now i am a believer

at around 6am Tuesday morning, i witnessed something in my apartment.  i had just woken up out of my sleep and lay staring at the wall thinking about my upcoming day.  i was going to look at the alarm clock to see if i had any more time to catch a few more zzz's when right in front of me i saw my closet door close all by itself!  my first thought was that i had a burglar who just hid in my closet so i began planning a course of action- i keep a big lead pipe under my bed for just that type of thing and i began plotting the fastest way to get the pipe and attack the closet.  well, then i noticed my cats meowing like crazy and i realized it couldnt be a burglar because they absolutely hate people and run away and hide under a bed whenever someone they don't know enters the apartment.  they are quite paranoid animals.  when i heard them meowing i looked into the living room thru the doorway to my bedroom and saw my cats running around tails up in the air staring at a FOG floating in my living room!  the fog was maybe 6'x10' and was so thick i couldnt make out the clock on my DVD player.   needless to say, without hesitation i woke my wife and immediately started at the closet with my lead pipe.  i turned on the lights- even though it wasnt very dark at all.  no one in my closet and the fog was gone.  

i am very freaked out, but i don't feel threatened.  this is the first time i have ever witnessed anything like this and i am not crazy.  just so you know, my closet door is very heavy and old- it will not close by itself even with a fan blowing hard at it.  it is coated with like 5 layers of paint and i have tried to replicate the closing many times- it simply will not do this type of thing without assistance.  i also have better than 20/20 vision and excellent night vision- but i have already mentioned this was at 6am, not at night.  judge as you will, but i know i saw a ghost. i am now a believer.

just a bit of background info: the apartment building i live in is circa 1920's origin.  i have never suspected any ghostly activity or had any reason to before yesterday morning.  

i too believe in ghosts.my friend in the army...in a barracks in yorkshire, has eye-witnessed the 'cadet soldier ghost' that haunts the building.it appears in a military exercise once, a cadet drowned after getting stuck in a small man-made river they had to cross.how this happened, is a mystery.But this 'cadet' is frequently spotted at night, in one of the dorms, and will sit on the cadets beds.he tries to make conversation to you, which as far as i know is rare in hauntings.when my friend saw this at 2am, he felt he was just seeing things.only in the morning when he questioned the other cadets, did he get an clear and resounding set of answers that there was a young boy who was visiting the room that night or previously.One of the cadets, who saw the ghost was obviously surprised, and reported it.a week later, the ghost was seen again, in the same dorm.it seems, he was looking for his friend who he served with, but didn't find him.Shortly after, the sightings stopped.this is thought to be because the ghost, realising his friend wasn't there accepted this and just left. :s01

this story i know.... (saruman will know because i e-mailed it to him) is alleged to be the only time a ghost re-inactment was fully caught on camera.The story starts in an old house, in the USA. A ghost 'hunter' was investigating a house reported to be haunted.What the man found with his collegues was an amazing, but horrific crime that had taken place in the house.This house was the bigger type of house, rather like your regular mansion style, but smaller.What was witnessed by 3 people was a middle-aged man beating a woman to death in the corner of the room.it is alleged, that these ghosts were a couple who lived in the house sometime early in the start of the last century (1900).The 3, who had full photographic equipment, watched in horror, as the man beat her, and as she desperately tried to escape, he then pushed her hard down the large left-hand stairwell.when the wife landed at the bottom of the stairs, it was clear she had died almost instant death, caused by a severely broken neck.The apparitions shortly, seemed to fade into thin air.The team seeing this event, and obviously stunned, decided to check out the house.Each member of the group decided to check out a room. Amazingly, roughly 5 mins after the original crime, the member in the main entrance witnessed the husband, confused and distraught, hang himself from the balcony.The photographer immediately started taking pictures.He called his fellow collegues, although only one saw a brief glimpse of the hanging before the ghost vanished. After seeing this, the 3 decided that 2 of them would go to find out more info on the house, and that the member that photographed the incident would get the photos developed.What happened next is bizarre and horrifying.The man, excited, planned to drive to the studio, and said he would meet up with the other 2 later that evening, for a possible unveiling.When he didn't turn up, the other 2 were worried, as it was strange for this particular individual to be 'late'.They decided to re-trace his drive home.What was found a few hours later, was the man's car off of a beaten track approx 2 miles from the house.When they took a look inside the car.....to their horror was their collegue beaten viciously, and the supposed camera film tied round his neck.He had been strangled and suffocated and the film subsequently, was wrecked by the daylight. The police were called and the autopsy confirmed the cause of death.To this day, and as far as i know, the murder is still unsolved. Was it the husband ghost who murdered him, in fear that the truth would be known? Was it a random murder by a criminal? or was it a rival 'ghost hunter' or the other 2 collegues, jealous that he may claim the film as his sole solo research? any comments welcome. :s9 :s09 :sd :sf :sh :s07

Well, as far as I know, ghosts can't actually kill people--pehaps they can lead a person to killing themselves, and can cause physical harm, but no more than that. So maybe the "husband" had possessed the victim, and forced him into strangling himself, but I don't know... :s6

Very gruesome story, and it's a pitty the camera was ruined. I'm not too sure that the collegues would've murdered him out of jealousy because they probably would've taken the film, wouldn't they? Maybe somebody was walking down the road, and when they saw the driver, waved for him to stop. Thinking that they were lost or needed a lift, he pulled over, and was attacked.  

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D Schwartz,
Why not try to take photos (digital or otherwise) of the apartment when things are happening or afterwards? See if you can capture anything?

There are different ghost study organisations knocking around. Do your research first before contacting one. Some are a bit dodgy.
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i am studying up on the net for the best techniques for capturing an image or a sound of the haunting in my apartment.  i have several cameras of all types- as i was a photography major in college.  

this is all quite new to me though.  this is the first time ive ever seen anything like this in my life.  i would be what you would call a total skeptic prior to yesterday morning.  had i not seen with my own eyes, i wouldnt believe anyone who told me they saw it.   now i am committed to documenting proof of it so that i don't feel crazy saying i did see it.  i look forward to this as a new opportunity for an unusual hobby.  since i am a photographer and have lots of experience with darkroom techniques, i know what will be required as verifiable proof.  in just the past couple days of researching i have run across tons of what i would say are fake ghost photos.  i want the real thing.  

im just not interested in inviting people into my apartment at this point.  if i were scared, it would be a different story, but i am having a lot of fun with this whole experience.  i find i enjoy studying things i know nothing about, and am even considering checking out some local haunts if i have no luck here in my apartment.  if i have any luck, i will post here :)

[blue]From what I have learned over the years, I believe that most ghosts/spirits/apparitions etc respond to attention from residents. IE. go speak to it and ask it to manifest. You might get some results.
[/blue] :s07

Ghost's can't kill you and they can't  give you the suggestion to do otherwise, but to the guest who posted, even though your apartment complex maybe from circa 1920's that doesn't mean the land can't be older. Many houses (that I have read) state that the houses are either new or ten years old etc. But that doesn't mean that something hasn't happend on the land.

That's just my thoughts.  

guest...good luck with your new hobby. It sounds like you will be having quite an adventure with that attitude.   I have photos of orbs, you might pick some of those up.... and then there are streaks and ghostly mists that I have photographed, too. Since your are a photographer, it will be very interesting to see what you come up with. I hope you will be able to post your pictures here.

Go to old places, places with a history, and cemetaries, churches: they have an energy about them. I take pictures over and over again, in a particular spot, when I get an orb. These orbs move. I didn't believe in ghosts, either, until I had my experience with them.     

Loonboy...how do you know that ghosts respond to attention from people? I think my ghost did.