Do you believe in the "paranormal"?

[TinkerbellT421]

Ok, I know odd topic, lol. I was just curious who out there believes in unnatural phenomenons, ghosts, paranormal activity, etc. ? Saw a news cast this morning on our local news station that SyFy is airing an episode of Ghost Hunters tonight which takes place in the Providence City Hall which is believed to be haunted according to some town workers.
Rhode Island is plagued with the beliefs of the paranormal. Hundreds of old buildings, mansions, schools, "Witches Road", yes we have an entire road that is allegedly haunted, it's actually pretty creepy, etc. Got me thinking who else believes in these things, have you ever experienced anything that sent chills down your spine? Were you ever a non-believer until something made you believe? I have my own story, long one at that, so maybe I will share later. But Ghost Hunters, I think that's the show, that is by two guys that live in Rhode Island and well, were actually some local plumbers before they started "Ghost hunting". There's also a couple of phone apps that some friends and I downloaded just for giggles, that pretty much ended up creeping us out so much that we had to stop lol. Anyone have any stories? I thought this would be a fun interesting topic.

[Claudielou]

I watch all the shows, don't necessarily believe. I just think they are interesting most of the time.

[BrerGnat]

No. I think if ghosts, etc. existed, people would see them a LOT more. In my opinion, for the most part, if I (and a majority of people) have never seen it, and there is a lack of actual hard proof that it does exist, it doesn't exist.

Kind of like Bigfoot.

And, to be frank, I don't believe much of what I see on t.v. It's way too easy to "fake" that kind of stuff for television.

[Dulcee]

I've had one experience that I can't explain with "natural" explanations. Before that I was a cut and dry doesn't exist.

I think there is some weight to supernatural ideas, to many people report too many things for it all to be lies. What they are, why they occur, why some see or feel things that others don't, I think science has just yet to figure it out.

[BrerGnat]

I forgot to say, I am not close minded to the idea, though. If I, personally, have an experience, that will be enough for me to become a believer. For now, though, nothing to report.

[forever a child]

I was going to answer "No" but since I believe that Jesus rose from the dead, I guess I will have to change my answer to "Yes"

But I don't believe in paranormal in the manner in which you described it at least.

[DVC2004]

I have to say that I have always been interested in ghosts. I used to watch Ghost Hunters alot, and I love watching Celebrity Ghost Stories on A&E.

My thoughts though have changed over the years. Something happend once when I was younger, but now that I am older I have become skeptical. I still enjoy and appreciate stories, but I am unsure at this point of my own beliefs in ghosts. I don't know! I would love to see one. I am open minded.

At the same time, probably contributing to my current skepticism, my father died when I was 4. I barely knew him, and I remember him but I don't hve alot of memories as you can imagine being 4. I haven't "seen" him or felt his presence, or dreamed about him even in the 31 years that have passed. So I just don't know.

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

Not a big believer usually but my cousin has a house built in the early-mid 1800s in the Garden District in New Orleans, LA. It was actually featured on the Animal Planets a Haunting in an episode called House of the Rising Dead. A cult called the Cult of the Rising Dead was living in the house before she bought and renovated it, plus it originally had slave quarters in the home which she made into apartments for her kids. When they were renovating they found human bones under the floor in the kitchen area. The bones were really old so the coroner didn't really seem bothered. Plus the cult did animal sacrifices in the house. It is legal to do animal sacrifices in New Orleans as long as you consume the animal afterwards.

My cousins have had a few things happen in the house and her dogs often bark at things that aren't there. They also have recordings saying different things. One voice can be heard saying, this is my house. We spent the night several times and only had one instance where something unusual happened. There is a guest bedroom on the third floor with a king sized bed and we were sleeping there. In the middle of the night I felt a dog walking up the middle of the bed but when I rolled over nothing was there. The next morning my mom was telling us that she woke up in the middle of the night because it felt like a dog walking up the middle of the bed but there wasn't one there, so it wasn't just me. Strangely enough, even though it was strange I didn't feel threatened or scared.

I also work in a state building that was a hospital originally and it is supposed to be haunted. It is listed under 100 haunted places in US/Mississippi.

[NJGIRL]

No, I don't believe. With ALL of the shows that are on TV now and all of the "claims" of ghosts by now we should have tons of footage. I take those shows as entertainment, just like the conspiracy shows.

[Ian]

You know I don't really know the answer to this ... I've never seen a ghost or anything I'm willing to classify as "paranormal", but I have seen/heard some odd things in my life that make me wonder.

One thing I can tell you for 100% certain ... I had a friend growing up who's mother had some sort of precognitive ability. I witnessed it firsthand too many times not to believe in it. The day before the Challenger disaster I've never seen anyone look as pale and upset as she did. She kept saying all day long that she knew something horrible was about to happen and late in the day she looked me square in the eye and said, "Ian ... I just know something bad is going to happen in the sky tomorrow. Something terrible." I was thinking plane crash when she said it, but that next day I knew exactly what she had been worried about.

And there were more instances just like this one, too. It wasn't isolated. She told me about three days before I suffered a very serious broken leg that I needed to be careful because she had a bad feeling that I was going to be badly injured. Creepy!!

But ghosts and all that? I don't think so. I'm fairly certain that if it was truly possible for the spirits of our loved ones to visit the "real" world they'd all do it all the time. Who wouldn't want to come back and visit their family???

Also, read up on all those shows you guys are talking about. A lot of them, when you dig farther, turn out to be "mockumentaries" where they'll admit in the fine print that the situations are (at best) "re-enactments" of actual events. I.E. they brought someone's ghost story to life.

[DisneyDog]

All I know is that, on several occasions after my dog passed away, I felt an icy cold breeze by my feet when I was drying my hair. Now, I had very hot air coming out of the hairdryer, so the cold air was very noticeable. It was very strange. My dog used to walk around my ankles when I was drying my hair. I am convinced it was him.

[Melanie]

I forgot to say, I am not close minded to the idea, though. If I, personally, have an experience, that will be enough for me to become a believer. For now, though, nothing to report.

[bleukarma]

I watch Ghost Hunters and have actually met the guys before, but it's the only paranormal show I watch. I like how they try to debunk the claims and point out to the people that what they are experiencing could actually be something explainable. The other shows look too fake to me.

I do believe in ghost but I am VERY skeptical. A ghost pretty much has to walk up and shake my hand before I will believe one is around. If fact all of my family and friends swear that the house I grew up in was haunted and I don't think so, I can explain away anything weird.

There have been some places that I get a strange feeling and refuse to walk in though (none of them in the house I grew up in.) One is a room at the "haunted hotel" that the Ghost Hunters threw an event and let us "ghost hunt" on a closed section of the hotel. It was basically a bunch of people walking around in the dark. I didn't think anybody would find anything, but there was one room that I just couldn't walk by it. I got really scared, all the hair stood up on the back of my neck, and I couldn't bring myself to walk by that certain room. I don't know what that is about, but I've had that feeling before in different buildings, mostly old ones.

[TinkerbellT421]

I agree with most of you regarding the shows. They always seem so staged. I've tried watching a few, but just couldn't get myself through them. I have been to the old Fort Adams which allegedly plagued by ghosts of dead soldiers. Granted some freaky sounds and weird things happen when you are there at night, but it's so hard to stay there at night being so creepy, no light anywhere unless you have a flash light. I have searched the typical grace site stories of Emily Brown or whatever her name is over here, nothing special happened. But I will say "Witches Road" is by far WICKED CREEPY! There is literally a HUGE tree that grows out of the middle of the road, unfortunately many accidents have happened there on account of it. There are some creepy stories that have caused the accidents, that if you drive around the tree ten times that a ghost girl pops up in front of you, unfortunately anyone that has "tried" that, has been in crippling or deadly accidents on account of trying it. Google it, it's creepy looking tree. Many old family grace yards from the 1800's line the road. Just creepy. Been there at night, strange noises, etc.

I was never a believer until my uncle bought a house in Chapachet, RI. One of the most "haunted" areas of RI....Most homes and building are owned by the Historical Society. Well my uncle bought that house and that's when I had my worst fears come true. And trust me, my uncle was the most critical believers or anything of the sort. Until one faithful night, when he literally packed up his stuff and left and never went back. And it didn't help that he had a friend come down to help him "fix up the house" well said friend is a fire fighter, ex cop, 7 feet tall and about 400 lbs....let's say he literally screamed like a girl, ran out of the house jumped in his truck and squealed and screamed leaving the driveway. Very strange things happened there. The first time I came in the house, it was so old, that the inside had those old wooden support beams you could see across the ceilings, old well in the middle of the kitchen/dinning area, etc...let's just say I saw the ghost cat, yes a ghost cat, I ran out of the house and said I will NEVER EVER come back here. My uncle didn't believe me until he experienced it himself. Come to find out the house was owned by a man that had three "spinster" sisters, and a cat, not a black cat, but a cat. Per the "spirit" talkers he called out of New York, they explained that "evil ghosts" can make "accidents" happen, but cannot harm you directly, but ghost animals, if they are evil, can actually harm you directly, i.e. scratch you, etc. The ghost stories, are so long and intricate and strange if you didn't see it yourself everyone would just think I'm weird. So I won't bore anyone with the details lol.

[PirateLover]

I do believe in "spirits." I think that most souls pass on, but some, for various reasons, cannot let go. I often think of this notion as it is portrayed in "A Christmas Carol." The lost souls wander the earth, yet are never seen by most. I have never seen a full figured ghost, but I've had a few eerie, unexplainable things occur, and I've seen "shadows." I also have quite a few friends who have experienced similar things. It's funny, because you do find that people kind of walk on eggshells around the subject until they find out you are a believer, because many people hear these stories and think you are crazy. But I can say that I know people from many walks of life that have had supernatural experiences, and none of them are crazy. Well, maybe one of them . I do believe that there is a 6th sense that some people can tap into that allows them to communicate with spirits.

[TinkerbellT421]

It's funny, because you do find that people kind of walk on eggshells around the subject until they find out you are a believer, because many people hear these stories and think you are crazy. But I can say that I know people from many walks of life that have had supernatural experiences, and none of them are crazy. Well, maybe one of them . I do believe that there is a 6th sense that some people can tap into that allows them to communicate with spirits.

Exazctly!! I always wonder if people will just walk away mumbling going "She belongs in the nut house" lol. I once heard that typically children and animals are the ones to be able to see "spirits" because of the innocence. I have researched it for a school project years ago and from what I remember the innocence of children and animals allow them to "communicate" with spirits because there is this open part of the brain that most adults close off. I forget the actual terminology but that was the jist of it.

[buzznwoodysmom]

At the risk of sounding like a crazy person, I do believe to an extent. The first year we were living in our house I saw a little boy running in our house twice. Now our house is only 7 years old, about 3 years old when we moved in so it's not an old house or anything.

A few months after we moved in both of my boys were in their bedrooms and I saw what I thought was my youngest run through our dining room. I called to him because he was supposed to be cleaning his room and getting ready for bed. When he didn't answer I got up and called for him again, all the while looking towards the door to the dining room. When I got up both of the boys came from their bedrooms to see who I was talking to. I thought maybe one of the neighborhood kids was here. We all went into the dining room to find no one there.

Then a few months later. I had youngest DS in my bathtub and was in his room getting his PJs. My oldest DS was on the computer in the breakfast room. From the computer you can see into my bedroom and bathroom straight to the tub. When I was coming from DS's bedroom I saw him running from our half bath, through the foyer, into the dining room. I started fussing because I thought he was running through the house wet, since when I left him he was already in the tub. My oldest DS was like "who are you talking to". When I told him I saw Landon run through the house he said "no, Landon is still in the tub, never got out". Again I went into the dining room and there was no one.

I am the only person who saw this. However, before my "sightings" my oldest son says he saw someone or something going through our foyer into the dining room while he was watching TV in the living room. He was hysterical and wouldn't sleep in his room for weeks because of it. This was like the first month we were living here, and it took over a year for him to feel comfortable in our house because of this. He didn't say it looked like a little boy, just that it looked like a person, but he wasn't exactly sure.

The weird thing is this all took place in the same part of our house. And if you line up the 1/2 bath, foyer, dining room, they all make a straight line. Someone once told me that ghosts can get stuck in one spot, like if the little boy was running and got struck and killed by a car, perhaps he is still running in the location where he was killed. Do I believe all this??? Not completely, but it does make me stop and think.

I promise I am not a crazy person! LOL. I typically think there has to be some sort of logical explination for these types of things, and perhaps there is in my case, but I've yet to figure it out.

[Mickey'sGirl]

I feel a bit silly writing this. I don't know about ghosts, but I do believe in the paranormal. I think that perhaps "spirits" continue to roam for another person's unfinished business. I think my Mom contacted me because I needed her to ... or maybe I'm nuts and that's just what I really want to believe.

My dear Mother died after a horrible illness 3 1/2 years ago. I loved her more than anything, and miss her terribly. My father and I have a very different relationship, and I know that I blame him for a lot of things and judge him for other things, and really don't cut him a lot of slack. This has caused me an incredible amount of stress and worry and guilt. About 6 or 8 months ago I had a dream about my Mom. She was lying in the hospital bed, but it was in a room at my house, and I went in to turn off the light, and she opened her eyes and said to me "Jenn, it's all right. You don't need to come back and turn it on again. Everything is all right now." About a week later I had another dream, where my Mom picked me up to drive me to work (My Mom was completely disabled and had not driven in many many years, and I have not lived at home for 20 years). She also spoke to me in this dream and told me things would be ok and I could do it on my own.

Both of these dreams were vivid, but neither one made me sad (though I am a bit teary as I write about them here) .... it was lovely to see her and hear her voice again, and honestly I woke up with a smile on my face. I have a friend who told me it was my Mom speaking to me to let me know she is still with me and will be there when I need her.

[MNNHFLTX]

As a nurse who dealt with death and dying, especially on an oncology unit many years ago, I have seen too many amazing and mysterious things to not believe that there are things going on around us that are beyond our understanding. So my mind is open to the possibilities. As far as ghosts, I have a mixture of skepticism and belief. Last summer my family and I stayed at a supposedly haunted B&B in Gettysburg where I experienced a very vivid and disturbing dream regarding a ghost that supposedly haunted the room we stayed in, but that could have been the power of suggestion. However, my husband, son and I did all hear strange gunshot sounds reverberating during the night, something other guests also confirmed the next morning. Seems the B&B sits on the historical battlefield and these "residual audio events" happen frequently and with no apparent explanation. So it makes you wonder.

I do watch Ghost Hunters, but don't enjoy as much as I used to. IMO, they've stopped trying to debunk supposed hauntings and seem to want only to confirm that they exist. So I have grown skeptical about some of the results that they come up with.

[TheDuckRocks]

4 months ago I would have said I didn't really believe in paranormal activity, but an experience I had in a B&B in St. Augustine, FL has sort of changed my mind.
We were returning from WDW with my sister and her husband and where spending extra time on a road trip to visit areas we had never been to before. We spent Oct. 30 and 31 at the St. Francis Inn. After going to bed that evening I was awakened every 45 minutes or so all night long. I'm usually a sound sleeper and I would start completely awake with a feeling of unease and sadness, would check my husband to see if he was breathing, listen for any strange sounds that would have made me wake up and check that everything was OK in the room. I would go to the bathroom get a drink of water and go back to sleep, to only have the same thing go on all night long. When I finally got up in the morning I was edgy and near tears and felt it was from not getting a good sleep. When I went into the bathroom to shower and took off my nightgown my whole tummy area was covered in what looked like blood. I called for my husband to come in and see what had happened and why I was bleeding. No cuts or punctures at all, no blood in the bed nor on my nightgown. Still not at all thinking "ghost"! By that time I was full out crying and told my hubby I was going to tell the B&B people we would be leaving early and getting another hotel.
When I went to the lobby the woman on the desk after hearing that very quickly told me they would move us to another room in their second building across the street. Explained to my sister what was going on and went about our business for the day. One of the things we had planned was a Holloween Ghost Train tour. As we were waiting for the train my sister got talking to a young woman and mentioned my discomfort from the night before and she said that our B&B was known for "ghosts" and said we should look it up. Ironically a fellow B&B guest had heard of my experience and was waiting for us when we got back to the B&B with a book about "ghosts" around the country that had a chapter on the St. Francis Inn. According to it the room we stayed in was the path way between 2 other rooms that a pair of lovers, who had both died there, used to go in search of one another. And the woman at the desk was quoted in the book about the fact that they never tell people bout their "ghosts" and they change rooms for people that "feel" any unusual discomfort in staying in certain rooms.
Do I now believe in "ghosts"? I know for sure I don't know any more. Am I crazy? Could be, but I don't think it is because of the "ghost" issue. Just sayin'.