^ True. On the dark side, it is also the arguement used by holocaust deniers; that survivors are under some kind of mass hallucination brought on by the stress of their ordeals (even the HD's don't deny concentration camps were fearful atrocious places where death and misery were common place) and ideas put into their heads by "outsiders."

The mind is a very strange thing. Tell a lie for long enough, and it becomes the truth in your mind. You could even pass a lie detector test.

I have to admit once:
I was sitting on the sofa with the wife on a stormy night. The lights kept pulsing. She got spooked. I said "don't be silly - it's just the electricity surging." (not that that ever happened  before, but it seemed more feasable than her ghosts). Then bang the lights went out. Her freak level was climbing. "don't be silly - it's just a powercut." Though I admit I was getting a little spooked.
Then a second later the lounge door creaked open. She super freaked and at that moment  I thought "f*** - I can't expain this." And for a few seconds I though my rational view of the world was wrong and something was going to come through that door. It was truly a terrifying moment.
But guess what - lightning had hit a power transformer perched on a pole in our street. The door opening was just that - a door opening. It was windy, the house was old. It's opening immediately after the lights going out was a coincidence. It had probably done it many times before (Wellington is a very windy place) but it never registered. Combined with the storm and lights it became altogether a different thing.
But those seconds when my faith was shattered were truly hair raising.

Most things are easily explained away, if you think about it rationally. Things that go bump in the night are seldom anything other than the creeks and groans of an old house. And most people totally underestimate the amount of odd little noises caused by the weather. If noises freak you out, wear earplugs.

Here's a little story. On my wedding night in 1988 we stayed in what is reputed to be one of the most haunted buildings in England, in what is also supposed to be the most haunted village in England - Pluckley, in Kent. It had been a long day, as weddings are, and the wife wasn't feeling too good (too much Champagne) so went straight to bed. So, as it seemed that conjugal rights were most definitely off for the duration, I decided to have a couple of large one's in the bar before going to bed. I awoke at about two in the morning to a chill wind, a nasty tap, tap, tapping noise, and a strange gurgling sound coming from the bathroom. I switched on the bedside lamp to see that the window was open, and not fastened properly, and the wife was relieving herself of the contents of the days festivities into the toilet!! I swear by earplugs these days!