# Are You Sheltering in Place With a....Ghost?? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [May 14, 2020, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sheltering-in-place-with-a-ghost/853788 "2020-05-14T14:40:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sheltering-in-place-with-a-ghost/853788/1 "2020-05-14T14:40:18Z")
> **[DNyuz - Latest Breaking U.S. News](https://dnyuz.com/)** > > Latest Breaking News, U.S. and World Politics, Crime, Business, Science, Technology, Autos, Entertainment, Culture, Movie, Music, Sports. Some people believe they are. > [@](#): > > Adrian Gomez lives with his partner in Los Angeles, where their first few days of sheltering in place for the coronavirus pandemic proved uneventful. They worked remotely, baked, took a two-mile walk each morning and refinished their porcelain kitchen sink. But then, one night, the doorknob began to rattle “vigorously,” so loud he could hear it from across the apartment. Yet no one was there. > > In mid-April, Mr. Gomez was in bed when a nearby window shade began shaking against the window frame so intensely — despite the fact that the window was closed, an adjacent window shade remained perfectly still, the cats were all accounted for, and no bug nor bird nor any other small creature had gotten stuck there — that Mr. Gomez thought it was an earthquake. > > “I very seriously hid myself under the comforter, like you see in horror movies, because it really did freak me out,” he said. And 45% of Americans believe in ghosts even though there is no evidence that they exist. > [@](#): > > There is no scientific evidence for the existence of ghosts, a fact that has little bearing on our collective enthusiasm for them. According to a 2019 YouGov survey, 45 percent of U.S. adults believe in ghosts; in 2009, the Pew Research Center found that 18 percent of Americans believe themselves to have seen or otherwise encountered one. Likely, the stress and distress of this pandemic is taking its toll. If you are sheltering in place with spirits please remind them of distancing rules and make sure they are masked up. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sheltering-in-place-with-a-ghost/853788/2 "2020-05-14T15:29:37Z")
Humanity: 500,000 years on Earth Dinosaurs: 133,000,000 years on Earth If you have a ghost, there’s a greater than 99% chance that it’s a dinosaur. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sheltering-in-place-with-a-ghost/853788/3 "2020-05-14T22:40:48Z")
I wish. I live alone and lost my cat two days before New Year’s. I’d pay good money to have his ghost around to keep me company. My mom’s ghost would be great too. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sheltering-in-place-with-a-ghost/853788/4 "2020-05-14T22:46:26Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > I wish. I live alone and lost my cat two days before New Year’s. I’d pay good money to have his ghost around to keep me company. My mom’s ghost would be great too. I dreamed of my favorite cat last night in one of those powerful memorable dreams. I second your thought. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sheltering-in-place-with-a-ghost/853788/5 "2020-05-15T00:27:48Z")
My 12 year old granddaughter got a new iPhone for her birthday last week. The other day while visiting at our house she kept showing me pictures and videos of things around the house moving “on their own” and trying to convince me that the house was haunted. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sheltering-in-place-with-a-ghost/853788/6 "2020-05-15T03:08:00Z")
What do you mean there’s no evidence? Don’t you watch Ghost Hunters? They have official little meters that tell them when entities are in the vicinity. I saw it with my own eyes. 😃 (Remind me to tell you about the woman’s head that haunts my place) ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sheltering-in-place-with-a-ghost/853788/7 "2020-05-15T03:48:37Z")
A g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-ghost?! Zoinks! _flees, along with Scooby_ Years ago on Halloween, a teenaged trick-or-treater claimed he used to live in my house, and that it was haunted. I don’t know if he really believed that (or if he even really used to live here) or if he was just trying to mess with me, but he certainly sounded serious. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sheltering-in-place-with-a-ghost/853788/8 "2020-05-15T11:31:36Z")
What I find amusing is not that 45 percent believe in ghosts, but that seems to bother a minority that does not. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sheltering-in-place-with-a-ghost/853788/9 "2020-05-15T13:22:36Z")
My kitty died last year too. Our yard is bursting with weeds, but I don’t feel like pulling them without my furry supervisor. ☹ I _wish_ we had some ghosts, but we have too many dogs to accommodate any more souls in our abode. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sheltering-in-place-with-a-ghost/853788/10 "2020-05-15T15:10:08Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > My kitty died last year too. Our yard is bursting with weeds, but I don’t feel like pulling them without my furry supervisor. ☹ > > I _wish_ we had some ghosts, but we have too many dogs to accommodate any more souls in our abode. If you ever watch American Horror Story, the first season, the overall takeaway seemed to be less that ghosts are scary and more that it’s horrifying to have too many roommates. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sheltering-in-place-with-a-ghost/853788/11 "2020-05-15T17:50:12Z")
I’d hate to think ghosts were watching me. I do things no-one needs to see. Alive or dead. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sheltering-in-place-with-a-ghost/853788/12 "2020-05-15T17:55:00Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I’d hate to think ghosts were watching me. I do things no-one needs to see. Alive or dead. 😃 Ive always wondered how ghosts can see and hear and do things like living people do that require fuel (food) and yet ghosts never have to go to the bathroom. ---
**Author:** ![road\_lobo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d78d45/32.png) [@road\_lobo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/road_lobo)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sheltering-in-place-with-a-ghost/853788/13 "2020-05-15T18:35:28Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > What I find amusing is not that 45 percent believe in ghosts, but that seems to bother a minority that does not. It’s been an attack vector for con artists for millenia. Is the victimization of the gullible something to be celebrated? ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sheltering-in-place-with-a-ghost/853788/14 "2020-05-15T21:11:27Z")
Wait just a minute! I know for a fact there are ghosts because just about every TV crime show has the investigator talking to murder victims or his own dead wife. They are generally very helpful and play a key part in solving the mystery. I’ve always felt a bit cheated because I would love to have the opportunity to sit down and have coffee again with my late wife, my deceased parents, or all my old friends who have passed on. I guess it happens a lot to screenwriters. ---
**Author:** ![RedSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/67e7ee/32.png) [@RedSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedSky)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2020, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sheltering-in-place-with-a-ghost/853788/15 "2020-05-16T09:54:59Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > What I find amusing is not that 45 percent believe in ghosts, but that seems to bother a minority that does not. It’s strange that 75 percent of people are religious but you have to go somewhere else when you die, why is being earthbound not an option. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2020, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sheltering-in-place-with-a-ghost/853788/16 "2020-05-16T15:56:24Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Ive always wondered how ghosts can see and hear and do things like living people do that require fuel (food) and yet ghosts never have to go to the bathroom. Ectoplasm, baby. Ectoplasm. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2020, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sheltering-in-place-with-a-ghost/853788/17 "2020-05-16T16:53:10Z")
My family keeps saying there’s a ghost in our house. I have no idea what they’re talking about; I’ve lived here for 237 years, and I’ve never seen one. ---
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2020, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sheltering-in-place-with-a-ghost/853788/18 "2020-05-16T18:50:42Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Humanity: 500,000 years on Earth > Dinosaurs: 133,000,000 years on Earth > > If you have a ghost, there’s a greater than 99% chance that it’s a dinosaur. No, because dinosaurs lived awesome lives with no regrets. There are no dinosaur ghosts because they didn’t leave behind any unfinished business. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2020, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sheltering-in-place-with-a-ghost/853788/19 "2020-05-16T21:42:19Z")
> [@Jet\_Jaguar](#): > > No, because dinosaurs lived awesome lives with no regrets. There are no dinosaur ghosts because they didn’t leave behind any unfinished business. I know that I long to be torn apart, alive, by wild animals as soon as I’m unable to run less than 30% of how fast I could when I was at my peak. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2020, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sheltering-in-place-with-a-ghost/853788/20 "2020-05-19T14:24:49Z")
I just really liked this quote, so I’ll share it here > [@thebibliosphere on tumblr](#): > > Some people always get super salty when they come asking for help with a “ghost haunting” and the first thing i ask them is “have you checked your living space for carbon monoxide”. > > Like maybe you thought coming to a witch you’d get some neat spell or some shit, but a big part of being a (good) witch is also looking at what is in front of you and ruling out some basic things first, and a lot of the things people describe to me when it comes to ghost hauntings also sound a helluva lot like carbon monoxide poisoning. So like sorry for giving a shit over whether or not you’re actually about to die or not I guess _shrug emoji_ > > Like I know we joke about my house being haunted (and maybe it is) but when the lights flicker in my house I don’t do a cleansing spell, I call an electrician. You gotta do the physical world things first before you jump to the metaphysical. That’s just how it is. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sheltering-in-place-with-a-ghost/853788.md?page=2)