Vanessa Hudgens Says She Speaks to Spirits: 'Something That I Have the Ability to Do'

Vanessa Hudgens claims she can speak with those beyond the grave.

During an appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show on Tuesday, the actress told host Kelly Clarkson that she's had "a lot" of run-ins with spiritual beings over the years and said she's "accepted the fact that I see things and I hear things."

"I remember getting ready for school when I was 8 years old, and there was ... You know those ducks [toys] that you pull [the string]? There was one of those on the dining room table, and I started walking, and it just started going alongside me," Hudgens, 33, said.

"I kind of shut it down for a while because it's scary," she continued. "The unknown is scary. But recently I was like, 'No, this is a gift and something that I have the ability to do, so I'm going to lean into it.' "

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Hudgens added that she uses a "spirit box," which she said helps her analyze "radio frequencies really quickly."

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"Something about the electricity that it creates allows spirits to speak through it," she explained.

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This isn't the first time Hudgens has opened up about her experiences with ghosts and spirits.

Speaking with PEOPLE in 2011, the actress said she was visited by an unearthly presence — something she could only explain as a ghost — while filming Journey 2: The Mysterious Island in North Wilmington, North Carolina.

Hudgens recalled hearing footsteps while staying at an old house on location but couldn't find the source of them, noting that North Wilmington is "one of the oldest, most haunted places in North America."

"I was chasing around my ghost for like 10 minutes solid, and then it got way too freaky, and I just left," she said at the time.

Hudgens confessed she was scared by the ghostly encounter, however, she tried to figure out the meaning of it.

"I feel like she might have lost a husband at war and she's waiting for her man to come back to her," she said. "It was definitely a female spirit. I could tell."