# Believing in ghosts **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 11, 2015, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/believing-in-ghosts/714753 "2015-03-11T13:46:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/believing-in-ghosts/714753/41 "2015-03-12T11:57:01Z")
After years of observation I have decided that believing in ghosts just encourages them. Ghosts pester believers much much more than they pester skeptics. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/believing-in-ghosts/714753/42 "2015-03-12T13:16:27Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > I’ve mentioned it here before that I’ve photographed a ghost. It shows up in a photo I took of my great-uncle’s gravestone. It’s not a reflection, it’s not a trick of the light, it’s not my brain seeing human faces in random things. It’s a perfectly detailed man’s face. Receding hairline, ear, eyes, pointed nose, looking down at the words on the gravestone. The photo I took a few seconds after shows nothing in that spot. Why not post a link to the photo? ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/believing-in-ghosts/714753/43 "2015-03-12T13:42:36Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > I’ve mentioned it here before that I’ve photographed a ghost. It shows up in a photo I took of my great-uncle’s gravestone. It’s not a reflection, it’s not a trick of the light, it’s not my brain seeing human faces in random things. It’s a perfectly detailed man’s face. Receding hairline, ear, eyes, pointed nose, looking down at the words on the gravestone. The photo I took a few seconds after shows nothing in that spot. > [@Octarine](#): > > You are SO not allowed to tell that story without posting the picture. 😃 [http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg179/juicy\_fruit\_kisses/AuntZeldasGrave1.jpg](http://s248.photobucket.com/user/juicy_fruit_kisses/media/AuntZeldasGrave1.jpg.html) Between the “R” and the “O”. There was nobody with me. Edit: [http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg179/juicy\_fruit\_kisses/AuntZeldasGrave2.jpg](http://s248.photobucket.com/user/juicy_fruit_kisses/media/AuntZeldasGrave2.jpg.html) The photo I took a couple seconds later. I see a face between the “S” and the “E”, but not as detailed. ---
**Author:** ![LurkerInNJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/believing-in-ghosts/714753/44 "2015-03-12T16:28:43Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > [http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg179/juicy\_fruit\_kisses/AuntZeldasGrave1.jpg](http://s248.photobucket.com/user/juicy_fruit_kisses/media/AuntZeldasGrave1.jpg.html) > > Between the “R” and the “O”. There was nobody with me. > > Edit: > > [http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg179/juicy\_fruit\_kisses/AuntZeldasGrave2.jpg](http://s248.photobucket.com/user/juicy_fruit_kisses/media/AuntZeldasGrave2.jpg.html) > > The photo I took a couple seconds later. I see a face between the “S” and the “E”, but not as detailed. That looks like Suzanne Sommers. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/believing-in-ghosts/714753/45 "2015-03-12T16:32:32Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > After years of observation I have decided that believing in ghosts just encourages them. Ghosts pester believers much much more than they pester skeptics. Very good point. It’s kinda like **The oftener you don’t win, the sooner you gotta**. ---
**Author:** ![LurkerInNJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/believing-in-ghosts/714753/46 "2015-03-12T16:39:37Z")
I told this story back in 2008, but I’ll tell it again. When I was a teenager, one summer morning I was in my room making my bed. When I looked up after tucking in a corner of the sheets, I saw my grandmother standing right in front of me. I was so happy to see her and wondered why no one had told me she was coming to visit. I immediately stopped what I was doing and ran towards her to give her a kiss when she vanished right before my eyes. We got a long-distance call a short time later, letting us know that she had passed away earlier that morning. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/believing-in-ghosts/714753/47 "2015-03-12T16:51:33Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > I just got a phone call from beyond the grave!! I googled the CID number and it belonged to my daughter’s ex-step-FIL who died a few months ago! :eek: :eek: :eek: The voice mail was just garbled indistinct noise. :eek: :eek: :eek: I received an email from my fiance’ two days after he died. Obviously the answer is spam filters and servers and ISPs, but at the time it didn’t help my denial one bit. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/believing-in-ghosts/714753/48 "2015-03-12T18:56:52Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > [http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg179/juicy\_fruit\_kisses/AuntZeldasGrave2.jpg](http://s248.photobucket.com/user/juicy_fruit_kisses/media/AuntZeldasGrave2.jpg.html) > > The photo I took a couple seconds later. I see a face between the “S” and the “E”, but not as detailed. That one’s clearly Edgar Allan Poe. Which isn’t surprising, he loved this kind of stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Paxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/50afbb/32.png) [@Paxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paxx)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/believing-in-ghosts/714753/49 "2015-03-12T19:10:27Z")
1. Something happened. 2. I can’t explain why it happened. 3. Therefore, it must have been a ghost. Strange. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/believing-in-ghosts/714753/50 "2015-03-12T20:58:30Z")
He slams his fists against the posts, Yet still insists he sees the ghosts. ---
**Author:** ![CGav8r](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@CGav8r](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CGav8r)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/believing-in-ghosts/714753/51 "2015-03-12T21:09:05Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > [http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg179/juicy\_fruit\_kisses/AuntZeldasGrave1.jpg](http://s248.photobucket.com/user/juicy_fruit_kisses/media/AuntZeldasGrave1.jpg.html) > > Between the “R” and the “O”. There was nobody with me. > > Edit: > > [http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg179/juicy\_fruit\_kisses/AuntZeldasGrave2.jpg](http://s248.photobucket.com/user/juicy_fruit_kisses/media/AuntZeldasGrave2.jpg.html) > > The photo I took a couple seconds later. I see a face between the “S” and the “E”, but not as detailed. I really don’t see anything definitive. _shrugs_ ---
**Author:** ![owlfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@owlfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlfan)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/believing-in-ghosts/714753/52 "2015-03-12T21:46:51Z")
I see things out of the corner of my eye on a daily basis. I am sure they are just reflections from my glasses but sometimes they really freak me out. I know that if they look like some Thing or some One that it is just my mind filling in the blanks. I can see that if you want to believe in ghosts this sort of thing could be evidence for you. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/believing-in-ghosts/714753/53 "2015-03-13T02:33:46Z")
> [@Paxx](#): > > 1. Something happened. > 2. I can’t explain why it happened. > 3. Therefore, it must have been a ghost. > > Strange. ☹ It’s no different than religion. For where I grew up in the Bible Belt, just substitute “Jesus” for “a ghost” in your formula. ---
**Author:** ![Paxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/50afbb/32.png) [@Paxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paxx)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/believing-in-ghosts/714753/54 "2015-03-13T13:50:17Z")
Yeah, it’s a variation of the “God of the gaps” argument. I’m still a bit surprised by how many non-religious people believe in ghosts. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/believing-in-ghosts/714753.md?page=2)