The Thread of the UNEXPLAINED!

[MattB]

Good Eeeevening....(it's actually noon here)

Welcome to the thread of the unexplained. Of things that go bump in the night. Of chills, thrills, and legend!

Tell us your ghost stories, UFO sightings, cryptozoology, whatever can be classified as paranormal, unknown, or downright WEIRD!

Obey the thread rules: skepticism is welcome, but don't step on others for their beliefs, or experiences.

So, pull up a chair by the campfire, enjoy your beverage of choice, and let's delight each other with tales of the unknown...

(...I'll add a few later, but don't be shy about getting us started.)

 

[Donna]

I believe in ghosts or spirits. I'm not completely sold on the belief that they are the souls of people who've passed away, though. They are definitely non-corporeal energy beings. I did some ghost-hunting back in the 90s and saw things I cannot explain. But I always approached it from a skeptic's viewpoint; looking first for a scientific or reasonable explanation of the phenomena.

 

[MattB]

Like Donna, I was an investigator for quite a few years. When I stepped away, I had more questions than answers. I think I feel similar to Donna, but when asked if I think ghosts exist I put myself in the "I'm not sure" camp. There is something to it, but I don't think we'll ever get the answer.

I've talked about this subject often over the years here on Dims, so forgive me if you've already heard or seen my musings.

I know I've posted this link a couple of times here at least, but it was such a noodle-scratcher at the time, and still is 13-odd years or so later. If you can believe it, it's not the craziest experience I've had, but it was very blatant, and the clearest EVP.

Private Residential in Ottawa – Haunted Ottawa Database

Private residential in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. A report about our ghost investigation at this private residential.

coldspot.org

I've never been scared by any investigation I've been on. Startled? Sure, but never scared. The fascination always dominated. I run towards it, not away. You would never catch me jumping out of an airplane, but tell me a house is haunted and I'm dying to get in for a look. Pun intended.

 

[Joker]

Well now I have a few stories.

 

[Joker]

When it comes to ghost I have figured out that many that I have encountered are fallen angels that deceive humans. Same goes for some of the known aliens that are on Earth. And before you ask. Yes I am an ordained minister but I prefer to not use a title. I work mostly with homeless and disadvantaged so I have seen people possesses by very earthly things like Drugs and despair. As some of you know my humor can be out there and I think that is a defense process of all the time I spent in the military and working with the military as a civilian.
I can tell you that many things people see in the sky I saw in hangers and to this day I can not talk about them so please don't ask.

 

[MattB]

Man, I can't resist asking a few questions! For starters, do you think REDACTED? If so, does that mean REDACTED? That would be crazy if REDACTED.

 

[Joker]

Man, I can't resist asking a few questions! For starters, do you think REDACTED? If so, does that mean REDACTED? That would be crazy if REDACTED.

 

[Donna]

Joker, fallen angels are demons. Spirits/ghosts are generally thought to be either positively or negatively charged non-corporeal energy beings with their own consciousness. I’ve studied theology (I’m married to an ordained minister) and paganism (former Wiccan) which is where I base my conclusions. Angels and demons have bodies, they’re just different from our bodies.

 

[Joker]

Joker, fallen angels are demons. Spirits/ghosts are generally thought to be either positively or negatively charged non-corporeal energy beings with their own consciousness. I’ve studied theology (I’m married to an ordained minister) and paganism (former Wiccan) which is where I base my conclusions. Angels and demons have bodies, they’re just different from our bodies.

Not the forum to argue here.

 

[Donna]

Not the forum to argue here.

I apologize if I’m coming off argumentative. I mean no disrespect of your belief. I merely meant to share what I have learned from my studies, hoping perhaps others would share their conclusions as well. As with anything outside the purview of irrefutable fact-based scientific results, all the opinions/conclusions in the world are open to interpretation and discussion.

 

[Tracyarts]

I made a video on YouTube once about paranormal experiences at an ex's house.

It was a large one story house with an attic storage space. And a little side room off the kitchen that had a spiral metal staircase leading up to a small studio apartment over the garage.

- One night when I was there alone with his stepmother (he and his dad both worked night shift at the time), I heard footsteps pacing back and forth above the ceiling. Not under the apartment, but coming from the attic. There wasn't enough room for a person to stand up in the part of the attic with a floor, that they used for storage. And the footsteps were pacing back and forth across the ceiling where there was no floor in the attic, only the ceiling and insulation. Also, the only access to the attic was right inside the house, off of the living room. Nobody pulled the ceiling door open and the ladder down. I grabbed my stuff and left a message for him that I had to go to work early and was going home for the night, told his stepmother I was leaving, and gotTFO.

- The little room where the spiral staircase was located had a microwave, and a snack cabinet. One night I went to make a bag of microwave popcorn. I had my back to the staircase and heard footsteps on the stairs. I spun around and nobody was there. This happened more than once. I frequently felt like someone was watching me every time I went in that little room, and never hung around in it very long.

- They had a tenant in the apartment for a while. One day she came into the recreation room where me, my ex, and some of his buddies were watching a movie and ripped into us for messing with her and freaking out her cat. She said the cat would be fixated on the door into the apartment, and arch it's back, puff up it's fur, and growl. She claimed we were sneaking up the stairs and doing something outside her door to provoke the cat. We definitely weren't messing with her cat. But, she claimed the cat was fine before she moved in there and believed we were messing with her and her cat. She moved out shortly after.

- One night after the tenant moved out, me, my ex, and a few of his buddies were in the apartment, sitting on and around the bed, watching TV. I noticed one of his buddies looking at the window with a confused look on his face. The window shade was slowly moving forward a few inches, then quickly moving back. Like someone was pulling it forward, and letting it drop. I saw a flash of movement off to the side, and a heavy candlestick slid a few inches across the top of a dresser, then slammed onto it's side, like an invisible hand knocked it over. Everyone jumped. Me and the one guy were the only ones who saw it happen.

- My ex had been somewhat into the occult before I met him, more or less teenage exploration, dabbling in "spooky stuff", not taking it completely seriously but seriously enough to actually dabble in rituals. I always wonder if he didn't inadvertently attract or invite something into his house. Also, the apartment had been his space when he was a teenager, and that was the room he stored his chest of ritual tools and books in. It seemed like that little apartment had a strange vibe to it.

 

[Donna]

The different devices commonly used by ghost investigators include Ghost Boxes, EMF Readers, and if you want to go old school, dowsing rods. Of the three, I’ve only used two, with some success. My speciality is clearing energy. I’m very sensitive to energies and when I studied Paganism, I learned a few techniques for clearing or “righting” energy.

Opinions on the use of Ghost Boxes? (AKA Spirit Box)? When I was doing my “ghost hunting”, the device had not yet been invented, but my step son uses one and recommends it highly. For those that don’t know, a Spirit Box is a device that quickly scans one or more radio frequencies (usually AM) creating a static effect. Spirits/Ghosts can alter the energy pattern in order to form words or phrases in order to “talk” to us. A team of investigators I watch on YouTube rely heavily on their use of the Spirit Box.

EMF Meters are normally used to find faults in electrical wiring and/or power lines. Spikes in energy often indicate the presence of a spirit. This technology is used a great deal to debunk. Breaks or disruptions in magnetic fields can often create the same sensation as you feel when a ghost is present.

Dowsing Rods are old school. They’re L-shaped rods that allows an adept user to find things based on the movement of the rods. Traditionally, dowsing was used to find water, so our ancestors could determine the best place to dig a well. More modern operators use them for finding things such as hidden jewels or money, or even dead bodies. The user asks the rods questions, and their movement then indicates the answer to the operator’s questions. It’s sort of the same principle as a Ouija board, which I refuse to use.

 

[MattB]

We had a case where two young kids were seeing a ghost at night. When we did an EMF sweep of their room, the meters went haywire. It was an old (100+ years) house, and there was a HUGE power line connected to the house on the outside wall right where their beds were. We had the family move the beds off that wall.

EMF can really do a number on your head.

 

[MattB]

As for spirit boxes, we never used them. Ouija boards, our general policy was not on cases, but once in awhile we'd break one out on our own time. I know people are sensitive about them. I used to scan thrift stores for things to use, and once we found a small black and white TV we used for static. Cheap.

I miss the creativity of investigations. We had a place that activity would kick up when the homeowners made toast, so we brought toasters and bread.

 

[SSBHM]

I believe in ghosts or spirits. I'm not completely sold on the belief that they are the souls of people who've passed away, though. They are definitely non-corporeal energy beings. I did some ghost-hunting back in the 90s and saw things I cannot explain. But I always approached it from a skeptic's viewpoint; looking first for a scientific or reasonable explanation of the phenomena.

If you'd like to hear about a real story that happened to me, message me.

 

[NZ Mountain Man]

I live in a gangland house that has had many senseless cancer deaths from substance abuse but in the 70's a brutal murder happened.

The tenant dragged a child of the Stop Bank behind the house into the backyard and bashed him to death.

The first time I mowed the lawn I saw scarabs climb out of the lawn and that was the location of the killing.

I later learnt through events that an entity caused him to do it and it was running a muck still.

Vast number of weekly events occurred but the best always happen when I had visitors.

My younger brother dropped his kids off so that he could go shopping. His wife rubbished me when i said that the house was haunted. When she went leave the ghost removed all the door handles. When a decision to go out the windows was made it returned the door handles.

Another incident the children were sitting in front of the television and it 180 and faced the wall. It took two people to turn the cabinet and television back again.

My favourite one was a friend rubbish the haunted claim and when I spoke of the murder he asked where did that happen.
His child was floated in the the air; out the door, and placed on the spot.
He left screaming that it was not allowed to touch his child.
Two hours later he returned with a Priest who tried splashing Holly water on the house but the water exploded before it touched the surfaces.

The many other events were powerful but I not go into them at the moment.

 

[NZ Mountain Man]

If you'd like to hear about a real story that happened to me, message me.

Love to hear you ghost stories.

 

[Munchausen]

I'll preface by saying that some of my mental health issues are known to come with hallucinations, which is what I try to chalk paranormal experiences up to. Equal parts terrifying and fun.

I have a pretty long list (some of which even have witnesses), and I can make them a bit more literary, like full-on ghost stories if anybody wants.

In the realm of ghosts, I once had a dusty man in all grey clothes with an unlit cigarette approach me in the middle of the night and ask for a light.
I didn't have one at the time and told him as much. He looked despondent.
I thought about it and decided I'd buy him a lighter from the convenience store up the block.
I turned around to tell him, as he'd passed by me, but he was gone. It had only been seconds.
I ran down the block and checked the intersection and found nothing.

Somebody please ask me questions. I really like talking about this kind of stuff.

@MattB did you find any commonalities between the cases you worked? And how often did EMF play a role?

@Donna what are your thoughts on energies anchoring themselves to objects or people?

 

[MattB]

@MattB did you find any commonalities between the cases you worked? And how often did EMF play a role?

We started every case with an EMF sweep, literally just to check for EMFs, so we could factor that in or out of our reports. During the investigation, we would keep one nearby, should we suspect it would be of use. Often, we would leave one on in a room, and invite the "whatever" to play with it. A camera would be fixed on it. Only rarely did we get something interesting, and even then we remained skeptical.

As for commonalities between cases, that's a tough question. Phenomena reported could be very similar, but "ghost" sightings or poltergeist activity has really creeped into popular culture, so there's a commonality in reports from clients. Results always varied, and as I slightly mentioned above, we would change our investigation tactics depending on the report. Myself, my aim for evidence was to capture solid audio or video. I guess the most common thing would be the classic "wall knocks." I had a stethoscope in my case to really narrow in if needed.

Dealing with the clients was always the biggest challenge. You have to read them very quickly, and adapt your approach. Some are scared, skeptical, amused, irritated. The clients always gave me more pause than the investigation. Kid gloves always. Thinking your house is haunted can be very stressful. You also have to be mindful of the religious beliefs in the house, no matter what you personally believe, there's no call to discuss that with the client. It's also essential that if you are dealing with an alleged dead relative you approach that with caution. No swearing at Gram. That sort of thing.

We had instances where the client treated it like a party and invited people over. That's when we would leave. It wasn't for entertainment purposes.

 

[MattB]

Munchausen, share your stories if you're comfortable to do so. No pressure!