Ghost story

QuanticEnigma

Hey everyone,

I've noticed a lot of "ghost" threads on here and would like to share a pretty odd experience that I've pondered for quite some time now, and have failed to deduce a reasonable explanation , which is interesting, as I am a pretty scientifically-minded person . I also consider myself to be non-religious, although non quite atheistic as in my opinion there is a degree of plausibility regarding some "higher power" or whatever, but anyway...

A while ago at my cousin's birthday, he was about to blow out his candles when all 12 or so flames just vanished at the same time - they didn't even flicker or seem to be blown by wind (all the windows were shut, there was no breeze in the room whatsoever), but just completely disappeared all at the same instant. Nobody blew them out, even if somebody did the flames would have flickered. It was also revealed that my cousin's grandmother had died a few weeks before, and apparently she "never missed a birthday".

Now I'm not saying that I sincerely believe in ghosts or anything, so I've considered some (pretty unconvincing) explanations...
1) The batch of candles had some impurity or something and the flames were extinguished as they burned down to this point (not very likely, as the candles were lit at different times)
2) They were joke candles, if there even are such things (which is also unlikely, they seemed like ordinary candles to me)

...well, at least it's something

So, does anyone have any ideas as to what this could be?

TubbaBlubba

Well, I don't have any firsthand experiences with ghosts myself, though my mother, sister and father (my father in particular is very, very sceptical to all things supernatural) claim that they had a lot of activity when my grandmother died. They felt a presence, the dogs of the house reacted, and my father (independently) also experienced that she was sitting in the back seat when he was driving. I'm sure they experienced what they said, but I can't say it's very convincing to me.

As for your story... What kind of candles were there? The only thing I can think of is that someone bumped into the table and they all went out when they were drenched with stearin.

Redbelly98

I vote for an air current that was too subtle to be felt by anybody, but strong enough to blow out the candles. The telltale clue is that all candles went out simultaneously. When a person blows them out, there is a noticeable time delay between when the first and last candles go out; presumably this would also be true for a ghost, if you believe in them (which I don't).

Even if we rule out an outside breeze, air currents can come from possibly a door opening/closing, or a person walking by the cake. There are many ways an air current could be produced, and I doubt that you observed/remember every single thing that was going on in the room at the time.

Geigerclick

A brief search shows that this question has been asked many times here, and the answers do not change. I'll believe in ghosts when something a little more rare than snuffed candles is the smoking gun. EM phenomena, "orbs", a sense that others are present, and more, all do not rise to the level of evidence. If ghosts can do all they are credited with, one would imagine that they could make themselves known in such a way, and time, that they would be believed.

Mu naught

What connection do birthday candles have with ghosts? Is any odd experience connected to ghosts?

QuanticEnigma

No, I'm not saying it is, but I'm still struggling to explain this. Explanations such as air currents would make sense except for the fact that these flames just vanished, and did not flicker. Also I am confident that everyone was in the same room when it happened and nobody walked by the cake as it happened. Also things like EM phenomena seem pretty vague - which EM phenomenon, and how does this relate to birthday candles?

I'm not saying I do believe in ghosts, but this one seems a bit...odd.

Geigerclick

You expect flickering, but that does not necessarily happen. Even if you find a phenomenon to be strange, ghosts don't make a very likely explanation. Why do candles going out lead to odd, and odd leads to "ghosts"?

zoobyshoe

I can't explain it because I can't experiment with it. Really, you should have re-lit the candles to see if it happened again. I've solved several "odd" events by simply investigating at once. A one time occurrence that you didn't even investigate at the time is no reason to start speculating about the paranormal.

Ask DaveCP30 about his disappearing pencils, which happened over and over. If he hadn't one time accidentally witnessed what really happened it would have been endless fodder for a ghost story.

GeorginaS

I don't understand how this non-sequitur has anything to do with candles mysteriously blowing out.

Just because you can't immediately explain how something happened doesn't automatically then attach to supernatural agency.

Pattonias

Thanks for sharing the story.

QuanticEnigma

Me mentioning that my cousin's grandmother died a few weeks before his birthday doesn't imply that I thought there was a "ghost", it is merely another piece of information. But I have been pondering this whole occurrence for a few years now and I'm still finding it difficult to come up with a reasonable explanation. I do remember the conditions in the room that night, where everybody was standing, windows/doors closed etc., but still all explanations that others and myself have come up with seem illogical or extremely unlikely.

In the end it's obviously an uncommon phenomenon that I can't explain, but it does seem slightly strange that most people in the room associated the candles with a ghost, and then remembered their mother/mother-in-law/grandmother who died a few weeks prior.

QuanticEnigma

I was staring right at the flames when they vanished, one second they were there, then the next they were gone. Now come on, there's something totally bizarre going on here!

Geigerclick

I would point out just how poor eyewitness testimony is, for a reason. Consider the nature of how people see things, and then how their memories are literally reshaped ever time they are recalled. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recall_(memory)

zoobyshoe

One night I was sitting here in my little office with the sliding door to the patio open. From what seemed like just outside I heard the most unearthly groaning male voice. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and I had gooseflesh all over my body.

One night I was sitting here and a plastic statue of a Buffalo that was on the shelf behind me just fell off the shelf. I wasn't anywhere near it. There was no earthquake or breeze. It just fell off.

One night as I was walking from my office out into the kitchen I heard a horrible, demonic voice speak my name. It was a grotesque, gasping/sucking voice like the Elephant Man's, but with evil intonation.

If the stories stop there, I have three "totally bizarre" incidents that I could insist can't be explained. However, I immediately investigated in all three cases and found out what the causes were.

You stopped and didn't investigate.

Geigerclick

Good point, now um, to satisfy my all-consuming curiosity could you please tel us the causes? The groaning sounds like an animal or tree, the other simple instability, and the third a mechanical device, but I must KNOW! :)

zoobyshoe

I had a box fan sitting on the floor in front of the open door pulling cool air in. This turned out to be sitting on a pebble big enough so the fan could shudder back and forth. When I got rid of the pebble the "groaning" disappeared.

I turned and stared at the shelf and the Buffalo on the floor, wondering what the hell had just happened. In a moment or two I caught sight of a scurrying, furry little body on the shelf with a long hairless tail.

My name is one syllable, consonants beginning and end. It turned out this is not too hard for my coffee maker to pronounce nearly perfectly when it's sucking water through the system. My office acted as a resonator for this noise when I was out the door into the kitchen.

Geigerclick

Ahhhh, now that is fascinating, except for the rat which is just nasty. Thanks Zoobyshoe, and thanks for being a model of practical skepticism and how much we could explain if our first reaction was impartial observation and not leaping to conclusions. I salute you.