Does anyone believe in ghosts?

[Flamma]

I understand this can be a very sensitive topic. Many don't believe in the supernatural, especially something they can't explain like ghosts, moving objects, visions or unexplained forces. To some like me who have experienced such experiences with the supernatural, I wanted to not only share but see who else has had such experiences?

Yes. I had to deal with some pain in the arse over the summer of 1984, ending on November 2nd at around 3AM. So yes, I believe there is that which we do not understand.

 

[RJ_MacReady]

There was some kind of Poltergeist in my parent's home in mid-late 90's. I witnessed it when I was home on leave from overseas. Maybe if I have time later, I'll type something up.

 

[CouchCoach]

There was some kind of Poltergeist in my parent's home in mid-late 90's. I witnessed it when I was home on leave from overseas. Maybe if I have time later, I'll type something up.

Unless it comes for you!!!!!!!!!!! You should not have warned it you were going to write about it.

 

[CouchCoach]

I get a kick of the "down to earth" crowd trying to explain the unexplainable and just mysteries in general. Everything has to make sense in their world.

I have encountered enough in my lifetime to allow for anything. Some cannot allow that into their lives, it is too upsetting to their equilibrium. A place for everything and everything in it's place and there's no place for the unexplained.

I am so noncommitted that I allow for the randomness of life and everything happens for a reason to co-exist and most have to go for either/or. In my world, two opposing thoughts can co-exist at the same time.

 

[Runwildboys]

I get a kick of the "down to earth" crowd trying to explain the unexplainable and just mysteries in general. Everything has to make sense in their world.

I have encountered enough in my lifetime to allow for anything. Some cannot allow that into their lives, it is too upsetting to their equilibrium. A place for everything and everything in it's place and there's no place for the unexplained.

I am so noncommitted that I allow for the randomness of life and everything happens for a reason to co-exist and most have to go for either/or. In my world, two opposing thoughts can co-exist at the same time.

To be honest, if I'd never experienced anything myself, I'd be one of those people who insisted that there's a scientific explanation for it, and I still don't discount the possibility that there is, but I'm fairly confident we don't have the scientific ability to understand a lot of what happens. Maybe someday future generations will look back and laugh at how superstitious we were...if the spooks don't get 'em first.

 

[Fredbeard]

I've never had any paranormal experiences but , I've always had a interest in the supernatural / paranormal. I'm glad to see others mentioned paranormal caught on camera. I try to w a tech it whenever it's on, along with their the woods and the Alaskan triangle

 

[RJ_MacReady]

Warning: If you want cliffs, they'll be at the bottom.

This "experience" could probably be summed up in one paragraph, but I need to retell it and the detailed circumstances surrounding it. This is the first time I've ever written this out so it's going to take me some effort. It has to be this way. Skip reading this if you don't have 10 minutes to spare.

BACKGROUND
I grew up in Haltom City, TX. Our family home was built sometime in the late 60's by my Dad's cousin (builder) and sold to my Dad, so no one died in the home or anything. It housed my Mom, Dad, older Brother, 2 older sisters and myself. We never had anything weird happen in that home from the '70s, '80s and '90s. I know that I previously said that this even took place in the late-90's but it was actually 2001 when it occured. No one in my family was/is "spiritual". No abuse. We're not really religious (Methodists...like 2x a year!). Just no underlying issues, TBH. So, we're the basic of basic American Families.

Anyway, just to toss out a timeline of how us kids left that nest and what was brought into the home and maybe how it played a role in "IT" being there for a short stint:

- 1991, my oldest Brother joined the USAF and left for Washington State. He would visit once a year but nothing unusual.
- 1992, oldest Sister (Sister 1) moved out and lived in an appartment.
- 1993, next oldest sister (Sister 2) had a child and remained at the home while going to college.
- 1995, aforementioned Sister 2 moved out with child (nephew), leaving me alone in the house with parents.
- 1997, I left home for the USAF and went to Germany and then South Korea.
- 1998-1999 NO KIDS WERE IN THE HOME!
- 1999-2000, Sister 2 and nephew moved back into the home for a year. They stayed in the largest bedroom in the home (2-car garage converted to a bedroom back in the '70s). They left before 2001.

And just to slip this in the timeline, what came into the house:
- 1986, our Grandpa passed away (damn Texas heat took him when he was moving furniture in mid-August). Anyway, we inherited a lot of different things (guns, truck, boat, tools..the good stuff!) but two things stood out. An old china hutch and a very old floor lamp that resembled something like this:

The electric cord was a very old style. The plug was something you don't see anymore/ever saw before and the cord was insulated in like wax paper or something. Total fire hazard and should have been refurbished, but I digress...
Once again, nothing funny ever happened in that home...that I was aware of.

Anyway, in 2001, after a year in South Korea, I get orders to Charleston, South Carolina. So when I came back to the States, I had to stop at home in Texas for two reasons: Visit family and to pick up the keys to my truck that was rotting away in New Jersey. The 1979 Chevy Silverado Big-10, was passed down from Grandpa, to Dad, to Older Brother, to me and back to older brother when I was in Korea. It was just sitting there in McGuire AFB, NJ with my brother (who drove it sparingly), so I needed to fly up there, tune it up and drive it down to South Carolina. Easy-Peasy.

But while I was at the parents house, I got the Flu or something. For the week I had planned to be there and do cool stuff, it was all ruined. Basically, I just lived on the fold-out couch in the living room, only going out a few times to grab some of that majestic Whataburger! So, week was ruined, didn't see any friends..oh well. When I receieved the truck keys from my Dad, I put them on a *very special key chain and put them in the very top of my rucksack that laid next to the fold out bed. There was no reason for me to have them out or anying like that...since the truck was in Jersey and I purposely put them in that backpack immediately because that was my transportation down to Charleston...CAN'T SCREW THIS UP!

The Story Begins
On the morning before I was to fly out to New Jersey and pick up my truck for my drive down to South Carolina, I started to ready all of my stuff; washing clothes, checking my rucksack to ensure I had my orders, airline ticket, etc. Whelp...my keychain was missing from the very specific pocket I put them in. Ok...no panic, maybe I took them out for some reason. After about an hour, I couldn't find them. I even went outside to my parent's vehicles just in case they were there, nothing. Well, I let my parents know about this and they, too, started searching. We especially targeted the dining room area, to include the dining room table that was next to the china hutch and antique floor lamp. My parents liked to put magazines/newspaper/mail on it as it was in the main thoroughfare of the house. So we each took turns looking on, under and around that table and chairs. Nothing.

Then, my two older sisters came over that afternoon to say goodbye. After learning about themissing keychain that, too, joined in on the hunt because they knew it was ciritical for me. Everything was searched and searched again.
"Did you leave it in your jeans?" "No"
"We're you out in the back yard?" "No"
"Did you go to the Sheds?" "No".
"Did you go to someone's house?" "NO! I was here sick all week!".
"Oh...you went to Whataburger...you probably dropped it there." "What!? I was in the drive-thru and checked Dad's truck!"

So after about 2-3 hours of my Sisters joining in, we all started to call it quits. My Dad called my Brother and told him to start looking for a locksmith up in Jersey to get a set of keys made for the truck. What ticked me off was that I made they keychain out of paracord at my first duty station and was very proud of it. Oh well. Grow up, kid, life aint fair!

Then around 7-8pm, after we had ate dinner in the kitchen and my Sisters were getting ready to leave, BAM...I saw the keychain on the dining room table. In. Plain. Friggen. Site.
"Hey! Who found the keychain!?"
They all looked confused until I showed them the keychain and where it was laying.
No one came forward to say they found them.
My mom whispered something to my Dad, in which my Dad replied back (I'll never forget it!) "Oh, Kathye..come on!"
Mom, with a searious look on her face, "No, I'm serious. Do you really think it was the cat that kept doing that after [nephew] left?"
Sister 1 started to laugh, "Oh, is this about that poltergeist thing! lol"
Mom: "Don't laugh about it" "Your Dad thinks that Chubbs (our fat, mostly outside cat, RIP) was unplugging the floor lamp and strewing it across the floor every once in awhile.
Meanwhile, Sister 2 didn't say a word and that conversation just stopped. Sister 1 said goodbye and left. Mom and Dad went to another part of the house.

The Revelation..

On Sister 2's way out the front door, I said something to the effect of "Man, Mom's starting to get Schizo!". My sister then stopped me and said we need to go outside, and so we did. She went on to explain her version of what happened in the house for the one year she and my Nepher moved back in and beyond. She said that the cord of the floor lamp would be unplugged and strewn across the floor at least once a week. It was initially chalked-up to the nephew doing it for attention, but it kept happening when he was no longer in the home. Ultimately, all three of them (Mom, Dad, Sister) just basically said "hmm Weird..but whatever". To myself, I really didn't think it was spooky, just more "okaay".

Well, according to her, one day my mom and sister got into an argument in the largest bedroom about how she was raising the nephew (typical banter from Mom to Daughter) and all of sudden, one of those old 13", black and White TV sets turned on with a very loud volume. You know the noise when you are on a channel that's out of recption? That "Scuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu" or whatever White noise? Anyway, it was an old type TV that had a push-pull dial to turn on and off, no remote. My sister said. I'm paraphrasing it:
"That sucker made the noise like the dial was just pulled out and then it turned on and was like Scuuuuuuuuuuuuuu." "Then Mom and I just shut up, kinda barely looked at the TV from the corner of our eyes, looked at each other and then hurried out of the room....closing the door behind us. We then stood outside the door, just listening to the noise. It never went off. After a few minutes we just walked away and waited for Dad to come home. Dad came home, we told him about it but after he laughed and went to the room, the TV was off.

Apparently, it went from a very subtle showings of the weekly strewing of a floor lamp cord to that of an old black and white TV coming on to full blast. In her words, that was an escalation that went from "hey, do you guys see what I did?" to "I'm not asking anymore." My sister then moved herself and nephew to another room of the house and they never went back that room. That door remained closed. Dad, the ever vigiliant HVAC warrior always griped about the door being closed due to ventilation, but my Sis and Mom kept reshutting the door. My Sister said that the TV came on a couple of more times by itself, even though it was behind a closed door. According to my sister, my Mom believed it was some kind of Child spirit that attached itself to our nephew when he came back into the home in 1999-2000. Everything started at that time. And afterwards, when my Sister and nephew left, everything stopped**. She and the nephew moved out not long after. About a year later, no "kids" were in the house, until I came to visit.

**My thought at that moment, when she told me that, was "So I show back up in my early 20's and it wants to play some more with me...right now?" It didn't really make any sense to me. I never saw, heard anything before tis moment in 2001. At this point, maybe my favorite Sis is also going Schizo? Lol...maybe she and/or my Mom had a role in hiding my keys after all....

...and then it came for me

So I see my sister off and its time for me to start wrapping up this emotional day and getting all of my stuff ready for the morning flight out of DFW. My parents say "good night", the lights in the house get turned down to wind down the day and after a shower and laying my clothes out, I'm feeling decently positive for once considering what transpired over the past week in a very important chapter in my young, hot life [/Eric Cartman voice]. Regardlessm I notice that I'm no longer feeling whatever flu-type crap that I had the past 5-6 days and decide to pop open a bottle of Texas' best (Shiner) and cruise the internet for the first time in over a year (internet in South Korea was non-existent back then). So for a few hours, I'm sitting there in the living room (front of the house), at a computer desk, playing a video game and watching 240p pron on my parents powerful Dell desktop when I hear a definite thud just outside of the living. Mind you, the parents are each probably in a coma at the opposite of the house, so rule them straight out. It was just a noise, but it gave me some pause because it was definitely sound of something hitting a carpeted area outside of the living room about 15' away. You know when you're sitting in near silence, in low light, basically, all of the stimuli to your senses are repressed and now your senses are so sensitive? Yeah...I head that shiet. So I #1. heard it, #2. recognized it, but didn't #3. investigate it for a second.......but no doubt #1 and 2 we're very real and logged into the database.

"Okay. Let's just file that into the chapter of Hmmmm and go about our business." I return back to my game of escorting B-17 bombers over the air space of Germany in one of the greatest aerial combat games ever made: European Air War

Fast forward about an hour, after couple of more beers and some really good aerial combat, my ears started to alert me to something. In between battles/noises, my ears picked up some kind of rythym in noise coming from somwhere other than the crappy desktop speakers. It started to slowly draw my attention enough that I had to pause the game and then listen with intent. It was faint, but after about 30 long, LONG seconds....it registered as an "aah-aah-aah-aah-aah-aah" noise. It started to sound like a noise I hadn't heard in quite awhile (I was in Germany and Korea for 3+ years). It was the sound of a phone that was left off the hook/busy number. This was 2001, before smartphones but certainly not before the widespread usage of cell phones (flip phones) so it wasn't a rare sound, but weird for me to hear.

Anyway, I decided that I was now compelled to investigate what I thought I heard and to make that noise stop. There wasn't much thought, time or distance between leaving that desk top and walking just past the threshhold of the living room to find this old rotary wall phone (example):

With the handheld phono piece laying on the carpet floor. This is in a hallway that it rarely used by anyone anymore, to include guest, in that house. Well, there was that sucker sitting on the floor making its noise in the dark. Without hesitation, I picked it up, put it back on the HOOK that does its job of keeping that handpiece where it should be unless tackled by an '80s linebacker or 2001 poltergeist!.

Then I proceeded to head back to the computer, shut it down promptly, go back the fold out bed and hard sleep.

I never spoke to my mom/sisters again about it but am very curious to do so now that I've typed all of this out.

And to add, this is the keychain in question:
After 24 years, I've never lost or misplaced it. 7 deployments, 3 assignments/6 years in Europe/Asia, 3 locations in the US. Never once have I lost it. Maybe everything lined up just perfectly in the universe for about a 8-10 hour span of time to not only leave my security, but to not be seen by myself or family before reappearing in an obvious location. Add in the rotary phone drama. This have always stuck in my mind when people talke about paranormal stuff. I've never seen anything before or since that "episode", but I darn sure remember it.


Cliffs. Lost keys to supposed Poltergeist. Found them. Found out background story of said poltergeist. Heard weird noise later. Found it out to be an old rotary wall phone that came off the hook. I didn't die. Move along.

 

[Crazed Liotta Eyes]

I've never had any paranormal experiences but , I've always had a interest in the supernatural / paranormal. I'm glad to see others mentioned paranormal caught on camera. I try to w a tech it whenever it's on, along with their the woods and the Alaskan triangle

Warning: If you want cliffs, they'll be at the bottom.

This "experience" could probably be summed up in one paragraph, but I need to retell it and the detailed circumstances surrounding it. This is the first time I've ever written this out so it's going to take me some effort. It has to be this way. Skip reading this if you don't have 10 minutes to spare.

BACKGROUND
I grew up in Haltom City, TX. Our family home was built sometime in the late 60's by my Dad's cousin (builder) and sold to my Dad, so no one died in the home or anything. It housed my Mom, Dad, older Brother, 2 older sisters and myself. We never had anything weird happen in that home from the '70s, '80s and '90s. I know that I previously said that this even took place in the late-90's but it was actually 2001 when it occured. No one in my family was/is "spiritual". No abuse. We're not really religious (Methodists...like 2x a year!). Just no underlying issues, TBH. So, we're the basic of basic American Families.

Anyway, just to toss out a timeline of how us kids left that nest and what was brought into the home and maybe how it played a role in "IT" being there for a short stint:

- 1991, my oldest Brother joined the USAF and left for Washington State. He would visit once a year but nothing unusual.
- 1992, oldest Sister (Sister 1) moved out and lived in an appartment.
- 1993, next oldest sister (Sister 2) had a child and remained at the home while going to college.
- 1995, aforementioned Sister 2 moved out with child (nephew), leaving me alone in the house with parents.
- 1997, I left home for the USAF and went to Germany and then South Korea.
- 1998-1999 NO KIDS WERE IN THE HOME!
- 1999-2000, Sister 2 and nephew moved back into the home for a year. They stayed in the largest bedroom in the home (2-car garage converted to a bedroom back in the '70s). They left before 2001.

And just to slip this in the timeline, what came into the house:
- 1986, our Grandpa passed away (damn Texas heat took him when he was moving furniture in mid-August). Anyway, we inherited a lot of different things (guns, truck, boat, tools..the good stuff!) but two things stood out. An old china hutch and a very old floor lamp that resembled something like this:

The electric cord was a very old style. The plug was something you don't see anymore/ever saw before and the cord was insulated in like wax paper or something. Total fire hazard and should have been refurbished, but I digress...
Once again, nothing funny ever happened in that home...that I was aware of.

Anyway, after a year in South Korea, I get orders to Charleston, South Carolina. So when I came back to the States, I had to stop at home in Texas for two reasons: Visit family and pick up the keys to my truck that was rotting in New Jersey. The 1979 Chevy Silverado Big-10, was passed down from Grandpa, to Dad, to Older Brother, to me and back to older brother when I was in Korea. It was just sitting there in McGuire AFB, NJ with my brother, so I had to fly up there, tune it up and drive it down to South Carolina. Easy-Peasy.

But while I was at the parents house, I got the Flu or something. For the week I had planned to be there and do cool stuff, it was all ruined. Basically, I just lived on the fold-out couch in the living room, only going out a few times to grab some of that majestic Whataburger! So, week was ruined, didn't see any friends..oh well. When I receieved the truck keys from my Dad, I put them on a *very special key chain and put them in the very top of my rucksack that laid next to the fold out bed. There was no reason for me to have them out or anying like that...since the truck was in Jersey and I purposely put them in that backpack immediately because that was my transportation down to Charleston...CAN'T SCREW THIS UP!

The Story Begins
On the morning before I was to fly out to New Jersey and pick up my truck for my drive down to South Carolina, I started to ready all of my stuff; washing clothes, checking my rucksack to ensure I had my orders, airline ticket, etc. Whelp...my keychain was missing from the very specific pocket I put them in. Ok...no panic, maybe I took them out for some reason. After about an hour, I couldn't find them. I even went outside to my parent's vehicles just in case they were there, nothing. Well, I let my parents know about this and they, too, started searching. We especially targeted the dining room area, to include the dining room table that was next to the china hutch and antique floor lamp. My parents liked to put magazines/newspaper/mail on it as it was in the main thoroughfare of the house. So we each took turns looking on, under and around that table and chairs. Nothing.

Then, my two older sisters came over that afternoon to say goodbye. After learning about themissing keychain that, too, joined in on the hunt because they knew it was ciritical for me. Everything was searched and searched again.
"Did you leave it in your jeans?" "No"
"We're you out in the back yard?" "No"
"Did you go to the Sheds?" "No".
"Did you go to someone's house?" "NO! I was here sick all week!".
"Oh...you went to Whataburger...you probably dropped it there." "What!? I was in the drive-thru and checked Dad's truck!"

So after about 2-3 hours of my Sisters joining in, we all started to call it quits. My Dad called my Brother and told him to start looking for a locksmith up in Jersey to get a set of keys made for the truck. What ticked me off was that I made they keychain out of paracord at my first duty station and was very proud of it. Oh well. Grow up, kid, life aint fair!

Then around 7-8pm, after we had ate dinner in the kitchen and my Sisters were getting ready to leave, BAM...I saw the keychain on the dining room table. In. Plain. Friggen. Site.
"Hey! Who found the keychain!?"
They all looked confused until I showed them the keychain and where it was laying.
No one came forward to say they found them.
My mom whispered something to my Dad, in which my Dad replied back (I'll never forget it!) "Oh, Kathye..come on!"
Mom, with a searious look on her face, "No, I'm serious. Do you really think it was the cat that kept doing that after [nephew] left?"
Sister 1 started to laugh, "Oh, is this about that poltergeist thing! lol"
Mom: "Don't laugh about it" "Your Dad thinks that Chubbs (our fat, mostly outside cat, RIP) was unplugging the floor lamp and strewing it across the floor every once in awhile.
Meanwhile, Sister 2 didn't say a word and that conversation just stopped. Sister 1 said goodbye and left. Mom and Dad went to another part of the house.

The Revelation..

On Sister 2's way out the front door, I said something to the effect of "Man, Mom's starting to get Schizo!". My sister then stopped me and said we need to go outside, and so we did. She went on to explain her version of what happened in the house for the one year she and my Nepher moved back in and beyond. She said that the cord of the floor lamp would be unplugged and strewn across the floor at least once a week. It was initially chalked-up to the nephew doing it for attention, but it kept happening when he was no longer in the home. Ultimately, all three of them (Mom, Dad, Sister) just basically said "hmm Weird..but whatever". To myself, I really didn't think it was spooky, just more "okaay".

Well, according to her, one day my mom and sister got into an argument in the largest bedroom about how she was raising the nephew (typical banter from Mom to Daughter) and all of sudden, one of those old 13", black and White TV sets turned on with a very loud volume. You know the noise when you are on a channel that's out of recption? That "Scuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu" or whatever White noise? Anyway, it was an old type TV that had a push-pull dial to turn on and off, no remote. My sister said. I'm paraphrasing it:
"That sucker made the noise like the dial was just pulled out and then it turned on and was like Scuuuuuuuuuuuuuu." "Then Mom and I just shut up, kinda barely looked at the TV from the corner of our eyes, looked at each other and then hurried out of the room....closing the door behind us. We then stood outside the door, just listening to the noise. It never went off. After a few minutes we just walked away and waited for Dad to come home. Dad came home, we told him about it but after he laughed and went to the room, the TV was off.

Apparently, it went from a very subtle showings of the weekly strewing of a floor lamp cord to that of an old black and white TV coming on to full blast. In her words, that was an escalation that went from "hey, do you guys see what I did?" to "I'm not asking anymore." My sister then moved herself and nephew to another room of the house and they never went back that room. That door remained closed. Dad, the ever vigiliant HVAC warrior always griped about the door being closed due to ventilation, but my Sis and Mom kept reshutting the door. My Sister said that the TV came on a couple of more times by itself, even though it was behind a closed door. According to my sister, my Mom believed it was some kind of Child spirit that attached itself to our nephew when he came back into the home in 1999-2000. Everything started at that time. And afterwards, when my Sister and nephew left, everything stopped**. She and the nephew moved out not long after. About a year later, no "kids" were in the house, until I came to visit.

**My thought at that moment, when she told me that, was "So I show back up in my early 20's and it wants to play some more with me...right now?" It didn't really make any sense to me. I never saw, heard anything before tis moment in 2001. At this point, maybe my favorite Sis is also going Schizo? Lol...maybe she and/or my Mom had a role in hiding my keys after all....

...and then it came for me

So I see my sister off and its time for me to start wrapping up this emotional day and getting all of my stuff ready for the morning flight out of DFW. My parents say "good night", the lights in the house get turned down to wind down the day and after a shower and laying my clothes out, I'm feeling decently positive for once considering what transpired over the past week in a very important chapter in my young, hot life [/Eric Cartman voice]. Regardlessm I notice that I'm no longer feeling whatever flu-type crap that I had the past 5-6 days and decide to pop open a bottle of Texas' best (Shiner) and cruise the internet for the first time in over a year (internet in South Korea was non-existent back then). So for a few hours, I'm sitting there in the living room (front of the house), at a computer desk, playing a video game and watching 240p pron on my parents powerful Dell desktop when I hear a definite thud just outside of the living. Mind you, the parents are each probably in a coma at the opposite of the house, so rule them straight out. It was just a noise, but it gave me some pause because it was definitely sound of something hitting a carpeted area outside of the living room about 15' away. You know when you're sitting in near silence, in low light, basically, all of the stimuli to your senses are repressed and now your senses are so sensitive? Yeah...I head that shiet. So I #1. heard it, #2. recognized it, but didn't #3. investigate it for a second.......but no doubt #1 and 2 we're very real and logged into the database.

"Okay. Let's just file that into the chapter of Hmmmm and go about our business." I return back to my game of escorting B-17 bombers over the air space of Germany in one of the greatest aerial combat games ever made: European Air War

Fast forward about an hour, after couple of more beers and some really good aerial combat, my ears started to alert me to something. In between battles/noises, my ears picked up some kind of rythym in noise coming from somwhere other than the crappy desktop speakers. It started to slowly draw my attention enough that I had to pause the game and then listen with intent. It was faint, but after about 30 long, LONG seconds....it registered as an "aah-aah-aah-aah-aah-aah" noise. It started to sound like a noise I hadn't heard in quite awhile (I was in Germany and Korea for 3+ years). It was the sound of a phone that was left off the hook/busy number. This was 2001, before smartphones but certainly not before the widespread usage of cell phones (flip phones) so it wasn't a rare sound, but weird for me to hear.

Anyway, I decided that I was now compelled to investigate what I thought I heard and to make that noise stop. There wasn't much thought, time or distance between leaving that desk top and walking just past the threshhold of the living room to find this old rotary wall phone (example):

With the handheld phono piece laying on the carpet floor. This is in a hallway that it rarely used by anyone anymore, to include guest, in that house. Well, there was that sucker sitting on the floor making its noise in the dark. Without hesitation, I picked it up, put it back on the HOOK that does its job of keeping that handpiece where it should be unless tackled by an '80s linebacker or 2001 poltergeist!.

Then I proceeded to head back to the computer, shut it down promptly, go back the fold out bed and hard sleep.

I never spoke to my mom/sisters again about it but am very curious to do so now that I've typed all of this out.

And to add, this is the keychain in question:
After 24 years, I've never lost or misplaced it. 7 deployments, 3 assignments/6 years in Europe/Asia, 3 locations in the US. Never once have I lost it. Maybe everything lined up just perfectly in the universe for about a 8-10 hour span of time to not only leave my security, but to not be seen by myself or family before reappearing in an obvious location. Add in the rotary phone drama. This have always stuck in my mind when people talke about paranormal stuff. I've never seen anything before or since that "episode", but I darn sure remember it.


Cliffs. Lost keys to supposed Poltergeist. Found them. Found out background story of said poltergeist. Heard weird noise later. Found it out to be an old rotary wall phone that came off the hook. I didn't die. Move along.

I read the whole thing man and I just want to say more than anything, you might have missed your calling. That is some talented writing. I'm a little drunk so I'll have to comment on your veracity at a later date.

 

[Runwildboys]

Warning: If you want cliffs, they'll be at the bottom.

This "experience" could probably be summed up in one paragraph, but I need to retell it and the detailed circumstances surrounding it. This is the first time I've ever written this out so it's going to take me some effort. It has to be this way. Skip reading this if you don't have 10 minutes to spare.

BACKGROUND
I grew up in Haltom City, TX. Our family home was built sometime in the late 60's by my Dad's cousin (builder) and sold to my Dad, so no one died in the home or anything. It housed my Mom, Dad, older Brother, 2 older sisters and myself. We never had anything weird happen in that home from the '70s, '80s and '90s. I know that I previously said that this even took place in the late-90's but it was actually 2001 when it occured. No one in my family was/is "spiritual". No abuse. We're not really religious (Methodists...like 2x a year!). Just no underlying issues, TBH. So, we're the basic of basic American Families.

Anyway, just to toss out a timeline of how us kids left that nest and what was brought into the home and maybe how it played a role in "IT" being there for a short stint:

- 1991, my oldest Brother joined the USAF and left for Washington State. He would visit once a year but nothing unusual.
- 1992, oldest Sister (Sister 1) moved out and lived in an appartment.
- 1993, next oldest sister (Sister 2) had a child and remained at the home while going to college.
- 1995, aforementioned Sister 2 moved out with child (nephew), leaving me alone in the house with parents.
- 1997, I left home for the USAF and went to Germany and then South Korea.
- 1998-1999 NO KIDS WERE IN THE HOME!
- 1999-2000, Sister 2 and nephew moved back into the home for a year. They stayed in the largest bedroom in the home (2-car garage converted to a bedroom back in the '70s). They left before 2001.

And just to slip this in the timeline, what came into the house:
- 1986, our Grandpa passed away (damn Texas heat took him when he was moving furniture in mid-August). Anyway, we inherited a lot of different things (guns, truck, boat, tools..the good stuff!) but two things stood out. An old china hutch and a very old floor lamp that resembled something like this:

The electric cord was a very old style. The plug was something you don't see anymore/ever saw before and the cord was insulated in like wax paper or something. Total fire hazard and should have been refurbished, but I digress...
Once again, nothing funny ever happened in that home...that I was aware of.

Anyway, in 2001, after a year in South Korea, I get orders to Charleston, South Carolina. So when I came back to the States, I had to stop at home in Texas for two reasons: Visit family and to pick up the keys to my truck that was rotting away in New Jersey. The 1979 Chevy Silverado Big-10, was passed down from Grandpa, to Dad, to Older Brother, to me and back to older brother when I was in Korea. It was just sitting there in McGuire AFB, NJ with my brother (who drove it sparingly), so I needed to fly up there, tune it up and drive it down to South Carolina. Easy-Peasy.

But while I was at the parents house, I got the Flu or something. For the week I had planned to be there and do cool stuff, it was all ruined. Basically, I just lived on the fold-out couch in the living room, only going out a few times to grab some of that majestic Whataburger! So, week was ruined, didn't see any friends..oh well. When I receieved the truck keys from my Dad, I put them on a *very special key chain and put them in the very top of my rucksack that laid next to the fold out bed. There was no reason for me to have them out or anying like that...since the truck was in Jersey and I purposely put them in that backpack immediately because that was my transportation down to Charleston...CAN'T SCREW THIS UP!

The Story Begins
On the morning before I was to fly out to New Jersey and pick up my truck for my drive down to South Carolina, I started to ready all of my stuff; washing clothes, checking my rucksack to ensure I had my orders, airline ticket, etc. Whelp...my keychain was missing from the very specific pocket I put them in. Ok...no panic, maybe I took them out for some reason. After about an hour, I couldn't find them. I even went outside to my parent's vehicles just in case they were there, nothing. Well, I let my parents know about this and they, too, started searching. We especially targeted the dining room area, to include the dining room table that was next to the china hutch and antique floor lamp. My parents liked to put magazines/newspaper/mail on it as it was in the main thoroughfare of the house. So we each took turns looking on, under and around that table and chairs. Nothing.

Then, my two older sisters came over that afternoon to say goodbye. After learning about themissing keychain that, too, joined in on the hunt because they knew it was ciritical for me. Everything was searched and searched again.
"Did you leave it in your jeans?" "No"
"We're you out in the back yard?" "No"
"Did you go to the Sheds?" "No".
"Did you go to someone's house?" "NO! I was here sick all week!".
"Oh...you went to Whataburger...you probably dropped it there." "What!? I was in the drive-thru and checked Dad's truck!"

So after about 2-3 hours of my Sisters joining in, we all started to call it quits. My Dad called my Brother and told him to start looking for a locksmith up in Jersey to get a set of keys made for the truck. What ticked me off was that I made they keychain out of paracord at my first duty station and was very proud of it. Oh well. Grow up, kid, life aint fair!

Then around 7-8pm, after we had ate dinner in the kitchen and my Sisters were getting ready to leave, BAM...I saw the keychain on the dining room table. In. Plain. Friggen. Site.
"Hey! Who found the keychain!?"
They all looked confused until I showed them the keychain and where it was laying.
No one came forward to say they found them.
My mom whispered something to my Dad, in which my Dad replied back (I'll never forget it!) "Oh, Kathye..come on!"
Mom, with a searious look on her face, "No, I'm serious. Do you really think it was the cat that kept doing that after [nephew] left?"
Sister 1 started to laugh, "Oh, is this about that poltergeist thing! lol"
Mom: "Don't laugh about it" "Your Dad thinks that Chubbs (our fat, mostly outside cat, RIP) was unplugging the floor lamp and strewing it across the floor every once in awhile.
Meanwhile, Sister 2 didn't say a word and that conversation just stopped. Sister 1 said goodbye and left. Mom and Dad went to another part of the house.

The Revelation..

On Sister 2's way out the front door, I said something to the effect of "Man, Mom's starting to get Schizo!". My sister then stopped me and said we need to go outside, and so we did. She went on to explain her version of what happened in the house for the one year she and my Nepher moved back in and beyond. She said that the cord of the floor lamp would be unplugged and strewn across the floor at least once a week. It was initially chalked-up to the nephew doing it for attention, but it kept happening when he was no longer in the home. Ultimately, all three of them (Mom, Dad, Sister) just basically said "hmm Weird..but whatever". To myself, I really didn't think it was spooky, just more "okaay".

Well, according to her, one day my mom and sister got into an argument in the largest bedroom about how she was raising the nephew (typical banter from Mom to Daughter) and all of sudden, one of those old 13", black and White TV sets turned on with a very loud volume. You know the noise when you are on a channel that's out of recption? That "Scuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu" or whatever White noise? Anyway, it was an old type TV that had a push-pull dial to turn on and off, no remote. My sister said. I'm paraphrasing it:
"That sucker made the noise like the dial was just pulled out and then it turned on and was like Scuuuuuuuuuuuuuu." "Then Mom and I just shut up, kinda barely looked at the TV from the corner of our eyes, looked at each other and then hurried out of the room....closing the door behind us. We then stood outside the door, just listening to the noise. It never went off. After a few minutes we just walked away and waited for Dad to come home. Dad came home, we told him about it but after he laughed and went to the room, the TV was off.

Apparently, it went from a very subtle showings of the weekly strewing of a floor lamp cord to that of an old black and white TV coming on to full blast. In her words, that was an escalation that went from "hey, do you guys see what I did?" to "I'm not asking anymore." My sister then moved herself and nephew to another room of the house and they never went back that room. That door remained closed. Dad, the ever vigiliant HVAC warrior always griped about the door being closed due to ventilation, but my Sis and Mom kept reshutting the door. My Sister said that the TV came on a couple of more times by itself, even though it was behind a closed door. According to my sister, my Mom believed it was some kind of Child spirit that attached itself to our nephew when he came back into the home in 1999-2000. Everything started at that time. And afterwards, when my Sister and nephew left, everything stopped**. She and the nephew moved out not long after. About a year later, no "kids" were in the house, until I came to visit.

**My thought at that moment, when she told me that, was "So I show back up in my early 20's and it wants to play some more with me...right now?" It didn't really make any sense to me. I never saw, heard anything before tis moment in 2001. At this point, maybe my favorite Sis is also going Schizo? Lol...maybe she and/or my Mom had a role in hiding my keys after all....

...and then it came for me

So I see my sister off and its time for me to start wrapping up this emotional day and getting all of my stuff ready for the morning flight out of DFW. My parents say "good night", the lights in the house get turned down to wind down the day and after a shower and laying my clothes out, I'm feeling decently positive for once considering what transpired over the past week in a very important chapter in my young, hot life [/Eric Cartman voice]. Regardlessm I notice that I'm no longer feeling whatever flu-type crap that I had the past 5-6 days and decide to pop open a bottle of Texas' best (Shiner) and cruise the internet for the first time in over a year (internet in South Korea was non-existent back then). So for a few hours, I'm sitting there in the living room (front of the house), at a computer desk, playing a video game and watching 240p pron on my parents powerful Dell desktop when I hear a definite thud just outside of the living. Mind you, the parents are each probably in a coma at the opposite of the house, so rule them straight out. It was just a noise, but it gave me some pause because it was definitely sound of something hitting a carpeted area outside of the living room about 15' away. You know when you're sitting in near silence, in low light, basically, all of the stimuli to your senses are repressed and now your senses are so sensitive? Yeah...I head that shiet. So I #1. heard it, #2. recognized it, but didn't #3. investigate it for a second.......but no doubt #1 and 2 we're very real and logged into the database.

"Okay. Let's just file that into the chapter of Hmmmm and go about our business." I return back to my game of escorting B-17 bombers over the air space of Germany in one of the greatest aerial combat games ever made: European Air War

Fast forward about an hour, after couple of more beers and some really good aerial combat, my ears started to alert me to something. In between battles/noises, my ears picked up some kind of rythym in noise coming from somwhere other than the crappy desktop speakers. It started to slowly draw my attention enough that I had to pause the game and then listen with intent. It was faint, but after about 30 long, LONG seconds....it registered as an "aah-aah-aah-aah-aah-aah" noise. It started to sound like a noise I hadn't heard in quite awhile (I was in Germany and Korea for 3+ years). It was the sound of a phone that was left off the hook/busy number. This was 2001, before smartphones but certainly not before the widespread usage of cell phones (flip phones) so it wasn't a rare sound, but weird for me to hear.

Anyway, I decided that I was now compelled to investigate what I thought I heard and to make that noise stop. There wasn't much thought, time or distance between leaving that desk top and walking just past the threshhold of the living room to find this old rotary wall phone (example):

With the handheld phono piece laying on the carpet floor. This is in a hallway that it rarely used by anyone anymore, to include guest, in that house. Well, there was that sucker sitting on the floor making its noise in the dark. Without hesitation, I picked it up, put it back on the HOOK that does its job of keeping that handpiece where it should be unless tackled by an '80s linebacker or 2001 poltergeist!.

Then I proceeded to head back to the computer, shut it down promptly, go back the fold out bed and hard sleep.

I never spoke to my mom/sisters again about it but am very curious to do so now that I've typed all of this out.

And to add, this is the keychain in question:
After 24 years, I've never lost or misplaced it. 7 deployments, 3 assignments/6 years in Europe/Asia, 3 locations in the US. Never once have I lost it. Maybe everything lined up just perfectly in the universe for about a 8-10 hour span of time to not only leave my security, but to not be seen by myself or family before reappearing in an obvious location. Add in the rotary phone drama. This have always stuck in my mind when people talke about paranormal stuff. I've never seen anything before or since that "episode", but I darn sure remember it.


Cliffs. Lost keys to supposed Poltergeist. Found them. Found out background story of said poltergeist. Heard weird noise later. Found it out to be an old rotary wall phone that came off the hook. I didn't die. Move along.

Can you eliminate the cat as a suspect in the phone tampering incident?

 

[RJ_MacReady]

Can you eliminate the cat as a suspect in the phone tampering incident?

It was an outside cat that only our Dad would let in on very few occasions (mom and I were allergic). It was Dad's contention that if the cord was unplugged and layed out across the floor and the nephew was away, it was Chubs that did it. I never saw that fat cat do anything except inhale food and excrete hershey squirts everytime he saw a mean cat/possum/raccon.

But yeah, if I was cross-examined on the stand, there's no ruling out that Mr. Chubb-Bubb could have performed that act.

Onto count#2: Sneaking into the house/room where my mom/sister were arguing and pulling the dial to turn on the tv without an opposable thumb? Tall order. I'd need receipts on that cat's paw plastic surgery/modifications to pull that off (no pun intended).

Once again. Possible..

Count#3. Chubb-Bubb broke into the house again, jumped up and swatted old rotary phone handpiece off the hook.

Again, doable.

But I'll be serious if you were serious with the question. No, Chubs was not in that house not only that day but that week. He's 99% an outside cat due to my Mom's allergies and having a carpeted floor. The cat's "inside" is the outside utility room that we have our washer/dryer in. That was Chubs' spot. Dad was just trying to rationalize in his head that Mom would somehow let the cat in (who she was allergic to) and didn't pay attention that it would play with the lamp. Let's just say that if the door was open that day and Chubs got the courage to come in (very skittish son of a feral cat) he wouldn't spend more than an hour before wanting to get the heck back out of the house. Some cats are outside cats by nature, that's chubs the feral. He certainly didn't lay on the ground and play with stuff. By all definition, Chubs was a feral cat that tolerated us because we had a warm utility room and food!

Anyway, Dad passed away in 2006. This is yet another question of hundreds I wish I could ask him.

 

[Vtwin]

My wife was gone for a couple days this weekend visiting some relatives, now that we are allowed to cross the border again.

I get home the first evening and as I am going about my business I would get a whiff of perfume every so often. For perspective, I really can't stand perfume, or most any flowery kind of manufactured scents but especially actual perfume. It makes me nauseas and gives me a headache. My wife, who is not a perfume wearer, knows this and is very thoughtful about considering me when using anything scented. I haven't got a whiff of perfume in this house in decades, short of having a houseful of guests, which wasn't the case here.

First time, I blew it off. The second time I tried to get another whiff to identify it, with no success. The third time I went hunting for the source, with no luck. It was sporadic and with no pattern that I could determine.

About the fifth time I started to talk to the spirit who was clearly messing with me. Told it to make itself at home. Help yourself to whatever you need. The usual things one would say to a spirit you wished to remain friendly with.

A bit later one of the dogs woke up from his post dinner nap in his crate and found me in the living room. As I was getting up to bring him outside I bent over and gave him a snuggle. Damn dog reeked of perfume around his head and neck.

Turns out, the cousin that had stopped here to pick up my wife, loved up my dog while she was here and covered the poor thing with whatever stench du jour she was wearing.

Disappointing ending, I know. It did have me talking to the spirits for a bit, though.

 

[Vtwin]

A real ghost story from here.

This was reported to me by a close friend who is up here quite a bit. She is our go to house/pet sitter and is very familiar with the house and property.

One night she was leaving after a visit. After saying our goodbyes she left the house to go to her car. We are very secluded, tucked away in the woods surrounded by nothing on three sides and only a couple neighbors on the road side.

I have an old Ford tractor, vintage 1953. Classic old farm tractor, ala Green Acres. The tractor was parked in the shadows at the far end of the yard, maybe fifty feet from where her car was parked. Just a minute or two after she left, she came back in and asked me if my neighbor would be using my tractor. I said I can't imagine he wouldn't ask first but anything is possible I guess. As I walked back out with her to check it out she described the person she saw leaning on the tractor as an old guy with overalls and a straw hat. Again, ala Green Acres. I've never seen my neighbor dress like that and really didn't think he, or anyone would be messing around with the tractor anyway but we walked over anyway. No sign of anyone. No tracks. No smudges in the dew covering the tractor. No sign of anything. My friend was adamant she saw what she saw. I made a crack about being ok to drive and offering to call her a cab but she didn't back down. She saw what she saw.

Fast forward a few months and many visits later, all with no repeat appearances and then the same thing happened again. This time she was clearly freaked out by what she saw. She was able to let the first time go but not this one. She was absolutely convinced she saw the same "guy" just leaning on the hood of that tractor with his foot up on the front wheel smiling at her.

To add some context. These old tractors were known as "widow makers" because they have zero safety stuff on them and can be very very easy to flip over backwards if you don't know what you are doing. This tractor has signs of being flipped over at some point. Slightly different left rear fender as if it was replaced and the heavy cast iron fender supports on that side are bent in a bit. There appears to be marks on them from an attempt to straighten them out as best as possible.

I have not seen anything myself in 21 years of owning this tractor. My friend is not one who I would consider prone to seeing things like this. She was shaken up after the second sighting, so I tend to believe that she believes she saw what she saw.

To this day I always glance at that tractor in the shadows and even throw a wave. I can't say it's haunted but I can't say it's not either.

 

[Vtwin]

I just thought of one more kinda ghost/spirit related encounter I did have.

I think I was 16 at the time. Beautiful summer evening. I was walking through town, heading to the bowling alley to meet the crew before finding whatever trouble was our destiny that night.

Walking down the sidewalk on a short, one block street near downtown. I'm kind of hurrying, head down, thinking about whether little Suzy was going to be there or whatever else your typical 16 year old would be thinking of on the front end of the adventure filled night to come.

Something made me look up and over to an old man sitting on the cement steps in front of the apartment building on the other side of the street. I couldn't take my eyes off this man. He had an energy surrounding him that just transfixed me. He exuded pure happiness and joy that I could feel from sixty or so feet away. I can't emphasize enough that thinking about auras and energy and anything of a spiritual or supernatural nature was the farthest thing from this 16 year old's mind so the fact that it reached right to my soul in that moment is saying something. He gave me a huge smile and a big wave, which I returned as I kept walking. My thoughts were on him from that moment on. It impacted this dumb kid that much.

I meet up with the crew and the quickly formed plan had us heading back that very direction. I was still thinking about that man and was even telling my buddies about him. Of course they were way to cool for that crap and asked me where I got the acid and why wasn't I sharing.

As we turn down that street, I hear a siren and see a few people gathered around that step. As we got closer we could see a couple people interacting with the now slouched over man. As we came right up on the scene, just as the ambulance arrived, it became clear the man was dead. Less than ten minutes after his profound joy and happiness caught the attention of some dumb kid whose mind was 100% focused on girls and partying.

That apartment building was torn down last summer and replaced with a new one. I hope he likes his new digs.

 

[nobody]

Warning: If you want cliffs, they'll be at the bottom.

This "experience" could probably be summed up in one paragraph, but I need to retell it and the detailed circumstances surrounding it. This is the first time I've ever written this out so it's going to take me some effort. It has to be this way. Skip reading this if you don't have 10 minutes to spare.

BACKGROUND
I grew up in Haltom City, TX. Our family home was built sometime in the late 60's by my Dad's cousin (builder) and sold to my Dad, so no one died in the home or anything. It housed my Mom, Dad, older Brother, 2 older sisters and myself. We never had anything weird happen in that home from the '70s, '80s and '90s. I know that I previously said that this even took place in the late-90's but it was actually 2001 when it occured. No one in my family was/is "spiritual". No abuse. We're not really religious (Methodists...like 2x a year!). Just no underlying issues, TBH. So, we're the basic of basic American Families.




Cliffs. Lost keys to supposed Poltergeist. Found them. Found out background story of said poltergeist. Heard weird noise later. Found it out to be an old rotary wall phone that came off the hook. I didn't die. Move along.

Cool story I'd be curious to know if the rest of your family has had more weird things happen that they haven't spoke of.

I grew up in Watauga and Keller, so howdy.

 

[RJ_MacReady]

Cool story I'd be curious to know if the rest of your family has had more weird things happen that they haven't spoke of.

I grew up in Watauga and Keller, so howdy.

Man, our Family almost moved out to Keller back in the 90's before that place blew up! Does anyone still pronounce Watauga as "Wata-ooga"?

As for the family, my Dad passed 15 years ago so it's only my Mom residing there. I'm almost afraid to ask her. But I'll ask the one Sister. She and her kids go back there to visit and help take care of the place often.

 

[nobody]

Man, our Family almost moved out to Keller back in the 90's before that place blew up! Does anyone still pronounce Watauga as "Wata-ooga"?

As for the family, my Dad passed 15 years ago so it's only my Mom residing there. I'm almost afraid to ask her. But I'll ask the one Sister. She and her kids go back there to visit and help take care of the place often.

I'm sorry to hear about your Dad. I know it's been 15 years, but it's never easy. Some people do jokingly call it Wata-ooga still. My parents still live in Keller. It's nothing like it was though when I lived there. A few things are better but mostly I dislike the changes. I still live in the D/FW area and there's still places I go to eat on occasion in the Keller/Watauga/Haltom City area because they remain some of my favorite restaurants.