Paranormal or Paranoia?

[Siani]

I had an unsettling experience about a month ago, but have hesitated to mention it, just in case I've put two and two together and made fifty two. Here's basically what happened.

I was at the local bus terminal, waiting for the bus home. A young guy, around 21-22, joined the bus queue, and when I made eye contact with him, I got the absolute horrors. He was pale, sharp-featured, wan and sickly-looking - he was uncoordinated and looked like he could fall over at any moment. I assumed he was merely drunk, or possibly, drugged up. At the risk of sounding melodramatic or hysterical, when I made eye contact with him, he gave me the absolute creeps. I wanted to get as far away from him as possible. I felt utter panic - and I'm not the easily-intimidated type. Despite his seemingly weak condition, he seemed dangerous to me, in a way I can't quite articulate. You know that feeling you get when your eyes and your brain don't quite communicate properly with each other? I don't know why, but there was something about the guy that seemed all wrong.

The guy asked me for money for his bus fare. I made some excuse and declined. By now, I was getting very claustrophic and edgy. Mercifully, my bus arrived at the terminal at that moment. I noticed him asking other people for money, and they all seemed to be recoiling from him, rather than simply declining to help him. He tried to persuade the bus driver to allow him on, despite not having the fare. The bus driver actually looked scared and ordered him off the bus, and seemed to have difficulty breaking eye contact with the guy.

As the bus left the terminus, I felt an enormous sense of relief - and I really didn't understand why. A couple of minutes later, the bus came to a halt at a stop about a quarter of a mile away from the terminus. Guess who was waiting for the bus? Yes, the weird guy. How the hell did he get there before the bus? I doubt even an Olympic sprinter could have made it before the bus, yet alone a guy as feeble-seeming as him. And he wasn't even out of breath. I could see several other passengers looking as if to say, 'WTF?. Also, he suddenly had the fare for the bus. As he got on, he gave me a hard stare, and I actually felt nauseous. When I reached my stop, I got off (thankfully, he didn't) and sped home, somewhat spooked and bewildered.

I still don't know if this was a truly anomalous experience, or if I simply got spooked and blew the whole thing out of proportion. Any thoughts, anyone?

 

[Ally]

My first thought was that he was a hard core drug user with an entity attachment until I heard the rest of the story. Very weird indeed.

 

[Tommy Allison]

It's the same instinct that makes animals shun others that are defective, or diseased.

Humans just worry too much about being sensitive to the needs of others. If something sets off your alarms, go with your instincts. It's what they're there for.

 

[Ally]

Did this "person" feel anything like your weird spinning being at the front door by any chance?

 

[Gareth]

As the bus left the terminus, I felt an enormous sense of relief - and I really didn't understand why. A couple of minutes later, the bus came to a halt at a stop about a quarter of a mile away from the terminus. Guess who was waiting for the bus? Yes, the weird guy. How the hell did he get there before the bus? I doubt even an Olympic sprinter could have made it before the bus, yet alone a guy as feeble-seeming as him. And he wasn't even out of breath. I could see several other passengers looking as if to say, 'WTF?. Also, he suddenly had the fare for the bus. As he got on, he gave me a hard stare, and I actually felt nauseous. When I reached my stop, I got off (thankfully, he didn't) and sped home, somewhat spooked and bewildered.

I still don't know if this was a truly anomalous experience, or if I simply got spooked and blew the whole thing out of proportion. Any thoughts, anyone?

Ok, this would have scared the absolute SHIT out of me. And he looked right at you into your eyes? I would have lost it (too many movies I guess).

Ok lets look at the fact that he got to the next stop before you... is there any way this is possible? Could he haven taken a more direct bus? Gotten a lift? Did he have a bike?

If there is no reasonable way he could have got there, then that should tell you that there is something messed up going on right?

 

[mikec]

There is something in Budd Hopkins book SIGHT UNSEEN that matches this story a little. Lemme search it out and I'll give a page number.

 

[Siani]

Did this "person" feel anything like your weird spinning being at the front door by any chance?

The only similarity was the need to put distance between me and him. There was something incredibly unsettling about him. Also, his desperation to get on that bus could, in some ways, be seen to echo the spinning entity's desperation to get into my home - but I could also be doing the typically human thing of reading too much into things here.

Gareth, I considered the possibility that he could have found some other means of getting there. But all buses that pass the particular stop he got on at, have to go the same way as the bus I got on, due to the tortuous road layout in the city centre. My bus didn't stop anywhere en route, so there was no way another bus could have overtaken it. Also, the only buses that pass that stop, all go the same way - so there would have been no need for him to get off. A car would have taken even longer to get there, as it couldn't have used the bus lanes, and would have had to take a more circuitous route to this stop. If he had a bike, I saw no sign of it. I even considered the guy may have had a twin - but surely they wouldn't have been dressed the same, had the same facial blemishes and zits, the same stains on their jeans, etc?

 

[skunkape]

The next time you cross one of these cats...if you're feeling a little ballsy...try saying something that blows its mind. Seriously, start either feeding nonsense facts..."the grass is orange"...or ask questions with no proper answer..."is it today yet?" I don't care to elaborate, but this seems to send them away.

 

[Gareth]

The next time you cross one of these cats...if you're feeling a little ballsy...try saying something that blows its mind. Seriously, start either feeding nonsense facts..."the grass is orange"...or ask questions with no proper answer..."is it today yet?" I don't care to elaborate, but this seems to send them away.

tease! .......

 

[AnnetteMarie]

, due to the tortuous road layout in the city centre.

perhaps if you sketched out the bus route and made note of how much winding, twisting, etc., it took to get from the terminal to the stop he appeared at? Then, check out the area and see if there is a more direct route if you are on foot.

Still, whether or not you find there is a great shortcut for pedestrians, that was weird!

 

[Siani]

perhaps if you sketched out the bus route and made note of how much winding, twisting, etc., it took to get from the terminal to the stop he appeared at? Then, check out the area and see if there is a more direct route if you are on foot.

Still, whether or not you find there is a great shortcut for pedestrians, that was weird!

That's the weird thing about it - I know this city like the back of my hand. It's not a huge city, and I've lived here for almost 25 years, so I know every mall, arcade, alleyway and short cut there is. That's why I really cannot work out how that guy covered that distance in such a short time frame. The quickest route would have been through a busy shopping mall, along two busy side streets and across several lanes of fast-moving traffic, via at least one major artery, and a very dangerous intersection, where several lanes meet.

Also, I forgot to mention that the bus service he was so desperate to board runs once every ten minutes. Hardly worth a marathon death-sprint when the next bus was almost due at the terminal. And he was waiting so calmly at the stop - like someone who had been stood there a while. Had he somehow managed to run that distance, he would have been gasping for breath, especially as he hardly looked the healthy, athletic type.

 

[Frootloop]

Siani, did you arrive at your destination at the time you would have expected to? EG no later/earlier?

 

[Siani]

Siani, did you arrive at your destination at the time you would have expected to? EG no later/earlier?

I'm sure the journey took its usual 15-20 minutes - I didn't think to check the time, but I didn't notice anything out of place, time-wise. I'm pretty certain that guy was the only odd thing about it.

 

[AnnetteMarie]

I'm sure the journey took its usual 15-20 minutes - I didn't think to check the time, but I didn't notice anything out of place, time-wise. I'm pretty certain that guy was the only odd thing about it.

okay, a journey of 15 to 20 minutes is more than I was originally envisioning a shortcut being able to beat.

triple weird, now...

but you say everyone sort of notices this guy beating them to the next bus stop, they all do the WTF? look, but after that, was it like they all sort of ignored it?

 

[Siani]

Sorry, I should have been clearer. The whole journey, from the bus terminal to my stop, takes 15-20 minutes, if traffic is light and flowing freely. I noticed a few people giving the guy wary looks during the journey, but it's as if people were just trying to pretend he wasn't there after a while.

 

[Gareth]

Maybe he hitchhiked to the next bus stop and managed to get a couple of dollars off the driver before being kicked out of the car.

Thats really the only thing I can think of that makes sense. Maybe the driver that picked him up kinda got the creeps and said he would drop him at the next stop with enough money to actually get on the bus.

But again, he still physically needs to make that trip faster than you Siani, so its a tough thing to reconcile.

 

[TimeExplorer]

Wow!! that was interesting...At first i thought the drunken guy was a guardian angel to try to give you a message of some sort to save your life from a bus crash to come by being afraid of him to leave the bus..but i guess that wasnt the case. Secondly, I thought perhaps it was a Time glitch in the time flow but, if that was the case the bus ride would be driven in a loop repeating itself into the past in a short period of time picking up the same drunken guy twice from the same place or the same bus stop where he came from with no change again repeating that same event that you already experienced...Instead the bus was driven in a straight timeline picking up the drunken guy twice in 2 different locations or places in a short period of time that should have taken him alot longer to get to that different location or bus stop. It is possible that you could have went forward in time with in hours meeting that same drunken guy in a different time level who had some change to pay for his bus ride.

 

[Anubis]

What a bizarre experience. Thanks for sharing!

 

[mikec]

Siani,

I found the excerpt I mentioned in a previous post.

In the book SIGHT UNSEEN (Budd Hopkins and Carol Rainey) there is a short section (pages 286 288, paperback edition) describing a woman name Sarah (from Indianapolis) who sees a man on the side of the road in a repeated way that seems impossible.

The similarities to your story are unsettling. She describes him in a similar way to your description, AND she tells of the same emotional reaction.



Siani's description:
============
"young guy, around 21-22 ... and when I made eye contact with him, I got the absolute horrors. He was pale, sharp-featured, wan and sickly-looking - he was uncoordinated and looked like he could fall over at any moment. I assumed he was merely drunk, or possibly, drugged up. At the risk of sounding melodramatic or hysterical, when I made eye contact with him, he gave me the absolute creeps. I wanted to get as far away from him as possible. I felt utter panic - and I'm not the easily-intimidated type. Despite his seemingly weak condition, he seemed dangerous to me, in a way I can't quite articulate.



From the account by "sarah" in Indianapolis:
=================
"... this guy who looked just like [the cult ass murder] Charles Mansion. He looked real scraggly. He was tall and real skinny, with brown long hippy hair and a scraggly beard. He looked up at me and I thought 'Ugh!' I remember thinking, this guy is going to rob my apartment... He scared me to death."



Very strange...

 

[Siani]

Thanks, Mike. It is pretty similar, isn't it? I hope I never see that weirdo ever again. I also recall feeling revulsion, as well as the need to get as far away from him as possible. I was also really worried that he would follow me off the bus when I got off, and cause some kind of problem for me, but luckily, he didn't.