Revenant?
I accept that you honestly believe in ‘Bob’.
It’s just frustrating to me that these claims never get investigated. The first proof of life after death in the history of the World - and nobody wants to see it.
Certainly TV programs on ghosthunting both in the US and UK are just a joke (“I feel a presence! Tune in next week, viewers, for more of this…”)
However, as has been mentioned, if you can show evidence of ‘Bob’, it’s literally worth $1,000,000 to you:
‘At JREF, we offer a one-million-dollar prize to anyone who can show, under proper observing conditions, evidence of any paranormal, supernatural, or occult power or event.’
Does that money not interest you?
Litoris, I just want to (friendly) say that it takes about 3 seconds of trying to contact TAPS. I understand you’ve never thought about it until now, but just go to their website. (Does anyone else get this really, really unnerving feeling about them calling it the TAPS “family”?)
All their “approved” agencies:
http://the-atlantic-paranormal-society.com/tapsfamily/tflist.html
TAPS actual email is on the left.
Anyway, Ghost Hunters is still okay IMO. I haven’t watched the recent season however, so maybe that’s where the changed happened. They just have had a shift from saying “No Haunting” a lot to “let’s vaguely say no haunting but in a way that won’t hurt their feelings, we’re sorry, we didn’t see anything, but that doesn’t mean nothing happened to you, no, don’t cry.”
At the very least the footage is interesting, I’ve never agreed with a haunting label, and I’ve even debunked some of the stuff they missed. Anyone remember the “chair” footage from the Lighthouse that even their film analyst couldn’t pinpoint? IF you watch really, really closely the light source bumps to point toward the chair (actually it looks more like a rotating source). The weirdest thing though has to be the sound guy in the armory.
Anyway I’ve never had proof of a ghost, and this is coming from a guy that courted supernatural danger as a kid, up to going out in the camp woods in the middle of the night (that could have ended very badly, for very non-supernatural reasons). The more I read about the stuff, the more I realized EVERYONE has a different definition of any given thing, and the more inconsistencies I spot. It doesn’t help that shows like Paranormal State and A Haunting get aired, which significantly try to make everything scarier than they really are. Combine this also with the fact that anyone can make a website.
I would like to live in a haunted house though. As far as I can tell, most ghosts aren’t big on the malevolent thing, maybe this is because the existing evidence is Ghosts Don’t Exist™, but all the cases where someone that’s not a psychic said “weird, can’t explain it off hand” seemed distinctly benign. And if I had a full-body apparition, especially an intelligent one I’d SO be very happy to record data for everyone, hell I don’t even need the million dollar prize considering I’d probably get five million in book sales and merchandising.
I know one person who claims to see a ghost, but then again she claimed to be a demon and thought she was a vampire for a while (though she knew nothing about vampire folklore). I’m not certain if she was fucking with us, but she had… issues… so I’m inclined to believe she really thought that, though I desperately hope I was wrong.
I am so sick of these Ghost hunter shows. They always feel that there is some kind of a ghost at some spooky place, and then when they are trying to “communicate” with it, they just come up with the lamest of questions like: Are you really the ghost of the dead soldier? When were you born?
What I would like to know and of course these ghost hunters NEVER ask these ghosts are: What is it like on the other side? Is there an afterlife? Is there a God? Which religion is the correct one? Is there a Heaven or Hell?
Those deep questions that everyone wants the answer to. But for some reason, these “ghost hunters” never seem to think of these questions.
Any comments?
I think the point is they’re trying to FIND a ghost. They figure if they can prove he exists they can work out the logistical details on how to find out the existential stuff later. They’re just simple “control” questions, that wouldn’t intimidate anyone or take too much effort to answer (the general theory is that ghosts take a great deal of energy to manifest or do anything in general, so the less they have to do the more likely it would be for them to answer, in theory-world anyway).
Eeriest thing that happened to me—
First- I’m not a big believer in ghosts and all that. I tend to believe that for the most part it can all be explained scientifically somehow. However, I can’t completely rule out that there is strange stuff that happens that just can’t be explained. Call me I guess, a strong doubter instead of a skeptic 
Anyhow… my wife’s Grandfather (Gramps) died suddenly about 18 months ago. This was a surprise to everybody as his wife (Nanny) had been very ill and frail for a very long time. Most everybody in the family was expecting that Nanny could die at any minute, but nobody expected Gramps to go.
A little about the two. Nanny and Gramps had rough lives. Both were poor from birth to death. Gramps probably spent the first half of his life in hard labor and the second half in harder labor. He was spending his days working as a small engine mechanic when I met him, and continued to work until the day he died. He didn’t own any fancy clothes. Had to borrow nice clothes for our wedding. He was always in a greasy plaid/flannely type shirt and blue jeans every time I saw him. Always a little unkempt and dirty. Hair and scruff never combed. He was the greatest guy, nice, very very funny. But the appearance is important t the story…
At the time of his death, as I mentioned Nanny was very very ill. She had was unable to live at home and had not been home for years. She lived in a nursing/convalescent type old folks home. Despite a desire to stop, and just finally rest- she continued her dialysis at the urging of Gramps. Gramps visited her in the hospital on his way to work and on his way home every day. Really took as good of care of her as he could.
When he died- Nanny, while distraught, was now determined to soldier on because it’s what Gramps wanted.
The day of the funeral- despite our best hopes, Nanny was in too poor health to leave the home. So, we held the funeral without her. Gramps looked great. Like I’d never seen him before. My wife’s aunt went and purchased a really n ice gray suit for him to wear. He was clean, clean shaven. His hair was done and combed. He was almost unrecognizable. The service was very touching. I don’t actually really cry that often at these types of things. I’m not sure why, it’s just the way I am. Real life rarely makes me cry. I say real life because while I did not cry at say- my grandmothers funeral… I’ll cry like a baby at Dead Poets Society.
Afterwards, a large group of us went to visit her at her at her home. Nanny was in great spirits. My wife, myself and my wife’s mom (C) were the last to leave, and Nanny whispered to C… “I saw Elden (gramps) today…”
Nanny had some bouts of deleria so I assumed I was about to witness a moment.
C, looks strangely and is fighting back tears and says calmly, “Oh really?”
“He was standing right there,” Nanny points over by the door, “He looked so handsome. He had his hair combed and everything. He was even wearing a suit.”
My wife and I exchange odd looks…
C: “He was in a suit?!”
N: “Yeah… a grey suit, and his beard was trimmed. He looked 20 years younger. He told me, it’s OK. I don’t have to continue the dialysis any more. So I’m going to stop, OK?”
Well- I have to admit, I was actually tearing up at this point, my C was crying and my wife starting to all out bawl. It was very sweet, poignant and creepy all at the same time. I can tell you the more I thought if it, the more it gave me the heebie jeebies. The fact that she saw him clean and well groomed could be explained as dimentia. That she saw him in a grey suit, as he got buried in, a suit he didn’t own and in the type of clothes he never wore- just creeped the hell out of me.
Nanny did stop her dialysis and two weeks later we were back for her funeral.
I don’t know what she saw while we were at Gramps’ funeral. Even as a strong doubter- I have to believe that those two are together somewhere just enjoying the hell out of each other.
My mother passed away in 2006. My oldest son was 3 at the time. About 6 months later, we heard him up and walking around the house in the dark at 2:30 in the morning. We both got up because he was crying, and yelling out “Gramma!” When we calmed him down and asked him what was wrong, he said his grandmother had come to his room and told him she was going to take him to school (daycare) the next day. Then she went away and he was walking around looking for her.
Earlier that night when my wife and I first got in bed and he was sound asleep, way out of earshot, we had a quick discussion about who would be able to take him to school the next day because we both had early meetings.
Probably coincidence…
Well,I have seen a UFO … I am pretty sure it was a meteorite [99.999%], but I never bothered confirming that, so it is still unidentified <evil grin>
In the family house before my brother sister and I were born, and my Dad was out of town, on several occasions my mother would be over to my grandparents for dinner, and when my Uncle John would bring her home, every single light in the house would be turned on, from cellar to attic [a very large Victorian home. Perry House. At the time the maids were not live in. The attic tended to be kept locked and was not on the lighting panel by the front door [one of those neat push button panels, with 2 rows of 8 pairs of push buttons, that operated all the liights except the bedroom attic and basement rooms.]
When living in the house until about the age we went overseas and I got stuck in catholic school I had an imaginary playmate that was the spitting image of my great grandfather. The only extant photo of was at my grandparents house in Florida. I had never been to Florida.
Well I’ve never seen anything or experienced anything that couldn’t easily be explained naturally, but I have a few quick anecdotes.
The first happened to my dad. Waking up suddenly in bed, he found that he couldn’t move, like something heavy was pinning him down. Typical sleep paralysis stuff, but the difference was that he felt that something was telling him to “pay attention, because something big is about to happen.” Three days later his mom died unexpectedly… Not only was this big on a personal level, but it also changed the entire family dynamic due to business stuff.
The clock that had been a gift from my grandparents or something that effect broke 20 years ago. It chimed on my birthday when I was in middle school and hasn’t ever chimed again since.
I’ve never seen a ghost, but some believe my house is haunted by my dad’s mom. My dad’s stepmother refused to sleep upstairs, and my visiting aunt n’ uncle left in the middle of the night one time without a very good explanation as to why.
In my freshman year of college, staying up all night debating theology with my deist roommate, I got the distinct impression that there were 100s of spirits in the room listening to us. After I went to the bathroom, that feeling was gone. It was probably sleep deprivation and my imagination, but it was still pretty funky.
Then there’s the oujia board story, but I’ll save for that another time.
No. Now. One more story. Pleeese?
I am such a non-believer yet I cannot stay away from these threads. I really wish it were true…
I’ve heard a ghost - my parents had been hearing it for years. It’s great grandmother - it’s troubling to think she’s somehow making the effort to stick around - what is she trying to say? Something must have spooked her.
Buzzing around Corfu on a rental scooter many years ago my boyfriend and I stopped at the side of a river. Across the river was an abandoned house. I could see someone hailing me from the balcony. My boyfriend waited while I crossed the bridge and went up onto the balcony. There was an old man and an old lady - the old man was telling me how the children had all grown up and gone away and there was only himself and his wife to take care of the place. He said he would like to offer me a cup of tea but waved his arms in exasperation. I realised he was kind of see-through, the house melted back to it’s ruined state and I got off that balcony pretty quickly.
Truely odd - I didn’t speak his language - it was like some sort of trance.
Ok. Let me start by saying that I have begun an email to TAPS. I have discussed it with my family and they all think it might be fun, if a bit embarrassing (our house is still in rough shape – we are remodeling after my BIL all but destroyed the place). I will update the sdmb as to whether or not they accept our invitation.
As for believing in Bob – nope, there is no need for belief here. I call the phenom a poltergeist because if you leave off the concept of spirits or whatnot – it is a textbook definition of what we experience. It is not proof of life after death, even if they do find that they cannot explain away Bob’s activities, it just means that there are strange goings on around me. I think that is the crux of why I don’t really care if it is ever investigated or not. I am a logical (sometimes overly so, if you ask those around me that expect emotions) person, I can explain away many sounds and things that others would say “oh that must be Bob” – and often do. What I will say, however, is that there are things that have gone on around me for as long as I can remember that are the typical non-malevolent description of a poltergeist. It doesn’t bother me, it doesn’t scare me and really, when you have always known a thing to be a certain way, you don’t question it. I don’t really care what causes the events around here, but I do find it funny that other people assume it must mean life after death or something similar.
Like I said, I will let everyone know if I get any response from TAPS and we shall see
James Randi’s so-called “challenge” a scam. Don’t believe it.
Of course , you can back up that verbless assertion with something more substantial than “my post is my cite,” right?
I used to have several links to psychics and paranormal scientists who were denied the challenge because Randi refused to accept their conditions, but they all got deleted. I’ll see if I can find them again.
“Believe” is a verb, isn’t it? 
I don’t believe in supernatural mumbo-jumbo, but I’ll be damned if the ghosts don’t keep showing up anyway! Actually, I don’t believe they’re really dead people. I think that, if anything, they’re manifestations of some weird form of energy we haven’t figured out yet.
In my old dorm, we’d hear footsteps on the stairs and the doors would open and shut on their own. One evening, as I sat with my roommates and talked, a Bible flipped off the shelf and landed in the middle of the room, open.
When I was in Americorps, we lived in Perry Point, MD. My friend Andrea’s house was next to mine, and that thing was CREEP CITY. You always felt like something was watching you. I spent the night one time at her house. She slept in the bottom bunk and I slept in the top bunk – well, at least I tried to. As I lay there trying to go to sleep, suddenly there was this incredible pressure, like being slammed underwater by waves, and this sound like a freight train coming down on you. I remember thinking to myself, if I open my eyes and there’s something there, I’ll die of a heart attack. So I lay there perfectly still until the force or whatever it was went away. Then I called, “Andrea?”
“Yeah?” came the mumbled response.
“Andrea, something scary happened to me. Can I sleep with you?”
“Uh, okay,” she replied. I climbed down to the bottom bunk and snuggled up next to her, my heart pounding. In the morning I told Andrea what happened but she said she didn’t hear or feel anything. However, she told me the first night she spent in the house she heard a sound like a little girl screaming. The sound ran up the stairs, into her room, then back down the stairs and out the front door.
Don’t bother. If your “cites” are from the very people who would naturally hold a grudge against Randi, they’re worthless. One of the rules of the $1,000,000 Challenge is that the terms of the experiments must be acceptable to both parties. If Randi deemed the terms unacceptable in those cases, it wasn’t because he thought they might actually have a chance to win the million honestly, it was likely because they gave the claimants an opportunity to cheat or, at the very least, to bias the results.
On second thought, find your cites. I want to read for myself what their terms were.
I think the word is apparition.
I agree with you – as the saying goes, “It’s people that are haunted, not houses.” On the other hand, does that anomalous energy have its own consciousness, its own awareness? Could that energy anomaly be the imprint of a formerly living human being, perhaps the effect of having his or her brain shut down too quickly to “pass on” in the traditional sense? (I find it very interesting that nearly ALL ghost sightings involve a ghost who was supposedly murdered, or drowned, or some other form of violent death – you rarely hear about the ghost of a 95-year-old man who died peacefully in his sleep!)
I don’t encounter ghosts very often (at least not “traditional” ghosts – my spiritual allies are more akin to daemons than ghosts) but my brother hears them all the time. He’s reported that many nights he would hear the footsteps of ghosts running up and down the stairs at our father’s house, when nobody else is home. Granted, he’s admitted to me that he might just be hearing things, like the house settling or even some living creature – but the one he can’t explain is when the stapler on his desk started spinning around in circles, and suddenly flew at his face!! (I told him that would have made a great YouTube video…)
I couldn’t find the one I wanted, but here’s one from Jeff Rense’s newsletter (which I can already “predict” your reaction to):
I know the litany by heart…yes, the “psychics” who appear on Randi’s show have already agreed to the experiment’s terms, so they must have absolute faith in their abilities and how this “woo” stuff works in the first place. :rolleyes: (Why must we go over this every single time?) Fact is, Randi only picks the amateur psychics, the people who haven’t had any real training, are overconfident, and are temporarily blinded by the promise of a $1 million payout. Sure, Randi has publicly solicited the big fish – Browne, Geller, et al. – but they have all turned him down, for good reasons. Many psychic friends of mine have also applied for Randi’s million, but did not accept the contract because, in their words, “What he required would have prevented my ability from working.”
I’ll see if I can get one of them to post here.
Been there, done that. I’ve demonstrated that Randi is a fool and liar. His followers know this already, but think that it’s acceptable to lie when attacking paranormal claims.