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People Break Down The Most Compelling Paranormal Things They've Ever Experienced

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People Break Down The Most Compelling Paranormal Things They've Ever Experienced
Image by Stefan Keller from Pixabay

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.

ZaurenXT

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.

Rutabagel13

"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.

whereisyourlavender

Coin Clutter....

winning video game GIF by Lil YachtyGiphy

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.

Nikaloas

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.

MrMiyamoto

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.

velvet-rebel

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.

macaronimerrmaid

Almost Dead....

Car Crash Fire GIF by Farmers Insurance ®Giphy

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.

AgressiveVagina

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.

who_ate_my_soap1865

Norman?

Movie Stabbing GIFGiphy

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.

JacquesMeHoff69

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REDDDIT

People Reveal The Weirdest Thing About Themselves

Reddit user Isitjustmedownhere asked: 'Give an example; how weird are you really?'

Let's get one thing straight: no one is normal. We're all weird in our own ways, and that is actually normal.

Of course, that doesn't mean we don't all have that one strange trait or quirk that outweighs all the other weirdness we possess.

For me, it's the fact that I'm almost 30 years old, and I still have an imaginary friend. Her name is Sarah, she has red hair and green eyes, and I strongly believe that, since I lived in India when I created her and there were no actual people with red hair around, she was based on Daphne Blake from Scooby-Doo.

I also didn't know the name Sarah when I created her, so that came later. I know she's not really there, hence the term 'imaginary friend,' but she's kind of always been around. We all have conversations in our heads; mine are with Sarah. She keeps me on task and efficient.

My mom thinks I'm crazy that I still have an imaginary friend, and writing about her like this makes me think I may actually be crazy, but I don't mind. As I said, we're all weird, and we all have that one trait that outweighs all the other weirdness.

Redditors know this all too well and are eager to share their weird traits.

It all started when Redditor Isitjustmedownhere asked:

"Give an example; how weird are you really?"

Monsters Under My Bed

"My bed doesn't touch any wall."

"Edit: I guess i should clarify im not rich."

– Practical_Eye_3600

"Gosh the monsters can get you from any angle then."

– bikergirlr7

"At first I thought this was a flex on how big your bedroom is, but then I realized you're just a psycho 😁"

– zenOFiniquity8

Can You See Why?

"I bought one of those super-powerful fans to dry a basement carpet. Afterwards, I realized that it can point straight up and that it would be amazing to use on myself post-shower. Now I squeegee my body with my hands, step out of the shower and get blasted by a wide jet of room-temp air. I barely use my towel at all. Wife thinks I'm weird."

– KingBooRadley

Remember

"In 1990 when I was 8 years old and bored on a field trip, I saw a black Oldsmobile Cutlass driving down the street on a hot day to where you could see that mirage like distortion from the heat on the road. I took a “snapshot” by blinking my eyes and told myself “I wonder how long I can remember this image” ….well."

– AquamarineCheetah

"Even before smartphones, I always take "snapshots" by blinking my eyes hoping I'll remember every detail so I can draw it when I get home. Unfortunately, I may have taken so much snapshots that I can no longer remember every detail I want to draw."

"Makes me think my "memory is full.""

– Reasonable-Pirate902

Same, Same

"I have eaten the same lunch every day for the past 4 years and I'm not bored yet."

– OhhGoood

"How f**king big was this lunch when you started?"

– notmyrealnam3

Not Sure Who Was Weirder

"Had a line cook that worked for us for 6 months never said much. My sous chef once told him with no context, "Baw wit da baw daw bang daw bang diggy diggy." The guy smiled, left, and never came back."

– Frostygrunt

Imagination

"I pace around my house for hours listening to music imagining that I have done all the things I simply lack the brain capacity to do, or in some really bizarre scenarios, I can really get immersed in these imaginations sometimes I don't know if this is some form of schizophrenia or what."

– RandomSharinganUser

"I do the same exact thing, sometimes for hours. When I was young it would be a ridiculous amount of time and many years later it’s sort of trickled off into almost nothing (almost). It’s weird but I just thought it’s how my brain processes sh*t."

– Kolkeia

If Only

"Even as an adult I still think that if you are in a car that goes over a cliff; and right as you are about to hit the ground if you jump up you can avoid the damage and will land safely. I know I'm wrong. You shut up. I'm not crying."

– ShotCompetition2593

Pet Food

"As a kid I would snack on my dog's Milkbones."

– drummerskillit

"Haha, I have a clear memory of myself doing this as well. I was around 3 y/o. Needless to say no one was supervising me."

– Isitjustmedownhere

"When I was younger, one of my responsibilities was to feed the pet fish every day. Instead, I would hide under the futon in the spare bedroom and eat the fish food."

– -GateKeep-

My Favorite Subject

"I'm autistic and have always had a thing for insects. My neurotypical best friend and I used to hang out at this local bar to talk to girls, back in the late 90s. One time he claimed that my tendency to circle conversations back to insects was hurting my game. The next time we went to that bar (with a few other friends), he turned and said sternly "No talking about bugs. Or space, or statistics or other bullsh*t but mainly no bugs." I felt like he was losing his mind over nothing."

"It was summer, the bar had its windows open. Our group hit it off with a group of young ladies, We were all chatting and having a good time. I was talking to one of these girls, my buddy was behind her facing away from me talking to a few other people."

"A cloudless sulphur flies in and lands on little thing that holds coasters."

"Cue Jordan Peele sweating gif."

"The girl notices my tension, and asks if I am looking at the leaf. "Actually, that's a lepidoptera called..." I looked at the back of my friend's head, he wasn't looking, "I mean a butterfly..." I poked it and it spread its wings the girl says "oh that's a BUG?!" and I still remember my friend turning around slowly to look at me with chastisement. The ONE thing he told me not to do."

"I was 21, and was completely not aware that I already had a rep for being an oddball. It got worse from there."

– Phormicidae

*Teeth Chatter*

"I bite ice cream sometimes."

RedditbOiiiiiiiiii

"That's how I am with popsicles. My wife shudders every single time."

monobarreller

Never Speak Of This

"I put ice in my milk."

– GTFOakaFOD

"You should keep that kind of thing to yourself. Even when asked."

– We-R-Doomed

"There's some disturbing sh*t in this thread, but this one takes the cake."

– RatonaMuffin

More Than Super Hearing

"I can hear the television while it's on mute."

– Tira13e

"What does it say to you, child?"

– Mama_Skip

Yikes!

"I put mustard on my omelettes."

– Deleted User

"Oh."

– NotCrustOr-filling

Evened Up

"Whenever I say a word and feel like I used a half of my mouth more than the other half, I have to even it out by saying the word again using the other half of my mouth more. If I don't do it correctly, that can go on forever until I feel it's ok."

"I do it silently so I don't creep people out."

– LesPaltaX

"That sounds like a symptom of OCD (I have it myself). Some people with OCD feel like certain actions have to be balanced (like counting or making sure physical movements are even). You should find a therapist who specializes in OCD, because they can help you."

– MoonlightKayla

I totally have the same need for things to be balanced! Guess I'm weird and a little OCD!

Close up face of a woman in bed, staring into the camera
Photo by Jen Theodore

Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.

Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?

But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.

It would be so great to be sure there is something else.

But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.

Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:

"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"

Sensations

Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy

"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."

PeachesnPain

Recovery

"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."

"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."

"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."

good_golly99

Take Me Back

"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."

"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."

rayrayrayray

Free

The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy

"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."

TooReDTooHigh

This is why I hate surgery.

You just never know.

Shocked

Giphy

"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."

Admirable_Buyer6528

The SOB

"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."

"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”

1-cupcake-at-a-time

Colors

"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"

Hannah_LL7

"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"

huntokarrr

The Fog

"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."

"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."

Fluffy-Hotel-5184

Through the Walls

"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."

"She's quite alive and well today."

Hot-Refrigerator6583

Well let's all be happy to be alive.

It seems to be all we have.

Man's waist line
Santhosh Vaithiyanathan/Unsplash

Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.

The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.

Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.

Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:

"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"

Redditors didn't see these coming.

Shiver Me Timbers

"I’m always cold now!"

– Telrom_1

"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."

– r7ndom

"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."

– mr_remy

Drawing Concern

"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."

– dee-fondy

"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"

"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."

– LizardofDeath

Unleashing Insults

"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”

"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."

– alanamablamaspama

Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight

"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."

– KeltarCentauri

"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."

– KatMagic1977

"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."

– Jaew96

These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.

Shopping

"I can buy clothes in any store I want."

– WaySavvyD

"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."

– ganache98012

No More Symptoms

"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."

– colleennicole93

Expanding Capabilities

"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."

– Ramblonius

People Change Their Tune

"How much nicer people are to you."

"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"

– LiZZygsu

"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"

"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"

– awholedamngarden

It's gonna take some getting used to.

Bones Everywhere

"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."

– Princess-Pancake-97

"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."

– bekastrange

Knee Pillow

"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."

– snic2030

"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."

– Strongbad23

More Mobility

"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."

"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."

– dma1965

People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.

But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.

That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.