Political theory and constitutional democracy junior Olivia Opiola said she encountered a ghost alongside the road once.

“Me and my friend were driving late at night, maybe 3 a.m. or so, and we reached an intersection right before her house,” Opiola said. “We stopped at the intersection, and me and her were just looking forward, and all of a sudden we saw a person walk across the intersection.”

Opiola and her friend would quickly came to realize an increasing amount of oddity within the person’s appearance.

“As they’re walking across the intersection, they just become more transparent,” Opiola said. “I know it sounds weird, but they were kinda just dressed in white. As they’re walking across they’re getting more transparent, and as soon as they reach the middle they just completely disappeared.”

The pair later debated if the apparent ghost sighting was more than a figment of their imagination.

“We look at each other, she's like, ‘Did you just see that?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah,’” Opiola said. “We go back, we’re freaking out, we’re like, ‘Why did we just see a ghost?’ So we go and talk to her mom, and then she tells us that right at that intersection her neighbor’s (relative) passed away in a car accident.”

While some students like Opiola are almost certain that their ghost stories are the real deal, others are a little more uncertain.

Psychology senior Dante Olmeda believes in ghosts. His belief is not backed by a specific account of a ghost sighting but rather encompasses his attitude towards the existence of the supernatural.

“When I’m driving, I’d say I have seen something and (been) like, ‘Oh s--t was that a ghost?’” Olmeda said.

Speculation of ghost stories are a common occurrence throughout the Halloween season. Kinesiology freshman Jessica Harper has never had an encounter with a ghost. However, she still argues that ghosts exist through reference to other unknowns – not entirely ruling out the possibility.

“I just feel like there’s so much unknown, especially with science we don’t know,” Harper said. “So why (can’t) supernatural stuff be unknown?”

Criminal Justice senior Melissa Rae believes her grandmother’s house is haunted. Although she did not have a specific encounter with a ghost, she can recall odd things happening around the house when she was younger.

“When I was little, my grandma had this (VHS) player, and we are convinced that her house is haunted,” Rae said. “There would be times where (the VHS player) would pop out by itself, and it was one of those VHS players where you would have to click it. (You would have to) clearly hear the click on it for it to work, and it was always turned off, but it would always pop in and out and freaked us out so bad.”