The Cop- The Ghost and The Strange Encounters
A New York City Policeman told me a strange story recently. We know each other for many years and I will tell you this man is a skeptic on most things paranormal. His view is simple, if it didn’t happen to him he doesn’t believe it!
A few years ago this policeman pal of mine went on a camping trip out West in the wilderness of Montana. He and his buddies were going to spend a week bonding with nature away from the big city.
The group consisted of five other cops from New York City and a local man from the area where they were going to spend the week in the wilderness. They hiked for a day into a remote area of Montana and set up camp. All was well as the men were enjoying a break from city life.
One afternoon they decided to hike to a near by deserted mine area to have a look around. The local man knew the area well and took them there along an abandoned road. The men were all walking 
along the road when they noticed a figure walking towards them from the direction of the old mine area.
As the men walked they could see that the person coming towards them was an older man carrying a sack like bag over his shoulder. As he grew closer they could see this man was dressed in old style overalls, a worn out old hat with a long unkempt gray beard. He looked as if he just stepped out of a hundred year old photo album.
The group of cops stopped and stood silently as this old man walked past them on the opposite side of the road. They were rather shocked to see this old gent out here alone with only an old sack of items throw over his shoulder. They stood and looked at him as he walked by. The old man simply tipped his dirty old hat
to the groups and muttered “Good day to you boys” and kept on walking.
The local guide stood perfectly still watching the group of New York City Cops watch this old man walk by.
Quickly the old man made his way past the group of men and around a bend in the road. They watched as he walked out of their sight still surprised to find him up here alone.
My friend turned toward the local man and asked “So, does that old timer live out here alone?” The local guide started to smile and threw his nap sack down on the ground. He looked at the men and told them to do the same. “This looks like a good resting point men, lets take a break.”
The men all dropped their gear and sat down to rest. The local man then looked at each of them and said, “Well boys, you just got your first look at ole Joe the ghost of the mine road.” They all laughed and continued to do so until they realized he was serious. One by one they stopped laughing. “Seriously guys -that was ole Joe”.
The local guide then went about telling the group that the old miner has been walking that road for about one hundred years greeting all he passes with the same tip of the hat. No one knows why Joe walks the road and why he makes himself so clearly visible, but he does and they just saw him with their own eyes.
The next day the group once again was on the old mining road heading back to their base camp. Again the men were walking along the road when they saw the image of a man walking towards them. This time they all stopped in their tracks and waited.
There he was in all his glory, old hat, old bag and worn out overalls –walking on the opposite side of the road. This time the men tried to talk to him. They yelled out a “Hello there, and how are you doing buddy”. The old man did exactly as he did the day before, he tipped his hat and said “Good day to you boys.” The old man walked a bit off the road this time into a wooded area and seemed to simply disappear.
The men went across the road and looked into the forest area but could find no sign of old Joe. The guide simply shrugged his shoulders and said. “ Guess he likes you boys for you to get a double visit like that, “ He also told the men he felt it was wise for them to pick up their pace in order to make it back to base camp before nightfall.
The trip ended and the Cops returned home to their normal New York life and routines. They talked about the ghost of old Joe for many years after. It was an experience they could not forget.
My friend told me the story more than once over the years. He never admitted that old Joe was a ghost. He just said he did not know who the old man was or where he had come from or gone to out on that deserted road. He also told me the old man had the oddest bright green eyes he had ever seen.
Skip ahead about ten years finding us at the start of October of this year. Just a few weeks ago I ran into my policeman friend shopping in town. We decided to grab a coffee together and sit on the bench in front of the local coffee shop and catch up. We talked about our families and friends while we drank our coffee and then both went on our way.
A few days after our sharing that cup of coffee my friend called me on the phone. “Chris you have to hear me out, I had a experience at work yesterday. I think something really strange happened to me”. My friend then told me an incredible story. My once skeptic pal seemed shaken and perplexed.
“I was at work last night. I was bored and was wandering around an old site on the upper west side known for problems. We had a routine call and I was standing near an ally between two buildings and decided to walk down it and take a look around. It is a bad area and I should have known better to wander off without telling my partner but thought I would only be gone a few minutes. I was walking along the ally when all of a sudden out of nowhere this guy rushed me. I knew he wanted my weapon and c
ash and also knew he was going to try to stab me. I pushed him off and he came at me again. All of a sudden out of absolutely thin air appears this old homeless guy pushing a shopping cart. He was right there- instantly there!
He pushed the cart between us mumbling something as he walked along. It shocked my attacker as much as it did me. This old man simply pushed his cart between us distancing my attacker and breaking apart our shuffle. By the time the old man passed between us I was able to right myself enough to subdue the guy and cuff him. I looked at the old man as he passed between us and once as he walked off. He looked right at me, not more than two feet away from my face. Chris, I am telling you, I swear this is true that old man was the same old man I saw years ago on that mining road. I swear it was old Joe. I know this sounds crazy but I will never forget that old mans face, or his bright green eyes. That homeless guy who pushed that man off me was the same man I saw on that road years ago. I am absolutely positive of it. “
My friend told me that after he was able to subdue the man he found a knife and knew he came close to being stabbed in his fight with this man. It clearly was the old man and his cart that gave him the advantage to take control of what could have ended in a deadly confrontation.
My friend looked that night and many nights to follow around that area for that old man. He told me that the night this took place he searched for hours the streets and alleys around th
e area but could not find the old man or his cart. He told me that there was no one else in that alley that day besides him and his attacker until the old man was there out of thin air. He told me the old guy seemed to disappear exactly as he appeared, miraculously!
My friend had no explanation for what occurred in that alley. He is positive it was the same old man he witnessed on that road years before on the camping trip along that deserted road. He also knows that there was no reason for that man and his cart to be there that day in that alley. Certainly there was no reason for an old homeless man to walk into a dangerous fight.
My friend has no idea who that old man was, is, or why he turned up on that deserted road years ago and again that day in the alley. He does know something extraordinary did happen.
I listened to the story of old Joe and how he helped my friend that day in the alley. It appears to me that this man looks over my friend. I have no idea who he is or why he was there for him, I am just happy he was, and hope from now on he walks with him down all his alleys!
One never knows what the answers are in the paranormal; I guess it has to be enough sometimes simply to accept these experiences as the unknown. I hope we all have an old Joe walking with us along all our paths!
Copyright © 2008 Chris Holly, Endless Journey @ http://endlessjrny.blogspot.com/
