People who believe in ghosts

[Sheandhercat]

MIL came back from a trip to Edinburgh and told us of a “really spooky” thing that happened that MUST have been a ghost because there’s no other explanation. She was walking in a field, no other people around, and she got a whiff of strong rose perfume. That’s it. She said that plus another occasion where her cat was looking at something on the wall when there wasn’t anything there have her convinced that ghosts are real.

I try not to engage in these conversations with my opinion really because people can believe in whatever they want to and it’s pointless getting into a debate about it, because if someone’s already made up their mind it’s hard to convince them otherwise. But she asked me if I’d ever had anything happen and I said no I don’t believe in ghosts. This lead to a conversation where she just kept saying “well go on then, give me one possible explanation for the perfume if it’s not a ghost!” And I was giving explanations that she just wouldn’t accept. How does someone think it’s impossible that someone was around wearing perfume and the wind was just wafting the smell over, but it’s perfectly plausible and OBVIOUS that perfume has transcended into the afterlife and a ghost is the only possible option?!

even if there was no possible explanation I could think of, I still wouldn’t jump to “it must be a ghost” I’d just accept that I don’t know the answer. I don’t understand why it HAS to be a ghost when it just makes no sense. I’m just curious, how many people actually believe in ghosts and why?

It was a reference to this song, which contains the words "Then I saw her face, now I'm a believer"

www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/monkees/imabeliever.html

Extreme sceptic here, but then I had an experience....

All I will say is that a number of things happened over a period of weeks/months which could not be explained. These things would come under the category 'poltergeist activity', I guess. This kind of phenomenon has been attested for hundreds, if not thousands, of years, btw.

We still live happily in our house and things have been OK for the last 15 years. But I never stay a night here on my own now - I go to a friend with my duvet, pillow etc. And we never talk about what happened while in the house. I say these things to try to explain how powerful this experience was for 2 total sceptics.

It wasn't a ghost - I too have no interest in 'ghosts', whatever they may be. Someone said once 'We don't know whether ghosts exist, but what is certain is that people do see them'. In other words, they may be purely subjective phenomena. I don't think people are necessarily lying about seeing a ghost - it's just...was it all in their imagination? Cases where multiple people see a ghost at the same time are rare, but those are the interesting ones.

I'm still a sceptic and take one hell of a lot of convincing about so-called supernatural happenings. But I've learned to keep an open mind. Some reports are clearly not very plausible while others are really disturbing and very hard to explain.

All I can say is that - there may be things which aren't 'supernatural' at all - we just can't explain them yet, in the way people were aware of electricity before they understood its cause.

Oh right, I know the song, I'm old enough to remember it

Me too, but the sing is from 60 years ago, so I wouldn't expect people younger than me (I'm 72) to have recognised the reference.

I think ghosts exist, we just don't know what they are, so we've given them that name. The unseen world has been scientifically proven through the language and experiments of quantum mechanics. Not enough is known about it yet, but I think, in time, things will be revealed.

People the world over describe the same phenomenon. Some will be hallucinations due to illness, but many aren't.

I never used to believe in ghosts until I saw my neighbour on his drive. He look sad so I nodded to him for acknowledgment but didn’t say anything as he seemed a bit upset. Put my dog in the grooming van at the end of my driveway and thought no more about it. Found out the next day that he actually had died a week before on the Tuesday!!! Oh my word! I have seen another since then, a guy walked behind me in 80s clothing, over took me and crossed the road. He was walking so fast! I watched him because his metal rings on his leather jacket jangled and his leather shoes made a slapping noise on the pavement. I actually watched him walk through a solid blue front door!!! I’ve had other auditory experiences too! Crazy but true! I think after death, we exist in another dimension that is sometimes seen/heard by people in a split minute.

I am a sceptical believer in the paranormal. 99% of events generally have a scientific explanation, but 1% dont, which makes them "paranormal".

I personally have had a few situations that couldn't be explained, but I still don't expect anyone else to believe them!

I don't believe in "God" and im sure many people that do believe have never "seen Him" - but id not say they were wrong.

Sometimes perhaps people are seeking a connection or comfort.

To call someone an idiot for that is a bit unkind.

Not an idiot but maybe not living in a reality.

Science cannot explain everything.

I believe in something, but not sure if its ghosts, timeslips, multiverse, or what.
But i do think that people have seen and experienced things that defy explanation.

I'm 50 - I love that song and the reference was the first thing that sprang to my mind when I read the initial reply! 🙂

I believe in ghosts though I have never experienced anything myself. I grew up in the oldest house in a very old town, the previous owner was the local medium, there were houses in the town she flatly refused to enter due to negative energy but she loved out house and often said there is no way a house that old could not be haunted
I also had a friend who claimed he could see ghosts. He wouldn't tell me what he'd seen but assured me had seen ghosts in my house.
The cats would stare up the stairs as if they were watching someone walk up them when no one was there.

😂

I’ve seen one, so I believe.

I’m a sceptic and always look for explanations for seemingly ghostly activity. However, I have also experienced a number of odd occurrences that I can’t find an explanation for. And things that weren’t just experienced by me but by others also at the same time as me. I think there is still a lot about the world and science that we have yet to discover.

I have had a couple of "very odd" things happen over the years.

My dad was walking up the stairs in his office and noticed a piece of a jigsaw on the stairs. He picked it up and popped it in his jacket pocket. He asked around to see if anyone was doing a jigsaw, but no-one claimed it and he forgot about it. A couple of days later I said I was going to do a jigsaw and he helped me. You can see where this is going...... yes, there was a bit missing and yes it was the bit he remembered he had been carrying around in his jacket pocket for a couple of days.

I am sure there is a perfectly reasonable explanation, I just haven't worked it out.

I don't believe in "ghosts" clanking around in a white sheet and chains, but I do believe there is more to life and existence than we have currently discovered. Electricity existed before mankind discovered it.

Brilliant 😂

Ghosts are a special category - and we'd need to define what we mean by that term. I don't believe in ghosts, but I know that people who see them are not always lying.

But I've experienced poltergeist activity and (as a total sceptic) have seen objects move in front of my eyes - and in front of my husband's eyes). The things I saw could not be explained in normal terms.

We've also had an instance of our daughter ...I don't know how to describe it...'reading my husband's mind'? Telepathy? I can describe it if you like, but it would be a long-winded story. But it chilled us both to the bone, and we're very scientific/sceptical people.

When my DH was dying of bowel cancer he found comfort in things like robins and white feathers etc Maybe there's nothing in it, maybe there is, I don't know, but it's shitty to scoff at people taking comfort in whatever they can when they are facing death and they know it's coming, especially if they are relatively young like my DH (46). Shitty to scoff at people who are grieving who find comfort in those things also. There's a huge amount of emotional pain and fear lurking behind the decision to believe in those things, so if it helps and if it gives comfort just leave them be, it hurts no-one. My DH believed there was something more after death, and he was brave and clever and intuitive. I believe he was right.

I've a had a few experiences I couldn't explain logically but a lot of the desire in people generally to believe in ghosts is ridiculous. I saw a pic on facebook yesterday that someone had posted as "proof" they'd accidentally photographed a ghost at a tourist attraction. I assumed most of the hundreds of comments would be sceptical, but no, even in an era when all of us have digital photo manipulation at our fingertips, most of the comments were declaring it was "definitely 100% a ghost". Even when someone posted another photo from the public domain that had clearly been superimposed onto the pic of the OP's family member, people insisted it was the second photo that was "AI" and the first photo was for real. I guess the desire to believe in ghosts is just very, very strong.

I'm very much on the fence about whether or not I believe in ghosts.

I certainly think that there are many things in this world that we simply can't explain, but for me seeing and experiencing would equate more to believing. So "proof", if that makes any sense.

I've not so far seen or experienced anything paranormal but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist/happen. I have occasionally been places with a less than welcoming vibe about them though, and there are certain places I wouldn't want to be left alone (at night especially) for some reason which isn't always clear.

My DD (27 now) works as a housekeeper in a local hotel which is a very old building and was a 14th century former coaching inn. She says she has sometimes heard sounds like footsteps approaching the door or children running along the corridor shrieking only to look out of the room she is cleaning to find nothing and nobody there. She is also sure she felt someone grab her clothes once or twice, but again, nothing and nobody was there. Others on her team have experienced these phenomena too and some even say hello to their unseen guests.

I've not experienced ghosts myself, but never say never. I live in a very historic small town in Essex which apparently has a fair number of them running about in some parts if various accounts are to be believed.

Whereas I hate it when you tell someone what happened and they try to debunk it, with one explanation after another. All of which you have already considered yourself because you're not stupid and found just don't make sense.

But when you give your detailed reasons why the first explanation they chuck out doesn't work, or the next, instead of becoming thoughtful and curious they get frustrated. In one case, someone yelled "you just want to believe".

I have the same opinion of people who believe in ghosts as I do of those who believe in astrology or superstitions or the concept of heaven.

It was also covered by Smashmouth and featured in the movie Shrek, so it’s pretty well known 😊