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when I was 11, my uncle died. we inherited a bunch of his furniture.. including an old fashioned roll-top desk and swivel desk chair. my mother would sit there and write out bills n such. but she was immaculate and always closed up the desk and pushed the chair in when she got up.

one night, I was in bed reading as was my habit and decided I was tired enough for sleep. only my mother and I and our 2 cats were in the apartment. I turned off the light and closed my eyes. then I thought I heard a noise coming from the living room. figured it was my imagination and ignored it. then I heard it again. it sounded like something metal banging dully on some hard surface. I knew I wasnt hearing things. hehe I pulled out a pair of scissors from my night stand and crept to my mothers room. 1 cat was in my room and the other was sleeping with her in her room. so I crept thru the apartment... turning on lights as I went along. switched the scissors for a kitchen knife once I got to the kitchen. then I went to the living room and there it was. the roll top desk... wide open... 2 of the drawers (with metal knocker handles) were pulled open and the chair was in a position as tho someone pushed it back turned and got up.

by the time I was 16 I had a friend that started sleeping over my house on the couch over the weekends for a while. I had had other less dramatic experiences in the apt and didnt tell him 'cause I didnt want him to think I was nuts. one day in the morning he told me he was woken up on the couch in the middle of the night by someone whispering his name. then he was paralyzed.. as tho there was a dead weight on him making it hard to breathe. so I told him about what I'd experienced too.

later on in life.. when I was about 20 or so, I had a bf (eventually he became my first husband) who was actually living with me.. still in my moms apt. one time I was sick with some kinda virus, so he slept in the living room that night, on the floor with a sheet, a blanket and 2 pillows. in the morning he told me that in the middle of the night he had to go to the bathroom and when he got back the pillows were piled on top of eachother and the blanket and sheet were folded neatly on top of them.

a lot of little incidents would happen in between all those times I mentioned. finally me and that bf got married and moved away to another apartment. now I'm like.. 24 years old and I'd still once in a while experience something strange. then one night I had this dream.. I was in my old childhood bedroom but was my own proper age.. I could see all my old toys and furniture.. .and my uncle fred was there with me.. looked just like he did when I last had seen him. we talked a bit and then finally he said "I've been with you for 13 years, but now it is time for me to go."

I woke up and counted the years... 13 years before then I had been 11. and I'm very sad to say... I've had no more experiences sad ... but yeah, I believe smile

I like to think of it as he was watching over me rather than being a regular old polterguiest. smile

Your personal opinion would be correct. Poltergeists are just pranksters. The experiences she recounted were mostly kindness and the like. I once went to a summer camp where we had local ghost. Rather helpful thing she was, too. During our "Siesta" we non-sleepers would hang out in each other's rooms via doors adjoining the rooms. She would close them for us when we forgot. Some lucky counselor would usually sleep in her room as well, and she would help make their bed and such. One counselor in particular was reading and announced out loud to remember to take out her contacts yet fell asleep anyway. She awoke to a soft knocking on her headboard and thanked Sydney (ghost). There's a plaque over the door in honour of Sydney, though there are too many stories on how she died. We only knew she died in the room.

heh.. a ghost that was afraid of the dark... that's kinda funny smile I wish I could see them tho. I have an indian shaman friend that can see them.

I voted fact, only because I won't completely rule out the possibility that there might be ghosts. Television, the Internet, and books aren't really enough to convince me that ghosts are real as a fact; I guess you could label me as one of those "I don't know" people. XD
I've never seen one, but I have sensed something weird in some houses I've lived in, as well as weird noises that I couldn't identify.