Help debunking friend's ghost story

[Foolmewunz]

Well, then comes the next question....

If he's no longer experiencing these things (since finding Jeebus or for any other reason), just how long ago did these incidents occur? We all know that stories get tighter and tighter with the re-telling. We had a True Believer^TM on here who believed that John Edward was the cat's meow. Just in the course of a year-and-a-half of threads, the original sketchy claims got more and more detailed in the re-telling. This was due to the questions being raised, rapid-fire, by a bunch of critical thinkers. ITRW, people don't face down a pack of barking dogs when they relate these sorts of incidents, but if someone asks a pertinent question or points out a possible rational interpretation for the incident, the teller incorporates a pre-denial of that possibility in the next telling. This process can take years. The ghostly incident in the woods that started out with someone hearing a sound turns into a full-on spectral appearance with sights and sounds and smells. It was a good yarn but it didn't wow everyone so it got bigger and bolder in the re-telling.

 

[stanfr]

Well, then comes the next question....

If he's no longer experiencing these things (since finding Jeebus or for any other reason), just how long ago did these incidents occur? We all know that stories get tighter and tighter with the re-telling. We had a True Believer^TM on here who believed that John Edward was the cat's meow. Just in the course of a year-and-a-half of threads, the original sketchy claims got more and more detailed in the re-telling. This was due to the questions being raised, rapid-fire, by a bunch of critical thinkers. ITRW, people don't face down a pack of barking dogs when they relate these sorts of incidents, but if someone asks a pertinent question or points out a possible rational interpretation for the incident, the teller incorporates a pre-denial of that possibility in the next telling. This process can take years. The ghostly incident in the woods that started out with someone hearing a sound turns into a full-on spectral appearance with sights and sounds and smells. It was a good yarn but it didn't wow everyone so it got bigger and bolder in the re-telling.

Thanks, yep, that is a common way these sort of tales get defended. Since this person claims they were a long-time non-believer in these sort of things, I'm just hoping to introduce the seed of doubt so maybe he can reevaluate his conclusions. Not really hopeful, but it beats congratulating him for his 'transformation'. These events supposedly happened within the last few months.

 

[dlorde]

... Since this person claims they were a long-time non-believer in these sort of things...

This is a classic opener we see here all the time, "I've always been sceptical, but...<woo>".

 

[Foolmewunz]

Thanks, yep, that is a common way these sort of tales get defended. Since this person claims they were a long-time non-believer in these sort of things, I'm just hoping to introduce the seed of doubt so maybe he can reevaluate his conclusions. Not really hopeful, but it beats congratulating him for his 'transformation'. These events supposedly happened within the last few months.

This is a classic opener we see here all the time, "I've always been sceptical, but...<woo>".

Very true. The renowned member I mentioned previously went to great pains to inform us repeatedly that she was a dedicated skeptic on the subject of psychics. What she meant, as it turned out, was that she had devoted a lot of time to checking them out because she was "looking for the real deal". A lot of these "scales have fallen from my eyes" conversions are of people who are looking for an excuse to believe and just hadn't prior to their "epiphany" seen anyone convincing. Why they find them convincing is very subjective, I'm sure.

 

[Stuart]

Old home laser tag kits used to do this, i forget but if memory serves some used to turn it on and off, and others would turn it to channel 4.

Yup - can vouch for this. Watching soccer match in a pub, a goal was scored people in the pub cheered and TV switched itself off

 

[epepke]

Hmm... So I'm an immortal being with vast psychic powers. What will be the best use of them? Oh, I know. I'll watch some television for a while. But I'll be sure to turn it off when the humans get home. Wouldn't want the living to catch me watching their television, you know.

By the way, if we ever become an interstellar system, let's go to new planets, mess up their crops and go home. Or we could pick up some cow anuses. I've heard the ones on Betelgeuse are really good.

 

[LTC8K6]

Watches, cellphones, tablets...can all remotely control other devices.

 

[turingtest]

Hmm... So I'm an immortal being with vast psychic powers. What will be the best use of them? Oh, I know. I'll watch some television for a while. But I'll be sure to turn it off when the humans get home. Wouldn't want the living to catch me watching their television, you know.

By the way, if we ever become an interstellar system, let's go to new planets, mess up their crops and go home. Or we could pick up some cow anuses. I've heard the ones on Betelgeuse are really good.

Ghosts, aliens, and gods all work in mysterious ways their wonders to perform. It's almost as if there's a common denominator there, something you can't quite put a finger on...

 

[Hellbound]

I wonder if it would be possible to use a remote from outside the house some distance away--that would be the key question. Thanks for the response.

Just to toss in my two cents on this bit, the newer cable and satellite systems often use a UHF remote, which can most definately be used outside the house. Our living room TV was occasionally turned on or had channels switched from our neighbor's house when we both had the same service (and thus, the same remotes, and apparently the same brand of TV). We can use our remotes from anywhere in the house, with multiple interior walls between.

 

[poblob14]

I could see a bored ghost turning on a TV, but why would he turn it off again? Is he worried about getting caught?

Clearly the ghost was watching porn.

I just wanted to add my "dog with the remote" anecdotes. We have a Harmony remote which controls all the devices and can go from one setup to another with one button. My dog has been known to turn the Blu-ray player off and switch to cable in the middle of a movie.

The Harmony is a little flaky, too; if you drop it, it thinks it's turned everything off, and the buttons can give unexpected results. (It probably tries to turn everything off, but when it gets dropped, it generally doesn't have line-of-sight to the TV.) Also, we actually have three Harmonies for different rooms; get one into the wrong room, and who knows what it might do.

 

[tsig]

Here's something else: from his latest response, it seems this incident made a strong impression on him. He was reading a book along with his young daughter (2 copies, big and small versions, side by side) when his daughter's book vanished into thin air. They searched the room and could not find it. I'm trying to pin him down on whether he actually witnessed it disappear--or it just vanished when he turned away for a second--obviously a big distinction. I would also like to know what his daughter's reaction was to this alleged disappearance.

Was there a thunder like noise as the air rushed in to fill the vacuum left by the book?

 

[stanfr]

Was there a thunder like noise as the air rushed in to fill the vacuum left by the book?

I dunno, Tsig, I think he's done responding to all my questions for now...
But I don't think it would cause a thunder-like noise even if you could magically eliminate a book volume of air, it would just fill in from the surrounding air pretty quickly. it's not like lightning that rapidly heats a much large area of air to some extreme temperatures, the sound waves generated by the vanishing book would be infinitesimal in comparison. Maybe a slight popping noise like a small balloon, but that could be easily overlooked

 

[Drs_Res]

I like how the book vanishing into thin air comes up so late in the conversation. If it were me, that would be one of my first "proofs".

The fact that he said they looked all over the room for it makes me believe that they misplaced it and the thing did not simply "vanish" while they held it or were reading from it. Vanished in this case would be it was not with the other copy even though we KNOW we put them in the same place when we were done reading them the previous night/day.

 

[Peter i]

If ghosts were involved every time something disappeared (read: "was misplaced") in my household, we would really need a good exorcist!


Quite often things will "be mysteriously gone with no trace whatsoever" until you back-track to the place where you were distracted and left it.

 

[Hellbound]

If ghosts were involved every time something disappeared (read: "was misplaced") in my household, we would really need a good exorcist!


Quite often things will "be mysteriously gone with no trace whatsoever" until you back-track to the place where you were distracted and left it.

"Dad, I swear I brought my book bag inside! I set it right there on the coffee table!"

"Really, so how did it get back out in the floorboard of the Jeep?"

A weekly occurance in my house.

 

[smartcooky]

The fact that he said they looked all over the room for it makes me believe that they misplaced it and the thing did not simply "vanish" while they held it or were reading from it. Vanished in this case would be it was not with the other copy even though we KNOW we put them in the same place when we were done reading them the previous night/day.

Sheesh! If a ghost was responsible every time I couldn't find something in the place where I "KNOW" I left last time I used it, my house would be overrun with the bloody things!!

 

[steenkh]

I am a late comer to this show but I have a comment about the TV set that can turn itself on and off. My remote control for the DVD player acts strangely when low on battery: it starts issuing random commands to the DVD player without anybody being near the remote control. It could switch on and off, or change channels, so we kept it in a bag until we found out that fresh batteries cured the behaviour.

 

[dlorde]

I am a late comer to this show but I have a comment about the TV set that can turn itself on and off. My remote control for the DVD player acts strangely when low on battery: it starts issuing random commands to the DVD player without anybody being near the remote control. It could switch on and off, or change channels, so we kept it in a bag until we found out that fresh batteries cured the behaviour.

It's clear that the energy in fresh batteries drives off ghosts & poltergeists

 

[steenkh]

It's clear that the energy in fresh batteries drives off ghosts & poltergeists

Indeed. It is clear that ghosts and poltergeists are encouraged to press buttons on remote controls with weak batteries!

 

[Manopolus]

Well, I don't know about turning itself ON, but I have a television that usually turns itself off almost immediately after I turn it on, and it takes multiple tries to keep it on. One of these days, I'll go ahead and tear it apart and see if I can find the blown transistor.

Of course, this sort of thing isn't usually a one-off occurrence. When something isn't functioning properly, it tends to repeat and get worse.