# Have you ever had a visitation or sign from a deceased person? (After they were deceased, that is.) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 16, 2010, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-visitation-or-sign-from-a-deceased-person-after-they-were-deceased-that-is/543433 "2010-06-16T16:31:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-visitation-or-sign-from-a-deceased-person-after-they-were-deceased-that-is/543433/41 "2010-06-17T14:28:58Z")
No, the question is, “Have you ever had a visitation or sign from a deceased person?” That’s not just asking if anything creepy or weird has happened, it’s asking if anyone has actually, factually had communication with a dead person. It’s exactly the same as asking in anyone has ever been bitten by a werewolf. The question is ludicrous. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-visitation-or-sign-from-a-deceased-person-after-they-were-deceased-that-is/543433/42 "2010-06-17T14:40:50Z")
> [@VunderBob](#): > > I’m surprised that it took **DtC** this long to shit in the thread. I was thinking the same, exact thing! ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-visitation-or-sign-from-a-deceased-person-after-they-were-deceased-that-is/543433/43 "2010-06-17T15:06:28Z")
Well, I’m glad **DtC** did it before I did, 'cause, I mean really people. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-visitation-or-sign-from-a-deceased-person-after-they-were-deceased-that-is/543433/44 "2010-06-17T15:07:49Z")
At least two other people said it before me. I don’t know why I got singled out. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-visitation-or-sign-from-a-deceased-person-after-they-were-deceased-that-is/543433/45 "2010-06-17T15:13:02Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > At least two other people said it before me. I don’t know why I got singled out. Really now? ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-visitation-or-sign-from-a-deceased-person-after-they-were-deceased-that-is/543433/46 "2010-06-17T15:14:31Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > At least two other people said it before me. I don’t know why I got singled out. Your great great grandfather told us to give you a hard time about it. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![moldybread](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@moldybread](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moldybread)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-visitation-or-sign-from-a-deceased-person-after-they-were-deceased-that-is/543433/47 "2010-06-17T15:16:16Z")
I am a HUGE skeptic for things like this. That said, I’d like to share a funny story. About 5 years after my grandfather passed away, my grandmother came to live with us. Mother, Grandmother and myself were in Grandmas room talking. My mom said something about how my grandmother can get a new boyfriend now that she is living with us in her new life. On my grandmothers nightstand was a picture of my grandfather. The exact moment my mother finshed her “boyfriend” sentence, the picture falls flat onto the table. We all looked at eachother with horrified expressions and then proceded to laugh Hysterically. I’ve tried to find an explanation for this and best I could come up with was, the furnace must have kicked on and sent a vibration through the floor and table that caused it to slide to the flat position. In that moment my skeptical nature completely faded away. Just for a moment though 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-visitation-or-sign-from-a-deceased-person-after-they-were-deceased-that-is/543433/48 "2010-06-17T15:40:41Z")
I’m in the BS camp, I’m a good old fashioned athiest. That said, I’ll go ahead and share my story… My Freshman roommate in college chewed tobacco, I smoked. We use to give each other constant grief of our chosen habits. I had a coffee can that I kept matchbooks in, and he’d sit there and light one match, then use that to light the whole book. Lather rinse repeat. It drove me crazy because he’d burn through all of the matches. He died drunk driving, and I was at his parents house right after the funeral, and a book of matches in my pocket lit on fire. My hands weren’t in my pocket or anything, just all the sudden my leg started getting really hot. Weird. ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-visitation-or-sign-from-a-deceased-person-after-they-were-deceased-that-is/543433/49 "2010-06-17T15:50:19Z")
I don’t really believe in the afterlife either, but my mother, sisters and I constantly find dimes everywhere and often. My mom started finding these dimes the day her father died. I often find them in times of stress. Probably just a coincidence, and likely we’ve always found dimes but now that we’ve attributed meaning to them, we notice it more, but either way, it does sometimes bring comfort. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-visitation-or-sign-from-a-deceased-person-after-they-were-deceased-that-is/543433/50 "2010-06-17T16:04:19Z")
I don’t _really_ believe in ghosts but it’s fun to swap stories about things difficult to explain. Does that help? Anyway: here’s my story — a coworker and dear, dear lady died last night. I thought of her when I was looking at the list of threads here in MPSIMS. I see the words: \*\* Have you ever had a visitation or sign from a deceased person? (After they were deceased, that is.)\*\* _ThelmaLou_ My coworker’s name was Thelma. 🙂 ---
**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:** [June 17, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-visitation-or-sign-from-a-deceased-person-after-they-were-deceased-that-is/543433/51 "2010-06-17T17:59:03Z")
Whoa!! Thelma??? That freakin’ gave me CHILLS… but in a good way. 🙂 Godspeed, Thelma… write when you can. This subject is interesting and the fact is that faith, hope, and imagination notwithstanding, no one knows for sure what happens after death. Period. We don’t even know exactly what death is. So keep them stories coming… I love them! ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-visitation-or-sign-from-a-deceased-person-after-they-were-deceased-that-is/543433/52 "2010-06-17T18:08:28Z")
Actually, yes we do know what happens after death. Nothing. Consciousness is an emergent, physical proerty of the brain. When the brain ceases to function, there is no more consciousness. We know this. It’s not a guess. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-visitation-or-sign-from-a-deceased-person-after-they-were-deceased-that-is/543433/53 "2010-06-17T18:59:51Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Actually, yes we do know what happens after death. Nothing. Consciousness is an emergent, physical proerty of the brain. When the brain ceases to function, there is no more consciousness. We know this. It’s not a guess. I’m as much a skeptic as the next guy, however, on the surface you appear to be asserting that the absence of evidence for an afterlife means that it is proven that there is none. Saying ‘cite’ would further derail this thread. I respectfully suggest that you start a different thread to discuss the evidence for and against an afterlife. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-visitation-or-sign-from-a-deceased-person-after-they-were-deceased-that-is/543433/54 "2010-06-17T19:14:07Z")
It’s as well-established that there’s no such thing as ghosts as it is that homeopathy is bunk, there’s no fountain of youth, no one has ever levitated by mind power, and all the rest of it. You may not want to consider utter absence of evidence conclusive, but it’s certainly telling that for all the millenia humans have been telling ghost stories, not a shred of reliable evidence for such an assertion has ever arisen. It’s understandable to want to find that loved ones aren’t gone for good, to have some hope that they hang around interacting with our lives in small ways; unfortunately, that’s not how it is. Swapping anecdotes about weird coincidences that happened to us is all fun and well, but let’s not kid ourselves that this is indication of anything more. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-visitation-or-sign-from-a-deceased-person-after-they-were-deceased-that-is/543433/55 "2010-06-17T19:25:28Z")
My wife had a dream/vision of her estranged father. Later that day she spoke to her brother who told her the same thing happened to him. A couple of months later, it was discovered that he (the father) had died on the day of the “dream/vision”. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-visitation-or-sign-from-a-deceased-person-after-they-were-deceased-that-is/543433/56 "2010-06-17T19:40:25Z")
Religious, definite believer in the afterlife here & aside for dreams, I got nuthin’! ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-visitation-or-sign-from-a-deceased-person-after-they-were-deceased-that-is/543433/57 "2010-06-17T19:47:30Z")
> [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > I’m as much a skeptic as the next guy, however, on the surface you appear to be asserting that the absence of evidence for an afterlife means that it is proven that there is none. Saying ‘cite’ would further derail this thread. I respectfully suggest that you start a different thread to discuss the evidence for and against an afterlife. It’s more than absence of evidence, it’s demonstrably impossible. I’m just inserting factual information. The word “afterlife” doesn’t even mean anything, so the question “is there an afterlife” is meaningless, but it is a known fact that consciousness is caused by the brain and that it ceases at death. Consciousness continuing without a brain is physically impossible. Fanciful constructs such as “spirits” and “ghosts” and the like are provable nonsense. These are not unanswered questions that we don’t know the answers to. We know what is physically possible and what isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-visitation-or-sign-from-a-deceased-person-after-they-were-deceased-that-is/543433/58 "2010-06-17T20:17:37Z")
OK, point taken **Diogenes** — but the fact remains that people are interested in talking about this. You continual assertions of impossibility are threadshitting. We have no rule in MPSIMS disallowing discussion of ghost stories, unexplained phenomenon and the like. Until such time as we do, I am asking you to stop your repeated assertions. One time is plenty. **Ellen Cherry MPSIMS Moderator** ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-visitation-or-sign-from-a-deceased-person-after-they-were-deceased-that-is/543433/59 "2010-06-17T20:48:38Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > We have no rule in MPSIMS disallowing discussion of ghost stories, unexplained phenomenon and the like. Until such time as we do, I am asking you to stop your repeated assertions. One time is plenty. > > **Ellen Cherry > MPSIMS Moderator** I’d like everybody in the thread to join hands, close their eyes and ask the all knowing spirit of Zotti to join us in hoping that no such rule is currently under discussion. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-visitation-or-sign-from-a-deceased-person-after-they-were-deceased-that-is/543433/60 "2010-06-17T20:52:33Z")
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