h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

This sort of thing is mundane it happens to me all the time. It's not uncommon for me to see two or three in the morning. Sometimes I see one with marmite on it, or most of the time I leave it plain, just with butter.

If anything, I would lean towards the stone tape theory. Never seen one though. Unless every time I shiver it means a ghost horse is galloping by.

Yes, there's something floating about out there and some people are more susceptible to seeing/feeling/hearing them at various points in their lives than others.

I've never seen one, but I've heard several - thumping and conversations and have felt their presence.

In fact in one particular spot a group of us have witnessed numerous people react in exactly the same way both locals 'in the know' as it were and complete strangers. Nothing threatening, but there's certainly something there.

Stone tape? Is that like Chromium Oxide tape but thicker?

Just had a thought relating to the 'strong emotions instead of undeparted spirit' idea. Maybe the ability to see ghosts is a form of psychometry.

"Stone tape? Is that like Chromium Oxide tape but thicker?"
Kind of, but those were the early ones, and they had a problem with far too much friction such that one's tape recorder/player would overheat.
These were later replaced by tapes made up off lots of small spherical stones on the surface which could rotate, thus relieving the friction. Although they did eventually wear out, so you had to go to the music store and buy a replacement cassette of them. Due to a misunderstanding in the music industry, for many years this erroneously led to them entering them into the charts along with real music tapes, and indeed even today one can see this mistake propogated and references to the "hits" by the "Rolling Stones" continue.

Haunted Homes 
11:00pm - 11:50pm
ITV1 London

The World's Scariest Ghosts Caught on Camera 
11:50pm - 12:40am
ITV1 London

No & No

<< thumping and conversations and have felt their presence.>>

Conversations? Freaky! Could you hear them clearly, or just like a badly tuned radio (i.e., almost subliminable, as W., would say.)

I don't believe in ghosts. But I do believe in telepathy.

“Conversations? Freaky! Could you hear them clearly, or just like a badly tuned radio”

They’re muffled, but it’s a man and a woman and they’re standing about 20ft behind whoever happens to be in that spot. You know there can’t be anyone there as the people who are facing you across the ringing circle can’t see anything/anyone but if you’re ringing the 2nd bell you know that they are there. You can sense them standing behind you and then the start on their conversation.

I’ve witnessed it happening many times. Someone will grab hold of the bell and the ringing will start. After a short time they’ll take to glancing over their shoulder trying to see if there’s anyone there and throughout the ringing they’ll do it several times convinced that there is someone standing behind them. A few have mentioned the conversation but not many.

Oh, are you doing campanology? Is there a story that might go with this phenomenon? This is so interesting...

Yes I’m a campanologist. I’ve been ringing for years, as has most of my immediate family. I don’t think there’s any connection between tower bells and , when I was ringing at uni or in the area around my last house there wasn’t a sniff of a haunting of any sort – no local tales, no old rumors to scare kids away at night, nothing.

It’s just that in the immediate area of my home village there have been various sightings/experiences within a small cluster of places. They’ve been going on intermittently for years – and knowing the people who this has happened to it’s not a case of anyone going around and making things up.

Your village sounds like an interesting place!

Dorothy Sayers did a Lord Peter Wimsey detective novel about campanologists

It's not just in my village, but there have been various incidents/sightings in several in the local area.


I know, The Nine Taylors, and rather good it is to; although Murder Must Advertise is my fav.

It might be fun to investigate the local history... Ask an old person, they're usually very interested (and informative).

Dorothy L Sayers' books are generally quite good (though so old-fashioned - but then that's part of the charm.)

I work in a haunted hospital, they've been quiet for a while so they'll be back with a bang, literally, sooner or later,

I liked Murder must advertise too, mum's got it on video, Unplesentness At The Bellona Club's good too, mum's got that on tape

I think I've read all of them at one time (back in the '90s.) When I was reading one of them, her character Harriet (Deborah) Vane remarked on a woman being dressed in the style of the '90s, and it took me a moment to realise she meant the 1890s!

Very good murders they are though.

As for the local history bit we've got a name for one of the . He's been haunting a particular tower for as long as a certain ancient ringer (who died a couple of years back) could remember.

<>

So that makes him a... dead ringer...

I don't believe in ghosts.

Who in their right mind would want to come back to this world.

I mean, come on, once bitten twice shy