Very recently Debi posted a link to a story about first responders’ paranormal reports including some ghosts. Inspired by that continuing thread, I wanted to ask if any of you have ever “seen” a manifestation of a ghost or spirit?
I think I have probably had a dozen spirit related encounters in my lifetime and four of those included what my conscious mind perceived to be the sighting of (most or all of) a human form.
One of those sightings happened in a supposedly haunted hotel in New Orleans. There were other events that happened during my short stay there but this is probably the most relevant one.
I went to New Orleans on an impromptu vacation with a close female friend. Though we were not a couple, we were close enough and comfortable enough to sleep in the same bed so we shared the owners suite in this massive, almost cavernous, labyrinth like hotel. The hotel was antebellum or very nearly that old for certain.
This sighting occurred during the last few minutes we were in the room while preparing to checkout. The bedroom had a private bathroom but it was two or three paces down a hall. I had gone into the bathroom for a final bio break before checking out and heading to the airport. As I exited the bathroom and stepped into the bedroom, my friend was standing on the far side of the room with her camera in her hand, facing the doorway I just came through, with a look on her face that I will never forget.
I asked her, “What?”. No response so I repeated my extremely short question twice more ramping up the urgency in my voice each time. I walked towards her and she lifted the camera to hand it to me. She was able to get out enough words such that I got a reasonably clear understanding that she “saw” something in the opposite side of the room near the doorway I just came through. I turned and didn’t see anything there.
She again lifted the camera towards me and told me to look at that same spot through the camera. I did and immediately dropped my hand with the camera to my side. It was now her turn to ask me “What?”. She asked if I saw anything and I nervously said, “Nope...”. She told me to look again. Knowing I had lied, I refused to look again. But she insisted. This time I was more prepared so I took a good long look - probably five full seconds - before handing the camera back to her.
I didn’t say anything. I just grabbed both our suitcases and ran out of the room, down the hall, and out the door. She wasn’t far behind.
We checked out, got a cab to the airport, and flew all the way back to San Diego without saying much of anything to each other the rest of the day. We were both in a bit of shell shock.
We didn’t talk about what we saw for more than five years. One night I handed her a pad of paper and a pencil and asked her to draw what she recalls seeing that day. I did the same on a separate pad angled so neither could see the others’ art work before it was completed. [Gotta run for few minutes to deal with dogs. I’ll finish the story shortly. Sorry,]
I think I have probably had a dozen spirit related encounters in my lifetime and four of those included what my conscious mind perceived to be the sighting of (most or all of) a human form.
One of those sightings happened in a supposedly haunted hotel in New Orleans. There were other events that happened during my short stay there but this is probably the most relevant one.
I went to New Orleans on an impromptu vacation with a close female friend. Though we were not a couple, we were close enough and comfortable enough to sleep in the same bed so we shared the owners suite in this massive, almost cavernous, labyrinth like hotel. The hotel was antebellum or very nearly that old for certain.
This sighting occurred during the last few minutes we were in the room while preparing to checkout. The bedroom had a private bathroom but it was two or three paces down a hall. I had gone into the bathroom for a final bio break before checking out and heading to the airport. As I exited the bathroom and stepped into the bedroom, my friend was standing on the far side of the room with her camera in her hand, facing the doorway I just came through, with a look on her face that I will never forget.
I asked her, “What?”. No response so I repeated my extremely short question twice more ramping up the urgency in my voice each time. I walked towards her and she lifted the camera to hand it to me. She was able to get out enough words such that I got a reasonably clear understanding that she “saw” something in the opposite side of the room near the doorway I just came through. I turned and didn’t see anything there.
She again lifted the camera towards me and told me to look at that same spot through the camera. I did and immediately dropped my hand with the camera to my side. It was now her turn to ask me “What?”. She asked if I saw anything and I nervously said, “Nope...”. She told me to look again. Knowing I had lied, I refused to look again. But she insisted. This time I was more prepared so I took a good long look - probably five full seconds - before handing the camera back to her.
I didn’t say anything. I just grabbed both our suitcases and ran out of the room, down the hall, and out the door. She wasn’t far behind.
We checked out, got a cab to the airport, and flew all the way back to San Diego without saying much of anything to each other the rest of the day. We were both in a bit of shell shock.
We didn’t talk about what we saw for more than five years. One night I handed her a pad of paper and a pencil and asked her to draw what she recalls seeing that day. I did the same on a separate pad angled so neither could see the others’ art work before it was completed. [Gotta run for few minutes to deal with dogs. I’ll finish the story shortly. Sorry,]
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