The paranormal is a constant in our lives. I refuse to believe every creek in a house is the house itself "settling", sometimes that is grandma trying to give a message, or a lost soul hollering out. And as much as we love shows and movies about this stuff... nobody really wants to be Whoopi Goldberg in Ghost. I'm already afraid that serial killers are lurking in the shadows. That is more than enough to worry about.
Redditor u/chipit69 wanted to discuss the times the spooky has come knocking by asking..... What's the most compelling 'paranormal' thing you've experienced? Did it change your worldview? (Serious)balls of light....
Friend always said he had a haunted house and adjacent woods, said some wild stories that I never seriously thought to be true. During a sleepover he commented on seeing floating balls of light. I was the only one up when everyone went to bed, then felt weird and looked into the dining room. I saw a floating ball of light, which then rapidly expanded without a single sound and briefly blinded me. It expanded slower then light should have.
I have no idea what it was. Some kind of phenomenon, maybe? It mostly made me consider all the other stories he said that were much more extreme, like weird cryptids in the forest. He never said them in a manner that seemed joking or the like, just idle information.
Didn't change much. My other paranormal experience happened when I was so young the memory is much less reliable, although it was a lot more extreme.
Florida....
My grandma's boyfriend passed away and my mom and I traveled to Florida to help her make the arrangements. My grandma had a two bedroom condo in a gated community, so my mom took the second bedroom and I took the couch. I woke up at 4:19 am and heard old timey music. Figured my grandma was awake early and tried to go back to sleep. Then I heard shuffling down the hall. Figured my mom was going to the bathroom. But then I heard someone sigh and sit down in the leather recliner next to the couch that he always sat in. I immediately knew it was him.
Later in the day we visited his kids (not related to us) and my mom kept trying to get me to tell his oldest daughter. I told my mom I didn't want to upset her. She overheard and asked me to tell her. So I explain what happened. Her eyes got all wide and she looked at her husband. Apparently her husband woke up in the middle of the night, looked straight at her and told her her father was there and that he was ok.
That wasn't my first experience with the paranormal, but certainly one I could never forget.
"hey buddy, are you here with someone?"
I was at a bar about 8 years ago, had a pretty good buzz going, and I walked down the hallway to the restroom, and around the corner comes a little boy. He was maybe 6 or 7, he had on black pants and a white button down shirt, and he had short dark hair. Now it's one in the morning, and there's a little kid in the bar. He stopped when he saw me, and just looked at me. I said "hey buddy, are you here with someone?" And he got this really shocked look on his face and.... vanished.
Like..he didn't move, he disappeared. However, as I mentioned, I'd been drinking so I just blew it off.
Cut to 6 months later, I started bartending at that bar. I was working day shift, and when the owner came in at 4 pm, I told him that I didn't know there was an apartment above the bar and it must suck to have to listen to the bar all night, especially with little kids.
He asked me what the hell I was talking about. I told him I'd been listening to the kids upstairs playing and laughing and running around all day. He walked me up to the second floor. It's not an apartment. It's a huge, empty room.
One night I was closing the bar at 3:30 in the morning, and I went to the bathroom before I left. I was the only one there, and the doors were locked. I hear knocking on the bathroom door and a little kid giggling. No one was there when I opened the door.
That Christmas, I bought a rubber ball and a toy truck and a doll and left them upstairs in the empty room. For the next several months I would hear the ball bouncing across the wooden floor upstairs while I was working. It made me smile. They were just kids, at least they finally had some toys.
Coin Clutter....
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The sound of change being stacked up on my glass-topped desk. I didn't have a pile of change in my desk but I could hear the clink of dimes and quarters moving around.
thunderstorm....
My maternal grandfather famously saw ball lightning in his room during a thunderstorm when my mother was young. It came in through the wall near the ceiling, floated around the room a bit and then left through another wall. It even left scorch marks on the walls where it came and went.
Apparently from that day on whenever there was a thunderstorm he'd make everyone in the house sleep together in the living room. I don't think he ever believed it was paranormal, but he was sure as heck scared by it.
In Basements....
My dad had a workshop in the basement. I was in bed sleeping and all of a sudden I heard some tools going off downstairs. I was trying to figure out why on earth my dad would be down there so late at night so I went to get up to investigate. As I passed by his room, I heard him snore. He was fast asleep (also he's deaf so no way he was waking up from the noise). Needless to say I ran back to bed and pulled the covers over my head.
My family also experienced a bunch of odd stuff in that house, like the workshop door handle jiggling or seeing a figure in the darkness. Even had our dog break into the house via the tiny basement window, shattering it and jumping the 8 feet to get in. That basement definitely had something going on and I've absolutely hated being in basements by myself ever since.
That House...
My sister and I were watching tv in my room when this black sphere a little smaller than a basketball appeared right below my ceiling. We didn't yell or run away, we watched it. Very slowly it moved down until it went past the foot of my bed so we couldn't see it anymore. We looked at each other and then we jumped up and ran downstairs.
Another time, same house, my friend had slept over. In the morning we were laying in bed talking about where we wanted to get breakfast.
As we're talking, a big bottle of coco butter that I had on my vanity mirror moved forward across the vanity about 6 inches and then shot to the floor. My friend immediately asked if we could go downstairs lol That house was built in the 1840's and we had so many experiences there, even my stepdad did and before that he didn't really believe in that stuff. I have a ton of stories if anyone's interested.
Almost Dead....
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Not necessarily paranormal but I was waiting at a stop light about to turn left, the light turned green and normally I would just go, but for some reason I hesitated for like five seconds and just sat there as cars behind me honked.
I look to my left and a semi barrels through the intersection. If I would've gone I was dead. It's like my mind just blanked and something stopped me from going. Pretty creepy.
We Out!
I've always believed in the paranormal. Years ago, i lived in this house, and we would hear bangs upstairs, and we would run upstairs. Then upstairs we would hear one downstairs! Sometimes we would come home, to find the fridge is sideways, or the chairs are all pulled out, and doors open. The tv, lamps and other stuff would be unplugged.
This other time, my brother was laying in bed (his story), and felt a pressure on his legs, as if somebody was sat on the bed, on his legs. He said there was an actual bump in the sheets where he felt it too!
Glad we moved, lol.
Norman?
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I stayed in a haunted hotel room. TV went wild one night and a woman appeared on the screen.
I was very skeptical and tried to figure out if it was a commercial but couldn't find anything online. That night I was woken up constantly by being lifted up onto my side, shaken, or outright hit in the stomach. It would feel like someone hit me with all of their might. I know I wasn't imagining it because it happened again the next night, and every night I stayed there that week. Freaky crap, but instantly made me a believer.
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Every now and then, a friend of ours might say something, or we might overhear a complete stranger say something that makes us stop in our tracks.
More often than not, what we can't believe we just heard is something so ridiculous, we can't help but put the person who said it in their place.
Other times, however, what we just heard might have stunned us silent because of how shockingly clever it was.
Resulting in our not wanting to scold or yell at someone, but rather give them a handshake.
Redditor SubmergingOriginal was curious to hear the sharpest and wittiest things they've ever heard, from friends and strangers alike, leading them to ask:
"Enough with the dumbest; what is the wittiest thing you've ever heard someone say?"
Don't Give Me So Much Credit...
'I was on a team at work that was on a project working insane overtime."
"One night after an 80-90 hour week, we were all sitting around the table trying to finish up so we could go home."
"Around 11, my buddy's wife called, dubious about the hours he'd been keeping."
"We heard her through the line - 'are you cheating on me?'"
"Exasperated, he looked at our boss, then replied 'honey, if I was cheating on you, I would have been home by now'."- lionbatcher
Eternal Optimism...
"Asked a blind guy if he'd been blind his whole life."
"He said 'Not yet'."- Feeling_Mode_6465
Free time Isn't The Only Thing He Has On His Hands...
"My brother got a vasectomy and when the doctor was releasing him and giving him instructions (with the nurse listening in), one of the orders was to 'come back and have a follow-up appointment after you’ve ejaculated 30 times'.”
"Without missing a beat my brother asked 'what time do you open tomorrow?'”
"The nurse couldn’t keep it together after hearing that."- UtahUtopia
Awkward Season 8 GIF by The Office
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Double Whammy!
"My pal uses the phrase 'he doesn’t look strong enough to carry information' and it cracks me up every time."
"Calling someone stupid and weak in one fell swoop."- JennyW93
Can't Hide Your DNA...
'Whenever I jokingly insult my mum, she says 'that must be where you get it from'."
"She cracked the code."
"I can never offend her without offending myself."- JennyW93
Self-Sufficient!
"My brother was a line cook at a New Orleans restaurant."
"My mom was in town, staying at a fancy hotel, and he stopped by after work, still wearing his kitchen whites."
"He was reading a newspaper in the lobby waiting for her to come down when the shocked lobby manager sputtered at him, 'MAY I HELP YOU!?!?'
"He answered, 'thanks, but I know how to read',” and went back to his paper."- jobrody
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A Miracle!
"My brother-in-law’s comment."
"The entire family went out for my mother’s 80th birthday and after the meal we all went to a local park, largely occupied by the elderly, to rest."
"My mother needed crutches at this point, and they were resting against her bench."
"My 10-year-old niece, who looked like every starving waif image from Dickens, grabbed the crutches and started hobbling round the park."
"All the OAPs were following her progress with looks of pity until my brother ran up behind her, and kicked away the crutches."
"There was an audible gasp from round the park and then my niece picked the crutches back up and started chasing my brother, clearly intending to hit him."
"In the confused silence my brother-in-law’s voice rang out 'Praise be! She can walk again!'"
"We still think this was the highlight of the birthday celebrations."- DdraigGwyn
Still Legal, Whichever Way You Cut It...
"I picked up my pleasantly tipsy boyfriend from a nightclub."
"We were stopped by the Police for a random breath test."
"They asked me my age, and I said, 33."
"My bf blurted out '33? You told me you were 22'."
"Police just laughed and let me go."- Aggravating-Corgi379
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A Bit Too On The Nose?
"Business law class in college years ago, talking about the issues that black Americans had before the Civil Rights."
"Amendment, trying to travel through the south with the discrimination so rampant, trying to find restaurants to serve them and decent lodgings."
"My instructor was posing a hypothetical: 'So you pull up out front of this place, you're exhausted from driving for hours, and you see the sign out front says 'Ku Klux Klan Motel'."
"'What would you expect to find there?'"
"Without missing a beat, from the back of the room came this gem: "'Extra sheets in every room?'"- NedsAtomicDB
Not Yet, Anyway...
"I was working with my friend and his dad."
"My friend (26) heard an ice cream truck near where we were working."
"He asked his dad if he could have a couple dollars."
"His dad asked, 'what for?'"
"My friend told his dad that there was an ice cream truck in the neighborhood, and that they were playing music."
"My friends dad told him "'They don't charge anything to listen to the music'."- tatersalad1234567890
Words Escape You In The Literal "Heat" Of The Moment...
"A friend of mine is a teacher and her husband is known for his wit."
"She told this story to him:"
"One day at school a kid took the hall pass and returned reeking like smoke."
"She asked the kid if he’d been smoking and he denied it over and over."
"She was about to send him to the office when she noticed smoke coming from somewhere."
"She told the kid and he realized that he didn’t put his cig out completely and it was burning in his pants pocket."
"The kid noticed and frantically tried to put it out and someone finally poured water on it."
"Her husband sat listening to this with a weird look on his face."
"She asked him what was wrong."
“'What’s wrong???'"
"'This was probably the only chance you’ll have in your life to say literally, ‘liar,liar, pants on fire’ and you missed your chance'."- Luder714
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Amazing What You Might Say A Few Drinks In...
"When I went to a renaissance faire once, I went to a beer tent and ordered a Newcastle Brown Ale (seemed the most fitting for the surroundings)."
"The beer wench, without skipping a beat, said, 'Everyone wants a Newcastle - no one wants to remodel!'"- jayhof52
Read The Room People!
"My dad wiped out when skiing down a mountain and lost a ski."
"After a few minutes of hunting for it, he gives up, slings the one remaining ski over a shoulder and starts walking down the mountain in his ski boots."
"About half-way down, another skier stops and goes 'Gee! Did you lose a ski?'"
"My dad instantly replied 'No, I was out for a walk and found one!'"- PeterJoAl
There's a reason your mother always told you to "use your words".
As clever remarks can have a much more lasting effect on people than a push or shove.