Dark Shadow and Ripple of Light; Ball Lightning or My own Ghost Tale?

[kach22i]

Dark Shadow and Ripple of Light; Ball Lightning or My own Ghost Tale?

Last night sitting on the couch with my wife we experienced something very strange. I'll tell you what happened, you try to explain it, no attacking the messenger please.

It was the time of the evening not quite dark out but getting dimmer (twilight), about a half hour before the actual darkness of night. We keep our shades pulled all the way down for privacy in our urban single-family house setting. We had just gotten through eating dinner in front of the TV watching SCI-Fi channel’s Enterprise on VHS tape and were just a couple minutes into the “Dresden Files” TV program.

My wife and I continued our commercial break conversation; she was telling me about her second day of work after being unemployed for over a year. She is making a little less than before, but something is better than nothing. Anyway, it was approaching 7:00 PM (twilight) and I’m looking for a pause in her talking (all the married guys know what I’m talking about) so I could grab the remote and the TV guide. Suddenly but very subtlety she pauses, kind of looking over my shoulder like she sees something. I notice out of the corner of my eye a shadow moving high on the wall across the room, which is what she later told me she also saw. Just as I’m thinking how odd it is a shadow is moving counterclockwise IN the room, the dark turns to light and becomes a flash, a ripple of light so intense be both froze and jumped at the same time and then looked at each other in disbelief.

What was that, she said? You saw it too, I said to her?

She got up and went to the door pulling up the shade on the door as she said it might have been the front porch light going out. No the light is still on, it did not go out with a flash. We checked all the other lights, none had been on (see drawing for “L” or Lamp locations), and all were working fine.

I said it may have been the TV, I rewound the tape, sure enough on the TV program there were “flashes” as Dresden was looking at some dead bodies, but the flashes as played back were nowhere as intense as we both remembered. The conditions could not be repeated.

Maybe it was a street light my wife said, no I said the lights at either end of the block are just too far away and it really was not dark enough outside at the time for us to notice them or to even been on. Besides we can’t even get the city to replace the burnt out one at the end of the bock, been calling them for two years to get it fixed.

Our cat acted like nothing happened, so I'm not looking for a supernatural explanation. The two people who have died in our 1920's house have never been "active" in the 15 years we lived here.

Dark Shadow and Ripple of Light; Ball Lightning or My own Ghost Tale?

[Eric Sponberg]

Well, as one who has had plenty of ghostly encounters as a ghost tour guide here in St. Augustine (one of my other lives), I would not discount the possibility of it being a ghost. What you describe are exactly the type of apparitions that we experience on ghost tours here. They are the same all over the world--this is how ghosts appear.

In fact, I attach a photo of some ghosts taken by one our our guests on the ghost tour. Note the two bright "energy ribbons" across the screen. There is a mist in between the energy ribbons, and in the mist you can also see three dark humanoid forms. To the right in the photo, you can see the back of a man wearing a black hat and a white work shirt. These are ghosts--they are visible on a camera (which is more sensitive) and not necessarily visible to the naked eye, although people who are sensitive to ghosts do experience apparations such as you have experienced without the aid of a camera. This photo was taken on a modern digital camera.

Not surprised in St. Augustine--

Eric

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by Eric W. Sponberg

Well, as one who has had plenty of ghostly encounters as a ghost tour guide here in St. Augustine (one of my other lives), I would not discount the possibility of it being a ghost.

No cheapy feelings, and my cat sleeping on her elevated kitty tower in front of the window (W2) had no reaction.

My brother and I toured St. Augustine and the haunted light house just last month, are you guys missing a ghost?

[Eric Sponberg]

I don't know--we have so many down here, we probably would not miss them. In the end, they almost always come back, too.

I have had my picture taken with lots and lots of ghosts, but I don't feel their presence very often. Only once in a great while will I get an odd feeling that I am in the presence of a ghost. So again, I am not surprised by your experiences.

While you were at the lighthouse, did you happen to smell cigar smoke at the top? If so, that is the ghost of Capt. Rassmussen, the lighthouse keeper from 1901 to 1924. He smoked cigars. I have smelled cigar smoke up there.

Eric

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by Eric W. Sponberg

While you were at the lighthouse, did you happen to smell cigar smoke at the top?

No smoke, but now that I'm thinking about it............both my brother and I wanted to leave the top less than five minutes after being there.

We took a bunch of pictures, soaked in the view and talked to a tour guy at the top about the changing beach line, and why the lighthouse had to be moved inland. We also talked about hovercraft as I own one and the day before got a tour of a shop building a 100 foot long one outside of Jacksonville.

I'm not typically affraid of heights, and there was little wind and no sway in the tower, but we both felt the urgent need to get back down - weird.

[kach22i]

QUESTION: Could flash photography and or flashes fron the TV stimulate a response from a ghost or shadow person?

[Eric Sponberg]

I am familiar with the hovercraft company you went to--attended a SNAME section meeting there about a year ago. Interesting stuff, and now for the life of me I cannot remember the name.

As to flash photography or a flash from the TV getting a response from a ghost--ABSOLUTELY! Ghosts seem to use the power of electric and electronic devices to help them illuminate. I don't know if they have a consciousness about this or not, or whether it is merely the energy of an electronic device that is comingled with the energy of the ghost simply by chance that causes them to illuminate--I tend to think the latter.

And it does not take much--as an example, my sister-in-law took the attached photograph of me while on a tour at Christmastime. When we walk around town in our colonial costumes, we have to carry candle lanterns to light the way. In this photo, an energy ribbon is coming out of the lighted candle in my lantern.

Eric

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by Eric W. Sponberg

I am familiar with the hovercraft company you went to--attended a SNAME section meeting there about a year ago. Interesting stuff, and now for the life of me I cannot remember the name.

Atlas Hovercraft, Kurt Peterson.
http://www.atlashovercraft.com/WebPages/HomePage.htm

HCA thread (PM if you can't see the photos):
http://www.hoverclubofamerica.org/fo...opic=542&st=30

Thanks for the ghost information.

[Mychael]

Continuing with another "ghost " story.
Many years ago I rode right across town to go to a party at a friends house.
I did not drink a lot but as it was late and I came on my motorbike I decided to sleep over in the lounge rather then ride home on unfamilier roads at night.

I was sleeping on the couch in the lounge of this quite old suburban house. It was a warm night, the couch was not very comfortable and I clearly remember being awake, lying on my back on the couch. I recall looking at my watch and seeing it was 11.55 pm. So I know I was awake as I'd just been lying there for a several minutes.

Anyway, I became aware of the room becoming a bit lighter with a bluey green glow. The couch I was on was alongside one wall and behind me over my shoulder were sliding glass doors out to the hallway. As I looked over my shoulder I saw just the head and shoulders of this old guy with long beard and long hair, balding at the top. He was all this bluey green glow, totally soundless and his "head" was almost touching the roof.

He passed along the length of the lounge room, turned his "head" to glance at me and without stopping continued on out through the wall.
I was speechless, I could not just start jumping up and down yelling "I've seen a ghost" everyone else would have thought I was mad. I looked at my watch again and it said a minute past midnight.. Weird.

Mychael

[longliner45]

what was the humidity? temp?,,could be st elmos fire ,static electricity,,,,did your hair stand on end?,and was there a snap?

[Eric Sponberg]

Kachi,

Thanks for jogging my memory--Atlas Hovercraft. The fellow with the reddish hair is Bill Hayden, a fellow naval architect nearby.

You can find ghosts just about anywhere. Go out at night, preferrably to a graveyard, and just shoot a bunch of pictures into the blackness. Use your flash. Look for orbs, ribbons, mists/fogs, and actual human (or animal) apparitions, which is the order they will occur from most common to most rare. If you see orbs and they are very faint, they are most likely dust particles or water droplets. If the orbs are very bright, as if they glow from within, then they are ghosts.

Eric

[kach22i]

I asked my wife to read this thread. I told her what I wrote, but it seems some details like the shadow she first saw was actually just behind my head and was not high up on the wall as when I saw it seconds later.

From Mrs kach22i/ George's wife:

Decided I would put in my two cents worth.

I cannot explain what happened in our home last night and I am pretty good at debunking freaky feeling things.

I was sitting on the couch and looked over at George and I thought I saw a shadowy mass moving behind him and then it went away, I chalked it up to an oddity, play of lights or something but George caught me looking at him funny, like I had seen a ghost. I didn't say anything. Next thing I know there is a flash and a shadowy looking thing near the door and then it vanished. It wasn't from the TV, it wasn't from car lights (our windows are high - not at car level or even close). I really thought that it was the front porch light blowing - you know how some lights burst really bright right before they blow out…but the front porch light was on. Honestly if I had to say where the shadow went…it went right through the door, a big wood door. I like stopped for a second and then out the door. It felt like a ribbon of light and shadow moving together in some type of dance. It wasn't a figure but more of a mass, moving up and down in a ribbon type of weave. I can only think of those rhythmic gymnasts that have those ribbons on a stick and they do gymnastics and make the ribbons flow in a beautiful dance, that was what it looked and felt like but more in smoky type of mass. It was fast, it was odd and it was bright and dark at the same time.

At first after I realized it wasn't a light bulb blowing I thought maybe something "blew up" like a house or a car accident, nothing. I remembered then that there was an email that I got from spaceweather.com about a green comet, but it was in Australia so that wasn't an answer either.

George was right, we have had people die in the house, actually 3. We are the second family to own the home. The couple that bought the house just after the turn of the century lived here for quite a few years. I am not sure what happened but I have been told that his wife committed suicide in the bathroom. The man lived on in the home for some time as a widower, then when he got sick his dead wife's sister came to live here to take care of him. They ended up falling in love and they got married. I heard that the died in the dining room. (Incidentally the dining room would have been over George's shoulder where I saw the first mass). She lived on for some time and then she got sick, her nephew came to live with her to take care of her…I heard she also died in the dining room. We bought the house from the nephew. BTW - this was how families did things in this neighborhood; family took care of family. Our elderly neighbor didn't die at home, but we were very close and after she died I thought she hung out here for a few weeks until I started to get over her death.

We do not have kids, but we both have pretty open minds. We have joked about ghosts in the house before because of things like the toilet paper roll suddenly and for no reason - unrolling all by itself. No kids, no pets, not even us nearby…we just suddenly hear it going "thwap thwap thwap" then we come upstairs and it is in a pile on the floor. We have lived here since 1992 and this is the first time both of us saw the same type of thing at the same time. We were not able to duplicate it with the TV, there were not cars on the road. It remains unexplained. Our old cat and this cat sometimes look at the ceiling and look like they are following something and then we look and see nothing…we have made comments that they see ghosts. We even used to hear the cat running up and down the stairs after she died…but that stopped after a few months. Even the neighbors dead cat used to visit us, crawled into bed with us for a few weeks too. Lambert (the neighbors dead cat) liked to crawl into the bottom part of the bed. I used to babysit Lambert for weeks on end while the family was overseas. So he liked us and probably felt comfortable here.

I have been in homes I know were haunted, and not in a good way. This thing last night feels odd but not ugly.

If any of you have been nearby when lightening strikes it kind of felt like that…made the hair on your head kind of stand up and your heart go a little faster but it wasn't creepy, just odd. If it continues I might have to get someone over to make it happy and go away!

[Eric Sponberg]

Everything you describe is very common with ghosts. We have similar tales--toilet rolls, pets, odd lights and sightings--all over this town. I'd say you definitely have some ghosts in your house.

Eric

[kach22i]

I asked my sister's to read what I wrote, one of them said this:

My first thought was ball lightening, but the shadow doesn't fit in
with that. (One of my professors was caught on a mountain in a cabin with
ball lightening--he said it traveled across the room and vanished with
a flash.) But you said it was more like a ribbon--and ribbon lightening
pretty much occurs outside during thunderstorms with high winds. But a
ribbon would be an arc between two points...no reports of that stuff
inside a house though. You didn't say much about the movement of the
shadow in terms of smooth, jerky, quick or slow--but it must have picked up
some speed before becoming a flash of light. You didn't note colors
either--so I guess we are talking about dark grey/green shadow and a white
light?

You probably won't ever know if the moving shadow was really a shadow
(which would have required a 3 dimensional item to move or the light
source projecting the shadow to move) or if it was an entity--so you have
little hope in solving the mystery, in my opinion. But you've been
there for 15 years--I'm having a hard time understanding why an entity
would visit--just out of the blue. Not that I make up the rules!

I think that we have Quantum and Particle Physics issues here--maybe a
4th dimensional issue since plasma is the 4th state of matter. This is
all about plasma disruptions (are you beating electrons?) and perhaps
the shadow entity came through the black hole from another dimension.
You know, there is a group of string-theory scientists that believes in a
theory of 11 dimensions--I mean, really, you've got to see a bunch of
them over a lifetime (well, 7 are supposed to be below the sub-atomic
level--so maybe there are only 4 that you can tap into as an average
person).

You two are opening the door for spontaneous combustion--I'm glad that
I'm not in the room. Course I like to go with the simplest
explanation--you two either are taking too many of pills or not enough. Man, you
are whacking out your electromagnetic fields--that is how come your
temporal lobe allowed you to see with your 3rd eye into the 4th dimension.

By the way--I've never seen a ghost--but I was forced down onto the
floor while walking across a room by a warm energy force (pushed down on
my right shoulder and forced me down onto one knee). I tried to get up
but could not stand-up, so I moved to the left, stood up and scurried
away. This was at someone's house in Madison--I don't know what it was,
but I "felt" it--I didn't see it. He thought that I was making it up for
attention and it happened in the middle of the night while I was
returning from the bathroom so there were no witnesses. That is my only true
experience with something "not of this world". Enough for me!

The light was yellow and white, very similar to a light bulb blowing, but none were on, and none were blown.

[charmc]

Originally Posted by kach22i

The light was yellow and white, very similar to a light bulb blowing, but none were on, and none were blown.

There are, I am convinced, many forms of energy not yet understood or explained by science. To state at any point in time that we know all there is to know would be the height of arrogance and folly. Whether what you and your wife saw, George, or what Eric has seen, are "natural" (unexplainable phenomena based on current scientific knowledge, no relation to living beings) or "supernatural" (usually means the same as previous definition, but believed to be associated with some form of sentient being not normally detectable by the traditional 5 senses) is, I think, beyond determination, at least by any scientific knowledge .... yet.

I have never seen a ghost/spirit personally, but a close friend once asked to stay with me for a bit, because she said she saw a ghost in a room of her house. She is a very grounded, technically trained person, an IT manager not given to believing in anything not backed up by reams of data, yet she said there was a powerful sense of being watched, and she clearly saw the figure of an elderly man in her living room. There was no sense of danger or evil, the presence was neutral. Her fear came from the fact that the sight was so far outside of her normal experience.

While I've never seen anything like these visions, I have experienced powerful feelings of premonition a few times in my life. In each case I have reviewed the circumstances carefully, and I am convinced that there is no way I could have known the future event, yet each premonition was a detailed and accurate "description" of something that happened a short time later.

I can't explain such phenomena, but the number of occurences described by reliable people is much too high to be ignored. There may be no scientific basis to explain or identify them, but there is no scientific basis to deny their existence.