Seeing Ghosts

[Sullyute]

Although I have never seen a ghost, I have a good friend that has. During college he worked at a youth home for troubled boys. He worked the overnight shift. One night he was reviewing the kids files and saw something move out of the corner of his eye. He turned to see a dark shadowy figure. He immediately ran upstairs to where the kids bedrooms were. The spector came to the bottom of the stairs and motioned for my friend to come back down the stairs. He just ran into one of the bedrooms and stayed there till morning. He was listening to a lot of Art Bell at the time so take it for what it is worth, but I believe him.

[NorthwestUteFan]

When I was in Jr. High I had a pair of experiences I would later discount as the result of sleep paralysis (being mostly conscious but unable to move my body, an overwhelming feeling of dread, and feeling a 'presence' in my room).

As a missionary we had an experience. Two companionships lived in a 'Mother-in-law House' behind a member's house. It had one big bedroom, and we all shared it (four twin beds). One morning (around Halloween incidentally) my companion and one of the other missionaries reported seeing a dark cloaked figure in our room, standing between my bed and the bed of the other missionary. My companion was frozen with fear, but the other elder said he sat up and said 'Get out of here!', and the figure disappeared. It is possible that my comp and the other misisonary were telling us a story in an attempt to scare us, but it may have happened as they described. I was still a skeptic.

While in the MTC my comp and I threw a blanket over us and snuck into the room of the greenies next door. We did something to scare them, then snuck back out. The next day it came out that they were terrified beyond our anticipation, and they called the MTC president a 2:30 am to give them blessings and 'exorcise' their dorm room. We were given a lecture in church the following Sunday about avoiding 'satanic dealings', because the adversary was always trying to attack the MTC. We never confessed that we were the 'demons'.

Before I moved to New England I recall having a conversation with my cousin, who served in the New Hampshire, Manchester mission (which covered most of VT, NH, Maine, and northern Mass). He mentioned living in two houses that was 'haunted', one by a 'good spirit' and one by an 'evil (or mischievous) spirit'. I disregarded it for the most part, but then he told me he was a skeptic prior to experiencing the phenomena. The towns in that area are approaching 400 years old and it is very common for a home to be 100-150+ years old (and there were a few homes nearby built in the late 1780's).

When I was looking to purchase a house I recall several homes that gave me and my wife a distinct 'feeling' of uneasiness. They were otherwise great homes, nice yards, good neighborhoods, etc., but something just wasn't right and I didn't want to find out what was wrong. (I remember feeling a rush of cold, certain smells, a smell of running water on the walls of certain rooms, a feeling there was a small dog or cat behind me when there was none, etc). As a result my wife and I were kind of freaked out and ended up building a house rather than buying an existing.

Flash forward a few years. My grandfather was very sick and I was hoping he would last long enough to meet my newborn twin sons. A few weeks before we were to travel for a visit he went downhill and passed away. I knew he was in a bad way and family was gathered around. My brother called me, put the cellphone up to Grandpa's ear, and I was able to tell him I loved him, would always remember him, and hoped to live a life to make him proud of me. He was unable to respond, of course, and I knew he would be gone within the next few days.

An hour or so later I was walking to my car to drive home from work and I felt the distinct presence of my grandfather, along with an overwhelming sense of joy and love. I recall looking upward into the sky and seeing a bright aura, nearly as bright as the sun (which was behind me), and something flying upward and away. A few hours later my mother called me and told me he was gone. At his funeral I tried to talk to my grandmother about it but was continually interrupted by family members who refused to let her be alone and grieve with individuals (story for a different thread).

[Dwight Schr-ute]

I don't have any personal stories of my own, but I can't flip past shows like The Haunted without stopping. My wife gets made a time for watching them and says that it invites issues, but I can't resist. The idea of the paranormal fascinates and creeps me out at the same time.

The closes encounter with the possessed that I've ever had was in the 6th grade. On a day, just like today. I went to my friend's house after school on Halloween where we went to his basement and watched Psycho. After the movie, I went to use the bathroom and while I was washing my hands, I looked up into the mirror and staring back at me was nothing but a skeleton. It took me a half second of after the initial shock to remember that I had dressed up as the Grim Reaper for school and still had face makeup on.

[HBCoug]

My life experiences with the paranormal most resemble Slim's in this thread. I have never seen or heard anything that could be mistaken for a "ghost," and heaven knows I've tried. My mother passed away when I was a nine year-old boy. I've never heard a peep from her since. When in places like Savannah, GA or Charleston, SC, I love to go to the old cemetaries or on ghost tours that are supposedly haunted. Nada. Those things are beyond cheesy and a complete waste of money unless you're being accompanied by a nice young lady you would enjoy hanging all over you.

[Paperback Writer]

Before I moved to New England I recall having a conversation with my cousin, who served in the New Hampshire, Manchester mission (which covered most of VT, NH, Maine, and northern Mass). He mentioned living in two houses that was 'haunted', one by a 'good spirit' and one by an 'evil (or mischievous) spirit'. I disregarded it for the most part, but then he told me he was a skeptic prior to experiencing the phenomena. The towns in that area are approaching 400 years old and it is very common for a home to be 100-150+ years old (and there were a few homes nearby built in the late 1780's).

When I was looking to purchase a house I recall several homes that gave me and my wife a distinct 'feeling' of uneasiness. They were otherwise great homes, nice yards, good neighborhoods, etc., but something just wasn't right and I didn't want to find out what was wrong. (I remember feeling a rush of cold, certain smells, a smell of running water on the walls of certain rooms, a feeling there was a small dog or cat behind me when there was none, etc). As a result my wife and I were kind of freaked out and ended up building a house rather than buying an existing.

Growing up in the midwest, I've always been open but also somewhat skeptical about this kind of phenomenon. Spending more than half of my mission in Maine changed that. I also experienced a distinct "feeling of uneasiness" in select homes. Towards the end of my mission, I began to talk to people on their doorsteps about it. More like the history of their house, mainly because as an experienced missionary I was more skilled at conversation and also because I discovered that many New Englanders liked to talk about their house. After refusing our invitition to talk about religion, I would comment about the house's architecture or the uniqueness that I felt about their house. Sometimes the people would talk about the history of their house including the occassional ghost story; even accepted invitations for a quick tour.

Two of these experiences stood out. One where we felt an evil presence - and the need to politely execuse ourselves to leave. On the way out of the house we noticed a ram's skull with horns mounted above a doorway. My JR companion (the more "spiritual" of the companionship) felt the evil influence as soon as we knocked on the door. It took over 20 minutes in the house for me to feel it - but it was undeniable and very forceful...and spooky. We both felt an instant relief when we were off the property.

The other experience was the opposite where the person in the house felt for sure I had meant him before. To the point where we traced my life's path of 20+ years (he was about twice my age) and we realized we could not have ever previously met each other. He kept mentioning that I looked very familar, like lost family. And it wasn't just physical appearence, that he felt something very familar about me like I was his nephew or son of a close friend but he just couldn't place it. When I got home from my mission, I told this story to my parents and was surprised to learn that my family was very prominent in that town (it was not my area - I was on a split). My father thought it entirely possible that my ancestors and the ancestors of this guy were neighbors. The local cementary is full of my ancestors (and probably his).