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Phantom Hitchhikers & Road Ghosts

catseye said:
I suppose I don't really think about those much a) because I've never really heard of ghost foxes and ghost hedgehogs anyway and b) how would I know the 'ghost' ones from the real, given their somewhat transient nature?
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How would you know if a dog was a ghost and not real? There may be many more ghost animals than we realise because we don’t pay attention to them.

For example, what will happen if a dog runs out in front of my car whilst I’m driving down some deserted road at night and I feel a bump or believe I have hit it? if I’m a good person I will stop and check. No injured/dead dog? Then I either missed it or sadly it has limped off injured. No house nearby? Oh well, drive on.

The same situation with a human instead of a dog elicits fears of accidentally killing or seriously killing somebody and the penalties that might incur,. For example, a hit-and-run prison sentence if I drive off and don’t report it only for a following motorist to find the injured/deceased

Bit long-winded but can you see my point? Also, motorists don’t offer lifts to dogs they see by the side of the road but rather assume it has an owner
 
There’s a dog ghost in the next village I have never seen it but know at least 3 that have, they all say the same thing, a black dog walks with them they come to cross the road and put their hand down to stop the dog from going into the road, and it’s gone they think it’s real up to that point.
 
Paul_Exeter said:
How would you know if a dog was a ghost and not real? There may be many more ghost animals than we realise because we don’t pay attention to them.

For example, what will happen if a dog runs out in front of my car whilst I’m driving down some deserted road at night and I feel a bump or believe I have hit it? if I’m a good person I will stop and check. No injured/dead dog? Then I either missed it or sadly it has limped off injured. No house nearby? Oh well, drive on.

The same situation with a human instead of a dog elicits fears of accidentally killing or seriously killing somebody and the penalties that might incur,. For example, a hit-and-run prison sentence if I drive off and don’t report it only for a following motorist to find the injured/deceased

Bit long-winded but can you see my point? Also, motorists don’t offer lifts to dogs they see by the side of the road but rather assume it has an owner
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Going off topic a bit, but I'm still somewhat confused about my previously reported midnight sighting of the image of the husky type dog sat at the end of our bed. Lasted for at least 30 seconds while I stared at it. Our little cat, sat at the other corner of the bed, did the same but unperturbed. Never had such a dog although a previous owner may have. This is in stark contrast to the very large Husky type dog who would often appear in my home and cause huge panic to the same cat. This was a real dog who would sneak in having escaped from her neglectful owner.( Could never work out how she got in until I witnessed her opening the door with the handle.) Perhaps the cat recognised the difference between a real dog and a "ghostly" one?
 
Paul_Exeter said:
How would you know if a dog was a ghost and not real? There may be many more ghost animals than we realise because we don’t pay attention to them.
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On the Isle of Wight (a great Fortean location) near the village of Brighstone, there was the legend of a giant hare, who would leap over pedestrians walking at night, from one side of the lane to another.
A lack of recorded accounts, plus any recent reports of said big bouncer, leads me to think it was an old tale recounted by a drunken farm hand after having a drink in the New Inn, now known as the Three Bishops.

As an aside, have there been any recent reports of paranormal activity on the Stocksbridge Bypass, A616?
 
RuthRoperWylde said:
Researching for book #6:
Has anyone heard anything about the stretch of road between Cullompton and Honiton in Devon being haunted? Or having any other paranormal phenomena along it? It's the A373 - let me know if you know of anything? Cheers all
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Hi Ruth,

Have nearly finished your latest Roadmap of British Ghosts book and am enjoying it very much. I've always been fascinated by road ghosts; though I've never encountered one myself. I was pleasantly surprised to see myself mentioned in there as well (as 'Samuel') in the bit on the Cullompton road in Devon. Interesting to read the results of your enquiries into that.
 
Robin said:
Hi Ruth,

Have nearly finished your latest Roadmap of British Ghosts book and am enjoying it very much. I've always been fascinated by road ghosts; though I've never encountered one myself. I was pleasantly surprised to see myself mentioned in there as well (as 'Samuel') in the bit on the Cullompton road in Devon. Interesting to read the results of your enquiries into that.
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I'm also working my way through Ruth's 'The Roadmap of British Ghosts: Volume two' that was released on 22nd September. Excellent read and so may cases from the last decade or so, so puts to bed the suggestions I've read on here that mobile phone masts are 'killing' ghosts or that hauntings are on the decline. Great to see a couple of cases from this forum, too :)
 
Paul_Exeter said:
I'm also working my way through Ruth's 'The Roadmap of British Ghosts: Volume two' that was released on 22nd September. Excellent read and so may cases from the last decade or so, so puts to bed the suggestions I've read on here that mobile phone masts are 'killing' ghosts or that hauntings are on the decline. Great to see a couple of cases from this forum, too :)
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I never heard that theory before that mobile phone masts are killing ghosts ?
 
Paul_Exeter said:
I'm also working my way through Ruth's 'The Roadmap of British Ghosts: Volume two' ... puts to bed the suggestions I've read on here that mobile phone masts are 'killing' ghosts or that hauntings are on the decline. ...
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Sabresonic said:
I never heard that theory before that mobile phone masts are killing ghosts ?
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See:
Mobile Phones: The Death Of Ghosts?
https://forums.forteana.org/index.php?threads/mobile-phones-the-death-of-ghosts.4814/
 
I read a book on Astral Projection as a teenager postulating that the victims of a nuclear explosion (eg Hiroshima) would have had their astral body obliterated by the blast radiation. I took that to mean that they were dead dead and no coming back in any form.
 
Well if anywhere Hiroshima and Nagasaki should be awash with ghosts.
Though after the bomb people entered the rivers to soothe their wounds and thousands died there, it is said their faces can be seen looking out from the depths.
 
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Paul_Exeter said:
I'm also working my way through Ruth's 'The Roadmap of British Ghosts: Volume two' that was released on 22nd September. Excellent read and so may cases from the last decade or so, so puts to bed the suggestions I've read on here that mobile phone masts are 'killing' ghosts or that hauntings are on the decline. Great to see a couple of cases from this forum, too :)
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I don't think mobile phones have anything to do with it either. People are probably just less likely to report ghosts these days through the traditional channels like newspapers or the Society for Psychical Research. They're more likely to report it now through social media if they see other people discussing it I guess.

But with all the recent advances in technology (and the apparent ability of science to explain everything) I think we are becoming conditioned to see the world in a very narrow techno-materialistic way, almost to the point where the consensus view is that believing in the paranormal is just not a modern way of thinking about the world. Which is bound to make people more reluctant to speak out about their experiences.
 
The so called non-decline in reports above assumes that people are not active in report their experiences, which is fair enough. But in my research I was the active one and sought out the proprietors of these locations rather than wait for stories to appear in the press and my numbers are unequivocal: a sharp decline in numbers.
I deliberately didn't include data from ghost hunting groups as their methods and data are woefully poor, not to say subjective.
 
Robin said:
But with all the recent advances in technology (and the apparent ability of science to explain everything) I think we are becoming conditioned to see the world in a very narrow techno-materialistic way, almost to the point where the consensus view is that believing in the paranormal is just not a modern way of thinking about the world. Which is bound to make people more reluctant to speak out about their experiences.
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...or "almost to the point where the consensus view is that believing in the paranormal is just not a modern way of thinking about the world" is changing perceptions, so that things perceived as ghosts are now perceived as something mundane or not perceived at all.
 
Coal said:
...or "almost to the point where the consensus view is that believing in the paranormal is just not a modern way of thinking about the world" is changing perceptions, so that things perceived as ghosts are now perceived as something mundane or not perceived at all.
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Yes exactly.
 
DrPaulLee said:
The so called non-decline in reports above assumes that people are not active in report their experiences, which is fair enough. But in my research I was the active one and sought out the proprietors of these locations rather than wait for stories to appear in the press and my numbers are unequivocal: a sharp decline in numbers.
I deliberately didn't include data from ghost hunting groups as their methods and data are woefully poor, not to say subjective.
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What's your theory on the reason for that apparent decline?

It would be interesting to know what the statistics indicated if you did factor in a percentage of data from some paranormal groups.
 
Bad Bungle said:
I read a book on Astral Projection as a teenager postulating that the victims of a nuclear explosion (eg Hiroshima) would have had their astral body obliterated by the blast radiation. I took that to mean that they were dead dead and no coming back in any form.
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Yes I seen that before and hope its not true as that is an awful thought.
 
DrPaulLee said:
The so called non-decline in reports above assumes that people are not active in report their experiences, which is fair enough. But in my research I was the active one and sought out the proprietors of these locations rather than wait for stories to appear in the press and my numbers are unequivocal: a sharp decline in numbers.
I deliberately didn't include data from ghost hunting groups as their methods and data are woefully poor, not to say subjective.
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So we can say that the ghosts of Hampton Court, Dover castle et al are pretty quiet nowadays. Are they ever as active as claimed...? But I know Ruth Roper-Wylde isn't much interested in the old tales of a "ghostly nun appears in the castle portals at midnight every 24th December"-type legends and actively investigates areas where she has received reports of hauntings and manifestations. She does this through village websites, neighbourhood chat groups etc plus feet on the ground visits. She reports that she finds time and time again that investigating one incident will uncover one or more other hauntings from the same area. Many of these reports are from post-1999.

Then you have the work Andy Gilbert who asked his Police colleagues for any paranormal experiences. He received enough to fill two books (Credible Witness 1 & 2) and again many of the reports were from post-1999 and I don't think any were from 'famously' haunted locations.
 
Most of the ghosts of Hampton court are low level. The majority of cases are fabrications or exaggerations dating from Victorian times. This comes from a tour guide (now retired) at the palace who has had access to the records.

as for paranormal groups, I don't bother with them as having read their reports, interacted with them, they're mostly delusional and their methods are akin to "Most Haunted Wannabes."

As for the work I've done, hardly any were famous places. And as Ruth has found, some places have said "no, nothing here but did you know about...?" and come up with new locations.

But still, thanks for making me feel like shit and that my work has been worthless. Really appreciate that. I'm off. Goodbye.
 
Paul_Exeter said:
So we can say that the ghosts of Hampton Court, Dover castle et al are pretty quiet nowadays. Are they ever as active as claimed...? But I know Ruth Roper-Wylde isn't much interested in the old tales of a "ghostly nun appears in the castle portals at midnight every 24th December"-type legends and actively investigates areas where she has received reports of hauntings and manifestations. She does this through village websites, neighbourhood chat groups etc plus feet on the ground visits. She reports that she finds time and time again that investigating one incident will uncover one or more other hauntings from the same area. Many of these reports are from post-1999.

Then you have the work Andy Gilbert who asked his Police colleagues for any paranormal experiences. He received enough to fill two books (Credible Witness 1 & 2) and again many of the reports were from post-1999 and I don't think any were from 'famously' haunted locations.
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I read Andy Gilbert's Credible Witness books as well, I can highly recommend them.
 
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