So, I was sitting at my desk trying to do work this afternoon, when I overheard a conversation between two of my office suite co-workers. One of them came into work a few days ago, and noticed that someone had turned the picture of his kid on his desk upside-down and also something was backwards on his office antique knick knack shelf. The other one said that his IP desk phone didn't work this morning, and he discovered that someone had unplugged the two RJ-45 connectors on the bottom and swapped them overnight. They were getting all paranoid about someone snooping around the office area at night, and I told them that there was nothing to worry about because it was just the building's ghost having some fun with them. It has never hurt anyone in my 30+ years working there, and has always stopped bothering someone if they admit that the ghost is real and ignore its pranks.
When I first started my employment (back when dinosaurs roamed the fishbowls and computers didn't run 24/7), I had worked second shift one night and first shift the next morning. I had used the attached serial console to shut the system down, and then locked the processor room on my way out. Being a high security area, not even the mall cops or custodial crews had a key to get in. Locked doors don't stop ghosts, though. The next morning, I discovered that someone had moved the serial console's cable to the wrong DB-25 port when I tried to boot up and nothing displayed. My boss at the time explained the whole ghost thing, and how to get it to stop bothering me.
A year or so later, the mall cops were having problems finding night guards to patrol the upper floors. They would walk the entire hallway, checking that every office light was out and all windows closed. They would then turn around and walk the hallway in reverse, and invariably find an open door, outside window, or light turned on. I walked a patrol once with them and saw it first hand, and know that it spooked (pun intended) a few guards into quitting rather than patrol those upper floors.
When my co-workers heard the ghost stories this afternoon, they hit the equipment shelves and rigged up a camera system to find out who is doing it. I asked them what they planned to do if they *didn't* catch the ghost (or a person) on video but found stuff moved? Try harder, of course. I warned them that they are going into battle with the paranormal, and the only way to reach a stalemate is to admit that the ghost exists and ignore its pranks until it moves on. Silly kids.
Oh, and if anyone is wondering, I am not playing a practical joke on them. As much as I don't believe in that supernatural hokum, there is no denying that something unexplainable is happening and holy water isn't a defense.....
