Anyone ever have anything resembling a paranormal experience?

[Delarage]

My dad insists he walked into his living room and saw his mother (who died 6 years ago) sitting on the couch, clear as a bell, looking at him. He looked away and back and she was still there. He turned around, walked a little, went back, and she was gone.

[Crazy Guggenheim]

1. Yes. An NDE. On Edit: A Near Death Experience.

[BlueIris]

79. If you don't mind my asking...

what was your NDE like? Have you had any, er, issues since--well, since you're posting, I presume you did not, in fact, die...at least not in the permanent, crossed over, sense.

[leftofthedial]

2. ghosts

two different places, two different times

[AlienGirl]

3. After a while, it just starts seeming normal

Whether you believe they are actual spirits, temporary hallucinations, or anything else, apparitions and experiences of apparent contact with dead loved ones happen to lots of people. They can be a source of comfort in grief, providing a sense that dead people are not lost forever--they live on, whether in the spirit world or in memories so vivid they seem real.

On edit: I favor the idea that they can sometimes really be ghosts.

Tucker

[Delarage]

6. I believe in ghosts.......

The way my dad described it makes me feel like I saw it, too. My grandmother had her purse sitting next to her and was looking around. It kind of unsettles me, but I wouldn't say "scares" me. I just wonder why.

I've never seen anything that I didn't think I could explain in earthly terms. But I love all of the ghost/UFO/unexplained mystery specials on T.V. and I believe a lot of them are real.

[DarkmoonIkonoklast]

30. yeah...

:hug:

[BlueIris]

74. That's how I feel, too.

Ever since I regained my intuitive connection to the Other world last year, a lot of the insane paranormal experiences I've had have kind of been "meh" to me; as in, "well, yeah, that might look amazing to some, but now that it happens all the time...meh."

[pitohui]

4. yes

we seem to have acquired a ghost & we're not sure why, my hubby, me, and now a friend have all heard it doing its musical thing

[hippiechick]

5. Yes

A boyfriend who passed in a plane crash 10 years ago has contacted me on and off - and our dear DU bro' Kef has paid me a couple visits over the last several months.

[kikiek]

10. It is great you're open to that. What kind of visits are they? Like a

hello I'm ok?

[hippiechick]

18. Dreams

.. the dreams about Alan (my former BF) were odd - a clairvoyant I see said, when I described them to her, that it seemed as though he was trying to "live the life he missed" or that he couldn't understand that he had passed (he died suddenly in a plane crash about 10 years ago). In the dreams (which went on for over 5 years), he would show up at the most mundane places - grocery stores, picnics, and try to partake in whatever was going on. I could see and hear him, but nobody else in the dream could, and he didn't respond to me asking him why he was there, or telling him he couldn't be there because he was dead ... as if there was some kind of plexi-glass window between us ... until the last dream (about a year ago) we finally made eye contact when I told him he couldn't be here. He started to walk away, then turned and walked back to me, touched my arm, then walked off. It was SO real and actually kinda creepy. I've not dreamt of him since.

I felt Kef's presence awhile back - in my kitchen of all places.
It felt as if he was there in the room with me, and faintly, sorta like through a kids' telephone or a tunnel - I heard that goofy giggle of his and him saying 'nothing hurts anymore'. Since then, he's visited me 3 times in dreams, primarily asking me to check on Mamakef and make sure she's not alone.

Maybe it's just an overactive subconscious - maybe I really do have a connection to the other side. I'm not claiming to be any more psychic than the rest of us ... but some rather unusual stuff has happened to me over the years.

:shrug:

[kikiek]

25. How lucky you are. I believe you have been visited. I have always

wanted my dad visit me, but no luck yet (close to 5 years. My husband has had several like yours, and just the other night said he felt our recently passed dog sitting on him! It sounds like your bf finally found his way, and your friend is checking in. Thanks for sharing your experiences. I personally find great comfort in them.

[bridgit]

7. oh yes...

[johnnie]

8. Yes

I've had a few.

[UncleSepp]

9. Most of my life.

I'm not even sure what's para- about it. It's just how things are when you don't filter out things you don't expect to see.

[shockra]

24. I like your answer.

And the more you accept them as normal the more you have.

[Carni]

11. Yes, but I am not going into it because I will get flamed by nay sayers

I have had a few of them and I am not a nut or a crack pot!

[DarkmoonIkonoklast]

33. as my sister Dawn-the-Dyke used to say...unf**k the nay-sayers...

... they don't deserve a decent f**k!

If you've had the experience, you've had the experience. NObody can tell you it didn't happen -- they weren't in your skin! :rant:

[lildreamer316]

81. Somday please do post them

if/when you feel like it. Stories like that always uplift me and make me feel alot better about life.

[chookie]

12. Prescient dreams

Years ago, I was disturbed one week by recurring nightmares -- a sexually depraved killer on the loose who killed and raped women. The dreams were a total shock, as I had no idea where i could have gotten the violent, deviant images, which were deeply disturbing. Then the dreams came true -- there was a serial killer, who first struck acorss the street from where I lived. The crimes were shocking and horrifying and perverse. Years later, i found out that the perpetrator had been living in the woods behind my home at the time i had the dreams, and that he was fueled by violent fantasies....

From time to time I have had such prescient dreams.

[pitohui]

14. you think you were picking up his dreams?

i've occasionally had that happen or give the subjective impression that is what is happening anyway

[khashka]

27. That's horrible!

Before we married my exwife and I often had the same dreams. Down to the tiniest details.

A much nicer experience than yours....

Sorry, chookie, that must have been awful for you.

Khash.

[BlueIris]

80. Yikers. But interesting. nt.

[NJCher]

13. Long time no see

It's been a long time since we've had one of these threads at DU. I've already told all my stories but I 'm sure interested in the contributions to this thread.




Cher

[Coventina]

15. I've experienced a haunting, I've had dreams that came true

Once my car drove itself, to avoid an accident.

I briefly saw a "ghost" once as well.

[Patiod]

52. Same weird thing happened to a girlfriend and myself

She called to tell me that she had been sitting at a five-point intersection near where we live. She was first in a line-up of cars, and when the light turned green, her car stalled. She was cursing and trying to get it to start, when she looked up to see a huge tractor-trailer blow through the light at top speed. Car started fine after that.

Oddly enough, the exact same thing happened to me at the same intersection a few months later. I know for certain that had I gone into the intersection on green, I would have been flattened.

I should note that we were both had older cars, so the stalling wasn't odd, just the timing.

I have almost no sense of the supernatural, but this was bizarre.

[lildreamer316]

82. My car did that too!!!n/t

[Coventina]

113. Wow to both of you! You guys are the first I've known to experience that

as well!

In my case, I was breezing down a major street probably around 50 mph. A car pulled out of a parking lot right in front of me. No time to do anything.

I slammed on my brakes, but the car just barely slowed at all. I was in a blind panic, hands frozen to the steering wheel. The wheel turned, just as easily as if I didn't have it in a death grip. It made two quick, neat little turns, avoided the car and continued down the street. I did NOT do it. If I had even attempted such a manoever, I would have lost control of the car.

[lildreamer316]

114. I was not IN the car when it drove itself.

That was the scary part. I actually didn't see it; I was in the store. Some lady that did was all freaked out and told me all about how she watched the car steer itself down the hill, turn, and come to rest paralell to the front door of the store. whew........

[Thor_MN]

16. Does telling my psychotic, rationalizing roomate to get out tonight count?

IF so, then yes. It was surreal at least. She can't dealing with being wrong about her pets leaving a stain on my rug and considers me an ass for telling her to clean it up now, rather than going out.

That and the three bags of used cat litter in the basement. But she knows how to take care of her pets and doesn't need me telling her to get the cat shit out of the house....

It's going to hell around here until she gets her head pulled out of her ass and finds somewhere to go....

[smirkymonkey]

106. Wow, I thought I was the only one with a psychotic roommate

who thinks she is absolutely perfect and goes berserk anytime you hint at the suggestion that she may have done something not quite fair - like try to screw me out of money by not showing me the bills and saying she lost them. When I called the utility and pretended I was her to ask about the amount of one particular bill, they said that most of it was past due from previous months and I had only been living there two weeks. Total dirtbal - I could go on, but don't want to hijack the thread.

As far a psychic experiences go, I have had some very bizarre coincidences and precient dreams - one about a plane crash in Pittsburgh years ago that happened the day after I had the dream. Also I have had waking "visions" of something that ends up happening a few hours later. I wish it happened more often - I think living in NYC actually cuts me off from that part of myself because it's such an outer-directed place.

[Pied Piper]

17. I've closed/opened doors with a flick of my wrist.

It hasn't happened in a long time. In a former apartment, my roommate and I decided that we would only smoke outside. We made an allowance for the winter - we had a sort of half-pantry off the kitchen that led to the back porch. We would go into the pantry and open the back door. One winter morning, after a fresh snow, I noticed that the door had opened so far that the only way I could reach the doorknob was if I put my bare foot on the snow. I lazily waved my hand at the door, and it swung around and latched. No wind.

I can't make this stuff happen on command - it usually happens when I'm in a neutral state of mind - doing the dishes, folding the laundry, etc.

[BlueIris]

85. Oooh, telekenisis. I'm jealous.

That's one I've never met anyone with. I've met a couple of people who can physically interact with spirits, a couple who can see aparitions, some telepaths, (I have weak telepathic abilities) including remote viewers, (my remote view has in a couple of cases been, well, extremely accurate--NSA, call me!) and one emotive (she's excellent, better than therapy). But no telekenetics (yet). So jealous.

[Neshanic]

19. Yes, and it scared the ca-ca out of me.

I never want to have that primal unknown something awfull feeling ever again.

[Jamastiene]

20. When my uncle died, my aunt (his sister) saw him at the foot of her

bed BEFORE anyone called to tell her he had passed.

Also, I ODed one night and left my body, floated up to the ceiling, and then fell back down into my body. I did some stupid stuff back then.

Also, one night I was on DU and all of a sudden I felt a warm hand resting on my right shoulder. It was comforting.

When I was little, we'd hear the pitter patter of feet at night going down the hall and flushing the toilet. No one had gotten up and used it.

Also, my cat Blondie, who died on my 13th birthday, came and looked at me one night when I was living in a shed. After that, things started getting better and better, then the 90s happened (Clinton/Grunge connection for me there). It was something I have never forgotten.

[Straight Shooter]

21. I've had too many to count.

Some experiences have been interesting. Others have been downright creepy. It's been this way all my life, as long as I can remember. I don't try to tune it in, it happens when it happens. I will say, though, that my friends have learned to listen to me when I tell them I have a "bad feeling" about something ;)

[vajraroshana]

22. Yes. And when you read this, you will too

It might be tonight. It might be tomorrow. It might be some other day.

But, because you read this you will have a paranormal experience.

At some time.

And it will be because you read this responce.

[Lilith Velkor]

60. How will I know which one was because of this post?

[BlueIris]

88. Do I have to forward it to six people to have this experience?

Just kidding.

[omega minimo]

23. Why did he walk away?

[khashka]

26. Quite a few...

The most moving.... well...

I was really depressed about damn near everything. And it was late at night and I went into the backyard for a smoke and a bit of a cry. And there was this woman standing there. Kind of glowing. And she had leaves in her hair.

And she said, "What are you so upset about? You have no need to worry. I'm already taking care of everything." And then she was gone.

Now I'm not the sort of guy who has religious visions.... but I converted to Wicca right there on the spot.

I've ever only told one person about that.....

Khash.

[lildreamer316]

83. That's bad-ass.

You actually got to SEE the GODDESS. Wow.

[Niccolo_Macchiavelli]

28. yes.

Telepathy. a mind boggling but great 4 hours experience

[DarkmoonIkonoklast]

29. uh, what, exactly, is PARAnormal?

I mean, when I was somewhere in my first decade, I saw my grandad's funeral SIX MONTHS BEFORE HE DIED!

When I was 14 (1963), I saw a vision of cities burning -- skyscrapers aflame like candle tapers...

I've had frequent premonitory visions -- most of 'em while awake -- which inevitably proved out...

I've seen my own execution...

These things are totally normal in my experience, so I ask again:

WHAT IS PARANORMAL? :tinfoilhat:

And no, this is not a symptom of "mis-spent" youth, nor is it a leftover from "too many psychedelics" in the 60s and 70s; after more than 1000 trips, you pretty much learn to tell the difference! :shrug:

[AlienGirl]

51. I'm on the Committee for Surrealist Investigation of Claims of the Normal

It's only "paranormal" the first time...

Tucker

[Mizmoon]

31. No, and I don't believe in them

I don't believe in ghosts, communication with the dead, psychic ability, vampires, werewolves, the tooth fairy, etc.

Some people have a gift for deciphering environmental clues and can make accurate predictions that most of us cannot, sort of like Tiger Wood's ability to sink golf balls that most of us can't, but that's as far as it goes for me.

[johnnie]

32. It's fine to be skeptical

But there are too many documented cases where "paranormal" has been experienced. Tiger Woods is one in a million.
If you haven't experienced anything, that's fine. It's not up to me to prove anything to anybody, but I know with 100% certainty that this stuff exists.

[Mizmoon]

34. "Documented cases?"

I'm not so sure about that.

I'm not a total curmudgeon - I did love to "do levitation" at sleepovers when I was a kid. That sure seemed paranormal at the time. It's amazing what the power of expectation can accomplish.

[johnnie]

35. Well

People who are true skeptics will never be convinced. As you say "It's amazing what the power of expectation can accomplish." It works both ways.

[Beetwasher]

53. You Couldn't Be More Wrong!

What's a "True Skeptic" anyway?

Personally, I'd LOVE to be convinced. I'd just like to see some good, solid, empirical evidence, and there is none. Anecdotes and stuff on TV shows on the Sci Fi Channel don't count.

[johnnie]

59. What would you consider good evidence?

There are numerous pictures, films, voice recordings and so on. What do you consider solid? A scientist saying "Yes, there are spirits"?

[Beetwasher]

62. "Numerous pictures, films, voice recordings and so on..."

Of what, ghosts? I'm assuming you mean ghosts?

Yes, there's lot's of stuff out there, unfortunately none of it is evidence of anything except possibly something anamolous on a film or recording, or evidence of a hoax or equipment malfunction or any number of things OTHER than a ghost. What makes you think it's a ghost and not an alien? Or a leprechaun? Or a clever prank?

[johnnie]

65. Well

I guess most people would consider any of that stuff "paranormal" Unless a leprechaun is normal? The OP was about paranormal activity.

[Beetwasher]

66. Paranormal Activity Doesn't Just Mean Ghosts Though

n/t

[johnnie]

67. Correct

Where did I specify any of the evidence is only "ghosts"?

[Beetwasher]

68. I Was Trying To Find Out What Paranormal Activity You Were Talking About

When discussing films, recording etc. I asked you if you meant ghosts. You still haven't clarified.

Are you talking about paranormal activity in general, IOW, all different types caught on film, recordings etc???

In any event, my original response still stands. It could be ANYTHING on the films, recording etc. What makes YOU think it's something paranormal? It could be equipment malfunction, lense glare, background noise, pranks etc.

You asked me what I would consider evidence of the paranormal and my answer is, it depends on WHAT you're talking about. Since there are numerous different types of supposedly paranormal things, then the type of convincing evidence would be different depending upon what we're talking about.

[johnnie]

70. Okay

I'll play along. Yes, ghosts. What exact evidence would YOU need to be convinced they exist?

[Beetwasher]

71. Ghosts Would Be Difficult To Test For

I'd have to think about it a while to be honest.

Certainly anecdotal evidence and film/video/audio recordings by themselves would not be sufficient to convince me.

I would think it would have to be some combination of evidence.

[johnnie]

73. Like I said

It's okay to be a skeptic.
I have recordings I made at my house, alone with no TV on no radio and no one else around. Where the voices came from is up to interpretation, but I have them. To say that would leave me open to everyone's opinion on what they are. To sit there and record, listen back and hear "human" voices is quite an experience. There is more that goes on at my house, but I really don't want to get into it right now. And yes, I have played the "voices" for other people to make sure I'm not nuts. :)

[Beetwasher]

76. Just About Any Electronic Equipment Can Randomly Pick Up Stray Signals

Including recording equipment.

I would believe you somehow recorded some stray radio broadcast before I would say it was a ghost! But hey, that's just me! Never said you were nuts! ;-)

[johnnie]

77. Yes but

If they respond to a question, that's some pretty wild radio broadcasts.

[Beetwasher]

78. Maybe

:shrug:

Don't know, I didn't hear it! ;-)

Also, if you were talking and asking questions, then in fact, there was not absolute silence, was there?

You see, the problem is, what you did was not a proper, controlled situation. It's also merely an anecdote. So while interesting, it's not really evidence of much (to me at least, to you I'm sure it's the most amazing thing ever!).

[johnnie]

93. I didn't say there was absolute silence

I appreciate your skepticism, but I have heard it all before. I guess I could have you drive to my house, and sit here while I do my thing, but you would have other explanations as to why things are happening. And to be honest, but not trying to be a dick, I feel no need to prove anything to anybody.
It's my belief that some people are just not "made" to experience things that other people do. It's not saying they can't or will ever, it's just a matter of life's experiences and not everybody will experience everything.
I have had enough happen to believe in things that aren't considered "scientifically acceptable", but at one time people also though that there was a big dome over the earth and the stars were holes in the dome. The people who thought otherwise were considered freaks.
Once again, not to be a dick but when I hear skeptics saying the same things over and over about this stuff, I accept their opinions but I think they are just people who haven't experienced things that many people have and they probably never will. It's no big deal to me really.

[UncleSepp]

39. Why do Skeptics have to be so insulting?

Really! I accept some things and not others, but I don't feel the need to be insulting to other people about what they believe. I don't get it. Do you people even know you're doing it? Like this:

I don't believe in ghosts, communication with the dead, psychic ability, vampires, werewolves, the tooth fairy, etc.

Why not just stop at "I don't believe in ghosts, communication with the dead, psychic ability" instead of continuing on to the obvious mockery of "tooth fairy"? For that matter, why bother responding to the thread at all with anything other than "No"?

I don't get Skeptics. I can understand skepticism, and the desire for objective truth. What I don't get at all is why Skeptics have to be such jerks about it, and how a Skeptic who mocks the beliefs of others can be at all compatible with liberal ideas of tolerance.

[Modem Butterfly]

47. You're really being overly sensitive here

The term "paranormal" is all-encompassing. In this case, the poster seems to have wanted to list all of the paranormal experiences she doesn't believe in.

What I don't get at all is why Skeptics have to be such jerks about it, and how a Skeptic who mocks the beliefs of others can be at all compatible with liberal ideas of tolerance.

Since when did disagreement become mocking? Isn't this a little like telling people they hate America because they don't support the war?

[UncleSepp]

96. It's disingenuous to pretend that "Tooth Fairy"...

and the Invisible Pink Unicorn aren't intended to be mocking and insulting. I provided examples of how that post might have been written in a non-insulting manner, but you choose to ignore them.

[lazarus]

48. "you people"?

Yeah, that's liberal. :shrug:

The thread asked if someone had had a paranormal experience. I'd say that's inviting an answer of "no" as well as an answer of "yes". If the OP didn't want to hear a "no", they could easily have simply asked for people to list their paranormal experiences, right?

And how DARE you mock the obvious existence of the tooth fairy. What's wrong with you? You probably don't believe in Santa Claus, either. How does that make people who do believe in Santa Claus feel, hmm?

[salvorhardin]

50. I don't think that person

is a true pastafarian either.

[UncleSepp]

97. "No" is fine, but why be insulting about it?

You don't see people who believe in paranormal things going around insulting skeptics, but the reverse is accepted. Frankly, I'm sick of it.

[lazarus]

110. Actually, we do

Lots of examples on this thread, and others. I'd be happy to provide an extensive list, if you like.

And what's insulting about categorising all paranormal things together? There's as much evidence for Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy as there is for ghosts. More, actually.

And here's a way for you to look at it that may help: How would you react to a friend or family member who was convinced, absolutely convinced, that Santa Claus exists?

[UncleSepp]

99. You people, you all, whatever - now who's been oversensitive?

[beam me up scottie]

49. Why do skeptic-haters have to be so hateful?

Oh brother...
:eyes:

[UncleSepp]

98. What hate? Getting annoyed by mockery is hate?

Who says I hate anyone? I'm just sick of how rudely most skeptics make their points.

[smirkymonkey]

107. Thank you!

I don't buy everything that I hear second hand, but I find the dismissiveness of so-called "rational" types extremely obnoxious.

There is more to reality that what can only be percieved with the five senses and science, though valuable, can't explain everything.

[CitrusLib]

42. In the immortal words of the Bard

'there are more things in heaven and on earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy'. (or something close to that)

Hamlet, I believe.

I've always loved that quote.

[CornField]

36. Sure

A lady lives in our kitchen. I've never seen her -- just her handywork. She does, however, appear and speak to my 5-year-old daughter (but not my 3-year-old son). The lady is very protective of that part of our home. Since this home was owned since it was built by one particular family (until we bought it, that is), we are pretty sure who she is, based on when that portion of the house was constructed.

As for what she does? She resists change.

I hung blinds on the wall of windows between us and a neighbor. I left to go get the camera (we've been documenting all the before/after home improvements) and when I returned the blinds were stretched out very neatly on the ground.

That is very typical of her antics. We now make a point of explaining what we are doing and why we are doing it as we go.

The worst: Directly below our kitchen is a part of the basement that was used as storage for canned foods. There are still a lot of old glass jars and whatnot down there. I had decided that those needed to leave and went downstairs with a box. I had a put a few of the jars in the box when the doorbell rang. When I came back, the jars I had placed in the box were back on the shelf. I wasn't feeling very generous and got angry. I began to grab jars and toss them in the box once again. The next thing I knew a jar came flying off the shelf, barely missed my head and smashed against a wall behind me. The next jar would have found my head if I had not ducked. I ran upstairs and have since left the jars alone.

[youthere]

61. You messed with her canning jars?

I don't blame her for being pissed. Alive or dead-NOBODY better mess with my jars. I hope you apologized-LOL.

[BlueIris]

103. Something like that happened in my parents' second house.

It had been owned almost its entire life by one family; and after we moved in we did some redecorating (this was in 1990 and the house hadn't been touched decor-wise since about 1973). Weird things started happening. Noises in rooms where no one was there to make noises, footsteps, doors opening on their own. It totally freaked out me and my little sister; we were eleven and seven at the time. After a certain point, we decided to use an OUIJA board to try to figure out what was going on, and asked the "spirit lady" in the house if she liked our family's redecorating choices. The pointer kept indicating that "no," she didn't like what we'd done with her home. I'm actually quite skeptical about the effectiveness of OUIJA boards as divination devices, but after we did that, the disturbances died down. I like to think the old woman realized that it was time for her to move on.

[havocmom]

37. Many times, different sorts of experiences

Seems to run in my family. The women have things happen a lot. My brother was pretty shaken when some started showing up in his life. We ladies all giggled and wondered what took him so long. To say he was relieved not to be the only one was an unsderstatement!

My daughter has mentioned things we didn't see since she was tiny. Usually corresponded to noticable cold spots we could feel. Started WAY before she was old enough to be impressed by TV and cultural ghost stories. She has so many that sometimes she has to 'disinvite' when whe needs to work on her mundane world stuff.

You should hear her tales of visits to Bisbee AZ!

[Patiod]

58. why Bisbee?

[enigmatic]

64. Bisbee is a very haunted town

Jerome, AZ as well; when I lived in Phoenix i would try to go to both places as often as I could...

[Patiod]

69. We stayed in the "Ghost City Inn" in Jerome last Fall

Assumed it was because Jerome was a sort of a ghost town at the time. Didn't know Bisbee was known as haunted - odd little town.

[havocmom]

111. Bisbee has a couple places know for having some ornery spirits

There is a B&B there she will probably never stay in again. Normally she does not have really bad encounters, but she stayed in a room where not too many people get much sleep. They didn't tell her about it until gauging her reactions the next morning. Brutal murder sort of thing in what was once a boarding house.

Bisbee has a rough and tumble history. There were some nasty labor union/company/US Army riots. Mining town with all the baggage of labor unfriendly companies (Think Anaconda Mining - Hearst sorts) and tough miners in a place with not a lot of other things to do besides work and drink. There are some colorful chapters.

She loves Bisbee and might want to live there, but there are places there she won't go into anymore.

Will try and find my old links to send you regarding one place.

[merh]

38. Yes

Out of body experience and the spirit of my mom.

[Rising Phoenix]

40. I've had many...

ever since I was a little kid

[CitrusLib]

41. Several.

The night before my grandfather passed away, I dreamed he was singing 'Amazing Grace'. You have to understand that grandpa NEVER sang. Always mouthed the words, if anything.

I found out later from my dad that when my grandfather's pastor visited him hours before his death, he made the pastor sing 'Amazing Grace' with him. It was the first time in years and years and years his children (my mom and aunts and uncles) heard him sing.

My paternal grandmother passed away when I was pregnant with my son. That tore me up because she was the only one in my family that truly understood my infertility (son through IVF). It had taken her 4 years to conceive my uncle and dad. I had really wanted her to at least see her great-grandson.

When I was home on maternity leave, I started sinking into depression and while rocking my son in a recliner one afternoon, I started smelling this amazing fried chicken (Granny was the quintessential southern cook). A smell I always associate with her. I had this feeling she was standing near me watching the baby and my depression and sense of loneliness instantly evaporated. I remain convinced she was there watching over me that afternoon.

[mvd]

43. No, I haven't

Have never lived in a haunted house, and even when I've gone to haunted places like Williamsburg, VA, nothing happened.

But my parents have. Mom has seen a UFO in plain daylight, and my dad might have experienced ghostly activity (didn't see a ghost, but felt a cold spot one time - and when he was young, the broken fan went off in an ambulance he was in.)

[Shell Beau]

44. I've had a few. Too long to explain.

[AnarchoFreeThinker]

45. I knew you were going to ask that.

[Modem Butterfly]

46. Nope, not even close

"There are no haunted houses, only haunted people". I'm not sure who said that, but in my experience it is very true. Every time I've investigated a "paranormal" experience, I find a perfectly natural cause.

[Trigger Hippie]

54. Never have.

Might be interesting to have one, though, as long as it wasn't too scary. :)

[enigmatic]

55. yes

I've posted my experience before here, and it was real. And haunts me to this day.

[spinbaby]

56. I've always wanted to see a ghost

Never have, though. Not even when we lived by the Civil War cemetary.

But I did have a kind of creepy experience about 20 years ago. I was sitting on a couch reading and listening to music. After a bit, it registered with me that I didn't have music on. As soon as I focused on the music, it faded away. I think it was a hallucination of some kind but it was creepy to hear music plain as day and then suddenly realize it wasn't real.

[pitohui]

94. any ideas what causes this, we've had this repeatedly

it isn't just pitohui who is crazy, other people are hearing it too

there is simply no source for the music in the room where we're hearing it

i'm abt ready to call ghostbusters!

[smirkymonkey]

108. I've had musical/auditory hallucinations too!

One was really bizarre - every car that went by was blaring this creepy trumpet music. I asked some people I knew in the neighborhood if they heard it, because it was as plain as day to me, and they said no - they heard nothing of the sort.

It went on for days - every vehicle that went by played this music. I knew that I was hearing things, but it was so real and so clear I couldn't believe that it wasn't real. I actually went to a "crisis center" because it really scared me. I was in Graduate School and very stressed out - hadn't really slept in three days - which was probably the trigger.

It's amazing what the mind is capable of.

[pitohui]

109. ok but the one i'm hearing others are hearing it too

i'm familiar w. sleep deprivation hallucinations, including auditory hallucinations

they are not heard by others

& they don't tend to come back when yr well-rested unless yr a schizophrenic

right now i feel we're really dealing w. something unexplained

[LSK]

57. i dont know if this counts but

Sometimes when listening to the radio, I sometimes get a song in my head and then that same song is the next one on the radio.

[lildreamer316]

86. That happenes to me all the time.

I mean at least once a day. It can get annoying.

[BlueIris]

90. The bulk of my prescient ability is localized to music and t.v.

Usually, a few hours before I will find myself watching a random rerun of a series I've seen all or pieces of before, I will find myself thinking of a spat of dialogue from whatever episode I'll later be watching. Then, there you go, the episode will be on in front of me. That happens to me a lot with radio stuff, too, and sometimes it's creepy (prescient "visions" of the radio playing songs that break most modern stations formats and that I haven't heard in five + years--that just happened this afternoon, actually).

[lildreamer316]

92. That is actually how the ghost in my life lets me know

he's around also. My fiance died in 2001 and he was the biggest VH fan on the face of the earth.....so whenever I or hubby get in the car there it is on the radio. Sometimes 2/3 times same day same station.
I used to have alot of deja vu (guess I would dream it and then it would happen) but for some reason that stopped when he died. I think maybe I closed myself off a little.

[BlueIris]

104. I have one like that.

It's a presence that has been around me for awhile--I think s/he is a librarian or something. Whenever I need something (usually an emotional or psychological need, as opposed to an intellectual curiosity) from a book, I cruise around in bookstores looking at things until I feel a certain "connection" with a text. I usually buy only the books I have that connection with during those searches, no matter what my initial impression of the blurb or the writing is, and find my needs met almost magically that way. Also, occasionally, I will struggle to recall a certain author's name or a certain title of a book I want and will, sometimes quite literally, be handed the volume in question. It's quite convenient, actually.

[Lilith Velkor]

63. I believe the sea can play tricks on a man.

That's all I care to say about it. Good morrow.

[elshiva]

72. YES!!!! EOM!

[TrogL]

75. Routinely

I'm randomly telekinetic, sort of a poltergeist phenomenon.

An example, elevator call buttons go on before I call them.

I can do "look ma, no hands" steering with a car and go around corners.

[BlueIris]

84. It's interesting this topic would show up today.

I have had several (many?) paranormal experiences in my life, some of the most signficant having happened over the last year or two, including a sort of all-encompassing psychic connection to DU.com and the progressive communities it touches (seriously) but just lately, there has been one thing really affecting my life, with no explanation from the corporeal world I would want to attribute to its occurrence...

...I think there's a ghost in my house. Specifically, my computer. Seriously. For the past couple of years, it's had some major issues that no one (not even the high-end repair specialists who have worked on it) have been able to fix. Then, a couple of weeks ago, my roommates and I were moving stuff around, and we moved the machine next to a window in my study (well, not right next to it, as that would be bad) but close to the light. It seems to well, like this adjustment. Now it sleeps when it's supposed to (it used to refuse to respond to this command, no matter how many times we tried messing with it) and--okay, this next part is weird...some of you may have seen my post in the Mac Users forum the other day in which I was livid that my roommate had messed with the settings on my machine. I had gone outside to do yard work, and come back to find the display resolution kicked up five or six notches, making the computer darn night impossible for me to use. No one else was home except my roommate and I, so I blamed her. She has since sworn up and down that she didn't touch the computer and wouldn't have even known how to alter the settings to do what had been done to it. Maybe I shouldn't believe her, but I do. Also, I've had this weird feeling whenever I'm in the room we moved the computer to. It's completely unlike anything else I've ever experienced. It's not bad, just strange. Ghost in the machine?

[lildreamer316]

87. You've got to

remember that in the haunting lexicon; electronics are the easiest to mess with and the most suceptible to kinetic and "ghostly" energy. This dosen't suprise me at all; however you need to try to find out WHO and WHY. Is this energy from a person attached to YOU or the room? Dig around and see what you can find. Are "they" trying to tell you something or just playing? See if you can discern.

[BlueIris]

89. Oh, that's a good reminder.

Actually, now that you bring it up...the house I am currently living in is very strange. It doesn't have a long history (built in the late '70s) but it's history is quite unusual--well, there are positive and negative elements to it. The four couples who lived here before my roommates and I (they're the couple, I'm the tag-along) split up, and I don't think my roommates' relationship is long for this world. There is something kind of odd about this room (I'm in it now)--not bad odd, just "lighter" than other rooms in our home.

I'm actually of the opinion that in this case, the energy is connected to me, and doesn't have much to do with the house. So--I guess I'll just have to think on things (don't know of any dead, Mac-friendly spirits from my past or who might be hanging around in this region).

[CBHagman]

91. I'm surprisingly skeptical, but there's this experience...

Okay, let me start by saying that I am fascinated by anything that smacks of the scientifically inexplicable, but I am very hard to convince regarding most reported events. I can't say that I've ever seen a ghost, for example, but I've known people who had claimed that experience and/or visions, regular hauntings, etc.

The most interesting thing about these reports is that they've come more often than not from very down-to-Earth, practical types, sometimes even downright hard-nosed people.

My brother and I also have had some experiences regarding meaningful coincidences, warning dreams, etc. Again, it's nothing too dramatic. I have vivid dreams and like examining them from a psychological rather than supernatural perspective. Like Ann Faraday, I think they sometimes just point us to practical details we haven't examined in our waking life.

But here's the experience that was unique. As a teenager, I attended a prayer meeting one night and had people pray over me while laying on hands (nothing dramatic -- just placing their hands on my shoulders and head as they prayed). While they were praying, I felt as though a non-painful current were passing through me. The people praying over me remarked that they felt a "power."

About 10 years later I had the experience of being shocked by an electric current and had the chance to compare the two. The earlier "power" flowing through me was pleasant, and the later one was, of course, upsetting and uncomfortable.

The clincher is that the night I felt that power flowing through me, I was renouncing any involvement in the occult. Again, I was a teenager then and rather freaked out by the clash between Christianity and things like tarot cards and the like. Now I see things in somewhat more nuanced terms, but at the time I really needed to be clear where I stood.

[BlueIris]

102. Interesting. I, too, am most affected by accounts of the Inexplicable

when they come from people I wouldn't have assumed could accept the reality of those experiences. At my last job, I was shocked to hear the ghost stories from the most literal-minded woman I have ever met, (an accountant in our workplace) which included physical contact with ghosts. In our building. That was a wild day.

[OhioBlue]

95. In the house I grew up in...

I saw a ghost. I'm sure of it. I was in my bedroom and there was a translucent lady in a nightgown / dress standing in the doorway. I shut my eyes looked again, she was still there looking at me. Shut them again, looked and she was gone. it was the only time i saw her but...

I also went upstairs to my bedroom and the little b&w tv was on. I thought i had turned it off b/c I would get in trouble for leaving the tv on while not watching. I turned it off went back downstairs where everyone else was. Came up later and it was on. Nobody else had gone upstairs. I was positive that time i had turned it off.

My Uncle came home from TX while my brother and I were away at my Mom's house. He slept in my bed. He told me recently that he woke up and found himself floating about a foot from the ceiling (in my mind the spirit was trying to get him out of my bed) Around that same time my step-sister, who stayed in the same room said she saw objects float from my desk to my dresser (again the same weekend I was gone and my Uncle was there)

[jane_pippin]

100. Maybe. On the day my Gramma died...

My gramma and I were very close--like a second mom. She was at my parents house in home-hospice when she died but I was living in a different city and wasn't there when she passed. I was getting ready to go to work that afternoon when my dad called to tell me she was gone.
I hung up, sobbed, and started packing to go back home. As I was doing that a little bird (gramma LOVED birds) started tapping on my window really hard and wouldn't stop. I had the tv on and while my dad called the stupid John Edwards psychic guy show came on. I don't put any stock into what that guy says, but it so happened that as the bird was tapping John Edwards kept saying my gramma's name to the person on his show. ("Is it Mary? Is the name Mary? I keep getting Mary." That kind of thing.)

Out of nowhere I just started laughing, looked at the bird and said "I love you too gramma. Goodbye for now," and the bird stopped tapping.

Was it paranormal? I don't know. Maybe. Probably just coincidences. Either way, it felt like it was her saying goodbye and it made me feel a little better.

[Nikia]

101. I saw a ceramic figurine jump off the cake

At my mother and evil step father's wedding. It levitated up and out as if it were thrown. It broke of course. There were other people in the room who saw it too. Skeptics say it must have slid off, but there were no slide marks on the cake.
They had a horrible marriage and finally divorced after 10 years.

[BlueIris]

105. In some ways, my supernatural awareness has helped my activism.

Posters in the JK forum know of the mind-meld I felt I shared with our candidate (at least last year). That was very comforting at times, it's how I knew Kerry was working hard for his supporters and concentrating on the right issues.

I was really helped by my local chapter of Democracy for America--during the campaign days anyway. But I almost didn't get to the first meeting I wanted to attend. It had been a long day and I was tired and I'd gotten some not so great directions to the school the meetings were held in. Then, a little voice told me to turn left at this upcoming intersection (hee). I did, and the road led me to the school. The first meeting was great, and sent me down the path to real commitment to The Cause. I don't know what I would have done if not for the little voice at that time.

[ZombieNixon]

112. All the time, all dreams, mostly mundane

I have a good track record of prescient dreams. Mostly, they're just mundane things, like snippets of conversations, plays in a sports game. I'll dream about them, and then they'll come true a few days or maybe a week later. I can attribute some of my very quick reflexive reactions to these, and they've given me some answers in class. For years, they've just been like this, and they're different from other dreams in that they're very lucid; I can place every person, setting, object and item in the scene.

This is strange, because I very skeptical in other "paranormal" matters. I don't believe in astrology, for example, and I'm probably the most iconoclastic person you'll ever meet.

[arwalden]

115. Sometimes I Concentrate On Red Traffic Lights... And They Turn GREEN!!

[BlueIris]

116. I swear, we have a ghost in our house or something.

I posted upthread about the computer issues--nothing more on that front, but now: my other roommate, the one I hate a lot, just found a random dollar that does not belong to any of us, sitting on top of his briefcase in the front hallway. No one else lives here and could have put it there. So. Weird.