Rambler, I came back here to read the new posts and noticed that the way I phrased my previous post was insensitive. It could be read to mean that I think you might be lying or delusional so I'm sorry about that. I believe you and your post really made me wonder how it could have happened

TBH I do have doubts about the friends and family who have told me about paranormal experiences though. In every case, they have either been very religious, having mental issues, or both. Not that there's something wrong with being religious, but I think in general religious people are less likely to look for natural explanations. And even good religious people have an incentive to lie or exaggerate sometimes because they are trying to literally save souls from eternal torment.

The guy who told me about seeing the sign in the form of an animal was very religious and also once told me that he has five or seven personality disorders or some number like that. I have religious family members who report experiences with ghosts and demons. I think they were probably hallucinating and/or misinterpreting noises.

I brought up the credibility issue because I'm guessing you are similar to me, in that you've heard of paranormal events from other people before but weren't convinced enough to start believing yourself. Obviously, someone close dying while you're not there with them is not a good experience at all. But I think for skeptics, there is a positive side to experiencing something which is hard to explain. There is probably a basic human need to believe in something more, but if you are a skeptic who has only had ordinary experiences, it can feel irrational to search for it.