Paranormal stories

[ERD50]

My mom had various paranormal experiences throughout her life and she wished she didn’t. She saw a few ghosts. She always could feel when people close to her were going to die. ...

That reminds me of s story in our family. My Uncle was dying of cancer, and I was told that one day, he insisted on getting dressed up in his suit, because he was going to see "Billy" today (my father, his brother, the youngest sibling, and had passed years before). I'm told that my Uncle died that day.

Interesting, but I don't make much of such things. Some one dying can certainly have dreams, or some other sort of mental vision/thought. And if he hadn't died that day, no one would have told me the story, because there would be no real story to tell, right?

You never hear anyone say "Hey, I was just thinking about my brother calling me - and the next thing you know, my phone rang - and it was someone offering an extended warranty on my car!".

-ERD50

 

[HenryD]

A few weeks ago I woke up with a memory, or dreamed, that DD had Lyme disease. She's a city girl, but currently dating an outdoorsy guy. It was a vivid feeling and I almost mentioned it to DW. I went through my phone looking for a text or call the previous day where DD and I might have discussed this, and found nothing. I was sort of embarrassed thinking that I might have had a sleepy/tipsy convo with DD about this so I buried it. I'd recently had a (non-Lyme) reaction to a tick bite so I chalked it up to normal parental angst.

Two days later DD posted her Lyme diagnosis to the family chat. I confirmed with her that we had not previously spoken about it. I'm just going to add it to the short list of things I have no explanation for but refuse to add any supernatural connotations to. "There are no coincidences" is one of the biggest lies ever told, and our feeble brains are prone to recognizing patterns that aren't there and significance to the insignificant.

 

[ERD50]

A few weeks ago I woke up with a memory, or dreamed, that DD had Lyme disease. She's a city girl, but currently dating an outdoorsy guy. It was a vivid feeling and I almost mentioned it to DW. I went through my phone looking for a text or call the previous day where DD and I might have discussed this, and found nothing. I was sort of embarrassed thinking that I might have had a sleepy/tipsy convo with DD about this so I buried it. I'd recently had a (non-Lyme) reaction to a tick bite so I chalked it up to normal parental angst.

Two days later DD posted her Lyme diagnosis to the family chat. I confirmed with her that we had not previously spoken about it. I'm just going to add it to the short list of things I have no explanation for but refuse to add any supernatural connotations to. "There are no coincidences" is one of the biggest lies ever told, and our feeble brains are prone to recognizing patterns that aren't there and significance to the insignificant.

I think the

"I'd recently had a (non-Lyme) reaction to a tick bite so I chalked it up to normal parental angst."

is a reasonable explanation. We think all sorts of things all day long.

Two days ago, driving home at night from our son's place, I noticed something odd about how the streetlights in our subdivision appeared, that I never noticed before, and commented to DW. We get home, I get into bed with my tablet (my usual nighttime pattern), and I click on a youtube channel I follow, the guy does all sorts of random dives into technology and 'things' - and his latest is on " street lamps and their day/night sensors" - even DW laughed about the co-incidence, but I do think some people would attribute it to 'something'.

-ERD50

 

[HenryD]

... and commented to DW. We get home, I get into bed with my tablet (my usual nighttime pattern), and I click on a youtube channel I follow...

I have a friend who claims he's pitched online ads based on in-person conversations he's had within 'earshot' of his phone but not searched on. I'd file that under technically possible but most likely just a coincidence.

The fact that you are the kind of person who would notice something like that makes you more likely to subscribe to a YT channel that might cover that topic, which I think is partly the point you are making.

 

[ERD50]

I have a friend who claims he's pitched online ads based on in-person conversations he's had within 'earshot' of his phone but not searched on. I'd file that under technically possible but most likely just a coincidence.

The fact that you are the kind of person who would notice something like that makes you more likely to subscribe to a YT channel that might cover that topic, which I think is partly the point you are making.

That hadn't actually occurred to me (at least not consciously), but you are right, that would tie them together a bit.

It might be out there, but at least the articles I've read about the ads being presented based on conversations that weren't part of a search, weren't scientific at all. You'd really need to carefully have conversations with keywords, and track the ads both before and after. I've only seen the 'after' counts. And, you'd need to be certain you didn't search in any way anything related to those keywords over that time.

I'm not saying they don't use 'overheard' conversations to drive ads, just that the 'proof' I've seen is lacking.

-ERD50

 

[Koolau]

So I was at the casinos this weekend and I was thinking of this thread, so I "called on the spirits" to have the cards/dice/ball do what I wanted them to do... Turned out about normal. Won some, lost more.

Some people's inner spirit says: "You can't win if you don't play and you can't win big if you don't bet big."


My inner spirit says: "You can't lose if you don't play." I usually listen to my inner spirit on these things. YMMV

 

[Car-Guy]

^^^^
Your inter spirit doesn't sound like much fun to me. Clearly the best way to keep your money but......

 

[Koolau]

I always like to watch videos by the late Amazing (James) Randi. What a neat personality he was as he "debunked" (he hated that word) the paranormal.



Here's an example:

 

[Amethyst]

I always say I was still behind the entry door, when the line for getting thrills from risk-taking ran out.

My inner spirit says: "You can't lose if you don't play." I usually listen to my inner spirit on these things. YMMV

 

[Breedlove]

Ok many of you have been to Galveston and know the stories of the great flood and the orphanage where the children all lost their lives in the storm . Not to me but the Walmart is built on the same piece of ground where the orphanage was. That Walmart closes every night at 9M because paranormal activity . You ask the employees and to the person they each have stories of coming in , in the morning and the store is a wreck.



We did the ghost walk one night and seen orbs on an old building . The building had been an old Masonic lodge hall and during the flood where people huddled but all perished . ….We’re the orbs real , I don’t know but we seen them.

 

[easysurfer]

Ok many of you have been to Galveston and know the stories of the great flood and the orphanage where the children all lost their lives in the storm . Not to me but the Walmart is built on the same piece of ground where the orphanage was. That Walmart closes every night at 9M because paranormal activity . You ask the employees and to the person they each have stories of coming in , in the morning and the store is a wreck.



We did the ghost walk one night and seen orbs on an old building . The building had been an old Masonic lodge hall and during the flood where people huddled but all perished . ….We’re the orbs real , I don’t know but we seen them.

Did you see the orbs with the naked eye? How large were the orbs?

I went to a ghost walk once and the story went like the once was this child that lived in the building. When the tour guides of the ghost walk were asking the "spirits" questions, there was a distinctive laugh in a child's voice (there weren't any children in attendance of the ghost walk).

But could the laugh be really something paranormal or something set up by the ghost walk folks (I grown up trying to laugh like a child? A recording?). I don't know.

 

[COcheesehead]

Your phone is listening to you.

https://nordvpn.com/blog/is-my-phone-listening-to-me/

 

[Breedlove]

Yes we seen the orbs and yes my son has photos of them also there is an old boarding house on the tour we got a picture of a young woman in a night gown in a window …….Now I will be first to say you have to look at the boarding house photo to see the young woman . The orbs were about 8” diameter of course my son went looking for a projector . The person leading the walk said they very seldom ever see the orbs . For me to say it was real …I don’t Know.

 

[Car-Guy]

Yes we seen the orbs and yes my son has photos of them also there is an old boarding house on the tour we got a picture of a young woman in a night gown in a window …….Now I will be first to say you have to look at the boarding house photo to see the young woman . The orbs were about 8” diameter of course my son went looking for a projector . The person leading the walk said they very seldom ever see the orbs . For me to say it was real …I don’t Know.

If you are still talking about Galveston, seeing such sights wasn't unusual in the Strand area up until the late 1950's. Nothing paranormal about that!

 

[easysurfer]

Yes we seen the orbs and yes my son has photos of them also there is an old boarding house on the tour we got a picture of a young woman in a night gown in a window …….Now I will be first to say you have to look at the boarding house photo to see the young woman . The orbs were about 8” diameter of course my son went looking for a projector . The person leading the walk said they very seldom ever see the orbs . For me to say it was real …I don’t Know.

8" diameter is good size. To say for sure what that is, okay to say don't know.

From the ghost walk I went on, I left believing more than not. But some things I was skeptical of too. Kept an open mind to form my own opinion.

 

[Greenblue]

As a teen, I was traveling with a friend and we were playing around with a stopwatch. We came up with a game to see who could stop the stop watch closest to 10.00 (that is, ten seconds and zero hundredths of a second.)

After several back-and-forths, neither of us got closer than 2 hundredths off. We stopped competing and I practiced with it just myself. On a whim, I tried doing it without looking. I didn't bother counting accurately in my head, I just gave it my best shot. I pressed 'stop', looked, and it was exactly on 10.00. Super lucky. I tried again, but counted this time. Way off. A third time, not trying to accurately count in my head. Dead on at 10.00. A fourth try. No where close.

I stopped trying then and there, impressed but perplexed at the unlikely outcome. Two out of four was something to brag about! But looking back, I have no idea how I could have "felt" 10 seconds so exactly. It's also interesting to me that out of the four attempts, I was either dead on or not even close.

 

[easysurfer]

As a teen, I was traveling with a friend and we were playing around with a stopwatch. We came up with a game to see who could stop the stop watch closest to 10.00 (that is, ten seconds and zero hundredths of a second.)

After several back-and-forths, neither of us got closer than 2 hundredths off. We stopped competing and I practiced with it just myself. On a whim, I tried doing it without looking. I didn't bother counting accurately in my head, I just gave it my best shot. I pressed 'stop', looked, and it was exactly on 10.00. Super lucky. I tried again, but counted this time. Way off. A third time, not trying to accurately count in my head. Dead on at 10.00. A fourth try. No where close.

I stopped trying then and there, impressed but perplexed at the unlikely outcome. Two out of four was something to brag about! But looking back, I have no idea how I could have "felt" 10 seconds so exactly. It's also interesting to me that out of the four attempts, I was either dead on or not even close.

This is a lot like my post earlier about turning on the radio and the ballplayer I had said would be at bat was indeed the player at bat. Probably just pure luck and I could try again in my lifetime and not get the same thing to happen again.

Think about the folks that win the lottery. Odds are just about zilch and they may think that's a miracle (or a curse with the lottery curse thing) with some type of divine intervention.

 

[GenXguy]

I've had many instances where I've thought of someone or something unusual, then I see the person or such right afterwards. But I'm sure there are many others I've thought of that I never saw anytime soon. lol Anyway, I can't think of anything I've experienced that could possibly be considered to be paranormal... except when I was asleep. lol

I'm in Illinois, so I'll be on the lookup for that ghost mentioned earlier.

 

[Qs Laptop]

Two days ago, driving home at night from our son's place, I noticed something odd about how the streetlights in our subdivision appeared, that I never noticed before, and commented to DW. We get home, I get into bed with my tablet (my usual nighttime pattern), and I click on a youtube channel I follow, the guy does all sorts of random dives into technology and 'things' - and his latest is on " street lamps and their day/night sensors" - even DW laughed about the co-incidence, but I do think some people would attribute it to 'something'.

-ERD50

I call these events "adventures in synchronicity". My family is well aware of how often I experience them. In no way to I chalk it up to the paranormal, just freakish coincidence.

 

[ERD50]

This is a lot like my post earlier about turning on the radio and the ballplayer I had said would be at bat was indeed the player at bat. Probably just pure luck and I could try again in my lifetime and not get the same thing to happen again.
....

OMG, I sure hope you live a lot longer than that!

I explained earlier, 9 people at bat, two teams, any specific named batter would be up to bat 1/18th of the time. Throw in commercials and other game delays, and maybe a 1 in 30 chance? Would not take long at all to give it 30 tries.

This is just not that extreme of odds, at all (if you are trying, as you say).

I call these events "adventures in synchronicity". My family is well aware of how often I experience them. In no way to I chalk it up to the paranormal, just freakish coincidence.

I don't know that I'd even call them freakish - it's hard to figure a baseline for something like that (easy for batters at bat).

-ERD50

 

[ERD50]

... I stopped trying then and there, impressed but perplexed at the unlikely outcome. Two out of four was something to brag about! But looking back, I have no idea how I could have "felt" 10 seconds so exactly. It's also interesting to me that out of the four attempts, I was either dead on or not even close.

Why'd you stop there! You could have made a fortune in bets!

-ERD50

 

[Pineapple13]

Definitely, yes.

I've had so many. The women in my family have a history of being "sensitive." Here are a few.
1. My mom was on the phone with my brother and stopped mid sentence to say, "Amy was in an accident. I have to get off the phone." I had been in a car accident and called her just after.
2. I was away in grad school and I had a dream that I came home and walked in to find my mom sitting at the kitchen table and her hair was falling out because she had cancer. I woke really upset and called her. She said she was fine and just had the flu. When her fever wouldn't go away, blood tests revealed she had leukemia.
3. My sister and I were staying in my mom's hospital room to help her through the night. In the middle of the night I had this feeling of peace wash over me and just then my sister said, "I feel really peaceful all of the sudden." We knew mom was dying so we went to call our sister. She picked up the phone without it even ringing and said my name. She said, "Mom's dying, isn't she?" She woke from a dream about mom and knew she was dying so she went to the phone to call me and I was calling her.
4. After my mother died, I had a tearful night asking her if she was still around. I asked her for a sign and my living room lamp turned on across the room from me.
5. I had a dream about an old boyfriend from high school. Hadn't talked to him in over 20 years. He told me I was beautiful, held my hand and slowly walked away reluctant to pull his hand from mine. The next day, a friend of mine texted me his obituary. I had no idea he had been sick with MS.

I truly have more...

 

[prudent_one]

The only person I ever told this story to was my wife. Years ago I was attending a big week-long conference out of town, probably about 1,000 people there. The conference had dozens of hour-long sessions during the day, and overlapping with those was a "show floor" where exhibitors set up displays/demos of their products and you could talk to the reps. At this conference they also had someone to do handwriting analysis on the show floor as entertainment for those who wanted to give it a shot.

I tried the handwriting analysis person for something to do. There were three people in line ahead of me and we could observe as the lady did her thing - look at the handwriting, point out some things to the person, comment on what they meant. Took about 3-4 minutes a person. When my turn came, she showed me a printed card with two sentences on it, and I was to handwrite the same sentences for her to analyze.

So I hand her the paper I wrote out to get the analysis. She gets a little weird. "Oh! This is something!" Loud enough to make the people behind me in line turn and look. She leans in closer and talks more softly. "This is the most exciting one I've seen all day. Tell me if this sounds right to you - (she lists off a handful of characteristics)." I tell her well, people have told me that in the past. She talks some more, now it's been longer than any of the people in front of me took. She says "Wait one second." And walks to the back of the booth and reaches in her purse. Hands me a small metal acorn. "This is silver. A little thank you for stopping here and giving me the chance to meet you. I wish you a blessed life."

And I left. It was pretty weird. And I caught a glance at the people behind me in line and they were looking at me oddly.

 

[Greenblue]

I call these events "adventures in synchronicity". My family is well aware of how often I experience them. In no way to I chalk it up to the paranormal, just freakish coincidence.

The fact that neither of us could even get 10.00 on the stopwatch even while carefully watching the time made my twice doing it without looking verge on the psychic. But when you say it your way, you make me think. Suppose I could reasonably get within 2.5 seconds of the 10:00 I'm aiming for (a conservative estimate); since there are 500 hundred possible outcomes in that case (5 seconds divided by 1 hundredth of a second), the odds of getting two in a row is 1 out of 250000, which is huge, but not astronomical. And that's not considering that I, in my situation, had four tries, which probably decently improves my odds.

So yeah, I'm okay now considering it like you are that it was a freakish, albeit spooky, coincidence.

 

[ERD50]

The fact that neither of us could even get 10.00 on the stopwatch even while carefully watching the time made my twice doing it without looking verge on the psychic. But when you say it your way, you make me think. Suppose I could reasonably get within 2.5 seconds of the 10:00 I'm aiming for (a conservative estimate); since there are 500 hundred possible outcomes in that case (5 seconds divided by 1 hundredth of a second), the odds of getting two in a row is 1 out of 250000, which is huge, but not astronomical. And that's not considering that I, in my situation, had four tries, which probably decently improves my odds.

So yeah, I'm okay now considering it like you are that it was a freakish, albeit spooky, coincidence.

I think your +/- 2.5 second window is too generous. I just made 10 attempts here:

https://vclock.com/stopwatch/#enabled=0&msec=9877 and got:

9.52 0.48
9.40 0.60
10.50 -0.50
11.01 -1.01
8.43 1.57
9.17 0.83
10.45 -0.45
8.43 1.57
10.68 -0.68
9.87 0.13

not more 1.57 off S, and most are closer. And oddly(!), two were the exact same number. My average (absolute) error was 0.78 seconds. And stdev of the errors was 0.91 (small sample, would probably tighten with more). So I'd expect more than 68% of my tries to be within 0.9 seconds, so that's more like 1 of 180 tries (264 taking the 68% into account)? So 4 tries gives 1056 chances, getting 2 of them takes it to 1 528. So out there, but not astronomical. Stuff happens.

I couldn't completely clear my mind, I sort of counted one way or another, but maybe you were unconsciously doing that somehow?

I recall working on a project where we had to assign random numbers to some attribute. One of the (very smart) guys I worked with suggested we just make it easy on ourselves and plug in zeroes. He said " that's random - sometime, somewhere". Can't really argue with that, but I don't think the customer would have been happy!

I don't recall if we discussed this, but if a person does a decent job of shuffling a deck of cards, it is almost certain that the order of those cards in the deck has never occurred before in the history of cards, and almost certainly never will. Seems hard to accept, but start multiplying 1/52*1/51*1/50, etc, and you get numbers that are estimated to be greater than the number of grains of sands in the world. Mind boggling. Probabilities are not obvious to most minds.

By the time you've drawn even ten cards, the order is already less than 1 out of 5.7 with 16 zero behind it. Or... 57,407,703,889,536,000. Already almost as many as grains of sand on the Earth, at just 10 cards. Twelve cards takes you over that.

https://www.npr.org/sections/krulwi...r-of-sand-grains-on-earth-or-stars-in-the-sky

"the Earth has roughly (and we're speaking very roughly here) 7.5 x 10^18 grains of sand, "

Just four cards drawn are unique to about 1 in 6.5 Million!

-ERD50