Common Explanations for 'Paranormal' that crop up again and again

Not2Good · 26-10-2014 11:48pm #1

What common explanations for alleged paranormal events come up again and again?

For me a recent example happened.

E.g. Yesterday in. Coffee shop the stainless steel tea pot moved across the table by itself!.... of course the table had glass cover and a fine layer of water was between the tea pot and the glass let the tea pot glide along! Try it your self... looks creepy though....

Tragamin2k2 · 29-10-2014 7:37pm

always see that happening with glasses. heres one for ya: http://www.neatorama.com/2012/10/22/A-Real-Life-Ghost-Story/

maccored · 29-10-2014 9:44pm

when people are listening back to audio recordings of an investigation, many times they mistake someone handling or moving the recorder for whispering, and then usually think its an evp.

another is fingers, thumbs or camera straps when taking photos. often mistaken for vortexes (whatever they are), ghosties etc

Not2Good · 29-10-2014 10:35pm

Cheers, thanks for that! N2G

Tragamin2k2 wrote: »

always see that happening with glasses. heres one for ya: http://www.neatorama.com/2012/10/22/A-Real-Life-Ghost-Story/

Not2Good · 29-10-2014 10:38pm

Thanks Maccored, great tips, shows that simple, uncomplicated answers can explain away odd effects/noises...

maccored wrote: »

when people are listening back to audio recordings of an investigation, many times they mistake someone handling or moving the recorder for whispering, and then usually think its an evp.

another is fingers, thumbs or camera straps when taking photos. often mistaken for vortexes (whatever they are), ghosties etc

Cunning Stunt · 30-10-2014 9:49am

sleep paralysis

Tragamin2k2 · 31-10-2014 1:13am

Cunning Stunt wrote: »

sleep paralysis

chinese sleep paralysis lanterns

03-11-2014 3:55pm

people taking pictures of their own shadow and presenting it as a Shadow person.

Micky Dolenz · 12-11-2014 4:46pm

Was in a haunted building late at night. I was in the most haunted room in the house.

I entered the room and left the door slightly ajar. Soon after the door slowly creaked and opened fully. Was very interesting.

On further inspection, if you stepped on one particular floor board it caused the door frame to move. It was enough to make the door slowly swing open as it wasn't exactly square.

byhookorbycrook · 22-11-2014 7:04pm

My grandfather always said that the electric light killed all the ghosts!
One of his favourite stories was of coming home from cards in horses and traps past the local ruined abbey. They could see a white shape following along the abbey wall. One of the traps turned back, but my grandfather and a few friends kept going. On passing the abbey, they discovered that the ghostly monk was, in fact, a bullock scratching itself along the wall.

Not2Good · 08-12-2014 6:13pm

Last night my daughters came down from their room to say that there was something strange happening, floating hands pointing at them! Went up and noticed one of them was holding a box with a small mirror inside and sure enough when it caught the lights the reflection on the walls looked like flying hands pointing... ! They were surprisingly calm about it... or maybe they were putting me on... !

screamer · 09-12-2014 12:10am

Static from synthetic fleeces that emits green light flashes when rubbed. I know this as I love to sleep in my fleece PJs, and often when I move, I see the green static flashes from it.

Not2Good · 03-02-2015 6:34pm

Ghostly steps on wooden stairs, being wood expanding and contracting due to central heating

Not2Good · 04-02-2015 12:05pm

Medication and/or certain medical conditions

Not2Good · 04-02-2015 3:51pm

TV's and other appliances turning on by themselves ….. because of power surges (assuming that the aplliance is 'plugged in '!!). This happened a good bit in college days down in Waterford flat and there was car tyre centre with heavy (electrical) car equipment/tools across the way probably on the same electrical supply route….

Ziycon · 11-02-2015 2:41pm

People that have already made their minds up before going to a "haunted" location that they'll see a ghost or have an experience.

dr.fuzzenstein · 10-03-2015 9:57pm

Anyone care to take a guess at this? This is a pic I took in an Italian church and no, it's nothing supernatural.

I Am_Not_Ice · 11-03-2015 2:13am

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

no, it's nothing supernatural.

If you're so sure of that, then why post it in this forum?

dr.fuzzenstein · 11-03-2015 9:53am

I Am_Not_Ice wrote: »

If you're so sure of that, then why post it in this forum?

I set the camera on a tripod and left the shutter open for about 10 secs. A woman walked into the picture, stopped briefly and walked on again. This is the result. It's one of my favourite pics I've ever taken, but it's nothing supernatural.

Because the first thing you should know, is to always look for a rational explanation first. I am not an unbeliever, but I am a skeptic.

maccored · 11-03-2015 10:27am

i was going to guess double exposure - didnt think of a long exposure

IamtooGoode · 19-03-2015 2:47pm

For the sake of my curiosity only (Hopefully some of the 'camera gurus' can correct me if I am wrong) but I would have expected some sort of a blur entering the frame and there appears to be no burring except in the centre of the picture. Did you enhance or modify the picture?

Riamfada · 19-03-2015 3:44pm

It depends on whether or not the woman stopped. If she would have kept moving it would be a blur. Because she stopped for a bit the area where she stopped is more pronounced.

I suppose when someone posts a picture with a similar artifact in it as paranormal they are aware that there was no one in the shot when the image was taken.

I took a picture years ago and got a very odd mist type of feature in it. People said that it was someone in the picture but when I took the picture there was no one there. People didnt believe me .. meh. My point is that just because my picture looked like an long exposure with movement didnt make it so. Others point of view was that because it couldnt possibly be anything else (in their opinion) it was certainly someone in the shot irregardless of me saying I was alone. Photos are a tricky one because there is always a "rational" explanation. I would never have classed the image above as "paranormal" unless the photographer had assured me that there was no one in the shot.

IamtooGoode · 19-03-2015 3:56pm

Thanks for the explanation Riamfada

dr.fuzzenstein · 19-03-2015 9:41pm

IamtooGoode wrote: »

For the sake of my curiosity only (Hopefully some of the 'camera gurus' can correct me if I am wrong) but I would have expected some sort of a blur entering the frame and there appears to be no burring except in the centre of the picture. Did you enhance or modify the picture?

No enhancements whatsoever. Straight scan from negative, no tinkering. It was a lot darker than that in the church, but looks lighter due to the long exposure. She moved in fairly swiftly, stopped and moved off again. I'm sure if I where to look closer at the original scan, I'd find some blur, but it would be fairly faint.
Funny thing, at first I was pissed off she walked into my shot...

IamtooGoode · 19-03-2015 10:05pm

Cheers, thanks for that!

Common Explanations for 'Paranormal' that crop up again and again

Comments