Believing in ghosts

[Sophisticatedsarcasm]

Taken off the back of the ‘conspiracy theory’ thread made me think about people believing in ghosts.
I personally believe as I’ve seen it, as has my mum, Nan and DP.
We have a ghost whom we call Mary. No particular reason we just use that when talking about her so the kids don’t get scared if we say ghost.
It all started 9 years ago when we first moved here. As it was a very harsh winter we had all windows closed (usually sleep with them open) at around 1am we heard a massive bang. Turned on the side light to see 3 deodorants all fallen on the floor. This went on for 8 nights in a row, it became normal and didn’t surprise us. A few months later I saw a white ghostly figure of a women standing over my sons cot. As I live for this kind of stuff I was not bothered. Since then we’ve witness more and more things. When you tell others some believ and some don’t. One of my friends used to take the piss out of me until one day he stayed at a relatives house in the countryside and witness a strange ghost like figure. It’s true what they say, seeing is believing. On my bucket list is to visit some of the most haunted places in America.
I tried to find out if anything had happened before we move here but from what I can make out it’s a saintly town which has only ever had one murder in over 100 years and a was severely affected by the great storm of 1987.
Who else believes?

Here is my process thinking on the subject:

Energy cannot be killed - we are made up of energy

When we die we become an energy form.

I know when I meet people that I get an instant positive or negative vibe from them - I believe this to be a connection to their energy (nothing woo about that). Some vibrations of energy I connect with certain people.

My brain has the ability to add bits in like images and smells (again nothing woo about it, simply if the brain is unable to make sense of what it feels/hears it will conjure up it’s own to make sense of it, same as inaudible noises will become your name being called when no-one is around)

So if I feel energy similar to my nans, my brain suddenly gives me her smell to remind me that I am feeling her energy

But who is to say that it is not her actual energy since that energy cannot die
And energy attracted in life could continue to be attracted in death (probably not on a conscious level though).

OP
It’s similar to deja vu though isn’t, no one can prove or disprove deja vu

Believing in ghosts is nothing like deja vu. Deja vu is an actual real thing to do with your brain. I get it from time to time and apart from loving the feeling of it give it little thought -it's a common thing to happen. Saying you can't 'prove' it desists is like saying you can't prove people hallucinate.

I believe that peopke leave an enwrgetic imprint when they die...if they xant move on its a' presence'. the energy dosnt dissipate. weird i know.

But how come nobody has ever been able to capture or record one??

Because there’s no such thing. I have to seriously consider the critical thinking abilities and/or mental health of anyone who believes in ghosts.

I definitely don't believe spirits of the dead can retain a consciousness and haunt the living but I did see something unexplained once... I'm still trying to rationalise it but I don't think it's outside the realms of possibility that there is some phenomena happening we've yet to understand /explain I just really don't believe it's ghosts of the dead.

oh the critical thinking/mental health of those that believe line has been trotted out

Aww it’s nice others are so concerned

Hmm I like this thread. It makes for an interesting read! I've had experiences I can't explain. After my much loved grandad died unexpectedly I wrote him a letter and popped it in the casket with him. A month later I went to see a medium at the local spiritualist church and the medium (he was a 85 year old man who wouldn't charge a penny, just asked for a donation in the church box) recounted A LOT of what I had wrote in my sealed letter. He also told me to thank my mum for the carnations she had put in his breast pocket. Which of course she did. Strange. I purposefully gave nothing away.

I've done a lot of research in the past 10 years for a scientific explanation in what we perceive to be an "afterlife". Two things that stick out in my mind are firstly nobody, not even the most renowned docs in the world can tell us where consciousness comes from, they're not even close.

Just for your own interests, google "where does consciousness come from".

Secondly, for 400 years we believed that Newtonian Physics was the baseline for all that existed and it's only in the last 100 years that we have discovered Quantum Physics. We are not nearly as close to The Theory Of Everything as we like to think.

Everybody took the piss out of Galileo when he said the Earth was round but advancements in science proved him right.

I don't know what I believe, but I do believe that we haven't proved anything either way and to shut off to the idea that it's possible is like taking the piss out of Galileo all over again.

Who knows what we will discover in the next 50 years? It's exciting!

About the wall thing ...

My dad lived in the same house for 60 years. He married mum and they had me. Mum didn't tell me this till after i left home (thank god), but in this house she would occasionally see a ghost. In the 30 odd years she lived there she saw it only a handful of times. She would catch a glimpse as she turned the bend to go up the stairs. It was a man in a formal grey suit, and he was always in the same spot, standing with his face pressed against the hall wall. She never felt anything malevolent about him but the way he was always standing freaked her out a bit.

A few sightings in she mentioned it to my dad, who was an open minded chap. They mused it over and he suddenly remembered that the spot where this man was standing is where the original door to the sitting room used to be. Back when my dad was a kid they moved it up the hall. The guy in the suit (if you believe in such things) is standing looking into the sitting room through the old long gone doorway.

A bit coincidental that my visitor felt the same presance as i did. I didnt mention it....perhaps we are both of below average intelligence ( she got a 1st, i got a 2.1) .

@laiste

That's interesting. And why I hover on the sceptical side of things.
Whatever/whoever he was, was clearly a memory/imprint/energy acting out an old habit.

I think I shall remain open minded with a healthy dose of scepticism.

I used to be part of a paranormal team, years ago. Did have a few times which I could not explain, one of which was as a house we used to run public investigations at, we were packing up the equipment and there was still some people there from the group we had taken around that night. We all heard crying, really loud sobbing and it was weird because it was kind of echoey. The staires also started creaking really loudly, we could see all of the staires and the area above and there was no one there, I still can't explain it. I was with the team for around 3 years... and thats one of a handful that I couldn't explain. Alot of it is down to expecting to see /experience something because your on a paranormal investigation and its dark and your probably really tired at 2am.

I do wonder sometimes if its down to quantum physics, there are theorys about other universes etc. Maybe one day when we know more about the universe or make more scientific advances, there may be an explanation for it.

I love reading ghost stories, especially the way people are absolutely convinced that when a person shares their belief or their own stories that means it’s true.

But until there is actual proof and not just anecdata then no, I don’t believe. I’ve been in scary situations and also have on occasion spooked myself, doesn’t make it in any way real.

I'm open minded on this. Have never seen 'proof' but my mum is adamant she has. The ghost she saw was in context for the building she was in, although she had no knowledge that this was the case at the time.

I think to dismiss anyone's experience as being bullshit is narrow minded, but I do understand why people are naturally cynical.

I lost the luxury of being a total sceptic when i had an experience i couldn't explain. I'd love to explain it away.

Sadly my choices are: poltergeist, or: me having a massive hallucination at 4pm on a sunny Monday afternoon while at work.

I don't fancy either option to be honest.

I can totally understand people having not one jot of belief in the paranormal. I was much happier as a staunch non-believer!

What happened Laiste?

I've been thinking since I posted before as a sceptic and there was one time I almost believed. I was working in an old folks home (that used to be an orphanage) and one woman would get very upset at night screaming that the children were laughing at her. In the end, they moved her to the newer built section and she was fine after that. I almost thought maybe she'd seen something but then I thought about how nice the newer section was and thought she'd pulled off a good trick.

Sadly my choices are: poltergeist, or: me having a massive hallucination at 4pm on a sunny Monday afternoon while at work

Just because you don't like the rational explanation doesn't mean its any less the right one. Because it wasn't a poltergeist, and I think you know that.

I dont think I believe in ghosts but I had an 'encounter' once that I have no explanation for if it wasn't paranormal. I was stone cold sober, at work, in what eventually turned out to be 'haunted' premises according to a TV programme that had 'ghosthunters' on who came to check the place out once so i dont really know what I believe

I don't believe but if I saw a 'ghostly figure' standing over my son's cot I would burn that house down. Seeing is definitely believing-luckily I've never seen anything.

I don't ''know'' gimme. You'll have to take my word for that at least.

I've never had any mental or visual problems before or since that day and both options are equally improbable to me.

Perhaps the fact that me having a full on daylight hallucination feels equally improbable as me having witnessed poltergeist activity means i'm not such a strong sceptic as you, but there it is.

But your feelings on the matter are irrelevant. Poltergeist activity is not a possible answer to whatever you experienced, whereas hallucination absolutely is possible.
How you feel about it makes no difference. One is a possibility, the other is not. It's quite simple.

Poltergeist activity is not a possible answer to whatever you experienced

Only in your opinion.

Makes me laugh how people can so wholeheartedly say that what others are pretty damned sure they have seen has not happened.

There is no need to be so fucking rude to other people who have had other experiences to you.

THEY are not judging YOU for not having seen something you can't explain, so why the vicious replies? Can't you just shrug and ignore?

There is no need to be so fucking rude to other people who have had other experiences to you.

Couldn't agree more. Some people love to goad though

I have to be open minded. My common-sense-down-to-earth side finds supernatural hard to accept. However, I have had some experiences that are difficult to explain - and this makes me listen with interest to the experiences of others.

I was tending my poorly baby late one Winter night and sat there holding him I suddenly felt very strongly that someone else was in the room and was interested in my son. There was nothing to see but I really felt there was someone present and I could smell burning cigarette smoke. (My husband and I don't smoke.) I actually said 'leave him alone - he's ours' - and felt very foolish -but still afraid.

My down-to-earth-ever-reasonable husband said that the experience was probably down to being worried - and tired. + he thought that as the house was rented cigarette smells might come from the carpet. I thought he was probably right . It had been a powerful experience though.

We moved house some months later and one night - I had a similar experience. My son was awake - with a temperature. There were no carpets in the new place -but the sense of someone being there was very strong and the smell of cigarette smoke was back.

I talked myself down - got my son back to sleep and eventually felt able to leave the room and go to my own bed. It all seemed fine again. +I felt foolish yet again. As I got into bed my husband stirred - then turned over and said in puzzlement, 'have you been smoking?'

A few days later my DD3 was skipping beside us both on the way to the playpark. She was chatting and began to tell us about an old man leaning into the baby's cot one night. She said that she shouted at him to leave the baby - and the man floated away. (She didn't call him a ghost - we hadn't told her any stories about such things. )