What Keeps You Up At Night?: Our Paranormal Experiences Or Insomniac Stories

[Mindthinkr]

Ok. Here's one (not the sad one that didn't involve the Captain). This same friend who's staying here now, about 6 weeks ago, was getting annoyed because she was sure that she had packed her diamond stud earrings. She has a travel sized jewelry box that she brings her stuff in. About 3 days later I saw Girl cat playing with something on my living room rug. I noticed a shine and thought whatever could she be playing with. My original thought was that it was a piece of foil from a candy (chocolate) that I had eaten. I went to investigate as I didn't want her eating something bad for her. Well it was one of the earrings. My friend was nearby so I called her over to see if it was hers. I didn't recognize it and I don't own any like that. She said "OMG that's my missing earring" (I still didn't know that they were missing as she hadn't mentioned it, as she thought she had just forgotten to pack them). She and I began to look around and nearby was the the matching one. She then said that she was wondering what had happened to them. This is not the first piece of jewelry that he has "borrowed" from her. Last time it was her grandmothers wedding band. She had worn it and put it on the bedside table when she went to sleep. We looked and looked and it was not to be found. So she left, I changed the sheets, vacuumed but still trying to keep an eye out for it. Then the next company left and I changed the linens, vacuumed etc. still no sign of it. About a week later I randomly went into the guest room and right there in the middle of the carpet was the ring. This has happened to us in two of the homes that I have lived in. He "borrowed" my engagement ring once (must have been mad at me but later I realized that he was making a point) but it took 6 months before it showed back up. Where? You guessed it. Right in the middle of the guest room in the middle of the carpet. Darn room was cleaned every week. He also stole a pair of kitchen scissors for a period of months. Drove me nuts. I thought that someone had helped me unload the dishwasher had just put it away where I'm not used to looking for it. I about turned the kitchen upside down hunting. One guess where they showed up. I owe you a drink if you correctly guessed in the middle of the guest room. You see he seems to have a pattern. Now when theses things go bye bye I just say the prayer to St Anthony (well I'm not Catholic but have talked to him so much about missing stuff I'm on a first name basis with him and call him Tony). It sometimes expedites things. He has taken my passed sisters birthstone ring as well. Lol...I should probably get him something shiny for a Christmas present this year. Perhaps then he'll leave our stuff alone! 

[Mindthinkr]

28 minutes ago, Random Noise said:

My next question, if you don't mind, is whether you have seen shadow people? That's a shadowy figure you can't see looking directly at it but is in your peripheral vision. Typically you'll spot something out of the corner of your eye, but when you turn your head there's nothing there

Absolutely. I also get gut premonitions that always come true. They are very strong. For instance: Someone and I were driving on a country road about 50 mph when suddenly I knew that we had to slow down fast. The road was curvy and hilly. At first the person driving thought I was nuts but I was adamant. Sure enough after slowing down and getting to the crest of the hill we saw a cop carrying and setting up flares as there had been a very bad accident on the other side. Had we not slowed we would have become part of the accident rather than just being witnesses. The person asked me how I knew. I stated I couldn't explain it but I just knew. 

Oh and Random Noise, my cats see them too. Then we look at each other as if to say "did you see that too?" 

[Random Noise]

13 minutes ago, Mindthinkr said:

Oh and Random Noise, my cats see them too. Then we look at each other as if to say "did you see that too?" 

Animals are very perceptive to this kind of thing. Often ghost investigators will watch the pets as an alert that something is about to happen. An old superstition was that if you crouched behind an animal and looked between their ears you could see the same apparition that the animal sees.

It would be interesting if you could manage to photograph "The Captain" or had an artist who could see him to make a sketch. It may be a long shot, but perhaps someone from an historical society could identify him and give you a back story.

[bilgistic]

1 hour ago, Random Noise said:

I'm in full agreement.

Incidentally, @Mindthinkr, you just opened the door mentioning an incident at the age of 9. Girls prior to or entering puberty are well known to have paranormal experiences which sometimes remain throughout their lives. There are several theories about why this happens but no satisfactory explanation.

The family in which I grew up is a single mother and three sisters including me, who is the oldest. My parents divorced when I was five and my father was a deadbeat, so I essentially had no father until my mother remarried when I was 17. My stepdad is fantastic, but the 12 years in between were very tumultuous, particularly in combination with my then-undiagnosed depression and anxiety.

My sisters are three and four years younger than me. We joke that my dad was a saint to have married my mother with her having three teenage daughters.

I do have a point that relates to this thread. My mother and I fought bitterly when I was growing up. I'm pretty surprised our house didn't have objects flying around everywhere because of all the tense energy coming from all of us. The only experience I had at home was a repetitive knocking sound in an interior wall between my bedroom and the hallway. The wall was behind a bookcase that was a piece of my childhood furniture (new at the time), but just a plain, white wooden bookcase. The knocking happened several nights in a row, and I'd look behind the bookcase. The knocking would stop when I'd look.

It didn't last for too long, but it was scary to my preteen self. I know it wasn't a mouse or other rodent because of the evenly spaced repetition of the knocks.

Our house was built in 1973 and my folks moved in when it was new and they were expecting me. The neighborhood was new ranch houses and split-levels at the time. There are Civil War battlefields not too far from the neighborhood, but that's all I know.

My mother did have a Ouija board (from her childhood in the 1950s-1960s) in the second closet in her room (nearest the hall), which shared the wall with my room. I think/hope she finally got rid of that thing after my dad moved in. That could've been the cause, too. Those are bad news. No one can convince me otherwise.

24 minutes ago, Random Noise said:

Animals are very perceptive to this kind of thing. Often ghost investigators will watch the pets as an alert that something is about to happen. An old superstition was that if you crouched behind an animal and looked between their ears you could see the same apparition that the animal sees.

My new cats (mom and daughter) have fixated on something on the wall behind my bed a few times, even standing on their hind legs to try to reach it. They move across the bed and over the nightstands to follow whatever it is. I don't feel threatened, so I hope it's not anything bad. Only one at a time will "see" something. I don't see whatever it is. I do get birds and other critters in the wall and ceiling, but this isn't that. We're not hearing anything when the girls are looking at the wall. My late kitties would "see" things in the bedroom, but not like my new girls. Cats are magical.

[Random Noise]

1 hour ago, bilgistic said:

My mother did have a Ouija board (from her childhood in the 1950s-1960s) in the second closet in her room (nearest the hall), which shared the wall with my room. I think/hope she finally got rid of that thing after my dad moved in. That could've been the cause, too. Those are bad news. No one can convince me otherwise.

The Ouija board itself is nothing more than cardboard and plastic, but actually using it is a whole different thing. The movie "The Exorcist," though altered considerably for the movie, was based on an actual account that began with a Ouija board. Fr. Malachi Martin was one of the exorcists involved and described the incident in considerable detail with Art Bell on "Coast to Coast AM" in the 90's.

I think any self respecting person would stay as far away from those boards as possible because what answers might not be Casper the friendly ghost.

A woman I talked with over a period of time related that when she was young she had little furry animals that came to visit and play with her. The family thought it was cute that she had these imaginary friends to play with, but to her, they were very real. As she grew older, these cutesy little animals finally asked her if she wanted to know what they really looked like. She answered in the affirmative, at which point she explains they morphed into grotesque creatures that screeched "now we're going to kill you!"

She then ran screaming to her mother as they chased after her but eventually disappeared and never returned.

Edited November 3, 2017 by Random Noise

[riley702]

Man, I am loving this convo. More!

[Random Noise]

The area where I'm currently living was historically a trading place for at least 5 native groups (or nations). The local population is about 50% native, mostly of the Dakelh (people who travel on water) group and are very spiritual.

There's a native owned gas-bar and convenience store which is about a 7 minute walk from home, so when my cat wakes me up early demanding it's her turn to have the bed, I'll occasionally walk down there for a morning coffee.

The native lady who works the morning shift is very spiritual. She's experienced shadow people and other apparitions her whole life and believed it was normal until she got older and realized most people don't have such experiences. What's particularly interesting about her, is that she can see the life force around people. On occasion she'll point out someone and say, "that person's going to die soon," because their life force was going dark or fading.

We had a long discussion one morning over the fact that she won't tell the people they're going to die. In my mind, these people might have a medical condition that could be treated, or at the very least, allow them to make final preparations, settle unresolved family problems, make peace with the world so to speak. To her, it's strictly forbidden because it would violate the earth mother's order of things.

She unfortunately moved away recently to be with her eldest daughter. A few times prior, she talked about some groups that practiced "bad medicine," and I was always intrigued to learn more about that.

Edited November 4, 2017 by Random Noise

[bilgistic]

I have a former friend who could see people's auras, but only if she didn't know them very well. I figured mine was clouded and dark just because of my constantly conflicted nature, but she said it was purple and sparkly when she first met me. I think it would be so interesting to have a gift like that. I am a "little bit psychic", as I call it, but it's not good for much. I'm mostly bothered for days in my head by obscure songs that later show up on TV or elsewhere.

[Random Noise]

Those who are more well versed in the subject will tell you that a purple aura is a sign of healing, so I'd consider that to be a positive thing in your life.

[bilgistic]

Interesting! I met her 21 years ago when we worked at the same university, which is also the one from which I graduated. We were friends for 14 years, then kind of drifted apart.

[Random Noise]

Other than some general knowledge, aura's are beyond my level of experience and I unfortunately don't know anyone who is knowledgeable in that area, however I did a quick search and came up with this

Quote

Purple Auras and Spiritual Balance. If an advisor tells you that your aura is purple at the moment, this is a good thing. For many belief systems, purple is the color of healing and cleansing, and its presence in a human aura indicates the soothing of pain in conscious and physical planes.

Edited November 4, 2017 by Random Noise

[riley702]

I had a psychic tell me I worked in the medical field (I'm a respiratory therapist). She also told me she saw my aura as blue. She then went on to say that how she saw aura colors wasn't necessarily how others did, but she knew what they meant. And to her, blue meant I was a bit of a smart-ass. I laughed and told her guilty as charged. She then went on to say that those she told that to were never offended. Interestingly, her brother (who I didn't know was psychic) told me my mind went 1,000 mph all the time, like a constant monologue in my head. Which nailed it. He said there wasn't anything wrong with that, but it was somewhat unusual.

[Random Noise]

45 minutes ago, riley702 said:

I had a psychic tell me I worked in the medical field (I'm a respiratory therapist). She also told me she saw my aura as blue. She then went on to say that how she saw aura colors wasn't necessarily how others did, but she knew what they meant. And to her, blue meant I was a bit of a smart-ass. I laughed and told her guilty as charged. She then went on to say that those she told that to were never offended. Interestingly, her brother (who I didn't know was psychic) told me my mind went 1,000 mph all the time, like a constant monologue in my head. Which nailed it. He said there wasn't anything wrong with that, but it was somewhat unusual.

That is totally me! I carry a notebook in my pocket because I'm always inventing or designing new things in my head. Friends and family give me all their old electronic gadgets so I can rip them apart and build new things out of them.

I have a bit of an unfortunate reputation for being a "stuck-up snob" at times. People see me walking downtown and wave as they drive by while I seemingly ignore them and keep walking. Truth of the matter is my mind is problem solving and I don't even realize they're there

[riley702]

LOL! "I honked at you and you didn't even react!" Nope, didn't even hear it or think it was directed at me.

[Random Noise]

There's a haunted hotel I remember reading about sometime in the 80's or 90's, that I think is in California. Maybe someone knows the place and can refresh my memory on it.

I can't remember if it was a murder or suicide, but at night the apparition of a young woman could be seen walking the hallway of the second floor and disappearing into one of the rooms. The hotel was originally two storey with high ceilings but later remodeled so that the second storey was lowered and a third storey was added in the space above.

The result of the third storey being squeezed in was that on one floor you could see the top half of the woman with the bottom half hidden by the floor, while on the floor below, you could see the bottom half of the woman with the top half hidden by the ceiling.

That's always been stuck in my mind but I can't recall the hotel or any back story about the woman.

[riley702]

That sounds familiar to me, too! Can't remember where or what, though. Except I "remember" it being used to debunk a ghost, as the current floor level is different from when the ghost lived, yet the appearances conform to the current configuration. Not at all sure how a ghost should or would behave in such a circumstance, though. It would depend (to me) whether or not this was a sentient thing or whether it was just a residual impression playing back over and over. To me, the residual should/would conform to the old floor/ceiling lines, whereas something sentient could and might go wherever it damned well pleased. Thoughts?

[arielpna]

I believe paranormal entity such as ghosts but as much as I want to see or experience one myself, no such thing happens. So only my mistakes from the past haunt me at night. 

[Mindthinkr]

7 hours ago, arielpna said:

I believe paranormal entity such as ghosts but as much as I want to see or experience one myself, no such thing happens. So only my mistakes from the past haunt me at night. 

That just makes me feel sad for you. We have all made mistakes. I hope you can find a way to forgive yourself and move on. 

[Random Noise]

8 hours ago, riley702 said:

That sounds familiar to me, too! Can't remember where or what, though. Except I "remember" it being used to debunk a ghost, as the current floor level is different from when the ghost lived, yet the appearances conform to the current configuration. Not at all sure how a ghost should or would behave in such a circumstance, though. It would depend (to me) whether or not this was a sentient thing or whether it was just a residual impression playing back over and over. To me, the residual should/would conform to the old floor/ceiling lines, whereas something sentient could and might go wherever it damned well pleased. Thoughts?

Ghost research kind of breaks down into a few different categories.

For example, there's the time loop, or residual as you put it, that continually repeats on certain days or at a certain time. That can be an apparition in a hotel, or walking down the road. There's also a case where a bridge collapsed and a bus full of people went off the precipice to their death. At certain times, the bus with all its occupants can still be seen heading for the bridge. These time loops seem to occupy a specific space, so altering the environment around it doesn't seem to affect the apparition.

Then there's the interactive spirit, such as Mindthinkr's "Captain," which can come and go, move things around, be an annoyance when it wants to. Often times, clairvoyants will be called in to contact the spirit and find out what it wants, particularly if the hauntings get serious in nature.

There's also those spirits that can't manifest themselves or affect their environment in any way, but still occupy a particular space. Investigators that do Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) where they try to record the voices of these spirits, have found that when playing back their recordings the spirits will have commented or answered something the investigators may have been discussing at the time. These spirits also hitch hike. In the early days of EVP research, some investigators had discovered on occasion that at least one of these spirits had hitched a ride when they left an area of investigation. Now, people that do this kind of research will tell the spirits that they have to remain where they are. Clairvoyants can seemingly contact this type of spirit as well. 

[MrSmith]

On 11/3/2017 at 3:42 PM, bilgistic said:

My mother did have a Ouija board (from her childhood in the 1950s-1960s) in the second closet in her room (nearest the hall), which shared the wall with my room. I think/hope she finally got rid of that thing after my dad moved in. That could've been the cause, too. Those are bad news. No one can convince me otherwise.

 

On 11/3/2017 at 4:50 PM, Random Noise said:

The Ouija board itself is nothing more than cardboard and plastic, but actually using it is a whole different thing. The movie "The Exorcist," though altered considerably for the movie, was based on an actual account that began with a Ouija board. Fr. Malachi Martin was one of the exorcists involved and described the incident in considerable detail with Art Bell on "Coast to Coast AM" in the 90's.

I think any self respecting person would stay as far away from those boards as possible because what answers might not be Casper the friendly ghost.

OK. I have a Ouija board story. I'll share it; I just don't have time *now* to share it. I have to leave for a meeting that starts in 37 minutes and it will take me about 30 minutes to get there. It's a long story and it's going to take me some time to write it out. I'll get it written as soon as I'm able in the next couple of days.

[riley702]

Ooh! *rubs hands in anticipation*

[Random Noise]

15 hours ago, arielpna said:

I believe paranormal entity such as ghosts but as much as I want to see or experience one myself, no such thing happens. So only my mistakes from the past haunt me at night. 

Back in the 90's there were a few of us sitting around the ambulance station on a night shift. The guy I was partnered with was quite young and a big fan of the X-Files TV show. He thought it was so cool that I investigated UFO sightings and paranormal events, and commented that he wished he could see something.

Much to our surprise, mine included, a young woman (I think was 20 at the time) on our shift looked down at the table and just said "No. no, no, no ..."

She started relating how as a young girl, a dark figure with glowing red eyes would appear at the foot of her bed at night and watch her. The figure began appearing every night, and the girl would lay in her room with a light on waiting for her parents to go to bed. Once they did, she would sneak downstairs and sleep on the couch until early morning. At the first indication of her parents getting up, she would grab her blanket and sneak back upstairs to her room. This apparently went on for several years until she was a teenager.

I remember her turning to look at my partner and saying it looks like fun on TV but when it starts happening to you, you just want it to go away.

2 hours ago, riley702 said:

Ooh! *rubs hands in anticipation*

LOL. You live for this, don't you?

[riley702]

Why, yes. Yes, I do. The paranormal has always been intensely interesting to me.

[Random Noise]

The area that I'm currently living at has hundreds of lakes of various sizes, and several rivers. The native people are called Dakelh (people who live on water), which comes from them traditionally traveling hundreds of miles to other villages over open water by lake or river or any combination of the two. Since the early settlers first arrived, people have homesteaded around various lakes in the area, and like Rome, all the roads in the area lead to the town site here which was originally established as a railway station.

This story occurred back in the 1970s and involved a couple headed to town from their home at one of the nearby lakes. The drive in those days would have taken about forty minutes on the gravel road with nothing but forest in between. As they were headed down the road, both of them caught a shimmer of light through the trees. The immediate thought they had was that a bush plane had crashed in the trees, so the driver pulled to the side of the road and started walking into the forest to investigate. He hadn't gone very far before he noticed an oval shaped craft resting about 2 feet above the ground on 4 legs. Underneath this odd craft, he could determine that someone was standing on the other side of it, so he began walking around and then froze in shock. There was a creature there, humanoid in appearance but estimated to be about 4 feet tall, looking down at the ground and seemingly taking soil samples.

The driver was stunned and didn't know what to do, but silently slipped back trying not to be noticed until he arrived at his truck, then headed to town as quickly has he could. On the return home, they stopped once again at the location of this unusual visitor. The shiny oval craft was gone, but on looking around the site the depression marks of the 4 legs could be seen as well as a scorched area where the craft had been. In the immediate vicinity, child sized footprints could be seen, but were totally lacking any kind of pattern or tread as you seen on modern shoes or boots.

[Random Noise]

55 minutes ago, riley702 said:

Why, yes. Yes, I do. The paranormal has always been intensely interesting to me.

One of the things that somewhat frustrated me as an investigator were getting fed little snippets of information, "baiting the hook" you might say, but the people involved just don't want to talk about it. I respect their decision and leave an open door if they wish to tell me more in the future, but I have dozens of cases with only an opening note and nothing else.

I mentioned EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena) in an earlier post. I had heard about this when that particular avenue of research was just taking off. At one point I was considering trying it myself, then one day I had the opportunity to listen to a recording made by another investigator. At one point in the recording you can hear very distinctly a low, almost mournful voice saying "there's something after my soul."

Sorry, just a little too freaky for me. I never took it up.

Edited November 6, 2017 by Random Noise

[MrSmith]

6 hours ago, riley702 said:

Ooh! *rubs hands in anticipation*

Well, let's give this a shot. I might not get the whole thing written out tonight, but at least it'll give your inquiring minds something to process. :D

I was living at my parents when this whole thing started. I had a male friend (Dan) who did not believe in the supernatural, and we had a female friend (name now forgotten) in common who did. She and I started messing around with the Ouija board one night and were discussing that we'd heard it was a bad idea to put a pentagram on the board. So Dan decided to throw a pentagram on the board while no one was touching it and the planchette was not on the board; it was instead on the table next to it a short distance away (about 6 inches). The planchette took off for that pentagram like it was fired from a cannon! One of us managed to snatch the pentagram away quickly. I'm not sure why we didn't just snatch the planchette instead. After that, our female friend wouldn't have anything to do with it, whereas my curiousity was only heightened. I was at least smart enough to know not to use it around Dan anymore, but that's about the extent of my grand intelligence at that time. LOL

I started using the board by myself. My bedroom was in the basement, which gave me plenty of isolation and solitude. I spent a couple or three weeks using the Ouija board about two hours a day (best guess). I did eventually try putting a pentagram on the board again. The planchette moved much more slowly toward it, but it did still move without any contact from me. Anyway, I put my hands on it and I could feel a lot more energy coming through it. I'm not sure what the objective was of whatever was on the other side of it. Periodically, I was black out for a short time, which I figure was seconds-long since my hands would still be on the planchette when I came to. However, I have no way to know for sure because there were no clocks handy. I only tried putting the pentagram on the board one day and never again after that.

After about three weeks of using the Ouija board, I decided I was tired of how long it took to spell things out. So I moved up to automatic writing. I used a pen and a piece of lined paper. It would feel as though something had placed its hand over mine some of the time. The rest of the time, it felt like something had taken hold of the opposite end of the pen and was using my hand as a fulcrum. I don't remember anything that was written. What I do remember is that the writing didn't look enough like my own for me to say it was my writing, and yet it didn't look different enough for me to say it wasn't mine, either. (I managed to remain skeptical through some of this - at least from time to time.) I also remember that whenever it felt like my hand had been gripped, my hand would be ice cold and very stiff at the end of the session, even when the session was only minutes long.

Anyway, that's the time I have available tonight. I'll continue where I left off tomorrow! Hope I'm not leaving you hanging too badly.

[Random Noise]

I don't know anyone who actually practices "The Craft," but I've listened to a substantial number of interviews that discuss this particular area.

The pentagram - my understanding of it (as little as it is), is there is some form of hierarchy. The common spirits known for hauntings are at the bottom, while at a higher level are what clairvoyants call "spirit guides", and what would be termed guardian angels are at an even higher level. Placing a pentagram on the board is kind of like placing a call to the White House where you want to talk with the big powers.

Black Out - in ufology there are people known as walk-ins. They open themselves to allowing another entity to inhabit their body for a time to communicate with anyone present. I've never determined any difference between a walk-in or a psychic that allows a spirit to occupy their body for a period of time, other than one claims to communicate with ghosts while the other claims to communicate with extraterrestrials.

The person whose body is occupied in this way is seemingly unaware of what is transpiring during all this, nor are they aware of the passing of time. Your "black out" periods may have been an attempt whether successful or not to enter your body. Just speculation on my part.

Automatic writing - was something very popular in the late 1800's, as were seances. From what I know of this, it's an acquired practice because the spirit needs to learn to control your hand. People that did it would usually try to call the same spirit back each time so it could improve it's ability to write. Eventually the psychics stepped in and learned to just allow the spirit to occupy their body for a time which simplified the process considerably. Automatic writing is seldom heard of anymore, so I was rather surprised when you mentioned it.

Interesting account by all means. Looking forward to whatever you have to add. 

Edited November 7, 2017 by Random Noise

[Random Noise]

Near the center of the province of British Columbia is a small city known as Prince George. Highway 16 West leaves Prince George and winds it's way north-west to the coast, and along that route is a junction that will take you up to the Yukon and into Alaska. The nearest community on this highway is Vanderhoof, which is roughly 100 miles distant with nothing in between but a place called Bednesti which is situated almost exactly in the middle of that stretch of road. Bednesti is nothing more than a small resort with a gas station and restaurant. People hate driving this stretch of road, especially at night, since you go for miles and miles and miles with nothing but forest on either side and nothing else.

This story takes place in 1976 where a young man had left Prince George nearly a half-hour earlier and was only a few miles from the Bednesti resort. It was night time and in the distance ahead he could see the headlights of another car approaching. Suddenly, a bright light darted across the field on his right and began to head for the highway. The other vehicle was much closer by this time and it appeared this mysterious ball of light was going to fly between the two approaching vehicles.

The young man and the driver of the other vehicle found themselves standing on the road outside their respective cars. The headlights were on but neither of the vehicles were running. They both stood there confused since the last thing either of them recalled was the light heading toward them as they were driving. They had no recollection of stopping or getting out of their vehicles. After some discussion between them, the two drivers parted and continued on their way. Even more mysterious to this young man was noticing on the clock in his car that more than 30 minutes had transpired that he couldn't account for.

This story is quite well documented, in part due to the young man driving to the hospital when he arrived at Vanderhoof. The incident had him shaken up and even more concerning was the missing time. The doctor, though not knowing what to make of the story, gave him a clean bill of health and the young man continued on his way.

I've driven that particular highway many times at night and every time I got near Bednesti, I always looked to the right over the open fields. Never saw anything more than the occasional moose.

[riley702]

Wow, you guys! Good stuff. I've heard bad things about ouija boards and have never (and will never) use one. I saw a UFO when I was a teen, with my family. No close encounter or missing time, though.

[Mindthinkr]

My friend who is staying here is getting a little annoyed with the ghosts...plural. I'm only aware of the Captain but she keeps telling me that there is another one (or few) that is bothering (or trying to) her. She was just shouting out that she was getting this cold breathe on her neck! What? Then again when she told me she has these entities that stick around her so my company might have company, but it's not my guest. Did that come out right? 

[riley702]

BYOG (Bring Your Own Ghost)?

[Random Noise]

For general interest, the following is an old article I wrote for a UFO journal many years ago. A condensed version of this incident later appeared in FSR (Flying Saucer Review) published in the United Kingdom.

September 1995
Southwest Francois Lake - Smith Ranch
97 km Southwest of Burns Lake, BC

The first indication I received of a mutilation incident came from a fellow named Myron whom I met while investigating the crop circles in Vanderhoof, on Friday, September 4th. During a stop at a small cafe in Bednesti, situated between Prince George and Vanderhoof, he heard of a mutilated cow in the Burns Lake area. That afternoon, I made several inquiries in the Burns Lake area about such an incident, with negative results.

I received an e-mail from Linda, of the Burns Lake Public Library, on Saturday, September 12th, indicating a rancher by the name of Ken Smith had spoken to Charlene, also of the Burns Lake Public Library, inquiring on books related to animal mutilations and the UFO phenomenon. In the course of their conversation, Mr. Smith related that a buffalo cow from his ranch had been found with various body parts missing, and which appeared to have been surgically removed. Due to the remote area where his ranch is located, Ken does not have access to a telephone; however, Charlene acquired directions for locating the ranch, which I received later Saturday afternoon.

Sunday morning, I departed on what was to be a 73 kilometer trip around Francois Lake to the southwest end, where Ken Smith's buffalo ranch is located. Mr. Smith, accompanied by his dog, greeted me at the gate near his house where he revealed that the incident had in fact taken place three years earlier (1995), and had followed an unfortunate event which transpired over the course of several months.

Through a program by the provincial forest service, pellets of a urea-sulphur composition were dispensed throughout the area in an attempt to promote forest growth, but were also ingested by several of the prairie buffalo he raises there. During the course of the next few months, 27 of the herd died as a result of the ingestion, at a loss of 7,000-9,000 dollars per cow. According to Mr. Smith, who consulted a biologist about the deaths, the sulphur component created a copper and selenium deficiency in the animal, resulting in eventual liver and cardiac failure. Mr Smith showed several pictures of these buffalo in an emaciated condition, prior to their eventual demise. When asked, he later told me that the forest service denied any responsibility for the incident, and he was never compensated for the loss.

By September of the same year, the deaths had ceased and the remaining buffalo were healthy and thriving, including a four year old cow which had bore its first calf five months earlier. Showing great pride in his herd, he promptly pulled out three photographs of the healthy cow and calf. As Mr Smith related to me, he left his house one morning and heard the calf 'blubbering' a short distance away, at which time he discovered the dead cow approximately 300 feet from his home. Prior to that time, the dog, which had also been indoors, never made any noticeable reaction despite being known to alert to intruders, wild or otherwise.

Inspecting the corpse, he noticed the udder had been cleanly cut away, as had the rectum and vagina in what he describes as a perfect circle, and with surgical precision. The depth was apparently substantial enough to indicate that the reproductive organs may have been removed, but there is no way to confirm this. In addition, the nose was also found to be missing, but he admits not closely examining the mouth to determine if the tongue had been removed as well. Most remarkable to Mr Smith, though, was the complete absence of blood, with the exception of a small area which surrounded the now absent nose. "I just don't know how anyone could have done that," he admitted, reflecting on the examination, "it was just too clean and precise".

Suspecting foul play, Mr Smith rolled the dead animal over, inspecting for bullet wounds, which proved to be non-existent. I asked if he had noted any tracks or footprints in the area surrounding the cow, and other than old hoof prints, no other marks had been discovered. "Just like it had been dropped there," he told me. Subsequently, he emphasized in considerable detail, previous events where the buffalo had been known to kill predatory bears and wolves, which had found their way onto the ranch. Also worth mentioning, was a point he later made about the herd tending to shy away from land based vehicles, but were seemingly undisturbed by any of the low altitude aircraft which occasionally fly over the area.

As mysterious as the death of this creature, was the rate of decay, which followed. Having witnessed 27 of his herd slowly die and decompose during the months before, this particular cow decayed at an unusually accelerated rate. Even the hair was noted to disappear as quickly as the tissue to which it was attached. Also interesting, is that in the previous deaths, the remaining buffalo would gather and nudge the carcass with their heads, while in this case not even the calf would approach the dead animal. In the days that followed, the corpse remained free of maggots, and no bird or animal would approach it. The only activity ever witnessed was a fly which once landed and immediately flew away, without settling on the remains.

Not being one to believe, or even consider, the existence of the UFO phenomenon, Mr Smith found the incident too disturbing and bizarre to talk about, remaining silent about the entire event. It was through some material which he received from a daughter about animal mutilations, and the subject of UFOs, that he began to even mention the incident and seek additional information. It was also through a daughter, who was working at the Bednesti Cafe, that a fellow named Myron would hear a story which he would later tell at the crop circles in Vanderhoof one Friday afternoon.

Edited November 8, 2017 by Random Noise

[Random Noise]

8 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

My friend who is staying here is getting a little annoyed with the ghosts...plural. I'm only aware of the Captain but she keeps telling me that there is another one (or few) that is bothering (or trying to) her. She was just shouting out that she was getting this cold breathe on her neck! What? Then again when she told me she has these entities that stick around her so my company might have company, but it's not my guest. Did that come out right? 

That leads me to wonder if "The Captain" and these new found visitors are aware of each other. If so, is "The Captain" ok with having strangers on his turf or will he stage some form of ghostly protest?

Definitely an interesting situation you have going on there. I'm certainly hanging on wondering what will happen next.

Edited November 8, 2017 by Random Noise

[Petunia13]

Having a ghost attached to you isn't sometimes good. Sometimes times it's due to your ancestors actions or a curse. In my case, my family has witches in it (my late grandmother was one) and has had for many generations. One was part of the Burning Times as an accuser, some witches participated in inquisitions in history to hide their identities or for control. 

i know a bit about ghosts and has experiences because of this and have mild ability to read people or situations and place curses. In one of the makeup threads I could tell one girl has somewhat of a similar background and based on her experiences, her birth order. She mentioned having issues with electric appliances like watches stopping always on her. I asked if that happens more if she's stressed or upset and wall clocks also stopping during those times and she concurred. I asked if she was the 2nd or middle child and knew she was the 2nd born, which she confirmed.

My mother and sister both are the 2nd child and they not only stop appliances when they're upset they have at times make the hands on clocks run backwards and own many broken tvs and phones that short circuited. They both have mental illness too though so that maybe why the issue is intensified, they get can get extremely angry or sad. They also know things and will blurt them but never explain why or how they know. Like details that are more accurate than mere guesses about people or weather. 

i mentioned an apartment ghost but also there was one when I was child my sister and I saw and spoke too many x. It's a sensitive topic since I still don't understand and when I was talking to my sister she didn't sort out why either but brought up and remembered him and our conversations with absolute clarity. 

[Mindthinkr]

My father always said that I confused him. He stated I was a "space cadet" until I was 15. LOL, that's when I started smoking pot. It blurred out all of the things that were rushing into my head. That didn't last too long. Later it opened my mind up (or the Carlos Castaneda books did) Even though he certainly didn't approve of what I was doing he at least thought that I was easier to live with (ha, I lived in the barn doing horses so I find it strange that he could even make note of a comparison...I stayed as invisible as possible). 

For awile in my life I would stop things like the clocks that you were speaking of Petunia13. 

[MrSmith]

All righty. I have some time at work this morning. Let's see about getting the rest of my Ouija board story written up for you guys!

We left off with me learning about automatic writing. Well, the spirit I was communicating with claimed to have lived during the 1200's, claimed to be female, and claimed to have lived in a castle-type fortified structure in the UK area, which includes all of Ireland for purposes of this discussion. I can't remember exactly where the spirit claimed to have lived and so I can't tell you whether it/she claimed to have been Irish, Scottish, English, Welsh or whatever other nationality might have existed in that area that became part of the UK. I don't remember even approximately how long I used automatic writing to let it communicate with me. I know it was a while and I also know that eventually I could hear ("hear"?) its/her voice. I don't know whether it was just in my head or not because it sounded to me like it was external and yet I would hear it when I was in the company of others and those others never heard anything nor ever reacted to anything the spirit said to me at those times.

For the record, I do not believe this was actually a woman who lived during the 1200's. I just thought I should say that.

For a while, the voice did sound feminine, but as the skeptic in me started to re-emerge and I started to really examine details of the things it would tell me, it eventually dropped that pretense. The voice changed to a low, gravelly-sounding voice. It also stopped being nice to me, of course. I'm not sure whether this spirit was a demon or something analogous to that or not. I don't remember ever getting any scratches or being physically attacked more than once (we'll come back to this). Nothing ever woke me up at 3am and things didn't seem to go especially wrong around me. It did argue against God and urged me to be not a nice/good person, though. The problem for it is that, even at that age (around 19 years old), I already placed a high value on being fair, just, and ethical, even if my faith in God was low.

The whole thing ended one night when I was sitting on my bed. It was trying to urge me to do something or to change my beliefs and I got fed up with it. It ended up outright threatening me with The Devil and I challenged even that with a smart-ass remark along the lines of "Oh yeah? Come and get me. Let's see what you've got!" I remember something colliding with me from behind and knocking me unconscious. When I came to, I was sitting on my bed still, but my head was between my knees and it was 33 minutes later. I know this because I happened to be looking at the clock on my dresser because of my position on the bed. It was 20:06 when it attacked me and it was 20:39 when I regained consciousness. I don't know why that detail sticks out in my mind still, after all these years.

I tried using the board a few times after that, and it was always dead whenever I tried. I could feel the difference between then and when I'd started out. There was literally no energy in it at that point. I ended up burning my parents' Ouija board to be on the safe side, which they were not happy about as they regarded it as a game. About a year later, I was at a party with friends and someone got the Ouija board out. They knew I'd messed around with them and asked me to join in. I declined at first and they were actually getting responses from it. I remember they asked it if it wanted me to get involved and they got a negative response from it. Eventually, they got me to touch the planchette and the board went dead. The planchette wouldn't move, even after I stopped touching it, and that part of the party was over. So I'm pretty sure that whatever lurks on the other side of those things doesn't want anything to do with me anymore and won't "play" with other people through them if I'm involved.

[Mindthinkr]

@MrSmith That sounds like a scary experience to me. I found it interesting that the "spirit" would change its MO so that your perception of it would change. It sounds devious. My mother liked an Ouija board and I might have dabbled in my youth with it but after reading your account I know that I will not participate with that kind of thing again. 

My mother and Aunt also liked to read tea leaves (encouraging me to do so as well) and read Tarot cards. They must have known it well too because they could use a regular pack of cards to do it. I began to read in college for my friends. I wasn't bad at it. Then once I read that someone was about to die. I couldn't tell them that. I had a previous experience in my youth that makes me very wary of such (gut feelings) things. I bowed out as gracefully as I could and have retired any card reading. The more I learn, the more I stay away. I have a healthy fear of all of this. 

[MrSmith]

When I was a kid, I would get premonitions. I could tell what would happen and who would be involved, but I couldn't tell when it would happen. As I've gotten older, they've deteriorated into premonitory feelings, really. I'm trying to open myself back up to them so I can get more information. When I get them, I get really woozy and will almost pass out from it. I can sometimes tell who'll be involved/around; other times I can tell generally what will happen. Mostly, I can only tell whether it'll be a good or bad thing that will happen.

I had an experience last week and I'm pretty sure my job at the university is going to end next year. I just can't tell if that's because my title here will change or because I'll be working somewhere else. Back in 2009, we were living in Milwaukee and I had an experience on the Thursday before Labor Day. I knew we would be in a car accident in the coming days, but I couldn't determine how far in the future. So, we avoided driving for three days or even being in a car. If we had to go somewhere, we walked. Well, we got invited to go just north of downtown to visit a friend and her family on Labor Day. This required driving and we were like, "Well, nothing's happened yet." So we went. On the way home, we're driving through downtown, which streets were basically deserted .... except for a silver Mitsubishi. That car was three blocks ahead of us when we got on the street behind it and I told my wife right away that we were going to be in an accident with her. I thought I was going to be wrong because she finally settled into the right lane and put her right turn signal on. As we were pulling even with her, she decided to turn left. Nobody was hurt and she tried to claim that we caused the accident. I called the police because I didn't have any insurance at the time and got it documented that I was in the left lane, she was in the right lane, and that she turned left from the right lane. So that saved us a lot of money and ended up with her getting a ticket. I try to listen carefully whenever I have these experiences. LOL

[Mindthinkr]

I'm very glad @MrSmith that that was the extent of your accident. 

Here's another one of mine. I was (passenger) going up the NYS Thruway and I told the driver to get well away from the 18 wheeler in front of us. As we were going fast enough and didn't want to pass, so we backed off quite a bit. The trucks tire blew and I'm very happy to report that the driver had good control of it. Still had we only been a few car lengths away the shredded tire and the subsequent dirt and small rocks from the side of the road would have sprayed the car. Not a biggie, but it's still in my minds index of quirky things that I knew were going to happen before they did. I'm sure a lot of people experience things like this. I just think that we are taught to suppress them at an early age as fantasy, delusion or day dreaming. 

[Random Noise]

7 hours ago, Petunia13 said:

Having a ghost attached to you isn't sometimes good. Sometimes times it's due to your ancestors actions or a curse. In my case, my family has witches in it (my late grandmother was one) and has had for many generations. One was part of the Burning Times as an accuser, some witches participated in inquisitions in history to hide their identities or for control. 

The 1982 movie "The Entity" though based on a fictional work has its roots in an actual incident. If memory serves, Brad Steiger was one of the people who investigated the case at one time and wrote a non-fiction account of it. Similar incidents are known to occur. I totally agree, it's not always a good thing.

Based on interviews I've listened to with people who practice "The Craft," a spirit guide can be passed down from mother to daughter. I suspect it will continue to remain with a particular family even if future generations no longer are involved in occult practices.

Edited November 8, 2017 by Random Noise

[Random Noise]

@MrSmith: Very interesting follow up to your earlier post.

There's a very old book known as the "Book of Enoch," written during biblical times but not part of the Bible. It provides much more detail about the time prior to the great flood than what is given in the biblical Genesis 6. Essentially, "The Watchers," which were some form of guardian or protective angel became attracted to human women and through whatever means had offspring known as the Nephilim, Rephaim, or more commonly "Giants".

Skeletons have been found in various parts of the world, and I know several have been found in China for instance. A general description is that these skeletons can be 16 feet or even taller. They are 6 fingered, 6 toed, with an elongated skull and 2 rows of upper and lower teeth. Accounts of these giants continued through the time of the Roman empire, and even as recently as WWII Japanese soldiers occupying the Solomon Islands were not only aware of, but quite afraid of them. All accounts of these giants indicate they were cannibals to satisfy their voracious appetite. Native Americans have many stories about these giants as well. In the typical "Western" movie, at some point an Indian will ride up, raise his hand, and say "how." In actual fact, holding up the hand wasn't a greeting but rather allowing the person you were meeting to count your fingers.

Among the interviews with exorcists I've listened to, and the few that I've talked with myself, is the belief that their soul or spirit is earthbound after they die due the the perverted nature of their existence and they become what is known as demons. There is an entire field of research known as demonology that explores this. There's been a long time dispute as to whether all ghosts, apparitions, spirits, and such are actually demons or whether they are entirely different things. Any existing demon would have been on the earth long enough to know particular details about anyone who ever lived, hence the suspicion that contact through a ouija board for instance could actually be a demon posing as an actual person.

When you describe the voice changing from female to the low gravelly voice, well, that really comes as no surprise to me. The account I posted earlier of the girl with the small cute animals is just a variation of the same theme. You get lured in so to speak, and eventually the true nature of the entity begins to come out.

I feel you were very fortunate after challenging this spirit or whatever it was. Exorcists will certainly tell you that can lead to being possessed. The fact that a ouija board now goes dead when you touch it makes me tend to believe you have a guardian angel on the other side protecting you from further harm.

One last side note. In the "Book of Enoch," it claims that "The Watchers" also began taking an interest in the animals and the reptiles. Mythology has a long line of man-animal unions, such as the man-cat Sphinx of Egypt, or the man-bull Minotaur, or man-horse centaur, among others. Some researchers, including myself, believe that in distant history such creatures probably did exist. The stories of these creatures were passed down generation to generation and became woven into mythology.

My apologies, the investigator in me starts pulling out back information and I get to rambling on more than I should.

[Mindthinkr]

8 minutes ago, Random Noise said:

 

My apologies, the investigator in me starts pulling out back information and I get to rambling on more than I should.

No apology necessary. I, for one, am interested in reading what everyone has to contribute on this thread. I like that we've all had similar or different experiences, come to our beliefs through whim or studies and knowing all I can makes me a more well rounded person. (Well I'm trying anyway lol) 

[MrSmith]

15 hours ago, Random Noise said:

@MrSmith: Very interesting follow up to your earlier post.

There's a very old book known as the "Book of Enoch," written during biblical times but not part of the Bible. It provides much more detail about the time prior to the great flood than what is given in the biblical Genesis 6. Essentially, "The Watchers," which were some form of guardian or protective angel became attracted to human women and through whatever means had offspring known as the Nephilim, Rephaim, or more commonly "Giants".

I feel you were very fortunate after challenging this spirit or whatever it was. Exorcists will certainly tell you that can lead to being possessed. The fact that a ouija board now goes dead when you touch it makes me tend to believe you have a guardian angel on the other side protecting you from further harm.

One last side note. In the "Book of Enoch," it claims that "The Watchers" also began taking an interest in the animals and the reptiles. Mythology has a long line of man-animal unions, such as the man-cat Sphinx of Egypt, or the man-bull Minotaur, or man-horse centaur, among others. Some researchers, including myself, believe that in distant history such creatures probably did exist. The stories of these creatures were passed down generation to generation and became woven into mythology.

My apologies, the investigator in me starts pulling out back information and I get to rambling on more than I should.

I didn't want to quote your whole post to save space. That said, I found the entirety of it very interesting. I love discussing stuff like this. So your apology is completely unwarranted. Apology DENIED! :D

I've heard about the Nephilim before. The little bit of reading I've ever done on the subject indicated it was angels that fell in love with humans and Nephilim are their off-spring: half-angel, half-human. The archaeological theorizing I have read postulated that these humans were the off-spring of Homo Erectus and an earlier human ancestor. Your readings about "The Watchers" and the information you present here is an interesting perspective. I hope we find out one day what is actually true.

I probably was very lucky to come out of that experience relatively unscathed. One thing that I learned from it is that spirits can hear your thoughts. I say that because when I was using the board and later using automatic writing, I did not need to ask questions or make statements out loud. For the time that I did, I would start getting responses before I'd finished my sentence or question.

I am convinced I have a guardian. It's one of the things that has led me to Deism as the tentpole of my religious beliefs. With everything I have been through in life, I feel like the presence of a guardian has been well and truly proven. Two NDE's; one in which I met a beautiful blonde woman who spoke with me and told me I could choose to leave and that would not "violate the plan", but would result in my never meeting her (and I was instantly in love with her), or I could stay and life would be difficult but I would eventually meet her. I would have been about 9 or 10 years old at the time. The other one in which I know there were multiple spirits around me who were there on orders to prevent my death, and yet spent several hours debating as to whether to follow instructions or to let me suffer the consequences of my choices. I remember one of those spirits was dominant among the group and emanated a great deal of power and, when it chose, menace; that spirit eventually put an end to the debate, which actually terminated much of the conversation between them all. I remember that spirit struck me as just, fair, compassionate, and yet absolutely rule/law-abiding, and would not hesitate to punish transgressors severely. I remember at one point during that NDE, it felt like it was just that spirit and me and I remember the awe I felt being in its presence. I don't know whether there is such a thing as an archangel or not, but the way I felt in its presence and the read I got of its personality lead me to use that term as the closest, most succinct descriptor. I suppose you could also compare it to Judge Dredd. Other things that lead me to believe I've got a guardian are the fact that my most urgent (like end-of-the-rope type) prayers are always answered. For example, as I recently posted, my brother-in-law is fighting leukemia. When I found out his white blood cell count was spiraling out of control, it really REALLY upset me and the only thing I could do about it was pray. While I was praying (and crying), I suddenly knew I was not alone in the room anymore (or the house, for that matter; my wife was out of town). I felt like something touched me on the head and a sense of calm swept through me. And that's just one example. I have to really be in dire straits to get such an immediate answer, though. So for me it's really sort of an ace in the hole that I can count on when the chips are really down. If I pray for stupid things, like winning the lottery (and I have), those are roundly ignored (which is fine because I don't need to win the lottery). It's taught me a lot and, while I don't pray every day, when I do pray I try to ask for things for other people. It's easy to ask for things for yourself; asking for things for other people is hard.

Edited November 9, 2017 by MrSmith

[film noire]

22 hours ago, Random Noise said:

The 1982 movie "The Entity" though based on a fictional work has its roots in an actual incident. If memory serves, Brad Steiger was one of the people who investigated the case at one time and wrote a non-fiction account of it.

"The Entity" is a surprisingly good movie - it has that late seventies/early eighties low tech feel that makes eveything twice as unsettling.

I've always found the "Popper the Poltergeist" story fascinating:

"In 1958, a series of ghostly events that were occurring on Long Island, New York transfixed television viewers and readers all over the country. A house belonging to a family named Herrmann was beset by strange and inexplicable incidents that were attributed to a ghost dubbed “Popper”...The “Popper” case remains unique in the annals of the supernatural for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that this became the first haunting that was actually shown on television."

https://www.prairieghosts.com/popper.html

LIFE Magazine photos:

http://www.gettyimages.com/photos/james-m.-herrmann?excludenudity=true&sort=mostpopular&mediatype=photography&phrase=james m. herrmann&family=editorial#license

It's supposedly the basis for Spielberg's movie. (I always thought he should have set it in the era it happened in - segregation, women having very few options, the Cold War, untreated PTSD in the WW generation, everybody still in the sexual closet  -- no wonder people were fascinated. All this inexplicable phenomena playing out in front of them, reflecting back the chaos they were trying to ignore in their tidy, suburban neighborhoods.)

[Random Noise]

1 hour ago, film noire said:

"The Entity" is a surprisingly good movie - it has that late seventies/early eighties low tech feel that makes eveything twice as unsettling.

I've always found the "Popper the Poltergeist" story fascinating:

"In 1958, a series of ghostly events that were occurring on Long Island, New York transfixed television viewers and readers all over the country. A house belonging to a family named Herrmann was beset by strange and inexplicable incidents that were attributed to a ghost dubbed “Popper”...The “Popper” case remains unique in the annals of the supernatural for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that this became the first haunting that was actually shown on television."

https://www.prairieghosts.com/popper.html

LIFE Magazine photos:

http://www.gettyimages.com/photos/james-m.-herrmann?excludenudity=true&sort=mostpopular&mediatype=photography&phrase=james m. herrmann&family=editorial#license

It's supposedly the basis for Spielberg's movie. (I always thought he should have set it in the era it happened in - segregation, women having very few options, the Cold War, untreated PTSD in the WW generation, everybody still in the sexual closet  -- no wonder people were fascinated. All this inexplicable phenomena playing out in front of them, reflecting back the chaos they were trying to ignore in their tidy, suburban neighborhoods.)

I'm vaguely familiar with the Popper story. Thanks for the links, I'll look into it further.

Back when the X-Files was being filmed in Vancouver, Chris Carter was at a book signing one afternoon so the Canadian director for MUFON decided to drop in and get an autographed book. They had never previously met, but certainly knew who each other was professionally.

Chris told him that he wanted to try using actual MUFON investigators on the show to see how it would work out. I got a call one evening from the Canadian director, "want to be on TV?" he asked.

That was during the time David Duchovny was complaining about Vancouver and the rain, and wanted the whole works filmed back in California.

And that's my almost celebrity moment.

[Random Noise]

@MrSmith, Years ago I listened to an amazing interview with a Seattle doctor who began studying near death experiences (NDE) with children. A quick search revealed he now has a web site (Dr. Melvin Morse's Near-Death Experience Research

It was either him or an associate that came to place a sign on the top shelf in the emergency room, and facing the ceiling, which read something along the line of "If you are reading this, you have died."

I've been fortunate enough to converse at length with someone who once experienced an NDE. It's another one of those things that prove reality is stranger than fiction.

[bilgistic]

I read that as "Dr. Horse's...Experience, and imagined a horse that is a doctor, walking around on his hind legs and wearing a lab coat and stethoscope around his neck.

Edited November 10, 2017 by bilgistic

[Random Noise]

2 hours ago, bilgistic said:

I read that as "Dr. Horse's...Experience, and imagined a horse that is a doctor, walking around on his hind legs and wearing a lab coat and stethoscope around his neck.

A Horse Doctor :) Come to think of it, a few nurses I've known have referred to a certain doctor as a jackass, so you may be on to something.

A quick story along that line. One evening after a patient transfer to a regional hospital, the night desk said there was a patient that was ready to go back to our hospital.

We brought the stretcher up to the floor she was on and the head nurse began giving us the related patient history. As it turned out, the lady we were bringing back was the mother of one of our local doctors.

The trip between hospitals is around two and a half hours so we had plenty of time to probe for information. She was so proud of her son for becoming a doctor, but he really had his heart set on being a veterinarian instead. He couldn't keep up the passing scores he needed so he became a people doctor instead.

Moral of that story ... if you ever need a doctor, you're better off looking for Dr. Horse (or a horse doctor).

Edited November 10, 2017 by Random Noise

[Zola]

I had a nightmare last night. No idea where it came from - certainly not from anything I've been watching on the TV lately - but it took a big effort to wake myself up from it given that I was on my own.

I was in my bed (in the centre) as usual, lights out, on my back, waiting for sleep to take me away. But then I could feel something or someone sit on the end of the bed, and then someone else sitting on the far side of my bed. And then another on my near side, then another at the foot of the bed etc. 

I opened my eyes but couldn't see anything in the darkness. But I could just about make out human shapes sitting all around my bed, with their backs to me. And as such I couldn't sit up, or even pull my arms from under my duvet because it was tightly pressed down by these "bodies"

But then I could feel cold fingers touching my feet from under the quilt. I could feel cold arms brushing against my legs and hips and shoulders. And all of a sudden all those cold hands gripped my legs, arms and my hands, and held them down fast.

Then those bodies that were sitting all appeared to either stand up, or just vanished. But the duvet was pulled away exposing me to those "ghouls" that even thought I couldn't see, i could hear from their breathing. 

Then one of them lit a torch (or flashlight) directly into my face, so I was blinded by the yellow light. But I could just about make out a steel scalpel in front of my face. I tried to scream out, but typically someone covered my mouth with a cold damp hand. 

The person with the torch started to move to the side of the bed (not sure if "it" walked back, or was actually floating above me). Either way the light from the torch lit up my body. And then I saw the scalpel touch my skin from below my throat and cut me deep all the way down to just past my belly button. 

I screamed and screamed but I couldn't hear my own voice. And that's when I managed to wake myself up, cold but also sweating, and with my duvet on the floor.

Have never had that nightmare before, and it will play on my mind when I go to bed tonight. 

[bilgistic]

How terrifying! Do you think it was sleep paralysis or something else? I suffer from that once in a while.