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View Full Version : Do you believe in the "paranormal"?



TinkerbellT421
02-15-2012, 11:31 AM
Ok, I know odd topic, lol. I was just curious who out there believes in unnatural phenomenons, ghosts, paranormal activity, etc. ? Saw a news cast this morning on our local news station that SyFy is airing an episode of Ghost Hunters tonight which takes place in the Providence City Hall which is believed to be haunted according to some town workers.
Rhode Island is plagued with the beliefs of the paranormal. Hundreds of old buildings, mansions, schools, "Witches Road", yes we have an entire road that is allegedly haunted, it's actually pretty creepy, etc. Got me thinking who else believes in these things, have you ever experienced anything that sent chills down your spine? Were you ever a non-believer until something made you believe? I have my own story, long one at that, so maybe I will share later. But Ghost Hunters, I think that's the show, that is by two guys that live in Rhode Island and well, were actually some local plumbers before they started "Ghost hunting". There's also a couple of phone apps that some friends and I downloaded just for giggles, that pretty much ended up creeping us out so much that we had to stop lol. Anyone have any stories? I thought this would be a fun interesting topic.

Claudielou
02-15-2012, 11:58 AM
I watch all the shows, don't necessarily believe. I just think they are interesting most of the time.

BrerGnat
02-15-2012, 12:23 PM
No. I think if ghosts, etc. existed, people would see them a LOT more. In my opinion, for the most part, if I (and a majority of people) have never seen it, and there is a lack of actual hard proof that it does exist, it doesn't exist.

Kind of like Bigfoot.

And, to be frank, I don't believe much of what I see on t.v. It's way too easy to "fake" that kind of stuff for television.

Dulcee
02-15-2012, 12:34 PM
I've had one experience that I can't explain with "natural" explanations. Before that I was a cut and dry doesn't exist.

I think there is some weight to supernatural ideas, to many people report too many things for it all to be lies. What they are, why they occur, why some see or feel things that others don't, I think science has just yet to figure it out.

BrerGnat
02-15-2012, 12:41 PM
I forgot to say, I am not close minded to the idea, though. If I, personally, have an experience, that will be enough for me to become a believer. For now, though, nothing to report. :)

forever a child
02-15-2012, 12:58 PM
I was going to answer "No" but since I believe that Jesus rose from the dead, I guess I will have to change my answer to "Yes"

But I don't believe in paranormal in the manner in which you described it at least.

DVC2004
02-15-2012, 01:01 PM
I have to say that I have always been interested in ghosts. I used to watch Ghost Hunters alot, and I love watching Celebrity Ghost Stories on A&E.

My thoughts though have changed over the years. Something happend once when I was younger, but now that I am older I have become skeptical. I still enjoy and appreciate stories, but I am unsure at this point of my own beliefs in ghosts. I don't know! I would love to see one. I am open minded.

At the same time, probably contributing to my current skepticism, my father died when I was 4. I barely knew him, and I remember him but I don't hve alot of memories as you can imagine being 4. I haven't "seen" him or felt his presence, or dreamed about him even in the 31 years that have passed. So I just don't know.

MississippiDisneyFreak
02-15-2012, 01:33 PM
Not a big believer usually but my cousin has a house built in the early-mid 1800s in the Garden District in New Orleans, LA. It was actually featured on the Animal Planets a Haunting in an episode called House of the Rising Dead. A cult called the Cult of the Rising Dead was living in the house before she bought and renovated it, plus it originally had slave quarters in the home which she made into apartments for her kids. When they were renovating they found human bones under the floor in the kitchen area. The bones were really old so the coroner didn't really seem bothered. Plus the cult did animal sacrifices in the house. It is legal to do animal sacrifices in New Orleans as long as you consume the animal afterwards.

My cousins have had a few things happen in the house and her dogs often bark at things that aren't there. They also have recordings saying different things. One voice can be heard saying, this is my house. We spent the night several times and only had one instance where something unusual happened. There is a guest bedroom on the third floor with a king sized bed and we were sleeping there. In the middle of the night I felt a dog walking up the middle of the bed but when I rolled over nothing was there. The next morning my mom was telling us that she woke up in the middle of the night because it felt like a dog walking up the middle of the bed but there wasn't one there, so it wasn't just me. Strangely enough, even though it was strange I didn't feel threatened or scared.

I also work in a state building that was a hospital originally and it is supposed to be haunted. It is listed under 100 haunted places in US/Mississippi.

NJGIRL
02-15-2012, 02:08 PM
No, I don't believe. With ALL of the shows that are on TV now and all of the "claims" of ghosts by now we should have tons of footage. I take those shows as entertainment, just like the conspiracy shows.

Ian
02-15-2012, 03:30 PM
You know I don't really know the answer to this ... I've never seen a ghost or anything I'm willing to classify as "paranormal", but I have seen/heard some odd things in my life that make me wonder.

One thing I can tell you for 100% certain ... I had a friend growing up who's mother had some sort of precognitive ability. I witnessed it firsthand too many times not to believe in it. The day before the Challenger disaster I've never seen anyone look as pale and upset as she did. She kept saying all day long that she knew something horrible was about to happen and late in the day she looked me square in the eye and said, "Ian ... I just know something bad is going to happen in the sky tomorrow. Something terrible." I was thinking plane crash when she said it, but that next day I knew exactly what she had been worried about.

And there were more instances just like this one, too. It wasn't isolated. She told me about three days before I suffered a very serious broken leg that I needed to be careful because she had a bad feeling that I was going to be badly injured. Creepy!!

But ghosts and all that? I don't think so. I'm fairly certain that if it was truly possible for the spirits of our loved ones to visit the "real" world they'd all do it all the time. Who wouldn't want to come back and visit their family???

Also, read up on all those shows you guys are talking about. A lot of them, when you dig farther, turn out to be "mockumentaries" where they'll admit in the fine print that the situations are (at best) "re-enactments" of actual events. I.E. they brought someone's ghost story to life.

DisneyDog
02-15-2012, 05:24 PM
All I know is that, on several occasions after my dog passed away, I felt an icy cold breeze by my feet when I was drying my hair. Now, I had very hot air coming out of the hairdryer, so the cold air was very noticeable. It was very strange. My dog used to walk around my ankles when I was drying my hair. I am convinced it was him.

Melanie
02-15-2012, 05:39 PM
I forgot to say, I am not close minded to the idea, though. If I, personally, have an experience, that will be enough for me to become a believer. For now, though, nothing to report. :)

:ditto:

bleukarma
02-15-2012, 06:45 PM
I watch Ghost Hunters and have actually met the guys before, but it's the only paranormal show I watch. I like how they try to debunk the claims and point out to the people that what they are experiencing could actually be something explainable. The other shows look too fake to me.

I do believe in ghost but I am VERY skeptical. A ghost pretty much has to walk up and shake my hand before I will believe one is around. If fact all of my family and friends swear that the house I grew up in was haunted and I don't think so, I can explain away anything weird.

There have been some places that I get a strange feeling and refuse to walk in though (none of them in the house I grew up in.) One is a room at the "haunted hotel" that the Ghost Hunters threw an event and let us "ghost hunt" on a closed section of the hotel. It was basically a bunch of people walking around in the dark. I didn't think anybody would find anything, but there was one room that I just couldn't walk by it. I got really scared, all the hair stood up on the back of my neck, and I couldn't bring myself to walk by that certain room. I don't know what that is about, but I've had that feeling before in different buildings, mostly old ones.

TinkerbellT421
02-15-2012, 10:44 PM
I agree with most of you regarding the shows. They always seem so staged. I've tried watching a few, but just couldn't get myself through them. I have been to the old Fort Adams which allegedly plagued by ghosts of dead soldiers. Granted some freaky sounds and weird things happen when you are there at night, but it's so hard to stay there at night being so creepy, no light anywhere unless you have a flash light. I have searched the typical grace site stories of Emily Brown or whatever her name is over here, nothing special happened. But I will say "Witches Road" is by far WICKED CREEPY! There is literally a HUGE tree that grows out of the middle of the road, unfortunately many accidents have happened there on account of it. There are some creepy stories that have caused the accidents, that if you drive around the tree ten times that a ghost girl pops up in front of you, unfortunately anyone that has "tried" that, has been in crippling or deadly accidents on account of trying it. Google it, it's creepy looking tree. Many old family grace yards from the 1800's line the road. Just creepy. Been there at night, strange noises, etc.

I was never a believer until my uncle bought a house in Chapachet, RI. One of the most "haunted" areas of RI....Most homes and building are owned by the Historical Society. Well my uncle bought that house and that's when I had my worst fears come true. And trust me, my uncle was the most critical believers or anything of the sort. Until one faithful night, when he literally packed up his stuff and left and never went back. And it didn't help that he had a friend come down to help him "fix up the house" well said friend is a fire fighter, ex cop, 7 feet tall and about 400 lbs....let's say he literally screamed like a girl, ran out of the house jumped in his truck and squealed and screamed leaving the driveway. Very strange things happened there. The first time I came in the house, it was so old, that the inside had those old wooden support beams you could see across the ceilings, old well in the middle of the kitchen/dinning area, etc...let's just say I saw the ghost cat, yes a ghost cat, I ran out of the house and said I will NEVER EVER come back here. My uncle didn't believe me until he experienced it himself. Come to find out the house was owned by a man that had three "spinster" sisters, and a cat, not a black cat, but a cat. Per the "spirit" talkers he called out of New York, they explained that "evil ghosts" can make "accidents" happen, but cannot harm you directly, but ghost animals, if they are evil, can actually harm you directly, i.e. scratch you, etc. The ghost stories, are so long and intricate and strange if you didn't see it yourself everyone would just think I'm weird. So I won't bore anyone with the details lol.

PirateLover
02-15-2012, 11:14 PM
I do believe in "spirits." I think that most souls pass on, but some, for various reasons, cannot let go. I often think of this notion as it is portrayed in "A Christmas Carol." The lost souls wander the earth, yet are never seen by most. I have never seen a full figured ghost, but I've had a few eerie, unexplainable things occur, and I've seen "shadows." I also have quite a few friends who have experienced similar things. It's funny, because you do find that people kind of walk on eggshells around the subject until they find out you are a believer, because many people hear these stories and think you are crazy. But I can say that I know people from many walks of life that have had supernatural experiences, and none of them are crazy. Well, maybe one of them ;). I do believe that there is a 6th sense that some people can tap into that allows them to communicate with spirits. :ghost:

TinkerbellT421
02-16-2012, 08:30 AM
It's funny, because you do find that people kind of walk on eggshells around the subject until they find out you are a believer, because many people hear these stories and think you are crazy. But I can say that I know people from many walks of life that have had supernatural experiences, and none of them are crazy. Well, maybe one of them ;). I do believe that there is a 6th sense that some people can tap into that allows them to communicate with spirits. :ghost:

Exazctly!! I always wonder if people will just walk away mumbling going "She belongs in the nut house" lol. I once heard that typically children and animals are the ones to be able to see "spirits" because of the innocence. I have researched it for a school project years ago and from what I remember the innocence of children and animals allow them to "communicate" with spirits because there is this open part of the brain that most adults close off. I forget the actual terminology but that was the jist of it.

buzznwoodysmom
02-16-2012, 11:55 AM
At the risk of sounding like a crazy person, I do believe to an extent. The first year we were living in our house I saw a little boy running in our house twice. Now our house is only 7 years old, about 3 years old when we moved in so it's not an old house or anything.

A few months after we moved in both of my boys were in their bedrooms and I saw what I thought was my youngest run through our dining room. I called to him because he was supposed to be cleaning his room and getting ready for bed. When he didn't answer I got up and called for him again, all the while looking towards the door to the dining room. When I got up both of the boys came from their bedrooms to see who I was talking to. I thought maybe one of the neighborhood kids was here. We all went into the dining room to find no one there.

Then a few months later. I had youngest DS in my bathtub and was in his room getting his PJs. My oldest DS was on the computer in the breakfast room. From the computer you can see into my bedroom and bathroom straight to the tub. When I was coming from DS's bedroom I saw him running from our half bath, through the foyer, into the dining room. I started fussing because I thought he was running through the house wet, since when I left him he was already in the tub. My oldest DS was like "who are you talking to". When I told him I saw Landon run through the house he said "no, Landon is still in the tub, never got out". Again I went into the dining room and there was no one.

I am the only person who saw this. However, before my "sightings" my oldest son says he saw someone or something going through our foyer into the dining room while he was watching TV in the living room. He was hysterical and wouldn't sleep in his room for weeks because of it. This was like the first month we were living here, and it took over a year for him to feel comfortable in our house because of this. He didn't say it looked like a little boy, just that it looked like a person, but he wasn't exactly sure.

The weird thing is this all took place in the same part of our house. And if you line up the 1/2 bath, foyer, dining room, they all make a straight line. Someone once told me that ghosts can get stuck in one spot, like if the little boy was running and got struck and killed by a car, perhaps he is still running in the location where he was killed. Do I believe all this??? Not completely, but it does make me stop and think.

I promise I am not a crazy person! LOL. I typically think there has to be some sort of logical explination for these types of things, and perhaps there is in my case, but I've yet to figure it out.

Mickey'sGirl
02-16-2012, 12:55 PM
I feel a bit silly writing this. I don't know about ghosts, but I do believe in the paranormal. I think that perhaps "spirits" continue to roam for another person's unfinished business. I think my Mom contacted me because I needed her to ... or maybe I'm nuts and that's just what I really want to believe. ;)

My dear Mother died after a horrible illness 3 1/2 years ago. I loved her more than anything, and miss her terribly. My father and I have a very different relationship, and I know that I blame him for a lot of things and judge him for other things, and really don't cut him a lot of slack. This has caused me an incredible amount of stress and worry and guilt. About 6 or 8 months ago I had a dream about my Mom. She was lying in the hospital bed, but it was in a room at my house, and I went in to turn off the light, and she opened her eyes and said to me "Jenn, it's all right. You don't need to come back and turn it on again. Everything is all right now." About a week later I had another dream, where my Mom picked me up to drive me to work (My Mom was completely disabled and had not driven in many many years, and I have not lived at home for 20 years). She also spoke to me in this dream and told me things would be ok and I could do it on my own.

Both of these dreams were vivid, but neither one made me sad (though I am a bit teary as I write about them here) .... it was lovely to see her and hear her voice again, and honestly I woke up with a smile on my face. I have a friend who told me it was my Mom speaking to me to let me know she is still with me and will be there when I need her.

MNNHFLTX
02-16-2012, 05:46 PM
As a nurse who dealt with death and dying, especially on an oncology unit many years ago, I have seen too many amazing and mysterious things to not believe that there are things going on around us that are beyond our understanding. So my mind is open to the possibilities. As far as ghosts, I have a mixture of skepticism and belief. Last summer my family and I stayed at a supposedly haunted B&B in Gettysburg where I experienced a very vivid and disturbing dream regarding a ghost that supposedly haunted the room we stayed in, but that could have been the power of suggestion. However, my husband, son and I did all hear strange gunshot sounds reverberating during the night, something other guests also confirmed the next morning. Seems the B&B sits on the historical battlefield and these "residual audio events" happen frequently and with no apparent explanation. So it makes you wonder.

I do watch Ghost Hunters, but don't enjoy as much as I used to. IMO, they've stopped trying to debunk supposed hauntings and seem to want only to confirm that they exist. So I have grown skeptical about some of the results that they come up with.

TheDuckRocks
02-17-2012, 11:31 AM
4 months ago I would have said I didn't really believe in paranormal activity, but an experience I had in a B&B in St. Augustine, FL has sort of changed my mind.
We were returning from WDW with my sister and her husband and where spending extra time on a road trip to visit areas we had never been to before. We spent Oct. 30 and 31 at the St. Francis Inn. After going to bed that evening I was awakened every 45 minutes or so all night long. I'm usually a sound sleeper and I would start completely awake with a feeling of unease and sadness, would check my husband to see if he was breathing, listen for any strange sounds that would have made me wake up and check that everything was OK in the room. I would go to the bathroom get a drink of water and go back to sleep, to only have the same thing go on all night long. When I finally got up in the morning I was edgy and near tears and felt it was from not getting a good sleep. When I went into the bathroom to shower and took off my nightgown my whole tummy area was covered in what looked like blood. I called for my husband to come in and see what had happened and why I was bleeding. No cuts or punctures at all, no blood in the bed nor on my nightgown. Still not at all thinking "ghost"! By that time I was full out crying and told my hubby I was going to tell the B&B people we would be leaving early and getting another hotel.
When I went to the lobby the woman on the desk after hearing that very quickly told me they would move us to another room in their second building across the street. Explained to my sister what was going on and went about our business for the day. One of the things we had planned was a Holloween Ghost Train tour. As we were waiting for the train my sister got talking to a young woman and mentioned my discomfort from the night before and she said that our B&B was known for "ghosts" and said we should look it up. Ironically a fellow B&B guest had heard of my experience and was waiting for us when we got back to the B&B with a book about "ghosts" around the country that had a chapter on the St. Francis Inn. According to it the room we stayed in was the path way between 2 other rooms that a pair of lovers, who had both died there, used to go in search of one another. And the woman at the desk was quoted in the book about the fact that they never tell people bout their "ghosts" and they change rooms for people that "feel" any unusual discomfort in staying in certain rooms.
Do I now believe in "ghosts"? I know for sure I don't know any more. Am I crazy? Could be, but I don't think it is because of the "ghost" issue. Just sayin'.

Dulcee
02-17-2012, 12:47 PM
Last summer my family and I stayed at a supposedly haunted B&B in Gettysburg

I went to Gettysburg College for my undergrad education. I can tell you that living in a dorm that predated the battle, and spending far too much time on the battlefields after dark, that the feeling of uneasiness or being watched is almost commonplace in some areas.

My one experience that I can't label as just feeling off or watched was also in Gettysburg. My parents were visiting me for the weekend and we had decided to take a walking history tour one evening. We had walked a large portion of the town before ending at seminary ridge, a prominent area of town well connected to the battle.

We were standing in front of one of the buildings, at this point it was dark, the sun completely down. As the tour started up again I had hung back slightly reading one of the stands. My mother was just a few steps ahead waiting for me. I looked up and for lack of any other description watched a shadow walk from one side of the brick building to the other. It was undoubtedly the shadow of a person. I looked behind me, looking for said person and no one was there. At which point I also noticed there were no lights to cast a shadow. I kept mute. It seemed utterly ridiculous. I'm a scientist, I don't deal well with the unexplainable.

It wasn't until two years later, after I had graduated from college that I overheard my mother telling a friend, my story, the exact shadow. We had never told each other that we had seen the same thing. Both of us thought it was impossible. She thought I'd laugh at her as I'm very straight edged with most things.

Its the one experience to this day that makes me think the paranormal is just something we haven't quite figured out yet.

darthmacho
02-17-2012, 02:53 PM
I believe it's possible. If you think about how big the universe is, and how complex it can be, I don't think at this stage we can discount it. However, until I experience it convincingly, for the most part I will remain skeptical.

My "paranormal" meter is as follows:

Aliens: Probable
Ghosts: Possible
Bigfoot: I hope so
The Devil: Unlikely
God: If you can hear me, I could use a little more $$ for this year's WDW trip! (Thanks!)

TheVBs
02-17-2012, 03:07 PM
First I want to say thanks to all of you for sharing your stories! I've never had an experience (and would like to keep it that way!), but am fascinated by hearing about things others have experienced.

As far as whether or not ghosts are real.. I just don't know. Certainly people have had these experiences throughout history, all kinds of people from all walks of life. That makes you think. Definitely you could discount a fair chunk of them as explainable in some other way, or as the power of suggestion. But I think people are genuinely having unexplained experiences.

PAYROLL PRINCESS
02-17-2012, 11:21 PM
Ever since I bought my house almost 16 years ago, I occasionally will hear foot steps coming down the (carpeted) hallway. I have an alarm system with a motion detector and the alarm will not be going off.

Then one morning, I got up and went onto the screened in breezeway, between the house and garage, looked out the back door and there is a very clear image of a skeletal outline in the glass on the door leading to the back yard. I had my camera right in the kitchen so I grabbed it and got a couple of very good pictures. You can clearly see the eye sockets, the mouth and what appears to be an arm and hand reaching for the door handle. I really wish I knew how to post the picture here. One of the women I work with freaked when I showed her the pictures and said she'd sell the house and move. I pointed out that the ghost and I have managed to co-exist all these years and it hasn't done anything to harm me so I wasn't too worried.

My nephew wouldn't go into my kitchen alone for the longest time either. We don't talk about my ghost in front of them but then one day the now 8 year old started talking about the ghost in my house. I asked him why he thought there was a ghost and he said because he's seen it. I think he was around 5 then. And his little brother wouldn't go into the kitchen alone either. They were both kind of freaked out about it so I started making jokes and yelling at the ghost to go do the laundry or mow the lawn or do something to make themselves useful. That made the kids laugh so they weren't as scared.

They haven't mentioned it lately so maybe it's on vacation somewhere for the winter. Of course, now that I've said something, the unexplained will start happening again.

garymacd
02-23-2012, 02:09 PM
We live very close to a battlefield from the War of 1812 and my wife and daughters have experienced some weird things. Shortly after we bought the house my wife awoke in the middle of the night to see two "beings" standing at the foot of the bed. We knew it wasn't any of the owners since we bought the house from the original owners and they were still alive.

A while later, our oldest daughter saw a young girl standing at the foot of her bed and has seen her walking through the upstairs hallway. The owners didn't have a daughter.

Our youngest daughter shares her room with a young American foot soldier from that battle who appears to be told to stand guard until relieved. It appears his relief never came, and with the wide ranging battle in the area, he may have died at his post. People are always finding different buttons, buckles, arrowheads, etc in the area. We even have a possible name for him. For the most part he seems innocuous and even protective of her, but every once in a while he gets a little frisky.

A friend of my wife's stayed in our youngest daughter's room once and had a dream of a young soldier sitting by a fire all alone playing a penny flute. He offered her oatcakes. She didn't know the history of the room or area.

All three also state they have experienced my father-in-law playing with their hair. He lived with us for the last 6 months of his life.

I, on the other hand, have never experienced anything.

Scar
02-23-2012, 02:23 PM
As a Civil War reenactor, I have slept on a bunch of different battlefields multiple times each. Set up my tent for the weekend in spots where I am 100% sure many soilders died. Never seen, heard, felt, or sensed anything.

Now does that mean I discount ghosts? No, not really.

Marker
02-23-2012, 03:31 PM
I absolutely believe there is something beyond tangible understanding.

I always held on to the potential of possibility since I was young.

We have had far too many unexplainable occurances here in the house to not at least maintain some level of possibility.

Our 3 kids all started out in the same room of our house. All three, when were little, made comments about there being "someone" in the room. That room is now my home office, and sometimes bedroom (thanks to my amazing ability to snore). There have been object move with no explanation, coming off a hook and landing in the middle of the room. There is a LazyBoy rocker recliner that is a bit squeaky, it has been heard squeaking, as though someone was sitting down, or standing up, when the door is closed and animals are all accounted for. I have on 2 occasions been woken up by the feel of someone tapping on my shoulder (the bed is a loft bed, 5 ft off the ground, even if someone were playing a trick on me, there's nobody in the house that could reach that high).

Elsewhere in the house, things have moved, doors have locked, dogs and cats will look at things no one else sees, often the dogs bark, and the cats run away.

Strangest one was 2 fresh baked cookies disappearing from the counter. Not that surprising you might say, perhaps not. But none of the 3 of us took them, animals were outside except 1 dog. But the cookies that disappeared were from the back of the counter, in the middle of the row. If it had been the dog, it would have been the front ones, and there would have been a mess. Instead, no mess, just 2 missing cookies.

Stuff happens often enough we just look at each other with a knowing grin and a shrug.

TinkerbellT421
02-23-2012, 07:31 PM
I am kinda glad I started this thread. I am enjoying reading everyone's experiences and opinions!! Thanks for sharing them all. I start think that I might not be as crazy as I thought I was :)

They claim that animals and children can usually see things that adults cannot. I forget why but that is what I have read and heard.

I have some pretty crazy ghost pictures I took in Salem one year and some I took at an old abandon Fort called Fort Adams here in RI.

Marker
02-23-2012, 07:50 PM
I thought of this after I finished my previous post.

One evening, back in college in Maryville MO around 1979, my wife and I (not actually sure if she was my wife yet then) were messing with a OUIJA board that we had found at my home when last we visited.

After messing with some rather typical, non-specific fun questions, we began asking more specific questions. To our surprise we were given some fairly specific details such as a last name, dates, reason for being there, where they were from, etc. It seemed like good fun. The next day we visited the library to do some research only to find that much of the information was factual.

We found record of the last name, and dates that fit what we had been given. We were told something about a "French Soldier", not a big surprise since MO was part of the Louisianna Purchase. But the dates matched, and we found records of matching names. But, were were specifically given the town of "Nodaway". Being in Nodaway county, we asked if it really meant "Nodaway County". The response was, very specifically, "No. Nodaway Town". Neither of us had ever heard of a town called "Nodaway". Turns out, there was, "Nodaway Township" to be exact.

So we had been "given" a Name, date, substantiating reason for being there, and a location that we had no idea had existed, much less at that specific time in history.

Needless to say, I was a bit shocked. And to this day have never touched a OUIJA board again.

I also have stories that came from a Halloween night tour of the Historic Union Hill Cemetary here in KC.

Altair
02-23-2012, 08:53 PM
Needless to say, I was a bit shocked. And to this day have never touched a OUIJA board again.



"If there really is an afterlife, I'll bet the best way to contact it is through a plastic, mass-produced board game from Milton Bradley!"- Mad Magazine

MNNHFLTX
02-23-2012, 09:01 PM
"If there really is an afterlife, I'll bet the best way to contact it is through a plastic, mass-produced board game from Milton Bradley!"- Mad MagazineLol! Who says the spirits can't use a mass-marketed tool to communicate with the living? As for me, I haven't touched one of those things since I was spooked out as an 8-year-old.

TinkerbellT421
02-24-2012, 08:29 AM
Lol! Who says the spirits can't use a mass-marketed tool to communicate with the living? As for me, I haven't touched one of those things since I was spooked out as an 8-year-old.

:ditto:

jennbunn
02-25-2012, 01:26 AM
My son and I watch the shows on tv for fun. I am on the fence if I think it is true.

stitchingirl
02-25-2012, 09:40 PM
I don't watch the shows, mostly because I think they're either staged or if they're really real, would keep me up at night. Does that mean I don't believe? To the contrary, I am 100% convinced.

Years ago I was stationed at Camp Lejeune's Navy Hospital, on the 3rd floor ward. I was working the night shift and the locker room was down this long, glassed-in on one side hallway. As I was walking down the hall, I saw a reflection in the glass of a nurse in scrubs walking just behind me. I also smelled her perfume, a very strong and flowery smell. I turned around, expecting to see a coworker following me, but the hall was empty, I could see all the way down to the opposite end of our ward, some 100 feet or so. The nurse could have ducked in somewhere suddenly, you say. Nope. She was too close to me, and there were no doors or adjoining halls close enough for anyone to duck into. I went about my business, didn't think anything of it, until on another quiet shift we were all talking about ghosts and paranormal stuff. That was when one of the nurses who had worked there for forever told us about a nurse who used to work there. She wore a very strong flowery perfume, and often worked the night shift. One night going home from work she fell asleep at the wheel and ever since then, has been seen (and smelled) on the 3rd floor ward, where she never really left.

I'm positive that I saw her that night.

Altair
02-26-2012, 08:11 AM
[QUOTE=stitchingirl;2244794 I saw a reflection in the glass of a nurse in scrubs walking just behind me. [/QUOTE]

Why do ghosts always wear clothes? Do your clothes go with you to the afterlife?:confused:

TheVBs
02-26-2012, 09:03 AM
Why do ghosts always wear clothes? Do your clothes go with you to the afterlife?:confused:

Just a fun, silly response I thought people might get a kick out of:


In the Discworld series of novels, the "morphic resonance" is the tendency of a mind to remember, effectively, what shape it's body is. As a result, after one's death, it is "morphic resonance" that keeps the soul looking like the original body.

TheVBs
02-26-2012, 09:08 AM
And more thanks for everyone who's shared their stories! I've really enjoyed reading them. For those of you who live with these activities in your home, I don't know how you do it! I would be a wreck.

This did remind me of something my dad experienced. He toured with a jazz band in the big band era (and before anyone ages me beyond my years, he was 50 when I was born!). We have a lot of his photos from that era, mostly with pretty girls. He was in a shop with a soda counter once and wanted to take a picture of the girl behind the counter. When he got his film developed in the next town they were in, he discovered that the only thing that showed up was the bow tie from her uniform. I actually have this picture somewhere. There's sort of a blur where the rest of her would be, and I would chalk it up to some kind of film problem, except that you can see the shelves continuing behind where she would have been standing! Still could be some kind of film/camera problem, I'm definitely not an expert. But, it was the only time it happened to him.

Strmchsr
02-29-2012, 02:09 PM
As a pastor, I get asked this question a LOT, especially with the popularity of all of the paranormal shows. Aside from ghosts, people are wanting to know what happens when we die and I've done some pretty extensive biblical research on that subject.

My experience with the "paranormal" comes from a local group of paranormal researchers who have asked me to help them from time to time. They felt a pastor along could help in some situations, especially dealing with clients who have spiritual questions. I have been in more "haunted" places than I can count. I can say I've had a couple of experiences that would seriously freak you out, but those were not of the "friendly" nature. In general, though, I've never seen a single thing that convinces me that the spirit of a once living human was present. Having also been a scientist and meteorologist, I'm used to thinking scientifically about things you can't see. It's not provable yet, but I've become more convinced that "ghosts" are some kind of residual effect - that somehow an event, a person, an emotion gets imprinted on a sight or building and replays under certain conditions. 2000 years ago people thought lightning was caused by the gods chucking these bolts at us. Now we understand. I think the same thing will happen with "ghosts." I think there is something real going on, and I certainly believe in spiritual matters (obviously, given my occupation), but as for it being the spirit of a human, I'm highly skeptical of that and don't think it really matches the evidence.

Janmac
03-01-2012, 10:03 PM
2000 years ago people thought lightning was caused by the gods chucking these bolts at us. Now we understand. I think the same thing will happen with "ghosts." I think there is something real going on, and I certainly believe in spiritual matters (obviously, given my occupation), but as for it being the spirit of a human, I'm highly skeptical of that and don't think it really matches the evidence.

I have used the same lightning analogy so it was interesting to read it in your post, Chris. With our limited senses of smell, hearing and sight, as well as nearly absent chemical and thermal senses, it's certain we miss out on much of what is going on around us. I also know that electricity and magnetism are flip sides of the same coin, so to speak, with emission of radio waves a requirement.

Thus when I have "known" things that were not yet told me about family members or very close friends, I figure there must be some sort of communication going on.

I too live in a house with areas that kids especially and a few adults like to avoid. I have heard voices, but never seen anything in 38 years.

Possibly the weirdest thing that has happened to me was outside, in the woods on the hill behind our house. I was walking near the fence line, checking it out, when I was practically assaulted by a feeling of good, for want of a better description. Powerful good. I looked at the ground around me and noticed a ring of stones, about fifteen feet in diameter. The rocks obviously had been in place awhile, judging by leaves, etc.

This stone ring seemed a bit too obvious - you see it in movies all the time - but there it was. I can recall hearing about a lot of places that have wrong feelings but not about right feeling places.

Jan

TinkerbellT421
03-16-2012, 09:49 AM
I am loving reading all these stories and experiences with everyone and hearing everyone's opinions! Thank you all for responding. :mickey:

Disneypixie513
03-27-2012, 03:14 PM
In a way, yes, but not in the way most people probably believe in them. I'm not going to really go into what I believe about spirits or ghosts, because I don't want to offend anyone with my religious beliefs or anything like that. :mickey:

para-normal?
10-23-2012, 11:13 PM
I have NEVER been a believer in paranormal activities and or ghosts. I don't watch any of the ghost shows and never have had any desire. My friend and I just stayed 2 nights at the Contemporary with a lagoon/pool view.My friend is very spiritual, however I am the opposite. The first night there was a meteor shower, so we got up around 3 am to watch it. It was cool since we saw a few and Jupiter was right in front of us. I started to just look around and to the right of us was the smaller tower (not sure what the name of it was) and there were 3 small roofs over the entrance which then became a walkway of glass. I looked at the one directly over the entrance and thought I saw someone sitting up there and told my friend. She didn't notice at first, but did notice a man sitting or whatever it was doing about a yard or so below them. He was very eery, with a white face, almost a white mohawk and and I am going to sound crazy, but almost like black spikes sticking out of his head. He just sat there, sometimes moving his head to the left and right...he looked like someone out of Halloween Horror nights. However, there were people coming in and out of the entrance with luggage and walking right past him which we thougth was odd.:confused: By this time my friend spotted the man/boys on the roof, which by this time had become 2. We didn't know if we should call security, since we were worried they may jump down and try to rob guests leaving or if they were just teens on something just up there to watch the show as well. They sat there as more guests left and did nothing to show harm. As it got a bit later/earlier I noticed they were not there anymore. A while later as it started to become lighter, I watched as the two returned to the roof, I could not tell how they were getting up so easily as it could not be easy. I decided to take my camera out which has really good zoom and get a closer look..I zoomed in a bit too far and got the fabric of ones jeans and zoomed out to follow up his body to a flannel shirt and onto his face in which he had an eery smile on his mouth and biting a cigar, as I moved up I was shocked in horror to see a completely demonic face out of a horror movie, deformaty, and completely SHOCKING and freaked me out and I screamed and I put my camera down and watched as they jumped off the roof. We spoke to security, did not mention anything we suspected as paranormal, but warned them about possible solicitation. Night # 2....unwinding from the Halloween Party, on the balcony again. My friend was trying to take pictures from the balcony to the roof we saw the boys or whatever they were the night before. However no matter which waay she took them she could not capture that roof. All of a sudden she got really weird and gasped "OMG"..I kept asking her what. but she kept telling me to hold on..she took about ten pictures..in the first few pictures were a figure of a dark skinny old man with some kind of fabric around his shoulders. The first couple of shots he was looking down, but the last he was looking at the camera and his eyes were huge and white and not normal. In other pictures, there were obvious other figures, men dressed in suits, women in long white dressings, one in fact hanging from a tree and even choldren. Some looked angry, while others sad and lost.They were all ghostly pictures, not like the men we saw before. One picture with writing in it that we could not make out. She started to freak out because she saw a girl, who she sensed was ****** at us...like I said I am not spiritual but she somehow knew the girl was ****** and I could not see her and she said she had to delete all of the pictures. I begged her to forward them to me and she did supposedly, but when I looked the next morning, they were all of the same pictures. After that, what I saw was unbelievable..on the roof of the smaller tower there was a girl wrapped in a grey blanket sitting on the edge at first by herself. For some reason I just blurted out 'Amy" is over there on the roof,like I knew that was her name. My friend spotted her immediately and watched as many more arrived..A woman wearing a long dress and bonnet was setting up cots and laying them all down, they were peaceful, and obviously not there to hurt anyone, just trapped there..We watched an old lady walk her old lab, a child read a book in a tree, absoltely amazing, confusing and scary all together. Has anyone seen anything like this or am I and my friend completely crazy...As I said, I never believed until now. Any input would be helpful, but if you are going to be negative or unkind, please dont bother...thank u!

DonLefNY
10-24-2012, 11:27 AM
Not at all.

Cinderelley
11-09-2012, 03:46 AM
"If there really is an afterlife, I'll bet the best way to contact it is through a plastic, mass-produced board game from Milton Bradley!"- Mad Magazine

This is just a cheap, mass produced version of something that has actually been around for centuries.

Cinderelley
11-09-2012, 04:50 AM
Yes, I believe in the "paranormal". I have been able to sense it since I was very young. As far as how come not everyone can see it, I have always viewed it as the same as our other senses - some people are very visual, some auditory and others can pick up the smell of the oranges on Soarin' from a mile away. There are even variations in the way individuals who are capable of sensing it wind up perceiving it.

As for seeing "images" of people doing the same thing over and over again, when people repeatedly do things, it leaves an imprint of their energy. As you can imagine, the more they do it, the stronger the energy imprint is. An example was given previously of a young boy running through someone's house in a straight line. Imagine how many times a youngster would playfully take that path.

Additionally, there are things that people think are ghosts (the definition of a ghost being the soul of a departed human), but they aren't really.

Those of you who have been on the boards for a while know that I've had a pretty rough time the last couple of years, including dying on the operating table. At one point, my soul became separated from my body. "Someone" came and ever so gently placed me back inside of my body. There was such an overwhelming sense of love that there is no way to describe it. I thought it was an angel, until another angel told me "Only the Creator can fix those who are broken." Do people think I am crazy when I tell them that story? Probably, but after feeling the love I did, I really don't care.

I have many other stories, but that is the most important one. He loves us, and He is the only one who can fix us when we are broken.

IwannabeinNarnia
11-09-2012, 12:44 PM
I have to say I do believe. I've had a couple of experiences that made me a believer.
One was when I was just out of high school I took a summer job as a waitress in a little cafe that had opened up in what used to be my towns library. The building was VERY old. One morning it was just me and my boss opening up and he told me to go get some ice. So I went back to where the ice machine was. The light was already on so I didn't have to touch it. Well, as I was getting ice I felt someone standing next to me and felt a touch. I turned and no one was there but the string to the light was moving. I freaked and got out of that room and when I told my boss he just smiled and said "You just met the old librarian". I refused to get ice again after that. The second story I have is what REALLY convinced me. My husband and I were renting an apartment in an old house. One night I woke up and glanced over to his side of the bed to see 'someone' standing next to it. My husband was asleep, the 'someone' looked at me. I closed my eyes in fear, opened them again and that 'someone' was gone. I quickly woke my husband up and told him. He told me that it was probably his grandpa. It seems his grandpa had appeared to him before - back when he was in the army and stationed in Saudia Arabia. I've also felt things bump the bed at night. So yep.. I believe.