Unusual, and/or Paranormal Events

If your topic has nothing to do with Spyderco, you can post it here.
James Y
Member
Posts: 7994
Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2004 10:33 am
Location: Southern CA

Unusual, and/or Paranormal Events

#1

Post by James Y »

The video below is an excellent account of US Marines who experienced paranormal events in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

Note: I understand that probably “most” people do not believe in anything paranormal (or will claim not to). There are a TON of people who do, but won’t openly admit to it because of fear of ridicule. What anyone believes or disbelieves is their right. There is a BIG difference between credible accounts and “Creepypasta” fiction. They don’t have to be “scary,” ”creepy,” etc., or even be “paranormal.” Although paranormal (beyond or outside of ‘normal’) can encompass many things, not just so-called “ghosts” (a word I don’t like to use, by the way). Wonderful synchronicities in life are other examples of things that could be classified as unusual, and possibly even “paranormal.”

This thread is for anyone who wishes to share true accounts of strange and/or paranormal occurrences, without being ridiculed or attacked by so-called skeptics. Sometimes it can be freeing to be able to openly discuss certain unconventional topics. There is a big difference between healthy skepticism and outright cynicism. I have a healthy degree of skepticism myself, BUT I have also experienced events that can be considered paranormal off and on, from around the age of 4, up to the present time, which I KNOW happened. For anyone who completely disbelieves in anything unusual, that is your right; you can still enjoy the stories as entertainment. But to anyone who might feel the need to ridicule or go religious here, please refrain from derailing this thread, and perhaps start your own thread.

https://youtu.be/mVZRtDzcba0

Jim
kerrcobra
Member
Posts: 679
Joined: Tue Apr 17, 2018 11:46 am
Location: Atlanta, Ga

Re: Unusual, and/or Paranormal Events

#2

Post by kerrcobra »

I'm looking forward to reading these experiences here. I love reading stuff like this for enjoyment.
--Jeremy
James Y
Member
Posts: 7994
Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2004 10:33 am
Location: Southern CA

Re: Unusual, and/or Paranormal Events

#3

Post by James Y »

Cheers, kerrcobra! Hope you enjoy reading.

The story linked to below is an account I submitted five years ago to paranormal and cryptid researcher Lon Strickler, who is well-known in the field, which he put up on his blog. This happened to both me and my then-girlfriend in Taiwan in 1988. It was one of only two paranormal events in my life that I considered “creepy.” The vast majority of experiences I’ve had have been positive, or at least not negative.

 https://www.phantomsandmonsters.com/sea ... +in+Taiwan

Jim
User avatar
ChrisinHove
Member
Posts: 4059
Joined: Tue Dec 17, 2013 8:12 am
Location: 27.2046° N, 77.4977° E

Re: Unusual, and/or Paranormal Events

#4

Post by ChrisinHove »

Hah! That tale gave me the chills, Jim.

I’ve never experienced anything of the sort, but did once have the elderly seller of a very, very old house I was surveying (part of an old monastery, extended in the 1600’s) tell me of the ghost that haunted it and the danger of, and history of calamities, if removing the ancient sheep skull from the giant old fireplace … fortunately *after* I had spent the day crawling around it.

I kid you not, I went into one of the old low stone barns afterwards, filled with sheet covered furnishings and belongings. As I walked across the room, one of the bigger items started to rock beneath it’s coverings!. I nearly **** myself. Of course, I quickly realised it was the result of me treading on a loose floorboard, but for a moment I was convinced in the paranormal.

I therefore know that I’m only a scare away from being a believer.

Other than that, I used to entertain myself when visiting historic public buildings by persuading my then young daughter to occasionally point at empty spaces and call out “Daddy, why is that small boy crying?” and watch people’s reactions.
James Y
Member
Posts: 7994
Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2004 10:33 am
Location: Southern CA

Re: Unusual, and/or Paranormal Events

#5

Post by James Y »

ChrisinHove wrote:
Thu Aug 05, 2021 2:26 pm
Hah! That tale gave me the chills, Jim.

I’ve never experienced anything of the sort, but did once have the elderly seller of a very, very old house I was surveying (part of an old monastery, extended in the 1600’s) tell me of the ghost that haunted it and the danger of, and history of calamities, if removing the ancient sheep skull from the giant old fireplace … fortunately *after* I had spent the day crawling around it.

I kid you not, I went into one of the old low stone barns afterwards, filled with sheet covered furnishings and belongings. As I walked across the room, one of the bigger items started to rock beneath it’s coverings!. I nearly **** myself. Of course, I quickly realised it was the result of me treading on a loose floorboard, but for a moment I was convinced in the paranormal.

I therefore know that I’m only a scare away from being a believer.

Other than that, I used to entertain myself when visiting historic public buildings by persuading my then young daughter to occasionally point at empty spaces and call out “Daddy, why is that small boy crying?” and watch people’s reactions.

Thanks for sharing, Chris!

Hahaha! The reactions from the other people to what your daughter was saying must have been priceless!

Interestingly, although I’ve had experiences on and off all my life, there are some places that are known to be haunted where I never experienced a thing. I’ve visited the Whaley House three times in my life, and never had any experiences. The last time, in my early teens, I went upstairs, reputedly the most haunted location in the house, all by myself, and spent awhile alone up there, while my dad was speaking with the tour guide downstairs in the old courthouse. That particular afternoon was slow, and my dad and I were the only guests there at that time. The Whaley House is considered by some to be the most haunted house in America, and is officially considered a haunted landmark.

Not that I don’t believe it’s haunted, just because I never experienced anything there. Every experience I've ever had occurred at random, when I wasn't looking for anything to happen. It just goes to show that the phenomena aren’t performing monkeys that do tricks for people’s amusement when they expect it, or on demand. The phenomena decides if and when it will reveal itself. Or maybe the energies aren’t there all the time. Who knows? Notice I said ‘phenomena’ and ‘energies’. I dislike using the word ‘ghosts’, because we don’t really know what they are, even if they have appeared to be historical people.

Jim
User avatar
Doc Dan
Member
Posts: 14754
Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2012 4:25 am
Location: In a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity.

Re: Unusual, and/or Paranormal Events

#6

Post by Doc Dan »

Since we know space-time has holes in it, I tend to think that when people see "ghosts" they are often seeing what really was in the past through a hole in said space-time.
I Pray Heaven to Bestow The Best of Blessing on THIS HOUSE, and on ALL that shall hereafter Inhabit it. May none but Honest and Wise Men ever rule under This Roof! (John Adams regarding the White House)

Follow the Christ, the King,
Live pure, speak true, right wrong, follow the King--
Else, wherefore born?" (Tennyson)



NRA Life Member
Spydernation 0050
James Y
Member
Posts: 7994
Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2004 10:33 am
Location: Southern CA

Re: Unusual, and/or Paranormal Events

#7

Post by James Y »

Doc Dan wrote:
Thu Aug 05, 2021 11:05 pm
Since we know space-time has holes in it, I tend to think that when people see "ghosts" they are often seeing what really was in the past through a hole in said space-time.

Doc, I agree that probably happens in many cases. Especially when the “ghosts” are seen in period clothing (for one example, Victorian-era clothing), etc. Whether what people are often seeing is into the past, or what others call “residual,” meaning images from the past “replaying” themselves in a loop, that are seen under certain conditions. It could be both, as well as other things.

My first “paranormal” encounter happened when I was 4 years old. I was sitting on the floor of our kitchen, playing with toys, and my mom was ironing some laundry. Beyond her in my line of sight was the entrance to a small hallway. My eyes detected movement at the hall entrance, and I saw a man’s head slowly peek around at us. Then, as if in slow motion, he came into full view. I still remember the image very clearly, 54 years later. He looked like an image made up of “TV snow” or TV static; like thousands (millions?) of dots of light. Although the image looked like TV snow, I could make out some features. He appeared to be balding, and had a mustache. Average to slightly below-average in height. He was slowly moving across the hall entrance in slow motion, right to left, towards my old room, similar to the motion of a deep sea diver walking on the ocean floor. I wasn’t scared at all.

I said, “Mommy! Who’s the man!”
My mom said, “What man?”
I said, “The man! He’s right there!” I pointed.
My mom continued ironing. “There’s no man, Jim.”
I said, “Right there! Look!”
Instead my mom looked at me, slightly annoyed: “Jim, there is no man!”

The figure slowly walked to the left across the hall entrance, towards the area of my room. He was now out of my line of sight. My mom finally looked in that direction.

Mom said, “See? There is no man!”

Needless to say, I was frustrated that she only looked AFTER the man was no longer in view. Even at that young age, I sensed that even if she HAD looked in time, she wouldn’t have seen him anyway. I also sensed that ‘the man’ was gone, and would not have been in my room if I had checked.

At that age, I had no concept of ‘ghosts,’ spirits, etc. I hadn’t been scared at all; I never got any sense of malevolence from it. I never saw the ‘man’ again.

I highly doubt it was a ‘ghost’. Our house wasn’t that old at the time, and the back part of the house, which included that hallway, my old room, and other rooms down the hall, had been added to the house right after I was born. And there hadn’t been any other previous house on that location. I suspect it was an entity that just happened to be passing through. Or a glimpse of a being, not in another time, but possibly in another frequency, or dimension. Or possibly a guardian angel? Or none of those? Who knows? All I know is that I hadn’t imagined seeing it, and I wasn’t afraid.

In our family, it seemed like only the males were in tune with things like that. Many years later, when we were adults, my older brother revealed to me that when he was young, he used to see people walking in and out of his room at night when he first got into bed. And my dad and his family had many such occurrences. My dad’s experiences went far beyond mine or my brother’s, and my dad wasn’t the type to make up stories. He was blue collar all his life; he was very intelligent, but lacked the tendency or the creativity to make up stories. And his accounts were always consistent.

Jim
User avatar
ChrisinHove
Member
Posts: 4059
Joined: Tue Dec 17, 2013 8:12 am
Location: 27.2046° N, 77.4977° E

Re: Unusual, and/or Paranormal Events

#8

Post by ChrisinHove »

My father, an unsentimental engineer, swears that he woke to see his late mother sitting on the end of his bed, the day after she passed away.

He has always rationalised it as his agitated and distressed mind “playing tricks”.

There is a very amusing family comedy series on the box here, called Ghosts, about a young couple who inherit a large old mansion, their interaction with the many ghosts there, and the interaction between all the ghosts, in all their just deceased states, who had lived on the site, from the Neolithic era, 1400’s, 1600’s, 1800’s, 1900’s and a 1980’s politician inexplicably without his trousers….
James Y
Member
Posts: 7994
Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2004 10:33 am
Location: Southern CA

Re: Unusual, and/or Paranormal Events

#9

Post by James Y »

ChrisinHove wrote:
Fri Aug 06, 2021 9:18 am
My father, an unsentimental engineer, swears that he woke to see his late mother sitting on the end of his bed, the day after she passed away.

He has always rationalised it as his agitated and distressed mind “playing tricks”.

There is a very amusing family comedy series on the box here, called Ghosts, about a young couple who inherit a large old mansion, their interaction with the many ghosts there, and the interaction between all the ghosts, in all their just deceased states, who had lived on the site, from the Neolithic era, 1400’s, 1600’s, 1800’s, 1900’s and a 1980’s politician inexplicably without his trousers….

That sounds like a good concept for a sitcom.

Your father probably really did see what he says he saw.

Jim
James Y
Member
Posts: 7994
Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2004 10:33 am
Location: Southern CA

Re: Unusual, and/or Paranormal Events

#10

Post by James Y »

To everyone:

It’s not required for anybody’s account to be a “ghost” story, or to have anything to do with anything paranormal, to post it here. Anything strange or unusual is also good. It could even be ‘funny’-strange. I have other accounts I could post, but I’d rather see others post first.

Jim
User avatar
Mushroom
Member
Posts: 7295
Joined: Tue Jan 06, 2015 2:45 pm
Location: Boston, Ma. U.S.A. Earth

Re: Unusual, and/or Paranormal Events

#11

Post by Mushroom »

Interesting thread, Jim! I'm easily captivated by paranormal stories from people who insist they're being honest. The story you shared with Lon Strickler is definitely creepy! Some people really seem to have a stronger sixth sense than others.

As a kid, my parents and other family members would tell me some very convincing stories about their own paranormal experiences. They would claim they were true and I was eager to believe them. I think it's because of that I can always remember being open to the idea of paranormal events being real.

Regretfully, I have not had any vivid paranormal experiences of my own that I can share. I say regretfully because I really do wish I could have experienced something truly "paranormal." Still, I like to believe it's possible.

Although, one weird thing I do recall happening to me that I just have no explanation for, happened when I was a young teen. To preface, I was asleep in bed and woken up by something. So what happened was, I was sleeping on my side and was gently woken up by the physical feeling of someone pinching the center of the back of my shirt and pulling it from that one pinch point. This feeling woke me up because it felt like I was being pulled off the bed backwards. When it woke me up though, I didn't move because I wanted to make sure I actually felt something pulling. As I laid awake wondering what was happening, I swear I could feel the front of my shirt get tense as if it was pulling harder against my bodyweight. When I felt that, I screamed as loud as I could - "AHHHH" - and the pulling stopped. My father was in my room checking on me a few seconds later and I just said I had a nightmare because I was too scared to say what actually happened. It's hard to make sense of things while being half asleep but I'm convinced I felt something pulling on my shirt that night.

I also have an unusual UFO story that 6 people including myself all witnessed. I'm exhausted after a long day of hiking and won't be able to abridge the story properly right now. Tomorrow or Sunday I will though because I've never had any "unusual" experience as personally convincing as this one.
-Nick :bug-red
Image
User avatar
Doc Dan
Member
Posts: 14754
Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2012 4:25 am
Location: In a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity.

Re: Unusual, and/or Paranormal Events

#12

Post by Doc Dan »

Now, as far as UFO's, I can tell that story. Back in the early 1970's a friend and I were hitch hiking back from a concert in the wee hours of the morning. That was common those days. As we were walking on the lonely interstate we approached a passover. We heard a loud "whoosh", the sound that is made when something moving displaces air, only it would have had to be big to be that loud. As we got to the other side of the overpass, we looked off to the side of the road. You know how they cut everything back from the road on the interestate, then there will be a fence and trees. Well. hovering above those trees, very close to us, was a saucer shaped object with lights soundlessly hovering over the trees. We were scared so we decided to keep moving and get away from it. The saucer moved soundlessly behind the slender stand of trees. There were no leaves, yet, it being early spring. We could see it plainly. Then, it crossed the road of the overpass moved over to the other side of the overpass and we heard that loud whoosh or whiish sound, again and it was gone. At that moment, car lights appeared on the horizon. Those people were in a pickup truck coming back from the same concert. We dived into the back of that truck and they sped off. We did not see that thing again, but it scared us pretty badly. We could see search lights far off to the south of us.

I don't say it was an alien craft. I just don't know. But it was about the size of a 1500 sq. ft. ranch style house, including the garage. It was close to us, really close. I could not be mistaken.
I Pray Heaven to Bestow The Best of Blessing on THIS HOUSE, and on ALL that shall hereafter Inhabit it. May none but Honest and Wise Men ever rule under This Roof! (John Adams regarding the White House)

Follow the Christ, the King,
Live pure, speak true, right wrong, follow the King--
Else, wherefore born?" (Tennyson)



NRA Life Member
Spydernation 0050
User avatar
ChrisinHove
Member
Posts: 4059
Joined: Tue Dec 17, 2013 8:12 am
Location: 27.2046° N, 77.4977° E

Re: Unusual, and/or Paranormal Events

#13

Post by ChrisinHove »

James Y wrote:
Fri Aug 06, 2021 7:19 pm
ChrisinHove wrote:
Fri Aug 06, 2021 9:18 am
My father, an unsentimental engineer, swears that he woke to see his late mother sitting on the end of his bed, the day after she passed away.

He has always rationalised it as his agitated and distressed mind “playing tricks”.

There is a very amusing family comedy series on the box here, called Ghosts, about a young couple who inherit a large old mansion, their interaction with the many ghosts there, and the interaction between all the ghosts, in all their just deceased states, who had lived on the site, from the Neolithic era, 1400’s, 1600’s, 1800’s, 1900’s and a 1980’s politician inexplicably without his trousers….

That sounds like a good concept for a sitcom.

Your father probably really did see what he says he saw.

Jim
What the comedy suggests, albeit in an amusing manner, is that if ghosts were inevitable, some places would literally be over-run by them. Wouldn’t there have to be something else going on?
User avatar
ChrisinHove
Member
Posts: 4059
Joined: Tue Dec 17, 2013 8:12 am
Location: 27.2046° N, 77.4977° E

Re: Unusual, and/or Paranormal Events

#14

Post by ChrisinHove »

Doc Dan wrote:
Fri Aug 06, 2021 10:52 pm
I could not be mistaken.
Doc, you have challenged my belief that such things are only seen by non-credible witnesses!
User avatar
Doc Dan
Member
Posts: 14754
Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2012 4:25 am
Location: In a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity.

Re: Unusual, and/or Paranormal Events

#15

Post by Doc Dan »

ChrisinHove wrote:
Sat Aug 07, 2021 12:13 am
Doc Dan wrote:
Fri Aug 06, 2021 10:52 pm
I could not be mistaken.
Doc, you have challenged my belief that such things are only seen by non-credible witnesses!
The military in your country and mine have come out openly with video and admitting that they have known about this for decades.
I Pray Heaven to Bestow The Best of Blessing on THIS HOUSE, and on ALL that shall hereafter Inhabit it. May none but Honest and Wise Men ever rule under This Roof! (John Adams regarding the White House)

Follow the Christ, the King,
Live pure, speak true, right wrong, follow the King--
Else, wherefore born?" (Tennyson)



NRA Life Member
Spydernation 0050
James Y
Member
Posts: 7994
Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2004 10:33 am
Location: Southern CA

Re: Unusual, and/or Paranormal Events

#16

Post by James Y »

Mushroom wrote:
Fri Aug 06, 2021 9:00 pm
Interesting thread, Jim! I'm easily captivated by paranormal stories from people who insist they're being honest. The story you shared with Lon Strickler is definitely creepy! Some people really seem to have a stronger sixth sense than others.

As a kid, my parents and other family members would tell me some very convincing stories about their own paranormal experiences. They would claim they were true and I was eager to believe them. I think it's because of that I can always remember being open to the idea of paranormal events being real.

Regretfully, I have not had any vivid paranormal experiences of my own that I can share. I say regretfully because I really do wish I could have experienced something truly "paranormal." Still, I like to believe it's possible.

Although, one weird thing I do recall happening to me that I just have no explanation for, happened when I was a young teen. To preface, I was asleep in bed and woken up by something. So what happened was, I was sleeping on my side and was gently woken up by the physical feeling of someone pinching the center of the back of my shirt and pulling it from that one pinch point. This feeling woke me up because it felt like I was being pulled off the bed backwards. When it woke me up though, I didn't move because I wanted to make sure I actually felt something pulling. As I laid awake wondering what was happening, I swear I could feel the front of my shirt get tense as if it was pulling harder against my bodyweight. When I felt that, I screamed as loud as I could - "AHHHH" - and the pulling stopped. My father was in my room checking on me a few seconds later and I just said I had a nightmare because I was too scared to say what actually happened. It's hard to make sense of things while being half asleep but I'm convinced I felt something pulling on my shirt that night.

I also have an unusual UFO story that 6 people including myself all witnessed. I'm exhausted after a long day of hiking and won't be able to abridge the story properly right now. Tomorrow or Sunday I will though because I've never had any "unusual" experience as personally convincing as this one.

Greetings and thanks for sharing, Mushroom!

Experiences that fall under the category of paranormal aren’t always obvious in an external manner, meaning visual sightings, etc. It sounds as if you may very well have had experiences already. I’m looking forward to hearing more from you!

Jim
James Y
Member
Posts: 7994
Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2004 10:33 am
Location: Southern CA

Re: Unusual, and/or Paranormal Events

#17

Post by James Y »

Doc Dan wrote:
Fri Aug 06, 2021 10:52 pm
Now, as far as UFO's, I can tell that story. Back in the early 1970's a friend and I were hitch hiking back from a concert in the wee hours of the morning. That was common those days. As we were walking on the lonely interstate we approached a passover. We heard a loud "whoosh", the sound that is made when something moving displaces air, only it would have had to be big to be that loud. As we got to the other side of the overpass, we looked off to the side of the road. You know how they cut everything back from the road on the interestate, then there will be a fence and trees. Well. hovering above those trees, very close to us, was a saucer shaped object with lights soundlessly hovering over the trees. We were scared so we decided to keep moving and get away from it. The saucer moved soundlessly behind the slender stand of trees. There were no leaves, yet, it being early spring. We could see it plainly. Then, it crossed the road of the overpass moved over to the other side of the overpass and we heard that loud whoosh or whiish sound, again and it was gone. At that moment, car lights appeared on the horizon. Those people were in a pickup truck coming back from the same concert. We dived into the back of that truck and they sped off. We did not see that thing again, but it scared us pretty badly. We could see search lights far off to the south of us.

I don't say it was an alien craft. I just don't know. But it was about the size of a 1500 sq. ft. ranch style house, including the garage. It was close to us, really close. I could not be mistaken.

Thanks, Doc!

Wow! That sounds like quite a sighting! Thank you for sharing it.

As far as UFOs go, I have never seen one, but if I did, depending on how close it was, I would find that much creepier than any experiences with spirits. My brother said he saw a UFO back in the ‘70s, but I don’t remember the details.

Many things fall under the category of “paranormal”; UFOs included. As I’ve stated, “paranormal” simply means beyond, or apart from (or even alongside), the normal. It doesn’t just mean “ghosts” or other “nonphysical” phenomena. The so-called “paranormal” covers a vast array of subjects. I believe that “paranormal” things are actually happening around us all the time, but the vast majority of the time we are simply unaware of them. So that makes them seem mysterious to us.

As to what are UFOs? Who knows? Most UFO researchers think they’re “aliens” flying physical, nuts-and-bolts craft from other planets. Other people believe they originate from the earth, but from another dimension. Some think they’re human time travelers from our future. Many believe they are black projects of the US Military. Some believe they are holograms projected into the sky, used to test people’s reactions. Some think they are demonic entities disguising themselves as alien craft. And in some cases, some people believe that the UFOs themselves are conscious, living entities, especially when they appear as amoeba-like lights that shape-change, move at extreme speeds, and seem to display intelligence.

Again, who knows? The UFO phenomena could encompass any or all of those things. Or it could originate from something we haven’t even imagined.

In the same way that I dislike using the word “ghosts” when discussing non-physical entities/phenomena, I also dislike using the word “aliens” in describing the UFO phenomena. There are some people out there, like that Greek guy with the goofy hairdo, who think that EVERYTHING is because of “aliens.”

Jim
James Y
Member
Posts: 7994
Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2004 10:33 am
Location: Southern CA

Re: Unusual, and/or Paranormal Events

#18

Post by James Y »

ChrisinHove wrote:
Sat Aug 07, 2021 12:13 am
Doc Dan wrote:
Fri Aug 06, 2021 10:52 pm
I could not be mistaken.
Doc, you have challenged my belief that such things are only seen by non-credible witnesses!

Chris,

There is a misconception that people who see UFOs (or Sasquatch, etc.) are ‘uneducated,’ ‘unsophisticated,’ ‘ignorant,’ ‘gullible,’ ‘hallucinating,’ etc., and lack credibility. It’s a deep-rooted stereotype. (Not that not having had a conventional education makes someone any less intelligent or any more ignorant; I’m just stating some of the misconceptions that many people have). Chris, I’m not saying that YOU necessarily see it that way; I’m referring to misconceptions held by people in general.

I recall a few years back seeing a commercial on TV (I forget the product it was for; possibly some soft drink), with goofy computer animation, that showed a UFO and some green aliens approaching a caricature of a Midwestern farmer in a corn(?) field, with the voice-over saying, “Why is it that people who see UFOs are all stupid?” And the animated farmer character is saying “Duhh…duhh…duuhhhhhh!” I only saw that commercial one time. I assume it was removed from TV because someone found it offensive. But it just goes to show how deep-seated the stereotypes about those who report their experiences of the unusual (especially UFOs) are. And why most people are reluctant to tell anybody about them. There are countless *credible* experiences out there that nobody will ever know about, because those who experienced them know they wouldn’t be believed, and would probably be ridiculed if they ever shared them, even with friends and family.

Jim
James Y
Member
Posts: 7994
Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2004 10:33 am
Location: Southern CA

Re: Unusual, and/or Paranormal Events

#19

Post by James Y »

I will add a cool little story about synchronicity. This happened to me while I was living in Taiwan. Unfortunately, at one point, I fell on difficult times financially. I wasn’t proud of it, but on this occasion I was running out of money fast, and another job I had set up wasn’t due to start in over a week. So I swallowed my pride and wrote home to see if my parents could send me a check for a certain amount to hold me over. Luckily, at the time, Taipei was a relatively cheap place to live, if you lived like I did. I’ve heard that nowadays, it’s gotten much more expensive. Anyway, I was too ashamed to tell anybody I knew in Taiwan.

I woke up one day, knowing it would take at least a week or more for anything to arrive after they received my letter (at least 2 weeks total). And that’s if the mail worked smoothly. I had sent my letter a week earlier. So I went out to the bus stop to wait, the same bus stop I had waited at every day for years. I was down to my last few Taiwan dollars, barely enough to eat for one day.


On this day, a smartly-dressed Westerner (American? European? I don’t know) came along and stood out in the street, trying to hail a cab. The other people waiting at the bus stop were waiting on the sidewalk or standing in the gutter, standing on my left and facing to the left, the direction the traffic and the buses were coming from. I was standing in the gutter. The Westerner was standing just feet from me. He was dressed in a business suit and had a briefcase.

A cab pulled up. As he hurriedly got into the cab, a wad of folded-up bills fell to the ground and ended up right near my feet. The taxi quickly took off. I looked right and left; nobody else noticed the bills. I coolly stepped on the folded bills and made as if to tie my shoe, grabbing up the bills and stuffing them into my pocket. I only checked the amount about a half-hour later, after I had reached my destination. IIRC, it added up to around $3000 NT (New Taiwan Dollars), which at the time was just enough money to hold me over until the check arrived. And everything worked out perfectly!

I had never seen that Westerner before, and I never saw him again. The Universe had conspired for him and me to be at that place, at that time, and for me to notice the subtle drop of the bills onto the street right at my feet, while nobody else even noticed it.

This happened in around 1991. Even back then, I KNEW that was more than just a coincidence. It was synchronicity, and it had been meant to happen. I had been provided exactly what I needed, just when I needed it; no more and no less. This doesn't make me any more special than anybody else. I believe that synchronicities, large and small, happen more often than we think; but for the most part they either go unnoticed, or are taken for granted.

Note: Even in the financial situation I was in, I probably would have informed him of the dropped money if there had been time, but he had gotten into the cab in a hurry, almost before the bills had hit the ground, and then the cab had shot off into traffic. But I was grateful for being provided for.

Jim
Pokey
Member
Posts: 1209
Joined: Fri May 08, 2020 1:11 pm
Location: Thornton, Colorado

Re: Unusual, and/or Paranormal Events

#20

Post by Pokey »

Years ago I experienced a couple of unexpected natural events while I was doing some work at NASA's White Sands (New Mexico) Test Facility. I had the rough duty of driving out to the facility twice a day, once at 1pm and twelve hours later at 1am to track a satellite as it passed over. During monsoon season, August & September, while we were still outfitting our building with the tracking antenna and computer the mornings were clear, but thunderheads would build up starting in early afternoon.

Despite lots of clear skies and sunshine near the building one day, the big white clouds were becoming more numerous. I walked into the building and told everyone that they might want to go out to their cars and roll their windows up in anticipation of the afternoon thunderstorms. I grabbed my keys and walked out to my car, opened the door, hopped in and at that same time I saw a flash of light travel diagonally across the sky and heard a loud boom. I looked the direction of where the light went, towards the noise and saw an electrical transformer and wires on a pole swaying back and forth. A lightning bolt had traveled from the nearest cloud, roughly a half mile away and hit the transformer. It was "horizontal" lightning and it turns out it can travel very long distances.

Another occurrence happened early one morning after one of the 1am tracks. I closed the roof of the building, put the computer asleep, turned the lights out, and locked up to go home. After leaving the facility I was driving south down the deserted desert road. There were no street lights on the road.

All of a sudden a very large light appeared in the rear view mirror and it was moving up and down. It was way too big for a car headlight and I hadn't seen any other cars on the road. On such a dark night I could have seen headlights approaching for miles. I wondered, what it was, where it suddenly came from, and why was it moving up and down. Besides, the White Sands Missile Range was just over the mountains to the East, and the facility is just west-southwest of Roswell, NM. :thinking

A full moon had just risen and as I drove down the road through the washes that crossed the road, I was going up and down through the dips. The only reason I can figure the moon appeared so suddenly it that it may have risen over the mountains.

:exhaling
Post Reply