WEBVTT 1 00:00:06.120 --> 00:00:08.439 All right, here's a really cool story. I don't know 2 00:00:08.560 --> 00:00:16.519 the Oh my gosh, Jimma link, Jimma get and these 3 00:00:16.640 --> 00:00:20.359 chickens are driving me crazy. I'm sending you my story 4 00:00:20.359 --> 00:00:23.079 of an interaction I had with something many years ago. 5 00:00:23.640 --> 00:00:26.719 I'm sending I'm sending you this in a way to 6 00:00:26.719 --> 00:00:29.719 get it off my chest. I've only told this story 7 00:00:29.760 --> 00:00:33.079 to two people before, one my wife and the other 8 00:00:33.200 --> 00:00:36.039 my brother. But I still feel the need to sort 9 00:00:36.039 --> 00:00:38.399 of get it out after all this time. Hold on 10 00:00:38.560 --> 00:00:41.439 just a minute, y'all. Jimma get. 11 00:00:45.320 --> 00:01:03.479 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 12 00:00:55.600 --> 00:00:58.000 All right there, I close my door. Now we shouldn't 13 00:00:58.000 --> 00:01:01.719 be interrupted anymore. About twenty eight or twenty nine years ago, 14 00:01:01.759 --> 00:01:04.519 I worked for a hospital in West Palm Beach, Florida. 15 00:01:05.239 --> 00:01:08.560 The hospital has since closed down. I had worked there 16 00:01:08.599 --> 00:01:10.799 for a few years and used the same route to 17 00:01:10.799 --> 00:01:14.719 go to and from work on every shift. I lived 18 00:01:14.760 --> 00:01:18.239 in Royal Palm Beach at the time. That meant that 19 00:01:18.280 --> 00:01:20.599 I drove east to work in the morning in West 20 00:01:20.680 --> 00:01:23.879 back home in the afternoon. On this day I was 21 00:01:23.959 --> 00:01:26.640 leaving work for home. I had come to know the 22 00:01:26.680 --> 00:01:28.959 streets on my drive quite well, and I came to 23 00:01:29.040 --> 00:01:33.560 recognize the scenery For example, one house always had kids 24 00:01:33.680 --> 00:01:36.599 bicycles in the front yard. They were dropped where they 25 00:01:36.599 --> 00:01:38.879 had left them, and there was a basketball or two 26 00:01:38.879 --> 00:01:43.239 in the yard, and certain cars in particular driveways. This 27 00:01:43.480 --> 00:01:46.439 was the normal scenery for these streets, and I would 28 00:01:46.519 --> 00:01:50.920 notice if something was different or unusual. I saw a large, 29 00:01:50.959 --> 00:01:54.280 dirty white object to my left up the street. It 30 00:01:54.359 --> 00:01:57.840 was not normally there. At first, I thought someone had 31 00:01:57.879 --> 00:02:01.599 discarded an old white or tan rack, or that I 32 00:02:01.640 --> 00:02:05.359 was looking at a discarded washing machine. It was far 33 00:02:05.439 --> 00:02:07.519 enough away that I couldn't quite figure out what it 34 00:02:07.640 --> 00:02:10.800 was yet, and as I got closer to it, it 35 00:02:10.840 --> 00:02:14.560 took more and more of my attention. I just couldn't 36 00:02:14.599 --> 00:02:16.680 figure it out. But there was something about it that 37 00:02:16.759 --> 00:02:20.719 bothered me. As I got even closer, I continued to 38 00:02:20.759 --> 00:02:23.039 look at it and wondered, what the hell is that. 39 00:02:23.800 --> 00:02:26.159 I looked in my rear view mirror. I saw no 40 00:02:26.280 --> 00:02:28.879 cars were behind me, and now I began to slow 41 00:02:28.919 --> 00:02:31.879 down to get a better look. When I was several 42 00:02:31.879 --> 00:02:34.080 car links from it, I took my foot off the 43 00:02:34.120 --> 00:02:37.520 gas and I slowed down even more. My truck was 44 00:02:37.759 --> 00:02:40.919 just coasting now. When I got two or three car 45 00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:43.599 links from it, I suddenly realized that the thing that 46 00:02:43.680 --> 00:02:47.240 I was looking at was alive. I could see skin 47 00:02:47.560 --> 00:02:51.639 in pores, and it looked like a plucked bird. Suddenly 48 00:02:51.680 --> 00:02:54.080 the object seemed to be in hyper detail to me, 49 00:02:54.199 --> 00:02:57.080 and I could see skin and pores and wrinkles and 50 00:02:57.199 --> 00:03:00.879 grass stains here and there. I thought, well, this thing 51 00:03:01.039 --> 00:03:04.879 can't be real. It can't. But I see skin, and 52 00:03:04.960 --> 00:03:08.759 I'm looking at something's back and it's huge. It's as 53 00:03:08.759 --> 00:03:12.080 big as a washing machine, and it's crouching down. I 54 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:15.039 didn't see arms or legs or a head yet, just 55 00:03:15.120 --> 00:03:18.680 the back. When I was ten or twelve feet away 56 00:03:18.680 --> 00:03:21.280 from it, looking at its right side in the back 57 00:03:21.319 --> 00:03:25.520 of its head, it slowly and very casually turned its 58 00:03:25.560 --> 00:03:29.120 head to look at me. I looked directly into its 59 00:03:29.159 --> 00:03:31.879 face and eyes, and again everything seemed to come into 60 00:03:31.960 --> 00:03:35.759 hyper detail, with its face seemingly to be directed in 61 00:03:35.800 --> 00:03:40.240 front of my face. It had jet black eyes, no 62 00:03:40.479 --> 00:03:44.639 visible whites. There was a small straight mouth and slits 63 00:03:44.680 --> 00:03:49.159 for nostrils, and black freckles on its face. I don't 64 00:03:49.240 --> 00:03:53.840 remember seeing ears or hair. Its face was devoid of emotion, 65 00:03:54.199 --> 00:03:58.120 completely blank. I got no sense of male or female. 66 00:03:58.919 --> 00:04:02.159 It was intent on me, and then it considered me, 67 00:04:02.280 --> 00:04:05.639 and then it dismissed me. I've had years to think 68 00:04:05.680 --> 00:04:08.080 about this part of the interaction, and to say it 69 00:04:08.159 --> 00:04:11.599 studied me or examined me would be wrong, as that 70 00:04:11.639 --> 00:04:15.560 would imply too much effort. It considered me like I 71 00:04:15.680 --> 00:04:20.360 was a bug on the sidewalk. At this point I 72 00:04:20.399 --> 00:04:24.480 felt a slight push or pressure, like someone touching my 73 00:04:24.600 --> 00:04:28.079 forehead and upper chest gently with a finger, and I 74 00:04:28.160 --> 00:04:32.920 felt and heard this one is of no consequence. The 75 00:04:32.959 --> 00:04:36.240 first two words of this kind were implied, but the 76 00:04:36.279 --> 00:04:40.279 rest of the thought was clear as a bell. This thing, 77 00:04:40.680 --> 00:04:44.839 this not human, not animal, considered me of no consequence. 78 00:04:45.720 --> 00:04:48.560 I can't identify this thing, and it doesn't consider me 79 00:04:48.639 --> 00:04:51.959 a danger. It doesn't consider my seeing it a threat. 80 00:04:52.560 --> 00:04:56.240 It considered me of no consequence, like that bug on 81 00:04:56.279 --> 00:05:00.800 the sidewalk. While this thing was considering me, pushing into 82 00:05:00.839 --> 00:05:05.040 my consciousness, I got to look into it, a slight look, 83 00:05:05.160 --> 00:05:09.160 but it was a look. This thing was not lost, 84 00:05:09.600 --> 00:05:13.040 It was not alien and not scared or hesitant. It 85 00:05:13.120 --> 00:05:17.000 was comfortable and confident. It was in its natural habitat 86 00:05:17.040 --> 00:05:19.360 where it lived, and it had been in contact with 87 00:05:19.480 --> 00:05:24.879 humans before. At no time was I scared during this interaction. 88 00:05:25.439 --> 00:05:29.240 I was just confused, never having seen anything like this before, 89 00:05:29.720 --> 00:05:32.639 and I had nothing to compare it to. I couldn't 90 00:05:32.680 --> 00:05:36.480 believe what I was seeing. I thought to myself that 91 00:05:36.560 --> 00:05:39.000 I can't be seeing this, and even as the truck 92 00:05:39.120 --> 00:05:42.240 was still slowly coasting, I closed my eyes for a 93 00:05:42.319 --> 00:05:45.040 second and I put my head down, thinking I'm not 94 00:05:45.160 --> 00:05:47.680 seeing this. And I picked my head up and I 95 00:05:47.759 --> 00:05:51.040 opened my eyes, and what I saw only makes some 96 00:05:51.319 --> 00:05:55.839 sense at all. All these years later, I recently saw 97 00:05:55.879 --> 00:05:58.839 a YouTube video of one of the Navajo Rangers and 98 00:05:58.920 --> 00:06:02.040 he said that someies or able to give us what 99 00:06:02.160 --> 00:06:07.079 he called snapshot memories or visuals, to substitute for what 100 00:06:07.120 --> 00:06:10.480 you were really looking at. And I think that's what happened. 101 00:06:11.800 --> 00:06:13.959 When I opened my eyes, I was looking at an 102 00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:17.959 Australian shepherd dog. It was black and brown and white 103 00:06:17.959 --> 00:06:20.959 and sitting there staring at me. It didn't move, it 104 00:06:21.000 --> 00:06:23.680 didn't blink, it didn't sniff, and it definitely was not 105 00:06:23.839 --> 00:06:28.120 a normal dog. I kept looking at it and it 106 00:06:28.160 --> 00:06:31.000 never moved, and I watched it in the side view 107 00:06:31.040 --> 00:06:33.600 mirror as it faded behind me, and it never moved. 108 00:06:34.040 --> 00:06:37.639 It just continued to watch me drive away. I think 109 00:06:37.680 --> 00:06:39.680 I might have forgotten about the whole thing if it 110 00:06:39.720 --> 00:06:43.120 wasn't for that push and the hearing of that of 111 00:06:43.160 --> 00:06:47.639 no consequence, which ended up really angering me at being 112 00:06:47.759 --> 00:06:51.920 dismissed like that. And that's the end of the story. Now. 113 00:06:53.360 --> 00:06:57.399 I thought this story was appropriate because I think in 114 00:06:57.439 --> 00:07:02.199 New Mexico or Arizona, there's a story going around of 115 00:07:02.319 --> 00:07:07.399 a something streaking out of the sky. Many people saw it, 116 00:07:07.519 --> 00:07:09.639 and then there's a call to nine to one one 117 00:07:10.360 --> 00:07:13.920 from this family who is claiming that something landed in 118 00:07:13.959 --> 00:07:17.720 their backyard and there are alien eight or nine foot 119 00:07:17.800 --> 00:07:22.439 tall creatures walking around in their backyard. This story seems 120 00:07:22.439 --> 00:07:24.839 to be getting traction. It's kind of gone, it's kind 121 00:07:24.839 --> 00:07:29.839 of probably semi gone viral. We're hearing a lot of things. 122 00:07:30.360 --> 00:07:35.120 There was a whistleblower recently talking about the Roswell incident 123 00:07:35.319 --> 00:07:40.079 and that the United States has a spacecraft or some 124 00:07:40.199 --> 00:07:45.439 kind of craft built not on this Earth and creatures, 125 00:07:45.720 --> 00:07:49.040 or the pilots, at least the pilots of the craft, 126 00:07:49.639 --> 00:07:53.360 they're dead, but they have them preserved and are studying 127 00:07:53.399 --> 00:07:57.279 them and are trying to reverse engineer the crafts that 128 00:07:57.319 --> 00:08:00.879 they commandeered. And this is all interesting and it's almost 129 00:08:00.920 --> 00:08:07.319 like after this whistleblower made these revelations, and I don't 130 00:08:07.319 --> 00:08:10.600 know if that if what he's saying is valid. I 131 00:08:10.639 --> 00:08:13.920 have no idea, but I'm following the story and trying 132 00:08:13.959 --> 00:08:17.279 to figure out, looking at YouTube videos, reading articles, trying 133 00:08:17.319 --> 00:08:21.399 to find everything I can. But this is really interesting stuff. 134 00:08:22.519 --> 00:08:24.959 There's a video of this family trying to get in 135 00:08:25.040 --> 00:08:28.000 their backyard, the one that called nine to one one, 136 00:08:28.079 --> 00:08:30.800 and they are scared to death. They're both all of 137 00:08:30.839 --> 00:08:33.240 them are armed, and they're trying to walk in the 138 00:08:33.320 --> 00:08:36.440 gate and they keep seeing something and they're backing out 139 00:08:36.480 --> 00:08:39.440 and you don't see it in the video anyway, Just 140 00:08:39.480 --> 00:08:42.039 to cut to the point, it kind of seems like 141 00:08:42.279 --> 00:08:48.480 these incidents are kind of gaining frequency. I don't understand it, 142 00:08:48.559 --> 00:08:52.080 but you know, the UFO thing, it has always been 143 00:08:52.120 --> 00:08:55.320 interesting to me. But these reports that are coming out 144 00:08:55.399 --> 00:09:00.360 are fascinating. And you know what's weird, Nobody cares, Nobody 145 00:09:00.360 --> 00:09:03.000 seems to care about it. It's not front page news. 146 00:09:03.039 --> 00:09:05.519 It's not. Of course, there's a lot of things going 147 00:09:05.559 --> 00:09:08.960 on in our country, a lot of corruption and things 148 00:09:09.000 --> 00:09:11.480 like that, it's not front page news at all. It's like, 149 00:09:11.960 --> 00:09:14.559 it's like I don't know what the deal is, but 150 00:09:15.240 --> 00:09:18.480 the news cycle and the news the way people report 151 00:09:18.559 --> 00:09:21.000 news is so foreign into what I'm used to all 152 00:09:21.039 --> 00:09:23.840 my life. But anyway, I thought this story kind of 153 00:09:23.840 --> 00:09:27.799 went along with or I think current events can compare 154 00:09:27.840 --> 00:09:31.039 and contrast to this man's experience. What could that thing 155 00:09:31.080 --> 00:09:33.759 have been, I don't know, but it was a fascinating story. 156 00:09:33.960 --> 00:09:36.440 Sorry I talked so much after this story, but it 157 00:09:37.320 --> 00:09:39.600 was really good and I wanted to make sure you 158 00:09:40.679 --> 00:09:43.120 heard it. So thanks to the writer for sending it. 159 00:09:47.200 --> 00:09:49.519 This occurrence is something that I have carried with me 160 00:09:49.639 --> 00:09:52.960 for many years. This is the first time I've ever 161 00:09:53.000 --> 00:09:56.600 written a story down though. It was back in nineteen 162 00:09:56.679 --> 00:09:58.799 seventy nine or eighty and I was living in a 163 00:09:58.840 --> 00:10:02.120 small town in College Dorado. At one time it was 164 00:10:02.159 --> 00:10:04.879 a small farm town, and my apartment was in the 165 00:10:04.879 --> 00:10:08.320 building that was over one hundred years old. Across the 166 00:10:08.360 --> 00:10:11.440 alley behind my apartment was a small walk in theater. 167 00:10:12.159 --> 00:10:14.600 At one time it was an opera house, and back 168 00:10:14.639 --> 00:10:17.639 in the day, people rode their horse drawn carriages into 169 00:10:17.679 --> 00:10:22.000 town from the surrounding county to attend the opera performances there. 170 00:10:23.039 --> 00:10:25.600 The apartment that my roommate and I were living in 171 00:10:25.799 --> 00:10:28.039 was owned by a man that we had never met. 172 00:10:28.919 --> 00:10:32.240 He had an interesting story. He was a young man 173 00:10:32.320 --> 00:10:34.799 and he worked pushing a broom in a local bank, 174 00:10:35.360 --> 00:10:38.039 and he was very thrifty, and when he could afford it, 175 00:10:38.360 --> 00:10:42.559 he bought a share in the bank. Eventually he owned 176 00:10:42.600 --> 00:10:46.679 controlling shares in that bank. And our apartment had been 177 00:10:46.759 --> 00:10:50.159 vacant since World War II, and when we first moved in, 178 00:10:50.639 --> 00:10:54.960 the bureau was lined with yellow newspaper. I imagined that 179 00:10:55.000 --> 00:10:58.639 the paper was maybe ten years old. Was dated back 180 00:10:58.720 --> 00:11:02.000 to the nineteen forty and it listed farm acreage with 181 00:11:02.080 --> 00:11:06.120 a home for fourteen hundred dollars. There was an article 182 00:11:06.240 --> 00:11:10.360 called the War Correspondence and Notebook. I was twenty seven 183 00:11:10.399 --> 00:11:12.799 at the time, so the references to the war were 184 00:11:12.840 --> 00:11:17.679 to circumstances that were far before my time. Every ad 185 00:11:17.720 --> 00:11:23.159 for employment specifically stated women encouraged to apply, and I 186 00:11:23.159 --> 00:11:27.080 had never seen that before. I realized that there was 187 00:11:27.120 --> 00:11:31.720 a critical manpower shortage because of the war. Anyway, Our 188 00:11:31.759 --> 00:11:35.279 apartment was located up on the second floor. Down on 189 00:11:35.440 --> 00:11:39.320 the first floor were shops. The building was shaped with 190 00:11:39.399 --> 00:11:42.440 an L, with the apartments and shops running the full 191 00:11:42.480 --> 00:11:44.720 length of the main street along the square in the 192 00:11:44.720 --> 00:11:48.440 middle of town, and the single upstairs apartment we were 193 00:11:48.480 --> 00:11:50.919 in was located on the short leg of the l 194 00:11:52.039 --> 00:11:55.039 The upstairs apartments in the long length of the building 195 00:11:55.200 --> 00:11:58.480 were all connected into a single long apartment that was 196 00:11:58.559 --> 00:12:02.159 occupied by the then l owner of the building and 197 00:12:02.200 --> 00:12:06.759 his wife. Because of the upstairs location, street light shone 198 00:12:06.799 --> 00:12:11.960 through our apartment windows at night, making sound sleep challenging well. 199 00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:14.559 I had the idea of getting cardboard boxes from the 200 00:12:14.600 --> 00:12:17.519 local bike shop and cutting large pieces to fit into 201 00:12:17.519 --> 00:12:21.159 the window sills to block the light, and it worked perfectly. 202 00:12:21.960 --> 00:12:25.039 Once the cardboard was in place, you could not see 203 00:12:25.080 --> 00:12:27.159 your hand in front of your face. When the lights 204 00:12:27.200 --> 00:12:32.039 were out, it was darkest pitch. We had lived there 205 00:12:32.039 --> 00:12:34.440 for a few months and we had settled into something 206 00:12:34.440 --> 00:12:37.039 over a routine, and in the middle of the night, 207 00:12:37.159 --> 00:12:40.039 my roommate woke up just enough to stumble into the 208 00:12:40.080 --> 00:12:44.360 bathroom and then back into bed without flushing. Neither of 209 00:12:44.440 --> 00:12:47.279 us woke up. It was easier to fall back asleep 210 00:12:47.320 --> 00:12:50.919 if we didn't wake up any more than necessary. My 211 00:12:51.039 --> 00:12:53.399 roommate fell back into bed and I began to drift 212 00:12:53.440 --> 00:12:56.159 back to sleep in my bed, and I was almost 213 00:12:56.240 --> 00:12:59.600 asleep when I heard a calm, clear, almost quiet and 214 00:12:59.679 --> 00:13:05.399 yet a distant voice say it's foggy out. Well, I ignored it. 215 00:13:05.799 --> 00:13:08.159 My priority was to get myself back to sleep by 216 00:13:08.200 --> 00:13:13.080 the easiest scrout, and then my mind began moving. My 217 00:13:13.200 --> 00:13:17.840 roommate was studying Spanish at the time. His favorite Spanish 218 00:13:17.879 --> 00:13:22.559 word was afweererh, which means outside. He said that word 219 00:13:22.639 --> 00:13:26.279 many times a day, maybe twenty times a day. If 220 00:13:26.320 --> 00:13:29.399 he could say afwerer, he said it. In fact, he 221 00:13:29.480 --> 00:13:33.080 went out of his way to find opportunities to say afwerer, 222 00:13:33.799 --> 00:13:36.200 and in my mind I couldn't imagine why he didn't 223 00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:39.799 say it's foggy afwera. I decided to let it go, 224 00:13:39.919 --> 00:13:43.639 but my faults kept moving. Okay, this, uh, never mind. 225 00:13:44.480 --> 00:13:47.080 Why did he say it's foggy out. I didn't know 226 00:13:47.120 --> 00:13:50.360 anyone that talked that way. I would expect something like 227 00:13:50.559 --> 00:13:54.840 it's foggy or even it's foggy outside, but it's foggy out. 228 00:13:55.399 --> 00:13:58.799 It just didn't seem normal somehow, so I let it 229 00:13:58.840 --> 00:14:01.679 go in favor of getting back to sleep, but my 230 00:14:01.759 --> 00:14:05.799 thoughts kept moving. How did my roommate know that it 231 00:14:05.840 --> 00:14:09.200 was foggy outside? Every window in the place had been 232 00:14:09.240 --> 00:14:12.639 blocked out with cardboard, and even if there was fog, 233 00:14:12.720 --> 00:14:14.960 there was no way that my roommate could know that. 234 00:14:15.799 --> 00:14:18.279 And I decided to just let it go, but my 235 00:14:18.360 --> 00:14:21.759 brain kept moving. It was a beginning to come aggravating. 236 00:14:23.159 --> 00:14:25.159 We had lived in this place for two months and 237 00:14:25.240 --> 00:14:27.720 at no time had we ever had a single night 238 00:14:27.799 --> 00:14:31.039 of fog. Why would he say that there was fog? 239 00:14:31.120 --> 00:14:33.799 It was bugging me and how could he even know? 240 00:14:34.159 --> 00:14:36.200 And why would he even say it in such an 241 00:14:36.320 --> 00:14:39.840 unusual way? And by this time I was much too 242 00:14:39.840 --> 00:14:43.200 awake to be able to simply fall back asleep. I 243 00:14:43.279 --> 00:14:46.559 had to know, so I yelled out in the darkness. Hey, 244 00:14:47.399 --> 00:14:49.679 my roommate had already fallen back to sleep, so I 245 00:14:49.799 --> 00:14:54.840 yelled louder, Hey, what do you want? His annoyance was conspicuous, 246 00:14:54.919 --> 00:14:59.240 and I asked, is it foggy outside or not? In 247 00:14:59.320 --> 00:15:03.000 His response was terse, I don't know, leave me alone. 248 00:15:03.600 --> 00:15:07.120 That was that. I tried to go back to sleep, 249 00:15:07.159 --> 00:15:11.000 but this time my brain was squirming. The agitation made 250 00:15:11.039 --> 00:15:14.759 my sleep in an easy proposition. I lay in the 251 00:15:14.799 --> 00:15:18.600 blackness pondering the situation, and I decided the only way 252 00:15:18.639 --> 00:15:21.039 to handle the moment was to stumble my way through 253 00:15:21.039 --> 00:15:24.120 the blackness to a window and pull out the cardboard. 254 00:15:24.679 --> 00:15:27.399 And I threw off my blanket and I started stumbling. 255 00:15:28.840 --> 00:15:31.159 I reached the window and took hold of the cardboard, 256 00:15:31.159 --> 00:15:33.639 and I pulled it out from the window sill, and 257 00:15:33.679 --> 00:15:36.759 to my astonishment, the fog outside the window was so 258 00:15:37.039 --> 00:15:39.360 thick that it was not possible to see through the 259 00:15:39.440 --> 00:15:42.919 glass more than a few inches, maybe four or six 260 00:15:43.000 --> 00:15:46.759 inches at the most. The fog was as thick as 261 00:15:46.759 --> 00:15:50.000 I have ever seen it in this area. I have 262 00:15:50.080 --> 00:15:52.759 no idea whose voice I heard that night when I 263 00:15:52.879 --> 00:15:56.279 was almost completely asleep, and I can only say that 264 00:15:56.360 --> 00:15:59.399 the voice told me that it was foggy. I had 265 00:15:59.399 --> 00:16:03.759 no way of about the fog without checking my roommate 266 00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:06.440 could not have known, and until that night we had 267 00:16:06.480 --> 00:16:10.480 not had any fog at all. The best explanation I 268 00:16:10.519 --> 00:16:14.080 have is merely speculation on my part, and I'm still 269 00:16:14.120 --> 00:16:21.080 not sure exactly what happened that night. And he signs off, Steve, Steve, 270 00:16:21.120 --> 00:16:23.360 that's a cool story. Maybe you heard a ghost man, 271 00:16:23.759 --> 00:16:26.120 maybe you heard somebody that used to live in that 272 00:16:26.200 --> 00:16:30.759 old building, just letting you know that it was foggy out. 273 00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:33.600 I don't know. I don't know, Steve. That's a good story. 274 00:16:33.600 --> 00:16:36.000 I appreciate you writing it, and thanks for all the 275 00:16:36.080 --> 00:16:44.559 emails over the years, Buddy. I live in Williamsburg, Virginia. 276 00:16:45.600 --> 00:16:48.039 In two thousand and nine, after a layoff from the 277 00:16:48.080 --> 00:16:51.159 company where I had worked for twenty years, I got 278 00:16:51.200 --> 00:16:56.240 a job handling security in a historic plantation turned time share. 279 00:16:57.279 --> 00:17:01.879 Having a military former sworn security background, I was happy 280 00:17:01.879 --> 00:17:04.480 to get a job because I've always felt that work 281 00:17:04.599 --> 00:17:10.079 was better than unemployment. My former employer, the historic colonial 282 00:17:10.279 --> 00:17:14.759 capital of Virginia, suffered severe cutbacks due to a lag 283 00:17:14.759 --> 00:17:18.720 in tourism because of the economy. I had spent twelve 284 00:17:19.039 --> 00:17:23.160 of my twenty years there in security. A large part 285 00:17:23.160 --> 00:17:26.920 of that job was entering the historic original buildings in 286 00:17:27.000 --> 00:17:29.119 the wee hours of the night to make sure they 287 00:17:29.119 --> 00:17:32.720 had been properly secured and free of anything that might 288 00:17:32.759 --> 00:17:35.960 cause a fire like a candle or a hot plate 289 00:17:36.119 --> 00:17:40.839 still switched on. There were many stories of hauntings coupled 290 00:17:40.839 --> 00:17:43.880 with a few creepy feelings that I had experienced during 291 00:17:43.920 --> 00:17:47.519 my inspections, So when I was interviewed for the job 292 00:17:47.559 --> 00:17:51.920 at the plantation, I was asked my feelings about haunted houses. 293 00:17:53.039 --> 00:17:58.359 My unvarnished response was, been there done? That management inform 294 00:17:58.480 --> 00:18:00.720 me that there was a ghostly press since called the 295 00:18:00.799 --> 00:18:04.039 Lady of the house, who was feared by most everyone 296 00:18:04.039 --> 00:18:07.359 who entered the place, and that after making sure no 297 00:18:07.400 --> 00:18:10.640 one was left inside, I would have to risk her 298 00:18:10.720 --> 00:18:15.319 displeasure in order to close the building each night. Since 299 00:18:15.359 --> 00:18:19.720 I had no trepidation toward being inside haunted structures in general, 300 00:18:20.119 --> 00:18:23.279 plus my experience with three hundred year old buildings and 301 00:18:23.359 --> 00:18:28.759 their previous unearthly occupants, I got the job. On the 302 00:18:28.799 --> 00:18:32.319 first night, I accompanied my training officer into the house 303 00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:35.400 to secure it. I was surprised to learn that all 304 00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:39.279 the lights were left on twenty four to seven. They 305 00:18:39.319 --> 00:18:41.960 told others that the practice was done to make the 306 00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:45.160 house look more opulent, but I suspected it was for 307 00:18:45.200 --> 00:18:48.559 the benefit of the nervous staff and their arrested fear 308 00:18:48.839 --> 00:18:53.319 of the dark. My training officer had recited all the 309 00:18:53.359 --> 00:18:56.039 spooky tales that had struck fear into the hearts of 310 00:18:56.079 --> 00:19:00.519 the employees throughout the years. As we entered a building 311 00:19:00.519 --> 00:19:04.279 and started to the second floor, I initiated a make 312 00:19:04.319 --> 00:19:08.799 believe conversation with the lady of the house. Hello, old 313 00:19:08.880 --> 00:19:11.920 lady of the house, I said, please allow me to 314 00:19:11.960 --> 00:19:16.480 introduce myself. I'm Carl, the new security officer, and it's 315 00:19:16.559 --> 00:19:20.920 nice to meet you. My training officer looked at me 316 00:19:21.160 --> 00:19:24.759 like I had lost my ever loving mind. Well, I explained, 317 00:19:24.759 --> 00:19:28.599 my reasoning can hurt. To show some respect, I declared, 318 00:19:29.119 --> 00:19:31.319 I'm sure I'm the only one who's ever done that. 319 00:19:32.839 --> 00:19:35.799 She affirmed that I was the only one quote crazy 320 00:19:35.960 --> 00:19:40.000 enough to greet the woman unquote. As we walked by 321 00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:43.400 the upstairs bathroom, the training officer noted that the light 322 00:19:43.559 --> 00:19:46.640 was off, and before her hand could flip the switch, 323 00:19:47.039 --> 00:19:50.359 it flicked back on. I thank the lady of the 324 00:19:50.400 --> 00:19:52.799 house in bitter good night as we closed the front 325 00:19:52.799 --> 00:19:57.799 door behind us. For reference, there is an eighteenth century 326 00:19:57.920 --> 00:20:02.920 historic building in Williamsburg called George Wythe House. Both it 327 00:20:03.039 --> 00:20:06.680 and the plantation were designed by the same architect, and 328 00:20:06.720 --> 00:20:10.119 the houses are almost identical, with two stories and a 329 00:20:10.200 --> 00:20:14.160 large center staircase flanked by two large rooms on either 330 00:20:14.240 --> 00:20:17.400 side at the top of the stairs. The room on 331 00:20:17.440 --> 00:20:20.440 the left in the plantation is used for storage and 332 00:20:20.640 --> 00:20:24.079 features of bathroom with a modern door that unlocks when 333 00:20:24.119 --> 00:20:28.279 you exit the bathroom. This detail would become relevant. Later, 334 00:20:29.680 --> 00:20:33.000 some months went by, and one day, as a visitor 335 00:20:33.119 --> 00:20:35.240 was leaving, she asked if I would like to see 336 00:20:35.240 --> 00:20:37.759 a weird picture that she took while inside the house. 337 00:20:38.759 --> 00:20:42.119 I answered her questions about the place being haunted, and 338 00:20:42.160 --> 00:20:46.000 I revealed several stories, including the one about the bathroom light. 339 00:20:47.359 --> 00:20:50.079 She showed me a photo on her digital camera that 340 00:20:50.160 --> 00:20:54.039 she took of the first floor fireplace, and standing in 341 00:20:54.079 --> 00:20:57.680 front of it appeared to be three translucent figures in 342 00:20:57.799 --> 00:21:03.200 colonial American clothing. One was a very regal looking woman. 343 00:21:04.759 --> 00:21:08.240 I continued to serve in my security role, unafraid of 344 00:21:08.279 --> 00:21:13.079 the alleged spirits whose presence unnerved my fellow employees, and 345 00:21:13.160 --> 00:21:16.519 one night, as usual, I was making my rounds and 346 00:21:16.640 --> 00:21:19.880 preparing to lock up the place. Once I got to 347 00:21:19.960 --> 00:21:22.799 the second floor, I noticed the bathroom door was locked. 348 00:21:23.519 --> 00:21:27.680 As I mentioned earlier, this door unlocks when its user exits. 349 00:21:29.000 --> 00:21:31.799 I was concerned that someone may have had some disastrous 350 00:21:31.960 --> 00:21:36.279 encounter inside and might be unconscious or otherwise injured, so 351 00:21:36.359 --> 00:21:39.039 I began knocking hard on the door to get their attention. 352 00:21:40.240 --> 00:21:43.559 Without any response, I realized the spared door key was 353 00:21:43.640 --> 00:21:47.559 outside in my vehicle. I attempted to jimmy the lock 354 00:21:47.640 --> 00:21:51.279 with my pocket knife, and even try manipulating the mechanism 355 00:21:51.319 --> 00:21:55.160 with a credit card, but it didn't work. I turned 356 00:21:55.160 --> 00:21:57.400 to head down to my car to retrieve the key. 357 00:21:57.440 --> 00:22:00.839 When I was struggle with an idea. I stood at 358 00:22:00.880 --> 00:22:04.000 the top of the stairs and I pronounced loudly, Lady 359 00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:06.759 of the house, will you please unlock the bathroom door 360 00:22:06.799 --> 00:22:10.559 for me? If it didn't work, I would just be 361 00:22:10.640 --> 00:22:15.000 another foolish employee with a misguided belief in spirits, but 362 00:22:15.079 --> 00:22:16.960 I was thankful there was no one but me in 363 00:22:17.039 --> 00:22:21.680 the building to bear witness. One way or another. A 364 00:22:21.799 --> 00:22:24.559 way back to the bathroom, I reached for the handle 365 00:22:24.640 --> 00:22:28.640 and easily opened the door. After a quick inspection in 366 00:22:28.720 --> 00:22:31.920 finding no one inside, I stepped back into the hall. 367 00:22:32.559 --> 00:22:35.119 I opened and closed the door several times until I 368 00:22:35.200 --> 00:22:38.880 was assured it would remain unlocked. I walked over to 369 00:22:38.960 --> 00:22:41.799 the stairs and offered a heartfelt thank you to the 370 00:22:41.880 --> 00:22:44.599 lady of the house, and I locked up the building 371 00:22:44.640 --> 00:22:49.200 for the night. I don't think my coworkers believed my story, 372 00:22:49.359 --> 00:22:52.480 but unlike them, I never had a problem with locks 373 00:22:52.559 --> 00:22:56.799 or door sticking. The secretary, who also doubles as a 374 00:22:56.799 --> 00:23:00.480 long time his storian of the place informed that the 375 00:23:00.559 --> 00:23:02.880 Lady of the house must really be fond of me, 376 00:23:03.519 --> 00:23:07.519 because she never extended such courtesy toward any other security 377 00:23:07.559 --> 00:23:09.799 officer before or since.