Have you ever seen a ghost?

[tarchon]

I had a rather strange thing a couple of years ago. Driving home late at night through the countryside. Was kind of on autopilot, but fully awake and sober!

Something human shaped caught my eye on the left hand side of the road. Didn't see any real detail, but had a reaction best described as a 'wave of terror', passed round a corner before I could get a proper look. Afterwards the experience had a kind of shock related to it: closest feeling I've had is when I was involved in a car crash - all shaken up and jittery.

It's not an uncommon experience - I probably get that a couple times a year. I think it's essentially a misfire of a low-level pattern recognition function in the brain. I've noticed it's most commonly linked to scenes where one would expect to see people, car seats, bus stops, etc., though occasionally it'll trigger in "natural" settings. It's always a little startling, which is natural because it's probably evolved as a high-speed, low-threshold warning function (i.e. "look out for the guy behind that tree!"). From systems design theory, high-value threat warning systems tend to have fairly high rates of false alarm because the penalty for missed detection can be rather high. Presumably, our species is particularly sensitive to human-like shapes just because other humans are by far the most significant potential threat in our natural environment. Compare the feeling you get when you think you're alone, and then you discover that someone else is (really) in the room. Our brains attach an extremely high value to being aware of the nearby presence of other people at all times.

 

[Knightfall]

I've had an experience of sleep paralysis/hallucination which I'm sure some would think is a ghost. Basically, I awoke late at night/early morning in a state of terror. I couldn't move and in the corner of my room stood a shadowy silhouette of a man with arms held rigidly at his sides. After a while, he vanished.

That's happened to me, although what it is is that I'm sleeping in such a way that my back is to one side of the room (on my side). I wake up in a state of confusion and/or fear. I couldn't move and it was hard to breath. It felt as if someone was standing behind me in the room, watching me, directing anger and hate at me mentally.

The paralysis usually lasts for over 45 seconds to a minute and a half. It's happened to me several times and is always frightening. Sometimes I "sense" a presence, other times I "feel" alone. While it hasn't happened to me recently, I still remember the fear of helplessness.

Now, I'm sure this wasn't a ghost. But not 100%... I have had really weird feelings on my stairway, and in my kitchen, especially early in the morning.

I don't think my experiences were due to a haunting, but I do believe spirits are possible. I never had a firsthand experience that 100% confirms an encounter with a spirit/ghost.

Growing up, in little Alberta town called Forestburg, I was an outcast. This meant I spent a lot of time alone: at home, late at night, and/or walking by myself. Many times I felt like I was being watched or that someone was following me. But there never was anyone there. Late at night walking home from "wherever" was always very creepy.

The town has a very small population but "feels" spread out. The streets were often poorly lit and many areas had little or no night. One alley was always shrouded in darkness and was several blocks long. I never felt comfortable walking that alley.

Later,

KF72

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

It was, in fact, called Encounters with the Supernatural.

Great thread.

Ain't it, though?

I used to have a ghost, albeit a fairly friendly one. It's towards the end of the above thread, but I'll summarize the relevant points...

Lived in a studio apartment about 30-50 feet from I-395 in SW DC. I was going to go see Men in Black with a friend, and rushed home from work so I could shower and change before (cute friend, might I add?). I went and locked the door, and threw the deadbolt, but thought to myself that, no, I didn't want to set the chain, as that'd be silly and stupid.

Go, I'm fixing to get in the shower, when I hear a click from the door. Go out to look, and the chain's set. Freaky.

Later on, I'd find stuff moved around the apartment, like stuff with pointy bits pointing up, moved out of the way and with the pointy bits pointing another way, though I can't say that was related to the ghost, which I decided to refer to as Bob.

Bob moved with me to an apartment in Alexandria, VA; I noticed that when I woke up about 2 AM one night, went to the can, and when I got back to my bed, saw an empty mechanical pencil eraser on the bed, that hadn't been there before.

I saw Bob one evening while doing laundry. I want to say I was watching Buffy or Angel, but anywho, I'd gone down and gotten my laundry, and was carrying it to my room, when I turn around, and there's a faint outline sitting on the couch, which then winks out. Freaky.

Brad

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

Something human shaped caught my eye on the left hand side of the road. Didn't see any real detail, but had a reaction best described as a 'wave of terror', passed round a corner before I could get a proper look. Afterwards the experience had a kind of shock related to it: closest feeling I've had is when I was involved in a car crash - all shaken up and jittery.

I HATE that. I had something similar happen once, at what I refer to as "nerd camp" (Governor's Scholars, for those who grew up in Kentucky). I was walking out of the dorm at Murray State and down a path towards the student center, when suddenly I got this feeling of overwhelming dread, like something really freaking horrible was going to happen RIGHT NOW. Naturally, I stood there, rooted to the spot, until the feeling passed. I've never had anything really similar happen again, which I appreciate.

The thing that I hate are the noises in the night. It took me three years in my apartment to realize that the noises that appear to come from my kitchen might be from upstairs or outside, and boy, they're still irritating.

I actually do believe in the supernatural. Not everything, of course; I figure 80% of the stuff in the New Age section is garbage. However, I've had enough weird stuff happen to me, and to my friends, that I figure there's stuff that qualifies.

Brad