OT: True ghost stories

[Mano]

So everyone remembers the film, The Ring, right? Leading up to it's release my brother worked for a radio station doing promotions and would regularly get advance screening tickets. Buzz was building for it and the previews looked alright (although horror films don't usually do it for me) so a bunch of us went. It was pretty good and effectively unsettling, especially in a packed theater. I went home alone after as my brother had radio stuff to do. We lived together and he being an avid yard-saler and electronics aficionado literally had set up a TV (or multiple!) in every room of the house.

So I turned off every light in the house, set all the clocks so they were blinking like the power went off and turned on every TV so that they were showing static (can you even do that now?). Every TV except for mine, which if you entered the house, my room would naturally be the last you'd check. I left mine off but ready to be turned on to that static snow sound at full blast at the press of a button. I also had a swiveling chair in my room and sat myself in it with my back to the door. He's a giant puss so you can guess what happened the moment he reached for my chair.

Good times.

 

[billybud]

I was walking with my wife in the mall...when a young man walked by. Short hair, athletic build...he looked directly at me, made eye contact, and nodded as he went by.

I took a few steps...stopped, and told my wife "I know that man".
He died in Thua Thien 45 years ago....

We turned around and searched the crowd, went in a few stores....never saw him. Doppleganger? Ghost?

Went home and pulled out a picture...my wife said..."Oh my God...that's him or a mirror copy".

Odds are that I ran into a look a like....I don't think that ghosts roam malls.

 

[Mister P]

My roommates went to see the Warrens when I lived in Frats and that was some scary stuff but this one still haunts me to this very day

The Warrens were from my hometown, Monroe. Ed and Lorraine came to our middle school around 1975-76 ish to present a lecture on their ghost hunting experiences and brought the original Raggedy Anne “Annabelle” doll. That didn’t bother me but it freaked a lot of the girls out.

 

[TheChamps990411]

As soon as I read the first couple lines I was like “this is going to be Bundy.” Amazing how many close calls there were.

You know it got me to thinking. What are the odds of coming across a potential victim of this guy? I would think less than slim to none but considering he claimed he killed far more women than he was accused of who knows how many number of close calls that guy had. I hadn't thought about that night in years and to be honest I kind of regret posting it because I still feel a bit creeped out by it. I know they have a movie on Netflix about this pos but I think i'll pass.

 

[Huskybass]

So I'll take you back to 1984-86. Towers. Across the hall and one door down (but technically in a different dorm) was a guy named Chris McKinnel. His nickname was a Boneyard appropriate "Flounder". Now for the interesting part, his grandparents were Ed And Lorraine Warren, who some of you know are from Connecticut. Watched the preview of Annabelle Comes Home over the weekend, and their daughter is Chris' mom.

Chris often told us stories of cases his grandparents had worked, and Annabelle was part of that. He had also worked cases with them as well. He could absolutely terrify you. The Warrens had a college tour going then and did come to UConn and some of us did get to meet them. Lorraine was very scary. She knew things about most people.

So now the story. Chris had an old Honda motorcycle. It needed repair, so I followed him to Manchester Honda and drove him back. Two days later (it's spring midterms 1985) I'm studying and he asks if I can give him a ride to a farm in central Massachusetts. I say I can't as I had exams the next day. It's a case the Warrens want him to investigate involving some French Canadian farmer. At that time, some people were handing out small green bibles on campus. Several of us had multiples of them. Chris went to a guy in his dorm he didn't know well and secured a ride to the farm. He asked for a bible and I gave him one of mine.

Next day, I talked to the the guy who gave Chris the ride. He was visibly shaken. Said he saw things fly off walls and shelves in the farmer's house. He and Chris decided to get the kids to safety and he said as he was driving away the kids were being tossed around in the back of his car. Chris told Ed and Lorraine what happened, and they went and eventually an exorcism was performed. During the exorcism, the farmer supposedly clutched on to my little green bible. Then Chris tried to return it to me later. No thanks. The whole story became a book called Satan's Harvest. I've seen reports that footage of the actual exorcism was in the movie The Conjuring and the new movie the Nun. I'm going to check and see if I see my little green bible.

Chris McKinnel was my neighbor growing up in Newtown. As you said, his grandparents were Ed and Lorraine Warren. Chris told my parents that our house was haunted according to the Warren's. I never saw anything odd, but the rest of my immediate family all claim to have seen ghostly images on a couple occasions.

 

[Huskybass]

We need to spin off a thread on campus hanky panky locations.

#horsebarnhill. True story.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

#horsebarnhill. True story.

Such sacred ground!?!?!

 

[Adios]

Amityville was a hoax and the Warrens helped perpetuate it.

I have a temp ID made for use at Yale's library over 10 years ago with a "mist" covering my face and chest. Woman who took the photo using a digital camera hooked up to a computer screamed as she was looking at her monitor and was telling me to go, I don't have to pay. Wondered why she acted that way, then looked at my ID and realized what she saw. Have the card on display. Sure has been fun showing others, even skeptics.

 

[CL82]

#horsebarnhill. True story.

Check.

(Really I think it would be tougher to name places that you didn't do it. It was college after all.)

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Amityville was a hoax and the Warrens helped perpetuate it.

I have a temp ID made for use at Yale's library over 10 years ago with a "mist" covering my face and chest. Woman who took the photo using a digital camera hooked up to a computer screamed as she was looking at her monitor and was telling me to go, I don't have to pay. Wondered why she acted that way, then looked at my ID and realized what she saw. Have the card on display. Sure has been fun showing others, even skeptics.

A mysterious mist huh?

 

[Mano]

View attachment 47216 A mysterious mist huh?

You could say it was Misterious...

 

[Rocktheworld]

Not a “ghost story” in that it’s scary, but my mother believes in ghosts

When she was young, she lived across the street from and older couple, with whom she was friendly. Would frequently go over for lunch on the weekend, have leftovers with them after dinner time, etc...

One week day, she woke up at her typical time, anticipating a school day. Turned out that it was a holiday, she had off, and went back to sleep.

She dreamed that she went across the street to hang with the old folks as she typically did. Hung with the wife in the kitchen, had a bite, talked a bit, and started to leave. The husband was sitting in the living room, through which one would pass to leave. He stopped my mother; explained that she won’t be seeing him again for a while, that he wishes her all the best, and to take care of herself.

She woke up from this morning nap and learned that he died during the time she was asleep.

 

[Adios]

View attachment 47216 A mysterious mist huh?

Typical fog/mist apparitions. Common manifestation, really.

Had another experience at Fairfield Hills sanetarium in Newtown but that's too much typing. I'll just say the whole second floor of a building was colder (also a common occurrence) after we enter a lobby through double doors. All of us were stunned without saying it. No one says anything, I tip toe my way in front of a hallway, hear a rumble/"growl" (also common; found it was reported by others) down the hallway and go back to everyone else (3 or 4 others) and say let's get out. Everyone turned to the double doors and went down the stairs, out of the building without saying anything. Little bro, who's been there before, said he never experienced anything like that before. My little bro and I tell my mother what we experienced, she begs us to never go back, I don't but my little bro does. Dies in a car accident not too long after.

Not wise to mess with beings you can't see 99.9+% of the time. Have been into the paranormal since I was young. It's overblown in the minds of some people. Also not dead people.

 

[Get a Job]

Typical fog/mist apparitions. Common manifestation, really.

Had another experience at Fairfield Hills sanetarium in Newtown but that's too much typing. I'll just say the whole second floor of a building was colder (also a common occurrence) after we enter a lobby through double doors. All of us were stunned without saying it. No one says anything, I tip toe my way in front of a hallway, hear a rumble/"growl" (also common; found it was reported by others) down the hallway and go back to everyone else (3 or 4 others) and say let's get out. Everyone turned to the double doors and went down the stairs, out of the building without saying anything. Little bro, who's been there before, said he never experienced anything like that before. My little bro and I tell my mother what we experienced, she begs us to never go back, I don't but my little bro does. Dies in a car accident not too long after.

Not wise to mess with beings you can't see 99.9+% of the time. Have been into the paranormal since I was young. It's overblown in the minds of some people. Also not dead people.

Huh? Are you saying many claims of paranormal activity are in fact supernatural occurrences, but are not related to spirits of dead people? If that is your position, what other causes do you suggest?

 

[superjohn]

Not a “ghost story” in that it’s scary, but my mother believes in ghosts

When she was young, she lived across the street from and older couple, with whom she was friendly. Would frequently go over for lunch on the weekend, have leftovers with them after dinner time, etc...

One week day, she woke up at her typical time, anticipating a school day. Turned out that it was a holiday, she had off, and went back to sleep.

She dreamed that she went across the street to hang with the old folks as she typically did. Hung with the wife in the kitchen, had a bite, talked a bit, and started to leave. The husband was sitting in the living room, through which one would pass to leave. He stopped my mother; explained that she won’t be seeing him again for a while, that he wishes her all the best, and to take care of herself.

She woke up from this morning nap and learned that he died during the time she was asleep.

I'm friends with a woman who's had somewhat similar experiences but she doesn't know the people. She's had experiences of profound sadness which brings her to tears whether it's just a feeling or actually having visions of people in locations only to later find out the person she saw or felt died there. It gives you goosebumps to hear her talk about it.

Actually my mom has a really similar story to what you described. We had a family cat for many years, she was an indoor/outdoor cat named Checkers. One day she just stopped coming back home after years of always coming back, she was gone for a while so we thought the worst...My mom has a dream one night about Checkers, that the cat was reaching out to her and came out of the woods onto the the lawn that sits outside my parents bedroom, looked at her and collapsed. My mom woke up with the dream in her head, got up brushed her teeth took a shower and as she was toweling off she looks out the window to see emaciated Checkers come out of the woods, look at my mom through the window and then keel over.

 

[Rocktheworld]

I'm friends with a woman who's had somewhat similar experiences but she doesn't know the people. She's had experiences of profound sadness which brings her to tears whether it's just a feeling or actually having visions of people in locations only to later find out the person she saw or felt died there. It gives you goosebumps to hear her talk about it.

Actually my mom has a really similar story to what you described. We had a family cat for many years, she was an indoor/outdoor cat named Checkers. One day she just stopped coming back home after years of always coming back, she was gone for a while so we thought the worst...My mom has a dream one night about Checkers, that the cat was reaching out to her and came out of the woods onto the the lawn that sits outside my parents bedroom, looked at her and collapsed. My mom woke up with the dream in her head, got up brushed her teeth took a shower and as she was toweling off she looks out the window to see emaciated Checkers come out of the woods, look at my mom through the window and then keel over.

That would be such a better story if “Checkers” was redacted

I chuckle every time I read it

 

[Adios]

Huh? Are you saying many claims of paranormal activity are in fact supernatural occurrences, but are not related to spirits of dead people? If that is your position, what other causes do you suggest?

Same race of beings that can manifest themselves as "aliens". They are not from a distant planet, but they are far superior to us in intelligence, life span and abilities. A different race of beings that have plasma as their basis for life, as we have carbon and water, is not "supernatural". Scientists are now acknowledging that plasma can be a foundation for life. Found this article, from 12 years ago.

Alien life could be gas

www.telegraph.co.uk

 

[superjohn]

That would be such a better story if “Checkers” was redacted

I chuckle every time I read it

huh?

 

[Huskybass]

Same race of beings that can manifest themselves as "aliens". They are not from a distant planet, but they are far superior to us in intelligence, life span and abilities. A different race of beings that have plasma as their basis for life, as we have carbon and water, is not "supernatural". Scientists are now acknowledging that plasma can be a foundation for life. Found this article, from 12 years ago.

Alien life could be gas

www.telegraph.co.uk

Have you been smoking Willie Nelson's weed again?

 

[Ts5034]

Im not as big into conspiracies and stuff like I was when I was younger, but this has always interested me. I have enjoyed reading through this thread and decided its time to put my 2 cents in.

I have never had a personal experience with this. My only information is hearing other peoples stories, so Im not sure If “ghosts” are real or not. I went to see Lorraine Warren at SCSU about 10 years back and that was very interesting. The thing that gets me about all of this, most of these stories of ghost sightings and paranormal activity are the same. So the question that I have for the skeptics is, if people are making all of this up, how come all of these peoples experiences are relatively similar regardless of age or where they live? And the same goes with UFO sightings, if they are all hoaxes, how come it all seems the same all over the world? One thing that gets me about the exorcisms is how some of the people that are possessed or whatever, all of a sudden start speaking Latin yet have absolutely no background in it. Thats the type of thing that really makes you wonder about all of this.

 

[AreBee1969]

My Dad told me this story years ago about my Grandmother who was an in-home nurse back in the '40s and '50s.
One of my Grandmother’s patients was a old and bed-ridden Italian woman. A day came when my Grandmother thought the woman was about to pass so she called my Grandfather to get his priest to administer last rites. (She was English Protestant, he was Italian Catholic). He brought the priest over and the priest believed that the woman wasn’t sick, but possessed by spirits. The priest then brought in an older priest who performed a ritual which my Grandmother witnessed. My father did not have any details of what the ritual entailed, but the patient fully recovered and after a time, walked again. She apparently lived several more years. My Grandmother, whose family despised Catholics (and my Grandfather for that matter), decided to convert and became a member of the Catholic church.
My Grandmother was a tough as nails “Swamp Yankee” and she had zero tolerance for bull$hi+. I always chalked up the woman’s recovery to a psychosomatic response, but my Grandmother must have seen something to make her change her religion. Her conversion made her family despise my Grandfather even more and ultimately led to their divorce, which was unheard of in that time.
I wish I would have heard that story before she passed, because I would have loved to talk with her about it.

 

[Pgh2Storrs]

My time in CT was limited to when I was at UConn so you’ll have to pardon me if this is a locally known thing, but isn’t there an old hospital/mental institution in CT that was a paranormal hotspot? I was in school around the time that MTV Show “Fear” was on and I believe they featured it on one of the episodes, so I always wanted to take a trip to try and see it but I believe some of the locals said it was impossible to get into

 

[Huskybass]

My time in CT was limited to when I was at UConn so you’ll have to pardon me if this is a locally known thing, but isn’t there an old hospital/mental institution in CT that was a paranormal hotspot? I was in school around the time that MTV Show “Fear” was on and I believe they featured it on one of the episodes, so I always wanted to take a trip to try and see it but I believe some of the locals said it was impossible to get into

You may be referring to Fairfield Hills State Mental Hospital which was located in Newtown Connecticut, where I grew up. When I ran cross-country our normal practice route included a pass by the hospital. The hospital was in operation at that time and we would often hear many of the residents or patients of the facility screaming and yelling. We dismissed it as good natured attempts to get attention, but who knows, it may have been very different. I believe a good portion of the movie Sleepers was filmed there during the 90s.

 

[Pgh2Storrs]

You may be referring to Fairfield Hills State Mental Hospital which was located in Newtown Connecticut, where I grew up. When I ran cross-country our normal practice route included a pass by the hospital. The hospital was in operation at that time and we would often hear many of the residents or patients of the facility screaming and yelling. We dismissed it as good natured attempts to get attention, but who knows, it may have been very different. I believe a good portion of the movie Sleepers was filmed there during the 90s.

Bingo. I believe that was it.

 

[Get a Job]

Im not as big into conspiracies and stuff like I was when I was younger, but this has always interested me. I have enjoyed reading through this thread and decided its time to put my 2 cents in.

I have never had a personal experience with this. My only information is hearing other peoples stories, so Im not sure If “ghosts” are real or not. I went to see Lorraine Warren at SCSU about 10 years back and that was very interesting. The thing that gets me about all of this, most of these stories of ghost sightings and paranormal activity are the same. So the question that I have for the skeptics is, if people are making all of this up, how come all of these peoples experiences are relatively similar regardless of age or where they live? And the same goes with UFO sightings, if they are all hoaxes, how come it all seems the same all over the world? One thing that gets me about the exorcisms is how some of the people that are possessed or whatever, all of a sudden start speaking Latin yet have absolutely no background in it. Thats the type of thing that really makes you wonder about all of this.

I want to state at the top that I am not an expert in any of the topics involved in this discussion. If I make a claim, it is an opinion or educated guess unless I cite a source.

The premise that reports are the same across the world and over time is not true. Whether you are talking ghosts, aliens, or other paranormal phenomena, you will read widely varying claims. Granted, there are many elements that are common to numerous reports, but this is hardly evidence that the reports must be true. People have been discussing things they don't understand for thousands of years, and many memes have become part of the collective consciousness. I suspect this accounts for most of the commonality of reports.

Another factor that leads to similar accounts from observers is that they witnessed a real event that is completely natural and/or man-made. It only goes awry when people begin to attribute causes that are not backed up by evidence. This is likely the case in many/most reports of UFOs. Indeed, a lot of UFO sightings are quite credibly and unspectacularly explained after the fact.

Slightly off topic, but still relevant: I think people tend to underplay the possibility that many claims made in reports of paranormal experiences simply didn't happen. People often flat lie, or, even when they believe what they say, they can be mistaken or reporting a hallucination.

For me it comes down to: What is more likely? That our planet is infested with spirits and aliens, or that people lie, hallucinate, and make false attributions to real (non-paranormal) occurences?