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Rift
Skeptic Friend
USA
333 Posts |
 Posted - 08/16/2001 : 14:00:20
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Lisa
SFN Regular
USA
1223 Posts |
Posted - 08/16/2001 : 14:13:42 [Permalink]
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I lived in a house in Germany where I had a few "ghostly" experiences. Am I still a skeptic? You bet. I suppose a true believer would make an immediate leap to the conclusion that the place was indeed haunted. Skeptics on the other hand will look for rational mundane explanations. The absense of an explanation doesn't mean ghosts either. It means there's something I've overlooked.
Lisa
Chaos...Confusion...Destruction...My Work Here Is Done |
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Randy
SFN Regular
USA
1990 Posts |
Posted - 08/16/2001 : 16:11:01 [Permalink]
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Many years ago while doing some backyard stargrazing, I noticed a satellite moving slowly across the night sky for a few seconds. It then stopped abruptly for about 5 seconds then started moving 90 degrees to its previous trek. I've never forgotten that "unidentified" flying object. Was never impressed with it being anything OTHER than unidentified.
Also too, had thought of someone I hadn't seen for many, many years and had moved from town back then. I bumped into them later that afternoon at the local grocery store. She was in town on business for the week.
Course I've also thought of thousands of other people in my 47 years but have not run into them like the previous story.
Now if she had bought me a multi-million dollar lottery ticket and it won later on? - well, let's just cross that bridge when it gets here! 
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Kristin
Skeptic Friend
Canada
84 Posts |
Posted - 08/16/2001 : 16:43:45 [Permalink]
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*puts herself way out on a limb*
Had an out-of-body experience. not sure what it was or how to explain it, but I was using 'meditating' as a way to fall asleep back when I was younger and had insomnia (my mind would wander incessantly and I'd lay awake for hours).
After listening to Tchiakovsky for about an hour (i could still hear it) laying there with my eyes closed, I realized I could 'see' my room (with the light off) from a vantage point about 3 feet above my bed. I also could not feel my limbs (an extension of that nice dead feeling you get on those Saturday mornings you REALLY don't want to get up)
Years later, I realize it was probably a hallucination. At the time, it scared me shitless. Needles to say, I found other ways to sleep. (staying up till 3 AM online works :D You get 3 hours of really deep sleep.)
Good judgement comes from experience: experience comes from bad judgement. |
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Zandermann
Skeptic Friend
USA
431 Posts |
Posted - 08/16/2001 : 16:48:23 [Permalink]
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I've had a few experiences similar to those above...seeing a light in the sky which didn't track the way I thought it should, seeing/hearing *something* in my grandpa's house the night he died elsewhere, feelings of premonition, etc.
But I don't see anything to be gained by jumping to conclusions regarding causes. I'm content to chalk these up to inexperience with the night sky, being in a (slightly) unfamiliar place while under stress, and an incidence of "remembered coincidence".
I'm not about to attribute these occurrences to aliens, ghosts, or precognition without a *lot* more evidence, from an unbiased source.
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Randy
SFN Regular
USA
1990 Posts |
Posted - 08/16/2001 : 17:07:53 [Permalink]
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Interesting Kristin. Not an expert here, but a similar experience like yours as I recall, left me with the self-explaination that I had entered sort of a transparent conscious state ('xcuse the fluff wording here), like a waking dream.
One gets very, very relaxed, - conscious thoughts seem to have abated, and maybe fanciful dreamlike imagery occurs in one's minds eye. Endorphines there a bit too?
Reminds me of when I tried TM for a couple of months many years ago. Everyone actually can and do have these lucid moments, like your story while listening to music.
I try to fight it off when I'm driving in rush hour traffic! 
"Those are my principles. If you don't like them I have others."
Groucho Marx. |
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Greg
Skeptic Friend
USA
281 Posts |
Posted - 08/16/2001 : 17:12:59 [Permalink]
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I actually had several other-worldly experiences in my youth. I have never however, attributed any of them to anything but the interaction of ergot derivatives with my brain.
greg.
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Trish
SFN Addict
USA
2102 Posts |
Posted - 08/16/2001 : 20:55:20 [Permalink]
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I work nights in an empty building. Talk about strange things. Thought I saw something flash past in the hallway the other night. I went looking for a cat - it was white and low to the ground - didn't find a cat in the building. This is a frequent occurance, I don't consider it anything more than sleep deprivation.
He's YOUR god, they're YOUR rules, YOU burn in hell! |
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@tomic
Administrator
USA
4607 Posts |
Posted - 08/16/2001 : 21:02:56 [Permalink]
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quote:
I work nights in an empty building.
Wow! Do you guard the national budget surplus??  
@tomic
Gravity, not just a good idea...it's the law! |
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Zandermann
Skeptic Friend
USA
431 Posts |
Posted - 08/16/2001 : 21:03:44 [Permalink]
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quote:
... Thought I saw something flash past in the hallway the other night. I went looking for a cat - it was white and low to the ground - didn't find a cat in the building. ...
Might be a snark, or perhaps a boojum. |
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comradebillyboy
Skeptic Friend
USA
188 Posts |
Posted - 08/16/2001 : 21:15:36 [Permalink]
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quote:
I've had a few experiences similar to those above...seeing a light in the sky which didn't track the way I thought it should, seeing/hearing *something* in my grandpa's house the night he died elsewhere, feelings of premonition, etc.
i have experienced many strange phenomena, but i always thought it was a result of drugs, alcohol or lack of sleep.
comrade billyboy |
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Lisa
SFN Regular
USA
1223 Posts |
Posted - 08/16/2001 : 21:16:10 [Permalink]
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quote:
I work nights in an empty building. Talk about strange things. Thought I saw something flash past in the hallway the other night. I went looking for a cat - it was white and low to the ground - didn't find a cat in the building. This is a frequent occurance, I don't consider it anything more than sleep deprivation.
He's YOUR god, they're YOUR rules, YOU burn in hell!
Before I joined the AF, I worked in an empty building at night..by myself..too. Would you believe I actually worked in a funeral home? And not one darned thing happened! I was all ready to finish the summer with some great ghost stories, and zip, nada, nothing. I was pretty bummed.
Lisa
Chaos...Confusion...Destruction...My Work Here Is Done |
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Trish
SFN Addict
USA
2102 Posts |
Posted - 08/18/2001 : 15:36:00 [Permalink]
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No @tomic, no national surplus. 
I especially like the *external* voices I hear in my head. That's when I think I'm going nuts.
He's YOUR god, they're YOUR rules, YOU burn in hell! |
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rubysue
Skeptic Friend
USA
199 Posts |
Posted - 08/18/2001 : 16:19:06 [Permalink]
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Hi everyone! I just got back from vacation again and checked in to see the latest on SFN (I'm still avoiding the BABB - good thing, too, seeing how Piper has resurfaced and JW is still aboard).
How interesting that you have this topic thread about strange experiences among skeptics. Here's a timely story: We spent the last night of our Colorado and New Mexico vacation last night in the historic St. James Hotel in Cimarron, New Mexico. This hotel was built initially as a tavern on the mountain route of the Santa Fe Trail in 1872 and became a hotel in the early 1880's. A variety of notables have stayed there, including Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley, Wyatt Earp, William Bonney (Billy the Kid), Jesse James, Clay Allison (Earp's mortal enemy) etc., etc. The hotel's not that great (other than the historical connection) and Cimarron is not exactly a hub of excitement, but we did have a very strange evening, to say the least. Apparently, there were 26 violent deaths in this hotel during its checkered history and the bullet holes that they've kept in tin ceiling in the dining room (formerly the bar) attest to this violence. Because of the events and deaths in the hotel, the St. James has apparently become a hot destination for ghost seekers.
We talked to a couple in the bar who were from Dallas who seemed quite reasonable in all other aspects who were spending their fourth night in the hotel hoping to capture ghosts on digital film (they also went and spent time each night in the cemetery down the street). They were absolutely convinced that they had had several experiences with ghosts in this hotel and in many others they stayed in. They talked about the cold air outside their room and the shadow they saw in the downstairs hallway. We rolled our eyes (secretly) and smiled politely.
Well, to make a long story short, I have to admit that my "spooky" level was starting to be elevated by the conversation and the subsequent trek up to our room through the gloomy hallway, where we sought out the location of the dreaded room #18, which allegedly houses the most evil of the "spirits" that haunt the St. James and has been closed off to all access. [The staff of the hotel even offers tours that culminate with a video describing the spooky goings-on of the resident haunts - talk about a novel tourist trap!]
Off to bed we go - two hard-core skeptics fresh from the ghost stories and several adult beverages. Our room was well-lit from the outside lights and the hall lights through the transoms. I must admit I spent the first two or three hours watching the room (and listening to the local drunks leaving the bar down below). About 12:30 am, I heard someone coming up the stairs down at the end of the the hallway and suddenly, ahead of this person, there was the oddest sound that went past the wall and doors of our room, like a rushing wind or fast-moving body with no accompanying footsteps (hard to disguise your footsteps on the creaky floors). There were no open windows in the hallway, by the way. I commented on this to the sleeping hubby and he told me I was insane (I already knew that). Well, the hair has been standing up on the back of my neck now for several hours every time I think of that noise.
Do I believe it was a ghost? Nah! - but it is fun to be scared of things that have no immediate rational explanation.
By the way, I've also seen satellites that appeared to change orbit, leading me to believe they were some type of UFO (nothing wrong with calling it that - it is unidentified). However, I believe a spacecraft in a Molnyia (sic) orbit (used by the Russians for reconnaissance) will appear to a ground observer to abruptly change direction as you watch (someone can correct me if this is wrong, but a person who worked at NORAD told me that a long time ago).
Sorry about the long story - I haven't written anything in a while so I'm overcompensating.
rubysue
If your head is wax, don't walk in the sun.
Edited by - rubysue on 08/18/2001 21:04:20
Edited by - rubysue on 08/18/2001 21:13:48 |
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Rift
Skeptic Friend
USA
333 Posts |
Posted - 08/18/2001 : 20:35:16 [Permalink]
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Well, you guys surprised me :) I thought a few skeptics might have had strange experiences, but this is indeed encouraging.
I was about 8 when I saw my first (and most bizarre) UFO. A friend and I were watching for meteors and saw one (a fairly dim one) make a short zig zag, making 3 or 4 opposite 90 degree turns.
At 21, I was on the Outer Banks with my family when we saw a group of lights, blinking rather strangely, circle silently above us for about an hour. I've been told since, what I described sounded like a refueling operation for navy aircraft.
When I was 17, my grandfather died. He always sat in a big black chair because he had difficulty getting around and had to use a walker. On my first visit to my grandmother's after his death, I came into the house, walked past his chair, and stopped cold in the kitchen, because I swear he was in the chair. When I looked back, it was empty of course. The mostly likely explanation, is of course, that my mind placed him there, either out of desire or just habit of seeing him there.
I've seen other UFOs, but most I was reasonably sure were either military craft (I once heard, but not see, a strange sounding object zoom above what sounded like tree-top level about 2 in the morning, scared the hell out of me), or oddly shaped meteors or satellites re-entering in strange paths.
I've always been a skeptic, even as a kid. I thought to myself, why would an alien spacecraft make right angle turns out in the middle of nowhere for no reason? Why would my grandfather's ghost come back just to set in a chair he had to hate being confined to for the last few years of his life?
"Goddammit! The world is just filling up with more and more idiots! And the computer is giving them access to the world! They're
spreading their stupidity! At least they were contained before--now they're on the loose everywhere!"? |
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Bozola
Skeptic Friend
USA
166 Posts |
Posted - 08/18/2001 : 20:41:00 [Permalink]
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The only encounter with truely bizarre phenomena I've had, is an waking to a "night hag", or otherwise known as sleep paralysis.
Imagine waking up to feeling a large man's left hand clamped firmly across your mouth, grasping from behind. I have always slept on my back; I don't think someone could have hidden in my mattress. But when you open your eyes, nothing is there, but you still feel it. When you reach up to pull it off you, your hands encounter nothing, but you still feel the hand across your mouth, choaking your breath.
Scary stuff.
I basically told myself to "wake up NOW!", and I was free.
Bozola
- Practicing skeet for the Rapture. |
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