Do you believe in ghosts?

Fishie · Post by **Fishie** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 7:02 am

I ask, because the office manager here certainly does. As she was leaving yesterday, she said I was going to be all alone with the ghosts. Our office is in an old historic mill, and the manager claims that she's "seen things". I will believe in ghosts when I see one, and I told her that. She went on to tell me all about her experiences and the things she's seen on TV (and anything on TV must be true!).

I've never heard a convincing ghost story.

Martin Milner · Post by **Martin Milner** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 7:06 am

I've heard tons of good and convincing ghost stories, including one from my own mother who saw her father after he died, but I've never (knowingly) seen a ghost myself.

London is a city with 2,000 years of history, much of it violent and nasty, the sort of stuff that is supposed to create some ghosts. I have several books of London Ghost Walks and stories, and have walked quite a few, but never really felt anything I could point to as ghostly activity.

I prefer to remain open minded about these things. Just because I haven't seen one myself doesn't mean they don't exist.

jbarter · Post by **jbarter** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 7:06 am

Fishie wrote:I've never heard a convincing ghost story.

I have. It's convincing ghost facts I have trouble with.

GaryKelly · Post by **GaryKelly** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 7:20 am

No, but a lot of people around me did back in 1981, on Ascension Island. They had conversations with 'him'. Apparently his name was 'John' and he knew me well. He was 'visting me', he told them.

It didn't seem to occur to anyone until later that new personnel arrived on the Island in 6-monthly intervals, and we were a long way from a turn-around of staff. At first I thought it was an elaborate practical joke, Ascension could be boring before the Falklands War put paid to the 'good old days'. But when friends set an extra place for 'John' at a dinner party I was invited to, and I reacted a trifle badly, things started to get seriously spooky. The story is a fairly long one (including one rather unamusing episode which still gives me the creeps to think about) so I shan't bore you with it here.

Ascension Island's history is rather sad in places. Matelots with yellow fever were dumped ashore at Comfortless Cove, then only accessibly by sea. Marines would lower food to them in a basket, and when a week had gone by without the food being taken, a detachment would climb down the rocks to bury the dead. It was a popular beach during my time there, sheltered and remote, but always eery.

missy · Post by **missy** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 7:21 am

I don't believe in ghosts as in the "Amityville Horror" killing people, blood ozzing, Ouiji board type of stuff.

I think that possibly "energy" - for lack of a better word - of someone or some event can hang around a location long after the fact. And that some people are better attuned to picking up that energy than others.

The Weekenders · Post by **The Weekenders** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 7:22 am

They don't exist for me, but seem to for others. I do however believe in some kind of guiding invisible spirit that protects some. I have three or four times in my life when very peculiar things have happened that saved my life, two times in which another person died or was seriously injured.

PS. The creepiest place I ever visited was that dungeon cell in London near Westminster where the tide comes in and actually floods it a bit. I definitely felt some kinda vibes there. I think its Traitors' Gate.

amar · Post by **amar** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 7:27 am

i wouldn't really say i believe in ghosts...but...as you know, i've been to edinburgh very often, there are many ghost tours in the old town, one is called: city of the dead ( http://www.blackhart.uk.com/cod/tours.html ). the tour takes you to the greyfriar's kirkyard. there is one section there that is padlocked to the public, the Covenanters Prison.

it's, padlocked because since the end of the 90ies strange things have been going on in there...people being attacked by..nothing visible...
anyway, a friend of mine is one of the tour guides, so i go for free.

once, when i took the tour...something did happen, it was quite weird...nothing happened to me...but..here, read yourself, http://www.blackhart.uk.com/cod/2001.html , it's the entry from august 15th.
it was quite weird.

SteveShaw · Post by **SteveShaw** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 7:34 am

A lot of scientists doubt the existence of ball lightning, but I've seen it. Definitely, definitely. Over my house - watched it for two or three minutes before it disappeared over Epping Forest. Large, bright electric-red orb as big as a beach ball, drifting slowly about 100 feet above the ground, making a faint hissing sound and giving off white vapour.

Steve

GaryKelly · Post by **GaryKelly** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 7:35 am

Oh, and my father gave a lift to the Bluebell Hill ghost when he was stationed at Chatham. He saw the attractive young lady 'hitchhiking' in the rain, he presumed, and gave her a lift in his Austin 1100 (my mother still twitches an eyebrow in his direction when he tells the story). She didn't speak, but he was chatting away, telling her he was heading for the dockyard. Turned around to look at her wondering why she wasn't speaking and of course she wasn't there. Apparently he nearly lost control of the car thinking she'd 'fallen out' or something. Drove to the nearest phone-box, called the police, and spent the best part of 30 minutes running up and down the road looking for her until the police arrived and told him "it had happened before" and not to worry about it.

Before I was born my folks lived with my grandparents for while in Deal (also in Kent). My brother (3 at the time) used to complain every night about an old man sitting on the bottom of his bed (my mum swears it was always cold in that room too!).

Hmmm. Come to think of it, too many strange things have happened in my life to poo-pooh the idea out of hand.

djm · Post by **djm** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 7:36 am

There has been some stuff in the news occassionally about subsonics and how they affect the human mind. Several places with long histories of ghosts appearing, or people feeling a presence, or just getting a creepy chill for no apparent reason, have been tested and shown to have high levels of these low level vibrations. I'm afraid I haven't followed this stuff more closely than that, but if you really want to track down a ghost experience you may want to look into getting the area tested for these vibrations.

djm

Tyler · Post by **Tyler** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 7:39 am

missy wrote:I don't believe in ghosts as in the "Amityville Horror" killing people, blood ozzing, Ouiji board type of stuff.

I think that possibly "energy" - for lack of a better word - of someone or some event can hang around a location long after the fact. And that some people are better attuned to picking up that energy than others.

Absolutely! My family has always been big on early American history and has done a lot of visiting of the ghost towns of the nation, mostly when I was younger. There are just some things that you cant explain about those places. The feeling ranges from the slightly odd to the downright eerie.
One experiece I had at Jacob City here in Utah is worth a (brief) note. We had visited when I was about 12 years old to take some pictures for a friend of my father's who has written some books on western ghost towns. The long and short of the experience was this; we heard someone, a man, singing off in the woods close by. It was in another language, scandanavian we thought. We'd called to the person to see if they could give us any more background about Jacob City. If he was from around here he might know some interesting stories, my father's friend had mentioned. The voice continued singing and trailed off.
We thought nothing more, that it was probably just a hiker or something.
Since starting my carreer as an independent media photographer I have tried to amass as enourmous a portfolio of stock photography as I can, and since I had not, until last year, any of old time or western style construction, planned a trip by myself back to Jacob City. I had arrived just before sunup (as sunrise and sunset are usually best for photographic work) and had taken several cards and rolls through the morning. I was settling in for a nap during midday to wait for the evening when I heard the very same voice singing the same tune as I had heared years before. Talk about creep out.
I left, havent been back since.

Flyingcursor · Post by **Flyingcursor** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 7:44 am

As a young lad, we lived in a house where very odd things happened.

At the Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, VA I used to hear footsteps all the time from our "duty room". For the longest time I thought they were from the floor above but discovered the ceiling/floor was too thick and you couldn't hear anything that went on up there.

The "Old hospital", built during the Civil War was supposedly haunted as well.

missy · Post by **missy** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 7:46 am

Steve Shaw wrote:
"A lot of scientists doubt the existence of ball lightning"

Oh, bull! I watched some ball lightening (bright white/blue - size of a beach ball) hover about 4 feet off the ground, pass down the hallway of our house, go through the open basement door, go down the steps, around the corner, and hit my dad in the back of the neck while his hand was on the metal water faucet of the stationary tub. He said it felt like someone hit him with a hammer.

For ghost stories - you can get much better than New Orleans (or Billy, the guide on the Greyline Ghost tour)!

amar · Post by **amar** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 7:51 am

missy wrote:Steve Shaw wrote:
"A lot of scientists doubt the existence of ball lightning"

Oh, bull! I watched some ball lightening (bright white/blue - size of a beach ball) hover about 4 feet off the ground, pass down the hallway of our house, go through the open basement door, go down the steps, around the corner, and hit my dad in the back of the neck while his hand was on the metal water faucet of the stationary tub. He said it felt like someone hit him with a hammer.

For ghost stories - you can get much better than New Orleans (or Billy, the guide on the Greyline Ghost tour)!

what? in the house? you serious? holy cow...

missy · Post by **missy** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 7:56 am

yep - in the house. Weirdest looking thing!

Our house was hit several times with "regular" lightening, too. Dad was an "ham" (amatuer radio operator - 75 foot tower and numerous other wired things in the yard), we had an electric switching station next door, and VOA (Voice of America) towers and the WLW (radio) tower were very close.

Luckily Dad had things grounded well, so no fires, just fried electronics - one time it blew the clock in the kitchen wall completely across the room! The night the switching station got hit blew ME completely out of bed!

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