Mysterious Happenings

FredSnerd (Claude) · #1 02-09-2009, 09:17 PM

Most of us have a story or two of things that happened to us that we can't explain in “real world terms”. You wanna share?

I have one such experience. Now I have to say I’m not in any way religious (an atheist in fact – sorry if that offends, it wasn’t intended to) but I was raised a catholic and catholic guilt may have possibly had a hand in this. Here goes.

I was about 10. It was a sunny Sunday morning and I had just missed mass (but I don’t remember feeling guilty about it). I was fascinated with this mirror I had and I was shining it all over the place. I spotted this fly on the path and thought it would be really neat to shine the mirror on it and fry it (nice kid hey). Anyway, when I shined the mirror on the path a woman appeared within the reflected square frame of light. Now I’m reluctant to say this (because of the religious connotations) but she did have a veil on and it was like she was adjusting her veil in front of a vanity or something. Anyway the thing lasted for about a minute until I got scared and stopped shining the mirror. The image was so clear and there was nothing between the mirror and the path that could have obstructed the beam to make that image. I suppose my mind and catholic guilt is the only explanation but since then I have never had a apparition or imagined anything like that.

Anyone have an unexplained story they’d like to share?

lacad01 (Adam) · #2 03-09-2009, 08:50 AM

Not sure if it's in the same vein of this new thread but when I was a kid, probably 8 or 10 I had a really bad fever, could possibly have been the sickest I've ever been as a result of the mumps. Anyhow, I vividly recall having hallucinations - not sight but sound. As I was lying in bed with hot & cold sweats, I could as plain as day hear a group of people running down the hall shouting with threats they were coming to get me, sort of like a bunch of pirates or something like that. Probably lasted for a good few seconds. At the time, was only my mum and I at home and I was severely freaked out.
I think the brain can be tricked into thinking something is real when it isn't - I'm not knocking your experience Claude, just noting how complex the mind is

jjjnettie (Jeanette) · #3 03-09-2009, 09:16 AM

Sometimes its a case of "I want to believe", but I've seen things, and had them independantly confirmed by others who witnessed the same event that send shivers up my spine.
One part of me want's to believe I saw them, the other part of me says that there must be some perfectly logical explanation.

FredSnerd (Claude) · #4 03-09-2009, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjjnettie

Sometimes its a case of "I want to believe", but I've seen things, and had them independantly confirmed by others who witnessed the same event that send shivers up my spine.
One part of me want's to believe I saw them, the other part of me says that there must be some perfectly logical explanation.

Jeanette
Come on! You gots ta tell us what ya saw and our it appened like

jjjnettie (Jeanette) · #5 03-09-2009, 10:12 AM

Ok then.
As young teenagers, my sister and I used to play at seances. One night over the board we asked for proof, and got it.
For years i thought that my memory of that night was just something I wanted to believe had happened.
A couple of years ago I asked my sister what her recollections of that night were, and she described the same floating ball of light and the same palls of smoke rising up from the driveway.
The rational part of me says that we both, being impressionable youngsters at the time, talked each other into believing we saw these apparitions.
Or was it real?
But it does make for a good spooky story.

renormalised (Carl) · #6 03-09-2009, 10:48 AM

I don't know what it is about people...they doubt themselves and others when they see something mysterious or unusual, like ghosts, ufo's and aliens etc etc, yet they're perfectly willing to believe in and go along with religion. Swallow it hook, line and sinker. Give yourselves some credit.

That's what annoys me about scientists when they dismiss things like this out of hand or come up with some "logical" explanation. The reason why they don't deal with these things and then ridicule or explain away what people see is not because of some "scientific rigorous" or "methodical" way of studying things. Or because they know what reality consists of. They dismiss what people see and hear because they themselves don't know what's happening and because it lies outside of their accepted views of what constitutes reality. It's intellectual arrogance and fear which makes them do this. Mostly arrogance, and then a fear that what they'll find if they really decide to look into it will blow all their cherished notions out of the water. That's not to say that those things don't have prosaic explanations. Some may do, but you don't just dismiss something as being fanciful or a product of an impressionable mind just because you don't know what it is or it doesn't conform to what you believe in or think you "know".

If you've seen something that you can't explain, then that's exactly what you've done...seen something. Maybe it might have some prosaic explanation, but even if it does it doesn't mean it didn't occur. So, if you've seen an ufo or alien, or a ghost, or some weird creature, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Who are they to say anything to the contrary. They weren't there and didn't experience what you did. I can tell you now, quite a few of them have gone through similar things but don't speak about them for fear of their own ridicule, especially amongst their peers. You only have to scratch away at the surface veneer of their intellectual hubris to see there's something more to it.

Darth Wader (Wade) · #7 03-09-2009, 10:58 AM

About 15 years ago I was enjoying a nice hot bath on a winter's evening, when I glanced over at the towel rack to see one corner of my towel fold up on itself, then gently drop back into place. No open windows and no breeze in the bathroom at all. I can only suspect I had the bath waaaay too hot

FredSnerd (Claude) · #8 03-09-2009, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darth Wader

About 15 years ago I was enjoying a nice hot bath on a winter's evening, when I glanced over at the towel rack to see one corner of my towel fold up on itself, then gently drop back into place. No open windows and no breeze in the bathroom at all. I can only suspect I had the bath waaaay too hot

Thats weird. How would a hot bath (with no breeze) make a difference. And if theres a joke behind this I'm not getting OK you got me.

FredSnerd (Claude) · #9 03-09-2009, 11:28 AM

Hey Carl

I agree, don't let them talk us out of our experiances. We are only just discovering how complex the universe is, so everythings on the table as far as I'm concerned.

I saw this doco a year or so ago called "what the bleep". I liked it but a few people have panned it and I'm not advocating you see it or anything but it made me see just how little we know about the universe (string theory, alternate realities etc).

Hey Jeanette, more power to ya

renormalised (Carl) · #10 03-09-2009, 11:39 AM

Quote:

I saw this doco a year or so ago called "what the bleep".

I have that on DVD. Not too bad, actually

Darth Wader (Wade) · #11 03-09-2009, 12:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FredSnerd

Thats weird. How would a hot bath (with no breeze) make a difference. And if theres a joke behind this I'm not getting OK you got me.

No joke at all... I was just saying that there was no breeze that could have moved the towel. The "hot bath" bit simply meant that I had the bath too hot and it caused me to hallucinate... that's the only explanation I have anyway!

Octane (Humayun) · #12 03-09-2009, 12:42 PM

An old friend of mine made me watch that, after he had said it was one of the best things he'd ever seen.

I was extremely skeptical throughout watching the whole thing.

Funny how that "scientist" who could do funny things to those crystals based on emotions and moods has not come forward to claim a $1 million prize to recreate his experiment.

Take it with a pinch of salt.

The whole thing was sponsored by the people behind the Rama scam, or whatever that ancient spirit was that that woman claims she channels.

Regards,
Humayun

Quote:

Originally Posted by FredSnerd

I saw this doco a year or so ago called "what the bleep". I liked it but a few people have panned it and I'm not advocating you see it or anything but it made me see just how little we know about the universe (string theory, alternate realities etc).

renormalised (Carl) · #13 03-09-2009, 12:59 PM

Quote:

I was extremely skeptical throughout watching the whole thing.

Funny how that "scientist" who could do funny things to those crystals based on emotions and moods has not come forward to claim a $1 million prize to recreate his experiment.

Take it with a pinch of salt.

The experiment needs to be repeated, and then repeated again, until a result either way is achieved.

FredSnerd (Claude) · #14 03-09-2009, 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Octane

An old friend of mine made me watch that, after he had said it was one of the best things he'd ever seen.

I was extremely skeptical throughout watching the whole thing.

Funny how that "scientist" who could do funny things to those crystals based on emotions and moods has not come forward to claim a $1 million prize to recreate his experiment.

Take it with a pinch of salt.

The whole thing was sponsored by the people behind the Rama scam, or whatever that ancient spirit was that that woman claims she channels.

Regards,
Humayun

Yeah I think the doco has been criticised some. I cant remember the specific criticisms BUT I think the proposition remains that we are only just discovering how really complex life and the univers is and so my point is if people are saying they're having these experiances we would be smart not to close the door on ourselves and look into it further.

There was one thing that they said in "What the Bleep" that impacted on me. I went something like this. "People assume that how things work here on earth is the norm but in truth we are the exception in a vast universe of different possibilities"

FredSnerd (Claude) · #15 03-09-2009, 04:32 PM

My latest Mysterious Happening (just happened today). I just got the latest issue of Australian Sky and Telescope in the mail together with a moon chart and disc (no covering letter). I didnt order it or subscribe. It just came out of the blue. Has that happened to anyone else on IIS?

I suppose I should just accept the fact that there are things on this earth that science just simply cant explain.

avandonk · #16 03-09-2009, 05:30 PM

Science is not in the business of explaining the sensory hallucinations of humans. Neurophysiology tells us that the human sensory system is very easy to fool even in people who are not suffering from delusions. As for people with delusions you can really forget it as the spectrum of disorders is vast.

Next time an ignorant person says to you "science can't explain it'. What they really mean is they have not got a clue. What is more they cannot even understand the current level of scientific knowledge.

It is a case of the blind and ignorant leading the blind and ignorant. All they really achieve is agreement as to their own ignorance. They do not even know where to start to find out what is real and understood!

The huge amount of half truths peddled by all sorts of people are everywhere.

The only thing that works is peer reviewed published papers.

The rest at best is anecdotal and at worst completely wrong.

If I have offended anyone it was intentional.

Bert

jjjnettie (Jeanette) · #17 03-09-2009, 05:36 PM

No offence taken here Bert.

astroron (Ron) · #18 03-09-2009, 05:41 PM

Some people find mystery's when with a little thought and investigation a simple answer is forth coming.

avandonk · #19 03-09-2009, 05:53 PM

I forgot to say that in many areas I am both blind and ignorant. BUT I do not go around spouting nonsense in areas I know nothing about!

I will leave that to the tabloids.

bert

renormalised (Carl) · #20 03-09-2009, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Science is not in the business of explaining the sensory hallucinations of humans. Neurophysiology tells us that the human sensory system is very easy to fool even in people who are not suffering from delusions. As for people with delusions you can really forget it as the spectrum of disorders is vast.

Well, Bert, you managed to contradict yourself there by saying "Science is not in the business of explaining the sensory hallucinations of humans", and then go onto mentioning a branch of medical science!!!!

Quote:

Next time an ignorant person says to you "science can't explain it'. What they really mean is they have not got a clue. What is more they cannot even understand the current level of scientific knowledge.

Yes that does happen a lot, and I agree with you...up to a point. I've seen scientists really stuff up along the way, too. There's a lot that they don't understand, even about basic things...gravity, for instance. For instance, how does mass actually interact with spacetime (another piece of contrived mathematics, mind you) to produce the warping effect they call gravity??. What is a graviton, in physical reality?? Hasn't been found, yet, has it

Quote:

The huge amount of half truths peddled by all sorts of people are everywhere.

Quite a bit of it done by scientists, I might add. Whether intentional or not. Although, the media and the general public do a good job of it too.

Quote:

The only thing that works is peer reviewed published papers.

In general, yes, but not always. I've also seen people's careers ruined by peer review. Especially where there's been axe grinding and self interest involved. You can't take ego and preconceived notions out of the equation, that's just a part of human nature. For example, the journal Nature, have in the past, been notorious for rejecting people's research when it's been a little bit left of centre, so to speak. The previous editor (to the present incumbent) was a self righteous, arrogant prat who was so far up the rear of orthodoxy that he couldn't even conceive of anything that might be a little audacious in its breath of conception. Even where the conclusions of a study could be supported by empirical evidence, if it didn't comply with the accepted paradigm, he and the committee just rejected it outright. That's why during the 80's and 90's there was such a hullabaloo about trying to publish anything halfway decent there. Unless you were from the "establishment" you didn't get anywhere. What's worse is that they're (Nature, that is) weren't the only one behaving like this. Thankfully Nature have changed, but some sections of the science publishing sector are still like this.

Quote:

The rest at best is anecdotal and at worst completely wrong.

That's a generalisation that can neither be claimed nor supported, and unfortunately one that is trotted out all too often by scientists, and others as well. Especially when they don't want to take the time to have a look at something which, if it turns out to be correct, may just cause them to throw all their cherished notions out of the window. That's something many people with high intellectual opinions of themselves and a "modicum of knowledge" don't care to have to face, for the most part.