I am buying a ghost in the bottle!

[tiger]

Alright I am going to buy one of these things since this guy selling them really believes this BS. Who wants to test this thing out or are there skeptics in Nebraska on this forum. Anyone got any ideas on how to test this thing.

[Fnord]

Alright I am going to buy one of these things since this guy selling them really believes this BS. Who wants to test this thing out or are there skeptics in Nebraska on this forum. Anyone got any ideas on how to test this thing.


Your buying the bottle will only serve to encourage the seller. Please don't.

[tkingdoll]

If he's put a price tag on it, I would bet any money he doesn't really believe it.

If he did, he wouldn't touch it with a bargepole for fear of religious/karmic/satanic/ghostly retribution.

If you are sure he genuinely believes it, then ask him for one free of charge for scientific testing.

[tiger]

Your buying the bottle will only serve to encourage the seller. Please don't.

Well I am not 100% sure i will depends on whether this can be tested to see whats really in the bottle.Or if anyone is interested in this testing to actually happen. Have to see if there is any interest from the other forum members.

[tiger]

If he's put a price tag on it, I would bet any money he doesn't really believe it.

If he did, he wouldn't touch it with a bargepole for fear of religious/karmic/satanic/ghostly retribution.

If you are sure he genuinely believes it, then ask him for one free of charge for scientific testing.

I don't know if he really believes it or just meant it has a joke but according to the article he sounded like he did or at least enough belief to sell it to the public. The free bottle is a good idea just in case he's nuts enough to really believe in this. In all honesty it does sound like someone just being a smartass while making $20 dollars a pop, like the pet rock thing years ago.

[ExMinister]

I'm sure I'm not the only former woo here who can tell you there is no (commonly) known woo way of getting a ghost into a bottle, even among woos. He is making it up. And I think he probably believes it's a safe bet since there really is no way to test the thing anyway.

Buyer: "I want my money back. I opened the bottle and nothing came out!"

Seller: "Ghosts are invisible."

Buyer: "Oh yeah. Well, I want my money back because nothing else happened either - no poltergeist activity, no ghostly wailing, nothing!"

Seller: "It was a nice, quiet ghost. It's gone."

[tiger]

Yeah I just looked at their website and this guy runs a production company so it's just a novelty thing. So no don't worry I don't plan on buying one. I would have if it was actually something people were believing to be true so we could test it if possible to see whats really inside.

[chillzero]

Yeah I just looked at their website and this guy runs a production company so it's just a novelty thing. So no don't worry I don't plan on buying one. I would have if it was actually something people were believing to be true so we could test it if possible to see whats really inside.

So, what do you expect there to be inside?

[Big Les]

One of these (http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?p=3740279), you mean?

The fact that it has the word "novelty" on it is a bit of a giveaway.

[TX50]

You maun hae mair siller than sense. Buying an empty bottle
with an amateurish ghosty label on it. Send me the 20 bucks
instead. I'd put it to much better use.

[krelnik]

This whole meme originates from around 2003 and 2004, when someone claimed to have a ghost trapped this way and offered it on eBay. It was originally called "ghost in a jar" and caused quite a stir on eBay for a while. I remember looking it up out of curiousity, and by the time I searched other eBay sellers had started using "ghost in a jar" in descriptions of completely unrelated items just to get caught in those searches.

Here's a writeup (with additional links) from Museum of Hoaxes:
Museum of Hoaxes: Ghost in a Jar (June 10, 2003) (http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/weblog/ghost_in_a_jar/)

Here's one of the copycats, this particular one from UK:
BBC News: Jackson 'bid to buy ghost' (October 8, 2004) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/3726410.stm)

Reason Online had an article about the whole phenomenon:
Reason Online: Spirit Vessels (June 6, 2003) (http://www.reason.com/news/show/33606.html)

As the author points out in the last article, this is just an old genre (ghost stories) being adapted to a new storytelling venue (e-commerce web sites).

[caffeinated]

krelnik, you beat me to it!

I actually bought one of the funnier ghost in a jar t-shirts, too. Wish I knew where it was, as I seem to have misplaced it. But it still makes me laugh like crazy.

I think the best spinoff auction was "ghost on toast in a jar" where someone burned an image of a ghost onto some toast. good times....

[Gene L]

Better to spend your money on a pig in a poke rather than a ghost in a jar. Or a bird in the bush.

[tiger]

So, what do you expect there to be inside?

I wasn't sure if there would be anything like a chemical in it but i got to wonder how many people are buying this thinking it is the real deal. I guess my whole point of it was if people are believing this to be real we should be able to pop their balloon!

[tiger]

This whole meme originates from around 2003 and 2004, when someone claimed to have a ghost trapped this way and offered it on eBay. It was originally called "ghost in a jar" and caused quite a stir on eBay for a while. I remember looking it up out of curiousity, and by the time I searched other eBay sellers had started using "ghost in a jar" in descriptions of completely unrelated items just to get caught in those searches.

Here's a writeup (with additional links) from Museum of Hoaxes:
Museum of Hoaxes: Ghost in a Jar (June 10, 2003) (http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/weblog/ghost_in_a_jar/)

Here's one of the copycats, this particular one from UK:
BBC News: Jackson 'bid to buy ghost' (October 8, 2004) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/3726410.stm)

Reason Online had an article about the whole phenomenon:
Reason Online: Spirit Vessels (June 6, 2003) (http://www.reason.com/news/show/33606.html)

As the author points out in the last article, this is just an old genre (ghost stories) being adapted to a new storytelling venue (e-commerce web sites).

Yeah I read that it caused quite a stir and that was kinda my point of being able to burst their bubble!

[tiger]

Better to spend your money on a pig in a poke rather than a ghost in a jar. Or a bird in the bush.

I already have the pig in a poke:D

[Miss Whiplash]

I'm buying one because:

1) The label looks nice.
2) It will complement my collection of antique poison bottles.(Ya gotta love me!)
3) Will look fabo with my Vampire Wine bottles. It will most likely be a better buy than the Vampire Wine - that was the crappiest wine I've ever tasted. An empty bottle would have been an improvement.

[Miss Whiplash]

This whole meme originates from around 2003 and 2004, when someone claimed to have a ghost trapped this way and offered it on eBay.



It actually goes back further than 2003. The first time I saw it was in 1999. At the time I was on the trail of a Hellraiser Puzzle Box and somehow came across the haunted jar in my search. It was odd enough for me to bookmark it.

[Wudang]

If you're looking for a bottle with a spirit I can recommend http://www.wmcadenhead.com/

[Big Les]

(Ya gotta love me!)

Yes, yes we have. :) Hell, I still want one of those vampire killing kits! I even have two spare percussion pocket pistols I could use to make one.

I have no real problem with them. Unlike those kits, there's really nothing to debunk, no misrepresentation. I see it as equivalent to "Fair Deal Homoeopathy".

[skeptic of oz]

Your buying the bottle will only serve to encourage the seller. Please don't.

Yes I second that...
PLEASE DON'T!
I actually heard about this on another forum. It's both laughable and sad.
:):(

[Miss Whiplash]

Yes, yes we have. :) Hell, I still want one of those vampire killing kits! I even have two spare percussion pocket pistols I could use to make one.

I have no real problem with them. Unlike those kits, there's really nothing to debunk, no misrepresentation. I see it as equivalent to "Fair Deal Homoeopathy".

As it says "Novelty" up front on the label, there's no real misrepresentation. It's the same as an old Florida souvenir called a "Can of Florida Sunshine" that was sold during the 60s and 70s along I-95. It was an empty can. I think I still have mine in the attic at my parents house. Sometimes we need to have a sense of humor.

"Bottling the ghost" is also a piece of Southern folklore. In old times not forgotten, when people had a run of bad luck, a root doctor would put out an empty bottle to catch the spirit. Then the bottle was corked and buried. This superstition gave rise to the bottle tree (http://www.bottletree.com/?gclid=CIjDnaC9zpMCFQ7Wsgods2ppjg), which has become an expensive and trendy lawn ornament in the New South.

Sometimes by immediately dismissing a novelty as harmful woo, we can jettison a piece of history.

Just a thought...

Of course, if this were my product, I would have included the folklore in whatever literature was sold with the product. Maybe if the seller is reading this, he'll consider doing the same.

[Pup]

Earworm alert:

"If I could save ghosts in a bottle, the first thing that I'd like to do..."

[tiger]

As it says "Novelty" up front on the label, there's no real misrepresentation. It's the same as an old Florida souvenir called a "Can of Florida Sunshine" that was sold during the 60s and 70s along I-95. It was an empty can. I think I still have mine in the attic at my parents house. Sometimes we need to have a sense of humor.

"Bottling the ghost" is also a piece of Southern folklore. In old times not forgotten, when people had a run of bad luck, a root doctor would put out an empty bottle to catch the spirit. Then the bottle was corked and buried. This superstition gave rise to the bottle tree (http://www.bottletree.com/?gclid=CIjDnaC9zpMCFQ7Wsgods2ppjg), which has become an expensive and trendy lawn ornament in the New South.

Sometimes by immediately dismissing a novelty as harmful woo, we can jettison a piece of history.

Just a thought...

Of course, if this were my product, I would have included the folklore in whatever literature was sold with the product. Maybe if the seller is reading this, he'll consider doing the same.

Sure after I looked at their website I realized it was a novelty gag gift. Not a big deal since I am always up for a great gag gift idea but this doesn't appear to be much of one. I prefer the pointers that put the bird on walls.

[Ixion]

I'm buying one because:

1) The label looks nice.
2) It will complement my collection of antique poison bottles.(Ya gotta love me!)
3) Will look fabo with my Vampire Wine bottles. It will most likely be a better buy than the Vampire Wine - that was the crappiest wine I've ever tasted. An empty bottle would have been an improvement.

I was thinking the same thing. However, I don't have any antique poison bottles, and only one Vampire Wine bottle (and you are correct...the wine tasted like ass).

[ksbluesfan]

A bottle tree? I didn't know I was being trendy. Is a car in the front yard on blocks trendy too, because I have that going on as well.

:D

[Safe-Keeper]

1. I've got this piece of **** I don't need anymore.
2. If I throw it out, I only get it out of my sight - I earn nothing.
3. If I sell it on E-Bay, I may make a buck or two.
4. If I sell it on E-Bay as a haunted item, I may just leech more than a buck or two out of some idiot.
5. I sell it on E-Bay as a haunted item and make $20.
6. Edit, forgot to add obligatory: He was happy, I was happy(TM).
7. Therefore, G_d exists!1

[HENTAI DOUKYUSEI JP]

I was thinking the same thing. However, I don't have any antique poison bottles, and only one Vampire Wine bottle (and you are correct...the wine tasted like ass).
I see what you mean....

http://forums.randi.org/imagehosting/thum_2186348487f9d03eec.jpg (http://forums.randi.org/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=12429)


http://forums.randi.org/imagehosting/thum_218634848803974643.jpg (http://forums.randi.org/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=12430)

But if you dig BEAR WINE:
http://forums.randi.org/imagehosting/thum_21863484881b2dd078.jpg (http://forums.randi.org/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=12431)
Why buy a bottle with a ghost inside for $20 bucks when you can have a bear inside a bottle for a mere $1,000? and you can drink the wine too!

Or you can settle for a small bottle of crow wine:
http://forums.randi.org/imagehosting/thum_21863484882a11c209.jpg (http://forums.randi.org/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=12432)