Do you believe in ghosts?

[Susan]

Never had a ghost encounter, was once a firm believer - i'm still open to it. But I used to imagine that maybe there weren't ghosts, that the apparhitions people saw were really some parallell universe that co-existed with our own and that once in awhile we could see glimpses of it's existance within our own. Or another theory I tossed around was that each moment in time is forever frozen, that we exist in a billion places from the moment we are born until we die..that time isn't forward and backward but sorta like cobwebs overlapping over eachother and for whatever reason we can catch a glimpse of something/someone that was in that very spot in the past or the future...like a moving photograph in time. Ok - so I had a wild imagination.

But yes, once in a blue moon i've had that feeling where your hands go to ice and your stomach drops as you are standing alone in a room and stop....realizing you have the very intense sensation that someone is with you, or looking at you. Only once have i felt a hand on me and I remember i was in the kitchen and i turned around and realized nobody was there. It sounds so cliche but i've only ever experienced that once..thank god ;-)

and no, i wasn't smokin the doobie

[wickednick]

I forgot that I had made anouther post on this subject.Oh, well hopefully we can get some fresh responses.
As for Susan's comments I wouldn't disagree with them.There is difinatly something weird going on in this world and I suppose there could be a number of equally unusual explanations for them.

[Grumpy Guy]

Nick, I know this is harping, and I know you probably think I hate you (I don't), but could you at least put a couple of spaces after your periods?  I know this will sound lame, but I couldn't read your longer post, and I desperately wanted to, since this is a topic of some interest to me.  Apologies for this, but my eyes can't follow things right if there aren't enough spaces.  It gives me headaches - bad ones.

That having been said...

I am an actual skeptic.  I find it interesting that more than one story posted here begins with the words "I am a skeptic, but..."

I have had experiences that I have trouble explaining.  Feelings of wrongness, sudden chills, the sensation of a presence...  But, being a skeptic, I chalk it up to misfires in my nervous system.  

I am facinated by these stories, though.  I honestly wish I wasn't a skeptical as I am.  I want to believe, I just can't.  I'm too attached to science and rational thought to let myself.  

Someone mentioned UFO's, which are a bit easier for me to swallow, but only because of multiple sightings of the same phenomena at the same time.  With many UFO sightings, there are many witnesses of the same thing who are nowhere near each other at the time.  I'm not going to pretend that I know what UFO's actually are, but I am prepared to say that they have been sighted and documanted throughout human history.  If it's some sort of delusion, it's one that a pretty large percentage of people all have on a fairly regular basis.

Of course, I could be biased.  I am from Iowa, after all.  The state is pretty well known for being a UFO hot spot.  Hell, an episode of X-Files was set around Lake Okaboji.  

In any case, that's my two cents.

[dean]

Ghosts could or could not exist, though for me, I haven't seen or heard or felt anything that I honestly believed was supernatural. Sure I've seen wierd stuff, who hasn't, but nothing too wierd, like  wyckednick's slightly amusing [sorry nick] figurine story.

But my ex boss had a wierd experience once.  Her boyfriend lives in Singapore and she saw a ghost one night.  It was of her boyfriends recently deceased uncle who was incredibly religious.  She was going to the toilet and walked right through him accidently.  She said she felt his embarrasment and disgust [she was naked at the time, an image I didn't really need of her]

So please, no naked ghost stories unless they involve people I'd like to picture, and not someone whose naked image scared the crap outta me more than any ghost ever could!

[Susan]

>>Someone mentioned UFO's, which are a bit easier for me to swallow, but only because of multiple sightings of the same phenomena at the same time.<<

Did i ever mention my ufo experience? I used to be a skeptic, thinking it was just the fantasy of people post 50's movies with aliens invading from mars. But I did,  for a full 15 or so seconds.  It seemed to be only  a few hundred feed overhead in front of me.

However - I'm more inclined to believe it was military related, as advanced as it was (hover craft, silent with the bottom of the craft mirroring the night sky so as to make it transparent) Just as soon as it took off (and we're talking miliseconds before it was gone) military craft were slowly following. In retrospect i remember seeing alot of military craft in the area that evening prior (which is highly unusual in my area to that degree).  Now why wouldn't they just come out with it publically? Who knows, maybe it would create mass global fear towards the western power, or perhaps they run out of gas really really fast..lol
 I sure as heck am sure it wasn't aliens.

But on that note I saw an interesting speaker on PBS with a slideshow as he ..slide by slide..distanced further and further away from the galaxy. Then the screen showed a myriad of bright lights to which he pointed out - each was a galaxy containing some 200+ billion stars. Imagine the possibilities...imagine the odds

[wickednick]

All right Grumpy, because you were nice about it I updated the previous post.  I put spaces after the periods, and will try and do it more often.

[claws]

*bump* 

So I was working nightshift last week, and went outside our hall for a small break. This was Wednesday around 01:30 a.m.. There is a sandbox for winter maintenance located at the far end behind one of our halls that I sometimes sit on, and it gives you a great view of the night sky.

Our firm is located in the outskirts of our town in a Industrial park, but it is more like a warehouse district. There's a street leading from town to the highway which is about 2 miles away. During summer there can be some activity from people walking around at night, but I should note that this isn't necessarily a residental area, but the street has two sidewalks ending / beginning at our firm. There is also a bycicle path that runs through fields behind the street and buildings on the opposite side of our firm.

Next to our firm is a narrow (about 15 feet wide) but long stretch of wild growing grass, bushes and a few (small) trees. It starts at the sidewalk and ends behind our firm. I would guess it is about 320 feet long.

As I was sitting there I noticed movement to my left where the street is located. I turn my head and see a person walking back and forth, behind the wild growing gras area. There is a street light shining orange light right there so I can almost clearly make out shoulders, the neck and head but nothing else because of my distance (about 300 feet) and the orange light.

I immediately leaned back afraid the person might see me, which was actually impossible since I was sitting in complete darkness. Still, I was peeking from behind the corner and wondering "what the hell is this guy doing at 01:30 a.m. on a work day?". It seemed like he was walking in circles, never leaving the wild gras area (I assumed he was on the sidewalk). It was just so odd. He walked a few steps, stopping, turning, then walking again then pausing like he was looking at something. At one point he even turned in my direction. This went on for about a minute when suddenly he disappeared. I thought that he must be standing behind one of the bushes. A few seconds later a car drove by. I waited for him to walk out the wild gras area but, nothing. After staring a few minutes I diceded to walk there to see if anybody was there, maybe hiding? I was indeed a bit creeped out but nonetheless, I went there to take a look but saw nothing suspicious. I looked up and down the street but there wasn't a single soul.

Had this person walked a straight line in one direction I wouldn't have given this another thought. But this was so strange.

In the morning when my shift was over I took another look on my way home. Estimating the height of wild gras and bushes I wouldn't have seen the person's shoulder, neck and head if the person was standing on the sidewalk. Unless he was 7 feet tall. I came to the conclusion that the person must have been actually inside the wild gras area, which I thought was even more creepier.

This whole sighting seemed unreal and didn't make much logical sense the more I thought about it. Did I see a ghost? I don't know, but it was a creepy experience for sure.

[messedup]

I'm a big fan of the subject in movies etc. but I can't really say I believe in it because I never had any encounters with the paranormal myself. Even though I think I would be open to it...same goes for UFOs etc.

[alandhopewell]

I'm a big fan of the subject in movies etc. but I can't really say I believe in it because I never had any encounters with the paranormal myself. Even though I think I would be open to it...same goes for UFOs etc.

     I don't believe that the dead return or hang around for any reason; I do believe in demonic spirits, and that they account for hauntings.
My personal experiences are here....

http://www.yourghoststories.com/user-profile.php?user=31908

     I attest to their truth.