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Human Invisibility Phenomena

Gotta share another example of something "mysterious" happening.

Three of us were driving a horse and cart on a narrow lane, and got stopped when we came to a stone wall with a gate too narrow for the cart. The woods had been too thick to turn off the path for a mile or more behind us, the wall was solid stone as far as you could see in either direction, with wooden posts on either side of the gap, and the cart was way too wide, and much too heavy and solid for only three of us to dismantle without tools and carry through in pieces. We were stuck.

Since we'd been told we needed to go this way, the boss said he'd walk back and see what we were supposed to do, while we waited with the cart.

While he was gone, the two of us discovered that one of the posts was loose, and the stones were dry-laid without mortar. So we pulled up the post, unbuilt a few feet of wall, drove the horse and cart through, relaid the stones, and put the post back in the ground.

After being gone only 10 minutes, the boss returned, to see the horse and cart on the other side of the gate. Needless to say, he was stunned.

Of course, we took full advantage of the opportunity to give him the most imaginative explanations, until we finally told him the truth. But if we'd been a little more serious about it, and never broken down or given him much time to examine the wall before going on, and he was at all gullible, I think we could have left him wondering for years about levitation, or carts materializing through walls.

Which brings me to the real reason I'm posting. I'm curious about what was observed when the original poster saw someone become invisible. Seems an easy enough trick for a stage magician, but not the kind of thing that someone does during a casual conversation to illustrate a point. "Oh, you're interested in invisibility? Of course that's possible. Here, let me show you." And he fades away.

What exactly did the person do?
 
SmooveK said:
Have you ever seen "The Invisible Man", "Hollow Man", or other such movies? Simply seeing such paranormal feats seemingly given rationality can tick your brain into creating that rationality as an option in your memories.
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I was thinking more along the lines of "Mystery Men" (hence the reason for my initial joke).

It had one guy in there who claimed he could turn invisible, but only when no one was looking.
 
alfaniner said:
I was thinking more along the lines of "Mystery Men" (hence the reason for my initial joke).

It had one guy in there who claimed he could turn invisible, but only when no one was looking.
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Woot! I beat someone to the joke!

:D
 
My anecdote of invisibility.

My (ex) wife and children were visiting her parents for Thanksgiving. At the traditional Thanksgiving dinner, I was seated at the table with my wife, MIL, FIL, and several BIL's and SIL's.

On background, you should know that my in-laws are a bunch of noisy Irish folks who do not engage in "polite" dinner conversation. There are usually several conversations going on at once, with people attempting to talk over one another. I, on the other hand, was raised around "polite" conversation, so I just sat there quietly and ate.

About 20 minutes into the dinner, my sister-in-law turned to my wife and said "Where's Skinny?". At the time, I was sitting two chairs away from her and on a different side of the table, so her sight angle was approximately 45 degrees.

I absolutely could not believe she couldn't see me for that period of time unless I had become invisible. Of course I wasn't, but I thought prander might want to consider my anecdote. Perhaps the same thing happened to him.
 
prander,

Please explain why spontaneous invisibility is a better explanation than all of the following:

1. Before going in the room you visualized going in and rehearsed in your mind what you were going to say. If you are at all like me, you have done this on occasion, particularly when you were expecting to be the center of attention as you have stated. I can see the visualization taking in the absurd possibility that no one pays any attention to you. Later you confused the visualization with what really happened. Memory is far from perfect.

2. Everyone in the room at the time you walked in happened to be engaged in a very interesting conversation. Perhaps some of them even saw you but did not acknowledge you so as not to be rude to their partner in conversation. By the time they had finished, you had left the room. How long were you in the room and what means did you use to get their attention?

3. It was a dream. I consider myself quite normal and extremely reality based, but there are incidents I "remember" but cannot, with absolute confidence, determine whether they really happened or were dreams. I suspect you will say that you know for sure that it was not a dream, but how do you really know that?

4. The practical joke hypothesis that was already raised. I was also a "good" Catholic (no longer!) but that never prevented me from delighting in such pranks, so I have at least one counterexample for your reasoning to reject that explanation.

Your statement that invisibility is the best explanation that you can come up with implies that you have very good reasons for rejecting all of the above and any number of other prosaic explanations. I would like to hear them.

IXP
 
You know, I've been thinking for a while about how our sense of humour is a natural filter against the absurdity of most belief systems. This is a very good example to illustrate this. Prander needs a sense of humour.
 
I'm afraid a sense of humour is the kind of thing that is cultivated extensively, and can't really come all at once. It also takes some intelligence, unless your sense of humour is restricted to fart jokes and screaming at old people (not recommended).
 
prander,

Please explain why spontaneous invisibility is a better explanation than all of the following:

1. Before going in the room you visualized going in and rehearsed in your mind what you were going to say. If you are at all like me, you have done this on occasion, particularly when you were expecting to be the center of attention as you have stated. I can see the visualization taking in the absurd possibility that no one pays any attention to you. Later you confused the visualization with what really happened. Memory is far from perfect.

2. Everyone in the room at the time you walked in happened to be engaged in a very interesting conversation. Perhaps some of them even saw you but did not acknowledge you so as not to be rude to their partner in conversation. By the time they had finished, you had left the room. How long were you in the room and what means did you use to get their attention?

3. It was a dream. I consider myself quite normal and extremely reality based, but there are incidents I "remember" but cannot, with absolute confidence, determine whether they really happened or were dreams. I suspect you will say that you know for sure that it was not a dream, but how do you really know that?

4. The practical joke hypothesis that was already raised. I was also a "good" Catholic (no longer!) but that never prevented me from delighting in such pranks, so I have at least one counterexample for your reasoning to reject that explanation.
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Be happy to give a little clarification:

1) I never rehearsed anything before going into the room. I have no problems whatsoever getting in front of crowds, especially a few elderly family members and family friends. Nothing happened the way you described it, I was expecting to be the center of attention, but, like I said, I'm a very calm person and I very rarely get any kind of social anxiety or anything related to being in social situations.

I distinctly remember that no one paid any attention to me at all. The only reason it's absurd that they didn't pay attention to me is due to the fact that they were expecting me and when I came back the second time, they reacted as if it were the first. I even asked one person if they saw me more than once and he said that he didn't

2) They weren't engaged in any deep or really interesting conversations. They were patiently waiting on me, they were talking, but a not a whole lot at all.

3) It was not a dream. I had not slept any after I got up that morning (this was 5 / 6ish at night). I can never really rule this out for sure, but how do you know you're not dreaming right now?

4) These were all elderly people and they don't like playing practical jokes on people, AT ALL. They were there to specifically hear what I had to say, they weren't there to play a practical joke.

Just to say, this is a new situation to you all, I imagine. I appreciate alternate scenarios and hypotheses being presented. Just remember that this is not new to me, I have had a year to think of all these things, which I've already done and am very sure they do not apply.

Prander needs a sense of humour.
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Another bold accusation / assumption. You base your whole opinion of me on one thread that covers a very controversial and unfounded claim?? Just because I'm serious with this thread, doesn't mean you can safely infer that I don't have a sense of humor. That is just as rediculous as, I assume, my claim appears to be.

I absolutely could not believe she couldn't see me for that period of time unless I had become invisible. Of course I wasn't, but I thought prander might want to consider my anecdote. Perhaps the same thing happened to him.
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The kicker for me is that I came into the room (the first time) and they did not ackowledge me at all, they didn't say hi, they didn't look up and they weren't otherwise preoccupied. When I came in the second time, they did ackowledge me, they said hi and looked up at me and were otherwise behaving as if it were the first time I came in.
 
Not-so-unusual events

1. Last week my husband and I were driving to a small gathering. On a normal day, the place we were going was about one hour away. On this particular day, we encountered many instances of road construction. Our travel time eventually hit 2 1/2 hours. We were obviously going to arrive after the gathering had officially ended. My husband is the kind of guy who will (sensibly) keep going, get there late, offer apologies, charm everyone and have a great time. I am the kind of person who finds being so very, very late a mortifying faux-pas.

I suggested to him that we turn around and admit defeat. He gave a small laugh. I said that I was serious, I'd had enough, the day was hot, the traffic was infuriating, I was in a bad mood, we were going to be late, that would be embarassing, and I'd like to turn around. I suggested we take the next exit and go back home. I pointed out the exit. I said it had a bridge over the highway and would be an "easy off, easy on."

He kept driving. After 15 minutes, I finally remarked (heatedly) that he could at least SAY SOMETHING, and that if HE wanted to continue he could at least TELL ME!!!

He looked at me in surprise and said "I thought you wanted to go to this party!" It was very odd, as my husband and I respect each other's opinions and he does not have a history of ignoring me.

2. I have a friend named Paul who plays the guitar and sings and is very talented and entertaining. He went to an open mike night at a local club. The crowd knew it was open mike night, and they were expecting someone to go on stage and begin singing.The MC announced his name and Paul came on stage, in full view of everyone, and began playing his guitar and singing his songs. Nobody listened. They just kept talking. Paul was offended. He stopped playing and remarked that if nobody was interested he would just stop and leave. Nobody paid any attention. He tried to sing again, but the noise and talking continued. He called them all names and got up and left. Nobody noticed.

A few weeks later, at the company party, Paul sang his songs and everybody sat in rapt attention. He brought down the house and we yelled for more. Year later, I still remember the words to his songs, and his performance has become sonething of a legend.

I find each of these stories odd. I don't have a definitive explanation. However, this is what I do know:

1. I could have become invisible, however, the simpler explanation is that my husband's mind was elsewhere. He has no explanation for what happened, but admits he was thinking about something else and was concentrating on the traffic. He was tired and stressed and was trying to make it to a party that I had been talking about for weeks with great excitement. He didn't even hear my remarks.

2. My friend Paul could have become invisible. But what really happened was that the crowd at the bar could care less about some guy they didn't know singing songs they'd never heard before. The crowd at the office party knew Paul very well, and was delighted at finding a hidden talent. His songs were about people and events at our office, and we knew what he was talking about and found it roll-on-the-floor funny.


Ok, so there it is. These things are in no way paranormal. Judging from the personal experiences posted here, they aren't even unusual.
 
It's just so irrational to just discard all those logical explanations that other people have offered, and accept the impossible.

Prander is someone who likes to go in circles discussing a topic with no end in sight until someone else posts that they believe in invisibility.

So so sad.
 
cabby said:
In the end, I accepted that at times, it is possible to be in a room full of people, and for none of them to notice you. I don't believe you actually disappear, I think their minds are just elsewhere, and if you aren't leaping about waving your arms and shrieking, they don't have much reason to pay you any attention. If you are waving your arms and shrieking, I guarantee you, someone will notice you.
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I'm reminded of a stage trick Houdini apparently used to do, where he would be locked into a small booth on one side of the stage. A group of workmen would then come onto the stage and erect a brick wall , dividing the stage left from right. Then they would leave and and Houdini would step out of an identical booth on the opposite side of the brick wall. The effect being that he had invisibly passed from the first booth, through the wall, and into the other booth.

SPOILER (not entirely necessary to the discussion - highlight with mouse to read):

AIUI, the trick was based on the idea that the brain can only distinguish or notice five or so individual items before it begins losing focus. There would be 10 or 15 workmen milling around on stage, so it was easy for Houdini, dressed identically, to emerge from one booth, mill around on stage with them, unnoticed by the audience, then slip into the other booth.
 
Prander is someone who likes to go in circles discussing a topic with no end in sight until someone else posts that they believe in invisibility.
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NO, prander is not. I'm giving my take on things. I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything.

Of course, I knew it would get discussed and I'd be questioned. I'm 100% perfectly fine with that and I'm just as fine with no one coming to the same conclusion I have. I would never expect anyone (especially on a skeptic's forum) to agree with me.

But, I'm responding to questions, comments, and so on. I didn't instigate the discussion. The original point of my initial post was to ask a question, not to discuss my experiences of this.


1. I could have become invisible, however, the simpler explanation is that my husband's mind was elsewhere. He has no explanation for what happened, but admits he was thinking about something else and was concentrating on the traffic. He was tired and stressed and was trying to make it to a party that I had been talking about for weeks with great excitement. He didn't even hear my remarks.
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I've been on both sides of this coin and never once considered myself or the other person to be physically invisible.
2. My friend Paul could have become invisible. But what really happened was that the crowd at the bar could care less about some guy they didn't know singing songs they'd never heard before. The crowd at the office party knew Paul very well, and was delighted at finding a hidden talent. His songs were about people and events at our office, and we knew what he was talking about and found it roll-on-the-floor funny.
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It's not difficult to become "invisible" in a large crowd, even if the center of the stage. I've easily slipt away from larger crowds before without anyone noticing. I've never considered myself to be physically invisible when that happens.
 
You mentioned that you saw someone else demonstrate invisibility. Could you tell us what that appeared like in more detail--the circumstances, whether you could still hear him or touch him, whether he could still manipulate objects, etc.
 
It's not difficult to become "invisible" in a large crowd, even if the center of the stage. I've easily slipt away from larger crowds before without anyone noticing. I've never considered myself to be physically invisible when that happens.
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That's exactlly what I think, too.

A room full of people did not react to my presense at all, I was expected to be in the room and they were waiting for me to be there. Yet, they didn't give any recognition that I was there, at all. At least, I would expect them to look at me and say something to me.
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That's the gist of what my friend Paul said to me. However, he didn't assume a paranormal event had taken place. He just thought the people excessively stupid and very rude. He took it as a personal insult, and couldn't understand why he wasn't given a rock star welcome. After all, his mother and closest friends had always told him how talented he was. He was unable to see that the club crowd was simply uninterested in yet another so-so singer. Its so easy to believe your own press. Its much easier to think some sort of supernatural event happened than the alternative - everybody thought "Oh gosh, not this guy again. Maybe if we ignore him he'll go away."

I don't wish to discourage you from conducting some tests in preparation for applying for the challenge (should you ever decide you have some sort of invisibility power), just be prepared for what you learn.

Good luck and goodbye.
 
That's the gist of what my friend Paul said to me. However, he didn't assume a paranormal event had taken place. He just thought the people excessively stupid and very rude. He took it as a personal insult, and couldn't understand why he wasn't given a rock star welcome. After all, his mother and closest friends had always told him how talented he was. He was unable to see that the club crowd was simply uninterested in yet another so-so singer. Its so easy to believe your own press. Its much easier to think some sort of supernatural event happened than the alternative - everybody thought "Oh gosh, not this guy again. Maybe if we ignore him he'll go away."
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The difference was that they were there specifically to hear what I had to say. They were waiting for me (patiently) and were not otherwise preoccupied with heavy and distracting talk. There were only a few people there, I'd say 5 or 6 at the most.

Thanks and goodbye as well.


You mentioned that you saw someone else demonstrate invisibility. Could you tell us what that appeared like in more detail--the circumstances, whether you could still hear him or touch him, whether he could still manipulate objects, etc.
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This happened before my experience so I'll have to think about this a bit more. I'll see what I can remember.
 
Just cut to the chase.

Prander, so what is your purpose then? You've read our responses, and we've concluded with logcal responses, and agreed upon these as to why you've appeared invisible.

Are you going to accept or keep thinking you're invisible?
 
sf108 said:
Just cut to the chase.

Prander, so what is your purpose then? You've read our responses, and we've concluded with logcal responses, and agreed upon these as to why you've appeared invisible.

Are you going to accept or keep thinking you're invisible?
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I think he's going to just keep on trolling. His purpose is to waffle endlessly about something that can easily be explained by natural means by saying "well it could have happened supernaturally"

Yes Prander, it could be that you were briefly invisible in contradiction of all known laws of physics, or it could be that one of the perfectly rational explanations in this thread applies. You choose, but knock it off with the waffle.

On a more important matter sf108 - who is in your avatar???

Winny
 
Do not see the point of this thread until prander does experiements to duplicate what he experienced before. If he can beome invisiable on demand then he should apply for the $1 million. If he cannot then it should be put down to a once off interesting experience.
 
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