Ghostly Encounters

[EmoBorg]

Nope. Because the supernatural doesn't exist. The supernatural is what happens before the natural is understood.

Maybe.

But what's the "natural" explanation for this?:

My wife, when she was about 14, was visiting her grandmother's farm in southern Illinois.

One day, at about dusk, she was walking along the gravel road from the neighbor's to her grandmother's. The road dipped down to a small creek valley, where a bridge crossed a shallow creek, then rose again toward her grandmother's.

As she was crossing the bridge, she looked off the bridge to her right.

There, standing right in the middle of the creek, was an American Indian on a horse. The Indian looked her right in the eye, nodded, turned his horse around, and started up the creek. After riding about eight to ten feet, both rider and horse just disappeared.

What's the "natural" explanation for that?

Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and reflected the light from Venus.

Seriously though, the fading light at dusk and light refraction can play all sorts of tricks on the eyes. Maybe the guy was there but actually off to the side of the river.

http://www.moillusions.com/2012/03/evening-dusk-optical-illusion.html

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/scien...anic-Sink-Because-of-an-Optical-Illusion.html

Or it could be memory playing tricks on her and how she remembers the incident.

Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and reflected the light from Venus. ?

I am sorry but that sounds like something that the government says to cover up UFO sightings.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and reflected the light from Venus. ?

I am sorry but that sounds like something that the government says to cover up UFO sightings.

Nothing like responding with another pop-culture reference to maximize confusion.

 

[thestrangequark]

^ Me too.

 

[iguana_tonante]

^Google "hypnogogic hallucination." Your experiences were real. They are also explainable.

How come i don't experience hypnogogic hallucination when i sleep on my own bed.

How come ghosts can't reach you in your own bed? How is that a more likely explanation?

But what's the "natural" explanation for this?:

My wife, when she was about 14, was visiting her grandmother's farm in southern Illinois. (...)

It is wonderful to say "I don't know. I wasn't there".

So you don't really believe that something of us reminds after the physical body is gone.

The soul, the life force or what ever you call it.

Nope. It'd be nice, but I don't believe in it.

Same here.

 

[EmoBorg]

iguana_tonante, so we meet again. The classic iguana versus orang-utan match up.

On the more serious side, this thread is about folk's supernatural encounters or stories that they have heard about. If you don't believe, i am fine with that. You don't really need to post anything under this thread, if you are not a believer. It is for folks who have had supernatural encounters. This thread is for them.

 

[iguana_tonante]

On the issue of believing vs. not believing, I don't believe you have the power to dictate who can and who cannot post in this thread.

 

[EmoBorg]

On the issue of believing vs. not believing, I don't believe you have the power to dictate who can and who cannot post in this thread.

Orang-utan "monkey slaps" Iguana

 

[iguana_tonante]

 

[EmoBorg]

Orang-utan "monkey claps"

 

[Maurice]

I've seen some on-the-surface pretty inexplicable things, but after looking into them they've always turned out to be fully explainable and rather mundane. Your senses and your mind can play tricks on you, and it's easy to mistake one thing for something else.

 

[Shaytan]

Does anyone here have any true life stories about the Supernatural? It could be your own personal story or an account from someone you know.

I'm one of those who don't believe in that but I have a lot of stories. I'm a rational person born in an irrational family.

My mother could talk to dead people in her dreams. My 3rd brother complained several times that there was a strange man looking at him in his bedroom.
The worst case is my 2nd brother who saw various apparitions and various strange "lights".
He told me that he was never able to sleep when he visits our parents house because he could har a weird breath and someone walking in the next bedroom.
For the record, I lived 10 years in this house and the "next bedroom" was my bedroom, I never heard a thing.
He also showed me pictures taken by my nephew where I was supposed to see apparitions. Apparently, I don't have that much imagination, but my nephew might be the worst photographer I've ever met

There are a lot of other things but they would be a little difficult for me to describe in a foreign language (it's already difficult in my 1st language).

I really think that my brother is seeing something but I don't think that's so supernatural. Everything will be explained rationally one day.

 

[Andrew_Kearley]

He told me that he was never able to sleep when he visits our parents house because he could har a weird breath and someone walking in the next bedroom.
For the record, I lived 10 years in this house and the "next bedroom" was my bedroom, I never heard a thing.

Could it just be that you snore and maybe walk in your sleep? Occam's Razor.

 

[Shaytan]

He told me that he was never able to sleep when he visits our parents house because he could har a weird breath and someone walking in the next bedroom.
For the record, I lived 10 years in this house and the "next bedroom" was my bedroom, I never heard a thing.

Could it just be that you snore and maybe walk in your sleep? Occam's Razor.

The night he heard the footsteps, I wasn't there, my nephews were sleeping in my bedroom. They were not awake.
It's a old house, it always makes noise and my brother is rather imaginative
I just wish he never took that so seriously.

 

[Lonemagpie]

Nope. Because the supernatural doesn't exist. The supernatural is what happens before the natural is understood.

The word Supernatural is one that annoys me, insofar as if ghosts/telepathy/psychokinesis/whatever actually exist then they'd still, by definition, be natural phenomena... The opposite of natural would be artificial (or unnatural), not supernatural...

As for whether any of the "supernatural" phenomena exist - well, that doesn't actually matter in this thread, because people *do* experience them, who aren't lying or imagining things - to them it's subjectively happened. Which is all really cool.

 

[Andrew_Kearley]

The night he heard the footsteps, I wasn't there, my nephews were sleeping in my bedroom. They were not awake.

Well, you've only got their word for that. How old were your nephews then?

 

[Shaytan]

2 and 8. They were asleep, my brother went to cheek when he heard the noise. My guess is that it was the old parquetry. Old houses make noise. But my brother being the person he is, it has, in his opinion, to be something incredible

 

[Rarewolf]

I used to have vivid experiences of being pushed around in bed that were rather odd, until I read that it was sleep paralysis. Never happened since I found that out there was a term for it, which is rather disappointing!

Not a ghost story, but I was told a séance story by someone I used to work with, who was a no nonsense woman.

She said that during a séance it was revealed one of her friends would die, due to her next child. Well that was impossible, as result of an operation she could have no more children. She later did die as result of an ectopic pregnancy. Not sure how spiritualism is supposed to predict the future, but its a remarkable coincidence, given that human intervention played no part in the outcome.

 

[EmoBorg]

I used to suffer from sleep paralysis as well. You are awake but you cannot move your body. That was really scary. I was always afraid to open my eyes for some reason.

 

[Mr Silver]

I'm rather sceptical about the "supernatural" - at least what popular culture classes as supernatural. Still, I'm open minded and don't dismiss anything unless there is evidence to suggest that it is impossible. In the scenario of the "supernatural", a lot of it is - as other posters suggested - hypnogogic hallucination.

As for government conspiracies about hiding alien visits, I'm pretty sure the Roswell and Area 51 stuff was nothing more than the US military testing new possible forms of aircraft and not wanting the USSR to find out and try and steal their plans.

 

[Kemaiku]

Nope. Because the supernatural doesn't exist. The supernatural is what happens before the natural is understood.

This.