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Thank you so much for your post, js1138!

First of all, I can't imagine what you and your family have suffered under cause #1. Y'all are in my prayers.

I don't wish to dispute that the three things you mentioned do happen - phenomenon rooted in physical malfunction, tainted witness and fraud. But that isn't the whole story. There are also truthful accounts of direct experiences and supporting evidence.

You may not believe - which is your choice - and indeed, to whatever extent is possible, affiants should willingly subject to examination. Nevertheless, there are cases which do not fit the three categories you mention.

Which brings me to the final point:

I have lived 57 years and never encountered anything or any testimony from friends, relatives or friends of friends that could not be accounted for by the first two of these explanations. I guess I have led a sheltered life, but I don't know anyone who has experienced anything that suggests a non-physical cause -- not just by my interpretation, but also by theirs. I simply haven't met anyone who believes in spooky stuff.

You know me albeit over the internet. You also know betty boop. We have both testified of direct experiences beyond physicality.

I am in my 57th year and have personally experienced answered prayer, personal miracles, spiritual revelations, night travels, etc. But of course, I do not expect you to believe me just because I so affirm.

am in my 57th year and have personally experienced answered prayer, personal miracles, spiritual revelations, night travels, etc.

I have watched your posts since 1998 and would never doubt your sanity or integrity. (almost never, since I have recently seen what illness can do temporarily to the mind).

But I have also seen something that wasn't there, just as clearly and solidly as anything I have ever seen. I was also in a position to understand why I "wanted" to see it, and have had since college, a theory of mind that accepts such phenomena as part of the normal working of the mind. I also have vivid dreams, which I often remember in detail for several minutes after I wake up. Some of these dreams have all the texture of reality. I have even made jokes and puns in dreams that I can remember when I wake up. (I have written a few down, but they don't look so wonderful later in the day). So I am never shocked at what sane people experience. I am sometimes skeptical of their interpretation of what they experience.

I'm afraid that to break through my skepticism, I would have to experience something with a bit more substance than a personal vision. I don't know what form that might take. Predicting the future? Interesting, but we all make predictions and some of them come true. My favorite example, which I am unable to locate via google, is the CD cover by the group Coop, showing the wtc towers burning exactly as they did, but printed a month or more before the event.