What does it take?

[Debi]

Everyone has had those experiences where something happens and we go, "Hmmm...was that paranormal?"
And everyone has their own guidelines for determining what makes it paranormal for us.
Have you had a paranormal experience or two, and what did it take to convince you to accept it actually was "Above Normal" or paranormal?​

 

[garnetsilver]

When I saw an apparition in my house, what told me it was paranormal was: I could see through it, my cat was staring at it with ears flattened, and when I ran from the room and looked back, it was still there. There was also an undefinable sense of "other" that is hard to explain.

 

[ozentity]

When something possibly paranormal occurs around me I always try first to find a mundane answer, about 20% have one. That leaves around 80% unexplainable and at this stage of human knowledge, paranormal. The number of these must be into the hundreds for me now so I'm finally getting the picture of all of this but maybe never an answer. I like getting a skeptical answer off other people but as yet the odds have stayed the same.

 

[GoneWestUtah]

Sensitives eventually reach a point where there can be no doubt, if it is paranormal.
In my own case, there was 55 years of feeling but not knowing, mostly just ignoring it. It took a patient wife and two other excellent teachers to open my eyes and mind.

 

[Paulm]

as oz stated, when it comes to certain things, like seeing something out of the corner of the eye, or catching a quick glimpse of something. i try to find a logical explanation or try to just write it off as something else. i dont "ghost" hunt or try to make contact with that side of the curtain.so not interested in encouraging that kind of contact..
now when it comes to areas of sensitives/abilities. there isnt any ignoring it or passing it off as something else. the hardest part in my youth was understanding it wasnt me.... but of those around me..(the living). those feelings can be overpowering and even crippling to an extent for some if not learned how to control and manage, luckily i had someone who understood and helped along the way. but growing up with that i dont consider it "para"normal. its just part of life.

 

[Lynne]

I have been surrounded by family members that have things happen to them. I myself have had a few events that we have discussed here before, so I won't repeat the stories unless someone asks. I will sum it up with what has been happening my entire life as far back as I can remember, and that is things have disappeared and reappeared (sometimes), with no explanation. There have been things that have appeared that nobody in the house has brought in. At first, I thought it was a forgetful mind or being careless. After enough times and being conscious about where or what was or wasn't in a place I because aware that something was happening, I could not explain. I still cannot explain it and we all joke that it is the house elf. My husband and daughter have witnessed some of these incidents and have come over to thinking I am not crazy.

 

[crux]

In the movies or other fiction when something paranormal happens there is usually something to signal it. Some music, or sound effects or fanfare of some kind. But, in the real world, such things just happen and they often happen quickly too, leaving us with mouths agape, trying to fit what just happened into the normal scheme of things.

That moment just after is when one decides to simply accept what they've just observed or to explain it away and forget about it. In my opinion, it is that moment that separates those who want to know and those that don't.

 

[Debi]

In the movies or other fiction when something paranormal happens there is usually something to signal it. Some music, or sound effects or fanfare of some kind. But, in the real world, such things just happen and they often happen quickly too, leaving us with mouths agape, trying to fit what just happened into the normal scheme of things.

That moment just after is when one decides to simply accept what they've just observed or to explain it away and forget about it. In my opinion, it is that moment that separates those who want to know and those that don't.

Well said, Crux. I've had many experiences over the years and I have to agree with you totally. The events normally are brief, unlike what you see in the movies. Then you get to decide if you are going crazy or you are going to accept it actually was paranormal. And those that don't want to know often have an amazing way of wiping the entire event from their memories. I've often wondered if that may be an actual side effect of the phenomenon.

 

[ozentity]

I've often wondered if that may be an actual side effect of the phenomenon

That's something I've wondered about, did the entity or whatever wipe it from their mind or is it the mind not accepting it and ignoring it?

 

[Tworivers71]

I've seen the same female ghost 5 different times which I'll be posting the 1st parts this weekend. It was quite paranormal.....
Besides color, the human eye is good at detecting movement within 180 degrees of peripheral vision, and at 30-60 frames per second. So, IMHO, if you see something moving, whatever it may be, detail or not, out the corner of your eye, and you turn and its not...there, to me that is paranormal. While I do believe your mind can "play tricks on you". I dont believe they are visual. In other words, your mind can make you think...things, but not see...them.
Unless you are dropping Acid.....Lol.