I don't know that I have ever experienced anything that I can say is paranormal.

[Dan From Smithville]

I have had strange experiences in my life, but I have no way to know that those I cannot explain did not have an ordinary explanation.

I can't declare that the paranormal doesn't exist, but is everything that is inexplicable, evidence of the paranormal?

How much of what I have experienced was just me and how I felt or thought?

Any thoughts on this?

 

[Dan From Smithville]

To elaborate, I am thinking paranormal as ESP, telekinesis, speaking to the dead, seeing ghosts, demons, haunted houses, poltergeists, predicting the future, bending spoons, sounds for no apparent reason, etc.

 

[MikeF]

To elaborate, I am thinking paranormal as ESP, telekinesis, speaking to the dead, seeing ghosts, demons, haunted houses, poltergeists, predicting the future, bending spoons, sounds for no apparent reason, etc.

Wow, you have experienced all of that?

 

[Subduction Zone]

I can appreciate that. I too have had at least one experience that I could not explain. I do not know what it was.

How do the believers in the paranormal justify their beliefs?

 

[Dan From Smithville]

Wow, you have experienced all of that?

Not all of it. Those are just examples of the sort of paranormal claims I was thinking about in reference to the OP. I've just had unexplained experiences that I cannot say are or are not paranormal. I just admit that I don't know and don't know how would know.

 

[Stevicus]

I have had strange experiences in my life, but I have no way to know that those I cannot explain did not have an ordinary explanation.

I can't declare that the paranormal doesn't exist, but is everything that is inexplicable, evidence of the paranormal?

How much of what I have experienced was just me and how I felt or thought?

Any thoughts on this?

I was just speaking with a coworker about this subject today, and she believes in the paranormal. She was talking about some museum in Las Vegas which has a collection of various artifacts with haunted history.

I've never seen any ghosts myself, although my grandfather claimed to have seen and heard ghosts when he was still alive. When my dad was on his death bed, he said he saw one of our deceased great uncles walking across the room. I didn't see anything myself, but maybe because he was close to death, he was able to see things I could not? Or was he hallucinating? I can't really say either way.

 

[The Hammer]

How much of what I have experienced was just me and how I felt or thought?

I don't think it matters.

 

[Dan From Smithville]

I can appreciate that. I too have had at least one experience that I could not explain. I do not know what it was.

How do the believers in the paranormal justify their beliefs?

Someone related to me a story about a blender in a building they were using that started all on its own. They were convinced that it was a paranormal phenomenon. I was just curious, how one eliminates all the potential possibilities, like a faulty switch or a power surge and can go straight to concluding the paranormal.

I don't want this to be a thread denying the paranormal, but rather why that is the conclusion above all others.

 

[Dan From Smithville]

Wow, you have experienced all of that?

I predicted you would post that.

No I didn't.

 

[Viker]

is everything that is inexplicable, evidence of the paranormal?

No. It's likely just that some things haven't been explained.

How much of what I have experienced was just me and how I felt or thought?

Likely, most if not all of these experiences.

Some things can't or just haven't been explained. There is a thin line between inexplicable and paranormal

 

[Dan From Smithville]

I was just speaking with a coworker about this subject today, and she believes in the paranormal. She was talking about some museum in Las Vegas which has a collection of various artifacts with haunted history.

I've never seen any ghosts myself, although my grandfather claimed to have seen and heard ghosts when he was still alive. When my dad was on his death bed, he said he saw one of our deceased great uncles walking across the room. I didn't see anything myself, but maybe because he was close to death, he was able to see things I could not? Or was he hallucinating? I can't really say either way.

My father passed away in 1987. From the time just after his death until my mother sold the house in 2004, several guests in my family home who had never met my father asked who the man they saw in the house was. The descriptions they provided all matched my father including his favorite white tee shirts and similar age he was at the time of his death. I have been intrigued by this, but I cannot say that there isn't a reasonable explanation and that it must mean the spirit or ghost of my father was roaming around our house after his death. I sort of hoped not, since I entertained in my bedroom while I was living there after his death and that was a show I wouldn't want him to catch.

I can't say that the death of my father did not come up in conversation with the guests or that they did not see pictures of my father. I don't know if the guests were prone to suggestibility. Not much I can say except to report the unusual occurrence. Most of these guests did not know each other either.

 

[MikeF]

I predicted you would post that.

No I didn't.

Because I'm generally slow on the uptake?

 

[Dan From Smithville]

I don't think it matters.

I suppose if it was an "actual" paranormal event, it might not matter. But it might matter in elevating a normal, but unexplained event, to the level of the paranormal.

 

[Dan From Smithville]

Because I'm generally slow on the uptake?

You and me both.

 

[Dan From Smithville]

No. It's likely just that some things haven't been explained.

Likely, most if not all of these experiences.

Some things can't or just haven't been explained. There is a thin line between inexplicable and paranormal

There are always going to be mysteries and maybe that is part of the zest of life in a way that makes it enjoyable. I'm not wanting to disprove them so much as to better understand conclusions about mysterious events. I want there to be aliens flying around, but I can't imagine why a species with the technology to get their butts (if they have them), would bother.

A rock barely held in place on a hill can come crashing down for reasons we may never know, but there are known factors that are more likely to be the cause it was dislodged without psychic phenomena or spirits being involved. I'm curious how one would arrive at the determination if paranormal causes are part of the reason space.

 

[John53]

I have had strange experiences in my life, but I have no way to know that those I cannot explain did not have an ordinary explanation.

I can't declare that the paranormal doesn't exist, but is everything that is inexplicable, evidence of the paranormal?

How much of what I have experienced was just me and how I felt or thought?

Any thoughts on this?

I've had some strange things happen but after investigation they all turned out to have a rather mundane cause like a dog playing with a tennis ball that sounded like footsteps on a verandah, confiscation of the ball ended the haunting.

Only thing I can't explain were some lights in the sky that were moving back and forth so definitely not an aircraft or satellite. Doubt if it was anything paranormal though.

Edit to add: I knew you were going to make this post.

 

[Sgt. Pepper]

I was just speaking with a coworker about this subject today, and she believes in the paranormal. She was talking about some museum in Las Vegas which has a collection of various artifacts with haunted history.

I'm sure your friend was talking about Zak Bagan's Haunted Museum (see here). I've heard that people are actually required to sign a legal waiver before they're allowed to go into the museum. I'd love to go there, but I'm afraid I'd be overwhelmed by the spirits there, and some of them I was told are very negative. I've been told that it isn't a pleasant experience for people like me, so I'm not going.

I've never seen any ghosts myself, although my grandfather claimed to have seen and heard ghosts when he was still alive. When my dad was on his death bed, he said he saw one of our deceased great uncles walking across the room. I didn't see anything myself, but maybe because he was close to death, he was able to see things I could not? Or was he hallucinating? I can't really say either way.

Did your grandfather ever claim to speak to spirits as well? I'm curious to know if he considered himself to be a medium, and if he did, what was the extent of his mediumship. And for the record, it is not uncommon for people close to death to be visited by a deceased loved one before they pass away themselves or to be visited by a loved one shortly after they pass away. Both incidences can happen.

 

[Dan From Smithville]

I've had some strange things happen but after investigation they all turned out to have a rather mundane cause like a dog playing with a tennis ball that sounded like footsteps on a verandah, confiscation of the ball ended the haunting.

Only thing I can't explain were some lights in the sky that were moving back and forth so definitely not an aircraft or satellite. Doubt if it was anything paranormal though.

Edit to add: I knew you were going to make this post.

When I was about 10, my father, younger brother and I were sitting in the car while my mother and sisters went shopping. It was getting on to dusk and we saw the first star of the evening, except my father said that it wasn't right. It wasn't a star that was supposed to be in that position in the sky according to him. We talked about it and watched it for a very long time, then we watched it suddenly take off and disappear into the waning horizon. Never did know what it was. It appeared too high up in the sky to have been a helicopter and didn't flutter like you would expect one to even while hovering. It wasn't a plane that I know of, since it was stationary for 15 minutes or so. It wasn't a satellite, since it was stationary and then took off. It could have been some sort of experimental aircraft. It could have been an alien spaceship. Some might think so, though I don't know how they would know or eliminate other possibilities to come to that conclusion.

I have experienced that exact same phenomena of prediction on this very thread. Uncanny. What am I thinking about now? Never mind, I'm a guy. You could guess breasts and be right like 99.8% of the time.

 

[George-ananda]

Any thoughts on this?

I have not had any crazy dramatic experience myself, but I am a believer beyond reasonable doubt from the mountain of anecdotal experiences I have heard after considering their quantity, quality and consistency. It's just my analysis of all the facts all things considered.

 

[John53]

When I was about 10, my father, younger brother and I were sitting in the car while my mother and sisters went shopping. It was getting on to dusk and we saw the first star of the evening, except my father said that it wasn't right. It wasn't a star that was supposed to be in that position in the sky according to him. We talked about it and watched it for a very long time, then we watched it suddenly take off and disappear into the waning horizon. Never did know what it was. It appeared too high up in the sky to have been a helicopter and didn't flutter like you would expect one to even while hovering. It wasn't a plane that I know of, since it was stationary for 15 minutes or so. It wasn't a satellite, since it was stationary and then took off. It could have been some sort of experimental aircraft. It could have been an alien spaceship. Some might think so, though I don't know how they would know or eliminate other possibilities to come to that conclusion.

I have experienced that exact same phenomena of prediction on this very thread. Uncanny. What am I thinking about now. Never mind, I'm a guy. You could guess breast and be right like 99.8% of the time.

The lights sound exactly like what I saw but it was 45 years ago so the memory is fuzzy.