Mystery. The unexplained. The strange. The borderline bizarre. How does one know when something is simply an odd occurrence and not something worse, like, a haunting.

Some people scoff at the mere suggestions of ghosts, spirits, poltergeists, and the paranormal. While others not only believe but take part in the happenings.

Here are three signs that my house, yes, my humble abode may in fact be, if not haunted, certainly occupied by some strange force. I'm not saying I believe in what I just said, I'm saying that while I cannot explain certain occurrences around this house, others are quick to identify specific things as having an 'otherworldly' connection.

1) MAILBOX FLAP OPENS AND CLOSES WITHOUT ANYONE BEING THERE.

We have one of those old-fashioned 'built-in' mailbox shutes. There's the metal flap on the outside which the mail carrier would lift up and insert the mail through the slot. Now, we don't use this old built-in feature - as the mailbox on our main porch is more secure and gated. However, sometimes, in the evening, we'll be watching TV or writing articles and I'll distinctly hear that squeaky metal flap open and slap shut. Usually, it's three times. When I go to the front door, there's never anyone there. So, now that we have a RING doorbell installed at each entrance, all I had to do the last time this happened was to check the video and hopefully be able to identify what was obviously a prankster. However, I looked at it several times just to be sure and there was nobody there. Not a soul. Well, not visibly anyway.

Brian Stephenson
Brian Stephenson
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2)  A CLOSET DOOR THAT STICKS SHUT. INEXPLICABLY.

Sure, our house is about 80 years old. There's a fair amount of settling that happens in older homes and sometimes doors adjust or even warp. But this isn't the case anywhere in our home, except, perhaps, for our guest room. The closet door will occasionally stick shut. After careful inspection, there's really no good reason for it to be sticking. There's no obvious sticking point to be identified. Even stranger, one time, in particular, I tugged at it, unable to open it, and then my then six-year-old grandson gently touched the handle, and it swung open. Another time, while struggling to open it, I could clearly see about a quarter of an inch of space with light coming through all around the door, yet it still wasn't opening. It didn't feel stuck as much as it felt like someone or something was pulling from inside. Exasperated, the last time this happened, I let out a frustrated 'Lord Have Mercy' and the tension on the door vanished, almost knocking me over like a sudden tug of war victory.

Brian Stephenson
Brian Stephenson
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3) THE TRAVELLING LAWN GNOME

There is a somewhat creepy yet endearing lawn gnome in our backyard. It's actually 'Uncle Si' from Duck Dynasty. He's got a bit of a weird look on his face, more so than most gnomes, kind of like no matter what angle you look at him, he's glaring at you. We keep him in the backyard in a very nice spot by some rose bushes near my outdoor fireplace. What's strange is, he was in the backyard and then I noticed him missing. At first, of course, I blamed Tater our Golden Retriever and thought he may have taken a shine to the gnome and buried him in the garden or something. The next day, while mowing the front lawn, I see the gnome sitting next to the front door. Now, Tater can't get to the front yard, as he's fenced-in the back. My wife swears she didn't move him and acts as though I'm making it up. I'm not. Again, I check the RING doorbell over the period of time that transpired between the time I remember seeing him in the back and when I noticed him in the front. Other than the mail carrier, a raccoon, and me mowing the lawn - nobody else can be seen on the video.

Brian Stephenson
Brian Stephenson
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I can't explain any of these three things and still, I'm not a believer in spooky ghostly shenanigans. Are you?

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