Ghostly Encounters

[The Castellan]

Well, here's my own encounters.

2010: I was at a barn, and by one of the file cabinets, I saw this figure of a man leaning against the cabinet, elbow propped on the top of it, for just a millisecond, and he was gone. I described this to everyone there a few minutes later, and I described the appearence of the father of someone I know who works at this barn. I described perfectly his build, his clothes, even his sloppily kept hair, and I never saw him, yet I was able to describe his appearence and it matched the guy.

Last year, I was at a rummage sale at the school I went to in grade school during the 80's, and I saw the figure of a woman, in her 20's, sitting in one of the tables...she was actually sitting in the middle of the table, the table top itself going right through her waist, she appeared to try and get my attention and then vanished a moment later. I started talking to the people at the sale, seeing what this could have been, and a few walked to me and said that a girl who went to this school in the early 80's was killed in a car crash in 1992, when she was in her 20's and I began descring her in detail, and it made more sense since her hair and clothes did look like she came from that time period. I than found the mother of this chick at the sale and we went to the where they kept the old year books and I went through them and found the picture of the chick I saw, and I pointed, and low and behold ,there she was on the page, and it was the same person who died in '92.

And I saw neither of those two people ever in my life when both were alive.

 

[Ryan8bit]

Since we're on the topic of paranormal phenomena, I wonder what everyone thinks about psychics and mediums. There's this reality show on cable (but I forget the network and the title) featuring a feisty medium lady with a New Jersey accent who claims to be able to communicate with dead people. She talks to the survivors (spouses, parents, children, friends, etc.) and tells them some familiar things that she couldn't have possibly known about their deceased loved ones.

What say you?

Long Island Medium. That's the name of the show. I've watched it a few times just to poke fun at it.

One time, the lady said that she doesn't do these readings for profit. As if that wasn't enough of a lie already since she gets paid for the show, on the show she accepted to go on an all expenses paid cruise with her family to be a psychic on the boat. That's pretty much doing it for a profit.

On top of the cold reading stuff that is typical, reality shows are seldom but. Most of those shows are scripted out, carefully directed, or meticulously edited. They aren't showing the parts where she screws up and they aren't making it a point to paint her in such a way that she is the fraud that she is. For the producers of the show to do that is suicide. All of those shows, even if those involved know it's bullshit, have to present it as if it's not to get the ratings. Simply put, a show about a hit and miss psychic isn't going to get them the Nielsen's.

 

[Gryffindorian]

^ That's it. Thanks. I've only seen the commercials and a portion of her show when I was flippin' through the channels.

I saw this on Huffington Post today:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/allison-hope/mitt-romney-in-conversati_b_1845312.html?utm_hp_ref=lgbt

Hilarious!

 

[thestrangequark]

Penn and Teller have done a masterful job of exposing these people on their BULLSHIT! show, and Penn by himself has really laid into the charlatans.

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vHS0dZl3OU[/yt]

I've wanted to see Bullshit! for ages, but haven't had a chance yet. That was a great interview. I have no problem with people offering fortune-telling as a form of entertainment: again, so long as they're honest about their dishonesty. But the cold-readers (those who know what they're doing, not the poor, self-deluded people who actually believe they have psychic powers), are just scum. Total scum.

 

[cooleddie74]

The greatest expressions of psychic powers as far as I'm concerned:

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWX7HaX-w8g[/yt]

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUQkbXWwJhQ[/yt]

 

[EmoBorg]

That Uri Geller was laughable. He looked like he was about to shit his pants on the Tonight Show.

i find Uri Geller to be a fraud.

 

[sojourner]

^good to know. We weren't sure.

 

[Gryffindorian]

Yes, thank you, Captain Obvious.

@EmoBorg

 

[cooleddie74]

I'm sure many of the people around Geller knew he was a fraud forty years ago but didn't want to upset the gravy train. Say what you want about the old poop that is The Amazing Kreskin, but he'll more or less tell you up front that what he does is illusion and a load of bunk. Geller played on the minds of millions for years, including Michael Jackson, who apparently fell for his stunts and became good friends with the guy.