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He is a sane voice in an age of idiots, and I’m grateful he’s with us.

People think my house is haunted but I’ve been living there for 400 years and not seen anything untoward!…

My wife was very close to her nana. Unfortunately, her nana died. 10 months later, we had a baby boy, and the very same day, we brought our son home from hospital. we both stood in the living room where she was holding the baby. It was August and a really hot summer day . The patio doors were open, and the double doors from the kitchen into the living room . All of a sudden a butterfly flew in through the patio doors through the kitchen, came into the living room, and literally flew around my wife holding the baby. Then flew back out into the kitchen and back into the garden . The thing was her nana loved butterflys she had pictures,ornaments even jewellery with butterfly's on . We never had a butterfly do that before or since that day . Was it her nana saying hello to the baby ? We like to think so ❤

I could listen to Neil Oliver tell stories all day 😊

Captain Bob Hambleton-Jones was a former RAF fighter pilot, who was employed by Loganair to fly passengers to the Western Isles. Finishing his shift at Glasgow airport on his way home to Paisley, he came across a colleague who flew the same routes together, Robert Macleod. Bob's friend greeted him and they chatted for a few moments, before Macleod said, "I must go now". Apart from not accepting Bob's handshake, he thought there was nothing unusual about the interaction. The following day in the pub, an acquaintance of Bob Hambleton-Jones' showed him a newspaper obituary, suggesting he must have known the chap in the article as they worked for the same company. It was Robert Macleod, who had died 5 days previously on June 11th, 4 days before Bob met him on the tarmac. Checking subsequently, he realised Macleod's body was being transferred through Glasgow airport at the time they spoke together.

He hits the nail on the head. Something is definitely happening, and for science to ignore these events is just about the most unscientific approach possible.

I'm buying your book Neil. 1: because strange things have happened in my house and 2: because I can't think of anything better than giving support to a bloke I like as much as you!

I'm now 63 years of age but I have never forgotten an incident that occurred in the 1970's. Someone in authority had come to the school I attended and had asked for volunteers to visit elderly folk in our local area. Born and brought up in a tiny village I already knew who I could visit. The lady was asked if she'd like me to pop by and came the day that I knocked on her door. She opened it and pointed me in the direction of her sitting room while she made us a drink in her kitchen. I was surprised to see that she already had company and I worried that I may be intruding. I made polite conversation with the elderly lady who was already seated in the room. " Sorry love" she shouted from the kitchen " I can't really hear what you're saying, just hang on until I bring the tea in will you?"🤔🤨 " Now then, what was it you were saying hmm?..." I explained that I was chatting to Betty and not actually to her. "Betty???...there's no Betty here love, just you and me...strange though as that was my Mother's name..."🙄😯😲😳💩💩I never went back lol.

As a Scot myself I believe Neil Oliver is a national treasure and I can listen to him all day long. Always interesting and thought-provoking regardless of whichever topic he’s discussing.

I am in my 60's, an artist, a down to earth mum of 2 grown up daughters, honest, and I am not religious at all, although I am open minded regarding spirits of people/ancestors that have been here before as they were real. In Nov 2009 on a very stormy night at around 8pm I was driving, with my daughter in the passenger seat towards home (we live quite rural in Essex) and my daughter slapped her hand across my chest and screamed "Mum! Your gonna run those men over!" But I had already seen them, I shouted "I know! I'm already braking!" And striding across the road in front of the car were 2 monks, in full dark brown habits with pointy hoods up, literally like a vision from a medieval film. Our eyes followed them as I skidded to a halt, with me cursing angrily what fools would walk in the road in front of a car doing 30mph, they strode within a couple feet of the car, across the road and then vanished. My daughter burst into tears, shaking, saying "Mum what the hell was that? Where are they? Where have they gone" I just couldn't stop saying "What the fuck just happened?" I was so shook to my core, I couldn't stop swearing, my daughter was deathly white and trembling. Still to this day, we have no explanation, we are both so grateful if that's the word to use, that we both witnessed this together!! I have since done research and found there was a monastery in the 1400's as part of what is now an old manor house around the corner to where we live on a dirt track. We certainly DO believe in ghosts after such a vivid and dramatic experience!!!💥💫

I live in a house built in 1458. It was used as a hospital in the 1st World War among other things. It is full of spirits. I see them, feel them, witness the things they do and the objects they move. They are not frightening or disturbing in any way and I would miss them if they left. There are soldiers, children, owners, servants, stable hands….all kinds of people who have lived or stayed here. Fascinating!

Not a Scot (that I know of) and yet when I visited Culloden I experienced such a sense of oppressive grief that I nearly had to run away. No explanation that satisfies, it simply (in my opinion) is a lingering collective reflection of emotion of those who witnessed that tragedy.

In February 2000 we moved into a detached bungalow built in 1939. That June I was in the bungalow all alone sitting in the living room quietly reading with no other sounds apart from a very quiet murmur of a few cars going by on the road. While I am reading I hear very distinct footsteps crossing the attic floor, walking down the stairs to the attic around the corner into the hallway and continued to walk to the front door where there was an open door into the living room where I was. These sounds were so distinct I looked up fully expecting to see someone there, but there was nothing to see. I worked from home in my office in the attic and on several occasions while sitting at the computer I had the distinct feeling of someone looking over my shoulder. I never experienced any fear or cold spots or anything like that but it happened enough that I would simply say something like " Oh you are back again". At the back of us was a Victorian cemetery and across the road in front of us was the newer cemetery. A few years later a client and friend who by now was a preacher in the Spiritualist church and had some clairvoyant abilities told me that he was aware that there was an old gentleman that used to live in our bungalow and would visit just to see how the house was being looked after, but had not wanted to tell me earlier as he did not know if we would be upset by it. I never was and just hope the old man was satisfied that we were looking after it a way that he approved of.

Always fascinating to listen to this man. Neil Oliver is a national treasure.

As a young child my grandmother appeared to me a week or so after she passed. I was in my bed awake when my body started to freeze over and was unable to move or cry as she manifested by my bedroom door. I remember she was very fond of me as a child and i of her. if there is such a thing as a guardian angel it would be her. I am in my 50s now and have never been able to explain that experience to myself other than it had to have been a genuine paranormal encounter.

Hello Neil. In 2015 when visiting my father in law in hospital, i saw a ghost. He was in a ward of 6 beds, there were several wards along that corridor with a nurses station half way along it. My father inlaw needed a carer to help him back into bed and 'change him' so a carer came in and pulled the curtain around the bed while i stood outside of that curtain by the ward sink. Suddenlt there were carers everywhere pulling everyones curtains and i was told that it may be good if i looked the other way. ( i didnt of course). Then i say two smartly dressed fellows pushing the 'coffin' gurney along the corridor out of sight. A few minutes later the pushed the gurney back but, by the side of that gurney was a lady, hair immaculate, wearing a nighty, no slippers, her hand on the gurney and she looked in my direction, i nodded as a sign of respect but was struck by her broad smile. She continued to walk with the gurney until the guys pushing that gurney went out of sight. Carers came back round and opened all the curtains and i told father in law i needed to speak with his Dr then id be back. I found his Dr and saw she was upset, my reaction was to tell her that i saw the lady who looked perfectly happy and the Dr burst into tears. My intended questions about father in law could wait. The Dr asked how i knew it was a lady that died and i told her that i saw her, i explained what she looked like and the Dr was amazed. About 10 mins later that Dr came to find me and asked me if i could tell the dead womans family what i saw. This i duly did and they found it a great comfort as their 'mum' had been in so much pain before she died. Was that dead ladies smile one of relief that her suffering was over? How would i have known it was a lady and what she looked like if i hadnt seen her? She looked so real to me.

In our home, for a few years, there was a little boy that scampered about happily the hallway and upstairs landing. Just a glimpse but the impression I got was very happy. Then one day and old man, Ian Collie, chapped at the door. He had come to visit his childhood home before he died. He came again to celebrate his 90th birthday. We still write to each other and he signs off as Ghostie. We don't see the little boy anymore but Ian and I think it may well be himself that I saw. He so loves the place he left a shade of his soul here.

Neil Oliver is so charming and enjoyable to listen to. I LOVE a good ghost story. Always have. I’m a science minded, non-religious person, but my duel side loves ghost stories.

Actually, until you see one of those things, you find it hard to believe. There were two of us at the same time who saw exactly the same apparition gliding across a road. Can still see it in my mind's eye from 40 years ago, too.

This is definitely not the only paranormal experiences myself and my family have had. However, I've just spent a year living alone in a secluded abandoned nursing home while remodeling it. That, was the busiest bunch of haunts I've ever encountered. Sometimes humorous, a few times I ran out at light speed.

For my own experience It happened like many through having intense feelings of grief My beloved Golden Retriever had had to be put to sleep and I beat myself up about it ie did I do the right thing One day a week later, still in tears, I sat in my conservatory looking at the base of a pine tree where she used to curl up and sleep. Suddenly out of nowhere a huge cock pheasant flew into the garden It perched precariously on a slender Azalea bush next to one of the windows Peered in and tapped its beak on the glass. I was transfixed at this bizarre behaviour from a wild bird. It sat there for ten minutes Then it rose and flew down to the exact spot Ria used to rest in, under the pine. After another ten minutes it rose again and flew away, Never to return. There is no doubt in my mind that it was Ria in her re incarnation as the bird she would naturally have retrieved in her former life .This all took place in the Netherlands. in an area that would have been alien to pheasants

I have had a few encounters over the years. This one happened in 1978 i was 18 i am now 63. i still remember as if it happened yesterday. My boyfriend and I had been woken by our alarm clock and we were sitting up in bed talking about plans for the day ahead. Whilst we were talking a young man walked out of the wall at about my feet level through the bed across the room and out of the other wall. I was not afraid i asked my boyfriend if he has seen that he relied yes. i asked him to describe what he had seen when he described a young man wearing a white shirt black trousers with dark hair that could only be seen from the knees up as if he was walking on a floor at a lower level i was then freaked out as that was exactly what i had seen. The flat in which we were staying was build above a row of shops and set into a hill. We have been married for 41 years and have other strange unexplained experiences but that was our first. Love neil oliver thanks for collecting such stories.

Being seen by someone as a "ghost" while you're still alive - this happened to me in my first job aged 17 and working in a china shop. We had to go upstairs to the stockroom where all the china was and bring down the dinner-sets etc. that customers wanted. I was downstairs in the shop standing at the counter, when another shop assistant came down from the upstairs stockroom and looked quite pale and shocked. I asked her what was the matter and she said, "I've just seen you upstairs in the stockroom", and I had to explain that I hadn't been there but had been downstairs in the shop all the time. I think this may be a case of one's "subtle body" (i.e. the usually invisible aura which we possess and which extends beyond the physical body) somehow being seen by another person. It does not necessarily occur as a result of strong emotions being felt or traumatic energy. I have myself seen auras. On one occasion while walking in the street I could see the auras of everyone as they walked along. I could see that their physical bodies were walking along inside an individual energy field, which for some reason I could see.

A man saw a “ghost” of my mother once. He didn’t realise it was a ghost though. He thought it was an actual flesh and blood woman. When my mother visited the property for the first time in 65 years or so… He told her that he’d often wondered who she was as he’d often seen her staring at the cottage from the other side of the wall. My mother realised that she often thought of the cottage, and had pictured it from that perspective, as it had happy memories for her (in the late 20’s, early 1930’s, the cottage belonged to her grandmother).

The BBC is the only ghost haunting Britain. 🤣😂🤣

Neil is one of the few people that I respect and believe. I believe that he will tell the truth of what he has seen experienced. .

He says we don't have the grammar or words or science to define this..... yet he does it perfectly. The language, integrity and ability to impart knowledge and accumulated wisdom without arrogance or insisted stances..... the open mind and self awareness and humility are hugely rare. Listening to and watching a genius is always a pleasure. He doesn't yet know that he is the philosophical Brunel. Wonderful chat and free talking.... amazing why such important people don't run our states.

The Battle Of Edgehill. Just before Christmas 1642, the first sighting of a ghostly re-enactment was reported by some shepherds as they walked across the battlefield. They reported hearing voices and the screams of horses, the clash of armour and the cries of the dying, and said they had seen a ghostly re-enactment of the battle in the night sky. They reported it to a local priest and it is said that he too saw the phantoms of the fighting soldiers. Indeed there were so many sightings of the battle by the villagers of Kineton in the days that followed, that a pamphlet, “A Great Wonder in Heaven”, detailing the ghostly goings-on was published in January 1643. News of the terrifying apparitions reached the King. Intrigued, Charles sent a Royal Commission to investigate.

I lived in a haunted, I would say troubled, house for many years. For a lot of that time I was alone. Along with other experiences elsewhere, I can say for a fact that these things exist.

The car. We were coming back through the mountain road from Devils Bridge and saw three car coming towards us along the lane. They went behind a ridge so we pulled over to let them pass. Two cars came round the corner and went by, but the third car (silver hatchback) didn't appear. I waited a minute and decided to go on round the corner, as he must be waiting for me. We went on but as we rounded the corner it was nowhere to be seen. No pull in, no driveway, no bushes to hide in. Nothing. Three of us all saw it plain as day. Disappearing passenger. A neighbour was coming back from a near by town early in the morning. He saw a chap walking in motorcycle gear and carrying a helmet. He knew him so stopped. The guy opened the door and got in. Like your friend, he never said much because the roads were bad and he was concentrating. He stopped at the end of the road where the passenger lived, he got out but never said thank you or goodbye. He went home feeling a little annoyed as he had saved him a long walk. When he went through the door his wife said she had some bad news. The biker had been killed the night before the other side of the town. "Don't talk rubbish. I've just given him a lift home", he replied. He turned on the radio and the local news came on. There had been a biker killed, so a call was made to a mutural friend and the guy had indeed been killed. There are many strange things that go on, and I myself have seen and heard many things. Never rule anything out.

Prof Rupert Sheldrake has written some books on metaphysical/spiritual matters, and he researches Morphic resonance. As a spiritualist from childhood, I welcome scientists and academics treating these subjects seriously and confirming what I already believed. Sheldrake has written about the psychic powers of our pets, they know when we are coming home. I have had the same experience with my animals, but also telepathically tuned in to their distress when I was on holiday 1000's miles away. Morphogenetics is real as far as I am concerned - we are all linked in some way. Ghosts or remnants of spirits/emotions are entirely possible. As Tesla said “If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.”

We can only ‘see’ things in a fairly limited wavelength. Imagine how many entities may coexist on this planet that emit or reflect a wavelength that we can not detect.

I think the best response to a ghost is to say a prayer (or send kind thoughts) for the ghost. If ghosts exist, they are often lost or sad or angry. Sending them kind thoughts may perhaps help them and will certainly calm and strengthen you.

Regarding the woman banging her head on the wall, isn't this intense grief what is called "being beside yourself " so that part of her that split off in her emotional state is still there.

I'm 62 living in Australia and grew up in an old grand federation style country house. Well, this house had a apparition who would visit guests. Over many years, different unrelated guest's told if the exact same apparition leaning over their bed as if to examine who was in it. Those of us who know, know, without equivocation that there is something else ...our physical reality is not the only reality. Often these apparitions can only be seen from the corner of your eyes, so when you turn to face them, you see nothing there, but you know in your gut there was something there.

When I was a wee little child around 4-5 years old a man came to the house to announce to my parents the death of a very close family friend, I was also in the lounge room with them during the conversation I could see the dead friend in full form leaning forward arms crossed against the back of the sofa between my parents listening and watching as the man announced his death both my mother and father screamed in shock and distress my mother got extremely emotional so I said out aloud “it’s ok mum, he’s right here look his right here with us please don’t be upset” I could see him very clearly unfortunately my parents were probably so upset that I was just annoying them so my mother whisked me off to my bedroom and shut the door. The family friend who had been recently separated was diagnosed with cancer, he saw no hope and decided to take his own life, the reason for the separation was because his wife said of his sudden change in his character drinking and getting drunk. It’s a shame that neither parents acknowledged or nurtured my ability to see spirit, I was constantly shut down.

This is very comforting. When I was two I climbed into a bucket of boiling hot water ( I was being potty trained at the time and my mum who was cleaning left the room to get the potty and I figure I couldn't wait). We moved out shortly afterwards as it was too traumatic for my mum as I nearly died. Fast forward twenty years or so and my Dad ends up talking to the people who were currently living in our old house. They mentioned that there is a 'ghost' of a small child who walks down the stairs regularly. I had the feeling it was me as there was nothing there when my parents were there. I was terrified that part of me was trapped in the house but now after hearing about the lady who banged her head on the wall I feel comforted in that if it is me coming down the stairs then it is just some sort of energy that is being played over and over again.

When my mother was a young woman in the 1940's, she was going to sleep and then felt a young girl get into bed with her, and thought how lovely it was, until she suddenly remembered that there wasn't a young girl who could get into her bed, and then she jumped up and ran downstairs. Years later, when she had five of us children, we moved into my paternal grandparent's terraced house, which had only two bedrooms; my brothers had to sleep in one room with my dad, and my sisters slept in bunk beds in our room, and I slept in the double bed with my mum from age 3 to age 11, and I've often wondered if that little girl she felt get into her bed was me from the future. I've also wondered how she knew it was a girl, and not a boy, as it wouldn't be obvious to a person in bed in the dark.

Over 30 years ago I called on a friend who lived with her husband and children in a very old cottage in my village. I knocked and knocked, but no-one came to answer the door, although I could hear her children laughing inside and even saw, through the bull's eye pane of glass in the front door, a small girl's legs and skirt as she passed in front of the door inside the house. I knocked even harder but still no one answered, so eventually I gave up and went shopping. I forgot about the incident until the following week when I saw my friend. I told her that I'd tried to call on her the previous Friday, but that I'd been unable to make anyone hear me knocking. She laughed and said that it wasn't surprising as they had all gone to visit her mother the previous Wednesday and hadn't returned until the following Monday. I never told her what I heard and seen, as I knew her husband worked away a lot and she was often alone in the house with her children for weeks at a time. I don't know what I saw or heard, but it was the middle of the day and certainly seemed real to me.

I once carried out a survey of a factory in Hull back in the 1990’s. During the Second World War there was an incident where an aeroplane crashed into the factory and someone was killed. My survey was only completed after 7:00PM and when walking around the deserted factory lights would be observed to turn off on their own accord making completion of the survey difficult. I mentioned this to the security guard upon leaving the factory and he said that I had made contact with the resident ghost it immediately sent a chill up my spine.

The story about the guy picking up a the person in the pouring rain then that person vanishing reminds of a story I read in a book called "Credible Witness" by a retired police officer about weird stories concerning the police. Two officers responded to a call from a transport cafe, a guy had called in and was sat their with a coffee, obviously in distress who had asked the cafe owner to call the police. When they arrived he was sat at table , he was actually shaking . When the officers asked why he'd called the police he came out with this story. He had been driving along (again in the pouring rain) and he saw a guy by the side of the road. Taking pity on the guy he had pulled up and offered him a lift. As he pulled away he asked the guy where he wanted to be dropped off. There was no answer so he asked again. Still no answer so he looked to face the the guy and there was no one there!

When I was about 12 me and my Mum we’re driving down through France and both suddenly had a very weird feeling so we turned off the main road and found ourselves in a village which had been left as a memorial since the end of the war when it had been burned to the ground along with its inhabitants by the outgoing German occupiers. It’s called Oradour.

I believe I saw a ghost once. I was six years old when I got up in the middle of the night. I went into our kitchen to get a drink of water. I looked into our dining room where we had a rocking chair to the side and there was a little old woman sitting in it. She was grey in color and slightly transparent. My heart jumped in my chest and I ran back to my room and jumped into bed and covered myself with my blankets. I was not looking for a ghost, nor did I want to see one, but there it is.I told my mom the nexted day what I saw and she told me that the rocking chair was her grandmother's that had passed away long ago. This is a real phenomenon, but what it is I am not sure.

I lived in a haunted house in cornwall. A previous owner in 1840 (neville norway, great grandfather of novelist neville shute) was robbed and murdered on the way to bodmin market at pencarrow. His brother ( as sea captain) had a dream that his brother had been murdered and saw the Lightfoot brothers. He notified the magistrates on his return and a bow street runner was sent to the lightfoot bros cottage at burlawn. Nevilles watch was found hidden in the chimney. They were hung and death casts were taken. The old ironmongers in wadebridge used to have the masks on display in the back room along with many other masks from those hung at bodmin gaol. The house dated back to the 14th century and there were many spirits, but only one was intimidating.

I've had many encounters. My dead brother regularly appeared in the family home. And the night my father died (he lived 9 miles away) he appeared in my house gasping for breath, which I later learnt was how he had died, he'd appeared half an hour after he passed when I had rushed downstairs to answer the phone call incoming to tell me he'd died!

I practised as a Clinical Psychotherapist for 4 decades in the area of traumatic grief & these stories were very, very common. At no point did I ever invite clients to recount/describe any anomalous experiences; they independently discussed their anomalous encounters. Thus making their experiences even more compelling. As a possible way of reaching an understanding, the combination of Consciousness studies, Neuroscience/Biology, & Quantum Physics offers some potential insight. Thank you Lewis & Neil for a respectful & interesting conversation. 👍 👍 🇦🇺

Saw my beloved dog when I hadn’t realised she was already dead, and saw a random old lady on a bus disappear when I was young teenager, turns out a lot of people seen same lady, same route, similar circumstances, she disappears but some have talked to her. Plus other assorted haunted stays etc ..for people “wish I could see a ghost” just notice things, odd things, people acting odd or dressed a bit out of the ordinary, that’s what made me notice the old lady, you find it if you go hunting or expecting certain things, it either happens for you or it doesn’t

Lived in farm cottage quite lonely My first son from two had a friend called Thomas Thomas we think was a ghost child We heard toys about and footsteps in son's room when no one there Two family lads stayed and slept in bunk beds woke up by a child trying to get in bed with them.ended up in tiny bed together Our second son also played with Thomas The night before we left their room was empty all packed up and they slept with us the whole house was full of saddnes and a child crying The next people who were older and had no children said they felt nothing.But we certainly did for five years

The story of the woman banging her head on the wall, makes me wonder if it's possible that people suffering extreme emotional tragedies, can somehow leave an impression in the very fabric of the atmosphere, and that a person in the future, when in the right mindset, could pick this up and replay it, rather in the same way that radio waves surround us all the time, but we have to have a radio set to play the music etc back to us. This was a pet theory of Thomas Lethbridge - a man of independent means - and a dowser - who was at one time Keeper of Anglo Saxon Antiquities at Cambridge University.

I had a pre cognition experience that was terrifying of a British disaster.I have always thought I was alone in some freaky way ,and questioned why I had that experience.Why me.After hearing the little black car story ,I am interested to find out if there were others who picked it up before it happened as a warning like I did.

Would like to offer a suggestion about the old lady hitting her head on the fireplace in that time of trauma. In shamanic terms, it is called soul loss. Simply put, a part of your soul gets lost / splits off - in a time and place due to a traumatic event. the good news is with a shamanic practitioner, you can reclaim the soul loss to be integrated again🙏

I remember in 1993/4 when I was at Salford Uni, somebody showed me a photo of an off road motorcycle event in the summer. That was long before digital photographs were common, there were a number of people in a wooded area wearing shorts and summer clothes watching the event. The photo was colour, in the image was also an older lady wearing what looked like clothes from the victorian era. She was more of a black and white image but very distinct in that there was no doubt it was a person and the style of clothing. That was the most authentic photo I have ever seen. Of course the BBC used to wheel out their cerebral psychologist denier to give a scientific explanation, even when their explanation itself was more science fiction. It is realistically probably the reverse, people nowadays ask "do you believe in ghosts?" when at one point ghosts and demons would be accepted as the norm. With the science has also come a degree of sanitising reality.

I lived in a haunted house as a teenager in the 90s, keys would regularly go missing only to turn up hours later in an obvious place, went past being weird to being a bloody annoyance tbh, pictures would topple off of sideboards..... Single Christmas decorations wafting about with no drafts..... And a couple of times a week our collie dog used bark and growl and get aggressive with his hackles up at thin air, he didn't do this ever at our old house, it was only ever in the house we'd moved into, asked my mum a couple of years ago if anything still happened there, she said it was a long time ago but it just all stopped one day 🤷🏻‍♂️

I could listen to Neil Oliver all day. He is a British Icon & a natural, traditional Teller of History. Yes there are "ghosts" ..

Great conversation! I believe the ghosts of the past are the personal & group experiences (most often intense traumas) etched onto the electromagnetic lattice of this earthly world. Most often in places made from minerals… like brick or stone. Just as quartz is used in computers to hold information.

I absolutely agree with Neil. I've always thought it's ignorant and disrespectful to dismiss offhand any experience that falls outside current scientific thinking, no matter how fantastic that story may be. There has to be an explanation for it; be it a product of the mind, or an actual experience of something we're currently unable to explain. The alternative is, everyone, millions of people from all countries and all walks of life throughout history, are lying, which seems very unlikely. For instance, why would my mother lie to me about the half a dozen experiences she has had? Why would my father lie to me about his experience, especially when he didn't believe in such things? Why would my brother lie to me about his experiences, including a poltergeist at a terrified neighbours' house? And my experience, witnessed by the rest of my family - were we all lying to ourselves? The mind is undoubtedly complex and easily fooled, but what of when animals (especially dogs) share the experience? Animals cannot know of ghost stories, and so cannot be 'primed' and have their imaginations run wild. As Dr Ian Stevenson said after spending over 30 years studying cases of apparent past life memories: I'm not suggesting the evidence proves reincarnation, but it is the most likely explanation. (Paraphrase). Similarly, the overwhelming evidence - be it anecdotal or otherwise - in favour of the paranormal suggests 'something' is at play, whatever that 'something' may be.

Three things have happened that I have no real explanation for. Especially the last. First time I was at someone's house one weekend. I was sitting in the kitchen on my own in the evening and happened to glance out of the window, into the back garden. Staring intently at me was the face of a man. I could see him as clear as day, but at the same time, I could see through him. Absolutely shocked, I turned away to process what I'd seen, the quickly looked back again. Same thing. Staring right at me. I had to get up and walk straight into the living room. I obviously told the girl who's house it was and gave a description of him. She showed me a photo of her dad who was away with her mum. I'd never seen him before, but it was him. She panicked and called him but he was fine. Another time I was on my way to the Lake District from Kent. We alway have a stop over on the way for the week. I booked an old Inn about half way. It was lovely. Very old looking with a good bar and food. We had a few drinks with dinner and went to our room as we arrived late and wanted to leave early as well as having our daughter who at the time was around 2 or 3 years of age. We all got into the big double bed and my daughter and wife went to sleep. I sat up in bed watching match of the day when out of nowhere, got goosebumps all over me and had an intense feeling coming from my side, corner of the room. It was horrible. I switched off the TV and covered myself with the duvet. At that moment my daughter who had never done anything like it before, as she always seemed to find herself in our bed, sat up in her sleep , smiled and started waving into the darkend corner of the room!!! Last one which isn't ghastly and something I'd be so interested to know about. I've tried to Google but don't know how to explain it. I had a customer who I'd fitted a boiler for and visited every year to service the boiler. About 3 years later I went for a routine service. He was a small, serious but friendly African man. His name was Adi if I remember correctly. I was with my apprentice. We were in his small gallery kitchen talking over if he'd had any problems with the boiler since the last visit. For some reason things didn't feel right. I looked at him, put my hand on his shoulder at the same time as saying is everything alright mate? In that instance, I got a bit of a shock from him, nothing big. Something like static electricity. The atmosphere in the room became really intense and he just fell backwards into the wall and passed out! Being absolutely shocked , I told my apprentice to help me pick him up and take him into his living room. Got Lee to get him a glass of water. He was a bit dazed but too a sip. I said I don't know what just happened but are you okay? He said he'd had some very bad news that his brother in Africa had died but I can't explain how all this came to happen? I'd be grateful for any input 🙏

there's things we'll never understand., synchronicity is something that happens a lot if people take notice.

A lot of these spirit people go about the world quite visibly. You wouldn't tell them apart from your living neighbour. For example, at the beginning of this year, I had one of my own neighbours on my mind. I realised that I had not seen her for a while but was delighted to see her in the local supermarket, she looked really well but did not acknowledge me when I smiled at her. The following week I was there again, doing the weekly shop and on my way out, when I looked behind me, there she was again and this time she gave me the warmest smile, like an old friend, then she turned to go back into the supermarket. I was confused about the goings on at her home, no sign of her but her family going in, tidying up there, so I let my curiosity get the better of me and spoke to one of the family tidying up in the last couple of weeks, where I discovered that she had actually died suddenly, three year's ago. When I asked my daughter if she could remember me mentioning this lady,I asked her how long ago, she was surprise when I told her what the son of my old neighbour had told me.

My daughter saw ghost constantly when she was a toddler, she used to talk to them and wave at them. She later told me how she'd struggled to tell who was real and who wasn't!

I've heard of other experiences where someone has given a stranger a lift, only to find that the stranger disappears. The first one I ever heard was back in the 1960s - a young woman used to hitchhike on the road outside our house, she'd accept lifts from motorcyclists who would ask her where she was going. She'd say she'd let them know further ahead - when they would turn to ask her if she wanted off yet she wouldn't be there. I remember she had a blonde pony-tail and wore a short fitting t-shirt and pedal-pushers - looking like a 1950s girl. Years later I told someone that story and they said she probably was murdered by a motorcyclist after hitching a lift, and where she disappears is where it happened. I've never been able to find out anything, sadly.

‘There are more things in Heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamed of in your philosophy.’ Shakespeare had it right. Good point about The ‘Brown Lady’ wo seems to resemble a Renaissance painting of the Assumption of Our Lady, although I wouldn’t care to hazard a guess at which version. I live in a building originally constructed, we believe, in the latter part of the 15th century. I am occasionally aware of another presence and believe it may be the shade of an earlier occupant. For some reason I believe her name to be Agnes or similar and that she was a servant. I do not know how I became aware of this. Her presence is neither frightening nor threatening. She doesn’t trouble me and I try not to trouble her. Visitors have sometimes commented on an atmosphere of being observed. I hasten to add that I have never seen her nor have objects been moved or creepy noises been heard (except from the neighbours.) Just occasionally I feel that I’m not alone. Take from it what you will or nothing. I enjoyed your thoughtful discussion and open-ended conclusion.

A friend of mine, who was in the RAF in Lincolshire told us many stories. He worked nights and he and his colleagues observed many strange 'happenings' in the wake of pilots in WW2.😊

I am still agnostic on the subject of ghosts...or more specifically what ghosts actually may be. And I have seen one. Our house is in Normandy...an early 17th century oak half-timbered long-house. As most people now do, we converted the attic space into a couple of bedrooms, complete with Velux windows and the old 'door' on the gable end (it was a hay-loft) was glazed also. On one of the fist nights up there I woke to a strange 'thick' atmosphere in the air. I then saw a shape silhouetted against the end window. It hadn't been there before. Then it moved. It was a woman, dressed in an ankle length dark skirt and a high bodice. The sort of garb country people wore up until just before the War. Durable, not Sunday Best. Her hair was up in a 'bun' and I remember when she turned the light from the Velux shone in her glasses and picked up wisps of grizzeled hair that had escaped. She was old and quite thin and gaunt. She was also quite upright. She was not transparent. She had something in her hand which was long and she used to poke under the narrow bit under the eaves. I couldn't see what it was because my husband was on the side of the bed between her and me and obscured my view. Could have been a pitch fork or a walking stick maybe. I never got the idea she could see me. (Though afterwards I wondered what would have happened if I had spoken). I wasn't exactly afraid...rather I was awe-struck. The next day I told husband about it. I even drew a picture of her. To this day I cannot be sure what this phenomenon was. A person w know who studies this stuff (I have lived in very old houses all my life and have never been troubled by anything before....as dad said: It's the live ones you've got to watch!) said it was probably a 'water memory' stirred by the work that had been done during the conversion. I have never seen her again.

From the small understanding I have of Particle Physics; I think that this may be the appropriate starting point with regard to our understanding of both the physical and spiritual realms. So interesting and evasive; thank you for trying to comprehend these mysteries .

Interesting Ingmar Bergman quote: My body fears death. My mind does not.

'I'm Scottish....' We'd never guess, Neil!😂

This talk brings back memories of growing up in Denton, Manchester the son of a police constable. My Dad had some great stories of mysterious experiences he had first hand as well as some very unique calls he had attended. There is something to be said about coming from the ‘old’ world that those living in Canada for example just can’t relate to. There are fewer echoes in the new world.

What a brilliant video and Neil Oliver always has been a great conversationalist with his incredible ability to articulate his thoughts i could listen to him all day.

I have seen something inexplicable and my little 3 year old daughter definitely saw something that was so convincing I will never be sceptical about this subject.

I now feel I’m in good company as have my own copy of Archie Roy’s book on my desk. Thank you Neil for such considered and open minded thoughts on the topic.

Neil is a great storyteller and I look forward to reading his book!..

Having seen some very creepy and unexplainable things since I was a small child, I can confirm that ghosts do exist. No doubt in my mind, not a drop, that there is life after death.

We own two dogs, a female and a male, large Pyrennes, Labrador mixed, brother and sister from the same litter, all black with white spots, very attached to each other. Our female dog passed on first , we buried her a short distance to our summer home, when our male dog passed one year later we had him incinerated and l placed his ashes on a table with his picture, until my children would be present to bury him beside his sister. The week of their visit , everytime i passed by the ashes of our dog, something would stop me and it was as if my dog said to me "bury me already". He was mostly on outside dg, never wanting to be inside very long. The children came and we buried our dog with a little ceremony and then we walk to admire the flower bed when two large (unusually large) butterflies BLACK and WHITE came swirling around all of us, full of play and stayed for a few moment . I am sure that is was my two dogs happily reunited behind the veil.

fabulous interview. I now need to find this book. I have seen , felt and heard loads of things over the years

One of my friend Catherine past away few years later I had an Accident at work was a pretty low point an I could hear this familiar Giggle and someone blowing on my Face a quick conversation an she was gone. But when she was alive she was a beautiful soul I definitely believe we just dont get buried when die theres definitely life after death.

I've seen it. It's no joke either. It's more frightening than you can imagine. Around 2am, 28th December 2019. Turner over in bed to be faced with a spectral apparition. It didn't suddenly appear, it came into my line of sight as I turned over. It was a metre away from the bed at head height. Around a metre high, 1.5m long, like a lions mane, shimmering golds, reds, orange and crimson, with a pale grey face that looked contorted. It stayed there perhaps 30 seconds and dissipated head first over around 5 seconds. We've had a lot of activity here over the years. Mostly poltergeist, mugs swinging on hooks, the kettle switching on and off in rapid succession. Every kettle we've had here does the same. Shadows, repeated knocks, cold spots, whisps of vapours crossing rooms, and a heavy, bloody depressing atmosphere.

My friend's family bought a huge old Victorian house, that used to be an old people's home. Everyone in that family had experienced seeing or hearing something in that house, so much so that they sold it after a couple of years.

I think I realised even as child that many of the stories I read were as important to me as a collection or interpretations of folk memories, of places and times past as much as they were of mystery and manifestations

There's a very good book called 'The Ghosts of Malta' by Joseph Attard. It's an incredibly good book. There are some really interesting stories in it. Your story Mr. Oliver, of the man on the passenger seat reminded me of one story in this book. With the difference that two young men stopped for an old man walking on a long country road. He ignored them so they drove off. But within seconds the driver saw the man sitting on the back seat from his rear view mirror. Needless to say, I never drive through that road at night 😅

T.C. Lethbridge - a scholarfrom Cambridge wrote a lot about such residues of strong emotion. He carried out many scientific experiments, and came to many startling, but logical conclusion that some "ghosts" are a kind of recording from the past. Fascinating man!

There are many compelling stories/experiences told/shared on a podcast called 'UNCANNY' for anyone interested

Twenty odd years ago my wife and I went on a circular walk from the Danby Visitor Centre on the North York Moors. Near the end of the walk as we crossed the moor, the path passed next to an ancient stone circle. The description in the country walking magazine warned not to enter the circle as it was apparently bad luck to do so!. I walked on the edge of the circle as it was adjacent to the path. When we arrived back at the car park, I put the car door key into the boot lock to open it but as I tried to turn the key it felt as though it was made of putty and would not open. I was able to pull the key out of the lock and it was as though it had been in a forge as it was now like a spiral in shape! We had to call out the AA, and he couldn't open the car door to get us into the car either. He had to winch the car onto his lorry and drive us back home, over a hundred miles away.!

Tony Walker reads and writes ghost stories on the Classic Ghost Stories podcast and the introduction always asks "How do the dead come back to life" and I responded that they don't come back so much as they never leave. As you say, some piece of the highly emotional experience stays.

Half way through this video and I have just ordered the book for only £12.50 to arrive before 10pm, can't wait!

A dozen or so years ago I was staying by myself in a hotel in Shaoxing, China visiting my then girlfriend (Now wife) I opened my eyes one morning and there I saw sat next to me in the double bed was a man, not Chinese but I should say Mediterranean in appearance, olive complexion, black straight shoulder-length hair, he was wearing a white short sleeved T shirt with a distinct ribbed pattern on those sleeves and he appeared to be staring at the TV on the opposite wall (Which wasn't even on) I must have said something like "UH?" or whatever, I blinked and he'd gone, without a sound or any disturbance to the bed. ( I mean if you are in a bed with someone else , you are awake and they get up, you know don't you? you feel that movement no matter how small) I was a few floors up, the door was locked and the windows latched on the inside. To this day I can't fathom out what that was all about, ghost, glitch in the matrix time warp lord knows. ( It certainly wasn't a dream, I am the sort of person who has a dream then as soon as I wake up I forget most if not all of the details, I can recall all of this) All I know is I saw what I saw. 😳

I have bought Neil’s book for my wife for Christmas. We are both open minded about the subject in fact my wife was brought up in an ‘haunted’ house. There was something very creepy about it. Cold spots and the feeling of being watched were regular occurrences in that house. She never saw anything but felt a presence that may not be friendly.

This all indicates that we are able to see and be beyond the matter, space and time that we are brought up with. The head banging story is tremendous and gives us a clue as to the nature of one dimension of ghost phenomena. And I'm sure that all of their dimensions interconnect at the level of consciousness,

I'm going back to a TV series in the 1960s or 70s which I think was called Doomwatch. One of their episodes was called The Stone Tapes and brought up the idea that traumatic events were locked into the surrounding area. (The programme wasn't factual; just TV drama)

First video I've watched on this channel. Very good. Neil Oliver is a interesting bloke .

I always respect Mr. Oliver's word on any matter.

Enjoyed this discussion Neil very interesting likewise your book thank you

Fascinating, must get this book, as Neil is my Hero & this subject has always intrigued! Thanks for a smashing interview. (No over-talking & running off on loopy tangents!! Letting the guest speak is brilliant!) Cheers!

I lived with a presence in the living room of our 2 room apartment from midnight to dawn in a low rent building of mostly elderly who would die suddenly and alone in their apartments. I had to study late every night in law school. I never spoke of it until my husband started law school 2 years later and told me about his similar experience at night in the living room. We lived there 6 years with the midnight presence, the only manifestation being our sensing it and cold even in hot DC summers. Never experienced anything else like it in 65 years.

My sister was sitting on her bed when a man walked in wearing clothes from the early 1900's. They looked at one another in shock and the man left the room backwards.😅

Neil is pure refined class. A great storyteller. Bought the book about 15 minutes into the video.

I think stories and legends told help keep us together, build bonds between us, we never lose the magic

I stayed in a really old 'pension' (extra cheap place to sleep) in Morocco, the walls didn't go right up to the ceiling, there was a gap from wall to ceiling that you could climb over to get into the next room, that is how old it was, it was a building made of clay. I saw, as clear as day, an old man sitting in the chair in the corner, he was wearing a brown jalaba, (old style traditional coat) his hood was up and he just sat looking at me. I heard someone in the next 'cubicle' cough, I know I was awake, he was there 100%. I have so many stories, I have to believe. The worst place I experienced hauntings was Cornwall, I had to move from one place which I could only describe as evil...

Neil is one of my favorites ❤ Glad to find your channel. Cheers from NZ. I enjoy listening to stories either true on not, we are all children no matter how old we are 🎉