Recently I have been asked why I do not write more about ghosts. My answer is that I do not feel comfortable with these subjects. I have not had the time or knowledge that is needed to give these areas the proper attention I feel they deserve.
I have however had events falling into this category during my own life. Knowing what I saw does not give me the ability to explain what it was I witnessed only the ability to describe or report what I have seen. I also will be honest and say that during my personal experiences with these encounters I felt very uneasy and very frightened. I think my experiences fall in the area of so many possibilities that trying to make sense of it with one explanation is impossible.
The first time I encountered a ghostly event was when I was 15. I was sitting with my best friend in my living room watching television. It was late in the afternoon just before my parents were due home from work. We were watching something funny and we were laughing. I was sitting on the floor my friend was sitting behind me on our couch. Across the room in front of a large window were two large easy chairs with a small table between them.
I was looking at the TV and laughing when I felt my friend behind me jerk and sort of gasp. I turned back towards her to see what she was doing. She was white as a sheet looking towards the chairs by the window.
I glanced over to the window to find my grandfather sitting in one of the chairs. He was smiling and laughing as he looked towards the television. I was both horrified and happy all in one ball. About four months before this happened my grandfather had passed away.
I felt frozen for a moment. As I looked at this odd image of my grandfather he turned towards me and smiled. He was there and instantly he was gone. I jumped up and my friend started to scream over and over “what was that, what was that.” I tried to comfort her but was shaking so hard and was so frightened I could only pull at her shirt as I started to run from the room dragging her yelling behind me. The image I saw was clearly my granddad. He was perfect in every detail right down to his sweater vest and pipe in hand. The only thing that I noticed was that he was in black and white and grays. Not in color like real time life but more like a black and white TV or old movie. Interestingly my friend only saw a white cloud like mist hovering over the chair. She said it lingered until I stood up and then vanished.
I have no idea what we saw sitting in that chair that day. I know we both saw something but I am not sure if our minds saw different things or if my grandfather came to say one last goodbye to me. I would like to think that he did but honestly I am not sure what happened that day in my living room.
The next encounter I experienced happened at a friend’s house that lives here in the same town I do. I wrote a story about her before and the ghost that lives in her house with her and her family.
I am not sure what is taking place in her home. Something constantly walks up and down her staircase in the middle of the house and continues with loud clear footsteps to walk on the second floor. Often you can hear someone banging around in the kitchen as if they are fixing something to eat however upon entering the kitchen all seems silent and in place. Her home also fills with the smell of a pipe being smoked. This I can recognize at once as my granddad smoked a pipe most of his life. I know the smell of pipe tobacco like I know the back of my own hand.
I tried many times to sit and have a peaceful visit in this friend’s house but find I clearly become an extreme coward around ghostly events. The last time I visited with my friend was about seven weeks ago. She asked me over to see her new sun-room.
We were having a lovely visit sitting in her new sun-room built off of her kitchen until I heard what sounded like someone opening and closing her kitchen cabinets. My friend was ignoring or not noticing the sounds coming from her kitchen. I knew we were supposed to be alone in the house so I asked her who was in the kitchen. She told me we were the only ones in the house. We sat and listened for a moment or two when clearly we could hear someone or something banging around in the kitchen right next to where we were sitting. I also could detect the slight aroma of a burning pipe. I asked my friend if she could smell the pipe and she nodded that she could. We sat listening for a few seconds more when all of a sudden we heard clear loud heavy footsteps running up the staircase in the front hall area. My friend got up and walked through the kitchen to her staircase. She turned around and yelled to me” Nope, no one is here, it is just the ghost.” That was enough for me. I jumped to my feet, blasted through the new side entrance to the side yard from the new sun-room and took off like a rocket for my car. The fact that I am a coward is obvious. The reasons this type of encounter terrifies me is beyond my own reasoning. I find this ongoing activity in my friend’s house a bit too much for me to deal with.
I talked about this house and its on going haunting, sounds and smells with a ghost hunter recently. The hunters thoughts were that this may be a repeating time slip or locked energy where the actions of this man were just caught some how in time and replay over and over. Similar to the Roman soldiers that are seen walking along that famous old Roman road. It is simply an energy type event replaying over and over like a video stuck rewinding and replaying again and again. The ghost hunter did not think communication would be possible with this haunting or that it is more then a stuck replay of past actions. That makes me feel a bit better about this house but I do not think I will be spending a great deal of time investigating what is going on in it.
There is one other event that happened in my life that stands out that I clearly feel was a cross over in time.
It happened about nine years ago in the early summer of 2000. I had taken my mother for a ride out on the north shore of Long Island to wine country. We were going to spend the day visiting wineries and farm stands. We had plans for a lovely lunch in Sag Harbor and a slow ride home along the country roads. It was a beautiful day. We were having a wonderful time. I had borrowed my son’s car for the drive, which was a new very red corvette convertible. We were having a great outing on a great day.
I came to an intersection along the country road on our way home. It was about 3:30 in the afternoon. We were sitting at a four way stop sign where I needed to make a right hand turn to continue on my journey home.
As we sat at the stop sign we could see a car coming down the slight hill towards this four way stop. I decided to sit and wait until it passed before turning onto the road. I was not in a hurry – no one else was on the road so we waited at the stop sign as the car approached. My mother remarked that the car looked like a brand new 1950’s Chevy coming our way. I looked towards the car and could see a beautiful white car from the 50’s with blue trim along the side coming towards us. I blinked my eyes, as the car seemed to be almost floating towards us rather then driving. I locked my eyes on the car fascinated by the sight of this perfect car from the past coming towards us.
As the car neared it slowed. It never stopped or seemed to notice the four-way stop intersection. My mouth dropped as the car slowly moved across the front of our car. Inside this perfect car of years past sat a young woman close to the young man next to her. I do not recall seeing anyone do that now a days but remember before bucket seats and seat belts sitting close to your date while driving the big bench seat cars of 50 plus years ago. This young woman was sitting right next to the young man driving exactly in this fashion. She had a tight ponytail with a scarf tied around it like my sisters did in the late 1950’s. She wore a tight soft sweater. The young man had slicked back thick black hair with a piece hanging into his eyes, a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up with a pack of cigarettes stuck in the rolled sleeve of his shirt. The car was pristine with large white wall tires and dice hanging from the rear view window. My mother said, “ Are you seeing this too?” I could only nod my head yes.
As this couple passed us I realized I could not hear a thing. I did not hear his motor or for that matter anything at all. The car sort of floated past and continued on up the slight hill ahead of it and into a curve in the road.
As the couple in this car from the 1950’s passed by they both turned and looked right at my mother and I sitting in our car. I will never forget the horror struck expressions on their faces as they glided past us. The couple was looking at us with the same shock and amazement we were looking at them!
They floated past us and started up the slight hill and curve ahead of them. I decided at once to not make my right hand turn towards home but to turn left and follow this odd car and couple as they were just so unusual. I turned onto the road to follow them just as the tail end of their car was disappearing around the curved bend in the road ahead. As I sped up to keep up with them my mother poked at my arm and said; “Do you see it- their car is about a foot off the ground. Look- their tires they are not touching the road.” I got a good look at the cars rear end as it turned away from view and my mother was right. The car was not making contact with the blacktop-paved road.
I tried to catch up driving quickly along the road just behind them and started into the same bend in the road they had just made in front of me. I came around the curve and back onto the straight road ahead. The car was nowhere in sight. I hit the gas to try to catch up the distance but it was clear that the car was nowhere in front of me on the straight road. I decided to turn back and search for a road or driveway. My mother and I drove up and down the patch of road where we lost sight of them but there was nothing to be found but the road we were on and wooded country side along both sides of the road.
We returned to where we were when we first saw this couple and continued on our regular course home. As we were driving back to our town my mother remarked on how startled the couple looked at the sight of us being at the stop sign. My mother looked at me and said, “ Well if they were from the 50’s the sight of this car of yours and you with that wild hair must have frightened the hell out of them” I had to laugh, as my mother was right. I would think if you were living during the 1950’s and saw a bright red convertible modern day corvette with a red haired woman driving with wild curly hair sticking out all over from her Afro type hairdo, small narrow rectangle metal frame sunglasses and brightly colored tie dye tee shirt on -you may take a second look. The couple looked at me just that way- it was a what the heck are you look if I ever saw one!
I have no idea what happened that day. I do not know why that car did not touch the ground or make any sound. I have no idea who those people were or if they really were able to see me as I was seeing them. From the look on their faces they seemed as shocked as I was during our brief encounter as we crossed paths.
I never will forget that couple and think of it often as a day time slipped a notch and my mom and I were simply at the right place at the right time to visit with the 50’s once again.
I have no explanations for any of the events I have written about today. I do know that people all over the world share similar events. I am sure one day we will be able to understand many of these encounters as we evolve and learn more of the science and nature that is involved when we do experience these things. For now I think like so many things we do not yet understand in the world of the paranormal that these events are simply those of the unknown.
Chris Holly’s Paranormal World- http://endlessjrny.blogspot.com/
Email chrishollyufo@yahoo.com
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