25% of British adults claim to have experienced a ghost

[somone]

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20110303/tsc-25-have-had-ghostly-encounter-4b158bc.html

25% have had 'ghostly encounter'

Ghosts are busting out all over Britain, according to a new survey which shows record-breaking rates of spooky experiences.

Research by leading psychologist and paranormal investigator Professor Richard Wiseman reveals that a quarter of British adults - more than 11 million people - claim to have experienced a ghost. In the 1950s, the figure was just 7%, rising to 14% in the 1990s and 19% in 2003.

Prof Wiseman, who does not believe in ghosts, thinks the large number of reports of apparitions, bumps in the night, and eerie sounds may be more to do with TV than psychic activity. Ghosts have never been so popular on television, with shows such as Most Haunted, Ghost Hunters and Famous And Frightened attracting large numbers of fans.

"It's a surprisingly high figure, and it's interesting that the proportion of people who say they believe in ghosts has remained the same as it has been for many years, which is about a third," said Prof Wiseman, from the University of Hertfordshire. "My only thought is that, because there have been a lot of ghost shows on TV, people may just be more likely to attribute certain experiences, like hearing creaky floorboards, to ghosts. All these shows are feeding off the perception that these things actually exist and not looking at the psychological perspective."

[Taverner]

1. I have never seen, or heard a ghost

Just sayin'

[hardcover]

2. I don't know if what I have seen and heard are ghosts

but I have seen things in a "split second" way that causing one to doubt if they say it at all, and I have heard a lot of unexplained noises. I like to think that there are ghosts.

[Taverner]

3. 'split second' hallucinations are common

When we panic, our brain tries to disassemble what we just saw in a matter of seconds, with results that aren't exactly accurate.

[NoTimeToulouse]

4. I received a visitation once.

No drugs were involved.

[BlueJazz]

5. I saw Ghost once. Fairly decent movie.

[Johonny]

8. +1

[Lint Head]

6. I have a ghost story that happened to me.

This is true.

I was driving home late one foggy night. It was about 2:00 am. I was on a back road going home
near an area where a close friend of mine was smother to death in a cave in. I was extremely tired
and started to fall asleep a the wheel. That very moment something darted directly in front of my car
and startled me. Just as I slammed on the brakes I could see a human form outlined in the fog.
It did not stop directly in front of my car but continued own to the other side of the road and faded away.
It appeared to look back at me as it disappeared. I'll never forget this because of where it happened.
I get chills every time I think about it but I also feel comforted that maybe it was my friend keeping me from
harm.

I could have been overly tired and imagined it but it was very real.
I was wide awake from that moment until I pulled into my driveway at home.
I have only told this to a few people that are close to me. I feel close to DU folks even though I don't know many personally at all.
Technology is a strange thing.

[AlecBGreen]

7. I have a ghost story too

My house is quite old. Part dates from late 1700s, other part from mid 1800s. We had a psychic come by who told us the house is definitely haunted (she also told mom a lot of crazy stuff that would later come to pass, but that is another story).

Anyhoo, my room has old-fashioned latches. It can only be locked from the inside. I would come home and my door would be locked. I would have to get out a ladder, climb up it and get in through the window as my door was the only entrance into the room. This happened on multiple occasions. The only other explanation I can think of is that my mom or dad did it, but they are definitely NOT the type of people to go through all that trouble.

[sofa king]

13. I live in a purportedly haunted house.

Been in the books for over a hundred years now. The plantation which it commanded is now part of a modest city with the usual drugs and crime. There have been a lot of automobile break-ins in the 'hood, of late, and the kids doing it appear to be escalating.

But nobody f^>ks with this place, or even the cars in the driveways. True, it is well known that other residents of this home are batshit crazy and armed like Duke Nukem, and that the dogs can quite possibly lick an intruder to death while bludgeoning him with their wagging tails, but I'm convinced that it's the ghost that keeps people away, even when the doors blow open at night. Maybe especially then.

This particular ghost is known for helping out with the housework. Once, I either absently made the bed as I first woke up and then forgot about it (improbable--the bed-making part, that is--but plausible), or the ghost was thanking us for all that Oprah and Joan Rivers my girlfriend watches (implausible). I like to imagine him sitting on the couch, reading DU and muttering that I'll be first against the wall when the South rises again.

Best. Anti-theft device. Evar.

[reggie the dog]

9. I had 2 strange happenings

once as a kid i can swear that the 2 windows to my room were open, there was a shitload of wind inside the room, papers on the desk blowing around, papers blown off of the dresser and the bunk bed with me and my 2 year old brother was moved, i woke up because i felt something on my forehead, it was the ceiling and the bed was levitated, when my mom opened the door the wind stopped, i thought it was a dream but when she turned on the light and saw the mess she asked me what the hell happened. it was not windy outside.

2nd incident, my friends mother bought a volvo at auction for cheap, there was a strange crimson stain on the ceiling of the car on the inside and a dent pointing up on the outside of the roof on the drivers side. we got into a wreck going 80mph and hit 2 trees. i couldnt attach the seatbelt because it was jammed so when we started going fast i pulled it in front and held it in place with one hand and grabbed that hand by the wrist with my other hand. when we hit the first tree i didnt break my hold and fly forward but spun sideways into my cousin on the right side of the back seat and he caught me and held me from going out the window, his head missed the 2nd tree by less than an inch. the car motor stopped, silence, then suddenly we saw a grey cloud in the car near the blood stain leak out the window and dispearse just as the cd player came back on and the pantera song sang "i vow, lest i die tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow then zap,no more electiricity. the paramedics said i should have died at the first tree because i should not have been able to hold my wrist and at the 2nd tree because my cousin should not have been able to catch and hold me. my friends mom, upon hearing the story, told us that the stain and dent were because the car's previous owner had committed suicide in the car.
i am an athiest and do not belive in spirits and the like but i have absolutely no explanation for the grey cloud in the car, the 2 miraculous surviving incidents, the cd player suddenly working for a couple of seconds, nor for the wind in my bedroom and the bed levitating. i dont like talking about this shit generally because i cant put any science on it and people think i am crazy. i was not under the influence of any kind of drug nor had fever either time.

[BabbaTam]

10. I saw one once

Yep, never before and never after, but I definitely saw one while living in an old log cabin during a construction project. I was sitting outside watching the night sky for meteors when I happened to glance down the center hall of the cabin. There she was, floating in the hall like a lady made out of steam. She was wearing a long dress and I could see no feet or shoes. She was just floating. My first thought was, "no way". I then shook my head to see if it might be something on my eye, but no, she was still there, not moving. She then began to float down the hall toward the front door and before she got there, she turned and went into my room. Later that night as I was reading a book in bed by many candles stuck to the mantle over the fireplace, I noticed that the shadows cast by the rocks in the chinking were creating all kinds of flickering shapes. Then I noticed one of the shapes didn't move like the rest. It was a perfect silhouette portrait of a woman. I was amused by this happening and decided to watch it closer to see what shape it might take next. Well it didn't change and then slowly it began to turn until the woman was looking right at me. Her lips were moving, but I couldn't hear any sounds. It was never scary, but I was amazed.

[roguevalley]

11. I've seen shadow people, one in my house and one in a

place where I work.

[Taitertots]

12. Breaking news 25% of the British people are morons

This is probably from the 30% that believe in time travel or the 44% that believe in Men In Black memory erasing technology or the 18% that can see gravity or the 24% that believe transporters exist....
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20110311/tsc-30-say-they-believe-in-time-travel-4b158bc.html


Your link was bad.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/4/20110303/tuk-a-quarter-of-brits-have-seen-a-ghost-dba1618.html