I am retired military (intelligence and computers), and hold advanced degrees in a couple of disciplines (not that those things make me uniquely qualified or anything, but there's a reason that I mention those things, as I will get to). I have always been interested in the paranormal, and have dabbled in 'ghost-hunting' most of my adult life. I'm decidedly skeptical of most every phenomenon of which I've witnessed -So much so that other investigators have claimed they don't like to hunt with me because I'm a bit too skeptical. That's alright by me. I'd rather have a handful of well-documented cases under my belt than claim that every draft, creeky floor and odd reading on a meter is the result of an unseen entity.
My skepticism has always been a source of pride. In fact, I claimed until the fall of 2009 that I had never witnessed a truly paranormal event that couldn't possibly be explained. It was in November of that year that I went with a fellow investigator to a local Civil War battlefield to conduct an EVP session. Not much really happened during the session, although I did note the sound of approaching footsteps in the dry leaves surrounding us, to which no physical being could be attached. Anyway, we concluded out session and departed in different directions as the twilight approached.
That night, just after I laid down in bed, I detected a sound, as if furniture was moving. I sat up in bed, trying to determine if there was any reason to draw a weapon from my bedside table. I then made my way around the house and decided that the sound was nothing. I soon dismissed it and went to sleep.
However, the next morning, I found that a lamp had moved on the dresser on the far side of the room. I observed that the typical dust pattern was there, with a clean spot where the lamp had previously stood (I'm not the fastidious housekeeper that I'd like to be). I made note of it, but shrugged it off as something I may have done and forgotten.
However, within a day or so, I began to hear voices here and there. -Short words; Nothing dramatic. Then one night, I heard laughter in my bedroom. I lived alone and there was no TV or radio in the room. It caused me to bolt out of bed. It was then that I became alarmed.
Within a couple of days, I was speaking with my brother on the telephone when I heard a loud voice immediately behind me that said "Hey You!" It was loud enough that it stopped my brother in mid-sentence. He heard it too, which was a bit disconcerting.
Within hours, I also became aware of a black form moving very quickly around my room at high speed -on the edge of my periferie. It was if I was being circled by a really fast vulture that penetrated the walls as it went. Cabinet doors began to open and slam shut on their own, and the voices became even more prominent. Electrical devices also began to randomly fail. My then-girlfriend witnessed a few of the events and became very scared. In fact, she said she would not be returning to my house until I was confident the events were over. I understood.
I was honestly getting scared myself. Mind you, I had been in Iraq and Afghanistan during the height of the fighting, but I had never been truly scared. This was something different.
And it seemed malevolent.
I felt I had unwittingly walked into something on that battlefield for which I wasn't equipped to handle. I consulted lots of friends to see what I could do. I knew from my readings that I might be dealing with something malevolent, even demonic, but who could tell for sure?
Meanwhile, the circling overhead continued, but only while in the home. I thought of going to a hotel, but I got the sense that this entity wasn't bound to my home. From the little I know, it could follow me anywhere. Going to a hotel would do nothing.
I began by telling the entity to leave my home, and that it wasn't welcome. I read bible verses and had other investigators come over and participate in prayers. After about two weeks, everything abruptly stopped. Not a single sound, nor any more circling overhead. It turned off like a light switch. The 'heaviness' that I had felt in my house for weeks was gone. I could feel it had lifted. Whatever that means.
It was as if I had attracted something that was curious about me. But now that I've had nearly a decade to ponder the events, there are two likely scenarios: either it was curious, or it was sending me a warning. I probably took it as such too, because I didn't participate in more than a handful of investigations after that, and I haven't done one in about 5 years now.
Part of that could be because I've become bored from all of the late nights traipsing through abandoned homes listening to creaks and groans, but at least a small part is because, I have to admit, I'm wary of stepping into another event as unsettling as that. I'm married now too, and have children, so I wouldn't want to run the risk for them either.
Anyway, that's my ONE cool story. I would say to any junior investigator of ghostly phenomena that you have to be mindful when you're dealing with these things that you need to be prepared for the small possibility that you could bite off more than you can chew. I had participated in hunts for nearly 3 decades before that experience, but it could happen on your first hunt too. I am a reasonable, thinking, feeling person with a scientific bent. I taught cosmology at a major southern university for over a decade. I am neither prone to fantasy, nor do I have an over-active imagination.
Every time I tell this story, and that isn't many times, I inevitably get lots of know-it-all responses. -Lots of speculation and denials. We can conjecture, but we simply don't know for sure what drives these things.
I have posited that I had encountered a demon, but a fellow investigator with a history of encountering supposed demons over the course of 50 years told me that I probably didn't, because the surrounding events were too tame. A demon wouldn't 'just' show up and push a lamp around, he said.
What I will say is that I still remain skeptical of most every story, but not all. Sometimes a creaky floor is just a creaky floor, but sometimes, perhaps not...
My skepticism has always been a source of pride. In fact, I claimed until the fall of 2009 that I had never witnessed a truly paranormal event that couldn't possibly be explained. It was in November of that year that I went with a fellow investigator to a local Civil War battlefield to conduct an EVP session. Not much really happened during the session, although I did note the sound of approaching footsteps in the dry leaves surrounding us, to which no physical being could be attached. Anyway, we concluded out session and departed in different directions as the twilight approached.
That night, just after I laid down in bed, I detected a sound, as if furniture was moving. I sat up in bed, trying to determine if there was any reason to draw a weapon from my bedside table. I then made my way around the house and decided that the sound was nothing. I soon dismissed it and went to sleep.
However, the next morning, I found that a lamp had moved on the dresser on the far side of the room. I observed that the typical dust pattern was there, with a clean spot where the lamp had previously stood (I'm not the fastidious housekeeper that I'd like to be). I made note of it, but shrugged it off as something I may have done and forgotten.
However, within a day or so, I began to hear voices here and there. -Short words; Nothing dramatic. Then one night, I heard laughter in my bedroom. I lived alone and there was no TV or radio in the room. It caused me to bolt out of bed. It was then that I became alarmed.
Within a couple of days, I was speaking with my brother on the telephone when I heard a loud voice immediately behind me that said "Hey You!" It was loud enough that it stopped my brother in mid-sentence. He heard it too, which was a bit disconcerting.
Within hours, I also became aware of a black form moving very quickly around my room at high speed -on the edge of my periferie. It was if I was being circled by a really fast vulture that penetrated the walls as it went. Cabinet doors began to open and slam shut on their own, and the voices became even more prominent. Electrical devices also began to randomly fail. My then-girlfriend witnessed a few of the events and became very scared. In fact, she said she would not be returning to my house until I was confident the events were over. I understood.
I was honestly getting scared myself. Mind you, I had been in Iraq and Afghanistan during the height of the fighting, but I had never been truly scared. This was something different.
And it seemed malevolent.
I felt I had unwittingly walked into something on that battlefield for which I wasn't equipped to handle. I consulted lots of friends to see what I could do. I knew from my readings that I might be dealing with something malevolent, even demonic, but who could tell for sure?
Meanwhile, the circling overhead continued, but only while in the home. I thought of going to a hotel, but I got the sense that this entity wasn't bound to my home. From the little I know, it could follow me anywhere. Going to a hotel would do nothing.
I began by telling the entity to leave my home, and that it wasn't welcome. I read bible verses and had other investigators come over and participate in prayers. After about two weeks, everything abruptly stopped. Not a single sound, nor any more circling overhead. It turned off like a light switch. The 'heaviness' that I had felt in my house for weeks was gone. I could feel it had lifted. Whatever that means.
It was as if I had attracted something that was curious about me. But now that I've had nearly a decade to ponder the events, there are two likely scenarios: either it was curious, or it was sending me a warning. I probably took it as such too, because I didn't participate in more than a handful of investigations after that, and I haven't done one in about 5 years now.
Part of that could be because I've become bored from all of the late nights traipsing through abandoned homes listening to creaks and groans, but at least a small part is because, I have to admit, I'm wary of stepping into another event as unsettling as that. I'm married now too, and have children, so I wouldn't want to run the risk for them either.
Anyway, that's my ONE cool story. I would say to any junior investigator of ghostly phenomena that you have to be mindful when you're dealing with these things that you need to be prepared for the small possibility that you could bite off more than you can chew. I had participated in hunts for nearly 3 decades before that experience, but it could happen on your first hunt too. I am a reasonable, thinking, feeling person with a scientific bent. I taught cosmology at a major southern university for over a decade. I am neither prone to fantasy, nor do I have an over-active imagination.
Every time I tell this story, and that isn't many times, I inevitably get lots of know-it-all responses. -Lots of speculation and denials. We can conjecture, but we simply don't know for sure what drives these things.
I have posited that I had encountered a demon, but a fellow investigator with a history of encountering supposed demons over the course of 50 years told me that I probably didn't, because the surrounding events were too tame. A demon wouldn't 'just' show up and push a lamp around, he said.
What I will say is that I still remain skeptical of most every story, but not all. Sometimes a creaky floor is just a creaky floor, but sometimes, perhaps not...
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