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Definition: Using other information  to distract the user from getting to the point they want from you. Usually using irrelevant or useless dialogue to avoid the topic at hand, and not have to discuss the subject.

Connection: The German's when asked during WWII denied the Holocaust was used just for killing of Jewish people, but rather used for examination and transportation to a safe haven.

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Red herrings in Holocaust denial - RationalWiki

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Most of the red herrings in this list are from 66 questions about the Holocaust by the Institute for Historical Review (IHR) and Ernst Zündel, which are rebutted by the Nizkor Project. They are an example of the "Just asking questions" rhetoric to avoid explicit statements.

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Definition: With all of the unique beliefs we have that are unexplained, we tend to want to find a solution because one has not been found for that person. So, we naturally start thinking of our own solutions and tend to stick to the idea of what we thought of.

Connection: Magicians are a great example for this as when we see a trick performed by a magician, we are blown away by what they just did and try to explain to ourselves how they did it. Although there are explanations to their tricks, we like to think about how they did it to build on our excitement for it. A big part of this is how the magician is able to sell the trick, which can lead to a deeper thought process and build on what is unexplained.

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Definition: This explains how people will believe things if they are emotionally connected to it. An example being people believe they see a ghost of a late relative.

Connection: The second story listed is connected to emotional connection because the mother believe that the towel falling off of the radiator was a sign that the granddad had died. This is something the mother felt was a sign, though it is just gravity forcing a towel onto the floor.

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A sign of My Grandad's Death

by Katie W
(North Wales)

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Crazy Aunt Lily

by Agnes
(New York)

Just to give you a little background I was adopted by a very nice Italian couple who had a daughter my age named Mary when I was eight. My mother had a nervous breakdown when I was seven and ended up in a institution. My father left us when I was two. My adopted family gave me a wonderful life.

After getting married and living our life, it was time that our children started to get married, then they had children, now our grandchildren were starting to get married. Mary has a daughter named Marissa. Marissa got married to Andrew. Andrew had a few nuts in his family and this story is about his Great Aunt Lily who is my age, 79. Andrew's mother didn't get along with her sister Lily. She said when she was in her thirties she started talking about ungodly things such as ghosts. Nevertheless, Lily came to family functions and seemed pleasant enough.

So Andrew and Marissa had a baby named Kate. At Kate's 1st birthday party, some of the guests brought some cookies and such. Lily brought a bakery box that had a familiar logo with double hearts and beautiful calligraphy with a French name. I couldn't place it.. Where had I seen these before? I walked over and picked up a cookie. It was a rich chocolate cookie with a raspberry filling and sweet white icing. I had had it before - a very long time ago.

My real mother used to go to this bakery. In fact, she used to work at this bakery. I was sure. I remembered the way the boxes looked and the way the cookie tasted. I went up to her and inquired, "These are wonderful. Where did you get them?" She said it was a small bakery up the street from her house called Madelines. I asked where she lived. She said on Clinton Blvd in Washington City. I remembered, that's where I grew up. That's where my mother raised me. I told her what number house I lived in, Number 31.

She smiled, "That's my house. I bought it over 40 years ago after I had my 4th child." She said it was a big house and she needed room for her family. It was a big house. I remember running and playing and going to the bakery to see my mom. She looked at me strangely and said I didn't know that you and Mary grew up in Washington City. I explained to her that I was adopted at eight. Her eyes grew heavy and said, "Your mother was Bea." Beatrice was my mother's name - how did she know? Did my mom leave old books at the house? Did my mom get out of the hospital and sell her the house? Lily said, "I am so sorry."

I said, "Sorry for what?"

She explained, "There was a ghost named Sarah Anne who died as a child in your home. She caught a flu and passed. She was mad that her parents just left the home and she felt forgotten. She didn't like your parents and was very jealous when you were born. She haunted your father and made him leave. She haunted your mother and told her very horrible things about you. Your mother snapped. They took her away. They took you away. She stayed alone in that house over 20 years till my husband and I bought it. She tried to pull the same stuff with me, but I had a ghost in my last home. I knew she couldn't hurt me. Eventually she and I began a friendship. I never go to this bakery. I think they are overpriced and the fair is too sweet.

"This morning Sarah Anne told me to go to get these chocolate raspberry cookies for the party. She said they were Bea's favorite. She said she was sorry she hurt Bea and her family. So I went and bought them."

I realized that Lily was not so crazy. I realized that it wasn't my father's fault. I realized that my poor mother wasn't crazy either.

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Grandma's Death

by Rose
(Australia)

One night when I was home alone, I heard a crash but before I could go look at what it was the phone rang. It was my dad saying my great grandma just died in hospital. After I got off the phone I went to see what the crash was.

It was a picture of my great grandma.

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Ghosts and Hauntings: The Wedding Dress

by Laura
(Westminster, MA, USA)

Back in 1994, my sister was dying of breast cancer. She had previously taken her wedding dress out one more time to put it on, and she knew things weren't going well.

Before she died she had asked me to "take care of her dress for her, have it cleaned and resealed back in its box." I told her I would. She passed away and it was a devastating time for my family and me. A month had passed, and I had yet to do what she had asked, just a hard time for me.

I was living at home for the time being. Her dress was laid out in her old room, on her old bed. I was in my room reading and listening to some music, down low. Our rooms were on the 2nd floor with a hallway between them. I overheard crying, like sobbing. I put my book down, went downstairs thinking it was my mom, which would be a natural assumption, for any parent to mourn the loss of a child. When I rounded the corner to the living room however, my Mom was reading and my Dad was watching TV. I asked my Mom if she was ok, and she said, "Yes, are you ok?" I said, "Yes I'm fine. I heard crying."

She said she did too, and my Father said he did as well. My mom (and my late sister) and I have always been opening minded to the afterlife, but my father didn't believe in it. I think this gave him second thought. It had to have been my sister, upset that I had not yet taken care of her dress. My Mom and I went out the very next day and took care of it. Never heard the crying again. This is just one, of a few things that occurred to my mother and I after she died. I am a believer.

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Kiss from Beyond

by Kristen SF
(Fredericton NB Canada)

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I was so scared!!!!

by Angeleah
(Canistota, SD)

After about a year or two after my grandmother died, I was in my laundry room doing laundry as usual. I smelled a faint smell of her purfume that she used to use. I didn't think anything of it. So I went on with what I was doing. Then sure enough I saw her at the corner of my eye, looking at me. I dropped all of the laundry and ran of and locked myself into my bedroom, and waited for my mom to get home. But I never really told her what happened. Now that I think of it it really is comforting knowing that she is still around.....

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Ghost Story: Father Comes to take
His Wife With Him

by Kristina
(Philadelphia, PA, USA)

I was taking care of my best friend's mom at the time. She had Alzheimer's.

It was around 6:00 pm, and I was in the middle of doing the wash in the basement, and I always draped the wet clothes on things in the basement. What was in the basement were things that use to be upstairs, like old chairs, and furniture. My best friend's father was dead a long time before I met her, so I only knew what she told me about him, and that was that he physically abused her and her brothers while he was alive. So here I was doing the wash, and I went into the other part of the basement to hang some wash, and there sitting in one of the chairs was her father, with his hands in his lap, just staring at me.

I ran up the stairs and told my best friend what I saw, and what he was wearing. And it turns out that what he had on was what they had buried him in. Not long after that happened my best friend's mom passed away in the living room in her bed. But the odd thing was she passed away facing the wall, and when I turned her over to check on her, she had a smile on her face. I think he came to take her with him.

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My Sister, the Psychic

by Isabella V
(Sacramento, CA, USA)

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Grandpa

by Joanne

This isn't really a scary story or anything, but I just read a story on here that is similar to what happened to me.

Last summer, my grandpa passed away. I took it pretty hard, because he was the first person in the family whom I was close to that died. Anyways, he was in the hospital recovering from surgery, and my family and I visited him all that week. The last day I visited was the Friday before the Tuesday that he died.

When it was time to leave him on that Friday, he gave me a big hug goodbye, and said "good luck with graduation and everything next year, sweetie." I didn't think about what he had said until after he had passed away, but it didn't really make sense. Why would he tell me that, when we would see each other throughout the course of the next year? I don't know if he knew he was going to die or not. But when I think about it, there's no way he could have.

What happened to him was pure coincidence, because the day he died was the day he was scheduled to be released to go home. Anyways, this past March I was at my Grandma's house, the one that she and my grandpa have lived in for like forever. We were about to leave from our visit and go home. I gave her a hug goodbye, and turned around to go to the door. She said something, so I turned to her quickly and responded and turned quickly back to the door. But when I looked back at her for that split second, I swear I saw my grandpa standing behind her, smiling.

It could have just been my imagination, but I'd like to think that it was my grandpa, because I really miss him and sometimes I will have these dreams, and he will be in them. In the dreams, I can 'smell' him, how I remembered him to smell like.

But yeah, I just thought that I would share.

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The Ghost of the Estate of Andrea

by Anonymous

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Ghosts and Hauntings: Uncle Lord

by Brenda E
(Anchorage, Alaska, USA)

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The Time Ghost

by Lucy S

My Mum, who is now in her 60's told me this story when I was younger. I have always remembered it, though. My dad died when I was 10 years of age and my mum took a while to get over it and we still don't know what happened. My mum said that every single day when he was alive he would leave the house for work at 7:30 in the morning and arrive home at 7:30 in the evening. One day he left for work at 7:30 and my mum heard his footsteps at the end of the day coming down the patio at, yes! You guest it, 7:30. But when she opened the door know one was there!

Just at that moment the phone rang, when she answered the phone it was the police. They had founded the body of my dad! At that point in the story I asked if she missed the noise of his footsteps? She said no, because I still hear them! Every morning at 7: 30 and every night at 7:30 without fail! I didn't believe her so she said that she would prove it.

So that night I sat and waited for the footsteps, and to my surprise I actually heard them!

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A Light in the Darkness

by Lisa
(Indiana)

About 15 years ago, our family was in a state of mixed blessing. At that time (six years into our marriage), my husband and I had finally been blessed with our first child, a son whom we named John; and our families were ecstatic. Our son was their first grandchild, and my husband's grandmother's first great-grandchild. Unfortunately, quite unexpectedly, Joan (my husband's grandmother) passed away two weeks after our son was born, before she had a chance to meet him.

Several weeks after her funeral, I was awakened in the middle of the night by our Golden Retriever, who was growling -- a low, soft sound, but a growl, nonetheless. Being a new mom, I was acutely attuned to any sound that might interrupt my sleep; and so I was immediately alert. I listened for a moment. The baby monitor was silent, but the dog (which was laying next to my side of the bed) continued to growl. So I opened my eyes and turned to look at the dog. She was gazing into the bathroom, her eyes fixed intently on something. Confused, I peered in the general direction that the dog was fixed on, and I was amazed at what I saw: A single bulb in the chandelier was glowing a soft orange color, pulsating, almost like a heartbeat. Of the eight bulbs, only one was lit -- and then, not fully. Just partially. Softly. In the darkness of the night, the effect was almost like flickering candlelight.

As if she could sense my wonder, the dog stopped growling and glanced up at me. It was almost a "well, what do you think about that?" kind of look. I blinked at her and looked back at the bulb, which continued to throb with a soft, orange light; and then the answer came to me: "She's here. She has come to say 'good-bye.'" I don't know how I knew it was her, but I was certain that it was my husband's grandmother -- Joan. Even though she hadn't been able to meet our son during her earthly lifetime, she had seen him, nonetheless; and she wanted me to know.

I watched as the bulb's glow grew dimmer and dimmer, and I finally shut my eyes, quite comfortable in the knowledge that Joan was leaving the earthly plain, on her final journey home. As I drifted off to sleep, I was at peace; and I'm certain that Joan was, too.

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Who is this?

by Jennifer Heinlein
(Lebanon, Ohio)

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My dad came back to say goodbye

by Sophie Ellen
(England)

the mansion house

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Apparitions of My Mother, My Guardian Angel

by Edna
(Texas)

When I was six years old, my mother died. I was very close to my mother and so I felt so alone and sad after she died.

A short time after she died, I started seeing her image by my bed at night. This happened quite often. She was always just standing there like she was watching over me and never said anything and then after a few seconds she always disappeared. I knew my mother was dead, so seeing her image by my bed always frightened me.

This went on for years and years, until after I moved out and got married and lived in a house of my on. Then she didn't appear to me any longer. I know I was awake when I saw her image, I know it was my mother's ghost. I know I wasn't dreaming.

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Click here to read or post comments. by Katie W (North Wales) Click here to post comments. Click here to read or post comments. by Agnes (New York) Just to give you a little background I was adopted by a very nice Italian couple who had a daughter my age named Mary when I was eight.

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Definition: As humans, we look for patterns when we look at images and items and look for a pattern in what we see naturally. Sometimes we will find certain patterns in them, but they do not have a meaning, but it is just a coincidence.

Connection: The tree in the image below is just an ordinary tree, but the way it has grown in it seems that it has its own face in it. This is just another pattern that we find when looking at images and/or objects, but because of its growth, it seems that it has a mouth, nose, eyes and eye brows. This can lead to people thinking that it has supernatural powers, but in the end there is no hidden meanings.

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Definition: Using clothing, titles or noticeable people (i.e. celebrities) to seduce people into thinking that the idea or item they are promoting is true. Typically this is done when a person will use a lab coat to give the view to the person that they are an actual scientist.

Connection: In the commercial posted above, NBA star Blake Griffin is promoting GameFly, a service that rents video games. He is showing the viewer his opinion on how to be "awesome" and that things he does is also awesome to try to get the viewer to act like him and do the same things that he does. The target audience of the NBA is males who are engaged with video games, so GameFly is taking advantage of Blake's reputation in the NBA.

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GameFly Commercial - Be Amazing - Featuring Blake Griffin!

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Definition: When an individual or party has a standpoint on a certain topic or idea, and will not change from that standpoint. They are typically bias towards that standpoint, and will not change it based on their facts.

Connection: People have been split on whether or not Big Foot is real, but many people have their belief based on the fact that it is real based upon the photo below. Although it may be proven to be fake, people will still believe that these photos are real, while ignoring the facts.

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Definition: This red flag is used to explain why somethings are undiscovered. This is the belief that the knowledge exists, but is hidden or left unexplained by authority figures.

Connection: These two are connected because the man in the video had a daughter who was battling cancer. The daughter went through chemotherapy. The treatment did not work so he did his own research and found Dr. Burzynski who had a treatment for cancer. After using Burzynski's treatment, there were no signs of a tumour. After a month, it had spread and the government doctors tried to convince the family that Burzynski's cure didn't work. After putting the daughter back on Burzynski's, the daughter was 100% free. She later died because of the radiation of the government cancer treatment. The father believes that the government has hidden the cure and is hiding the information form the people.

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TESTIMONY: CANCER CURE Suppressed by Government

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Dr. Burzynski has discovered the genetic mechanism to cure most human cancers, but the government doesn't want you to have it.

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Definition: When people choose to follow the traditions/process of previous generations rather than focus on the current age. People are biased towards how things used to be, rather than how they are today, which is a massive change.

Connection: The Mayan Calendar had many people believing that the world was going to end because the 'Great Cycle' of the Long Count was to end on December 12th, 2012 at 11:11am. This ancient Calendar has been operating for centuries, and has had multiple incidents where people believed the world would end based upon the cycle of this calendar.

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ScienceCasts: Why the World Didn't End Yesterday

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The Mayan calendar explained! The world is safe from rogue planets, solar flares and other imagined calamities! Watch this NOW to learn why NASA Science says you'll be here Dec. 22 to view it again! Visit http://science.nasa.gov/ for breaking science news.

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By: Matt Mollo, Grant Hoekstra, Mitch Warden and Brennan West