Do you believe in 'ghosts'?

[Bump2021]

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

@Imissmoominmama

I don’t know either way. Lots of people claim to have seen ghosts- they can’t all be lying.

I thought I saw a man cycle straight through a hedge once. No hole in the hedge; no sign of the man or his bike when I looked. I’m pretty sure of what I saw too.

I don't think they're all lying. I just think they're mistaken.

I have had a few experiences that could be considered woo but since I don't believe in ghosts I think there is another rational explantion for the things I saw.

Yes I do.
I lived in a house with a presence when I was a child - had the house blessed etc.

@YesItsMeIDontCare

I think it's the wrong question!

So many people have experiences and to dismiss them as deluded or silly or whatever doesn't help anyone.

The question is really "Do you believe ghosts are from beyond the grave/apparitions of dead people/etc?"

And my answer to that is "No."

What do you belive ghosts are?

I believe that people 'see' ghosts, but I don't believe that they exist. It's just your mind remembering stuff sub-consciously. After the last anaesthetic I hallucinated some really boring everyday shit, all possible and/or from memories - ghosts are the same sort of thing but without the drugs.

I'm kind of a rationalist by nature, so my natural tendency is to say, I've never seen anything that would absolutely convince me there are ghosts. But of course that could change and there are plenty of people who say they have, so I also don't dismiss it. The fact that "ghost" is a fairly open idea that could be a lot of things makes it easier to refrain from having a definite opinion.

I do know several people, who I consider to be sensible and reasonable, who have had experiences they considered to be somehow ghost related, and having heard them I found several fairly compelling.

So I guess I am a sort of open skeptic.

Yes I do. I had an experience where both myself and my DM saw a white figure move across our lounge.

I also lived in a house that was definitely haunted. The previous tenants confirmed the strange things I had experienced had happened to them.

@Spied what happened with this non human/animal creature?

I’m sceptical. I don’t really believe but the supernatural scares me too - will try not to read the stories but sometimes I can’t not 😫

Saying that, I’m generally not a believer but there’s been odd weird things. My beloved grandpa died last year. I’m not sure if my was my mind playing tricks or not but a few things happened. But not enough to actually make me believe. I believe the mind can play tricks on us when we are most vulnerable.

It was things like feeling a presence but I have always been scared of my own shadow.

A chair got slightly pulled from under the table and made a noise against the floor but again it could have been the dog somehow. I think was actually before my grandpa died though.

I never pull my curtains shut (I have blinds and curtains) but woke up to my curtains shut but my partner probably shut.

Random light turning off by itself - electrical fault?

Tv turning on by itself - that’s one thing I don’t know. The remote wasn’t even working at the time so not sure how it happened.

A week after my grandad died it was driving home in terrible weather. Thick hail that was all over the road on an already dangerous windy narrow road. The sky was very grey but a tiny bit of light shone through and I felt safer.

Not enough to make me believe though. They could be explained by other things.

The only very very odd experience I had was many many years ago. I was living in a flat with my young DS as a single mum. The flats were quite old and probably historic. Whilst bathing DS I was sure I seen a man walk through my hallway. I was having issues with his dad at the time so thought my ex had got in but the door was locked. It was probably just paranoia but it was so vivid. The other thing was that the flats coincidentally had links to my sons dads ancestors - they built and owned the flats back in the early 1900’s (complete coincidence) What I saw looked exactly like my sons dad and they all did look alike. His dad had passed on a few years before. Still not enough for me though!

I was going to say I don't know but I must as I've seen one in my house who walks in the front door and along the hall and through thr wall. Happens maybe a few times a year.

Some really interesting replies, I'm enjoying reading them! Thank you

I'll share mine now I'm comfortable that not everybody will think I'm a nutter

As I mentioned in my OP I'm more sceptical than not, but there have been a few things that I couldn't explain.

About 5 or 6 years ago I was stood in the doorway between my living room and kitchen talking to my then partner. I heard a bang behind me in the living room so turned to see what it was and saw one of my dogs toys 'floating' mid air at about 5ft before falling to the floor. The dog was in the kitchen with my ex, both in my line of vision when I heard the initial bang and there was nobody else in the house.

Another time, I was coming down the stairs at different house and black 'mist' type apparition passed infront of me and into the kitchen before completely vanishing.

I've had a handful of dreams come true which may just be coincidence but the accuracy was remarkable, for example I dreamt that my ex partner cheated and got somebody pregnant. There were no signs at the time so I had no reason to suspect it. Intuition or foresight, who knows!

The post above about the little boy jumping on beds is actually quite sweet.

I've also had the misfortune of encountering a strange creature that was neither human or animal

I'm so intrigued by this, what did it look like? How did you come across it?

@hammeringinmyhead this idea really, really intrigues me

I have never had any encounters, but I absolutely believe in ghosts.

@Iwantitidontwantit please tell.ypur story

I think most of what we think of as ghosts can be scientifically explained, even if we don't fully understand the science yet. Things like dodgy wiring, gases, even materials that can hold and play back energy on a loop. But then there are experiences that people go through that can't be explained and it does make me wonder.

Had an experience one night there that made sure I was a firm believer from that point on. It was not fun and I've never been so scared. Still cannot quite believe that I believe tbh! Messed with my head for some time after.

Can you tell us what happened? If you feel comfortable of course

I say I don't believe as I can't get my head around the science of why there would be ghosts but it still doesn't stop me having an uneasy feeling, disliking mirrors and never switching the lights out before I am under the duvet.

What YesItsMeIDontCare said

I believe there is something, a spirit dimension say. But I don’t see any evidence it’s actual dead people.

I believe there are angels, and therefore maybe demons too. And they would have the ability to know stuff we don’t. I don’t know much but, having lived in a country where people were very into the occult, I would never mess with that side of things.

I have seen quite a few and while I most of the time haven’t been frightened when I have seen them, I still get nervous that I will see one unexpectedly.

I’ve been seeing/feeling them all my life.

My brother does too.

It’s not a big deal. They never try to hurt us. They’re just a bit lost.

There’s absolutely zero proof or evidence for it so... yes, I predict more people will believe in ghosts around here than anywhere else.

I’ve never seen anything myself however - my best friend, who happens to be the most sensible, normal, pragmatic person in the world moved into her dh’s mums house a few years back, after the dm had died.
It’s a lovely house but bf just didn’t feel comfortable there, understandable of course but she couldn’t shake the feeling that her Mil’s presence was somehow still in the house and it would never feel like home. She decided to go to a highly recommended psychic to see if she picked up on anything or to try and set her nerves at rest. Had never been to one before and she was highly sceptical but felt she had to do something as it was starting to affect her relationship. She gave a fake name over the phone and the lady lived a good drive away, so no way the woman knew anything about her. As soon as she had started the psychic said “I know you said your name is Annie (I’m giving fake names of course) but I have your MIL here and she says your name is Lucy”!!! She then went on to say some completely random stuff that no one could have ever guessed, one of which was “and MIL says to tell you it’s ok, you can throw away those old floral curtains”! Bf was completely gobsmacked as she had only been saying to her friends how she felt guilty getting rid of stuff, especially the floral curtains that had been in the living room as she knew her MIL had spent a lot of money on them!

Although I’ve never believed in stuff like this I do believe my friend 100% - I’ve known her since we were babies and she is just not the kind of person to lie or make up stories.

They actually sold the house last year mainly due to my bf still never feeling comfortable there!

I firmly believe that I saw a ghost in the house we lived in when dd1 was a baby. So yes, I believe.

@BubblyBarbara

There’s absolutely zero proof or evidence for it so... yes, I predict more people will believe in ghosts around here than anywhere else.

Do I think that people believe they have seen ghosts or otherwise seemingly unexplained things? Yes, of course.

Are there actually ghosts? No, of course not.

Shocked, 58% believe in ghosts. WTF!

The older I get, the more I think it’s time slips - glimpses into activities that have happened or are happening somewhere else along the timeline. Sounds a bit daft, but I know what I mean.

No