Halloween Radio Smart Talk on ghosts: do you believe?

Friday, 28 October 2011 14:27

Halloween Radio Smart Talk on ghosts: do you believe?

Written by Scott LaMar, Director of Radio Smart Talk

Radio Smart Talk for Monday, October 31:

Do you believe in ghosts? If you do, have you ever had an experienced where you felt in touch with a dead person? Polls conducted of Americans over the last half decade are all over the place. The results show that anywhere from 18% to 50% of Americans believe in ghosts and about one-in-five say they've been in the presence of a spirit.

Monday is Halloween and to mark the occasion, Radio Smart Talk will focus on the supernatural. Joining us will be author, historian, and paranormal investigator Mark Nesbitt, who also runs Ghosts of Gettysburg tours, and Brad Christman of witf's Radio Pennsylvania Network, who has audio of what may or may not be ghosts of long-departed Civil war soldiers.

We'd like to hear your ghost stories. Do you believe in ghosts and have you ever seen or been in the presence of a ghost?

LISTEN TO PROGRAM:

Published in Smart Talk

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comments

# Sharon Hill 2011-10-29 12:05

Why not have a skeptical viewpoint as well?

http://idoubtit.wordpress.com

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# Sarah Wilson 2011-10-31 09:18

Wilson College has some wonderful ghost stories, as well as the Capitol Theatre in Chambersburg - where there are aparently 5 ghosts in the old portion of the building (including the first organist and caretaker)- and I find that ghost-lore enriches the history of the building or institution where the "ghost" is found. This is especially true for college campuses where Ghost stories run rampant!

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# Lisa 2011-10-31 09:35

Regarding the recordings, have you checked for electromagnetic interference as a cause of the odd "sounds"? I worked in a lab and we found that cell phones and walkie talkies would cause false readings in our chromatographic equipment. My radio will sometimes pick up the conversations of CBer's driving past my house. Are you sure you are not picking up other audio signals being broadcast within the vicinity? Any good experiment requires a controlled environment.

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# Robert Colgan 2011-10-31 09:37

We can't see most of the electromagnetic spectrum--only a narrow part that our eyes are tuned to receive----but it doesn't mean that it doesn't exist.
We can detect it with electromagnetic devices.

We can't see thoughts yet we acknowledge their existence.....and the stories of people knowing things about which they have no viable experience tell us that thoughts can be transmitted.

Most of us can't see things at a spirit level, which is beyond normal perception----yet there are those exceptional people who can clearly see auras, see spirit entities, can communicate with spirits.

Why this isn't simply accepted as fact escapes me ..... probably it is because people resist what they can't personally perceive.

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# John, Hershey 2011-10-31 09:40

Good morning,
We don't refer to them as ghosts, but as "Visitors from The Spirit World". Whenever close family members have passed away we have experienced specific aromas -- freshly-cut flowers (no fresh flowers in the house, my mother loved flowers, wanted to be a florist), gasoline fumes (soon after my father-in-law passed away, he was a mechanic), intense cigarette smoke (we don't smoke, but deceased family members who were chain smokers), etc. A couple of times our son asked, "Why is Grandma's spirit in my room?" -- he wasn't scared, just curious. "She misses you & is visiting."

We experience multiple aromas, which we associate with various family members, days prior to someone dying, the day someone dies, or within a day/couple of days following their deaths. Interesting show -- thank you!

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# Don M 2011-10-31 09:42

We live in an 1830s vintage stone farmhouse in Boiling Springs. We've lived there 12 years. When we first moved in we heard a shuffling sound several times in the upper hall. Our sons also heard these sounds but there was no one there. We had a visit from a man who was born & brought up in our house from 1919-1957. He thought it may have been his father shuffling along in his bedroom slippers. We have not heard this sound recently but feel who or what ever it is they seem to be happy with our presence.

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# Phoebe 2011-10-31 10:00

People claim to have so many paranormal experiences at places like Gettysburg, where there has been violent historical conflict. If those are truly "ghost sightings" and the like, why don't people see and experience ghosts in the same volume from conflicts before the time of European settlers in this land? I'm sure Native Americans had plenty of unrecorded violent conflicts of their own. It seems to me that some people like to project an additional layer of the dramatic onto places already imbued with dramatic histories.

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# Steve 2011-10-31 10:02

Do you really believe that mediums are disillusioned and just think they are talking to ghosts, or are they intentionally trying to deceive? Also, have you heard of the phenomena called a "ghost sandwich"?

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# Lee 2011-10-31 10:03

I have ghosts in my house. I continue to have ghosts move my shoes; they've put my car keys into the refrigerator; and have hidden my wallet on me a number of times.

My wife thinks I'm just getting old and forgetting things, but I know it's ghosts.

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# John Donnelly 2011-10-31 10:19

I am skeptical but open to the idea that there is something there. When my grandmother died in the middle of the night I was awoken by a screech outside of my window. I looked out the window and saw what I can only discribe as a banshee. In the morning when my mother told me my grandmother died I saild that I already knew.
I lived at Fort Riley Kansas for 8 years and the stories there are fantastic. For example part of the 7th Cavalry coming home with Custer so that he could check on his sick wife. This is an event that really did happen and now it can be seen occasionally. Also, the chapel on main post will not stay locked all night. Supposedly no matter what is done the chapel is unlocked in the morning.
I have heard that areas with a high concentration of sandstone and limestone are more likely to have paranormal activity. Is that true?

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# Patrica 2011-10-31 10:32

I have always painted as a hobby. A few years ago I fell & broke my right arm. Unable to paint and frustrated I slathered watercolors on a sheet of paper and walked away. When returning, images manifested themselves onto the paper. Most of them are angels. I applied paint to paper many times and images always appeared. BUT, before that a light bulb blew out in my apt. When maintenance took it down, there is a Holy Cross on the INSIDE of the bulb and it is done in an iridescent white. The filament still hangs. I am not too good with the computer but will try to post some pictures.

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# John, Hershey 2011-10-31 10:37

One fragrance -- I associate only with my grandmother's home. I first experienced it in 1988 -- in the middle of the night -- late morning/same day I was informed that she had passed away. She lived in NE PA & I was living in West Texas. I've experienced the same aroma numerous times over 20+ years -- often prior to the death of another family member. Also, many times since, awakened at 5:10am, aware of the aroma -- her house number was 5-1-0. I usually say, "Good morning Grandma, thank you for visiting." Then, thinking, "...hopefully, you're not coming for me..." ;}

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# Paul Whitman 2011-10-31 13:34

As a volunteer with hospice and a frequent attender at Hospice Support Groups I have heard many people who have lost loved ones tell stories of odd, too good to be true, coincidences which seem to point to some form of communication from those who have "passed on."
I lost my wife in 2009 and while I haven't had what I would call a direct communication with her I have experienced "coincidences" which have made me feel that she is still a presence in my life and that "there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

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# Cupboard Maker Books 2011-10-31 14:09

We are looking forward to having Mr. Nesbitt at our store, Cupboard Maker Books, tonight for an author signing from 5-7pm! Our address is 157 N. Enola Rd. Routes 11 & 15, Enola, PA 17025. See you all soon!

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# Robin Ames 2011-10-31 14:31

Where did you get that picture? It's spooky.

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# Scott LaMar 2011-10-31 15:01

Robin:
That is a scary picture. We subscribe to a photo service and that's where it came from. It looks like it would be a great Halloween costume.

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# Scott LaMar 2011-10-31 15:03

Thanks for all the stories and the comments from skeptics. This was a fascinating and fun show. Mark Nesbitt invited me on a Gettysburg ghost tour. I'll have to go and report back to the audience.

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# Robin Ames 2011-10-31 15:27

Thanks, Scott. I enjoyed listening to the show and it sounds like a lot of others did, too.

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# Mary Georgia 2011-10-31 21:41

Do you ever think about the places where people most often pass away? How about our hospitals? We don't hear much about our hospitals being haunted (except former Civil War ones). If hauntings were real, you'd expect our hospitals to be very haunted...

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