#TOTW Ghosts – do they exist?

@beej – no, the one I saw was a man, much less produced, more grainy with interference and no images in the background. Maybe though it was from the same series, seems the most logical explanation.

Edit: very disappointing to finally have a logical explanation. An implausible possibility would be better.

myself feel I am more attuned to it, dont know why,maybe something to do with my autism, and I have certainly heard elsewhere that many autistic people feel they have a 6th sense.

Part of my staff training at an independent school for primarily (not all) PMLD included a residential course* of lectures on ‘The 12 Senses’

One of which was the sense of balance. Somehow my more conventional biology teacher missed that one out. Maybe they just thought that 5 seemed like a good number?

*while I do not wholly endorse the Waldorf salad, it certainly made me think outside of conventional bounds.

video message cut in, with a futuristic talking head t

Maybe it was an episode of Max Headroom?

One of which was the sense of balance. Somehow my more conventional biology teacher missed that one out. Maybe they just thought that 5 seemed like a good number?

It’s down to the classification we have the 5 basic senses, I can’t recall the proper name, then we have others such as you say balance. Balance however is part of the ear but not involved in hearing.

It’s down to the classification we have the 5 basic senses, I can’t recall the proper name

Is it called “what we believed fifty years ago” perhaps? See also, sweet / salt / bitter / sour.

Well yes and no, as I say it’s the 5 main or basic senses, there is a classification but I can’t recall them.

We have 5 senses, but I would agree with other that we have a sixth sense also. One where we fear something is about to happen. I myself feel I am more attuned to it, dont know why,maybe something to do with my autism, and I have certainly heard elsewhere that many autistic people feel they have a 6th sense.

Yes, the 5 senses are: Sights (eyes), noise (ears), smell (nose), taste (mouth (think speech as well not sure)) and feel (touch). The 6th sense can be any one of the enhance senses or all of them, some also called them the “3rd” eye where they can see and communicate with other dimensions. Unless you mind is guarded you are also very prone to their influence i.e. you can sense/see them and they know it. Then they want to make friend with you or whatever. Remember they are bored so need some stimuli like us.

The majority of England & Wales should be swarming with ghosts if chewkw’s criteria for what causes a haunting was right.

Actually that is true. Nephew rented a flat in London and saw the “inn keeper” carried keys at night and enter his room. A very tall bloke apparent. LOL! As I said before they are more civilised or they cannot be arsed to make their present known to you. However, I was also told they are not to be messed around as they are fierce.

My comment about chewkw earlier was bang out of order, agreed. Sorry.

You know I have skin as thick as elephant? Yes? No worries you are fine so just be yourself. I was just very busy today so couldn’t response until now. As far as I know most on STW are just nice people albeit can go a bit weird where politics are concerned. LOL! By the way I don’t get offended on STW at all. Really I don’t. Not sure if that is due language or thick skin perhaps both. LOL! I am really thinking hard to think of a time where I was offended in life based on speech but can’t think of any at all.

Seeing dead people is a gift, although I consider it a curse.

Can be both because once your portal or 3rd eye is opened, it is opened unless you know how to shut it again. As I said they are harmless but you definitely do not want to see something standing watching you asleep. LOL! (once I had the feeling “something” was standing watching me sleep and I told them I was in no mood to fear as I was very tired, so tired fear does not exist)

We all developed a sixth sense – but there was nothing magic about it, it was just experience and being hyper observant.

Good to hear that you trust your 6th sense that’s because you shut out all the noises around you (concentration like meditation) and that clarity has guided you.

Not quite what I meant – I was talking about physical dimensions in the mathematical sense.

The only two physical dimensions are human and animals. In them are all things 5 senses can associate with.

We all stop talking and look from the door to each other, waiting to see who comes in (there are another 5 or so friends asleep upstairs), and we see a shadow pass the door.

The shadow is just making his/her present known. However, if you keep seeing dark shadows in your house than that is no a good sign. You know like at the corner of your eyes sometimes but this time it is much obvious and often.

p/s: guard your 5 senses coz they are where all the problems in life derive from.

Sorry, but this “only have 5 senses” thing isn’t true.

I can sense heat.
I have a sense of balance.
I can sense internal pain.
I can sense acceleration.

The total number is a little debatable, but it’s much more than 5.

(/back to the ghosts please!)

proprioception too

Not quite what I meant – I was talking about physical dimensions in the mathematical sense.

The only two physical dimensions are human and animals. In them are all things 5 senses can associate with.

This is just semantics. Physics defines three physical dimensions (up/down, left/right, forwards/backwards), you’re defining two physical dimensions that are human and animals. There is no overlap here. The word ‘dimensions’ is being used for two different concepts and its meaningless to use one to argue against the other.

video message cut in, with a futuristic talking head t

Maybe it was an episode of Max Headroom?

Was my first thought as well.

This happened last week – I have an interest in the supernatural, am ambivalent about ghostly goings on and an atheist – if all of those are compatible. I’m also healthily skeptical about most ghostly encounters.

This could have any number of explanations and I’m not claiming it to be supernatural but could easily be seen that way by a believer, or not by a skeptic.

My Dad was very very religious, happy clappy, born again type Christian, believed in visions, holy spirit channeling, Gods great plan, Heaven and Hell etc etc – he didn’t believe in coincidences and prayed a lot.

My Dad had been ill for sometime and contracted Covid whilst in hospital, this became Bacterial Pneumonia which rapidly overcame his already suppressed immune system. I had a call on Tuesday morning that I needed to get to the Hospital ASAP. I’m in the Channel Islands and my Dad was in Cyprus.

Soonest flight I could get to Cyprus was early Wednesday morning, so I got to Gatwick and overnighted in the Premier Inn North Terminal. I set my alarm for 4.15am on my Phone and then on the TV in the room for the same time. Checked the time was correct on the TV.

I was having a bit of trouble getting to sleep, there was a lot of noise coming from the room above, i was anxious about my Dad being seriously ill and my mind was playing through the scenarios and I was dreading missing the flight.

I must have dropped off around 12.30 listening to music on my phone. At 1.10 (i checked the time on my phone) the TV in the room came on, bright white screen, no noise and no picture but bright enough to wake me up. I turned it off with the remote which was on the bedside shelf and tried to get back to sleep. About 15 minutes (i didn’t check the time) later the TV turned on again, same as beforE, bright white, no noise, no picture. I was a bit frustrated by this point, having struggled to get to sleep in the first place and knowing I had an early start and swore at the TV – i think i said something like “oh f-off” or “FFS” and turned it off with remote, which was still on the shelf.

When my phone alarm went off at 4.15 i checked WhatsApp and saw a message from my Dad’s wife letting me know he’d passed away. The message was sent at 1.12am

There could be number of logical reasons the TV turned on. Previous room occupant had set the alarm, electrical interference, someone with a remote in an adjoining room, network blip, false awakening (although very vivid) or there could have been something supernatural going on, something/somebody trying to alert me to the WhatsApp message, but the first “Alarm” was before the message and the second was 15 or so minutes later. I also did’t hear the phone ping, it wasn’t on silent but the headphones were plugged in.

I’m not claiming either Skeptic/Believer POV on this one, you can draw your own conclusions and I’d be interested to hear any theories.

Sorry, but this “only have 5 senses” thing isn’t true.

Of course it’s not which why I haven’t seen anyone say it is.

I’m not claiming either Skeptic/Believer POV on this one, you can draw your own conclusions and I’d be interested to hear any theories.

TV being triggered by another remote, TV being triggered by input source HDMI enabling power on as for the time. Pure coincidence I mean it switched on more than once, you just associated the 2.

We have 5 senses

Yeah, as has been said, we’ve way more than 5 senses!
Oh and none of those are hte ability to see ghosts 😉

DrP

I don’t think it’s controversial to say that humans can sense things we aren’t consciously aware of. The sticking point is whether any of those things are dead people (or evil spirits).

I’m going with no. To me it only adds to the possible rational explanations, and there’s plenty of examples of things like low frequency vibrations causing feelings of dread. There are certainly things we don’t understand or can’t immediately explain but I don’t see why “ghosts” would be the answer.

FWIW I spent a few years of my childhood thinking a ghost had tried to push me over. It was a muscle spasm in my back that physically jerked my shoulders, but being quite young the first time I wasn’t able to recognise that’s what it was.

FWIW I spent a few years of my childhood thinking a ghost had tried to push me over. It was a muscle spasm in my back that physically jerked my shoulders, but being quite young the first time I wasn’t able to recognise that’s what it was.

Ohhh, that reminds me of a similar thing I had as a kid – I was laid on my front trying to sleep and I felt hands on my shoulders so I jumped out of bed but there was no-one there. My mum said at the time it was just that – a muscle spasm – but it really felt like hands and fingers touching me (no jokes about dodgy uncles needed).

Like someone sitting on your bed? Not your dodgy Uncle Jimmy.

it really felt like hands and fingers touching me

Nothing to do with ghosts either but I think I know what you’re describing.

I can’t remember the circumstances that led to this now, but back in high school the CDT teacher had me take a thermostat on the wall to bits. I took the cover off, then suddenly felt exactly what you describe. I was 100% convinced that one of the other kids was mucking about and had grabbed my upper arms.

With the benefit of hindsight, I’d obviously just been electrocuted from the live mains feed. With the same hindsight, it was a bloody stupid thing for a supposed technology teacher to have a schoolkid do. But it genuinely felt like hands on my arms, I’d have sworn blind that’s what happened that day if I didn’t know any better. Hey, maybe a ghost saved my life.

I’d obviously just been electrocuted from the live mains feed.

Are you suggesting my mum had rigged my bed to the mains? 😂

TV being triggered by another remote, TV being triggered by input source HDMI enabling power on as for the time. Pure coincidence I mean it switched on more than once, you just associated the 2.

As much as I applaud the scepticism, this, like your earlier minty toothpaste breath explanation, doesn’t convince me. I can’t remember the last time my TV came on mysteriously in the middle of the night. I can’t actually remember this ever happening. I also can’t remember it happening in any hotel, despite having stayed in dozens of them over the last few years. It doesn’t mean that it doesn’t happen, just that it’s not even vaguely commonplace – the very odd coincidence is that it happened at the same time as the person sadly died. The question would be, why manifest in something as banal as a TV?

I’d a sudden thought about an old sailing mate about 4 months ago. Maybe 6. Not someone ive seen for 20 years, and the thought about him was not preceded by anything i was watching. I was playing an online game and had a sudden thought about Kevin.

When I knew Kev, it was in the mid 90’s and at that time he was 50. Kind of came together one day when visiting the weed dealer, and i noticed an old model sailing boat in one of the rooms and asked the dealer about it. Said it belonged to his landlord who use to sail, previous submariner and etc etc.

At that point we were looking for full time crew for a racing yacht my mate owned and i had the dealer, whose name i now forget to say to Kev if he was interested in racing with us.

Got the message back he was super( 😉 ) keen and met him a week or so after that were he supplied a note on his experience. We were racing amateurs and this guys history included the Whitbread round the world yacht race, RN sailing team, full time RN submariner, multiple boats/races out of Cowes and Portsmouth. Quite a coup to get such an experiences sailor.

Anyway, knew him a fair number of years till he bored with life in Glasgow buggered off to live his dream of working/sailing in the Caribbean and I hadn’t heard of him since. This was a sudden move – one week he was available for tea, the next week he had gone.

After this sudden thought about him i felt compelled to track him down and started an online search and eventually found he had been living and working in Grenada as a captain in a big Schooner.

The yacht was called Raindancer

The Loss of the Schooner Raindancer

After reading about it, and made a couple of contacts on facebook, i discovered he’d moved back to Blighty to the family home. but couldnt contact him, and all lines of inquiry ended in disappointment.

I wondered if this sudden thought about him was possibly due to him dying. We knew each other 25+ years back so he would be at least 75, and although a highly motivated, fit and healthy guy, age does eventually catch up to men and popping yer clogs at that age isnt unusual. Plus the loss of Raindancer, though it didnt say who was in charge of the yacht on that night she went aground on the reef, but if it was him, or even not, the loss of his vocation and life might have provided a downturn in his mood and wellbeing. That is something i could understand.

I think as you decline, the greater chances of you passing is more likely, especially if its a mental decline, and no matter how motivated you are, such a loss of direction could well have led to the end of him.

So im going on hjs age, possible loss of the thing he loved most mean he’s passed away, and maybe this unknown force if you want to call it that was the reason I felt suddenly aware of him again. Not a peep for over 20 years, nothing to proceed it, just a sudden though.

In the link, Kev’s the one in the pink baseball cap fourth pic down.. He was a creature of habit and the pink baseball cap was something you always knew him for. So although I cant see for sure, I’m pretty convinced that is him.

.

Very odd.

Are you suggesting my mum had rigged my bed to the mains?

Well… (-:

Point was, I expect it was a similar sort of muscle spasm.

The question would be, why manifest in something as banal as a TV?

Quite.

And why would the tv only have a bright white screen, no sound and no pic? It might well have been how the alarm function worked on that particular TV, but when it came on again at the time I’d set the alarm for it went straight to BBC1 with sound. I was already awake as my phone alarm had just gone off. Just to reiterate. I’m skeptical it was anything other than coincidence and some sort of electrical inteference, but I just don’t know what/how and my brain is filing in the unknown.

I can’t remember the last time my TV came on mysteriously in the middle of the night.

Sitting on my DVD remote or PlayStation controller can switch mine on, as does the other remote having something rested on it then gets knocked. Certainly I wouldn’t think it a departed relative switching it on.

the very odd coincidence is that it happened at the same time as the person sadly died.

This probably deserves a little more unpicking.

The thing with coincidences is that we have to view them in the context of all the rest of the time in our life when coincidental things don’t happen. The fact that they’re such a rare occurrence makes them stand out in our mind. When coincidences don’t happen it’s business as usual, we don’t notice their absence.

We all have these stories. Most recently, last weekend a friend and I were in a pub which we’d misjudged as it was karaoke night. We supped up and left, went somewhere else. In the next pub, the same song was playing on the jukebox. It makes you double-take, “uh, that’s strange!” But if you think about it, how many times have we gone from pub to pub and this hasn’t happened?

I once randomly bumped into one of my best friends in a service station somewhere down South. Just the other day (one for the “Alexa / Google / Siri / Facebook is spying on you” brigade) I got an advert for something I’d been thinking about just a few minutes previous. It’s weird as **** and can be unnerving when it happens, but ultimately it’s just a numbers game. Winning the lottery is vanishingly unlikely, but people do and sometimes more than once.

We supped up and left, went somewhere else. In the next pub, the same song was playing on the jukebox.

Was it Wonderwall or Sweet Caroline?