Pareidolia

[Pauliesonne]

Ok, the FULL reason to this is too personal but, anyway, my brother said that one time, he saw the outlines of ghosts looking over a friend while he slept.

Could this be a case of Pareidolia?

[athon]

Without knowing any information, it's impossible to even hazard a guess.

'Can pareidolia be responsible for somebody misperceiving a body where otherwise there is none?' might be a better question. And, given the right circumstances, yes. It can.

Athon

[Pauliesonne]

'Can pareidolia be responsible for somebody misperceiving a body where otherwise there is none?' might be a better question. And, given the right circumstances, yes. It can.

Athon

What do you mean excactly?

[Showmeproof]

What do you mean excactly?

Since we have no evidence of the exact situation, we cannot accurately state if it was pareidolia. Though, we can assume that pareidolia does exist and can therefore cause one to see ghosts when none are present. So, we might be able to reason that pareidolia was the cause since its a logical explanation without knowing all the evidence or the exact situation.

[articulett]

We tend to see shadows and shapes and clothing as people... we have a brain that looks for "people-like patterns"...

It could also be a dream or hypnogognic hallucination, but I bet it was a misperception of shadows... I used to always see people in the shadows at night when I was a kid... but it was just clothes hanging in a certain way and other murkiness'; the "people" vanished when I turned on the light.

[Pauliesonne]

Thanx for being here when I asked.

Appreciate it.

[Soapy Sam]

Other possibilities:-
1. You made this up or misremembered it.
2. Your brother made it up.
3. He was drunk, dreaming or just plain tired.

Take the personal element out and suppose a total stranger had posted this thread. I'm sure you could come up with a sizable list of possibilities to explain it.

But yes, in a poorly lit room, shadows and furniture may look like all sorts of things.

[Ersby]

Add a little hypnogogia, and you may have the explanation.* I once woke up and for a couple of minutes of being "fully awake" was convinced my room was full of cats, but slowly each one kind of revealed itself to be a more mundane object.

* yeah, I know - you didn't say if your brother had just woken up... but just in case.

[Soapy Sam]

This business of being asleep and thinking you are awake is a major cause of ghost sightings IMO.

[Paul C. Anagnostopoulos]

This business of being asleep and thinking you are awake is a major cause of ghost sightings IMO.
But here's the thing. How can a person be alert enough to feel as if he was starkly awake, yet also think that a shadow was a ghost? The clarity of mind required to feel that he was truly awake, as opposed to fuzzily half-asleep, should also rule out the possibility of thinking that a waving curtain is a ghost.

Seems to me that some serious fantasy-proneness is required in this scenario.

~~ Paul

[articulett]

hypnogogic dreams make you feel really awake... more real than real... hence the phrase "pinch me to see if I'm dreaming"... unless you have a test to see if it's a dream or not, you can believe you are awake in your dreams. I have a strong memory and experience from my childhood that MUST have been a hypnogognic dream... I remember the date and everything about it. I just saw shadows but they were detailed and in color and super beautiful on my closet wall... they moved like shadows move... but they were flowers in bright color like a movie --and I was amazed... and wondered how could this be real... I must remember to ask my mom about this in the morning. (It was the middle of the night and everyone was sleeping.)

I didn't have an explanation and could have seen it as a sign for anything I wanted to. But when I grew up I realized it was a hypnogogic dream.

In retrospect, I think my brain was keeping me from finding out it was an illusion. Instead of getting an adult and showing them (I was 8 at the time)-- I memorized the details and decided it was best not to wake them up... that I'd ask them in the morning. Humans seem to have a built in mechanism from realizing when they their brain is fooling them. They'd rather believe others are bad to doubt than to believe they may have had a delusion or misperceived reality.

[soylent]

But here's the thing. How can a person be alert enough to feel as if he was starkly awake, yet also think that a shadow was a ghost? The clarity of mind required to feel that he was truly awake, as opposed to fuzzily half-asleep, should also rule out the possibility of thinking that a waving curtain is a ghost.

Wouldn't surprise me if you could, there are some pretty bizzare sleeping disorders and conditions out there. Hypnagogia certainly looks like it could be it.

I used to do a lot of sleep-walking as a kid. It's a bizzare experience. I rarely remembered it and when I did it seemed nothing more than a vague dream. All I know about my sleep walking I know second hand from family members I've irritated in the middle of the night.

Apparently I appeared to be somewhat lucid, could answer simple question about my surroundings but would generally act in ways that made no sense.

Like turning the tv on to a channel with just static and just sitting there, staring at the screen. Apparently I mumbled something about secret messages before my mother managed to convince me to go back to bed.

Thankfully my sleep walking never managed to cause anything more dangerous than creeping out my parents and getting my mother to make disgusting whey butter sandwiches for breakfast.

[articulett]

I was a sleep walker too... and the night of my hypnogognia was a night where I had been awoken from sleep by the late night arrival of relatives... and then gone back to sleep... it's when sleep is disrupted that unusual things from night terrors to sleep walking are likely to occur.

[soylent]

I was a sleep walker too... and the night of my hypnogognia was a night where I had been awoken from sleep by the late night arrival of relatives... and then gone back to sleep... it's when sleep is disrupted that unusual things from night terrors to sleep walking are likely to occur.

Ever had one of those incredibly irritating dreams that you can barely remember upon waking up, but you've got a strong deja vu feeling and it feels as though it was something important that you need to remember?

[articulett]

Ever had one of those incredibly irritating dreams that you can barely remember upon waking up, but you've got a strong deja vu feeling and it feels as though it was something important that you need to remember?

yeah... too often.

[MaryCBW]

I still sleep walk and one night last week I was in the kitchen before I woke up. DH swears that one night he woke up and I was trying to choke him. I do not remember doing it but I also do not remember opening the front door, walking on the porch, and trying to use my cell phone two years ago.
I have seen and heard way too much for me to say that ghosts/paranormal activity do not exist.

[allieallie]

totally...too much enexplained stuff that won't go away.
Btw, what is DH?

[four elevener]

I'm guessing "Damn Husband".

[MaryCBW]

LOL. Supposed to be Dear Husband but Damn Husband fits quite well.:D
IH, Idiot Husband, is what he usually gets called in real life and in some
forums. I love him and I'm spoiled rotten but he drives me nuts.

[allieallie]

LOL. Supposed to be Dear Husband but Damn Husband fits quite well.:D
IH, Idiot Husband, is what he usually gets called in real life and in some
forums. I love him and I'm spoiled rotten but he drives me nuts.
Oh you have one of those too? Mine is AH, no explanation necessary.