Experiances with the paranormal...

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**Lt. Coldfire**

My dad claims that when he was 7 that some clothes on hangers in his closet spontaneously decided to float across the room. When he yelled he claims they rushed back to where they were hanging in the closet. No one believed him of course.
Needless to say, since hearing this story, I always make sure my closet it closed before I go to bed. You know, to make it extra hard for the floating clothes to get out.

**biccat**

Lt. Coldfire wrote:Needless to say, since hearing this story, I always make sure my closet it closed before I go to bed. You know, to make it extra hard for the floating clothes to get out.

When it's wearing the clothes, you can tell where it is. If you shut the door, it won't be wearing the clothes. It will still be in your room, but you won't be able to see where it is, what it's doing, and more importantly, how close it's getting.

I say leave the closet open.

**Monster Rain**

I don't like closets, but that's because of Stephen King's short story, The Boogeyman.

Seriously, that story is fethed up.

**Slarg232**

Personally, I beleived as a kid that things can't come out of the closet unless the door was closed (Had to open it, you know), so my door always stayed open. Even now, I can't fall asleep with it closed, mostly do to being so used to it open.

**Excommunicate Traitoris**

I have a couple of experiances. When I was 10 or so I was playing with a ball in my bedroom, now at the time my bedroom was a bit of a mess with a huge pile of stuff at one side. Anyway I kicked the ball and it hit my wardrobe and something that looked like a cat jumped down and ran across my room to where tthe pile of stuff was and disapeared. At first I thought it was my cat but I looked for her and she was no where upstairs, the pile of stuff hadn't been disturbed until I had moved it during the search and I found her in the living room where I had left her.

Another time I was all alone in the house and I was playing in my room when I heard a sound right next to my ear that sounded like somebody breathing out sharpley. Of course I looked round and of course there was nobody there.

**killykavekommando**

As a wee child (maybe 2 or 3) I was in my bed at maybe 8 at night. I heard a noise in the house and began to cry for my mother. What followed was possibly the oddest thing I've ever seen. out of the dark corner of my room stepped out a woman who had a transparent body and unclear facial features. (I could see because of hallway light) When I reached out, my arm went straight through and the apparition disapeared. I was a young'un, so the memory's not clear, but it seems real enough.

**pinoypower**

when i enter my living room i hear a faint breathing behind me even when people aren't there.

**snurl**

pinoypower wrote:when i enter my living room i hear a faint breathing behind me even when people aren't there.

Could it be swamp gas?

**A Black Ram**

OR BRUTUS!?

**Melissia**

The closest I got was sleep paralysis (IE night terror), which is commonly linked to peole with hypoglycemia (which I have occasionally, a rather mild variant).

But then, I'm a scientist by heart, a chemist in specific-- while yes, I do feel a sense of creepiness and etc, I don't let it take over my rational mind when I try to explain it.

**snurl**

A Black Ram wrote:OR BRUTUS!?

Nah, he's in the bar, not the living room. If I ever heard him snort again I would run.

**moom241**

I've fallen asleep to cackling at my ears. To explain, whenever I go to sleep, it seems as though there were a voice murmuring words to me, and I had always assumed it was just the tiredness messing with my head, but one night, about two years ago, I was reclining on my couch at about 12 noon, when I heard "Thank you for listening," and then wild laughter. Not evil, or malicious, just as if you heard the funniest joke on Earth.

**killykavekommando**

snurl wrote:
pinoypower wrote:when i enter my living room i hear a faint breathing behind me even when people aren't there.

Could it be swamp gas?

There's no swamp gas in the middle of the suburbs (Im pinoypower's friend. I know) It may be, however, the rapist animals from Fruit's Basket!!!!

**djphranq**

I have a story! It involves baby ghosts, roosters, and sore necks. I'll try to put it together. Its good for a laugh.

EDIT: Here it is!

When I was 12, I took a trip to the Philippines with my Grandma. The evening we arrived some of my cousins and aunts and uncles were talking about my cousin's situation with a haunting. There was a ghost of a child at her house that would make crying noises. It wasn't that big of a deal because ghosts are the norm in the PI... just the same I was a little scared.

That night I went to bed still thinking about the child ghost. Then in the middle of the night I heard what I thought was crying. I froze. My neck was turned to one side and I was scared to even look around. The ghost kept crying and I stayed still. It felt like hours passed and I kept hearing the crying. It was like a cross between a sob and a wail. I was so freaked out.

Spoiler:

**Tim the Biovore**

When I was younger, about 8, my friend and I theorized that ghosts were real and were around all the time. Because it seemed like the logical thing at the time, whenever one of us walked into a room alone, we'd greet the ghosts in the room. After doing this for a couple of weeks, I started seeing things moving in the corner of my eye, and various other "paranormal" things. Seems pretty unbelievable now, but back then I was convinced the ghosts had started acknowledging me.

Ghosts soon became something that just stayed out of mine mind until I went on a Film & TV camp in 2008 (I was 11 now). This camp was held at a place called New Norcia in South-West Western Australia, which is a pretty religious town, filled with monks, a monastery, two old boarding schools that are no longer used and a big graveyard in between them. When it came time to leave, and everyone was packing, a group of girls were taking photos of their dorm to show the people who didn't come. In every photo, there was one or two "white orbs" floating around, which gave everyone the chills. The next year I was selected to go on the camp again and it was pretty uneventful (except for one kid who claimed to have seen a ghost in the chapel, but he had been an attention-whore the entire trip so no one believed him). Once again during the pack-up, a group of girls were taking photos of the dorm, and the same orbs were there. They even showed me two identical pictures of a bed taken seconds apart, with the orbs at different locations. I told them to just ignore it.

I left the school the next year, but what I'm told is that the orbs were back in the photos on the next camp.

**Blokus**

And then a skeleton popped out!

**CiaranAnnrach**

Where I went to college, one of the girl's dorms was haunted by a friendly ghost. Residents would often find, upon returning to their dorms, that the ghost had done something to help remind them of an upcoming test they had forgotten - either by opening their books to the right chapter, or pulling out the study guides. The ghost would also do other little things to help the residents of the dorm, but as I'm not female, I can't speak from experience as to the helpfulness of the ghost.

**happygolucky**

gorgon wrote:
chaos0xomega wrote:Well, this one can be explained as a night terror/sleep paralysis case although it has certain elements that don't quite match up, anyway it freaked me out nonetheless. Anyway, it was this past spring break and I wasn't feeling well, I was lying in bed and fell asleep. I had a dream that a cult had taken me hostage, and was using me as a physical host to summon the antichrist from hell (or some demon or something like that). They started chanting or whatever and performing a ritual, which I was trying to resist, screaming and thrashing against my bindings, etc. At this point I woke up, and did the whole "shoot bolt upright and breathe heavily" thing you always see in movies and on TV. I'm not really much of a dreamer really, I generally don't remember them, and even when I do dream they are generally rather 'meh' either being positive in nature or overall neutral in theme. Anyway, I lie back down to try to fall back asleep (although I'm kinda wired and tense, worried that I'll have that dream again) and I'm taking deep breaths to try and calm down and lower my heart rate. Then I realize that I can still hear the chanting from the dream in my head, worse still its getting louder, and I can't think of anything else. I decide to try to get up to go to the bathroom or somesuch, and I can't move. At this point I'm scared shitless, because being a bit of a nerd, I've read about supposed alien abductions, and they generally say that unexplainable paralysis is a sign that you're being abducted. I start FREAKING OUT trying as hard as I can to move some part of my body and I start panicking, and then I start feeling I'm being choked and I can't breathe. I try screaming (which wouldn't have helped, I was home alone) and can't, I'm panicking even harder at this point, the chanting is getting even louder still, and then it feels like there is something large inside my throat and its working its way up to my mouth. The chanting continues getting louder until it seems almost deafening, and then it stops. As the object feels like it approaches my throat, I hear a voice, which sounded much like what I imagine a demon might sound like. I can't recall what it said to me, but whatever it was gave me feelings of terror, that much I'm certain of. Finally the lump got to my mouth, and then I could breathe again, I went to sit up in bed (finally being able to move again), and then I was physically forced back down into my bed, I was thrashing about trying to get up, but I couldn't. It felt like there were a pair of large hands locked around my throat and I was being choked again, although this time I was able to gasp for air whereas before my airway seemed completely blocked, it also felt like there was something really heavy on top of me keeping me pinned down. I kept thrashing and struggling, and then everything went black and I guess I passed out. I woke up an unknown amount of time later, able to breathe normally, and feeling better. I was no longer running a temperature/not puking, etc. I didn't feel ill at all, with the exception of a sore throat,which was not one of my previous symptoms.

Again, I chalk it up to a night terror (I think I was dreaming even when I thought I was being choked the second time), although its still really weird how I woke up feeling fine except the sore throat.

I've had sleep paralysis. Some of the stuff you mention is fairly typical, including the sensation of a presence in the room with you. I only saw a dark shape, although I know some people have more detailed experiences. IIRC, that's your brain trying to make sense of it all, kind of like the way it fits outside sensations into a dream you're having. A little bit of an old D&D tie in here -- in olden times sleep paralysis was known as the "old hag" or...night hag.

My experience was that the first time was the scariest...after that, I learned what it was and although I had a few more paralysis episodes, I never got the hag/presence part again.

Sorry...know the OP didn't want debunkers to chime in.

this is ok

Automatically Appended Next Post:

mattyrm wrote:
snurl wrote:
Albatross wrote:I feel that it is incumbent upon me to point out that there is virtually zero evidence for the existence of ghosts, and that what evidence there is, is questionable - to put it mildly.

Carry on.

You may want to google paranormal research.

No, he may not, because Albatross is a man of common sense and intestinal fortitude and as a result finds this entire thread as laughable as I do.

this isn't

know the difference (i know i may have been unclear but this is what i have tried to say but i must have failed at life knowingly).

oh and mattrym, snurl:

**snurl**

I seem to have been mis quoted. I think you mean Albatross.
I love paranormal stories. I say I'm a non-believer because it hasn't really happened to me. I did experience something very like "old hag" a few years ago but I put that in the category of bad dreams.
I usually seem to be the one who does the scareing, rather than the other way round. I am a person who keeps an emergency clown nose in his coat pocket.

**Goddard**

Kasrkai wrote:Well, I did have a nasty run in with a prank Ouija Board. Nasty things, Ouija Boards.

It was one of those prank Quija Boards, with the magnets in 'em to make like you were actually being pulled. When I was eight, I felt brave on a Saturday, so at midnight I pulled out the magnets to see if it would actually work. At first it didn't do anything, just sat doing nothing with the view on the "O". So then I left to get some late night beverage, I think I got milk, now that I'm flashing back. Anyway, when I came back the view was on V now. I thought that was pretty freaky, but I had balls back then. I turned away, waited a minute, then turned back. Sure enough, it was on R now. Now I was pretty stubborn back then, but I was starting to get freaked out. But it was one of those horrors where you just HAVE to push the envelope. So I repeated the process. Turn away, now it's on a space. Turn, D. Turn, O. Turn, S.

All in all, it spelled out "Ovr Dos". I put up the board, and after a few hours I managed to get to sleep. When I woke up the next morning, everyone was crying and freaked out. Turns out my cousin Merle hung himself about midnight the night before because he took too many anti-depressants.

Now, this is probably my exaggerated mind at work, or faulty memory, but when you put the Es in Merle into Ovr Dos, you get Over dose.

I later realized my stepping had been bumping the board, making the view move a bit each time.

Best spooky one so far.

**ineptus astartes**

you want to hear some weird stuf. alright then. dozens of paranormal things have happened to me, i barly leave my room without a eapon of some kind now...

once...there was this man...AND DIED!

now that that is out of the way.

I was on the Gettysburg battlefield, and we (my boyscout troop) were camping just outside an area of woods, so its late night, I get up to take a piss, but have to go into the woods to do it (there was a hobo sleeping in the portapotty, long story) anyways, I am about, oh, say...15 feet in, when I hear this noise. now, this sounds like singing tome, I (being a civil war buff) identified it as 'Frog In The Well' and so like an utter buffoon, I turn to go into the woods. I am creeping along (great night-vision) and I come across these three guys, now first I think that they are Reeinactors, right? So it is waht appeared to be a confederate and two union troops sitting around a campfire.

then one of the guys leans back and I swear the branch behind him went clean through his skull, then he leans forward and everything is fine and corporeal again.

I fething ran like hell.

so I put it down to sleepiness, and went back to sleep (tried to actually) when I went there in the morning after night of imagining what those guys were doing.
so anyway, I investigated the place in the morning.

nothing.

the clearing was there, the same brach was there, but no campfire, none of the jugs lying around no footprints, just a clearing full of nothing. I still can't find an explanation.

**Goddard**

moom241 wrote:I've fallen asleep to cackling at my ears. To explain, whenever I go to sleep, it seems as though there were a voice murmuring words to me, and I had always assumed it was just the tiredness messing with my head, but one night, about two years ago, I was reclining on my couch at about 12 noon, when I heard "Thank you for listening," and then wild laughter. Not evil, or malicious, just as if you heard the funniest joke on Earth.

The thing I like about this story, is it sounds very natural.

**Monster Rain**

Actually, it sounds like someone should go tell that story to a mental health professional.

Immediately.

**WARORK93**

ineptus astartes wrote:I was on the Gettysburg battlefield, and we (my boyscout troop) were camping just outside an area of woods, so its late night, I get up to take a piss, but have to go into the woods to do it (there was a hobo sleeping in the portapotty, long story) anyways, I am about, oh, say...15 feet in, when I hear this noise. now, this sounds like singing tome, I (being a civil war buff) identified it as 'Frog In The Well' and so like an utter buffoon, I turn to go into the woods. I am creeping along (great night-vision) and I come across these three guys, now first I think that they are Reeinactors, right? So it is waht appeared to be a confederate and two union troops sitting around a campfire.

then one of the guys leans back and I swear the branch behind him went clean through his skull, then he leans forward and everything is fine and corporeal again.

I fething ran like hell.

so I put it down to sleepiness, and went back to sleep (tried to actually) when I went there in the morning after night of imagining what those guys were doing.
so anyway, I investigated the place in the morning.

nothing.

the clearing was there, the same brach was there, but no campfire, none of the jugs lying around no footprints, just a clearing full of nothing. I still can't find an explanation.

...

Look at my story on page 1...

...

My reaction:

Spoiler:

I guess these guys are pulling tricks on everyone...

**remilia_scarlet**

The moment I saw these, I fell in love with them instantly, that's about the only thing close to paranormal I've had,

**Doctadeth**

One quite recent one. Friends of mine went to the Old mental hospital site (heathcote) at 10pm. There was a figure in the old clock tower up there, but the thing was, I looked through the window, and the access stairwell had lots of stuff stacked against it, like bikes and so forth, heavy objects. and a cage door (presumably to stop people going up there) and a padlock that was bolted.

Then my friend wanted to go to the bathroom (her and a friend went in) and the hairdryer activated. I waited a second. Then both friends shot out of there like a gun. No motion detectors, nothing like that. I checked it all out. I cannot explain why a push button hairdryer would activate remotely.

Poltergheist?

EDIT
after research, I found that local historians actually confirm several suicides in the area, most notably one in the clock tower....interesting.

**Howard A Treesong**

Melissia wrote:The closest I got was sleep paralysis (IE night terror), which is commonly linked to peole with hypoglycemia (which I have occasionally, a rather mild variant).

Sleep paralysis can explain a lot of things. My wife gets them every now and again and firstly you are paralysed, as the name suggests, but the 'dream' part of it is very difficult to differentiate from reality. In the old house she would often hear people moving around the house and burglarising it while she was paralysed.

Many of the symptoms and experiences of sleep paralysis match those suffered by alien abduction victims. In a majority of cases that's probably what they are, the being paralysed, bight lights or dark, things around you, etc.

**htj**

Howard A Treesong wrote:
Melissia wrote:The closest I got was sleep paralysis (IE night terror), which is commonly linked to peole with hypoglycemia (which I have occasionally, a rather mild variant).

Sleep paralysis can explain a lot of things. My wife gets them every now and again and firstly you are paralysed, as the name suggests, but the 'dream' part of it is very difficult to differentiate from reality. In the old house she would often hear people moving around the house and burglarising it while she was paralysed.

Many of the symptoms and experiences of sleep paralysis match those suffered by alien abduction victims. In a majority of cases that's probably what they are, the being paralysed, bight lights or dark, things around you, etc.

Emphasis mine. I can vouch for this. I've got real problems with sleep, and I've had a few incidents of sleep paralysis. In the one I remember most vividly, I was fully convinced that there was a malevolent spirit in the room, pinning me to my bed and mocking me, whilst it manisfested itself as bizarre flashes of colours around me. It was the single most terrifying experience of my life, and I found out what is meant by a cold sweat. So that was handy, at least.

As for bona fide paranormal stuff, well, I'm pretty much a skeptic. I've heard various stories from my family, but these things always intrigue me to find out what could cause them. It would be naive to assume that we know everything there is to know, so I'm still fascinated by the truly inexplicable stories.

**ghosty**

The worst experience I've ever had I have always put down to me being very tired, but it does still haunt me when I'm sleeping alone. I've never been afraid of the dark, hell I do caving, and potholing for a hobby, so the pitch black never really shakes me. But back a good few years ago now, I remember waking up sharply in the middle of the night for some unknown reason. Now, I'm a light sleeper, and am prone to waking at the slightest provocation (When I was a wee tyke, it was hell for my parents to put Christmas pressies at the bottom of my bed) and I remember being distinctly aware that I'd heard something in my room that had caused me to leave slumber land. So as I looked round my room, I remember seeing sitting on a chair facing my bed was a person. So obviously it startled me enough to switch on the bedside lamp, and of course, there was nothing there.

So yeah, scary story. Can be explained for tiredness, and my mind probably looking for a cause for me to wake up so suddenly, but it did scare me genuinely.

As for Potholing every so often you go to a cave system that is renowned for being 'haunted'; of course you never see anything, but obviously going to these places does heighten awareness to your surroundings, 'cause you're looking for something that isn't there.

**ineptus astartes**

another thing that happened to me (ghosts seem to get a kick out of following me around) this happens so much t me that I wonder if there is a grain of truth in it.

I will save my creepiest stories for later,

but this happened when I was maybe 8/9 years old, I lived in a townhouse in DC. anyways, I was up late one night, the reason being that I had been sure I saw a ghost the other night with red eyes (nightlight) so I was having a hard time sleeping.. I was playing chess against myself and losing badly, when I finally lost,I got up and was getting ready to go to sleep when there was this stepping sound behind me, and it felt cold like the arctic. I turn around, and coulda sworn that just for a second, I saw a black kid with dreadlocks walk right past me, that scared me a bit but I slept it off anyways.

so when next morning woke up and went to school, when I was about halfway down the street a few blocks away, I noticed some kids throwing sneakers over the wires and asked why.

turns out, that at about the same time my little 'fright' happened, a kid in a gang got shot to death, there was a little memorial service with the pictures and all. but what I really noticed is that the kid who was shot looked just the same as the apparition last night.