Do you believe in the "paranormal"?

[jennbunn]

My son and I watch the shows on tv for fun. I am on the fence if I think it is true.

[stitchingirl]

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]

[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?

[TheVBs]

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

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]

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]

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]

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