Ghosts

[Linzys]

I have a friend named Hannah who was staying with me last week, and she is very interested in the paranormal, particularly 'ghosts', human spirits. Ever since we were very young, around 7 years old, she has been sharing stories with me about seeing and speaking to the dead, as well as angels and in one instance, demons, or some other sort of small gnomelike creature. To this day she insists that all of her childhood accounts are true.

But this topic is about ghosts. So anyway, Hannah and I went to a couple of local cemeteries last week a few times to record 'EVPs', or electronic voice phenomena (Or ghost voices.) with a tape recorder and take photos with my digital camera. We did pick up some unusual sounds, including one remarkably clear male voice that seemed to ask directly into the microphone, 'Where's Stephanie?' right after I said that anyone who wanted to say something was welcome to do so. Hannah and I were the only (living) people in the cemetery, and it was near midnight.
We also got a very clear 'You're welcome.' from what sounded like a little girl after I snapped some photos and said jokingly, 'Thanks, guys.' We had been paying the most attention to the grave of a three year old girl who had died in 1925.
Many of my photos had bright 'orbs' in them, but I'm still unsure whether they were just dust, reflections or the real thing.

So anyway...Does anyone think that this could be real? That energy, once released postmortem, can stay in one place for a long time?
Can dramatic moments in time repeat themselves forever on another level of energy? Can consciousness continue after death?

Discuss.

 

[Furretsu]

I don't know, but I honestly think all of this stuff is fascinating. Reading your post was enjoyable; are there any more stories like that you have?

 

[Mirry]

I'm very skeptical about the existence of ghosts... there may be something to it, but I'm more inclined to believe that it's just the human brain playing tricks on itself. There are explanations for hearing voices in a cemetery or seeing specks of light in photographs that aren't supernatural.

 

[Linzys]

AuroraKing: I don't have any other stories like this, no, sorry. This was my first time experiencing anything 'paranormal' in nature. Thanks though! :P
Hannah did tell me that three times she has personally encountered the spirits of deceased people, including a brother who committed suicide before she was born.


Mirry: Yeah, there are a lot of other explanations for things like that, and it is always very good to be skeptical, open to the idea of ghosts or not (Although in my opinion, it is good to be open. To be skeptical to the point where you can't be open to any unusual/new ideas isn't much different from being the type of person who is absolutely certain that they always hear voices in static, see 'orbs' and deny the possibility that they could be dust particles, etc.). Most of the time people get too wrapped up in what they want to see, jump to conclusions and end up completely wrong or scared out of their wits over nothing. I am also very unsure about orbs; They are very hard to distinguish from dust and moisture. That is, if they are anything different at all.

 

[J.T.]

Paranormal stuff like ghosts really fascinates me. One time when I was in bed and waking up in the morning, I heard some soft, slow footsteps, like someone was tiptoe-ing across my room. I heard it reach the end of my room, then heard the furnace turn on. Then I heard the footsteps again, this time leaving my room.

Anyway, I think ghosts likely exist, but until I see some real evidence (aside from that incident), I'll remain a bit skeptical about it.

 

[Mirry]

Most of the time people get too wrapped up in what they want to see, jump to conclusions and end up completely wrong or scared out of their wits over nothing.

I agree with this statement entirely; this is the main reason why I am skeptical about these sorts of things. People who go out wanting/expecting to find ghosts are probably more likely to interpret anything unusual as "paranormal activity". If somebody wanted to make me believe they saw a ghost, I would believe them more readily if he hadn't been looking for a ghost, or even more so, if he had never even heard of ghosts before (which is unlikely, but if somebody who had never been introduced to the concept saw a ghost, I would find that rather more compelling :P).

I've heard strange noises in my house before, but it's just the house settling or the ice maker in the fridge turning on or something. Somebody else might think it's a ghost pacing around the house, but if you think about it there are perfectly logical explanations for those sorts of things.

 

[Teh Ebil Snorlax]

I do believe in a paranormal phenomena that are called ghosts, but I don't subscribe to the theory that they're the souls of the dead, because I don't believe in souls. I like to think that ghosts are imprints of people made from energy given off when they die. I don't think ghosts are sentient, they re-enact the last few movements of the person that they are imprints of. I personally encountered what I belive to be two such beings in a castle in the town I live in. The first time I was seven and I went down into the dungeons. I noticed an opening in the wall and climbed up it. I found another cell and then something white 'ran' across the cell, for want of a better word. I fell backwards with fright (my dad caught me) and I was convinced that I had seen a ghost. Only a few months ago, I went back to the dungeon for the first time in seven years, despite going to the castle a number of times. This time something black popped out from behind a wall and (silly me) I fell back in fright once again (this time caught by my 6' 7" friend Eddy).

 

[nastypass]

HEY GUYS

orbs are just bits of dust near the lens :V

 

[Blaziking the God General]

I believe that ghosts do exist. Of course, I'm the one that constantly watches documentaries on ghosts and such, but I think that there are strong enough evidence and true stories that say that ghosts do exist. I actually have met a girl only a year younger than me that claims that she can speak to the dead. It was kind of interesting.

 

[Teh Ebil Snorlax]

And I've met a girl a year older than me who's in love with a bisexual reincarnation of the lust demon Asmodeus, who lives in her bedroom along with a vampire, a banshee, a goblin and a succubus. Age is irrelevant when insanity/attention-seeking is involved.

 

[Harlequin]

No. plz to be stopping dualism now

 

[Pikachu]

Now I'm not really sure if I believe in ghosts or not, but I do think that there is something supernatural out there. I mean, who else would have talked at the cemetery you went to?

 

[Zhorken]

no. It's not terribly believable, there's nothing concrete to suggest it, and I think unfounded beliefs are dumb.

 

[Valor]

The idea of ghosts is laughable.

I don't want my spirit to become a haunting spirit that goes around making vague messages appear, I want to be fucking dead. The fact that anyone can love the idea of being aware for eternity makes me sad. Yeah, no physical pain can come upon you, but emotional pain is so much worse. So no spirits for me, thanks.

I do, however, believe that there is a Loch Ness Monster swimming a certain lake as well as the Yeti and Big Foot.

 

[Corsoth Arcole]

I, personally, don't really understand how anybody can be a skeptic of paranormal happenings. Reports of Ghosts, UFOs, EVP, ESP, examples of Cryptozoology, whatever, go way back in history, and the sheer amount of people who report these phenomena should at least show that the whole idea has some credibility.

I, personally, have never had anything way out of the ordinary happen to me. But, I've heard footsteps in old houses, seen things out of the corner of my eye, and felt inexplicable sorrow when I was walking out of a house from the 1940's. In light of there being no solid evidence against them, and there being the fact that I did see something or other, I'll believe until someone can show me irrefutable evidence that I, and all those other people, didn't see anything out or the ordinary.

 

[opaltiger]

I, personally, don't really understand how anybody can be a skeptic of paranormal happenings. Reports of Ghosts, UFOs, EVP, ESP, examples of Cryptozoology, whatever, go way back in history, and the sheer amount of people who report these phenomena should at least show that the whole idea has some credibility.

I, personally, have never had anything way out of the ordinary happen to me. But, I've heard footsteps in old houses, seen things out of the corner of my eye, and felt inexplicable sorrow when I was walking out of a house from the 1940's. In light of there being no solid evidence against them, and there being the fact that I did see something or other, I'll believe until someone can show me irrefutable evidence that I, and all those other people, didn't see anything out or the ordinary.

 

[Teh Ebil Snorlax]

The idea of ghosts is laughable.

I don't want my spirit to become a haunting spirit that goes around making vague messages appear, I want to be fucking dead. The fact that anyone can love the idea of being aware for eternity makes me sad. Yeah, no physical pain can come upon you, but emotional pain is so much worse. So no spirits for me, thanks.

I do, however, believe that there is a Loch Ness Monster swimming a certain lake as well as the Yeti and Big Foot.

Some people, like me, don't believe ghosts are spirits, I like to think that they're imprints of energy, not sure how they'd work but it feels right.

Also, Nessie, the Yeti and Bigfoot are much easier concepts to grasp than ghosts, they could be creatures that are more or less evolved than some of their relatives. Another creature that may be proved to exist is El Chupacabra, dunno if you heard but a creature fitting the description was chased by two American cops and filmed and scientists reckon it's a crossbreed of a coyote and a Mexican grey wolf.

 

[Vyraura]

Ghosts are as good as religion. Awesome in fantasy books, fucking retarded in real life.

 

[Zeph]

@Vryaura - Sigged. I think.

Now, ghosts. Well. I'm not really too sure, to be honest, but I hate it when I see weird shadow-things out of the corners of my eyes. Now, i know there's a perfectly logical explanation for them, but they still scare me.

Personally, I'd rather be reincarnated than come back as a ghost.

 

[Chimera]

I'm not really sure. I don't exactly believe in them, but I don't exactly disbelieve in them either. Never really experienced anything paranormal... Wish I would, though, since I find it absolutely fascinating. I adore ghosts~

... But still, I'm not sure if they exist or not...