Your opinion on encounters with ghosts? Have you ever had one?

Continuing. I have a ghost of a Confeterate Sholdier living in my balcony room bedroom attick.

I don’t believe in the existence of ghosts and have never seen one, I don’t know anyone personally who has claimed to see one either. When someone says they have seen a ghost it is due to their eyes playing tricks on them or simply their brain’s imagination. There is almost always a logical explanation for someone witnessing what they believe to be ghosts.

In 2001 I took some pictures just as we were about to leave Warwick Castle here in England.
We were one of the last people out and nobody else was around.
When I went to look at the pics later on that I’d taken my wife said my face had turned white – and no wonder – there were ghostly figures all over the place.
One of the last places we went there was to the ghost tower and I’d made a comment to my wife when I asked her if she thought the ghosts would follow us ? !! I meant it as a joke.
I had the pic and disc analysed by people I know at the Ministry of Defence photography unit, and they said as far as they were concerned there was no sign of tampering or any other reason they could give for the figures. They even sent me back an enlarged copy of the pic !!
When something like this happens to you it definitely makes you think – I can think of no explanation for what was in the pic, just that there was certainly something going on for which there was no “rational” explanation.

I did believe in ghosts until a specific incident.
I graduated third grade.

I join @HumourMe in not being convinced there’s any such thing. I would like to add that even if something happens for which there is no logical explanations, that does not mean ghosts are the only option left. If you buy into one load of speculation, then you should be aware that there are infinitely many other possible loads of speculation equally qualified (i.e. actually not at all) to explain what you observed.

I would also like to warn you that the fact that your imagination falls short on coming up with a rational explanation does not mean there cannot exist one.

@Fyrius I agree just because there isn’t an explanation doesn’t mean it must then be true that the ghost did actually exist. It is false logic that is used so much in society namely in the “existence of god” debate.

@HumourMe
Yep.
It’s a combination of a false dichotomy and shifting the burden of proof. Two fallacies in one, right there.

@Sandydog my friend had a similar experience, except they saw the ‘ghosts’ and ran off. I saw the picture and its pretty creepy.
Also, for the record i dont really believe in ghosts either

I think part of the problem in answering this question is defining what a “ghost” is.
Its far too easy to revert to Hollywood stereotypes.
Its too easy as well to have closed minds in either direction.
For some people ghosts do exist because of their experiences, while others reject the whole idea no matter what.
I myself am not a firm believer, but at the same time I cant say they dont exist

If you don’t believe in god, how in the world can you justify believing in ghosts?

@Sandydog
I hate bigotry as much as anyone, if not more, but I think some scepticism is very much warranted for this sort of thing. As they say, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. And to date, I believe not even regular evidence has been provided that couldn’t much more naturally be explained in more simple ways.

The problem with this subject is that humans are naturally biased to see people who aren’t there. Because in the wild, paranoia keeps you alive, and that’s what our instincts are adjusted to.

@Kelly_Obrien
I figure in the same way as how people who don’t believe in ghosts justify believing in god.

@Kelly_Obrien just because there is no god it doesnt mean there are no spirits

just because there is no god it doesnt mean there are no spirits…
I figure in the same way as how people who don’t believe in ghosts justify believing in god.
Why or what reasoning is there to say well that one exists and that doesn’t but that one does?
http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-laughing025.gif

@delta214 All of these things, god, ghosts, spirits, etc. are all in the realm of the supernatural. It makes sense that if you believe in the supernatural you believe in all of the above. Why or what reasoning is there to say well that one exists and that doesn’t but that one does? It’s inherently picking and choosing.

@HumourMe what’s wrong with picking which ones to believe in….. I really don’t see how just because they’re in the same category that all have to be true or all have to be false.
Say someone tells you they was eating fruit earlier. They was eating Apples, Bananas, and Frutanas. Just because you believe that Apples and Bananas are fruits it doesn’t mean a Frutana has to be one.

@Kelly_Obrien
Are you having fun?
I don’t think it makes sense either. But there are so many more people who believe in god, but not in ghosts, and who see no contradiction in that. Is this more sensible than the other way around? Why?

@delta214 I understand that but that’s not really what I’m getting at. What I’m trying to figure out is why you would believe one over the other. In the end god, ghosts, etc. are based upon the same principle that they are all metaphysical, supernatural, etc. etc. so why does one have an advantage of believability over the other?

@Fyrius It doesn’t really matter what or how many others believe in the same thing. This does not make it truth.
Does belief in ghosts but not god make more sense than belief in god and not ghosts? Good question.
I suppose the real question is, Do either of those apparently invisible, non-existent entities actually impact your life in a real and meaningful way?

@HumourMe well i don’t really believe in either, so i dont really know. But people believe what they believe and im ok with that, to a certain extent.

@Kelly_Obrien
I think that last question of yours is a good way to get back on the original topic of ghost encounters. :P
If ghosts exist, do they interfere with the real world?

Ghosts are nothing but mental projection. If anything at all.

Ghosts… All the time… I tell them there are good times to be around like anytime I not driving. they appear as smoke, blurred matter or as sharp as seeing my departed cat run past me or even brushing my leg- and not at home!

If you want them you have to welcome them,just think “oh it’s nice to see you” and there image might get sharper!

@phil196662
I can’t help thinking they probably have pills for that.

Don’t want the pills-lol I kinda like having them around! There are times I have a premonition and then several hours later do something different and then premonition happens but without me in it!

Sometimes my cat will delay me leaving for work wanting more petting only to find out if I HAD left some major car wreck would have had me sitting in traffic! strange how thet know…

Well I was running back to my cousins house one time at 3am. We had just been caught by his aunt who called him because he was grounded and we weren’t supposed to be out. So we were running back to his house…about a 2 mile run. By the time I got halfway I was too exhausted to keep up. He was full of adrenaline, and I’m fat…not actually but very unfit (fat on the inside). So I told him to go on ahead. I walked along the road. There wasn’t any street lamps. I kept hearing footsteps a while behind me. I kept looking back but I couldn’t see anything. I was getting creeped out. I walked on some more. Heard them again. Then I started jogging even though I was still very out of breathe. I heard the footsteps get louder. They weren’t echoes of my footsteps because I heard them everytime I stopped too. I ran on and on and ran under a streetlight eventually and went halfway around a corner. I stopped panting and looked back. Then under the streetlight was a tall dark figure. Looked large but feminine. Long hair or veil or hood. Was hard to tell. All dark clothes. But not really like clothes. Just dark…coverings I guess. I shat it. And ran home and made it inside and didn’t look back. I didn’t believe in ghosts and am still somewhat sceptical. It didn’t look like a person to me. It could have been a real person. I don’t think so personally. But I thought about many other things it could have been also. Maybe a hallucination due to drinking or hayfever tablets. Maybe fatigue and perhaps dark spots in my vision due to running for so long and being unfit. But it looked and sounded like a person thing to me. Whether it was a ghost or not… I don’t really know. I prefer not to call it a ghost.

Very often the so-called ghosts are actually the result of bad plumbing or small animals roaming the house.

Animal ghosts?!?!?!

Yes, they taste like chicken.

Ghost chicken.