Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Do you believe in 'ghosts'?

492 replies

Bump2021 · 11/01/2021 18:27

I'm not a woo person by nature, I'm more of a sceptic but there has been two or three occasions where I've encountered something unexplainable.

Do you believe in the paranormal?

YANBU - yes (please explain why)
YABU - no, it's a load of bollocks

OP posts:
GypsyLee · 14/01/2021 11:10

My kids grown up now think I have special powers, for various reasons through their childhood.
They also know that the dead are celebrated in my culture. I've sat with many a dead relative, it freaks them out.
So, as they are grow up it's the one thing I have at my disposal for any type of discipline.
"I'll come back to haunt you."
I used it recently when talking to them about our wills and if any of them are unfair to the others Grin

saffire · 14/01/2021 11:15

@VenusClapTrap

I’ve started watching the Netflix series thanks to this thread. That Dutch woman who does the voices of the dead! Good grief. Her and her whole ‘retreat’ just seem to be designed to profit from people’s grief. Likewise the blonde American medium - she seemed more plausible in some ways, but look at her OTT macmansion house; there is clearly a lot of money to be made from the bereaved. Unpleasant.

I’m fairly open minded to this stuff on the whole, although I’ve never felt anything personally, but this programme made me feel pretty sceptical. I’ll still watch the rest of it though - it’s an interesting watch!

I felt quite angry and sad watching that program. People clearly profiting from others grief. And those, so desperate to make contact that they will believe anything. I have seen a psychic, I went as a laugh, and was quite surprised at what she knew. I didn't give her my full name, and my SM is really secure, yet she knew things that no one could possibly know. I have seen plenty of conmen too. There's one that has quite a loyal following and his shows always sell out. I've been twice, he kept speaking to the same people, he obviously knew their stories (one was quite tragic) I suspect that they were plants. One person he described sounded like my grandfather, so my mum stood up and said she knew who it was. He got quite off with her and said not you sit down, and again it was one of his followers that he targeted.
StormBaby · 14/01/2021 11:17

I’m what I would call a sceptical believer. I always look for the normal explanation first before I jump to paranormal. Lots of experiences in this thread could be explained, especially the ‘I woke up in the night to something sat on my bed’, which is sleep paralysis 100%. Another one I’ve seen on here before of people seeing stuff move when they’re sat up feeding a newborn baby, that’s just sheer exhaustion.
I’d like to see a true sceptic explain my most recent unexplained experience though...staying in an old hotel, DH and I just drifting off at about 1am and we hear a huge thud way across the room by the door. I leapt up with my phone torch to investigate and see a book that was on his bedside table as we’d just been looking at it(it was a brochure, quite a thick chunky one), face down open on the floor about 20 feet away. As I reach out to touch it, all the hair on my right arm up stood up like there was a static charge.

RhubarbAndRoses · 14/01/2021 11:36

We’ve had a few strange things happen since my baby was born in June. When she was 4 months old (and completely immobile..not even nearly close to rolling) I left her to sleep on the floor in her Sleepyhead while I finished a sewing project in the next room. I felt a cold breeze on my legs so I got up to see if a window was open. The back door in the kitchen was wide open. I closed it, checked on my DD and went back to sewing. It happened again. I went back to the kitchen, the door was wide open again. I locked it and went to check on DD. She was out of her pod. A good few feet away from it actually, turned in the opposite direction and wide awake and smiling and babbling at the ceiling above her. We were home alone, I cannot explain it. She only rolled for the first time two months later (a couple of weeks ago). Even if she could roll, which she absolutely couldn’t, the sides are raised enough to stop her from rolling out. A few other things have happened but this was the scariest. We’ve had things falling off shelves, the TV turning on and off randomly, lights turning on and off on their own. I don’t know what’s going on! It’s only been happening since DD was born, we’d never experienced anything odd before and we’ve been in this house for 8 years.

VenusClapTrap · 14/01/2021 12:34

@AcornAutumn it’s called Surviving Death.

AcornAutumn · 14/01/2021 12:34

Thank you Venus.

SpudsandGravy · 14/01/2021 12:42

@XDownwiththissortofthingX

Whether or not that's true depends upon what you're looking for by way of evidence.

Well something measurable, demonstrable, repeatable, etc. Some sort of scientifically credible explanation for where things like 'spirits' are supposed to exist, what type of matter they are comprised of, why they can seemingly materialise and dematerialise to suit whether the human at hand is amenable to suggestion or not, why the presence or otherwise of 'spirits' appears to be completely random and haphazard and not dependent on circumstance, cause and effect etc. I'm not talking about pseudo-scientific garbage explanations like 'the afterlife', 'psionic manifestations', 'ether', 'traumatic events', I mean proof to the sort of standard that we require to believe any other sort of claim made about the existence/reality of other things.

The burden of proof doesn't lie with the sceptic, it lies with the people who claim these things are fact. Fine, they might argue that they feel no need to demonstrate to sceptics that they are indeed real, but I find it more telling that whenever that challenge has been laid down, including with substantial rewards for the challenge being met, it's singularly failed to produce any sort satisfactory response.

For people who are insistent that their homes are 'haunted', or that they are sharing their homes with 'spirits', surely, even to put an end to sceptical mocking, you'd be happy for the world to examine your claim and produce tangible evidence to show that you are not completely barking, yet nope, not a single case of undeniable proof attained.

There's a lot of testimony, and many people who do believe in ghosts/paranormal don't consider it possible to simply write all of it off as lies or misunderstandings.

Whether believers consider it possible or not is neither here nor there. The fact is, nobody has provided anything that bears up to scrutiny that could be said to be cast-iron proof that there is any such thing as a 'ghost', 'spirit', etc etc

There are also photos and videos. It hasn't been possible for sceptics to debunk them all. I don't know which ones may be real - I'm not an expert - but when people who apparently are experts say that they can't work out how some of those photos/videos might have been faked I'm interested to hear it

Again, burden of proof does not lie with 'debunkers'. There's no need to debunk every single photo or video, because sceptics are not trying to prove the existence of anything. That onus lies with the people making the claim that these things are real. Just because the explanation for how a specific video or photograph came about isn't immediately to hand says absolutely nothing about the existence of 'ghosts'. It does not mandate the existence of the paranormal, it's just a video or a photograph that appears to show something out of the ordinary.

To be honest, with the number of posters in this thread claiming to have witnessed ghosts, paranormal events, etc, the world must be absolutely teeming with such things, yet still nobody comes forward with anything that stands up to scrutiny. The sort of explanations they provide are on a par with some of the complete nonsense that religious believers spout. "Oh, ghosts only appear to those who are amenable/susceptible". I mean, come on... we're all the same species, we're all remarkably similar. Sure, there are differences from individual to individual in quality of sight, hearing, strength, size etc, but it's not like some people are born with an extra sensory organ that can pick up signals 'from the other side' and some of us are not. That's laughable nonsense. The 'other side' of what for starters? Again, another layer of pseudo-scientific nonsense used to 'explain' things that don't require an explanation in the first place.

I think that again you're falling into what appears to me to be the mistake of assuming that if 'ghosts' exist then it should be possible to prove it by using the specific methods of 'proof' that you'd be willing to accept.

As you anticipated I would say, I don't see there being a 'burden of proof' here. We're talking about something that hasn't yet been categorically proven, and so some people of the people interested enough to consider the issue will weigh what they consider to be the evidence and decide, on balance, to believe, and others will conduct that exercise (or simply choose completely to disregard what others would say might be evidence out of hand) and decide that they don't. I do believe in ghosts, but I don't know what they are, I don't believe I've seen one and I don't feel any kind of obligation to persuade you over to my POV. In the long run it doesn't matter what you or I believe - as things stand at the moment neither of us can provide evidence to 'proove' that what we believe is true, and nothing turns upon our beliefs.

Also, tere are many things that science has discovered over time to exist that can't be 'proven' by simply taking a photo or a video, or conjuring them up at will for inspection by those not persuaded by the evidence. IMO it's a little facile to attempt to argue that because particular kinds of 'proof' can't be produced upon demand then those things are all figments of the imagination/products of deluded minds.

ginghamtablecloths · 14/01/2021 12:57

I sort of believe in them but have thankfully never seen one - I think I'd be scared. If a house came on the market which you adored and then you heard that it was haunted (benevolent spirit, not the scary kind), would you buy it?

SpudsandGravy · 14/01/2021 13:08

@ginghamtablecloths

I sort of believe in them but have thankfully never seen one - I think I'd be scared. If a house came on the market which you adored and then you heard that it was haunted (benevolent spirit, not the scary kind), would you buy it?

I might :-)

VenusClapTrap · 14/01/2021 13:52

I would!

RylanClark · 14/01/2021 14:49

@DuzzyFuck I think someone was living in your loft... 👀

DuzzyFuck · 14/01/2021 14:51

[quote RylanClark]@DuzzyFuck I think someone was living in your loft... 👀[/quote]
Investigated and ruled out! Confused

1dayatatime · 14/01/2021 15:13

@ginghamtablecloths

I sort of believe in them but have thankfully never seen one - I think I'd be scared. If a house came on the market which you adored and then you heard that it was haunted (benevolent spirit, not the scary kind), would you buy it?
There is a house near me that was on the market for ages but never sold (as it was IMO massively overpriced).

So they then decided to advertise it for paid ghost tours which a friend of mine went to and said was really crap - basically showed them a utility room which they claimed many people felt a strong presence in. All my friend could notice was a Dyson cleaner and a washing machine and the only presence she felt was claustrophobia from being in a small utility room with six other people.

Anyway the ghost tours soon dried up, the property had deteriorated and they eventually sold it for much less than the original asking price.

OlympicProcrastinator · 14/01/2021 16:08

I would strongly recommend Surviving Death episode 1. Thanks to pp who suggested it upthread. I challenge anyone to watch the kayaker, doctors and women who had C section on that episode and tell me it’s all bollocks.

torquewench · 14/01/2021 16:10

I dont believe in ghosts, but the night my grandma died, I had a dream that she was sitting up in bed, wearing her quilted dressing gown, telling me not to worry as she was better now and felt fine. I was woken from that dream by the phone ringing. It was my mum, who'd been with her, calling to tell my dad she'd just died.

The day my granddad (her husband) died, he told the nurse looking after him that his mum had come for him and she looked beautiful. Mum was duly called to the hospital and he passed away a couple of hours later.

My exMIL, (awful woman who managed to alienate just about everyone in her life except ex FIL and exH) also passed away in hospital. She'd told us when we'd visited that she'd been having nightmares about falling endlessly into a deep hole that opened up in the middle of the floor in the ward and hearing screaming all the way down...

SpudsandGravy · 14/01/2021 16:19

@OlympicProcrastinator

I would strongly recommend Surviving Death episode 1. Thanks to pp who suggested it upthread. I challenge anyone to watch the kayaker, doctors and women who had C section on that episode and tell me it’s all bollocks.

Oh, I'm sure there'll be people here who'll be able to explain it all away Grin

Thanks for reminding me. I'll go and watch that shortly Thanks

ACurlyWurly · 14/01/2021 16:26

My nan gave me a necklace when I was 17. It is on a long silver rope chain and has a silver locket on it. She died not long after she gave me it. It has always given me comfort, if I feel stressed or when something good happens I reach for it.
The locket is on a link which is soldered and the chain can not be opened at the clasp as it is fused shut from years of wearing without removing it. When I need to take it off I take it off over my head still done up.
One morning I was due to make a trip to London and needed to get up in the early hours when I sat up in be my OH said my necklace was broken and passed me my locket. The necklace was still around my neck done up, no break in the chain and the locket still had its soldered link on it. the only way for it to have come off would be if I had undone the clasp. It totally freaked me out and I declared that I couldn't go to London until I spoke to my mum. I waited and waited and delayed and finally called mum at 6am. She answered the phone straight away and said she hadn't slept as she had received some terrible news. My sister had taken my toddler niece to the hospital and they had discovered she had a brain tumour. Mum informed me that surgery would take place the next day but they would be transporting her from our local hospital to Birmingham later that day. We were advised if we wanted to see her we needed to get there before lunch. Mum was waiting to call us at a reasonable hour to let us all know.
I cancelled London and went to see our little angel before she was transported. The next day she had major brain surgery and we were lucky to get another 9 months with her before we lost her but after surgery she was sadly never quite the same.
To this day I believe that my nan had some how sent me a message to stop me going to London, if I hadn't spoken to my mum I would have been there before she called me and I wouldn't have made it back in time. The clasp was so stiff that to put the locket back on I needed pliers. I still wear it all the time nothing weird has ever happened since. I don't care what other people believe as I know what happened is real even if I never know how.

MissConductUS · 14/01/2021 16:35

@OlympicProcrastinator

I would strongly recommend Surviving Death episode 1. Thanks to pp who suggested it upthread. I challenge anyone to watch the kayaker, doctors and women who had C section on that episode and tell me it’s all bollocks.
You're welcome, I glad at least a few people took a look at it. Episode 1 was really gripping.
TwoHundredThousandTimes · 14/01/2021 16:40

I do believe in ghosts. As does my scientist (Geologist) DH and our children. :) Mainly because we live with one and lived with an animal ghost in our previous house.

We are not afraid, rather comforted.

I am not that woo. But i see auras as well. All the women in my father's family see auras.

TwoHundredThousandTimes · 14/01/2021 16:41

(tbh I am not sure how anyone cannot see auras. At the end of the day its just the energy field around all living things).

gegs73 · 14/01/2021 16:44

I think that some people are susceptible to feeling energies or presences, whilst others in the same situation won’t notice anything amiss. I am a pretty logical, no nonsense sort of person, but I have had a few experiences which I’ve not been able to explain. Same with my DSDad who is the least woo person you can imagine.

His was very startling. He was out for a meal with my DM and their widowed (for a few years)friend. It was early evening, he wasn’t drunk, tired, ill or on any medication. They were sat chatting away and all of a sudden he started crying. The others asked what the matter was and he said ‘Phil was here’ their friend’s dead husband. Apparently he looked to the empty seat opposite him and he was sat there, wearing a white T shirt with some sort of writing on it. Smiling at DSDad, looked at his wife talking to my DM and smiled some more back to DSDad and gave a big thumbs up as if to say she is doing well. Looked again and he was gone. Again really not the type of guy to make this up, imagine it that vividly or even cry. It really shook him up and he doesn’t like talking about it.

SpudsandGravy · 14/01/2021 16:51

@ACurlyWurly I'm so sorry to hear that Thanks

CounsellorTroi · 14/01/2021 18:02

@OlympicProcrastinator

I would strongly recommend Surviving Death episode 1. Thanks to pp who suggested it upthread. I challenge anyone to watch the kayaker, doctors and women who had C section on that episode and tell me it’s all bollocks.
Watched it. Very interesting, but I wasn't convinced. The NDEs were too inconsistent to be evidence of life after death. Yes there were similarities, but this is true of dreams too and we don't take that as evidence that dreams are some sort of real alternate world.

If you believe that consciousness is more than a product of brain activity, and that it survives the death of the body, that raises questions of where it was before birth. None of the doctors or psychiatrists in the programme were asked about this.

OlympicProcrastinator · 14/01/2021 18:36

@CounsellorTroi

The doctors confirmed the patients were clinically brain dead and had their eyes covered. Yet the patient was able to tell her which doctor leant on her chest to resuscitate her, what tools were used, knew she was going to die and told everyone who would listen months in advance, was able to see what her husband was wearing as he got off the plane while she was unconscious hundreds of miles away. The kayaking woman was told her son would die young and he did. I’m not sure you watched the same thing as me there was much more up the series than a few NDE stories with similarities.

OlympicProcrastinator · 14/01/2021 18:38

If you believe that consciousness is more than a product of brain activity, and that it survives the death of the body, that raises questions of where it was before birth. None of the doctors or psychiatrists in the programme were asked about this

Episode 6 covers this. The accounts and evidence are utterly mind blowing.