Has a GHOST Ever HARMED a Person?

Factual Questions
21

My father-in-law and brother-in-law claimed to see a ghost once, standing by the heater in their house.
I think there was a gas leak…

22

Let me try.

  1. I know of no evidence indicating that ghosts exist.

  2. Ghosts attack people in fiction, on occasion. Example: “The ghost attacked Amy with a blast of wind that knocked her out the window.” (Sailor Moon, Episode 20)

  3. Ghosts attack people in folklore.
    a) Celtic Folklore, The Ghost of Smeem: “SOME time after Pat Doyle was killed by the ghost, my husband, Martin Doyle, was at work on an estate at some distance from Sneem, and one evening the gentleman who employed Martin told him to go that night on an errand to Sneem.” http://www.belinus.co.uk/folklore/Files2/CurtinGGhostsneem.htm

b) From http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/madagascar/surviving/legends.html

Some of these ghosts of the dead are known as kinoly. Kinoly look like real people, though they have red eyes, long fingernails, and a nasty habit of eviscerating their fellow Malagasy. One story holds that a Malagasy who once met a kinoly asked it, “How is it your eyes are so red?” and the kinoly said, “God passed by them.” The Malagasy then asked, “How is it your nails are so long?” The ghost replied “That I may tear out your liver” and immediately did so.

So watch out for those Kinolies.

23

Ghosts are very close-mouthed on this subject. When put on the stand, they invariably take the fifth.

24

Wasn’t it Illinois football player Red Grange who was called The Galloping Ghost? And didn’t he run over a would-be opposing tackler one time and injure him?

25

This may interest you. I live near Adams, TN, and the story of the Bell Witch is well known around here. It is supposed to be the only “known” instance of a ghost actually killing someone.

I don’t know how it can be “known” since ghosts themselves aren’t “known”, but what the heck. People come from all over the country to visit the Bell Witch Cave.

Here is a page on the subject. Very interesting reading.

http://www.ghosts.org/bell/bell.html

BTW, I am very likely a descendant of the Franklin Miles mentioned in the story. No I can’t prove it. Yes, I have lots and lots of circumstancial evidence.

26

I think that the point of the people saying that A) ghosts probably don’t exist/no proof/ etc and also saying B) ghosts have been known to hurt people are trying to say that C) Among those cases where people claim to have seen/experienced/etc ghosts, some of them also claim to have been injured.

So they mean “yes” in the sense that the supposed “real” ghost stories [claimed to be real, as opposed to outright fiction] sometimes include injuries, but “no” in the sense that all ghost stories are automatically suspect since there is no proof that validates the existance of ghosts in the first place.

27

So that explains Art Bell! :smiley:

28

The OP presumes the existence of ghosts. I answered the question within the OP’s frame of reference. Whether or not they exist is subject matter for another thread. All of you people who are coming in and saying “Ghosts don’t exist, you ingnorant ass, NYAH NYAH NYAH NYAH NYAAAAHH NYAH” aren’t adding anything to the thread.

If the OP had asked, “what is the nature of God?” then those who believe in God would try to answer. Those who barge in and say “God doesn’t exist, so your question is moot” wouldn’t be helping. The first rule of the SDMB is “don’t be a jerk.”

The GQ forum has, from time to time, hosted questions about other phenomena that haven’t been sufficiently explained. From now on, Manhattan, are you going to barge in and say, “…such a thing doesn’t exist, so there’s no point in discussing it”?

The Smurl Case

29

I agree, those responses were uncalled for. IMO, ralph124c deserves an apology or two.

30

My ghost didn’t hurt me, but she DID touch me.

31

…except for some facts. Or, put another way, them’s ignorance-fightin’ words.

Seriously, I think that when someone asks “have ghosts ever been known to do X,” responding with “no, because ghosts have never been known to exist” is perfectly germane, informative, and to the point.

32

Yes, and this being a message board inspired by Cecil Adams, we should also throw in some sarcasm along the way. Immaturity, we can live without, but throwing off a smart-ass remark seems perfectly in keeping with the Straight Dope.

33

IMO I would think that it’s about the same as if someone believed in witchcraft and voodoo and other fantasies of the like - if you believe in the suggested ghost and if you believe the ghost can hurt you, you could concievably do yourself all kinds of harm and all blamed on the ghost.

34

Next thing you know, some wise guy is going to come along and say that the boogey man doesn’t exist or has not hurt anyone. We all know this isn’t true. :eek:

35

Given that the SDMB is dedicated to fighting ignorance (and goofin’ around in some forums along the way), I don’t see how saying “Ghosts don’t exist, and saying they do is perpetuating the ignorance we’re out to fight” is out of line.

IMO, if someone wants to debate the behavior of nonexistent stuff, they’re welcome to go find a forum with looser standards. I’m sure there’s lots of folks over at Yahoo! who’ll babble for years about ghosts and telekinesis and ESP and time-travelling ninja alien gophers.

36

I don’t agree that anything was added by people saying “ghosts don’t exist” since most people believe that they don’t, and anyone reading the thread already either believes it or doesn’t, and hearing you say one way or the other isn’t going to change that.

I think that the spirit (ha!) of the question was to ask if anyone claiming a ghost encounter has claimed to have been harmed by said ghost. It’s a valid question.

37

Hate to elongate an already long thread, but I had to add my 2 cents. Ghosts cannpot be proved to exist. However, can one justifibly prove, without doubt, that they don’t exist? Far as I’m concerned, their existence is impossible to decide. I, for one, believe. Now that I’ve spewed that, I feel its entirely possible for some non physical entity (whether or not they be ghosts) to make contact and possible hurt a material being. I know it cant be proved, but can anyone lay down hard evidence to disprove it?

38

I don’t believe in ghosts at all, but I also don’t believe in god. I suppose I should be able to reply to any questions about god by saying things like “Ouch. My ignorance meter is pinned at 10, and it hurts”?

39

On the subject of calling people “ignorant asses” for believing in ghosts, we’re here to Fight Ignorance, and if somebody takes offense at having it pointed out that there’s no scientific evidence for the existence of ghosts and poltergeists, then all I can say is, he’d better get a thicker skin, or else quit hanging around at the SDMB. :wink:

I believe Manny’s comment was directed, not at the OP, because he doesn’t normally make fun of a serious General Question, no matter how seemingly clueless, but rather at the two “Yes, ghosts have harmed people” responses to the OP, one of which was by a long-established SDMB poster who might be expected to know the SDMB’s official stance on paranormal stuff, like whether ghosts exist.

Rasta, I have a lot of respect for you as a poster, so I hope you aren’t taking this as a personal attack on you. :frowning: :slight_smile: I’m just surprised to find out that, if you do believe in ghosts, that you wouldn’t know better than to keep it to yourself at the SDMB. :smiley: Especially in General Questions…

That’s a real interesting ghost story you linked to, but it’s not proof that poltergeists have ever hurt/sexually assaulted people. It’s just a ghost story. I’m talking about serious scientific evidence. Your link simply starts from the basic assumption that “poltergeists exist” and goes on from there. Statements like this–

–don’t prove anything. Was there any evidence for this? Photos, semen tests, physical exams? No, because it’s just a ghost story, and I might add, taken from a “ghost story” website, which is kinda like using Art Bell for a cite.
KC450, Carl Sagan once said, “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” No, we can’t prove ghosts don’t exist, but then it’s not up to the non-believers to prove that ghosts don’t exist–it’s up to the believers to prove they do exist. And since the claim is an extraordinary one, it requires a great deal more by way of proof than simply saying, “My grandma once saw a ghost, and my grandma would never lie,” or words to that effect.

Also, (welcome to the SDMB, BTW! :smiley: ) in this forum, General Questions, we’re here to give factual answers to questions, not opinions as to whether ghosts might exist. (If Ralph wants to survey people and find out how many people believe in ghosts, he’s welcome to start a new thread in IMHO, or else e-mail a mod and ask to have this one moved over there.)

Ralph’s question is, “Has a ghost ever harmed a person?” and the answer to that, quite simply, is, “No.”

Because ghosts don’t exist, and therefore they cannot harm people.

If the OP had asked, “Has a god ever harmed a person?” what would have been our GQ response? I submit that it would have been pretty much the same–“First you have to prove that gods exist, and then you start talking about whether they have ever harmed people.”

40

Look, Cecil answered a question once upon a time about the ways to kill various vampires. Nobody lined up to post that vampires aren’t real.

The question presupposes ghosts. Are there, in the records that already assume ghosts, records of ghosts killing people?

In Dungeons and Dragons, ghosts take years of your life off. I don’t think anybody here would dare question the official Monster Manual of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. If you hang around a ghost too long, you’re gonna die.