Do you believe in ghosts and he supernatural?

[Batman 80]

Anyone?

[Clayface]

No.

[Roman Legion]

Yes, but not entirely by choice... I'd rather not believe there are ghosts and spooky things out there, but the ghosts have forced me to see otherwise. =X

--Romey

[Zebi]

Yes

[Calhoun07]

Of course I do.

[Maxie Zeus]

Nes. Yo.

:D

[Oracle]

Yes, I really do. I've had a few experiences that were too strange to ignore or deny.

[Danielle]

Depends. In a way, no, I don't believe in those phoney-baloney apparitions that people see in places like Alcatraz and the Winchester Mystery House. (I have been to both of those places, and NONE of the tour guides mentioned anything about it). In a way, though, yes, I belive in...well...angels. Angels of people who die, I suppose, are ghosts. So I belive in angels. Bottom line: NO.

Mybe next week, I can start a "Do you believe in angels?" thread...

[joker]

i dont believe in ghosts, and stuff like that.

[JustJack]

Hard question. Mainly because..
a.) I'm a huge Ghostbusters fan. Through that, I've always watched those crappy Ghost specials on TV
b.)but, I'm also a Christian.

So, according to my Religious beliefs...I shouldn't. But, I really wish that there were supernatural forces like ghosts, at work.

Of course, the time I actually "saw" a ghost..I have been trying to erase that from my memory for the past 4 years...but I can't forget what I saw..... :eek: :p

[Calhoun07]

Just curious...why would being a Christian dictate you can't believe in ghots? How about the Holy Ghost?

I am not one of those fanatics who believe in that astrology and readings from beyond the grave crap, but I too have seen and experienced things that let me know that sometimes spirits of people don't go directly to God after they die if they feel they left something undone on Earth. There are just some things in this world beyond our perception on a daily basis but that doesn't mean they don't exist.

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

I would say that I'm open to the idea, and ghosts may work in weird ways. A day after my grandfather passed away, his daughters and wife (my mom, my aunts, and grandma) could smell the burning of incense in his house that night, though nobody (alive, that is) was burning anything in the house. My mother said it was a pretty strong smell. I was in the house, but fast asleep, and was still pretty young, IIRC. In the morning, there was no residue of the smell left in the house. SPOOKY!

Nothing like that happened ever again, so it was speculated that it was his way of saying "goodbye."

[Roman Legion]

Originally posted by joker
i dont believe in ghosts, and crap like that. Fine if you don't believe in ghosts, but can we avoid belittling other people's thoughts, here? Thanks.

[joker]

Originally posted by Romey
Fine if you don't believe in ghosts, but can we avoid belittling other people's thoughts, here? Thanks.

sorry, my intention wasnt to belittle any ones beliefs, to me crap is a synonym for stuff.

[Clayface]

I cringed when I saw this thread posted - I knew it was going to turn into an argument eventually. Talking about the supernatural often turns into talking about religion and it can become a heated subject. That's why I kept my comments to "No."

[joker]

Originally posted by calhoun07
Just curious...why would being a Christian dictate you can't believe in ghots? How about the Holy Ghost?


most christians dont believe the souls of the dead stick around after they die, they get the express to heaven/hell. and the holy ghost isnt a ghost inst a ghost in the literal sense. its more a feeling.......its kinda hard to explain. these are my beliefs of ghost as a christian and doesnt represent the belief of any other christians on this board(i feel like im on an infomercial). and thats enough rambling on my part

[NewMaxFranklin]

Originally posted by Clayface
I cringed when I saw this thread posted - I knew it was going to turn into an argument eventually. Talking about the supernatural often turns into talking about religion and it can become a heated subject. That's why I kept my comments to "No."

Yes :D

[RockItShipper]

As a kid, I picked up a couple books on 'real ghosts'. And I have watched a bit of tv shows on 'em... But I'm more inclined to think of them as imaginary or 'psychic residue'- it has the appearance and movements of somemthing long dead but not the sentience.

Anyone seen 'Haunted History'? I catch it from time to time. And this is where you hear stories that might not be heard as often without a ghostly connection. Like a soldier injured during Gettysburg Day 1, taken for dead and piled under corpses of other soldiers in a barn. He was found at the end of the battle, insane and near death... He didn't last long, and of course was percieved as the cause of a fire on the site 10 years later- not to mention reports of haunting that resulted in an exorcism

As for Christianity... I think the concept of ghosts interferes with the perception/doctrine that there's only 3 places to go after death: Heaven, Hell and Purgatory. Of course, if ghosts are just 'psychic residue'.. there's not really conflict with religion, just physics.

[Calhoun07]

Originally posted by joker


most christians dont believe the souls of the dead stick around after they die, they get the express to heaven/hell. and the holy ghost isnt a ghost inst a ghost in the literal sense. its more a feeling.......its kinda hard to explain. these are my beliefs of ghost as a christian and doesnt represent the belief of any other christians on this board(i feel like im on an infomercial). and thats enough rambling on my part

There is a story in the Old Testament where a fortune teller brings up a ghost of a dead person. I forget the exact reference, but if the Bible shows that they are real, that's all the more reason to believe they are around.

[Clayface]

Originally posted by calhoun07


There is a story in the Old Testament where a fortune teller brings up a ghost of a dead person. I forget the exact reference, but if the Bible shows that they are real, that's all the more reason to believe they are around.

Ok, I'm gonna end up starting a war here, but I've gotta say it. The bible isn't necesarily meant to be taken literally, and is not evidence or proof of spirits or ghosts.

[Calhoun07]

Dang, I wish I could find the exact reference. It isn't a parable or something up for much interpretation. It's a pretty straight forward story.

And I don't want to start a war either! :) I've seen level headed threads about this in the past. I think we can keep it together here.

[Calhoun07]

Well, let's just agree to disagree about what the Bible says and how it's to be read before it gets into a war. And maybe it's best to keep religion out of this all together. Politics and religion are two sore spots on the boards, clearly.

Perhaps some of you could post life experiences that made you believe the way you do? After all, the life experiences you have are stronger than any thing you will read in a book. And it may not convince any non believers, but I want to read life experiences.

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

Originally posted by calhoun07
Well, let's just agree to disagree about what the Bible says and how it's to be read before it gets into a war. And maybe it's best to keep religion out of this all together. Politics and religion are two sore spots on the boards, clearly.

Perhaps some of you could post life experiences that made you believe the way you do? After all, the life experiences you have are stronger than any thing you will read in a book. And it may not convince any non believers, but I want to read life experiences.

Well, I posted my Mom's experience, so there's a start...

[Clayface]

The problem with life experience stories is that they are rarely backed up by evidence or often times leave out important info that could explain the "unexplainable" away. Everyone and anyone can come up with a story of something that they couldn't explain, but that doesn't necessarily mean it was "supernatural".

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

If you could explain it, then it wouldn't be supernatural, so trying to prove it to be supernatural is essentially not making it supernatural anymore.

[Clayface]

Originally posted by Leaping Larry Jojo
If you could explain it, then it wouldn't be supernatural, so trying to prove it to be supernatural is essentially not making it supernatural anymore.

Exactly. Which is why I'm not a believer in the supernatural - I've seen no evidence of things that are "unexplainable". Those cases that are reported to be supernatural and toted by the supernatural believers as "real" often have little detail and no evidence.

[Roman Legion]

It's kind of like the existance of a "monster"... discover it, slap a scientific name on it, and *poof*, no more monster... Well ok, so maybe it's a little different... ;-)

I've had "encounters" on a number of occassions, when I was younger...

A good many years ago, late at night, I woke up in bed to the sound of stuff being moved on my desk, on the other side of the room. Standing there was a lady in a blue dress, with a soft blue glow all around her. At first I thought it was my mother, looking around for something. I whispered to her, she turned around for a moment, and then she went back to moving things around the desk. My mother swears she wasn't in my room that night (even if she was, why the heck would she be glowing?) A possible explanation is that I was dreaming... maybe I was. But both my siblings have later seen such a lady in blue, this being before I told them about the time I saw the same...

Another time, a few years after our dog, Bridget, had died, I saw her in the back room of our house where she used to sleep. I stared at her for a few minutes, and her glowing eyes stared back at me. I then ran screaming into the living room, and dragged my parents to see... and she was gone. I remember this one very clearly, as it seriously scared me half to death.

In more recent times, things happened that made me stop doubting once and for all. This past summer, I was working for the Venetian environmental department for a school project. Had a lovely office on the top floor of city hall, complete with a conference room, bathroom, and a deck with an amazing view of the city. The first day there, me and one of my two project partners were warned to be carefull if we went out on the deck, because someone had fallen off and died a few years ago.

Venice is a rowdy place when the sun is up, recieving more tourists in a day than many nations recieve in a year. By night, however, the city is empty. Deafeningly silent. I'd grown accustomed to walking in the city at night, after working long hours. It's actually quite safe. But in city hall, things seemed different.

Many many times, I would pull all nighters in the office to get my work done. Most people in Venice leave work at 5pm, and by 7pm, even city hall was empty, except for me. During my nights in the office, strange things would happen. Locked windows would open themselves on the floors leading up to the top... I'd close them, lock them, and they'd open back up again. From outside the windows in my office, I'd hear scratching. Very disturbing scratching. I'd also hear footsteps echoing up the first stairway below the office, and then hear them continue on the wooden stairs, then scuffling on the tiles leading to the balcony. I'd peak out the door, and find no one there. This happened all the time. Even when nothing else was going on, there would be the sensation of a presence... of being watched.

And then one night, near the end of the project, my other partner, who hadn't been around to hear the warning about deck safety, was working overnight with me in the office. She had spent plenty of all nighters there too, but this was the first time we were there together. We were hard at work when the footsteps began. We looked up and stared at each other for a few moments, searching for something to say...

"There's something about this place, isn't there?" "Kind of like it's..." "Yeah, it's as if..." Then came one of those moments when you realize that you're pondering what they're pondering. We told each other about our own experiences here at night, and I finally told her about the "deck warning". She instantly turned pale. =x

We each said, "Umm, yeah... let's get out of here." And we quickly left. Neither of us doubt that there was something or someone with us there at night.

--Romey

[redDragon]

Yes

This is kind of weird but if my grandfather gets drunk...or has a glass or two to drink his father can talk through him......and according to my mom they proved that it really was him by asking him stuff that only he would know. I saw it once several years ago so I don't really remember much 'bout it but I still believe in ghosts....that and its just been a family belief.

[Clayface]

I don't want to respond in detail to anyone's stories, because it would come across like I was trying to belittle them which I don't want to do. But, I do want to say, I've heard similar stories before, and there are other possible non-supernatural explanations for everything I've heard so far. Doesn't prove that the stories presented aren't of supernatural origin, but one should be cautious of assuming they are when there are other possible explanations.

[The Mad Hatter]

My answer? Perhaps. :p

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

Sometimes it's more fun to believe in these things. Maybe these stories have plausible, logical explanations, but I'd rather believe that they were supernatural. In my mind, that just makes the world that much cooler!

[Batman 80]

My strange experience happened to me last year. I was on my bed taking about a 10 second nap. I woke up and saw a HUGE shadowy figure standing over me. I couldn't scream or move. Being a Christian, the first thought that came to my mind was the name of Jesus. After I thinking of his name the thing disappeared and it was like I woke up for a second time. This was no dream because a few months later I found out that my father had been seeing shadowy figures walking around the house.

[Clayface]

An interesting phenomenon that's been a topic of some research is "sightings" of these types that occur when someone is sleeping. It actually happens often - its sometimes called a waking dream. You are in a state between dreaming and wakefulness where you are aware enough to have your eyes open and be observing the room around you, but yet you're still dreaming, so you're seeing dream images in the real room. You can't move because when you are in the normal dream state, your brain shuts down the motor skills of your body (if it didn't, you'd move around and act out your dreams - this is what happens with sleepwalkers). An interesting sleep disorder that occurs quite often actually.

[Calhoun07]

I once had a similar experience where I woke up one night. I just lie there, fully awake, and looking at the moon shining thru my window. But I was choking, which is why I woke up. I tried hard to breathe but couldn't, I just kept on choking. I finally was able to gasp out the name "Jesus" then the choking went away. It was no dream.

I have always been fascinated with these strange appirations that appear to people at night. My mom would tell me about when she was a little girl this man in a black hat and a black trenchcoat would always appear at the foot of her bed when she was trying to fall asleep. She would pull the covers over her head hoping he would go away, but every time she dared to look, he was still there. One night she made a decision to get up even while he was standing there, she was going to go to the bathroom. The man flew out the window and never came back.

I never heard about anything like this before, but I knew my mom wasn't lying to me. She just doesn't make stuff like this up. But I always had this interest in this man in black that appeared to my mother when she was a little girl. Who the hell was he? A stalker? A spirit? A ghost? A demon? My mom didn't really know either.

It wasn't until I was watching an episode of the new Twilight Zone one night and they had an episode about this man in black that would appear to people while they were sleeping. I tripped! Somebody else obviously must have experienced this, whether it be the writer of the episode or somebody the writer knew! This was the first time since I heard my mom's story that I heard of anybody else experiencing the same thing.

Then years later this guy I knew in Minnesota told me about his experience with this man in black one night, and when I was in college, I over heard a girl talking to another girl about this man in black that was appering in her dorm room. The stories these other people told me was just like my mom's experience. Yet I have never read about this mysterious man in black in any books on the paranormal (of course, I actually don't really seek out books about the subject) it was apparent this wasn't an isolated experience.

I will post more. I could write more but this post would be unbearably long.


I just want to add, in response to Clayface's previous post, that all the people who related these stories to me did not see this man when waking up in the middle of the night, but when they were trying to fall asleep.

[Clayface]

Originally posted by calhoun07

I just want to add, in response to Clayface's previous post, that all the people who related these stories to me did not see this man when waking up in the middle of the night, but when they were trying to fall asleep.

Actually, waking dreams can happen anytime - when you're first going to sleep, in the middle of the night after you've been asleep for a while, in the morning when you're first waking up, sometimes people even have them in the middle of the day.

"Men/women/people in black" is common theme in any culture - black has, in many cultures, always been a symbol of evil or death or decay. The fact that this would be in people's subconscious really isn't at all surprising, nor an indication of something "real" happening. Its like alien abductions and sightings - for the longest time, alien sightings described creatures of all shapes and sizes. Then, after a prominent case of an alien "sighting" that was published in papers describing the little green big-eyed men, this form of alien became the prominent description in "sightings" - it became the common symbol for aliens and this form of alien description permeated society's idea of what an alien should look like. Over the years, this has become the most common description.

[Calhoun07]

Hmmm...I sense that no matter what stories we tell here, you will explain everything away as a waking dream! You certainly would give Scully a run for her money on X Files!

[Clayface]

Originally posted by calhoun07
Hmmm...I sense that no matter what stories we tell here, you will explain everything away as a waking dream! You certainly would give Scully a run for her money on X Files!

Hehehe! ;)

No I wouldn't call everything a waking dream, but it is one very common occurence that explains a lot of "sightings" - you'd be surprised how many occur when people are asleep or near sleep.

But there are other explanations as well. For example, often people claim they knew there was a ghost in the room because of a feeling of "an evil presence" or "someone watching them". Interestingly enough, this can very easily be reproduced in a lab environment. There were a series of experiments done in recent years that showed up in many scientific journals and publications that did just this. In fact, I don't know if anyone's a regular watcher of the Scientific American TV show that's hosted by Alan Alda, but they showed the experiment there as well. The brain can be easily tricked into seeing/hearing/feeling things that aren't really there.

In this set of experiments, the researchers used a device that looked like a bicycle helmet, which had a number of electrodes on the inside. The subject would place this helmet on their head, and sit in a dark room alone. The researcher could send out electromagnetic signals from these electrodes which would stimulate different parts of the subjects' brains. The research found that by stimultaing certain areas,researchers could make an individual believe there was someone in the room with them, even when there wasn't. They could also make that presence seem more "evil" by adjusting the signal. They could also make people see apparations and "feel" a cold clammy hand fall onto their shoulder. In some cases, the subjects actually got so freaked out that they jumped up, screamed, and even ran from the room.

Now, considering that the Earth is bathed in constanly changing electromagnetic fields, is very easy to think that maybe just by standing in a location with a certain level field, one could suddenly feel as though they were being watched, or even being touched when in fact there's nothing there.

I'm not saying that these are the absolute definite answers to what people have seen and felt, but it sure gives you food for thought. Just throwing the ideas out there as an alternative for people to consider.

[Colin]

I do believe that there are others walking this earth with us...

While I've never actually seen a ghost, I've felt a presence a few times before... one of the occurrences I remember most is this one:

One night, my sophomore year of High School, it was Drum Major tryouts, a bunch of us were sitting outside the cafeteria, waiting to be called in to try out... so we got to talking... and we had been talking about relatives who had passed away... one of the girls started talking about supernatural things with regards to her passed relatives...

That night, when I had gone to bed... I couldn't help but feel like my grandfather, who had been dead for years, was there that night, watching over me for some reason... I never physically saw him, but I did feel his presence... it did comfort me, somewhat... but it also freaked me out...


...and I have a feeling Clayface is going to say that I felt his presence because of my memory being jogged of him earlier that night, in combination with the fact that we had been discussing supernatural occurrences... but, I honestly have this feeling that it is something much more than that....

[Calhoun07]

You don't believe in Santa either, do you? :D

Well, I still believe in ghosts, or at least the presence of spirits that we cannot see. I've seen physical things that are just too strange to explain away as a waking dream or the brain being tricked.

[Clayface]

Originally posted by calhoun07
You don't believe in Santa either, do you? :D


Wait, what do you mean? Are you telling me Santa isn't real???? Who's going to bring me my Christmas presents this year???? Agh!

[Roman Legion]

I'm actually well aware of such research and experiments as those you've cited, myself. But they still fail to explain a lot of other things that "coincidentally" go hand in hand with these ghost encounters. The odds of such fine tuned magnetic fields occuring outside the lab and effecting more than one person in the same way, in addition to other observations... seems pretty darn remote.

Far more frequently than "ghost" occurances, I've had experiences of "alien abduction" quite often. (Wait, don't run out on me yet!) But the "facts" of the experiences just don't add up, and taking other things about them into account, there's no doubt that these things were nothing more than dreams stirred up by exactly the sort of media and cultural influence you've mentioned. That, and the time the aliens were having a picnic in the park just didn't seem right. =X

But the ghost encounters I've had were completely different situations entirely...

--Romey

[Clayface]

Originally posted by Romey
I'm actually well aware of such research and experiments as those you've cited, myself. But they still fail to explain a lot of other things that "coincidentally" go hand in hand with these ghost encounters. The odds of such fine tuned magnetic fields occuring outside the lab and effecting more than one person in the same way, in addition to other observations... seems pretty darn remote.


Actually, that's one of the things that really bugs me about the "serious" ghost hunters - they play up this fact that they find high magnetic fields as some big discovery - like its unsual. It isn't - concentrations of magnetic fields vary greatly all over the surface of this planet, and any other planet for that matter.

The fields don't have to be "fine tuned" in order to have the effect shown in the labs - they use localized fields in the labs to show that the experiments are controlled and to narrow down which specific areas of the brain, when stimulated, cause which effect. However, by applying a general magnetic field over the entire brain one can still trigger that specific area of the brain - you don't need "fine tuned" fields, as you put it, to cause the effect. And to affect many people, all you need it a large area where this magentic field occurs - and that's very common in nature.

[Roman Legion]

Still doesn't explain the other physical effects, though... I'd be concerned enough with my Venice encounter without the "presence" sensation... which was oddly constant.

--Romey

[Clayface]

Originally posted by Romey
Still doesn't explain the other physical effects, though...

True, and I don't know that I necessarily have enough info to explain it - that's the problem with these types of stories - rarely is there enough info to be able to fully prove or disprove it. (Though in true scientific fashion, the burden of proof would fall to you to prove that this occured. ;))

But, one thing I can suggest right off the bat is - are you sure they just weren't screwing with you? I did this exact same thing to a friend of mine. He came into town for a visit, and I told him a ghost story about the building the first night he was there. And then later I did things like open windows, make sounds throughout the place, etc. He swore up and down for months that the place was truely haunted until me and my friend who helped me told him the truth of the matter. Hehehe - we're evil. :D

And either way, the experiments done do show that these sorts of things (apparitions, feelings of presences, etc) can be reproduced using known principles and non-paranormal means - which means there's real proof that it could be non-paranormal, and really no proof so far that it is paranormal. Now the question becomes, which is more likely? I tend to think that the known scientific concepts and means would be more likely than the paranormal explanation. One can watch an apple fall to the ground and explain it by saying its a ghost or by saying its gravity. My money would be on gravity, as its already been shown to have that effect on things. ;)

[Roman Legion]

Most definitely sure this wasn't the act of pranksters... no one with access to the building knew we were there at night, nor would they have known what nights to find us. The design of the building, rooms and halls, really would work against anyone attempting such a thing, anyway. We could always watch them on the security systems, too. ;-)


One can watch an apple fall to the ground and explain it by saying its a ghost or by saying its gravity. My money would be on gravity, as its already been shown to have that effect on things.Gravity is a hallucination, darnit! Caused by fluctuations in the magnetic field... ;-)

Romey
--And if anyone asks, computers are run by magic, and programmers are actually voodoo masters who cast spells to make things work. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

[Clayface]

LOL!

[Roman Legion]

If I were you, I'd be more concerned with whether or not reality is real... the very same experiments you mention may bring that into severe question in the near future. And if they conclude what I think they conclude, things more bizzare than the supernatural may hold true... but that's for another thread. ;-)

Romey
--Who believes in ghosts for far stranger reasons, still...

[Failure]

Originally posted by Romey
If I were you, I'd be more concerned with whether or not reality is real... the very same experiments you mention may bring that into severe question in the near future. And if they conclude what I think they conclude, things more bizzare than the supernatural may hold true... but that's for another thread. ;-)

Romey
--Who believes in ghosts for far stranger reasons, still...

Ah geez, my interest is very piqued! What do you think they will conclude? :eek:

[Clayface]

*Plays the Twilight Zone music*

[Roman Legion]

The current trend in the study of consciousness and the persuit of artificial intelligence is so far off direction, it's not funny... They're missing an obvious fact that's right under their noses. If it's true, everyone's personal concept of reality is in for a twist. (Hint: "Indirect Perception")

After that, it's only one more step from factoring in known principles of quantum mechanics, and realizing that consciousness isn't anchored down to a single external reality...

Sounds like science fiction, but I don't think it's far off.

Romey
--For the sake of being cryptic, "Hidden truth in Robert Motherwell". Being cryptic makes me giddy. ;-)

[DR. BELCH]

--many of you buy into the old aporism "Trust...but verify!".

I believe in the possibility of spirits--I've had a couple of dogs who behaved eerily like previous dogs I'd had, even down to one's odd way of sitting with his leg out (he'd fractured it as a pup), and I'd sometimes thought their spirits had possessed the whelps en utero--but I won't wholly believe until a ghost comes to me directly and says "Howdy".

[Failure]

Originally posted by Romey
The current trend in the study of consciousness and the persuit of artificial intelligence is so far off direction, it's not funny... They're missing an obvious fact that's right under their noses. If it's true, everyone's personal concept of reality is in for a twist. (Hint: "Indirect Perception")

After that, it's only one more step from factoring in known principles of quantum mechanics, and realizing that consciousness isn't anchored down to a single external reality...

Sounds like science fiction, but I don't think it's far off.

Romey
--For the sake of being cryptic, "Hidden truth in Robert Motherwell". Being cryptic makes me giddy. ;-)

Sounds very interesting, although I'm a bit confused. Any good suggested reading on this?

[Bird Boy]

nope. I don't.

-BB

[Danielle]

Originally posted by DR. BELCH
--many of you buy into the old aporism "Trust...but verify!".

I believe in the possibility of spirits--I've had a couple of dogs who behaved eerily like previous dogs I'd had, even down to one's odd way of sitting with his leg out (he'd fractured it as a pup), and I'd sometimes thought their spirits had possessed the whelps en utero--but I won't wholly believe until a ghost comes to me directly and says "Howdy".


Liiiiiiiiiike that one right behind you just did? :eek: Elijah the Prophet coming on Passover is pretty much the closest to ghosts that I belive (see previous post in order to understand that I'm not blasphemising anyone or anything)

By the way, this was quite a long way back in the thread, but the story in the Old Testament about the fortune teller? There's one story in Prophets (which is not the Old Testament) about King Saul asking a fortune teller/witch from Ain Dor to bring up the "spirit" of Samuel the Prophet. Is that what you meant?

[Calhoun07]

Yeah, that's the one I meant.

Ok, time for more true life stories from me! When I was little, my parents bought a house my mom kept on insisting was haunted. There weren't strange things every night, but there were enough to make us wonder.

One of the most memorable events that we associated with some kind of haunting was one night I woke up and I was on the floor. I looked up and my dresser had fallen over and the top half was lying on my bed. I wasn't a kid who fell out of bed when he was little, and that dresser was sturdy as any other solid piece of furniture. It was two dressers stacked on top of each other, but it was still sturdy. I had used that dresser all my life, stacked one on the other, and it never was wobbly or ever tipped over again. I crawled out from under the dresser, which was just inches from me, and woke up my mom and sister (my dad had left us before any of this happened) and they were just as freaked out as I was. I clearly remember my mom commenting to my sister that if I had been in bed that I would have been killed.

It could have been an earthquake, I suppose. Actually, we tried to look for a logical explanation like that. After all, there is a fault line running thru the mid west that from time to time would make minor tremors that I could feel but you'd almost have to be doing nothing else but lying still to really notice them. And if I was sleep walking and caused the dressers to fall....well, I woke up under them, and if I had some how pulled them down, I doubt I would have been lying near the bed as to avoid being hit by them. I felt at the time, and still do feel as well as my mom and sister feel, that something caused the dresser to fall, something we can't quite explain, and perhaps it was my guardian angel that protected me.

There were a couple other instances of physical evidence of something in this house that was just too wierd. There was a can at the top of the basement stairs that one day just fell down the stairs but did not hit one single stair on the way down. It just tipped over and went down without hitting anything until it hit the floor at the bottom. We had a bird that was constantly sick in the house that got well after we moved. Another time my mom and her sister were using a oujia board and my aunt asked if there were evil spirits in the house. It went to YES and my aunt asked the spirits to proove it. That very instant, a door slammed shut (and it wasn't anybody else in the house, unless the dogs developed a sense of understanding full English and slammed the door shut! All of us were around that board at that time) and my aunt went flying down the stairs! I think she may have wet her self too!

I know those aren't your classic haunting type stories, but those strange things only happened while we were living there, not in any place before or since. When my mom did some reasearch on the history of that house, she discovered that somebody had been murdered there in the living room. So you can take that for whatever it's worth, but I will always say I believe in ghosts because I lived in that house. That house, btw, wound up burning down shortly after my mom sold it to our uncle. It burned down the ground, and all that remained was the chimney. It was started when burning ashes fell on some rags when my uncle was putting wood into the furnace, so we never really thought anything wierd about that, but when my uncle sold the property some time later and the new owners began to put a house where the old one was, we got a call from one of our old neighbors. The barn burned down the day they started to put the new house up. I know it could be one of those things, but it's also quite an interesting coda to such a bizzare house.

On a side note, there is something that happened to me recently that I put on the same level as that dresser story. This was after I got let go from a job, and I had to drive for an interview in an unfamilar part of the city. I was driving in an area I was not quite familar with, so I am having to keep an eye on the signs and the stop lights and watch traffic quite closely. I get to an intersection that is more like an X rather than a +, and I look up and I see a green light. I keep going, but suddenly I realize that green light I saw was for the traffic coming from the street the road interscted with! I see cars pull ahead of me, I slam on my brakes, and literallly avoid hitting a car by mere milimeters. It was the scariest moment of my life.

So how is this story bizzare? Well, I recalled that morning while I was shaving with an electric razor, the cord fell out of the end of the razor. No biggie, that has happened before. I just plugged it back in. Then moments later, the cord just comes out of the wall. Now that NEVER has happened before. The cord is long enough that there is slack, so there is no pulling on the cord while I shave that would cause it to fall out of the wall. It falling out of the shaver? Yeah, well, that part does get loose from time to time, but it never has just come unplugged from the wall. I believe to this day that the same guardian angel that protected me as a child was protecting me there, adding literally seconds to my time of getting ready as to avoid me getting into a fatal car accident. And I know if I had left my apartment even just a few seconds later, that car I nearly hit would have plowed into me from the passengers side and I could be dead or seriously injured.

[Batman 80]

Wow Calhoun those are some pretty close calls. It looks somebody upstairs is watching out for you. My dad when he was younger also had an incident with a Ouija board so I know your telling the truth. Just two days ago my younger brother was home by self downstairs in the garage. He said he heard footsteps upstairs and thought me and my family had come home. He went upstairs and no one was there. We're still trying to figure out what was going on.

[optimal321]

No, i'm not much of a believer, myself. Not that i especially want to be proven wrong :rolleyes: