Real Hauntings

[JisthenewK]

Okay, yeah I'm an atheist, but lately, I've been hearing about hauntings and have began to wonder if some of these things are true. For example, to all of my lovely Aussies out there, Martha Rendell's ghost is said to haunt Freemantle. You can see her face in a window. I have also had my own experience of what I believe was paranormal activity. I'm not so sure anymore about spirits. Has science proved this wrong? What do you think about this?

[Blue]

For me spirits and, other "otherworldly" things are real, sometimes a bit too real. I've never lived in a "haunted" house or on "haunted" ground but, my second to last ex's sister did live in a haunted house in, Pa for a few months, until they could afford to move. The adults heard but never saw anything and, the kids actually saw the spirits, three of them or so the kids said.

Of course there are other ways 'things' can get here, but I won't get into that discussion here. That's best saved for pagan and occult forums.

[archubbycub]

I too have had experiences with the "paranormal," some even in my own home. My most recent occurred at a cemetery not too far from where I lived. I actually had a "spirit" try to take over my body after I drive by this cemetery! Scariest damned thing that ever happened to me. It took nearly 15 minutes to get it to "back off" and go back to where it came from. I still get an eerie feeling when I drive by this cemetery. I went back to it a few days later and found that a Colonel from the Civil War is buried there, along with 14 other Confederate Soilders. I believe it was the Colonel that was trying to take over my body that night. I think that the more science tries to disprove the paranormal the more it actually proves it. But I think it's still a long way from being a trusted, proven science!

[Rainbowmum]

I assure you they are real , but please never try to summon one, there are all sort of nasties just waiting.

Como House in South Yarra Victoria have two young ladies in the upstairs window.

The old jail in Melbourne is also haunted it's right near the courthouse ,the under parking of the court was once part of the burial ground of the prison.

I sat in the waiting cell , which is where you stayed before your hanging as I looked up at the wall there was the shadow of a noose swinging from side to side , I ran down stairs to ask them where there noose was as I seen it on the wall , they turned white and when I went back up , it was gone.

For those of you who are not Australian , the old Melbourne jail , housed Ned Kelly and gang as well as Mad Dog Morgan.
They have a heap of fascinating death masks on display Neddy boy is one of them.

Bogga road jail in Queensland is also haunted , I had a friend that had some very nasty experiences, touching , hair pulling.

The old holding docks at Paddington Sydney are shocking , they used to place terminal and infected immigrants there like T.B.

I have worked at two mental asylums that were haunted , one in Morriset the other in Stockton.

Maitland Jail is supposed to be haunted as well , I cannot confirm as I never felt anything from there, and we lived up the road from it,

Goulburn boys orphanage is not so much haunted as it is painfully sad , I cannot stay there longer than 15 minutes , it just drags me down and I can hardly breath.

Then there is desperate Dan the fisherman at Campbletown , I think everyone has seen him , we used to go greet him so he wouldn't be alone.

That will have to do for now , there are many more.

[Pix]

The science part is tricky. I suppose most scientists would say there's evidence of absence but it could just be an absence of evidence, especially given that using the best cutting rate gear for scientific investigation is very hard to come by. Unless they have a wealthy backer to provide it (and that's not likely unless some profit is likely to be reaped from it) then one has to sign up for it and competition is fierce, and further discouraging use of a truly scientific investigation into the paranormal is that it's not seen as likely to yield anything conclusive (even if you use it to disprove it it's not likely to gain you glory or funding), and any positive results would have to be sufficiently intriguing to get others to investigate it in similar ways (and ego would likely thwart even that) as anomalies happen all the time (and are often seen as a malfunction of the instruments, observation, etc) and require multiple verification.

IOW, while science hasn't technically disproved an afterlife or similar phenomenon it has shown it to be unlikely by current scientific understanding.

Anyway, I'll share a little about my own personal experiences and perhaps what others have shared later.

[Pix]

Not sure if I shared this before, but your asking about the science of it made me want to share this...what Einstein might've come up with in some Lovecraft story or even the Buffyverse (cue Angel flashback...) :tongue:

[Talby]

The matter is neither proven, nor unproven. Their is no evidence to suggest that they exist, yet there are no legitimate studies exposing a lack of evidence or physical possibility.

I personally do not believe, as I've been fooled by my eyes and ears more times than I can count. Why do creepy things happen in dark or quiet places? The mind abhors a vacuum. When there is a lack of stimulation, the brain will often provide it's own. Sometimes you might hear a faint voice, or see a vague figure in the play of shadow and light. Extreme deprivation of sense can actually bring on some intensely weird states of mind; look into isolation chambers if you're interested in human psychology.
This is also partly responsible for truly thoughtless meditation being so cursedly difficult to achieve. Our brains LOVE stimulation, and cannot tolerate a lack of it.

[Bowyn Aerrow]

There is, well for the lack of a better word or phrase 'spirit phenomena'.

There are also benevolent spirit entities (AKA Angels) and malevolent spirit entities (AKA demons). These have had many names and labels through history in every culture.

Ghosts (reported to be the spirit of a passed human) is a tricky subject. Electric/magnetic fields have been known to disturb brain functions and cause the person to 'see' and 'experience' ghostly or spiritual phenomena.

See: http://io9.com/5851828/10-things-an-elec...your-brain See number one (while 2-10 are very interesting too).

Some people are more susceptible to 'seeing' or 'experiencing' ghosts and spirits. It may be due to the hard wiring of the brain.

Paranormal researchers - the type of people who go and research haunted places or places reputed to have spirit phenomena - use a lot of electrical gadgets and have gotten odd readings, have gotten some sort of energy phenomena taking place. They can be in a place with absolutely no EMF and start their investigation and get pockets of EMF and Electronic Voice Phenomena and sounds and other things going on which defy their baseline readings of no electrical activity in the place.

I doubt you are an atheist. I suspect what you are suffering from is a total dislike of 'Christian Concepts' of God, thus have turned against the whole notion of there being a 'Higher Power' based on what you have seen in the behaviors of those who hold claim to this higher power.

I have discovered through the decades that most Atheists actually believe there is something more (for the lack of a better word 'God') but are loathed to associate that 'something else' with traditional takes on who this God Person is.

[Talby]

The matter is neither proven, nor unproven. Their is no evidence to suggest that they exist, yet there are no legitimate studies exposing a lack of evidence or physical possibility.

I personally do not believe, as I've been fooled by my eyes and ears more times than I can count. Why do creepy things happen in dark or quiet places? The mind abhors a vacuum. When there is a lack of stimulation, the brain will often provide its own. Sometimes you might hear a faint voice/sound, or see a vague figure in the play of shadow and light. Extreme deprivation of sense can actually bring on some intensely weird states of mind; look into isolation chamber/tanks if you're interested in human psychology.
This is also partly responsible for truly thoughtless meditation being so cursedly difficult to achieve. Our brains LOVE stimulation, and cannot tolerate a lack of it.

Also, as Bowyn said, electromagnetic radiation can cause people to experience "paranormal" activity. You can read up about Koren's "God Helmet," which introduces targeted EM radiation to induce said activity. There is nothing mystical about it, much like a nuclear powerplant is just a damn water boiler when you get right down to it.




As for the OP "suffering" that is just a bit biased, don't you think? He never even mentioned being uncomfortable.

[writerken]

I can't say that I believe in ghosts but I've seen a few. The ghost (?) that really freaked me was in Whitehall UK. I was doing security rounds way underground in the war rooms (navy days). As I walked along this tunnel I thought I could hear music. At 0300, that was most unlikely, and where I was made it even less so. As I approached a door to a cupboard the music became louder. It was bagpipes, I was sure. I tested the door. It was locked. There was a small wire mesh window in the door. I pushed myself up on tiptoe and peered inside. I jumped back smartish, heart racing. On the other side stood a Scotsman in all his garb playing the bagpipes. I legged it away finishing my rounds a good deal quicker.