# Have you ever had a paranormal experience? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 1, 2019, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-paranormal-experience/827020 "2019-01-01T01:42:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sterling\_Archer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Sterling\_Archer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sterling_Archer)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-paranormal-experience/827020/21 "2019-01-02T03:33:13Z")
One time I was in the basement bathroom and I distinctly heard scratching on the wooden door and a quiet voice saying something just outside it. (I can’t remember what, but I think i heard distinct words at the time) I was very sure I heard these sounds and did not think it was anything paranormal, I just thought someone was making creepy sounds outside the bathroom door. But when I came out no one was down there. I rushed up and asked who was down in the basement making the noises, but no one had been down there. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-paranormal-experience/827020/22 "2019-01-02T03:48:57Z")
I have experienced things for which I do not know the explanation. I do not believe that I have ever experienced anything for which there is no explanation. I have certainly never experienced anything which is impossible, because if I have experienced it, it manifestly is possible. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-paranormal-experience/827020/23 "2019-01-02T06:02:26Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I have experienced things for which I do not know the explanation. I do not believe that I have ever experienced anything for which there is no explanation. I have certainly never experienced anything which is impossible, because if I have experienced it, it manifestly is possible. There must be a subtle philosophical point here, since in principle one could hallucinate and therefore experience anything, but that has little bearing on what is possible. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-paranormal-experience/827020/24 "2019-01-02T13:19:55Z")
My sister claims our father appeared to her after he died. But my sister drinks, so I’m disinclined to give this claim any credibility. ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-paranormal-experience/827020/25 "2019-01-02T15:18:52Z")
There are a lot of personal experiences that happen to people. I don’t deny that the experience happened, but they always seem to never be one that is repeatable and testable. Therefore, I don’t believe in paranormal events. I think that every paranormal event is an event that was either coincidental, or something that can eventually be explained by natural means. That being said… This is what happened to a friend of mine and I when we were working at a summer camp. We were walking back to our cabin at about 10 pm. As we were walking down by the waterfront, they sky was clear and we were looking at the stars. We saw one that was especially bright and I asked my friend which star that was. He said he thought it was Venus, and just as he was giving his reasoning for thinking that, the star suddenly went out. It was very clearly there, then it just blinked completely out. We both freaked out and wondered for the rest of the night what had happened, conjecturing that it could have been a UFO, an alien spacecraft or something. Today I look on that event and still don’t know exactly what happened, but I’m certain it was not a UFO or some sort of alien spacecraft. I have some hypotheses, but to be honest, I prefer to not know. Its my way of keeping some sense of mystery in my life, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-paranormal-experience/827020/26 "2019-01-02T15:44:00Z")
> [@Lancia](#): > > Yes. > > [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19688216&postcount=22](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19688216&postcount=22) Still my favorite “ghost story”! As for me, no, not a one, but unlike Mulder, I do NOT want to believe. I like going out in the country at night, and exploring old buildings, and I don’t want to think there are bigfoots in the woods, or ghosts, either in the woods or in the buildings. I DO NOT want to be camping and suddenly see a light in an abandoned house! I used to be in fear of the closed off rooms of our house when I was a kid, and to this day I still have dreams about strange things behind those doors. To believe there were really ghosts would be too much! Why aren’t people more upset when they think they are being visited by the spirits of their deceased relatives? That means the same relatives can see and hear everything you do, all the time! They see you when you’re sleeping, they know when you’re awake. And they are judging you. Just like Alexa. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-paranormal-experience/827020/27 "2019-01-02T19:13:36Z")
> [@Dragwyr](#): > > This is what happened to a friend of mine and I when we were working at a summer camp. We were walking back to our cabin at about 10 pm. As we were walking down by the waterfront, they sky was clear and we were looking at the stars. We saw one that was especially bright and I asked my friend which star that was. He said he thought it was Venus, and just as he was giving his reasoning for thinking that, the star suddenly went out. It was very clearly there, then it just blinked completely out. It could have been a small slow moving high altitude cloud that moved over the star. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-paranormal-experience/827020/28 "2019-01-02T19:25:14Z")
An instructor was once relating his triump at karaoke the prior weekend, but couldn’t recall the name of the song that he did that was such a hit. All he said was “it’s that song, you know, from that movie” and I chimed in immediately with “Total Eclipse of the Heart”, and he said “yeah, that’s the one”. And the rest of the class was gobsmacked. True story. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-paranormal-experience/827020/29 "2019-01-02T22:14:41Z")
No. I’m stuck in the “normal”, no “para”. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-paranormal-experience/827020/30 "2019-01-02T23:09:40Z")
My girlfriend had a rental house until recently that she swore was haunted because of footsteps on the opposite floor she was on. I never heard them until a few weeks ago just before Christmas. Her parents were in town and we were all sitting on the downstairs couch talking when footsteps started upstairs even though we were the only ones there. Then, we heard someone walking down the stairs as clear as day and then suddenly stopped. I checked the staircase and no one was there. I asked the others if they heard it and of course they had. It was unmistakable. I really can’t explain that one but it was the same thing my girlfriend was always complaining about. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-paranormal-experience/827020/31 "2019-01-02T23:55:13Z")
> [@Mrdeals](#): > > If you dont believe in the paranormal that’s fine, this thread isn’t for you. I can respect that. But then why was your story about the time you got high and saw a raccoon?🙂 ---
**Author:** ![KellyCriterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b3f665/32.png) [@KellyCriterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KellyCriterion)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-paranormal-experience/827020/32 "2019-01-03T05:41:02Z")
Once had a dream where I was standing on a dirt road in what looked like a small town in ancient times. I could hear someone ringing a bell and shouting in a droning sort of voice “Maaarrryyyy… Maaaarrryyy…”. In the sky, I could see a black silhouette of the Virgin Mary that stretched down to the horizon. I woke up soon after, pondered over what I’d just dreamt and thought to myself: _“Ooookkkaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyy…”_ ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-paranormal-experience/827020/33 "2019-01-03T06:26:21Z")
There was that time I turned into a hulking vampiric beast and slayed the villagers by clamping my fangs to their neck and slaking my thirst of the very essence, before returning to my castle and laying in my coffin before the sun rose. Aside from that, nah. ---
**Author:** ![Paxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/50afbb/32.png) [@Paxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paxx)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-paranormal-experience/827020/34 "2019-01-03T13:21:27Z")
I think that I have paranormal abilities because ghosts are afraid of me or they lose their power when they are near me. I’ve never seen or sensed any evidence of their existence. Pretty amazing, considering how many ghosts there are. Maybe ghosts don’t “believe in” me. ---
**Author:** ![bowlweevils](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e5b9ba/32.png) [@bowlweevils](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bowlweevils)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-paranormal-experience/827020/35 "2019-01-04T10:56:35Z")
> [@Paxx](#): > > I think that I have paranormal abilities because ghosts are afraid of me or they lose their power when they are near me. I’ve never seen or sensed any evidence of their existence. Pretty amazing, considering how many ghosts there are. > > Maybe ghosts don’t “believe in” me. You are what is known scientifically as a negapsychic. At least according to the horror roleplaying game I played in the 1980s that was not Call of Cthulhu but shall remain nameless due to memory failure. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-paranormal-experience/827020/36 "2019-01-04T13:14:26Z")
Just that time I saw George Burns driving a blue Geo Metro just outside the DC/Maryland border 4 months after he died. I am completely serious. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-paranormal-experience/827020/37 "2019-01-04T13:44:16Z")
I love these kinds of stories. It always astonishes me the lengths that people will go to to show that stuff people say they saw couldn’t have happened, was impossible, you were drunk or high, or there’s a rational explanation, or it was really “this, that, or the other.” As though we really can explain everything that goes on. Paranormal? Why not? Supernatural? Why not? Are we really so sure that NOTHING beyond human understanding is possible? More stories, please. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-paranormal-experience/827020/38 "2019-01-04T17:36:30Z")
I’ll talk about some stories later that could be explained away as confirmation bias, but this one defies conventional explanation. I had a co-worker that was heavily into homeopathic medicine, even planning to become a homeopathic doctor, whatever that is. She never came out and said it, but she heavily implied that she was physic and she said that I was too\*. Anyway, shortly before we both left the company, she came to work looking haggard and said it was because I astral projected to her bedside and was yelling in her ear all night. She told me to be careful and stay in my body. Okay, that’s just freaky, but nothing too weird for her. What happened next though was beyond weird. After we both left the company, every night my bed would shake, like someone was deliberately pounding the side of the bad with their hands and arms. At first this only happened at night, sometimes when I was just lying awake, but later started to happen during the day as soon as I closed my eyes for a nap (I was tired because I couldn’t sleep at night). This all started when I rejected her text offer to go out (something about her friend backing out at the last minute). Later, she began texting me asking for my home address because she had something to send me (this was before Christmas, so I figured it was a Christmas gift). Her texts got more aggressive, ending with “You know I won’t give up until you tell me.” (she used to be a money collector) at which point I blocked her number on my phone. That night the shaking stopped. I would completely chalk it up to some small sense of guilt on my part, but I just recently learned that she sent a scathing angry email to the GM of the company we worked for after she was let go (she was hired as a temp, I was permanent), that claimed she was discriminated against and harassed by our boss, though she never claimed any unhappiness when she was there. \*Another co-worker insisted I meet his wife who claimed she was a physic and the first thing she said a the dinner table was “You know and see things that others don’t, don’t you?”. I answered yes. I’ve come to the realization that I’m just a good observer of human nature, especially because I blend into the background and people forget I’m there. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-paranormal-experience/827020/39 "2019-01-04T18:19:28Z")
Psychic. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-paranormal-experience/827020/40 "2019-01-04T19:43:29Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > It always astonishes me the lengths that people will go to to show that stuff people say they saw couldn’t have happened, was impossible, you were drunk or high, or there’s a rational explanatio… fyi I wasn’t intending to threadshit a discussion of paranormal anecdotes - I was just ribbing Mrdeals that he seemed to dismiss his _own_ anecdote along those lines, rather than being something with no explanation. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-paranormal-experience/827020.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-paranormal-experience/827020.md?page=3)