are ghosts real?

[saucy]

I have a question about ghosts. The bible says that when someone dies, angels come to fetch their souls, meaning that they can't stay behind to haunt things. DO ghosts really exist and how many of you who claim to see them can explain their encounters with something not ghostly?

[pammie]

everyone has different beiefs, some believe in the bible, some dont

[saucy]

wouldn't ghost sightings be the ultimate proof of an afterlife?

[saucy]

I mean, ghosts aren't a belief system. They are just like aliens and bigfoot. Some people claim to see them but when a bunch of people get together to find them, they can't. They're nowhere to be found. I've always had a feeling that ghosts existed, but I've never seen one.

[BabyBash82]

I believe in them..

I've had experiences, and heard experiences from many family members (Same stories, different times from different people, without any public conference to initiate a play-along)

[Permakid]

While I cannot relate ghosts to your faith because I am not a Christian, I certainly belive that ghosts exist and can relay my own beliefs about them. I think that when a person dies, their spirit sticks around - sometimes in an attempt to handle unfinished business, to do the things they enjoyed while living, or to watch over things or people that are important to them.

My personal experiences and those of members of my family have played a huge role in leading me to this theory. I'm talking not just about mysterious sounds, phantom smells and moving objects, but also about various encounters with deceased relatives. If you're interested hearing in specifics, just ask. I don't want to bore anyone with details if they're not important to you, but will happily share if you want.

[saucy]

I would love to hear about any details people have concerning their own experiences with ghosts. I've always been interested in the paranormal my whole life, then I became a Christian and I'm really confused about this topic now.

[GunnerCDM]

Well i believe in ghosts always have most likely always will. if we're going to go into a christan point of view about ghosts doesn't it say somehwere in the bible that we're allowed to come back as spirits or whatever we are by then and roam the earth for a little while?

[DarkSoul Eternal]

I think

Ghosts and Demons Exist

[cablecat]

wouldn't ghost sightings be the ultimate proof of an afterlife?

Not if ghost sightings weren't spirits of dead people.

What about the stone wall theory.........whereby traumatic events are somehow recorded in the walls around us?

[Cufflink]

I know ghosts exist, having experienced many traumatic years in a very troubled house.

I think the question is, what the hell are they? Considering the number of different types of haunting, it could be a while before we have an answer.

[Thistle]

I agree with Cuffs on this one, I don't think the question is really whether they exist but rather what the heck are they?..ie: are they really the souls of dead people or something more mundane that can be explained away through science.

Saucy, you'll find that most of us who have some sort of ghostly experience have already posted it up here......have a trawl through the older threads, you're bound to find something interesting

[Permakid]

I would love to hear about any details people have concerning their own experiences with ghosts.

O.k. but remember you asked for it. Seriously though, the following experiences may seem silly or trivial to others, but are very convincing to me. Sorry in advance for the long post.

You can find a creepy story about my niece in thisthread. Just look for my swimming goldfish.

Also, for more strange happenings in my family check out this topic.

Most of the following ghostly encounters involve my second cousin, Tina, who died in a car accident when I was eleven - 16 years ago. She was about 10 years older than I, and her best friend was my aunt, Brenda (also 10 years older than I and was always like my big sister).

Brenda has a daughter, Krystina, whom she named after Tina. They live in the house where Tina grew up (having bought it from my aunt and uncle). One day, when Krystina was about 4 years old she came into the living room where her parents were watching TV and asked a strange question, "Mommy, where did that lady go?" Brenda had no idea what Krystina was talking about, so she asked a few questions. When Krystina described seeing a woman with black hair in the hallway, Brenda dismissed it as a child's over-active imagination. However, a few days later, while looking through a family photo album with Brenda, Krystina pointed at Tina's picture and said that she was the lady in the hall. She was able to pick out Tina's face every place she was pictured as an adult in the photo album.

Brenda had always turned to Tina for advice. After Tina's death, Brenda would still sometimes talk to her in times of trouble. One afternoon, Brenda sat on her back steps talking to Tina about some serious problems in her tumutuous marriage. She was distraught and lonely, feeling like she had nowhere to turn. She asked Tina for a sign to prove that she was really listening. About that time, she saw a frog sitting on one corner of the patio.

Immediately she was reminded of a time that she and Tina had been driving on a county road near the river and encountered a very strange occurance - dozens of frogs hopping across the road. They had no choice but to drive over them.

Brenda picked up the frog from the corner of the patio and took him into the front yard, gently placing him next to the goldfish pond. Still thinking about driving over the poor frogs, Brenda walked back into the back yard. There waiting for her in the same corner of the patio was another frog. Astounded, she picked him up too, carried him to the front yard and placed him next to the goldfish pond with the first frog. When she again went into the back yard - you guessed it - there sat another frog in the same corner of the patio. She told me that she picked up a total of five frogs like this. If that's not a sign, I don't know what is.

Once, while goofing around with a Ouija board with my friend Kelly, I asked to speak with Tina. The oracle began moving (I was sure Kelly was doing it). I asked if we were speaking to Tina and the oracle moved to "No." I asked the spirit's name. "Alex," was the reply. Oddly when I asked his age, the oracle moved to "0." I asked if Alex knew Tina and the reply was, "Yes." To shorten the story bit, Alex let me speak with Tina. I was still pretty sure that Kelly was moving the oracle so I asked a question I that I knew he couldn't know but Tina would, "What was my great-grandmother's first name?" When the correct answer came, "D-A-I-S-Y," I nearly passed out! A few minutes later, the Ouija board was packed in its box and I have never touched it since. Later that evening, when I spoke with Brenda about our experience, she added another shocking detail - Tina had had a miscarriage (I didn't know about this) and, if the baby had been a boy, she wanted to name him Alex.

My grandparents died in a car accident in October of 2002. I was very close to them. While I have no really exciting stories about their visits, I'm certain that they come to see me while I sleep because their visits are completely different from my dreams. I can't really explain it.

EDIT: changed the colors because orange was a bit hard to read.

Edited April 18, 2004 by Permakid

[saucy]

Thank-you for sharing your stories with me. Some very interesting events have happened surrounding your cousin. I have to admit that my whole life, I've believed in ghosts, then I became a Chrisitian and the bible read that the souls of people are taken up to heaven by angels. That made me believe that ghosts shouldn't exist, seeming as though I've never seen one. Maybe I'll regret it later, but I wish to see an angel or ghost sighting sometime in my life (hopefully when the lights are on and there are other people in the room to share my experience). If there is anyone else who wants to share their ghost story or angel encounters, I would love to hear them.

[chico del nacho]

may be of interest to ya saucy, i'm a ghost hunter. not full time, of course, not enough money in it, least not in my experience. so far from my hunting, i've made a total of zero dollars...

but still, i've been seeing ghosts, or at least what appears to be ghosts, things i couldn't and can't explain, since i was a kid. not especially fun, especially not in my town and especially since a lot of them seem to know i'm easier to contact. lot of suicides here, so, lots of sudden unwanted company.

can't actually think of any smooth way to end this post. so enjoy this kitty

[DeeMarie]

Can anyone relate any Ontario experiences? We are always looking into new locations to collect data.

[spectral]

I think whenever/if ever we get to the bottom of what ghosts actually are (there existence is more or less a given to me) it'wont be one all encompassing explanation. There may be repetative nonconscious ghosts, interacting conscious spirits, residual memory phantoms etc, etc, all sorts of differing phenomena going on.

[chico del nacho]

yeah, you hit the nail on the head there, spectral.

i seriously doubt that there is one all-encompassing reason for ghosts. there's different types of ghosts and i doubt that every ghost exists for the same reason. like, what about the ones that were never alive? where do they come from and why are they even here? etc etc

[saucy]

no offense to anyone, but all the ghost sightings I've ever heard about where white people. Any african american ghost sightings or middle eastern or Asian?

[Cufflink]

no offense to anyone, but all the ghost sightings I've ever heard about where white people. Any african american ghost sightings or middle eastern or Asian?

I know one of the English stately homes has a ghost of a black servant boy. I can't remember which stately home it is, I'm afraid.

[DespondentDave]

wouldn't ghost sightings be the ultimate proof of an afterlife?

Not if ghost sightings weren't spirits of dead people.

What about the stone wall theory.........whereby traumatic events are somehow recorded in the walls around us?

I have to say, that after years of interest in the subject my opinion is that ghost sightings are a mixture of different events that may eventually, one day, be explained by science.

I believe there are different types of ghosts.

1) I believe in the theory you have just mentioned; a form of 'video recording' of someone's movements, that given the right conditions, and a 'receptive' audience, can be replayed.

2) I believe that there are places, ley lines etc, with natural gas seepage, that can produce hallucigenic effects, and make one believe he has seen a ghost; i.e. the Edinburgh vaults.

3) I believe that there are untapped pyschic abilities in most of our brains, that can transmit information in times of trauma, to loved ones; i.e the sighting of a loved one's apparition just as they have died, or been involved in a serious accident.

4) I also believe that unleashed psychic abilities are responsible for poltergeists and such like.

As I say one day I do believe someone will be able to explain all this; I mean if you went back 200 years, and showed someone a TV screen and replayed a video, they'd think it was a ghost wouldn't they? Science is stranger than we know.

One thing I do not believe however, is that ghosts are the spirits of dead people; or any evidence of after life. In fact I feel certain of it; but that is just my opinion.

[DeeMarie]

We have been working on a case over the last couple of years wherein one of the main spirits on the property is a black man dating back to the 1800's in Eastern Ontario. It also appears that the property in question was involved in the Underground Railroad during that time.

[enelya]

I've always believed in ghosts, but the first time I saw one was in 2000 in my old apartment in Montreal, Canada. I saw a woman, and other people who lived with me also saw her on other occasions. Not only that, but we heard laughter, talking, saw things moving (ie, walking past an empty room with a hanging punching bag, hearing a loud SLAP, and then going back and seeing it moving)

Anyway, it was really creepy at the time, and I never felt safe in the house. I'm sure she wasn't evil... I'm just really scared of ghosts.

We only found out after asking our landlord if anyone ever died there, that a young girl who'd had a baby, killed herself in the canal down our street. Later on, we found a picture of her baby lying around on one of our shelves.

Lots of creepy stuff happened. But basically, ghosts are real. If not, then there is a very strange MASS (and by mass I mean MASS) hallucination thing going on, since so many people have had ghostly experiences.

Just my two cents.