Okay, so I figured both stories out... (a logical perspective)

Man you are way off you think everything is because of drugs but your wrong .Have you ever lived in a haunted House NO have you ever seen a real Ghost No .Well I have to both questions and more and how to explain the scratches on his back there is no way he could have done that to himself .

IN LIFE YOU NEED TO QUIT THINKING YOU HAVE THE ANSWERS WHEN IN REALITY YOU DON'T

I think your own explanation creates some problems. You're trying to take scattered anecdotes that are being presented to you as part of a larger phenomenon and trying to explain them piecemeal. In the process, you're missing the point--the freaky thing for those in the middle of the experience is not that these weird little things went on, but that they seemed too organised to be coincidental. You're arguing for an almost-Rube-Goldbergian level of coincidence while the original story's point is that the coincidence theory is strained by the sheer number of incidents. The incidents are only symptoms of the larger issue that the girls felt uneasy in the place and didn't know why.

That the explanations you offer are mundane as opposed to supernatural doesn't automatically prove them out. And since these are incidents that happened years ago with a specific group of people that has long since broken up and scattered, it's now almost impossible to replicate the conditions in question.

I'm not saying that the original incidents *were* of supernatural origin. These are highly dramatised stories and I'm quite sure that some things have been fudged over the years (and even by the show) to heighten the sense of mystery. It's entirely possible that the girls conflated a bunch of weird, isolated incidents into one sinister pattern. But saying that doesn't explain how the pattern formed, either.

We humans are conditioned by evolution to engage in the scientific method of testing out our environment and formulating theories about it. But we're also equally conditioned to believe in the irrational and the unknown--the supernatural--that perhaps we don't actually understand our larger world very well, even now. We sense that our view of the natural world is incomplete (and the progress of science has proven this true, time and again), which makes us wonder if everything around us truly follows the "natural" laws we ascribe to it. Without folklore, there'd probably be no science because people would not ask questions about things they don't entirely understand.

I have been in some odd situations in the past not unlike the one about the sorority and I want to point out that the initial reaction is *not* to jump to "Oh, it's ghosts." People *always* assume it's something mundane. It's fun to watch a film or read a book about someone having to deal with a haunting, but a real one where you live? Not so much fun. So, people always come up with mundane reasons why something is happening, which is perfectly logical. Even if you do believe in ghosts, hauntings just aren't that common. So, even if you believe in the supernatural, nine times out of ten, a mundane explanation will be the correct one.

Only once they run out of mundane explanations do people in these situations really start to wonder what else is going on. This is why, in real-life ghost stories, the person starts off with weird incidents and only later finds out that the place is haunted and possibly why it might have been. It's also why people who have been through those experiences are not impressed by debunkers. To them, the debunkers are a day late and a dollar short. They've already tried all those explanations and found them wanting. Only if the debunker comes up with something new that explains the phenomenon in a satisfactory way (and debunkers generally don't, because they've got their own anti-paranormal agenda) are people willing to accept it. Even then, many others will just ignore it.

Case in point--crop circles. They've confused people for years, until two guys came forward and admitted they'd hoaxed the original ones. They clearly showed how they did it, with reasonably simple tools and methods. Their story checked out.

Since then, further study has shown how this phenomenon has spread throughout the world, being copied by a lot of other people. It's really a sort of art form now (albeit one that costs some farmers a whole lot of money in lost crops). The explanation is both simple and complex enough to cover all the different odd permutations of the phenomenon and, at the same time, it's kind of mysterious and cool how this movement spontaneously grew up. The mundane explanation works. Same thing goes for remarkable ancient works like the Egyptian Pyramids.

And yet, even so, some people still insist they're made by aliens. You just can't convince everybody.

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Hello xcollbabyx, my name is Chris DiCesare, and I am the person who endured the haunting at SUNY Geneseo back in 1985. I felt it necessary to share some information with you after reading your post. While I am a strong proponent of critical thinking and problem solving exercises, I think it best to examine evidence as best as one can before drawing one's assumption. I can assure you that drugs were never an option for me. I grew up having national running ambitions. At the age of 11 (the summer after 5th grade) I ran an 18:31 5K (3.1 miles). I ran my 1st 26.2 mile marathon (Montreal World Cup Games) at the age of 14, when I earned a silver medal in the Junior division. It was impressed upon me at a very early age my both my parents and running coaches that any type of foreign substance could be injurious to my road to the Olympic games. I was allowed to have an occasional glass of red wine on holidays with relatives, but I didn't like the way it tasted. In college I drank a glass of vodka my freshman year on a dare (I was called a 'goody two shoes' like the Adam Ant song) and woke up naked on top of a pool table the following morning. I then ran horribly at a race that next day in Buffalo, NY. That was it for me. I learned THAT lesson fast: my parents and coaches were right! Just say no! I have never smoked pot/marijuana. In fact (this proves how dorky I was by today's standards) whenever I was offered drugs I would reply: "The only thing I smoke are my opponents ... on the track!" I know, I know. But the truth is I was as clean cut as they come. I didn't drink, do drugs, use bad language or gamble. My goal was to reach the limits of my athletic abilities. Even though we had some differences of opinions over the years, my father is a good man. I knew that he loved me when he came to visit me in college. If he thought I was on drugs, he would have picked me up, threw me into the car and put me in rehab ASAP so as to limit my time away from training. While I understand that a quick glance at the events might lead you to consider drug use, upon consideration of the closeness of my friendships, the constant supervision and earned obligations (college coaches and teammates, scholarship at risk) you would do well to look elsewhere for the explanation ... as I myself was forced to some 27 years ago. I wish you well. - Chris