Do You Believe In Ghosts?

[David In Indy]

If you have had an encounter, or know someone who has, please tell us about it!

I have seen orbs in my house before. Normally I just see them out of the corner of my eye, although a few times I was looking directly at them. Also, my dog Cody has been barking at the foot  of my bed during the night for no apparent reason. Many people tell me that  animals can often see things that humans cannot. My house was built in 1922, and after I bought it, my neighbors told me a few stories about it.

Whatever it is, I think it is friendly. Also, I often see shapes out of the corner of my eye. When I turn to look at it though, it is gone.

[moremojo]

Hi, David--

Yes, I too believe in ghosts, and have even seen one. My cat Segunda was medically killed many years ago when she became too old and sick to even eat properly anymore--when one sees a sentient being slowly and painfully dying like that, one realizes that killing truly can be a merciful act.

Some time thereafter, I started seeing flashing lights in my peripheral vision, and everytime I would glance in their direction, nothing would be there. One evening at home, standing in my living room, I saw these lights seem to flash to my right, and turning in that direction, I saw Segunda, looking corporeal and solid, come running from the hall to the area of the living room. When she got there, she stopped and looked at me with a curious expression on her face--and then, she was simply and suddenly gone. This event acted as further confirmation for me that the spirit endures beyond the body's demise.

Scott

[j.U.d.E.]

Okay.. I answered "I doubt it but I try to keep an open mind about it" and would actually even prefer answering a very clear 'no', but I had similar things to what you've written David and Scott. I've never lived in anything old (not for a very long time, at least), but I do get the peripheral vision-thing with moving shapes/shadows. But they are always gone when I turn. So I tent to think that my mind plays tricks on me.

As a kid though, in the school library I used to read a book about para-normal things over and over. I remember I was fascinated by it (lots of pictures), which is even more surprising to me today, because, like I said, I tend to think that those things are not possible..

But what do I know?!

~ j U d E

[ednbarby]

I've never seen anything like what you guys describe, but I've known a few people I consider to be rational and intelligent who have.  My sister in law used to work in an office in a renovated Civil War era home in Atlanta.  She and her coworkers (three of them) are convinced the house is haunted by someone who wants others *out*.  She told me recently that one time a few years ago, she was the last one in the office one night (which is common), and before she left, she went through the office which encompasses the entire first floor of the house, turning off all the lights except the one in the front window on the timer, which had already gone off and was lit for the night, made sure the back door and the door to the dark room were locked, set the alarm, and locked the front door behind her.  As she was pulling out of the driveway, the light in the front window went out.  She went back in, figuring the light bulb had just burned out and she would replace it.  But when she got in there and checked it, she clicked the switch on it and it went back on.  Now she was slightly freaked, but figured maybe one of her coworkers had come back in through the back door (there's an alley behind it that they park in).  She went through the house, turning all the lights on, grabbing a mag lite flashlight in case she needed it as a weapon, calling all their names.  The back door was still locked, and there were no cars or anyone in the alley.  She went back through, turning all the lights off again except the front one and let herself back out.  As she was pulling out this time, the light stayed on, but the vertical blinds started waving wildly back and forth as if someone was violently pushing them to and fro.  But she could clearly see that no one was behind them.  This time she didn't go back in.  (Duh.  Who would???)  She kept pulling out and called one of her coworkers who'd left about an hour before her.  She said, "Well, I didn't want to tell any of you guys this, but I had a similar experience a couple weeks ago with those blinds waving like that as I was leaving.  I went in to check it out, thinking maybe there was a vent or something by them that made them do that when the AC kicked on, but the vent is on the wall no where near where it could possibly cause that to happen."  Another coworker told her the next day that while he was in there alone one night, a stapler went flying off the top of a file cabinet for no apparent reason.  It didn't just fall like it was too close to the edge - it flew.

They no longer work there, but not because of all these incidents - she says not much happened after all that - it had just been a wave of activity, apparently.  They moved about a year ago for a variety of other reasons.  She still wonders if the current tenants have had similar experiences.

[starboardlight]

I haven't "seen" ghosts; more like experienced them. Two stories.

In my family we do the Ancestor Worship ceremony at least once a year, usually during the Chinese New Year. Several years ago, as we were preparing for the ceremony, my niece was playing outside. She was 3 or 4 years old at the time, and we hadn't really explained to her what was going on. I don't think she even knew the concept of ancestors. Her understanding of relatives go as far as grandpa and grandma. All the sudden she runs in laughing, screaming excitedly, "Great Grandfather is here!" Needless to say, we were all really shocked. Somehow it was more reassuring than scary to me. I think it certainly helped that my toddler niece wasn't scared at all but rather happy.

My second experience was a rather creepy. I was home by myself one afternoon. The house was cold and I decided to take a nap in my brother's room, which was the only room during the winter that got afternoon sun. I was in a half sleep half awake daze, and I felt a presence standing over me to my left. Thinking it was my brother, I started to greet him. All the sudden the presence fled the room, and I woke up. It suddenly hit me that my brother was at work and wouldn't be home until several hours later. At first I just passed it off as a dream. Later that night, I was in bed just getting ready to sleep. Again I was on that edge of wake and dream, when I head a distinct click from under the bed. I knew right away that the sound came from a walk-man player that I had under my bed. It was the sound of the play button being pressed down. I reach down and grabbed the player and sure enough the button was down. It was an old walk-man, whose play button had to be pressed with a good amount of pressure, so it couldn't have been bumped by some animal or something (btw other than ants and sometimes spiders, there are no animals in my house). In addition, I hadn't played it for years, since I got an iPod, so I was surprised the battery still had juice in them. I was glad that there was no head phone connected to it. I don't think I wanted to hear what I would have heard.

[David In Indy]

One evening at home, standing in my living room, I saw these lights seem to flash to my right, and turning in that direction, I saw Segunda, looking corporeal and solid, come running from the hall to the area of the living room. When she got there, she stopped and looked at me with a curious expression on her face--and then, she was simply and suddenly gone. This event acted as further confirmation for me that the spirit endures beyond the body's demise.
Scott

Hey Scott. I have heard many, many stories from people who reported seeing or sensing their pets after they passed away. Actually I had a pet encounter myself... well sort of. I was visiting a friend in Tennessee a few years back, and one night I clearly heard a dog bark upstairs. My boyfriend who was downstairs with me heard the dog too. We went upstairs to investigate, and my friend said "Oh that was just Ginger". I suppose there is nothing strange about this except Ginger had been dead for about a year! I heard Ginger bark several times while we were there, I thought I even felt the dog jump into bed with us once. When I looked though, there was nothing in the bed except me  and my boyfriend. I should also point out that my friend did not have any pets after Ginger died; not then anyway.

I firmly believe that pets will often remain with their owners after the animal dies.

[David In Indy]

I haven't "seen" ghosts; more like experienced them. Two stories.

In my family we do the Ancestor Worship ceremony at least once a year, usually during the Chinese New Year. Several years ago, as we were preparing for the ceremony, my niece was playing outside. She was 3 or 4 years old at the time, and we hadn't really explained to her what was going on. I don't think she even knew the concept of ancestors. Her understanding of relatives go as far as grandpa and grandma. All the sudden she runs in laughing, screaming excitedly, "Great Grandfather is here!" Needless to say, we were all really shocked. Somehow it was more reassuring than scary to me. I think it certainly helped that my toddler niece wasn't scared at all but rather happy.

My second experience was a rather creepy. I was home by myself one afternoon. The house was cold and I decided to take a nap in my brother's room, which was the only room during the winter that got afternoon sun. I was in a half sleep half awake daze, and I felt a presence standing over me to my left. Thinking it was my brother, I started to greet him. All the sudden the presence fled the room, and I woke up. It suddenly hit me that my brother was at work and wouldn't be home until several hours later. At first I just passed it off as a dream. Later that night, I was in bed just getting ready to sleep. Again I was on that edge of wake and dream, when I head a distinct click from under the bed. I knew right away that the sound came from a walk-man player that I had under my bed. It was the sound of the play button being pressed down. I reach down and grabbed the player and sure enough the button was down. It was an old walk-man, whose play button had to be pressed with a good amount of pressure, so it couldn't have been bumped by some animal or something (btw other than ants and sometimes spiders, there are no animals in my house). In addition, I hadn't played it for years, since I got an iPod, so I was surprised the battery still had juice in them. I was glad that there was no head phone connected to it. I don't think I wanted to hear what I would have heard.

Starboardlight -

That is a wonderful story about your niece. I have heard that children, just like dogs or cats, can often times "see" things the rest of us cannot. They are naturally tuned into the environment because they have not yet been conditioned to not believe. Isn't it wonderful that she was not at all frightened of what she saw? If I read your post correctly, it sounds as if she was actually excited to see your deceased relative. I guess this just shows us that ghosts "are people too" and there is really nothing to be afraid of.

Thanks for telling us about this!

By the way, your second story does sound a bit spooky! I hope that doesn't ever happen to you again!

[David In Indy]

Okay.. I answered "I doubt it but I try to keep an open mind about it" and would actually even prefer answering a very clear 'no', but I had similar things to what you've written David and Scott. I've never lived in anything old (not for a very long time, at least), but I do get the peripheral vision-thing with moving shapes/shadows. But they are always gone when I turn. So I tent to think that my mind plays tricks on me.

As a kid though, in the school library I used to read a book about para-normal things over and over. I remember I was fascinated by it (lots of pictures), which is even more surprising to me today, because, like I said, I tend to think that those things are not possible..

But what do I know?!

~ j U d E

Hey Jude! Thanks for giving us your input!

I have seen things out of the corner of my eye too. Many times in fact. I would LIKE to dismiss it as my imagination, but sometimes I can actually see fine details such as what the person is wearing or the color of their hair. Somehow I feel this is just a little too much detail for my imagination to suddenly conjure up. I can continue seeing all of this as long as I don't turn and look directly at it. Only then will the figure disappear from my view.

[David In Indy]

I've never seen anything like what you guys describe, but I've known a few people I consider to be rational and intelligent who have.  My sister in law used to work in an office in a renovated Civil War era home in Atlanta.  She and her coworkers (three of them) are convinced the house is haunted by someone who wants others *out*.  

Hi Barby -

I read your post a couple of times and what  you describe sound very much like a library down in Evansville, Indiana. I use to live about a mile down the road from it. It is called the Willard Library. There is supposedly a spirit there who haunts the building and people call her the Grey Lady. Many people have seen her over the years. The staff of Willard even invited several paranormal groups into the libarary to investigate the Grey Lady. To my knowledge, they never did pick up anything unusual with their equipment. But many of the patrons and staff at Willard would beg to differ. I use to go to that library all the time when I lived in Evansville. I never  did see or feel anything unusual, although I have seen some pictures the various webcams took during the night. I must admit, I have seen some very weird looking shapes and forms lurking at the library late at night.

Thanks for your post. It was VERY interesting!

[vkm91941]

My parents house was haunted.  You certainly would not think it to look at it.  A single story ranch in sunny southern California in 1969, but it was.  My Mother was the first to experience anything.  She had experiences off and on all her life, the first she remembered was at 6 years old.

The first manifestation occured 2 months after we moved in.  My Mom was taking a hot bath late one evening after all the family was long asleep.  As she soaked in the tub she hear footsteps shuffle down the hall and shortly shuffle back again.  She called out to see which of us was out of bed when we weren't supposed to be...there was no answer only deep quiet.  So she got out of the tub wrapped herself in her robe and checked first my brothers, then me, then my Dad.  We were all sleeping soundly just as she had left us.  No one had been up.    Two weeks later she was standing in the kitchen one day washing her hair in the kitchen sink and I heard her scream.  We all rushed into the kitchen and she was soaking wet, trembling and demanding to know which if us was just in the kitchen when we all denied being there and backed one another up.  She said she felt someone come up behind her and lay their body down across her back, that she could feel their breath on her neck.  She announed in a loud voice..."Who ever you are this is my house and I would appreciate it if you did not touch me again."

Over the years we have all seen a dark shape in the dining room, usually seen out the corner of the eye or reflected in the mirror in the living room.  This shape always gave the impression of being male and seems to be peeking at us around the corner.  There were cold drafts, objects that would move from where you left them to be discovered elsewhere.  Occasionally there were loud knocks on the wall,  doorbells that rang before you could push the button, a garbage disposal that would turn itself on and a blender that ran even when it wasn't plugged in.  Over the years a series of dogs would stare into space and wag their tails, or sit up and beg from no one.  My Mom kept parakeets and finches at different times and occassionally the birds would just plain freak out for no reason. There was no rhyme or reason to it, just when you thought you must have imagined it all something new would happen.  We got use to it.

My parents lived in that house for 32 years.  Whomever or whatever it was, was benign, we never felt threated or frightened beyond that morning when my Mom was shocked out of washing her hair.  It's become a part of our family lore.