Your Supernatural Experiences

[West of the Rockies]

Last night, I experienced missing time. No, I do not drink alcohol, smoke anything or partake of mind-altering substances. I guess I'm boring.
Anyway, my asthma flared up yesterday, so I spent most of the day on the couch watching the NCAA tournament.  At about 7:30PM, I began to feel better, so I decided to go to the supermarket to buy something to eat.  I looked at my clock - 7:46 - as I left home.  I drove one mile to Publix, bought some prepared chicken and salad fixings, paid for it and drove the one mile home.  When I arrived, the same clock showed 9:18.  This trip should have taken about a half-hour at most.  Where did the extra hour go?

Well, Mulder and Scully would say you'd been abducted!  But seriously, are you prone to fainting or seizures?  That would be the scary answer.  I hope you figure it out (and have it be a no-big-deal situation).

[West of the Rockies]

I had a student turn in an essay recently about her experience at a supposedly-haunted inn/saloon in Virginia City, Nevada the Silver Queen Hotel).  It was entertaining if not proof of anything.  She said there is a distinctive atmosphere of gloom and history.  She said she felt a strong bump on her shoulder while walking in a hallway.  I've gone to the Brookdale Lodge near Santa Cruz, California, where a young girl is rumored to have died many years ago.  I can't say I felt anything ghostly of note.  I'd welcome some sort of supernatural experience but don't seem to be the type to have them.  I have a keen interest in such things that is at odds with my keen skepticism. 

[BobGrau]

Last night, I experienced missing time. No, I do not drink alcohol, smoke anything or partake of mind-altering substances. I guess I'm boring.
Anyway, my asthma flared up yesterday, so I spent most of the day on the couch watching the NCAA tournament.  At about 7:30PM, I began to feel better, so I decided to go to the supermarket to buy something to eat.  I looked at my clock - 7:46 - as I left home.  I drove one mile to Publix, bought some prepared chicken and salad fixings, paid for it and drove the one mile home.  When I arrived, the same clock showed 9:18.  This trip should have taken about a half-hour at most.  Where did the extra hour go?

Did you ever work this out?

[Juan]

Nope.

[Sardondi]

I daresay every motel/hotel more than a year old has had multiple deaths by natural causes. In those which are 20-100 years old and older there have undoubtedly been numerous suicides, and even homicides. After all, motels/hotels are popular suicide spots, chosen for their privacy, the near certainty of a relatively quick discovery, and to save family members from the trauma of that discovery. It's just that most motels/hotels do everything in their power to keep such events out of the news media, and in the case of suicide are often successful. So I'd say that your average Holiday Inn is awash in unhappy spirits of the deceased, if such there be and so they feel.   

[West of the Rockies]

You're probably right, Sardondi.  If, indeed, there are spirits of the deceased still mucking about on this plain, I guess it would stand to ghostly reason that they'd hang out where life ended.  But I would also guess that a lot of theaters and sports stadiums might be haunted, too.  What are the oldest parks in the league these days?  Might the ghost of Ted Williams still haunt Fenway?

[Juan]

Fenway is oldest (1912) then Wrigley (1914) then you jump all the way to the 60s - I believe Dodger Stadium is next.  There are a couple of minor league parks built in the 20s still in use, including Luther Williams Field in Macon, Georgia, which is where some of the baseball scenes for "42" and "Trouble With The Curve" were shot last year.

[Sardondi]

Fenway is oldest (1912) then Wrigley (1914) then you jump all the way to the 60s - I believe Dodger Stadium is next.  There are a couple of minor league parks built in the 20s still in use, including Luther Williams Field in Macon, Georgia, which is where some of the baseball scenes for "42" and "Trouble With The Curve" were shot last year.

Still maintained (but I don't think being currently used) is Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, which was built over 100 years ago. They filmed the unremarkable Cobb there with Tommy Lee Jones. I was there once in the 80's. Seems it had been mostly renovated with concrete and steel bleachers in the 50's or so, but still had that great Bull Durham old ballpark feel.


I detest the soulless corporate video monitors they call ballparks today. Seems like they did a pretty good job at capturing that old park feel at Camden Yards. (Heh - Camden Yards is a "new" ballpark to me, and I think it's almost 20 years old.) But all the others made in the last 30 years pretty much make me want to puke.   

[West of the Rockies]

I gotta agree with that sentiment, Sardondi, that today's ballparks are travesties.  In particular, Angel Stadium (whatever it is officially called) with rides and rock formations and such.  I guess you could probably point to Royals stadium maybe as starting the trend.  Didn't they introduce a fountain out past the fence that erupted when a homeboy hit a homerun?  Not a big fan of the giant corporate Coke bottle in S.F. either.  I also, as long as we're bitching about this, detest that so many stadiums (and college bowl games) have corporate names.  I liked the "Fabulous Forum" (home of the Lakers).  The Great Western Forum?  Not so much....  The Staples Center?  Even worse....

[West of the Rockies]

Anyone here have a Bigfoot sighting?  I had a friend (he moved) who struck me as intelligent, articulate, and honest.  He told a story about seeing what he was sure was Bigfoot in Alaska.  It's not an especially compelling story, I'm afraid -- just a clear but brief sighting of a tall man/ape type figure about 75 yards away.  The guy had seen many bears and knew the difference.

Again, I find myself in the I want to believe category, but have had no personal experience whatsoever with Sasquatch.

Anyone?

[b_dubb]

I've only known one person who grew up in Northern California who claimed to have seen a Bigfoot. His story was not compelling as he claimed that as a boy he was walking through the forest when he heard something following him. He stopped and turned to look in the direction of the noise and said that he saw something large with red fur through a stand of trees and promptly took off in a sprint for the house. He was a pretty level headed fellow. So who knows

[PhantasticSanShiSan]

Anyone here have a Bigfoot sighting?  I had a friend (he moved) who struck me as intelligent, articulate, and honest.  He told a story about seeing what he was sure was Bigfoot in Alaska.  It's not an especially compelling story, I'm afraid -- just a clear but brief sighting of a tall man/ape type figure about 75 yards away.  The guy had seen many bears and knew the difference.

Again, I find myself in the I want to believe category, but have had no personal experience whatsoever with Sasquatch.

Anyone?

Hell, I see that shit all the time...

[West of the Rockies]

Has EVP been thoroughly debunked now?  Is it sort of like crop-circles?  It strikes me as pretty clear that crop-circles are made by human beings who are creative and under-employed.  Just curious... I first heard of EVP when Art did a show a few years ago (or PremRadio rebroadcast one of his shows maybe).  I thought at the time that it was intriguing but definitely not overly convincing.  Several years have now lapsed, and I see occasional comments here about how EVP-related shows will cause a lot of listeners to reach for the "off" button.

Anyone?

[Sardondi]

Has EVP been thoroughly debunked now?  Is it sort of like crop-circles?  It strikes me as pretty clear that crop-circles are made by human beings who are creative and under-employed.  Just curious... I first heard of EVP when Art did a show a few years ago (or PremRadio rebroadcast one of his shows maybe).  I thought at the time that it was intriguing but definitely not overly convincing.  Several years have now lapsed, and I see occasional comments here about how EVP-related shows will cause a lot of listeners to reach for the "off" button.
Anyone?

I thought crop circles had been debunked, unbunked, rebunked and generally screwed with until we have no idea what's what. My last take was that Dave and Doug only accounted for a handful of Midlands circles 15 years ago or so, and that many of the more complex ones were far from debunked. Indeed, in the case of more complex circles, I'm unaware of any real-time construction videos; or alleged makers being able to produce construction plans and schematics which had been unquestionably created prior to the circle's creation; or alleged makers who have been able to produce identical copies of complex circles.

I've always considered myself as leaning toward being a realist who demanded proof - but that works both ways. It appears to me that without someone being able to demonstrate their ability to create such complex crop circles, that once someone has shown circumstances indicating out-of-ordinary creation of a circle, it's incumbent on the debunkers to prove their case.

[ItsOver]

LMH is on C2C tomorrow night for her monthly appearance. 

"Investigative reporter Linda Moulton Howe will discuss the NSA's dragnet collection of phone and computer records and the upcoming legal struggle, the Crazy Ant invasion and their effect on electrical equipment, the increase of CO2 emissions and unusual changes in the jet stream, and the continuing unexplained boom phenomenon."

Looks like we'll have to wait until next month for her to report on finally solving the crop circle mystery. 

[HorrorRetro]

Anyone here have a Bigfoot sighting?  I had a friend (he moved) who struck me as intelligent, articulate, and honest.  He told a story about seeing what he was sure was Bigfoot in Alaska.  It's not an especially compelling story, I'm afraid -- just a clear but brief sighting of a tall man/ape type figure about 75 yards away.  The guy had seen many bears and knew the difference.

Again, I find myself in the I want to believe category, but have had no personal experience whatsoever with Sasquatch.

Anyone?

I haven't had a sighting, but I have heard what I think was one.  It was back in the summer of '95.  I lived near the Spokane River and quite near a canyon with pretty decent forestland all around. It was on the edge of town in one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city.  It was really hot out and I had no A/C, so I would leave the windows open at night.  Starting one night and going on every night for about a week, I heard the exact same sound that Art would play on his show, which was purported to be sasquatch.  This howl would start up and get louder and louder and echo throughout the canyon.  It was pretty amazing to hear.  I grew up in Alaska and never heard it up there. 

I now live in a very forested area on the west side of WA state with a marsh less than a block behind our house.  Every time I drive down the road here, I kind of expect to have a sighting.  It seems to be the perfect location for one.  It's mossy, extremely thick forest with lots of wildlife and the bay on the other side of the woods.  So far I haven't seen anything, but I'm always looking. 

[West of the Rockies]

That's intriguing, HorrorRetro...  Was there any variation in the calls you heard?  If not, it might make one wonder if what you heard was a recording, but if there were changes in pitch, volume, cadence, well, then, things get very interesting. 

[HorrorRetro]

That's intriguing, HorrorRetro...  Was there any variation in the calls you heard?  If not, it might make one wonder if what you heard was a recording, but if there were changes in pitch, volume, cadence, well, then, things get very interesting.

Pretty sure it was organic and not a recording.  It wasn't a static repeat over and over.  There were variations, but it would start at about the same time every night and go on for a bit.  It only lasted that week, and then I never heard it again.  A while back, maybe a year ago, I saw someone had posted a video of a supposed sasquatch near there also on the Spokane River. There have been other sightings in the area.  One I remember in particular took place near Athol, ID, which isn't all that far away from Spokane.  It was seen by a county sheriff, and he swears he saw a sasquatch walking across the highway.  If they exist WA state is the perfect place for them, I think.

[West of the Rockies]

I'm in northern California.  The Bigfoot museum is alongside the Trinity River in Willow Creek.  Much lore and legend in these parts, including the Bluff Creek Patterson sighting.   Much of the northstate is still pretty remote, but with backpackers and such, it may be harder to remain elusive (if you happen to be a Sasquatch, that is).  Yes, parts of Oregon and Washington, Idaho, Canada, and Alaska seem like good spots, though the CA/OR/WA trio seem the best in terms of climate and so forth.

[b_dubb]

I've seen the Patterson film debunked in a Discovery Channel documentary.  an actor was able to reproduce the walk exactly or near exactly. What they need to focus on next is the costume. How did Patterson and Gimlin create such a convincing costume?  Did they skin a bunch of goats and stitch the hides together? 

[Agent : Orange]

I recently took a flight out of town, and had a window seat behind the wing of the plane. During the trip I looked outside and was surprised to see a glowing ball appear below the plane and behind us. The object appeared to trail us for a few minutes until it suddenly faded out of view, as mysteriously as it had appeared.

During the "sighting" I quickly realized that what I was looking at was actually an image of the Sun, formed by the double window of the plane. I could not directly see the Sun above us due to the angle, but I could see the reflection of light on the wing so I knew it was directly above. The image apparently fading into and out of view were caused by the Sun being covered by a layer of clouds above. It was quite a turbulent flight with thick cloud cover from about 500 up to approximately 37 thousand feet.

It was a totally convincing illusion, and I can understand how it would be possible to believe something strange had just happened. This incident was a great example of a simple and mundane effect which convincingly produced a result that was eerily similar to the reports regarding UFOs trailing commercial airliners. Depending on the curvature of the window and the position of the Sun with respect to the plane it should be possible to produce images which are elliptical, giving the image the familiar "cigar-shape" that are common in the UFO lore. Variable tint and refraction could produce a variety of colors in the image. Turns and banks could also produce many of the movements that are associated with sightings as well. 

A simple trick of light but one which was very convincing and carried the hallmarks of many typical UFO reports.

[onan]

I recently took a flight out of town, and had a window seat behind the wing of the plane. During the trip I looked outside and was surprised to see a glowing ball appear below the plane and behind us. The object appeared to trail us for a few minutes until it suddenly faded out of view, as mysteriously as it had appeared.

During the "sighting" I quickly realized that what I was looking at was actually an image of the Sun, formed by the double window of the plane. I could not directly see the Sun above us due to the angle, but I could see the reflection of light on the wing so I knew it was directly above. The image apparently fading into and out of view were caused by the Sun being covered by a layer of clouds above. It was quite a turbulent flight with thick cloud cover from about 500 up to approximately 37 thousand feet.

It was a totally convincing illusion, and I can understand how it would be possible to believe something strange had just happened. This incident was a great example of a simple and mundane effect which convincingly produced a result that was eerily similar to the reports regarding UFOs trailing commercial airliners. Depending on the curvature of the window and the position of the Sun with respect to the plane it should be possible to produce images which are elliptical, giving the image the familiar "cigar-shape" that are common in the UFO lore. Variable tint and refraction could produce a variety of colors in the image. Turns and banks could also produce many of the movements that are associated with sightings as well. 

A simple trick of light but one which was very convincing and carried the hallmarks of many typical UFO reports.

Do you think the sun has a brain?

[West of the Rockies]

Hey, Orange (in regards to post #500)... my immediate response is to make a joke or two:  "Yes, that's just what the UFO's want you to think!" or "Hey, I once saw a creature on the wing of a plane... we were at about 20,000 feet."

But you make a good point, actually.  Some people are easily at incontrovertibly convinced that whatever they've experienced is the real deal:  ghosts, Bigfoot, UFO's...  Sometimes there really is a far more reasonable but "unsexy" explanation.  I don't think any intelligent person wants to be taken for a sap, especially if it is just so someone can make a buck (Jones, Streiber, Dames). 

It's when there is no reasonable explanation in the face of genuine evidence of something paranormal that things get interesting!  Thanks for the post.

[Agent : Orange]

Do you think the sun has a brain?

No. I say that even in assuming this is a set up for a "UFOs are intelligently controlled" argument.
Or am I totally off base?

On the other hand, if you're referring to Solaris the Tyrant Sun, ravager of the DC Universe in the year 1,000,000, then yes. That Sun does have a brain.

[Agent : Orange]

But you make a good point, actually.  Some people are easily at incontrovertibly convinced that whatever they've experienced is the real deal:  ghosts, Bigfoot, UFO's...  Sometimes there really is a far more reasonable but "unsexy" explanation.  I don't think any intelligent person wants to be taken for a sap, especially if it is just so someone can make a buck (Jones, Streiber, Dames). 

It's when there is no reasonable explanation in the face of genuine evidence of something paranormal that things get interesting!  Thanks for the post.

I bring this up just because it was such a convincing effect and I was really struck by it. I'm not proposing to explain all airborne sightings this way, but I do think that kind of effect could account for some.

While it definitely is an "unsexy" explanation, it's still interesting, it can tell us a lot about reflection, refraction and how the human mind processes images and it's surroundings. There's still something to be learned from that situation even if it's not about alien civilizations.

[onan]

No. I say that even in assuming this is a set up for a "UFOs are intelligently controlled" argument.
Or am I totally off base?

On the other hand, if you're referring to Solaris the Tyrant Sun, ravager of the DC Universe in the year 1,000,000, then yes. That Sun does have a brain.

I was channeling noory...

[West of the Rockies]

No. I say that even in assuming this is a set up for a "UFOs are intelligently controlled" argument.
Or am I totally off base?

On the other hand, if you're referring to Solaris the Tyrant Sun, ravager of the DC Universe in the year 1,000,000, then yes. That Sun does have a brain.

Hey, Orange... actually, Onan was doing a riff on George Noory's stupid line of questioning.  No, neither he (nor I) think the sun has a brain!  (But the Moon clearly has a face!  )

[Agent : Orange]

I was channeling noory...

"Is the Sun a good thing.... or a bad thing?"

[Agent : Orange]

Hey, Orange... actually, Onan was doing a riff on George Noory's stupid line of questioning.  No, neither he (nor I) think the sun has a brain!  (But the Moon clearly has a face!  )

Well, I wish a guest would answer Noory with a tidbit about the Tyrant Sun.

[Mind Flayer Monk]

I gotta agree with that sentiment, Sardondi, that today's ballparks are travesties.  In particular, Angel Stadium (whatever it is officially called) with rides and rock formations and such.  I guess you could probably point to Royals stadium maybe as starting the trend.  Didn't they introduce a fountain out past the fence that erupted when a homeboy hit a homerun?  Not a big fan of the giant corporate Coke bottle in S.F. either.  I also, as long as we're bitching about this, detest that so many stadiums (and college bowl games) have corporate names.  I liked the "Fabulous Forum" (home of the Lakers).  The Great Western Forum?  Not so much....  The Staples Center?  Even worse....

I disagree completely. Safeco field (1999) is amazing. New Busch Stadium (2006) and Great American Ballpark (2003) are all great. I go to them any chance I can get. Petco Park(2004) is also a great place. I haven't been to any of the new stadiums in New York. I enjoyed everything about Citizen's Bank Park (2004), except for the Phillies fans.