If you're even half as chronically online as I am, then you probably remember this. It's 2009. Michael Jackson is no more. But everyone insists he's somehow still among us.

Then, a viral video appears: "Michael Jackson's Ghost Caught on Camera!" It's a clip of a shadow inside the singer's former home. And if you're 10 years old, like I was, you'll probably start having nightmares... well anyway. Since then, thousands upon thousands of alleged ghost sightings have been shared online, but few are as believable as the ones on this list.

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#1

I've seen hundreds of convincing videos. There's so many out there, too many to count. Problem is firstly "Blobsquatch logic." Secondly, people's uncanny ability to see strings. Also their superhuman ability to know the architecture of the place the video was filmed.

The fact is, now more than ever before, videos will never, ever, ever be proof. This is the first tragic, d****y mistake of the newbie. They get an event, film it and innocently put it up, and get utterly crucified by the pathologically rabid Two Buck Debunk crowd. Unless you were there actually filming it, you'll just never know.

But if you study this s**t long enough, you recognise certain patterns, certain tropes, and you also understand a few weird little ground rules the phenomena has. Videos are great. They tell a good story. but that's all they ever will be. If you get a haunting, no matter how good, how clear, keep it well to yourself. Show only people you trust. Post anonymously.

But the best ones I've seen are the little ones, with tiny details. Like impossible hands in impossible spaces. Lot of those in Japanese ones, but there are many cultures too. Seen a few in the US, but this seems to be a real trope of Japanese videos.

© Photo: banjonica

#2

Watts family, police body cam footage.

https://youtu.be/acaJhNRR10k?si=hhNEmjiSg6-pzqZS.

© Photo: D-O-A_83

#3

The guy testing a flashlight in a cave, and he hears the creepiest stuff. Seems real to me.

https://youtu.be/UVEU6n2eKtg?si=_uyzIKbfREDdSP0-.

© Photo: smalleststatue

Ghosts are the kind of supernatural phenomenon that will probably never be definitively proven — or disproven. The idea that they exist is... quite insane. After all, what even is a ghost? Is it a spirit? A psychological response in our brains? A natural phenomenon? Well, there isn't a clear answer.

Academically, most research suggests that ghosts aren't actual, literal beings. After all, there's zero empirical evidence that they exist. But researchers do say that ghost sightings are a fascinating window into human biology, psychology, and culture. There are also quite a few reasons why people might see them even if they aren't actually there.

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#4

To me is this one from Brazil. The guy recently gave an interview about his video. If he faked, it's a really good one.

https://youtu.be/Aeq96RJvxU0?si=oIE6McS5HXTGaBsK.

© Photo: jackbaura

#5

Years ago I found a channel about a guy and his haunted house in Maine. I cant remember the channel name but I do remember how creepy his videos were! There was one specific room upstairs that was the worst - I remember a shadow figure flying around

ETA: Here is the channel https://youtube.com/@ghostsofcarmelmaine451?si=qioucwQrp-zRtzu9

I haven't watched any of his videos in years. It looks like hes REALLY leaned into the paranormal/ghost hunting. Also while I was searching I saw a couple videos/posts titled "Ghosts of Carmel Maine DEBUNKED," so take all of this with a grain of salt.

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#6

There was a video on YouTube of a man hearing this scream from his basement. It really freaked me out. I didn't save it and I regret not doing so.

© Photo: Cold_Acanthisitta_96

On one hand, experts say that, more often than not, there's a psychological glitch at play when we see the unknown. When we watch a video and see something seemingly unexplainable, our brains do exactly what they're supposed to: they try to fill in the gaps and look for danger. We crave predictability, and when it isn't there, it can be scary.

Psychologists explain that a phenomenon called the Hyperactive Agency Detection Device (HADD) kicks in when we hear or see something we don't understand. Our brains immediately interpret it as a potential threat, even if there isn't one. The supernatural is often people's go-to explanation because it offers an answer to something they otherwise can't explain.

#7

I once saw a video of a person doing a walkthrough of a house. Apparently, there had been a young man living there who was in a wheelchair and took his own life. As the camera pans through the living room, you briefly see uh.. someTHING in a chair just scooting by. It looked so bizarre, like an incident of high strangeness. For some reason that one really stuck with me but I can't find it anymore. I've seen several others.

Recently there was a video inside a hospice or nursing home. There is a woman standing outside a darkened room reading the bible and holding a rosary. An unseen force causes the rosary to pull towards the dark room.

Then there was the one where a family is on vacation in Savannah, and the son is filming in the graveyard. Movement catches his eye, of what appears to be a small child. The "child" basically jumps vertically into a tall tree, then appears to fall. It was on the news. Super weird stuff. I guess that's why I found it so convincing.

© Photo: d00n3r

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#8

Have you watched the pantry ghost? Not sure what the documentary is called but it's a little creepy and seems authentic.

© Photo: VisualGarage4271

#9

Haunted school in Ireland. This went viral several years ago.

https://youtu.be/vh99uSI22BU?si=j7kE_Iv81VuevWJb.

© Photo: Pleasant-Soup-6119

To no one's surprise, quite a few psychologists and behavioral scientists have conducted studies and experiments on ghost sightings, and Dr. Richard Wiseman ran one of the most interesting ones to date. He took two groups of people into reportedly haunted locations, including Hampton Court Palace.

Once they were there, he told Group A that one of the rooms was heavily haunted, while he told Group B that the same room had undergone renovations. Afterward, Group A reported experiencing cold spots, sensing presences, or seeing shadows. In other words, their pre-existing beliefs seemed to shape what they perceived. Fascinating.

#10

There's this channel called Bizarre Bub and there's lots of videos where a dog will randomly perk up and bark at nothing, or be frightened and it's usually followed by something slamming or moving unexplainedly. Those are really convincing compared to some of the clearly faked ones by paranormal youtube accounts.

© Photo: KamiKaze0132

#11

Check out Project Dark Knight Horror. He's got some amazing videos on his channel. The Mexican guy with a haunted party shop is pretty convincing.

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#12

The vid that had the entity looking apparition move past a crib at night. Think it was baby monitor footage. That made the hair stand up. But overall it's harder today because I'm increasingly skeptical of what I'm seeing online. Most of it is faked.

© Photo: Sohara24

There is also something experts call "collective delusion." And these days, it's no longer limited to real life — it can spread through our screens too, which is a pretty terrifying thought. In many of these videos, you'll see the comment section unanimously insisting that the footage is "100% real" or pointing out a face at a specific timestamp.

Well, studies suggest that when we're looking at something visually ambiguous, like a ghost video, we often look to other people for validation. If the top comment says there's a face in the frame, your brain will actively start searching for one. Before you know it, you might genuinely believe you've seen it, without realizing your expectations shaped what you perceived in the first place. Scary stuff.

#13

I find the first person account of incidents that occurred to nurses and other first responders (police, EMTs, firefighters…) to be the most genuine and convincing. These people deal with those closest to their imminent d***h on a daily basis—you know stuff has got to happen! Luckily, there are so

many said videos. Just gotta keep searching.

© Photo: EntertainmentGold807

#14

There’s one on Youtube called “Oklahoma Wrecker Ghost” that I’ve always thought might be authentic for a couple reasons: the ghost did not appear to be solid (the legs look transparent to me), and one of the people k****d (there were 3 cars in the impound lot that were involved in fatal accidents), was a woman who apparently liked to wear overalls with a white shirt or blouse underneath, which is what this ghost appears to be wearing. Watch it and decide for yourself!

© Photo: MostlyHarmless88

#15

It has to be the various Gettysburg ghost videos. Especially the one where its either twilight or dawn and a camera is set up at the end of a man made road and you can clearly see soldiers appearing out of the gloom to cross the road.

There is another where pipes and drums can be heard too with no reconstructions taking part.

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And of course, if you happen to come across a video showing mysterious lights in a graveyard, remember this: that's probably just nature doing its thing. It's a natural chemical process that experts call chemiluminescence. And it is just organic matter decaying underground and releasing gases that can make you see faint, flickering lights.

So yeah, whether you believe in ghosts or not is entirely your prerogative. Understandably, a lot of these videos are absolutely wild, and even though I understand the psychology behind why they can seem so convincing, they still creep me out a little. I blame Michael Jackson. But what about you? Have you ever seen a ghost? Tell us about your experience!

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#16

Cant remember the name of the channel but there was a guy who wear glasses. In one video, they visited an old abandonned prison in South Carolina. In that video, he saw 2 times a guy in a doorway and he seems legit scared.

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#17

Those og Facebook pages of rez ghost stories used to have some convincing creepy videos. This was like 5+ years ago now... wish I saved some of those videos ts gave me chills.

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#18

There was this one where the wife and husband are sleeping on two couches in an L formation in the middle of the afternoon. The wife had been tormented by a poltergeist for some time. Then it grabs her leg and picks it up twisting her foot behind her back in the most unnatural way. Their reactions were so real and there's no way she could pull her own leg up like that. I'll try and find a link.

© Photo: User

#19

These are the ones that convinced me. It’s my Best of the Best Ghost footage of All Time Playlist. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjltaxG6DhkVLmXrhj-VxMbmJuzbeDSed&si=hkQHiDP9CSdS1725.

© Photo: XxAirWolf84xX

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#20

There's this (mostly) Bigfoot channel I follow, Bob Gymlan, that put out a video of paranormal evidence he's collected at an abandoned? hospital or nursing home. Idk, I refuse to watch it again, it scared the s**t out of me like nothing before it and since. Genuinely couldn't tell you why because I look at this stuff a lot, but this is it:

https://youtu.be/p7vCBxOziTQ?si=Xx5RzIvDPOBxLDzh.

© Photo: 42TheTruthIsOutThere

#21

This:

https://youtu.be/-gB-IxDSu_k?si=7J_ZjEPUSk9UWjjk

It's in Gettysburg and when it was filmed the person was unaware of the movement happening. It's the poor quality that actually convinces me. Thing is, the grainier footage is, the harder it is to manipulate. This is clearly an old phone camera. Yet there is something that looks like a figure repeating the same standing motion before dissipating again. Editing that in would be so hard to do. Everyone wants HQ pics of ghosts but it's the low res ones that will Always convince me more.

© Photo: NeonPandaPoof

#22

Arthur c Clarke and ghosts on the underground, also Harry Martindale and the Roman ghosts 👻.

© Photo: anon

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