Local lore says that the building is haunted. We have heard occasional thumps and one office in particular has an eerie feeling to it but most of the "hauntings" are myself and my co-workers pranking each other (while I typed this, one of my co-workers just yelped and screamed "G..D.... and the other one is laughing. I guess she just got "haunted")

We do have one unexplained event, though. There are three of us that are the pranksters. We got into the tiny rickety elevator together to go to the basement (where the bathrooms are). The elevator got stuck between floors. There is no cell service in the basement. We rang the alarm bell but knew no one would hear it because we were the only ones in the building. Then, we heard a woman ask us through the closed elevator door if we were OK. Yaay, we are saved. Donna, the cleaning lady could get help. Well, no one got help. After a while, our boss came back from being out of the building, found us and effected our rescue. He said Donna wasn't there when he found us. She showed up much later. We asked Donna if she was the one who checked on us and she said no. She didn't know anything until halfway through the rescue. We have exactly one other female employee and she was off that day. Our building requires card access to enter. Who was the woman who checked on us?

BTW, prior to this incident, we had all been referring to the courthouse ghost as a woman.

I took a parapsychology course many years ago (for a psychology university elective). One of the studies we did was a case from about 100 years ago or maybe late 1800s. The occult was fast becoming an interest around that time. For this study, a group of researchers got together and were going to have a seance to reach someone from beyond. The catch, they were very careful to make up a person, not try to reach anyone who had really existed. So they spent a good deal of time developing a life story and choosing a name for their "ghost" and making sure it would be fictitious. Then they set about making that person 'real' for them. Essentially, they started convincing themselves that person was real. They knew they were playacting, but were trying as much as possible to get into the mindset of contacting a 'real' ghost. I think they had several regular seances, complete with rituals to put them into the mindset. After awhile, of swaying and calling on their ghost and believing, things started to happen. There was a response. Their "ghost" contacted them. But that person had never existed, so what happened? The researchers determined that maybe they had somehow, with their minds and need to believe created the things that happened. They knew it wasn't the ghost, but could it have been some type of ESP? Like telekinesis? Could it have been a group hallucination? I don't think they came up with an answer, but the study was written up.

I love the stories, but I am not a believer. There's been some interesting discussions about this on the skeptic side, including a physicist who works at Cern with the hadron collider was very forward how there would have to be an observable substance interacting with the particles that we're made of in order for ghosts to exist.

It also makes no sense that some ghost sightings feature ghosts wearing clothing- why would the clothing come back from the dead?

There's one interesting theory that ghosts are really some sort of strange recording of energy, instead of actual entities, but even that's not proven. Photos of "spirit orbs" on the other hand? Every taken a photo and seen out-of-focus, blurry bugs that flew in front of the lens?

I have to admit, your post makes me wonder about all the things we don't know about, like Dark Matter and Dark Energy. They're supposed to be all around us without affecting us, but it does make you wonder if there are some effects of such things of science that might explain the odd anomalies we are currently attributing to ghosts. There's just so much we don't know.

 

[china mom]

Figment, I guess I can't rule out a group hallucination. Keep in mind that none of us was thinking it was the ghost or trying to conjure her up or anything. We all heard "Donna" call out to us and we all yelled back "Hey, we are stuck in the elevator" No thoughts of our ghost until later when we were told that there was no one else in the building. Alternative theory - Donna hates us and left us in there :-0

 

[BlueStarryHat]

Yes, I do. I posted on the Halloween thread about my encounter with a shadow figure in our basement. If I didn't believe before, I sure do now. I think it *could* have been generated in my mind by all the electrical stuff down there, but who knows? I know that's a phenomenon, people seeing and/feeling jumpy around electrical boxes.

I do believe in alien life. There are millions of planets in untold solar systems, who's to say they don't have life just as we do on Earth? I think it's a good possibility. If *I* was a Supreme Being I personally would have had fun creating lots of different planets and lifeforms, not just be one and done.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Yes, I do. I posted on the Halloween thread about my encounter with a shadow figure in our basement. If I didn't believe before, I sure do now. I think it *could* have been generated in my mind by all the electrical stuff down there, but who knows? I know that's a phenomenon, people seeing and/feeling jumpy around electrical boxes.

I do believe in alien life. There are millions of planets in untold solar systems, who's to say they don't have life just as we do on Earth? I think it's a good possibility. If *I* was a Supreme Being I personally would have had fun creating lots of different planets and lifeforms, not just be one and done.

Now that I saw your post, I need to clarify mine. I also believe there could be life on other planets. I just don't believe they're traveling to earth like my DH does.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

Now that I saw your post, I need to clarify mine. I also believe there could be life on other planets. I just don't believe they're traveling to earth like my DH does.

I don't think aliens are responsible for ancient Earth's monuments like some people do. Ialso don't think they're necessarily visiting us. It's kind of like Bigfoot, every piece of evidence is blurry, shaky or out of focus. But I reserve judgement- after all it *is* 2020.

 

[Mysterian]

I took a parapsychology course many years ago (for a psychology university elective). One of the studies we did was a case from about 100 years ago or maybe late 1800s. The occult was fast becoming an interest around that time. For this study, a group of researchers got together and were going to have a seance to reach someone from beyond. The catch, they were very careful to make up a person, not try to reach anyone who had really existed. So they spent a good deal of time developing a life story and choosing a name for their "ghost" and making sure it would be fictitious. Then they set about making that person 'real' for them. Essentially, they started convincing themselves that person was real. They knew they were playacting, but were trying as much as possible to get into the mindset of contacting a 'real' ghost. I think they had several regular seances, complete with rituals to put them into the mindset. After awhile, of swaying and calling on their ghost and believing, things started to happen. There was a response. Their "ghost" contacted them. But that person had never existed, so what happened? The researchers determined that maybe they had somehow, with their minds and need to believe created the things that happened. They knew it wasn't the ghost, but could it have been some type of ESP? Like telekinesis? Could it have been a group hallucination? I don't think they came up with an answer, but the study was written up.

Sounds like the power of suggestion leading into hypnosis or hysteria or such. I'll have to read about that case. I wouldn't be surprised if a portion of that effect goes on with people using Oujia boards.

I have to admit, your post makes me wonder about all the things we don't know about, like Dark Matter and Dark Energy. They're supposed to be all around us without affecting us, but it does make you wonder if there are some effects of such things of science that might explain the odd anomalies we are currently attributing to ghosts. There's just so much we don't know.

I agree. The one thing we know for certain is we know we don't know everything, and we don't know what we don't know. There are things going on today with technology that people less than a hundred years ago would have thought was science fiction or magic.

 

[happily single]

I absolutely believe. I’ve become good friends with a group of women who are all into “woo woo”. Ghosts are best described as enerdy. Stupid auto correct. I give up!
I owned a house that I finally moved out Of because of all the activity. One night my boyfriend and I had a fight. I went to sleep on the couch. I was facing into the couch with my back facing the living room. I was woken up to a man shaking my shoulder, like tugging on me. Only problem? The boyfriend was snoring in the bedroom. When I came running into the bed and told him he told me when he was in the living room late a night he would often see a figure “dance by” the kitchen into the bedroom.

years before my son’s babysitter Called me visibly Upset because she saw a little girl in a red dress playing hide and seek. Only problem? Only my son and her were home. I have more stories about that house.

my Office was in an old Victorian house. One weekend day I was in the basement doing filing. The filing cabinets were along all four walls, then in rows in the middle of the room. As I came down a row of cabinets I saw a short stout women wearing a heavy wool dress disappear around the corner. I thought it was my manager who is short, but very trendy. Only problem? She wasn’t there.

 

[LSUmiss]

I live in an old house that has been in my family since the 17 th century. I have a 10 month old golden retriever and every now and then, when we are in one room, he suddenly stands up, fully alert, looks at nothing that I can see and barks and growls quite ferociously. He is not looking at a window, door or any object, just unremarkable space. It is slightly creepy.

Do you have a ceiling fan? My golden acted like that about the ceiling fan when he was a puppy.

 

[Mysterian]

I don't think aliens are responsible for ancient Earth's monuments like some people do. Ialso don't think they're necessarily visiting us. It's kind of like Bigfoot, every piece of evidence is blurry, shaky or out of focus. But I reserve judgement- after all it *is* 2020.

Bigfoot is one I definitely can't believe. There were some people that even came forward with DNA samples but they were fake. With all the attention and searching, they would have found something legitimate. One legit scientist actually played devil's advocate and decided to look into bigfoot- he actually ended up discovering a new type of bear. And the classic Patterson-Gimlin footage of Bigfoot walking isn't solid evidence. There's more to this story, but I digress.

Aliens are possible, but yeah the visits are dubious. Many claims are dismissed as misinterpretation or hoaxes, but to play Mulder for a moment, there are some stories which are unexplained. Those being sightings mixed with confirmed reports by military, air traffic control, or other authorities ... but again all we know is it's "unidentified". That doesn't mean we can just claim a shiny object in the sky has to be an alien craft. Any unsubstantiated claim made without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.

Even a foil balloon got loose and people swore it was from an alien civilization. It was from some kid's birthday party!

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

Do you have a ceiling fan? My golden acted like that about the ceiling fan when he was a puppy.

No, no ceiling fan. Sometimes, at this time of year, I get mice in the attics, so I did wonder if he could hear that, but I checked and there is no sign of anything.

 

[LSUmiss]

No, no ceiling fan. Sometimes, at this time of year, I get mice in the attics, so I did wonder if he could hear that, but I checked and there is no sign of anything.

That would creep me out more than the ghosts lol. But my golden does stuff like that a lot. He’s very observant so notices the smallest change. I got him in the summer when our ceiling fan runs pretty much nonstop, when he was a puppy, he freaked out when I turned it off lol.

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

That would creep me out more than the ghosts lol. But my golden does stuff like that a lot. He’s very observant so notices the smallest change. I got him in the summer when our ceiling fan runs pretty much nonstop, when he was a puppy, he freaked out when I turned it off lol.

They are not my favourite house guests either. I have cats, so I never have/see any sign of mice in the house but as the weather turns cold at this time of year, they often appear in the attics. Squirrels are the worst. If they get in they cause so much damage. My previous golden was basically a breathing rug; long walks and then sleep for the rest of the day. This one is just 11 months and still in the bouncy, energetic stage, ‘I want fuss all the time’ stage. Anyway, back to ghosts..... .