#532: If You Have Ghosts…

GETTING MORE TALE #532: If You Have Ghosts…

Many rock stars claim to have seen ghosts, or had supernatural experiences.  Geezer Butler from Black Sabbath and Mick Mars from Motley Crue are notable examples.  A black shape that Butler saw scared him “shitless”.  Ke$ha even claims she has had sex with a ghost, though that seems a little outlandish.  Robby Krieger and Ray Manzarek of the Doors think they may have been contacted by the spirit of Jim Morrison.  Sting thinks there is one in his house.  Ace Frehley claims a ghost threw a book at him, though substance abuse may have been a factor.

Tales of spirits and hauntings go back thousands of years.  As old as civilization itself are tales of the supernatural.  Yet over all this time, nobody has ever captured any tangible evidence that would satisfy science that ghosts exist.  This certainly does not mean ghosts do not exist.  Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.  We are still learning much about the universe.  Skeptics have good reasons to be skeptical, while others have decided to go ghost hunting for themselves.  Ritchie Blackmore was well known for performing seances in his Deep Purple days and over the decades.  He stated that he has contacted many spirits, and “ghosts are very real, but not in the physical sense.”

blackmore seance

Artist’s probably very accurate impression of an actual Blackmore seance

The only experience that I simply cannot explain I have had happened when I was in grade 9 or 10.  I was sleeping, it was the middle of the night.  I was awaken by a shocked feeling that someone has just hit me hard in the face with an object like a pillow.  Like if you wanted to prank your brother or sister awake and smacked them in the face with a pillow as hard you can in the middle of the night.  I woke up with a start and there was nobody in the room, nor any object that would have hit me in the face.  My pillow was under my head the whole time.  Was it a ghost?  All I know is that I can’t explain it.

This reminds me of an experience Mick Mars wrote of in Motley Crue’s The Dirt.  Something (a ghost or an alien) seemed to shake his bed regularly.  He could physically feel it, just like I could feel the pillow smacking me in the face.

One night 10 years ago, I have the opportunity to try a little ghost hunting myself.  I wrote an email about it to a friend, so here are the fresh details from that night:

12-09-07_1628

We were in Mississauga at a party.  These two guys lived in the house and somehow the conversation got to weird stuff they’d seen.  Including:
 
  • A man standing at the top of the staircase, looking down into the basement.
  • A child wandering around the house.
  • A pale woman at the front door.
 
All these figures were solid, not transparent, seen by more than one person, and more than once.
 
They also:
Heard yelling, the sounds of people falling down stairs, and someone banging on the dryer in the basement even when the house was otherwise empty.
 
And they saw:
  • Coins on the floor where there were none before.
  • The dryer was known to move a few feet even when unplugged, blocking a doorway in the basement.
 So we turned off all the lights and went down to the basement to shoot some video on my cameraphone.  We shot ten minutes of video.  In the first minute, Alex dropped the camera because he was startled by seeing a face in front of him.  The face was not on camera but we ran our asses off out of there.  In the last minute, upon replay, we got a very strange light on camera.  I can’t explain it as the room was pitch, pitch dark.  Yet you can see a tiny pinpoint of light on camera, bright and distinct.  And that creeped me the fuck out!
 
I still have it on video and can’t explain it.
 
I can explain it now.  I reviewed that video many times.  It was disappointing to reason out that there was still one obvious light source in that pitch black room.  The screen of the camera phone itself had a slightly blue colour.  Same colour as that pinpoint of light.  It was just the reflection of the screen on the glass window of the dryer.  A mundane but simple explanation.  I’m sure most are.
 
*All due respect and inspirational credit to 1537 for regularly using Lego in his artwork.  I am but a mere ghost of your talent, sir.

 

31 comments

        1. And knowing Ritchie, there is a 50% chance he was perfectly serious and a 50% chance he was having a laugh!

          I started adding a clock to the photo, but then I decided I couldn’t be arsed to keep editing an article that is already posted!

          Liked by 2 people

        7. Well I also did not know that. Wow that is dedication to a prank on the scale of Dumb and Dumber Too! (Lloyd goes to an insane asylum for 20 years just to prank Harry. A 20 year long prank.)

          Liked by 1 person

  3. I’m a complete sceptic about anything supernatural at all. I don’t dismiss anything that has happened to others but i think there’s usually an explanation involving the brain, heightened expectations, pixies etc.

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    1. Usually pixies.

      I used to be a skeptic but I’m convinced my sister has perception that I don’t have. I ran a series of tests without her knowing — sneaking up behind her while she had headphones on etc — she always knew when I was watching and when I wasn’t. And she says our grandfather has appeared to her a few times. SO I was a skeptic but I can’t be anymore.

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  5. Zoiks! Ghosts! Things that go bump in the night! I’ve only ever had supernatural experiences when I was younger and kinda looking for them. Both in derelict buildings – one being an old school where the dead janitor would walk the grounds and halls with his devil dog. I was convinced that I heard him and saw his dogs eyes. Could very well have been security. I can say with a fair degree of certainty that was the case.

    The second was some odd stuff at home. Lampshade turned white I was in the room. Noticed some things had moved despite me being the only person there. That kinda stuff. I still can’t explain that.

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        1. I’m very much a student of the sciences, but even someone like Arthur C. Clarke has written articles about ghosts. Fascinating stuff no matter how you slice it. Because whatever the phenomenon really is, it has impacted humans through all recorded history! Powerful.

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        4. I don’t think that you could ever be 100% certain. At the back of your mind you’d be searching for a rational explanation and you would find one.

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  6. Reminds me of that joke…

    A visiting professor at Florida State University is giving a seminar on the supernatural. To get a feel for his audience, he asks: “How many people here believe in ghosts?” About 90 students raise their hands.

    “Well that’s a good start. Out of those of you who believe in ghosts, do any of you think you’ve ever seen a ghost?” About 40 students raise their hands.

    “That’s really good. I’m really glad you take this seriously. Has anyone here ever talked to a ghost? 15 students raise their hands.

    “That’s a great response. Has anyone here ever touched a ghost?” Three students raise their hands. “That’s fantastic. But let me ask you one question further…..Have any of you ever made love to a ghost?” One student in the back raises his hand. The professor is astonished. He takes off his glasses, takes a step back, and says, “Son, all the years I’ve been giving this lecture, no one has ever claimed to have slept with a ghost. You’ve got to come up here and tell us about your experience.”

    The redneck student replies with a nod and a grin, and begins to make his way up to the podium.

    The professor says, “Well, tell us what it’s like to have sex with a ghost.” The student replies, “Ghost? Damn….. From back there I thought you said ‘goats’!”

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