I believe that, "Some people believe in ghosts." The belief suits their understanding. It doesn't suit my experience of the world.

Belief, like beauty, is in the mind/eye of the beholder. We see what we want to see, and often, what we expect to see -- or have a need to explain/catagorize. There's no arguing with beliefs. By nature they cannot be proven. Believing is a decision made by an individual, often with subtle coersion to conform to a group's beliefs. Many religions *require* unsubstantiated beliefs. In some ways we also *believe* an accepted consensus about what we call facts -- a color, the meaning of a word, the origin of the Earth...even ghosts. We know a little, and we extrapolate a lot. We're probably guessing/gambling more than we realize.

I love Lars' story about his young brother. Children younger than the age of reason draw their own conclusions as they seek to understand and master their world. Young children believe they are omnipotent, but also know they are dependent; they need a safe family unit. Kevin was certainly protecting his! (I found it very helpful as an adult to re-examine internalized beliefs that were based on Child Think.)

"I believe that some people believe in 'ghosts'. The belief suits their understanding. It doesn't suit my experience of the world.

...........We 'see' what we want to see.....Most religions *require* unsubstantiated beliefs."

Very well said.

Of course. We have one staying with us; we know her name and her (unfortunate) life story. She’s not threatening or scary but simply IS. Our grown son is the only one to have seen her, but the rest of us have seen and heard many things she has caused to happen. Once in a while a verbal discussion in our house ABOUT HER will result in immediate unexplained noises/activity. It’s almost comical.

DH was an absolute skeptic prior to her, but he is a strong believer now.

I have had a few experiences that, in absolutely no way, can be explained. Things disappearing and then reappearing, for example. Absolutely. No. Other. Explanation.

I've not seen a ghost, but certainly have witnessed her work. And I know it's a "her" because someone who grew up in the house stopped by in later years and, after me giving him a tour of the house now, gingerly asked if I'd ever noticed anything weird. Um, yes! He knew her name and had looked up her history in the town records.

I was a skeptic until these things happened and gradually, finally, had to give in and believe. Now, do I think that ALL similar experiences are ghosts/poltergeists? No way. But for me, I don't doubt those experiences at all.

I have never seen a ghost, don't know for sure if they exist, or not. I know people who say they have seen ghosts, and they're very believable people and stories. I've experienced some strange things myself that I couldn't explain, but never actually saw anything.

One of the scariest things that ever happened to me was when I was a teenager, and was exploring an abandoned school building with others. No one wanted to go up to the second floor except me and another girl, because the steps were in bad shape. When we got up high enough to see down the hallway, the doors to every room were partially open. Suddenly, the first door on the left slammed shut ! This was on a still, hot summer day with not even a slight breeze blowing. I have no doubt those doors had been standing open for years. This was a school in the country in the middle of nowhere, no one around.

I do believe in evil spirits. If ghosts actually exist, of course they would wear clothes. Why wouldn't they ?

I do believe when we get to heaven we will see our loved ones, whoever that is, and I see nothing absurd about that.

I do believe but I am sceptical about the claims of ghosts who do damage or hang around for a long time.

I didn't until it happened to me. Reposting:

"Posted by rob333 (My Page) on Tue, Oct 31, 06 at 9:56

As many of you already know, I think the house I lived in Shelbyville was haunted. The previous tenants left in the middle of the night, leaving their belongings in the rooms and even in the washer and dryer. One day, we awoke to brown ooze coming from the ceiling all the way down the middle of the house right with no leaks and no water sources. I'd always felt watched in the front bedroom which eventually ended up being the nursery. One night, near the end, I was getting more and more agitated with whatever lived there besides us, I told him to leave my son alone... moments later, LF tripped getting into his toddler bed. He had a shiner from the short one foot fall! Earlier in the day, I asked LF why he was acting so off kilter and his (eyes) dimmed, a serious look came over his face and he said, "They're chanting for us to get out". He meant it too. I'd never talked about it in front of him, ever. I'd made certain not to do it, and a two year old saying chanting, what the?! Where had he heard that word before?! No way. So after that day and his shiner, I told that spirit to leave, never to bother me, him, or anyone else ever again. As I lie in bed drifting off, I felt someone standing behind me. I never turned around to look I just said, I told you to get out! A flash of light out the back window and it felt different. There were no roads, driveways, or any other reasons for the light. It was an old unused pasture. I did find out later it might have been the location of an old train station. Who knows?"

"I've never had an experience with a departed person who manifests themselves after death, but I don't categorically dismiss the possibility that it happens."

Exactly my own thought. Though I have no personal experience, I've heard accounts from a couple of extremely reliable sources.

My husband and I bought a house that had been in his family since the late 1600’s. His great uncle had recently passed away in the house. The house was mishmash of several buildings placed next to each other. To say the house was a disaster would be an understatement, no heat or power on the second floor, tiny rooms cut off from each other, the bathroom was in a shed attached to the house, etc.

At night, we would hear all kind of noises and doors slamming. I attributed it to the poor condition of the house. When I was alone in the home, I always felt like there was presence. I used to talk to it and call it the Uncle’s name. We often had house guests comment they felt like the home was haunted to the point where they refused to visit again even for a few hours.

We lived this way for 4 years and finally renovated the home. Immediately after the reno was completed and the construction crews left, the late-night happenings increased. By this time, I was beyond perturbed. I was eight months pregnant and had lived in the home while it was being renovated. The night happenings were interrupting our sleep. One weekend DH and I were sitting at the kitchen table in a daze. I was exhausted and had reached the breaking point. I was crying and went on a tirade speaking directly to the uncle and berating him for the shenanigans and demanding he leave us alone. My husband thought I had gone around the bend. Late that night we heard one extremely loud slamming door and never had an issue again.

I never saw an apparition and to this day am a skeptic, but I often wonder if our house was haunted.

I absolutely believe.

No.

And LOL at that TikTok video. TOTALLY staged.

Anybody watching Ted Lasso?

When asked if he believed in ghosts, he replied ”I do. But more importantly, I believe they need to believe in themselves.”

Yes and no of course.

Sometimes I believe and sometimes I don't. Mostly I think that our fabulous minds can imagine a lot of things especially after little sleep. For example when becoming a new parent or something like that.

I've had three experiences where I have seen a person who then promptly disappeared but I still attribute it to mostly my imagination.

I even attribute the voice telling me I will be all right when flying out an open window of a car window and skidding along the grass to my imagination although it didn't sound like me.

The drunk driver in the other car died and everyone else in my car was hurt. I was not even bruised and so lucky. Imagine being lucky because I had no seatbelt on and apparently could fly and land well. Crazy world I live in sometimes.

Darn right I do. What Lars witnessed, the testimonies of millions including the ones on this thread, and what I've encountered is all I need as proof. My encounters were multiple and real and with total awareness, and with the ability to duplicate one experience a second time with forethought. But never in nearly 5 decades have I been able to do it again.

It was an out of body experience twice awake, standing up and drug and alcohol free. I was able to move through a wall but not my physical body. I heard blind people could sense objects close up and wanted to see if I could sense the wall before touching it. It was pitch black in the hallway and I gently place my fingertips on the wall and then very slowly moved my body and head forward eyes wide open and at a point I felt my fingers behind my head, but now my nose hits the wall and a fail. When I went through the first time I freaked and pulled back. I thought about it for a while and decided to try it again and was able to repeat it. This time I was taking detailed mental notes including the exact time on a white illuminated alarm clock in the next room, 2:12 am. I could see everything in the room including the weeping willow tree branches through the window blowing in the wind illuminated by moon light. when I first moved through the wall I could feel a disconnect from my physical body and after about 10 to 15 seconds something wasn't right and felt the presence of others trying to pull me deeper into the room and in a panic I pulled back. This was scary and had a bad feeling, the same we've all have when walking into a dangerous situation, realizing it and backing out quick.

Above is fact, what I theorized is it's some sort of different dimension possibly in a slight time difference in the same space, or whatever. After the fact I should have checked the time inside the room but should of could of. I'm completely speculating now but think it's a realm we move to when we die where a guide or guides take us to our final destination, and where people with great reluctance to follow stay to become the ghosts we think of now. I had a living body to return to, but when the body dies there is nothing to return to so others move forward.

I've had near 50 years to replicate the experience without success, but believe there is a path in and out. Those trapped in the realm may have had hundreds if not thousands of years to find a way through, but I also think they need a living host to stay. Please take caution when talking to ghosts, but what ever you do never ever let them convince you to follow them. Their reluctance to stay may be for love, hate or revenge, I don't know but they all want to return.

In the darkest of night try what I did if you like, no one's watching and if you bump you nose no one will know. but if your succeed and return you'll understand that awareness doesn't end after death, and when I die I'll have a guide someplace.

Elmer: It's a failed attempt by someone who likes to be snarky toward me and insult me...

Elmer, I certainly hope it failed to insult you as that was never the goal. I have no enmity toward you nor any desire to insult you. I accept that we see things differently and often disagree. That's absolutely fine. I respect your choices and the confidence with which you express them.

But I find the, shall we say, "edge" in some of your statements off putting. I often SOB rather than say anything. But in this instance, since someone else noted it, I thought I'd answer their question with the way I saw it. You can dismiss my remarks as horse hockey, or you can take a look at them and maybe gain some insight into how others might perceive your comments. If there is a gap between your intent and others perception of it, then that might be something to consider. I know I often find your stated intention to be far different from what my experience of your comments is. I'm sure some of that is me. But then again, when others experience it too, it can't be all me.

IAC, peace be with you.

I too want to say no. I am not a superstitious person or anything of the like. I did, however, live in a house at one time that had some strange goings on. Doors that opened a shut repeatedly for no apparent reason. Stem glassware that was found broken in the morning with stem and bowl both sitting upright on a counter. A phone that was unused for days had it's stretchy cord pull straight out from the wall on a 90° angle and snap back as if someone had just let go of the cord. I could find no physics that explained any of this. I learned years later that there had been a murder in the house shortly before I moved in. There was evidence of bullet holes when I inspected my bedroom wall.

I have had no other types of experiences.

Re ghosts wearing clothing, my brother, DH and his mother have all sworn to have seen the ghost who occupied the old house here. I never saw her nor experienced her. But they all described her as a mass almost like a concentrated mist. My MIL said it looked pinkish to her so she named her Pinky. The old house was built some time after 1790 and we know people were born and died in the house over the centuries, so who knows who might have a reason to hang around after death ... if you believe in such things. But if so, no clothing involved as there was no real body either. Only a visible mass.

@yeonassky, YIKES...so glad you made it through! I've heard others talk about "the voice" you mentioned.

I agree with you, Annie Deighnaugh. I have been married to an Elmer for 40+ years and have learned to tune him out when he tries to make his opinions prevail, because of course, to him, they are unequivocally correct.

For this online Elmer, I can SOB, which is much easier. 😁

<We 'see' what we want to see>

You can speak for yourself but not for anyone else. I certainly have seen a lot of things that I did not want to see and never wanted to - they just happened, and I had no control over it.

One can only speak for one's own experiences - not for anyone else's.

I'm not religious, and so religion has no influence or effect on my perception.

You may be a radical empiricist, but that does not mean that everyone is or that that is the only valid philosophy.

Empiricists tend to think that they are right and everyone else is wrong - like most Western (Abrahamic) religions.

I dont particularly belive but i dont deny ghost experiences that others have had. one friend must be very open because he’s had many encounters.

i do doubt encountering ghosts in dark scary settings—- why should they hang out in spooky places? that i expect is the power of suggestion.

Some of you seem to be attributing phrases to me that were said by someone else. I quoted those words because I generally agree with the sentiments that other person expressed. The words and what was said were from her, not me.

As far as trying to make my opinions prevail, no. That's a common response from people who don't like experiencing their views being questioned or hearing a different perspective. It's not a personal attack or challenge. Some people prefer (or can only tolerate) conversations where everyone has the same opinion and nothing but agreement and concurrences are expressed. Sorry for those who feel that way.

Sometimes the projection is simply stunning!

I think "someone", a guardian spirit? was looking out for you yeonassky.

I've lived over 20 years on the farm that has been in my family's name since the late 1800's. If anyone would be visited by ghosts or abducted by aliens it would probably be me and it hasn't happened.... yet!

My cat on the other hand sees ghosts - and talks with them on a regular basis.

I have certainly relied on my "guardian angel" as I've learned over the years that she's reliable. I've regretted the times she's shouted at me and I wouldn't hear her, and have always been glad when I've listened. She helped me through my most recent health issues with DH, she helped me prepare me for my Mom's passing, and she assured me that Dad would not die of lung cancer. She's always been right and has never let me down, though, alas, the reverse is not true.

annie, you stole my expression!

I have repeatedly stated about that elusive truth that exists in its truest form right in the middle. The real weight of truth is rarely anywhere to the right or left, but right there between.

There is a reason that most ghost encounters take place in the dark of night. That is when we are at our most defensless and when we have been the most vulnerable over the course of human evolution. In the dark, we can imagine all manner of things. That is the most scary time.

There is a reason why you must be in a dark room in front of a mirror when you summon Bloody Mary, as per the childhood story. Of course, it has to be in the dark.

My oldest grandson who is now 9 was enamored with ghosts and spirits when we was little and more than once when he was too little to lie, he told of seeing things,and claimed that someone was following him when he got out of bed in the night to get into his parents bed. He was young enough to not be scared of it and told it as a matter of fact.

His father tells him that it is his dead grandfather who, tragically, died when grandson was about one year old. Just watching over him, he told him. His house is the house that is frequented by the spirit of Mr Brent who was the previous and only other owner. It is somewhat of a tongue in cheek joke but things do happen and I have seen them happen.

That is also the reason that all of these ghost hunter programs have them going into these places at night. Without that fear of what lurks in the darkness, the program would be much less exciting. We are all afraid of the dark. It is part our ancient brain. And, who knows what lurks there in teh dark? Our fears are in that dark, for one, and that fear is a powerful entity that can do all manner of mostly evil things.

I did experience one that took place in the middle of the day,in England.

I also "believe" "We", my family, have a guardian angel. It/he doesn't stop us from getting into situations, it/he just helps with the outcome. My grandmother lived with us when I was a teenager. She and I had a conversation along these lines, as she believed and had dire warnings to pass along. She lived to be 96 years old. I consider her to be someone who had "knowledge" and had experienced things.

I once worked with a lady who said she could see dead people. ? She said there was a tall skinny woman following me around. Yeah....I do think that's sort of comical....yet....my MIL could be described that way. I'm open to the possibility is ALL I'm saying.

I'm on the fence about this one.

Re: ghosts in the dark, the story that makes me kind of believe in their being some sort of after life beings happened mid morning in the bright sunlight. My mom's long time companion dog passed away while all the family was visiting. My young nephew who is on the spectrum, started running around the room and pointing and jumping on furniture as it he were following something in the air around the room. When I asked what he was doing, he said he was following Dudley's soul before it escaped and asked if we couldn't see it.

I don't believe in ghosts myself, but it doesn't bother me if other people do, so long as they don't try to "prove" it. Just enjoy your experience.

I do not believe any sort of existence after physical death will ever be accepted on a scientific basis. It just won't.

But I do accept that "love never ends" ... and perhaps that love can manifest in infinite ways. It amuses/pleases me to think of my late MIL as my daughter's 'guardian angel'. Daughter has always had extraordinary luck, so I picture my MIL holding her hand and guiding her to good things. But I don't think/demand that it be "real."

I think we're more likely to delude ourselves in the dark so that's why odd things seem to happen more often then. How many times have we seen something in the dark that turned out to be only the way our shirt was thrown over a chair. But a bud of mine says his husband saw a ghost in their LR early in the a.m. My MIL also claims to have seen pinky during the day. So whatever "it" is doesn't seem to care day or night. If whatever we see is dimly lit, it would be more visible in the dark...like meteors and northern lights. But we also rely so heavily on our vision that we automatically feel more vulnerable in the dark. I also think that weird things can happen to us in our sleep/dream/wake cycle which occur more often in night, such as being paralyzed or hearing voices or sounds and such.

I believe there are things that happen that we aren't capable of understanding. I don't usually talk about them, because I am not interested in whether or not someone believes what I am saying. I have no reason to lie about them.

When we bought the place on the bayou, we waited until our daughter graduated from high school, to move there. Meantime, I took my horses down there and went every day to see about them.

One day I was going down there to mow the grass. I took a couple of Dr. Peppers. We had built a building to hold tools, Jody's shrimping gear, etc. In it was a refrigerator, and we went down there on weekends to work and cook out. The first thing I did when I got there that day, was clean out the refrigerator. There was nothing in it except some condiments like mayo, mustard and salad dressings. I put one of my Dr. Peppers front and center on the top shelf, and went about mowing the grass.

When I came in, hot and thirsty, and looking for something to drink on the drive home, I went to get my Dr. Pepper. Not there. I thought well maybe I had taken it out and set it on the picnic table. I looked. Not there. I looked all around. Couldn't find it. Kept going back and looking in the refrigerator. Not there. I gave up and drove the 20 miles home, thirsty.

The next day, I went back down there to finish mowing. I brought two Dr Peppers. Opened the refrigerator to put one in it....there, front and center was the Dr Pepper from the day before.

This was a very rural area. The door to the building was locked when I left.

This happened several times when I lived there. It got to the point that if something came up missing, I would look and if I couldn't find it, just give up....usually it showed up in the spot where it belonged in the next day or so. I referred to it as the "poltergeist". However there is a name for it. It is called Disappearing Object Phenonomen.

Another example. I bought several packages of Frontline to flea treat the cats. I believe it was five or six. Fairly expensive. I ordered them from Amazon or eBay. I opened the box and it was on the kitchen island. Later I looked in the box, and it was empty. I asked Jody if he had done something with the Frontline. He said, "It is in the box on the island." No it wasn't. We looked everywhere. Couldn't find it. Jody put the empty box in the trash, and I burn the paper trash, and it was burned.

We never did find it. Even years later when we moved, I always thought about the Frontline packages....and it never showed up. I sincerely believe if we had left the box on the island, it might have shown back up in the box. There is no explanation for what happened to it.

Then there is this. Most of you know that I took care of a sick friend for 8 years. I had gone to see about him and he was in bad shape. I promised him I would take care of him until he died. He looked so bad, that I thought it might be a few weeks. He lived 8 years. And I was with him every day...often multiple times a day...even sleeping on his floor a few times, and with him when he died. He had severe emphysema....chain smoked to the end, alcoholic, refused to see a doctor, because the doctor had fussed at him for still smoking. Hadn't seen a doctor in 15 years, was not on oxygen, and didn't leave his house the last four years of his life. I say all of this to tell you how dependent he was on me, and how close we were.

Many times we talked about death. Many times, I asked him, if he could, to please send me a sign after he died. Something specific....not birds, butterflies, found coins....not to make light of those who find comfort in those things, but I wanted something specific. He told me he did not believe in an afterlife. When you are dead....that is it.

He ignored me for awhile but finally said he would. I think he just wanted to shut me up about it....but I reminded him every now and then.

After he died, I dreamed about him several times. The dreams were vivid and just like he was there....but I realize that could be a figment of my imagination. In one dream, he called me on the phone, and asked me why I didn't come to see him any more. I hated to tell him....not only that he had died, but the niece that he couldn't stand was now living in his house. But, I did tell him, "Ken....you died." He sounded incredulous....he said, "Are you sure about that?" It was like I was telling him something that he had no idea about.

I didn't dream about him for quite awhile after that, but then I had a dream where he said he had something to tell me. And I woke up. I was so aggravated that I couldn't go back to sleep and maybe find out what he was talking about. I got up, and walked around the foot of my bed. On the floor was the letter K. It was about 12 or more inches....made from dozens of little drops of water. There was no water in the room and no one home but me. Jody was on the tow boat, gone 3 weeks out of the month. I wasn't at all surprised. I knew if he could do it, he would. I took a picture of it, and lost it when I lost my phone. I did share it with one person, and she said she has it among her pics "in the cloud" and will look for it.

My husband died in March. He had a lung disease that got progressively worse over time, and as time went along, it began to worsen quickly. Again, I asked him, to please send me a sign when he died. Something specific, that I would know for sure. I mentioned it to him several times and each time, he said he would.

After he died, I only dreamed of him once. The night after he died, I dreamed about him. He kissed me, but said nothing.

A few days after he died, my niece sent me a clip. It had his name, the year he was born, the year he died, and the sentiment, "Your wings were ready, but my heart was not." I didn't even know what kind of clip it was....but I found out it was a visor clip...to go on the sun visor of your vehicle.

It was on my kitchen counter. A couple of days after receiving it, I thought, I should take it out to my truck and put it on the visor. I couldn't find it. I looked everywhere. I thought it might have fallen off the counter and got batted around by the cats. I looked under furniture. I looked everywhere. I feared it had fallen into the trash and got taken out. I even considered buying another one....in case I ever saw my niece again....I hated to tell her I lost it, if she asked about it.

But I didn't. Just never got around to it.

Six weeks went by. I had forgotten about looking for it. I decided to go to the thrift shop in Lufkin. I had indigestion, but I knew I had a bottle of Tums in my truck, so before I went in, I looked for them. It has bucket seats, and I thought it might have fallen between the seat and the console. I got down and looked under the driver's side seat. Not there. I went around to the passenger side and looked under the seat.....there they were, so I took one of the Tums and went in the shop. I came out about an hour later. I opened the door on the driver's side to set my bags in....and there on the floor was the clip, in plain sight. You may think I had put it in the truck and forgotten about it. I hadn't. If I had taken it to the truck, I would have put it on the visor. Also, I go somewhere almost every day in that truck. Plus, I vacuum it out about once a week because we have very loose sandy soil here. It wasn't in the truck. It wasn't in the truck before I went into the shop....I had gotten down and looked under the seat for the bottle of Tums...but it was there when I came out.

The day before had been an especially bad day for me. I had cried most of the day. I truly believe that was my sign from Jody. I can tell you that it has made a big difference in my life. I am still sad. I had to put down my favorite horse a couple of weeks ago, and I lost my oldest dog the next day. A lot of sadness in my life, but I believe.

Marilyn_c - sorry you have had so many sorrows at the same time. I wish I could say something to help. I believe you because I have had similar things happen to me at three different houses. I just say to DH that the gremlin is back. I think he thinks I am losing it but doesn't say so out loud.

Thank you, caflowerluver. I will be okay. I have had to put down 3 of my horses since March. In the next week or so, I will be putting down Snoop, Emery's friend. His arthritis is worse and he is developing heaves, which is COPD in horses. He is 34 yrs old, and has had a good 4 yrs with me, but Emery is very closely bonded to him, and my other horses are too rambunctious to be a companion for him. I am looking for another old horse that might need a home and be suitable for Emery....as much as I hate to take on another old horse.

Jody kind of laughed about "the poltergeist" until it happened to him a few times.

*******

I used to house sit for month at a time for a friend, when she went on vacation. She told me her house was haunted. I didn't notice anything strange until one day I was standing in the middle of her living room.

A framed picture of her and her husband was sitting on a chest right inside her front door. It literally flew across the room, as if it has been thrown hard, landing right at my feet. I told her about it ...she said, "Yes, that's the ghost."

She later killed her husband....but that's another story....and her family asked me to stay there because they were afraid his friends night retaliate. So I stayed 5 months.

The only strange thing that happened then was a couple of months later, blood bubbled up in the grout in the tile in the hall, where she had shot him and he bled out. I was there when the crime scene was cleaned up, and I thought it was strange that some blood bubbled up in the grout, but it wasn't much, and I thought....well, maybe that is a possibility.

I'm sorry to share something that is so awful and morbid, but that is the truth.

I do not believe in ghosts. i do understand the phenomenon of bereavement hallucinations. It's well-known. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29757086/

My parents' dog was a pug named Dukie. My dad died in a hospital, and on that day Dukie stared at my dad's bed--in their house--and howled. Pugs, to my knowledge, are not noted for howling, but Dukie howled over and over, refusing to leave the bedroom. My mother said he kept her up all night.

Two years later,, my mother died in her bed with Dukie curled up at her side. It was a peaceful passing, but Dukie woke and seemed agitated. Later in the day, he stared at one of the living room chairs and howled over and over. He was elderly and unwell, and I had planned to give us a couple of days to comfort each other before having him put down and buried with my mother. But after a sleepless night with Dukie's non-stop howling, I took him to the vet the next day so he could be with his beloved mama.

I have no doubt that on both occasions Dukie saw what the rest of us were unable to see.

And while I'm on the subject of dogs, two of them, years apart, came to me in dreams to say goodbye before I knew they'd died. Our three-legged (thanks to an irresponsible hunter) collie-shepherd, who'd developed bad arthritis and died from the medication, said, "I have come through the fire. My days of suffering are over."

I do, I have several experiences. I awoke the night my father passed (it was unexpected) with this sadness, enough to wake my husband. I saw my father two days later and he touched me ( I am willing to admit that could be grief induced).

I also have seen and heard a ”child” in my over 100 year old home and my animals have reacted.

Long story short....there was a feral cat that I watched over and fed and provided as much shelter as I could for him. He would show up at times covered in ice or having been injured swollen and bleeding. He was amazing that he recovered somehow. He finally got to where he would let me touch him on the ears. He went on like this for years. He would come on to the front porch and if the door was opened he would sit right there and look in through the storm door.

I had not seem him for a good long time until one day there he was sitting and staring in at me. But, there was something different about him that I just could not describe or pinpoint. He looked me righ in the eyes and I but turned away for a second and he was gone. He did not wait to be fed like he used to. He did not just retreat a bit away . He was gone. I have not seen him since.

I have always felt that there was more to that encounter.

I nicknamed him "Boo" because he would just suddently be there, so his abrupt appearance would not have been all that unusual. But, there was something really different about this time.

In my imagining I think that he had come to say goodbye. I still think of him at times.

Sometimes at night after I get into bed, I feel the mattress moving down by the foot of the bed as if a cat is settling herself in that spot. Only thing is, there are no cats in the room. Sometimes it's so strong that I actually turn to look and see, but there's nothing there. My imagination? The mattress settling after I've gotten into it? Who knows, but it's not every night...just sometimes.

I think it is interesting how organic shapes of nature, such as the leaves on a branch or a dark patch of growth or something mysterioulsy seemingly moving in the distance can produce illusions that we are apt to believe are something else. It is my experience that this has happened to me around the time of dusk when there are shadows and those things can look like something that they are not. The sinister shapes that one can encounter on a dark path through the forest is the stuff of the old fashioned childrens tales. Think about Hansel and Gretel.

I remember one dusky evening on a chilly winter day I was walking on a wooded path down by a stream. The sun was almost ready to set.

Down the path towards me came a big dog all by himself. There was something about this dog that, to this very day, gives me the chills. It was as if he were almost not a part of the world around him. He looked as if he was fearless. He scared me and I made quick haste to get away up the hill towards home. He did not scare me by his being a loose dog. It was his demeanor that scared me. He looked to be a german shepard.

Of course, it is easy to say that I was projecting a fear that I had on to the dog and giving it attributes that originated from me . That would probably be true. I understand that, but still cant shake that feeling.

I suspect that some of the stories that folks tell about encounters have origins much like that.

Likely that the dog had just gone for a walk by himself. There was no one around. The way he progressed forward as if he was not really of this world. It was eerie.

Sometime these innocent encounters and unfamiliar organic shapes can make us see things.

Maybe one reason that it resonated so strongly with me is that a dog figures highly in one of my worst nighmares that I have had. There are a few nightmares that do still reverbrate around in my mind and have for years. and the one with the dog was a dream of dying.

Whether you think you encoutner "ghosts" or not it is interesting that our brains percieve and process these things. It is an interesting subject aside from the sensational, very interesting.

I had several dreams about Ken, but the last one was when he said he had something to show me and the letter on the floor. After he passed, seems like I could sense that he was near me sometimes. I can't explain it....so I don't try. It just was.

In one of the dreams I had about him, I was laying in a hospital bed. I knew that I was dying, People were standing around my bed on both sides. I don't recall that I knew who they were. Ken was at the foot of the bed. He turned and walked out of the room,

Then my dream switched and I was walking down my driveway at the bayou. Ken had given me his truck and it was parked alongside the driveway. Between the mirror and the glass on the driver's side door, were three sheets of notebook paper folded in half. It was from Ken. He always wrote on notebook paper in pencil. I started reading it and he was apologizing for leaving the room when I was dying. He said he couldn't bear to watch. Then I woke up. I didn't get to finish reading the letter. He was a crew chief on a B52

bomber when he was in the Air Force. He had read every book available on the Battle of the Little Big Horn, and could talk about that for hours. One time in the library, back when you had to sign a library card to check out a book, I looked at many, many books in the non fiction section, and his name was in them all. He was a voracious reader. I used to read a lot of true crime, but I would lose interest when I got to the court room chapters, so I would give them to him to read and he would tell me about them. But he finally said that he couldn't read any more of them. It was too depressing. When it was time to put his cat down, he couldn't do it, and I had to. So it in my dream it was not unlike him to not be able to stand around and watch me die.

He always kept a loaded .45 revolver under his pillow. It wasn't to kill anyone, but himself, if he felt he had to. I knew about it and I never tried to talk him out of it, because I knew he wouldn't but he needed the security of knowing he had that option, I couldn't take that from him.

After he died and I called his family and the police and the coroner came, I told them about the .45 under his pillow. They acted like it was a big deal. I don't know why. He was dead....it wasn't like he was going to shoot anyone. His sister, who lived next door came....but none of the rest of his family did. I stayed until they took him away.

Our brains are marvelous things and can create all kinds of perceptions for us. If anyone's ever read any of neuroscientist Oliver Sacks' accounts of the people he's encountered in his work, they'll understand that.

carolb_w_fl_coastal_9b How does that explain several people seeing and hearing the same thing at the same time ? Can you have a group hallucination ? I can believe a person alone could possibly imagine something, but I don't understand how several people could do it at the exact same time.

As I said in my earlier post, I've never seen a "ghost", and I don't ever want to, but I try to keep an open mind.

A few weeks after my mom died, I had an experience in my apartment. It was a 2 bedroom, and the 2nd bedroom was empty except for a dresser. I collect perfume, and one of the bottles was on the dresser. I came in one day and the bottle was on the floor. I didn't think anything of it as the door had been open, and I had cats, so I figured one of them had knocked it over. I put the bottle back on the dresser, closed the door to keep the cats out and went on with my day.

The next morning, I go in again and the bottle is on the floor again. I still didn't think a ton of it - figured I had placed it too close to the edge since the door had been closed. So I put it back in the middle of the dresser and left again.

The next morning, I went in and it was on the floor again. By this point I'm wondering if it's my mom teasing me because she knew about my perfume obsession. So I put the bottle back on the dresser, and put a small bottle of the only perfume she ever wore for her entire life next to it. My bottle and her bottle. And I made sure the door was securely closed.

The next morning, both bottles of perfume were together on the floor. :)

FWIW, group hallucinations have been documented, I believe, going back to the Salem witch trials...

If a group of people intend to take a substance to induce hallucination that woud prove the point, but when working staffs and nurses seeing and hearing a spirit in a hospital room, and none of them is hallucinating, then they would come to accept their presence.

There was an interesting segment on the NPR program "Hidden Brain" that I caught part of yesterday on the radio in the car.

They addressed the idea of how our memories and our perceptions are shaped.

They addressed the perceptions of truth as experienced by different people who had been seen the same thing and what they remembered about the common experience. There were many variations of the truth that differnet people remembered.

This is not new. The fact that peole interpret and remember and add weight to any experience in a different manner has been demonstrated many times.

This gives weight to the fact that we are easily swayed by our preconceptions and that we do, to a great extent, tend to see what we want to see or what our brains shape for us to see.

It may not explain all of our different experiences, but it is quite evident that we are easily influenced by many things

When there is a group who experiences a common happening, the logistics get even more complicated.

Our brains really are amazing and they have many powers and influences that we are not aware are at play inside of our own minds.

I plan to go back and listen to this program again.

This has been a field of study for a good long time and there has been much published about this remarkable abiltily of ours to create our own reality.

I realize that this does not seem to explain many of the things that many of us experience. I dont have any explanations for some of the puzzling things that I have experienced but I am willing to acknowledge that fact that there are influences at work that I may not be aware of and they be less than other worldly.

How do we know that some things are real? We dont know.

Carolb, the witch trials were driven by a fervent and dillusionary relegious belief............"nuff said about that! That is a full can of worms, for sure. No mystery there!

I do know that one dog who passed away visited me on my bed nightly because I felt her foot steps. It only happened for a month.

After my mother passed away from lung cancer I was crying on my couch a month later and I smelled a cigarette. Nobody smokes in our house. It was comforting for me.

Believe what you want, if it makes you feel better who can say anything differently?

I used to have three cats and they are all gone now. For a long time after the last had gone on I would still feel when one of them jumped up on the bed. It seemed so real, but it wasnt. Sure that my brain was remembering what was a common occurance. I even saw them out of my corner vision. But, I know it was just memory.