Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To be really freaked out about seeing someone that wasn’t there??

346 replies

freakedoutseeingthings · 30/07/2024 21:18

My partners mum, step-dad, brother and 2 nieces are on holiday at the seaside so to we took our little one for the a day trip to have a beach day with his cousins today.

As we were driving into where they are staying and my partner was packing I said to him ‘I didn’t know your whole family was here’ when I saw his grandma standing next to his mum. He must have assumed that I was talking about his stepdad as he didn’t respond to it in a weird way/ask what I meant.

Then when we were inside I asked where his grandma had gone and where she was sleeping as they only have 2 bedrooms. Well it turns out that she isn’t there and is at home and I couldn’t have seen her because she’s not there??

What on earth happened?? What/who did I see?? Am I crazy now? 🙈

OP posts:
BikesIHaveLost · 31/07/2024 23:09

Inyournewdress · 31/07/2024 22:54

Yes, but that is science…a scientist is always ready to redefine and change as more evidence emerges. There is no fixed belief, science is infinitely open minded. For example, nothing can occur that is against the laws of physics..because if something is occuring or has occurred, the laws of physics will automatically change to include that. Technically nothing is impossible.

Sure. And once anyone produces any evidence that ghosts are anything more than tricks of the light, hypnogogic hallucinations, nervousnesss, group hysteria, superstition or wishful thinking etc etc, and that Auntie Bea/a crusader has really taken to lurking on the landing, I will be very interested in what emerges.

Inyournewdress · 31/07/2024 23:25

BikesIHaveLost · 31/07/2024 23:09

Sure. And once anyone produces any evidence that ghosts are anything more than tricks of the light, hypnogogic hallucinations, nervousnesss, group hysteria, superstition or wishful thinking etc etc, and that Auntie Bea/a crusader has really taken to lurking on the landing, I will be very interested in what emerges.

Yes quite!

VeryHappyBunny · 01/08/2024 06:09

There have been accusations on here of people being gullible for believing you see people who you know, or before you know, are dead, because it doesn't fit into a nice neat little scientific box. I think the gullible ones are those who believe, without question, everything scientists tell them. They either don't want to, or can't, think for themselves but this is how advancements in knowledge are made. It is only by questioning what is accepted that new ideas emerge. Just because something is beyond what is known to science, doesn't mean is doesn't exist.

We hear all the time that a new plant, insect, mammal has been discovered, it is new to science, it is probably not new to the indigenous people who live where whatever it is was "found". You cannot dismiss something as wrong just because you don't understand it.

The Earth formed over 4.5 billion years ago and humans only evolved less than 1 million years ago and in a recognizable form around 300,000 years ago. It is beyond arrogant to think that in such a short time humans have learnt everything there is to know about every subject. Not knowing or understanding something doesn't mean that its not real or doesn't exist. I don't understand quantum physics, does that mean it doesn't exist or do you believe it exists because scientists have told you so. Realistically we have only scratched the surface in terms of knowledge. Creationists believe that the Earth is only about 7000 years old. That is generally believed to be wrong because scientists have carbon dated things to be many times that old. Logically the scientists are right and the creationists are wrong but scientists are not infallible. No-one was around 7000 years ago who could record anything (or were they). There are so many stone tablets and parchments with writing and messages that modern man cannot decipher which could blow the minds of every scientist on the planet. When cave paintings are explained it is only a best guess based on other cave paintings.

Everyone knows that the grass is green but does everyone see the same colour as green. What one person sees as green another may see as purple or turquoise or any other colour but it is called green because that is the name of the colour of grass. On a clear summer's day the colour I see the sky is called blue, you might see a different colour from me but it is what you call blue. We both see our own version of blue.

Leonardo da Vinci was probably thought of as mad by some when he drew the first "helicopter", he just had to wait for a few centuries for technology to catch up.

Technology moves on because people question what has been accepted for decades, centuries or even millennia. It is only by challenging existing ideas that advancements are made.

Lyraloo · 01/08/2024 08:29

Jenasaurus · 31/07/2024 21:18

On a similar vein this got me thinking back to when I was a child and 3 women including my mum looked the same to me. Curly dark hair same
red anorak, same features all 5ft and same build. One lived in a road off mine the other lived in the same town and all were parents of children in my class. I remember calling out mum to them on more than one occasion if I spotted them at school gates or in the supermarket when I was there with my mum. I was so confused. My mum also looked the double of young queen elizabeth and it was often commented on. Some people have doppelgängers I think x

What! That happen to be with the whole family at a place they were staying at? Where did this doppelgänger go then? That makes no sense at all to this situation!

Henrysotherwoman · 01/08/2024 09:28

My great grandad turned and saw my great gran behind him, but she was upstairs in bed. I believe she died soon after.

Pocketfullofdogtreats · 01/08/2024 09:52

VeryHappyBunny · 01/08/2024 06:09

There have been accusations on here of people being gullible for believing you see people who you know, or before you know, are dead, because it doesn't fit into a nice neat little scientific box. I think the gullible ones are those who believe, without question, everything scientists tell them. They either don't want to, or can't, think for themselves but this is how advancements in knowledge are made. It is only by questioning what is accepted that new ideas emerge. Just because something is beyond what is known to science, doesn't mean is doesn't exist.

We hear all the time that a new plant, insect, mammal has been discovered, it is new to science, it is probably not new to the indigenous people who live where whatever it is was "found". You cannot dismiss something as wrong just because you don't understand it.

The Earth formed over 4.5 billion years ago and humans only evolved less than 1 million years ago and in a recognizable form around 300,000 years ago. It is beyond arrogant to think that in such a short time humans have learnt everything there is to know about every subject. Not knowing or understanding something doesn't mean that its not real or doesn't exist. I don't understand quantum physics, does that mean it doesn't exist or do you believe it exists because scientists have told you so. Realistically we have only scratched the surface in terms of knowledge. Creationists believe that the Earth is only about 7000 years old. That is generally believed to be wrong because scientists have carbon dated things to be many times that old. Logically the scientists are right and the creationists are wrong but scientists are not infallible. No-one was around 7000 years ago who could record anything (or were they). There are so many stone tablets and parchments with writing and messages that modern man cannot decipher which could blow the minds of every scientist on the planet. When cave paintings are explained it is only a best guess based on other cave paintings.

Everyone knows that the grass is green but does everyone see the same colour as green. What one person sees as green another may see as purple or turquoise or any other colour but it is called green because that is the name of the colour of grass. On a clear summer's day the colour I see the sky is called blue, you might see a different colour from me but it is what you call blue. We both see our own version of blue.

Leonardo da Vinci was probably thought of as mad by some when he drew the first "helicopter", he just had to wait for a few centuries for technology to catch up.

Technology moves on because people question what has been accepted for decades, centuries or even millennia. It is only by challenging existing ideas that advancements are made.

DH is a scientist and he would agree with you! He thinks a lot of scientists are closed - minded and only interested in proving their own hypotheses. He's seen them ignore outliers.
Re the colours, I had a friend who had an orange wool coat. She wore it a lot. Then one day she said something about her red coat. I said I hadn't seen it, but she meant the same one. It was the colour of an orange. But it made me realise we have no idea of others' perception of colours.

VeryHappyBunny · 01/08/2024 10:22

Pocketfullofdogtreats · 01/08/2024 09:52

DH is a scientist and he would agree with you! He thinks a lot of scientists are closed - minded and only interested in proving their own hypotheses. He's seen them ignore outliers.
Re the colours, I had a friend who had an orange wool coat. She wore it a lot. Then one day she said something about her red coat. I said I hadn't seen it, but she meant the same one. It was the colour of an orange. But it made me realise we have no idea of others' perception of colours.

Thanks for that, to be honest I was expecting a whole load of invective, but the day is yet young and there is still time.

Nanny1965 · 01/08/2024 11:07

KeirSpoutsTwaddle · 30/07/2024 21:42

The Images we ‘see’ are the brain interpreting patterns of light.

The brain speeds up at the job by using predictive methods, just like predictive text. Your brain sees what it expects to see, a lot of the time.

It expected to see Granny so you did.

Yup that...

Pocketfullofdogtreats · 01/08/2024 13:45

VeryHappyBunny · 01/08/2024 10:22

Thanks for that, to be honest I was expecting a whole load of invective, but the day is yet young and there is still time.

Yeah. You need a hard hat if you post on MN these days.

VeryHappyBunny · 01/08/2024 13:51

Pocketfullofdogtreats · 01/08/2024 13:45

Yeah. You need a hard hat if you post on MN these days.

I've got thick skin and broad shoulders so I can take it. The rest of me is pretty attractive as well.

It is unlikely that the people who spout all the nonsense and make the nasty attacks on others would be so brave in real life if they didn't have the anonymity of an assumed name to hide behind.

Some of the stuff that is printed is bad enough, I dread to think what had been put in the posts which are removed.

CurlewKate · 01/08/2024 14:15

@Pocketfullofdogtreats "DH is a scientist and he would agree with you! He thinks a lot of scientists are closed - minded and only interested in proving their own hypotheses. He's seen them ignore outliers."

Fortunately, such unprofessionalism is caught during the peer review process.

Pocketfullofdogtreats · 01/08/2024 14:58

CurlewKate · 01/08/2024 14:15

@Pocketfullofdogtreats "DH is a scientist and he would agree with you! He thinks a lot of scientists are closed - minded and only interested in proving their own hypotheses. He's seen them ignore outliers."

Fortunately, such unprofessionalism is caught during the peer review process.

What if the peers aren't given all the data?Some inconvenient data can be ignored when the thesis is written up.

BernardBlacksBreakfastWine · 01/08/2024 16:56

Inyournewdress · 31/07/2024 22:54

Yes, but that is science…a scientist is always ready to redefine and change as more evidence emerges. There is no fixed belief, science is infinitely open minded. For example, nothing can occur that is against the laws of physics..because if something is occuring or has occurred, the laws of physics will automatically change to include that. Technically nothing is impossible.

I don’t disagree with this. So, isn’t it possible that, with new technologies and more refined techniques, scientists may be able to properly observe and record phenomena that had not seemed possible before (and had always been dismissed as woo nonsense)? And that the rules of physics would have to expand to account for these new phenomena?

Aren’t there already quantum physics experiments that seem to show matter behaving in ways that don’t make sense in our current systems? Our understanding may be even shakier than we think!

Caroparo52 · 01/08/2024 17:10

My mother said my photo slid off the mantlepiece and the ceilng lampshade started swinging at home at the exact time I was having a 'no anasethic' operation in a Delhi hospital.... she knew did my mother

Cel119 · 01/08/2024 18:26

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

squidgybits · 01/08/2024 18:27

ttcat37 · 30/07/2024 22:21

Keep a note of any similar things happening or anything else odd, with a view to seeing your GP if it continues.

Edited

How very rude

StrikeItMucky · 01/08/2024 18:36

@OiFatArse Lollll
That's a blast from the past 🤣🤣

Lilifer · 01/08/2024 19:09

Did OP ever come back with an update on granny??

Firefly1987 · 01/08/2024 19:11

I used to believe in a lot of woo stuff but never saw anything myself. I would still like to believe. I just think Science has utterly sucked all the magic out of life. And the science-minded people seem to be quite happy about that.

deeahgwitch · 01/08/2024 19:24

Lilifer · 01/08/2024 19:09

Did OP ever come back with an update on granny??

She did.
Granny was alive.
But she might have died since the OP posted the update

ttcat37 · 01/08/2024 19:54

squidgybits · 01/08/2024 18:27

How very rude

How is it rude?

Letmehaveabloodyusernameplease · 01/08/2024 20:01

Lilifer · 01/08/2024 19:09

Did OP ever come back with an update on granny??

Yes, she's fine - for now.

Abitlosttoday · 01/08/2024 20:02

MaggieFS · 30/07/2024 22:57

Boring answer in simple terms... it uses too much valuable energy to pay attention, so our brain constantly makes things up based on learned norms.

Yes, but I don't think it's boring. I 'saw' a cyclist shooting out in front of my car the other day. It was rubbish blowing in the wind but my brain got me ready to react to the worst. It was just filling in the gaps. I often see our cat when he's not there. He's not dying, or dead, just (almost) constantly under my feet so I expect to see him.

Ilovecleaning · 01/08/2024 20:05

Yep, you’re crazy 🤪🤣

Dibbydoos · 01/08/2024 20:13

elm26 · 30/07/2024 21:26

Erm has anyone called his grandma and checked she's okay?!

Don't mean to freak you out but my friend saw her Dad in her living room as she walked in from work which wasn't a shock as he'd been decorating, she walked past the living room door, saw him and carried on to the kitchen to put her bag down and shouted "hi dad do you want a cuppa?" No reply and she went to see him and he wasn't there. She called his mobile no answer, he'd actually had a heart attack and collapsed and died at his house in the morning.

Thats exactly what I thought. My mum sees family members as they die elsewhere in the world.

Disconcerting, but its true.