Do You Believe In Ghosts?

[Nix]

Random I know, but I am watching a supernatural investigation program on tv and was wondering what people here thought...do you believe? or do you thinks its just all made up?

 

[AndrewCrossett]

Yes, I do believe in ghosts. I've never seen one in person (though I may have heard one), but I have captured some images on a webcam that I can't really explain.

I don't really believe in supernatural investigation programs, though. With the possible exception of the Ghost Hunters people, I think most of those "investigators" would wet their pants and faint if they ever saw a ghost.

 

[sk]

No, I really don't.

I'm a big believer in natural causes for all things.
We might not know the actual cause at first... but that doesn't mean it is some supernatural force behind it.

I mean why would it?
To me it seems much more likely that it is some normal, natural, force that can be explained. We just need to figure it out.

/SK

 

[JCoatsworth]

No, I don't. I think all the stuff about ghosts and all that in those TV programs is either made up or the people who claim to have seen or encountered a ghost are schizophrenic or suffer from some other mental illness, no offense.
I also don't believe there is a god or other supernatural things. I'm not saying that there absolutely isn't, but I don't believe it until somebody can show physical evidence that proves otherwise.
Oh, and photoshopped pictures of a ghost don't count, by the way.

 

[This Year's Girl]

I don't call them ghosts, but I do believe that people live on as spirits after they die. I've been to a psychic who told me things she couldn't possible have known. I've also had personal experience of people I've known who has passed away who have sent me messages.

 

[Blaze]

I'm warning people right away, this post may be a big long.

So I use to 100% believe in ghosts. You see, I use to leave in this very old house, in fact it was the first house built in my town, and it was over 100yo. The town burnt down twice but never that house. We're talking here about beautiful 4000sq ft house all brick, had over 20 rooms, and was split in two so it was almost two houses in one (we opened the second house as an art gallery). Now my parents bought that house and it was mostly closed, the upstairs wasn't being used so they had to renovate everything to re-open it. During renovations I was about only 2yo so I don't actually remember it. Now this is where it gets interesting, for the first month of renovation, my dad use to hear a huge banging noise in the closed part of the house every night around 2-3am. My dad is this huge 300pound 6ft2 guy so you can imagine he is pretty imposing, but he was pretty much scared shitless.

Once the house was all done being renovated, we each moved into our own room but things didn't quiet down at all. At that point I was older so I remember multiple weird things happening. Never anything too scary but we constantly felt a presence in the house. At night we would all hear some pretty clear voices, like TVs were on but they weren't. Both me and my mom saw a little boy walking around the house at night then disappear. We would get no reception in the house in this one single central point but every where else would be fine. Without even telling anyone about this, no one wanted to stay in our house, friends wouldn't ever make it through the whole night for sleepovers. Things would disappear only to reappear months later. None of us was threaten but weird things happening was part of our daily life.

When we finally had to sell it (and I must say we were all really sad we loved that house), we didn't tell the new owners simply because we thought it would be a pointless thing to say, I mean who believe the house would be haunted anyway. Funny thing is we heard a year latter that no babysitters would come watch the children anymore because weird things kept happening at the house. The new owners brought in a medium to exercise the house (seriously) and the medium said there was a little boy and an old lady living there, not bad ghost but ghosts none the less (very weird coincidence here since me and my mom saw a boy). The medium exercised the house and things apparently ended there and I haven't heard about it since.

Now things get even more interesting, I'm currently in University and one of my professor in Neuroscience is known world wide for making amazing discoveries. We had a few lectures on this specific subject. Apparently ghost actually do NOT exist, and there are multiple articles to prove it. Confused? Yes so was I, until he explained it. What happens is that in old houses, or houses built on specific ground, are full of magnetic waves coming from the earth, and because old house are usually badly insulated and made from different material, they are a perfect conductor for those waves. Now what do those waves do?? Well it's simple they strongly activate your temperal lobe of the brain, which is responsible for hearing voices (just like with schizophrenia), seeing things (mostly from the left upper corner of the eye, I mean think about it, if you've ever seen a ghost it was probably exactly in that location). It is basicly that love that is responsibly for any beliefs, weither it be God or ghosts. It is in a way a bit like the 6th sense part of the brain. Some people never see ghost because there temperal love is simply less sensitive then others, some are more prone to see things. Which is even more interesting because I've had a concussion to the temperal lobe and I am very prone to seizures. They aren't the type of seizures where you convulse, but they are called complex partial epileptic seizures. Those are also responsible for phenomena such as deja vu and such.

Another interesting thing is that things seem to happen at 2-3am because at that time our melatonin level if at the highest, this is responsible for our body thinking it should be asleep and if it's not our brain goes a bit nuts and this is responsible for the "muse" apparition in writers in the middle of the night. Same goes for ghosts, weird things always seem to happen in the middle of the night.

So now well, I'm on the fence, things are explained scientifically but part of me will always believe😀

 

[JCoatsworth]

I'm warning people right away, this post may be a big long.

So I use to 100% believe in ghosts. You see, I use to leave in this very old house, in fact it was the first house built in my town, and it was over 100yo. The town burnt down twice but never that house. We're talking here about beautiful 4000sq ft house all brick, had over 20 rooms, and was split in two so it was almost two houses in one (we opened the second house as an art gallery). Now my parents bought that house and it was mostly closed, the upstairs wasn't being used so they had to renovate everything to re-open it. During renovations I was about only 2yo so I don't actually remember it. Now this is where it gets interesting, for the first month of renovation, my dad use to hear a huge banging noise in the closed part of the house every night around 2-3am. My dad is this huge 300pound 6ft2 guy so you can imagine he is pretty imposing, but he was pretty much scared shitless.

Once the house was all done being renovated, we each moved into our own room but things didn't quiet down at all. At that point I was older so I remember multiple weird things happening. Never anything too scary but we constantly felt a presence in the house. At night we would all hear some pretty clear voices, like TVs were on but they weren't. Both me and my mom saw a little boy walking around the house at night then disappear. We would get no reception in the house in this one single central point but every where else would be fine. Without even telling anyone about this, no one wanted to stay in our house, friends wouldn't ever make it through the whole night for sleepovers. Things would disappear only to reappear months later. None of us was threaten but weird things happening was part of our daily life.

When we finally had to sell it (and I must say we were all really sad we loved that house), we didn't tell the new owners simply because we thought it would be a pointless thing to say, I mean who believe the house would be haunted anyway. Funny thing is we heard a year latter that no babysitters would come watch the children anymore because weird things kept happening at the house. The new owners brought in a medium to exercise the house (seriously) and the medium said there was a little boy and an old lady living there, not bad ghost but ghosts none the less (very weird coincidence here since me and my mom saw a boy). The medium exercised the house and things apparently ended there and I haven't heard about it since.

Now things get even more interesting, I'm currently in University and one of my professor in Neuroscience is known world wide for making amazing discoveries. We had a few lectures on this specific subject. Apparently ghost actually do NOT exist, and there are multiple articles to prove it. Confused? Yes so was I, until he explained it. What happens is that in old houses, or houses built on specific ground, are full of magnetic waves coming from the earth, and because old house are usually badly insulated and made from different material, they are a perfect conductor for those waves. Now what do those waves do?? Well it's simple they strongly activate your temperal lobe of the brain, which is responsible for hearing voices (just like with schizophrenia), seeing things (mostly from the left upper corner of the eye, I mean think about it, if you've ever seen a ghost it was probably exactly in that location). It is basicly that love that is responsibly for any beliefs, weither it be God or ghosts. It is in a way a bit like the 6th sense part of the brain. Some people never see ghost because there temperal love is simply less sensitive then others, some are more prone to see things. Which is even more interesting because I've had a concussion to the temperal lobe and I am very prone to seizures. They aren't the type of seizures where you convulse, but they are called complex partial epileptic seizures. Those are also responsible for phenomena such as deja vu and such.

Another interesting thing is that things seem to happen at 2-3am because at that time our melatonin level if at the highest, this is responsible for our body thinking it should be asleep and if it's not our brain goes a bit nuts and this is responsible for the "muse" apparition in writers in the middle of the night. Same goes for ghosts, weird things always seem to happen in the middle of the night.

So now well, I'm on the fence, things are explained scientifically but part of me will always believe😀

That's quite a story. Are there any articles or anything about those "magnetic waves"? From how you told it, I can't really imagine how a house that's built in a specific way could, like, generate or attract those waves better than others. I'd be thankful for more information on that.

This is also a really interesting video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fY2-5Bcgk4

 

[janas]

might be interested to hear what said Charisma Carpenter?

[ame="http://www.metacafe.com/watch/5661636/charisma_carpenter_recounts_her_story_in_celebrity_ghost_stories/"]Charisma Carpenter Recounts Her Story in Celebrity Ghost Stories [/ame]

 

[ILLYRIAN]

Ex ghost hunter here. I've seen them, touched them, so some self professed expert telling people they don't exist is, in my eyes a silly person. From experience the age of a house doesn't matter, although it is a contributary factor. Group of ghosts go from point A to point B, if a housr is built on that route does the house become a haunted house?
Clark Gable once bought a film from the studio before it was released. In the photograph of the cast and crew after the film was completed was his wife, who was dead.

 

[janas]

I'd be interested to know if that interview was made before or after the film Poltergeist was released.

[MENTION=7336]ILLYRIAN[/MENTION]: the site where the video is inserted, indicates this date: Uploaded on December 16, 2010.. therefore, the interview was made after the film Poltergeist was released.

I do not know if I believe in ghosts or not, I've never seen one, but I happened to hear a persistent perfume, which could not be there. In fact it was an essence (which does not exist on the market) and that my grandmother created by mixing various fragrances. I admit that would be my awesomeness (I was just 14 years old) and I really hope it was. Because if the spirit of my grandmother was still "imprisoned" in his house, I think this is very sad.

My mother called the priest and did bless the house ..and I really hope that his spirit has found peace.

In general I do not rule out anything, and I think that maybe science does not yet know a way to tell with certainty if paranormal phenomena exist or not.

 

[Blaze]

[MENTION=7336]ILLYRIAN[/MENTION]: the site where the video is inserted, indicates this date: Uploaded on December 16, 2010.. therefore, the interview was made after the film Poltergeist was released.

I do not know if I believe in ghosts or not, I've never seen one, but I happened to hear a persistent perfume, which could not be there. In fact it was an essence (which does not exist on the market) and that my grandmother created by mixing various fragrances. I admit that would be my awesomeness (I was just 14 years old) and I really hope it was. Because if the spirit of my grandmother was still "imprisoned" in his house, I think this is very sad.

My mother called the priest and did bless the house ..and I really hope that his spirit has found peace.

In general I do not rule out anything, and I think that maybe science does not yet know a way to tell with certainty if paranormal phenomena exist or not.

You can believe me or not on this one but smelling "hallucinations'' are actually quite common, again it has to do with something specific in our brain and our beliefs. It is not rare for people to have those hallucinations about someone that they cared a lot for, but scientific are pretty dam close to actually explain those things, but since they are very controversial, a lot of people chose to not believe it even against strong evidence. But this is also quite good seeing as the best scientist are the ones that doubt the most!

On another note, not exactly on topic, but it still related to "ghost" but instead they hear talk about God, same principle just different apparition, but this site is really interesting, it talks a bit about what I was saying about magnetic waves

http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/brain-religion2.htm

 

[Lyri]

Yes, I believe in ghosts.

That's all I'm gonna say, because the last time this topic came up on the boards, I scared the crap out of one member and she didn't talk to me for three weeks, lol.

 

[Evil Angelus 95]

Yep, I whole heartily believe in ghosts. I've personally never seen one up close and personal, but I've heard things/experienced things that I believe can't be explained in any other way

 

[JCoatsworth]

Ex ghost hunter here. I've seen them, touched them, so some self professed expert telling people they don't exist is, in my eyes a silly person. From experience the age of a house doesn't matter, although it is a contributary factor. Group of ghosts go from point A to point B, if a housr is built on that route does the house become a haunted house?
Clark Gable once bought a film from the studio before it was released. In the photograph of the cast and crew after the film was completed was his wife, who was dead.

Sorry, but that sounds just ridiculous to me. But please, tell me your ghost encounter stories. I'd love to hear them.

 

[Bexieh]

I'd like to say I'm on the fence but really I must believe because I figure if I didn't believe then I wouldn't get so damn freaked out by ghost stories 😛 when I was a kid my friends and I used to go looking for ghosts and we'd scare ourselves silly I the woods, but I know now that was just us and our over active imaginations. The whole thing fascinates me though. But still just reading this thread has creeped me out a bit. I pulled out my headphones while reading because I suddenly became very aware of the fact that I can't hear anything around me 😛 so if I react like that I must believe it I guess.

I can't say I've ever seen anything but when I was an even younger kid, pre-ghost hunting, I would scream and kick up a fuss whenever I stayed at my grans and she tried to make me stay in this one room. Couldn't for the life of me tell you why but it scared me. And then I was on holiday in this creepy old house/castle thing (Landmark Trust's Castle of Park if you're curious) and the bottom floor of it creeped us all out. Even my mam who is the biggest skeptic ever. And the door latch things would rattle in the night. It's probably easily explained but bloody hell, that scared the bejesus out of me 😛

So yeah I think I believe! But than again I'm also just a ridiculous wuss.

 

[AndrewCrossett]

The theories that ghost experiences are caused by geo-magnetism, infrasound and other natural causes acting on the brain are interesting, and a valid line of study, but I think at this point the evidence is not much stronger than the "spirits of the dead" or "psychic recordings of past events" theories. Personally I don't know what ghosts are or how they "work," but I do believe people are seeing and hearing something.

The "natural causes" explanation wouldn't explain why two or more witnesses often see or hear the same thing... because the natural energies in question would affect two people's brains in different ways.

It is, of course, impossible to *disprove* the existence of ghosts. You can't prove a negative.

Lots of ghost hunters are fakes. After the success of Ghost Hunters, TV is now full of shows where frat boys with five o'clock shadow lock themselves in old abandoned hospitals with night-vision cameras and go "Didja hear that? ? ?" every time the wind blows. But, I really do think there's something to ghosts.

Here's my favorite video capture that I took off a webcam I've been watching for years (Ordsall Hall, a medieval building located in Salford in the U.K.):

 

[SinisterPledge]

I don't believe in ghosts, but I know lots of people who do, including my mother. I don't judge those people though, cuz I don't think that's what you should do. Also, just because I don't believe in ghosts doesn't mean I think I KNOW they don't exist. They might very well exist and I'm open to hearing theories etc about it.

I don't like it when people disregard beliefs without thinking for themselves and just being stubborn, refusing to listen to arguments without stupifying their opponents or making fun of them. That goes both ways. I used to be a hardcore atheist, but the way most of them just looked down on everyone who didn't agree with them reminded me of the same people they dispised, namely religious fanatics.

I believe you should always have an open mind to things and respect people with different views.

 

[Blaze]

The "natural causes" explanation wouldn't explain why two or more witnesses often see or hear the same thing... because the natural energies in question would affect two people's brains in different ways.

Interesting enough, the scientist I was talking about is also working on brain communication between people. It isn't related to the ghost thing yet, but 2 scientist were able to communicate literally telepathically with each other and they were about a km away from each other only with a set of electromagnetic wave. That study freaked me right out, the things people can do now! This seems to indicate that sub-conscious communication is possible under the right circumstances. Of course I'm looking into finding the actual articles since without proof it's pointless for me to say this lol

But I do agree, this whole science thing is fairly knew. With all the things that have happened to me, I do still strongly believe in ghosts. Being a scientist, I'm all for proofs but I know they can't prove everything just yet.

I like that picture by the way! I find supernatural occurrences so interesting!

 

[ILLYRIAN]

JCoatsworth, I haven't seen a ghost for almost a year now, so I've only 48 years to talk about which year do I start with?

---------- Post added at 07:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:08 PM ----------

Here's a thought. What came first.
A/ Hey I just saw a ghost.
or
B/ No, ghosts don't exist.

 

[BuffyElevated]

I absolutely, undoubtedly believe in ghosts. I grew up in a house that is thoroughly haunted, and have had many "unexplainable" things happen to me over the years.

I don't believe those ghost hunting shows are real, though. I used to love them, but as it got more and more obvious that they were faking evidence, I got jaded to them and stopped watching.