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Philosophy/religion

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See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Have you ever seen a ghost?

323 replies

BCBG · 10/02/2015 21:16

Serious question - have you ever seen a ghost? If so, why are you certain about what you saw? Could it have been a natural phenomenon? I ask because something I saw is preying on my mind. I was driving through a village on the East Sussex border one afternoon last year, thinking of God knows what, radio on, when all of a sudden the car filled with the smell of fuel (which makes me feel ill ). I then realised a plane was flying very low left to right across the road, so low that I thought it would crash. I couldn't see any markings on the plane but I remember the shape very clearly. I don't remember whether or not there was any noise, but I was so shocked I brought the car to a standstill and looked back across the road. I realised that to my right the land fell away very sharply, so it would have been possible for a plane to fly over me and then clear the trees heading off over the valley (i think) except that I couldn't see any plane. I honestly stood there and listened for an impact. I could still smell this incredible odour of aviation fuel (like when you are crossing the tarmac sometimes on a small airport and the wind catches you, only much stronger). Never thought about ghosts before, but I still wonder what exactly I saw that day.

OP posts:
BertrandRussell · 12/08/2015 20:59

Homeopathy, anyone?

TTWK · 12/08/2015 21:01

I have seen a ghost. I am uninterested in the opinion of anyone else.

No you haven't, and I am uninterested in your opinion that you have.

That was a good debate.

lordStrange · 12/08/2015 21:02

Lemoncream I didn't say that it was a dead man, I just said what I saw.

And lol at bloke in our garden faffing about and then vanishing into thin air.

TTWK · 12/08/2015 21:04

Homeopathy, anyone?

Don't start that lot of loons off, ffs! LemonCream, you and I have got our hands full with the bloody ghost brigade.

TTWK · 12/08/2015 21:06

And lol at bloke in our garden faffing about and then vanishing into thin air

But not quite as lol as a bloke coming back from the dead to appear as a vision to you.

BoffinMum · 12/08/2015 21:10

I have seen a ghost twice.
I do not believe in ghosts.
Ergo I think it is something explainable that we can't put our finger on yet; not the dead returning.

IonaMumsnet · 12/08/2015 21:12

Evening all. The Ghost of Threads Past here. Admittedly, this undead thread (started six months ago) is pretty spooky in itself, but could we ask everyone to be naice, please? We obviously don't expect folk to agree all the time, but this is 'religion and spirituality', so we think it would be polite to be civil and respectful of the opinions and beliefs of others even if we don't share them. Thank you!

scatterthenuns · 12/08/2015 21:13

That was a good debate. Grin Grin

lordStrange · 12/08/2015 21:14

TTWK why do you think it's a dead man though? You make that jump, I have not. in fact, I don't make that wild leap.

It is interesting though, that people 'imagine' or in some ways experience mysteries anomalies that are unexplained.

raffle · 12/08/2015 21:16

The other day I caught the tail end of an interview on Radio 4, where they spoke with a very articulate and clever sounding lady. She described the wide held belief of 'Jinn' in her culture.

I think it was that everyone is assigned a Jinn at birth, it's a ghost that can be good (or not).

Like I say, I only heard a bit of it. But I wonder if any MN women have a Jinn, and if they might speak more convincingly on the topic?

LemonCream · 12/08/2015 21:22

Respectful = having high regard for something.

I am expected to have high regard for this stuff? I am afraid I don't.

Why do we think it's OK to tell other people what they should have "respect" for?

TTWK why do you think it's a dead man though? You make that jump, I have not. in fact, I don't make that wild leap

So, you posted on a ghost story thread about seeing a perfectly ordinary man in a garden?

Come on please.

ThroughThickAndThin01 · 12/08/2015 21:31

Not even respectful of mnhq eh lemon now there's a surprise.

AlanPacino · 12/08/2015 21:31

It's a bit like UFO's, the ufos people see tally with mass media portrayals of the time. The ufos people see now are 21st century looking whereas the ufos people saw in the 60's were very much in keeping with the look of 60's tech. Why hasn't anyone reported seeing neanderthals/prehistoric ghosts on this thread? Why is it largely Victorian? Also it's mainly human ghosts? At what point in our evolution were we able to exists as just spirit after death? Are there ghost amoeba? Can't see ghost bacteria being made into a blockbuster anytime soon!

ABTwife · 12/08/2015 21:34

I just don't understand why IF there was an afterlife and certain souls were able to 'cross the divide', why would they bugger about pushing things off shelves, turning lights on, appearing in gardens or giving people a vague sense of unease in a property?.

If 'spirits' could visit here, why wouldn't they impart important information? Or offer absolute proof of their powers? Or just pitch up without any vagueness and say 'it's me love, I've got LOADS to tell you'.

LemonCream · 12/08/2015 21:37

I admit I get pissed off on these threads. I admit I get testy and a bit sarcastic.

But I have tried polite explanations for phenomena...over and over again. Doesn't work. There is no polite way (seemingly) of telling someone that something they believe to be true is not. Whether that's their god, their dead Granny's spirit or their miraculous homeopathic cure for piles.

The very fact that they are challenged is taken as "rude" and "bullying", no matter how nicely and reasonably it's phrased.

Are we saying that rationalists are not allowed to say anything at all? Are we all so bloody childish that certain topics are off-limits because our little feelings cannot bear to bear to be hurt by other people's opinions?

People, if you simply cannot bear to hear another viewpoint or have your "experience" put under a microscope then don't talk about them on a PUBLIC thread. Stop trying to manipulate what other people say by whining that you don't like it.

No one has been called names on this thread.
No one has been bullied.

It IS largely women who buy this nonsense. Why? I don't know. I suspect there's some bonding stuff going on, shared experiences and so on. Reading out horoscopes is a surefire way to get all the other women in your environment talking...unless I'm there and refuse to indulge, in which case I'm "rude". Rude for point out the fecking obvious!

So, no, I don't think it's just about intelligence - although I think that plays a part.

IonaMumsnet · 12/08/2015 21:38

LemonCream, we understand your point but with things like religion and spirituality we think really, everyone has to agree to disagree, or where would we be? The thread is being rather derailed by folk who, by their own admission, have no interest in the subject matter and regard is as woo. Which is fine, obviously, but surely easier just to hide the topic, no?

DioneTheDiabolist · 12/08/2015 21:39

Lemon, as a feminist I believe that sexism is incredibly damaging to our society. Indeed there is much research and literature to back this view. Therefore I will question and challenge sexist posts. Of course you don't have to respond to my questions or challenges. I am aware that others think differently and believe that sexism is the natural way of things.

TTWK, so some of the women in your office talk about horoscopes and the men are indifferent. What of it? Should women have to consider the reactions of men before they start a conversation? Do women need a man's approval in order to make their conversation worthwhile?

As for your assertion that men "are more logical thinking", what are you basing this on? What does that even mean?

And I get that a "cringe" is never comfortable, but that doesn't make it harmful.

lordStrange · 12/08/2015 21:42

Lemoncream for me 'ghosts' do not = dead folk visiting.

It was not anything interactive, I could not have stepped the 10 feet between us and said hello. It was some other thing. My family encountered this chap separately to me. I don't know what it was. Telepathy? My family all dissolving into woo?

Unless we all decide that everyone who has encountered something outside of 'normal' is unhinged, under some influence, deranged, then what is it?

ThroughThickAndThin01 · 12/08/2015 21:42

I admit I get a bit testy and a bit sarcastic bhahahhahahaha. You're right there, apart from a bit^ lemon*, and now you're attacking our intelligence. Splendid.

ThroughThickAndThin01 · 12/08/2015 21:43

Oh bollocks got my * and my ^ mixed up, perhaps you are totally correct about my intelligence, or rather lack of.

LemonCream · 12/08/2015 21:44

If I die and then realise that I am, you know, still here know what I'll do?

Find the nearest scientist and tell him/her. No mirror messages written in steam, no wobbling the curtains and making him/her feel chilled...I shall communicate the extraordinary information that I have somehow survived my own death.

Why do no ghosts do this? Is the afterlife so dull that all they can do is leave cryptic clues that make it look as if they may/may not be there?

They can switch lights on and off, manipulate the temperature, appear fleetingly and ambiguously to material eyes even though they themselves are immaterial, scare animals and babies and make people "sense" things before they happen.

But they can't find away to communicate with a scientists and demonstrate the truth of themselves?

Do me a fucking favour.

ThroughThickAndThin01 · 12/08/2015 21:50

Yes lordStrange that is our experience too. There was nothing interactive about it at all. What happened followed the same format with all of us. The ghost/vision just does what it does.

MistressMerryWeather · 12/08/2015 21:55

Why do people who don't believe in ghosts always seem so pissed off?

Start a thread about anything paranormal and there will always be at least one poster who comes along to angrily tell everyone how wrong they are.

BertrandRussell · 12/08/2015 22:10

I'm not angry. I am sad though. I just can't understand why people just refuse to use their brains. Why, if something slightly unusual happens, do some people leap straight to the paranormal- completely bypassing all rational explanations? The noises from the piano down thread are a case in point. Why on earth would that be a ghost, not a rat, or the piano contacting as it cooled or the house shifting or something?

MistressMerryWeather · 12/08/2015 22:19

Why do you care? I am genuinely confused as to why it's so important.

Lots of people believe in lots of shite.

They always will.

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