OK... Me first. I am Hojo. I am a Internet Developer living in Seattle.

I am the sort who would like to think of himself as extremely open minded. My thought processes are based in the scientific method, so I am not given to jumping in and believing anything without cold hard evidence.

I have had several experiences that definitely cover the gambit of experiences with Ghosts (or what would seem at first blush to be Ghosts).

My first was as a child of 7, shortly after my paternal Grandmother died I saw her (or what I believed to be her) in my bedroom at night. She sat on the corner of my bed the way she would do when she would be tucking me in on nights she babysat.

Several small questionable events occurred during my teens (none worth mentioning here)...

Then when I was in my early thirties I had a very profound experience. I was finishing up with packing at a house I had been renting for about a year. It was late - I was tired but very much awake. With very few lights on in the house the backyard was pitch black; but I could see what seemed to be a person standing in the middle of the yard. As I stared out I could see it was a woman in what could only be described as a frumpy dress. When I moved over to the door to call out and see why she would be in my backyard... she was gone. Let me tell you, a world record sprinter would not have been able to get out of my line of site in the time it took me to get to the door. Afterwords I found that several years before there was a house fire nearby where a mother and two children had died. My description of the lady I saw was a good match according to a neighbor.

Finally, I currently do not belong to any organized group in my area but would like to eventually when my life settles down. I was a member of one when I lived in Nottingham, England for several years... Lots of great stories from that experience!

No opinion about ghosts. I do know that what we call the paranormal may be just normal if we had not had our imagination educated out of us.

My three year old daughter had two friends, Donduelle and Gandi (don't ask me where she got the names). Donduelle and Gandi lived behind a lazy-boy recliner in our living room until my daughter started school. Then, they left.

Were they real? To her they were.

When I was little (ages 3 to 12 -roughly) I had experiences with ghosts. This post is the first I have ever talked about it.

As I lay in bed at night I would see round, white, soft lights in the corners of the ceiling and wall. They did not give off a light or illuminate the room. I was not afraid of them, but instead talked to them. I always thought they were my grandfather who passed away when I was 5.

I had an accordian door to my closet and 'something' would rub itself on it and it would pop and creak until I told it to stop, because it was keeping me awake. I don't know if it was a cat or a dog. Sometimes, it would climb on my bed and lay on my legs. It would circle and lay down. We never had a pet growing up and I was not aware of dogs/cats doing that until I grew up.

Finally, another experience I had was when 'someone' would sit on the side of by bed. I could feel the weight of the person sitting on the bed and it would wake me up. It never talked to me and I do not recall it getting up, just sitting down. I was not afraid of it either.

I am an only girl so I did not share a bedroom. My bedroom faced the backyard so the lights were not caused by auto headlights. I always thought of these experiences as ghosts, but no harm came from them so I was not bothered enough to make conversation from it.

It kinda feels weird to tell you guys about it now because I haven't shared this information before.

Thanks!

Well, I'd like to believe in them but I just don't know. I believe in spirits (good & bad) but not sure that is the same thing.

I have seen a bride & groom ghost coming up the stairs in my house while laying in my bed but, I was on a lot of drugs for pain! I did however see them repeatedly and rubbed my eyes and they would not disappear.

I functioned top notch at work on the pain meds because they made me feel normal. I have 3 herniated disc's in my neck that act up occasionally.

I want to go stay the night at a prison in Mansfield, Ohio where they allow it and say they have ghosts.

We will see, only one taker so far that will go with me.

I'm a university adminstrator in Los Angeles.

Both my parents seem to have had experiences with spirits from the "other side".

When I was growing up, my Dad often referred to the ghost of his former best friend as being somewhat of a prankster who followed him from Pennsylvania all the way to California. He never saw an image I don't think, it was more of a feeling...and also manifested by objects being moved, messages being conveyed, etc.

Many years later, my Mother said that her recently passed away father visited her while she slept on the foot of her mother's bed. My grandmother was suffering the loss of her dear husband of 50 years at this point and was having trouble sleeping alone. My mother was probably in her late 40's when this happened. My grandfather told my mother to leave the room, that he wanted time with her mother. My mother left the room as asked and spent the rest of the night on the sofa. The next morning, my grandmother woke up in tears saying that her husband had been there and that she would soon be joining him in heaven. Three weeks later she died in the hospital of a heart attack.

Sixteen years ago, my husband was killed in an accident. The day after his death, my Mother saw him walking through our house on his morning rounds. Two months later, my husband made another appearance. I was at Disneyland with my daughter and my oldest son. My youngest son who was 2 stayed at my house and my younger brother watched him along with his own 2 year old daughter. My brother was cleaning the pool filter for me - and the two cousins were dangling their feet in the shallow. They got up to leave, rather, my brother heard his daughter say, "Daddy, we're going in the house now"...and a few moments later my brother felt someone literally shaking his shoulder to get his attention, and he looked behind him but no one was there, it totally freaked him out...and get this, as my brother turned his head forward he saw that my son was floating unconscious in the pool. Of course my brother dove in and luckily, trained with CPR was able to resuscitate my son. My son quickly regained consciousness and was fine, but my brother told me that there was no doubt in him mind whatsoever that my husband reached out from the other side to save his son.

Isn't that interesting?

*HC*

I personally have never had an experience like these, but many of my wife's family has, and I have friends that have had amazing experiences that give me chills just thinking about them. It's a fascinating subject, and very entertaining. They don't tell ghost stories at camp because their boring.

I am a retired technical expert who has studied (and practiced) many healing and divination processes that involved "spirit communication". I am a believer. But, I can NOT incontrovertibly prove anything. I have even been told by some of my fundamentalist friends that the "Spirits" I have worked with and seen are actually demons trying to lead me to hell. I have no answer for them except that in my heart, I have no evil or devious intentions.

It is a personal belief formed by experience and faith. There are some people who would not believe if the Ghost of General Patton appeared, slapped them in the face and disappeared.

I think there are even personality types determined by God (or for the sake of argument who knows) that are more susceptible to paranormal experiences.

Quite frankly, I believe there is a possibility that technology could advance to a point that we would be able to "see, hear" and even communicate with beings living simultaneously with us in another dimension. Perhaps the reason that has not yet happened is that mankind would use it to gain more power over or enslave his fellow man. Or, at the very least, make a lot of money. Until there is a "spirituality" combined with technology, it may be best that we not have that ability.