Paranormal Experiences?

[Johanthemonster666]

I'll be brief: I'm not a hardcore believer in the paranormal or "spiritual", but stories about ghost, hauntings, spirits and the emotions of long gone people being almost permanently imprinted on a location-to be felt by the living- do fascinate me.

I recently read stories about a haunted forest/swamp area that's apart of the "Bridgewater Triangle" in Massachusetts. Stories of crying widows of revolutionary soldiers that populated the settlements before they were abandoned,spirits of Native tribes people, ghost dogs, strange creatures, and even a ghostly hitchhiker have been seen by a lot of people. I don't know why, but that and other stories put me in the mood for a good haunting story.

So Escapist, since this rationalist is in the mood for a good spook story or experience, share some stories from your area, or places you've been that were supposedly "haunted". Perhaps you've experience something that you couldn't explain? Or a place like a creepy graveyard, forest or house/structure gave you the chills even though there was clearly no reason to be alarmed.


Note: I myself have been creeped out while I was alone in certain wooded areas in places I've lived, but those chills were mostly due the somewhat " common sense" weariness of suspicious people and wild animals/feral dogs that I've run into in the past. So no, i've never seen a ghost, heard odd noises or been in a haunted location (that I can recall). But my friends sure do think they've seen experienced such things

 

[SillyBear]

I don't believe in ghosts, but they still scare me.

To be scared of the paranormal is an entirely natural human experience. However, these "encounters" can almost always be explained away with usually very simple science, and there is no proof or evidence that suggests there are ghosts. There are also common sense rebuttals, such as why are there no cavemen ghosts? How come 90% of "ghosts" seem to be from the 1800s? Billions and billions of people have died, why are ghosts not visable all the time, as opposed to only inside creepy buildings? If ghosts can float through walls, why don't they fall straight through the ground?

As far as my experiences go, my worst one was after smoking cigarettes when I was 16 like an idiot. They contain a hallucinogen and I woke up in the middle of the night seeing an old man stare at me. It scared me so badly I cried and realised nothing was there. I told my brother about it the next day and he explained that cigarettes can cause hallucinations and because I smoke so many without being used to them it hit me hard. I haven't touched a cigarette since!

 

[-Drifter-]

My ghost stories suck. Seriously, here's the best "paranormal" experience I have: I was hearing a few strange sounds around the house and occasionally things didn't seem to stay in the places I put them. I was on the PS3 and I jokingly made an account called "Ghost," signed into my profile, played for a while and went back to sleep. When I turned the PS3 on the next morning, Ghost was the last one signed in.

Yeah, that's seriously the best I've got.

 

[Thaluikhain]

I was had a paranormal experience, but then I told people about it and it became another normal phenomenom.

Seriously, though, all "paranormal" means is "outside current science", right? So if you sit down and do any research on it, it stops being paranormal. Meaning that all the best paranormal researchers are ones that don't actually do anything, the ones that put the work in aren't following their remit anymore.

 

[Johanthemonster666]

I don't believe in ghosts, but they still scare me.

To be scared of the paranormal is an entirely natural human experience. However, these "encounters" can almost always be explained away with usually very simple science, and there is no proof or evidence that suggests there are ghosts. There are also common sense rebuttals, such as why are there no cavemen ghosts? How come 90% of "ghosts" seem to be from the 1800s? Billions and billions of people have died, why are ghosts not visable all the time, as opposed to only inside creepy buildings? If ghosts can float through walls, why don't they fall straight through the ground?

As far as my experiences go, my worst one was after smoking cigarettes when I was 16 like an idiot. They contain a hallucinogen and I woke up in the middle of the night seeing an old man stare at me. It scared me so badly I cried and realised nothing was there. I told my brother about it the next day and he explained that cigarettes can cause hallucinations and because I smoke so many without being used to them it hit me hard. I haven't touched a cigarette since!

Everything you said about the inconsistencies in most haunting stories and myths pretty much constitutes what I yell at my TV screen when there's a documentary about a haunting. Thank you sir, I know I'm not alone in this world

Yes, considering that billions of people have died since Homo sapians began to walk the earth and that every square mile of developed land (particularly cities) has been tread upon by hundred (sometimes thousands) of people with that many usually dying in that area from any number of reason (traumatic or otherwise). So yes, where you're at at this second, someone probably died there at some point (maybe it was a horrible death) but I doubt you'd associate your house, local grocery, or XXX Video store with ghosts. XD

 

[manic_depressive13]

Paranormal experiences huh? Let me warn you though, this one isn't for the easily frightened.

Spoiler

Sometimes I'll think I hear my phone ringing, but when I pause my music- it isn't!

Spooky, innit?

 

[Jonluw]

I can't think of any. Pretty much all 'paranormal' experiences or places are complete bullshit.
An old favourite of mine is this place where it is said that if you put your car in neutral, the ghosts of deceased children will push it up and over a small hill.
People were completely believing this.

Then one rational person comes along, puts a spirit level on the ground, and notices that the hill is actually a decline that only looks like an incline.
How's that for a ghost story?

Paranormal experiences huh? Let me warn you though, this one isn't for the easily frightened.

Spoiler

Sometimes I'll think I hear my phone ringing, but when I pause my music- it isn't!

Spooky, innit?

Oh my...
I have the same experience with my doorbell.

 

[Quaxar]

Then one rational person comes along, puts a spirit level on the ground, and notices that the hill is actually a decline that only looks like an incline.
How's that for a ghost story?

How do you know the ghosts didn't push the air bubble too?
http://s-ak.buzzfed.com/static/campaign_images/terminal01/2011/2/11/15/you-cant-explain-that-the-absolute-best-of-the-bi-22837-1297456757-22_small.jpg
You can't explain that!

OT: It's actually quite fascinating to look at the scientific phenomenons that contribute to ghost sightings and the like.
Burning swamp gas, locally different air temperature, magnetic fields, psychology...
I used to hang out on that kind of forums just to see if I could explain what they were talking about rationally.

 

[Speakercone]

Paranormal experiences huh? Let me warn you though, this one isn't for the easily frightened.

Spoiler

Sometimes I'll think I hear my phone ringing, but when I pause my music- it isn't!

Spooky, innit?

oh god...I thought it was just me! It's spreading I tell you! we have to warn the president! I just hope that we're bad enough dudes...

 

[Jonluw]

Then one rational person comes along, puts a spirit level on the ground, and notices that the hill is actually a decline that only looks like an incline.
How's that for a ghost story?

How do you know the ghosts didn't push the air bubble too?
http://s-ak.buzzfed.com/static/campaign_images/terminal01/2011/2/11/15/you-cant-explain-that-the-absolute-best-of-the-bi-22837-1297456757-22_small.jpg
You can't explain that!

Actually...
What annoys me about that incident is that the guy didn't just leave the spirit level on the ground with a note saying "It's a decline, retards". No, he gave the ghost-people's opinion so much of a validity that he got professional geometrists or cartographers or whatever to set up advanced equipment and conclusively prove it was a decline.

 

[TroutXTRM]

I got a pretty scary story, though maybe not paranormal.

Few years back my friend's dad was on a surfing trip with a few buddies of his, and they were in a 4 wheel drive out in the middle of nowhere in some huge forest. It was pitchblack except for the headlights and it was raining very heavily.

They were all joking around and whatnot while they're driving, when one of them goes "How spooky would it be if some really old man appeared in the middle of the road and asked us for a lift?"

They all agreed that it would be pretty damn spooky, and while they were still talking about it, a fucking REALLY OLD MAN appeared on the road and stopped them.

As far as I know, they were all really muscular surfer dudes, and yet they were all pretty much scared out of their damn minds at this point from this old man who began approaching them.

The old man walks to the driver side window and starts BANGING on it, so the driver lowers the window by about an inch because he's so damn scared. Sure enough, the old man asks them for a lift.

What was very odd about this is that the nearest sort of any civilization was several hours DRIVE away from where they were, so this old guy was just out by himself in the middle of the night while it's bucketing down, and miles away from anyone.

The driver told him that he couldn't have a lift and then they floored it away from him as fast as they could.

The experience pretty much ruined the trip I think.

 

[larysalove]

One time I was walking in front of the courthouse in Leesburg, Virginia, and it was so creepy I couldn't even stay in the courtyard. Later I found out that its a seriously paranormal place.
Every time I'm at a friend's house, I feel like something is messing with me- playing with my hair, tugging at my clothes, etc.
And various other times I've felt weird, inexplicable things. I guess I call them paranormal.

And then there are the nightmares I have, but I chalk those up to stress or something.

That said, I really don't know what I believe regarding the paranormal.

 

[Darth_Dude]

I got two.

I used to live at this apartment with my Mum and siblings, and there was this hallway and at the end of it was the laundry and a room to one side, and every time I used to go past there, I got this....feeling...like, I just felt kinda heavy, I don't know how to explain it through words. And it was even freakier at night. So anyways, one day me and my little 4 year old brother were home alone, and we were playing with his ball, and one of us kicked it down that hallway. I swear to God, that ball stopped half-way, by it self, and came rolling back to us...

I dont know what happened, and maybe I was hallucinating, But I know what I saw.

The second one is a bit "generic" I'll admit.
At this other place we lived, my family would always hear noises at night, outside our bedrooms. Like banging, and the sound of footsteps, and I'm told that one night, my mum heard footsteps outside her door and picked up a bat in case it was a robber or something,, and when my sister, (who slept in the same room) looked beneath the door through the crack, she saw like, footprints, that were there but weren't there, like shadows of footprints as strange as it sounds.

Anyways, we eventually we moved out and the people who moved in after us experienced the same thing, and decided to put a camera in the main room at night, paranormal activity style. The footage they caught was...disturbing...(I saw the footage myself). I heard the aforementioned sounds, and we would see the chairs of our dining table just moving, by themselves, banging against each other, freakiest part was when I saw this..white shape of a woman just walk across the screen...

I cant make this shit up guys, take what you will from this.