WEBVTT 1 00:00:05.400 --> 00:00:07.679 This episode is brought to you by my newest supporters, 2 00:00:08.160 --> 00:00:15.080 Jan Taren, Joanna, Samantha, Draven and Breeze. Thank you so 3 00:00:15.199 --> 00:00:34.960 much for making the show possible. Welcome back to Paranormal Mysteries, 4 00:00:35.200 --> 00:00:39.079 and thank you for joining me. I'm your host, Nick Ryan. 5 00:00:40.479 --> 00:00:43.960 Our first encounter tonight comes to us from Jake, and 6 00:00:44.079 --> 00:00:50.799 Jake's experience is called the Legend of Scraggly Dave. Jake says, 7 00:00:51.640 --> 00:00:53.960 this happened a few years ago and it's taken time 8 00:00:54.039 --> 00:00:56.880 to fully comprehend my experience and to put it down 9 00:00:56.920 --> 00:00:59.960 into words. I live in a small town in England 10 00:01:00.119 --> 00:01:03.280 called Blackheath, where there is a rich history of folklore, 11 00:01:03.479 --> 00:01:06.319 and one such lore is about a man affectionately known 12 00:01:06.359 --> 00:01:10.159 by the locals as Scraggly Dave. Over the years, he 13 00:01:10.200 --> 00:01:12.120 has become a bit of a legend of the area 14 00:01:12.359 --> 00:01:16.319 with multiple unconfirmed sightings. The story goes that he appears 15 00:01:16.359 --> 00:01:18.599 to you after a loss and he will bring with 16 00:01:18.719 --> 00:01:21.680 him the ghost of that person for one final goodbye 17 00:01:21.879 --> 00:01:25.439 before they move on to the after life. My experience 18 00:01:25.480 --> 00:01:28.640 with Scraggly Dave happened in February of twenty twenty one, 19 00:01:28.959 --> 00:01:32.920 during the latter stages of the COVID lockdown. Recently, my 20 00:01:33.040 --> 00:01:36.120 town had been gripped by the heroism of Captain Tom, 21 00:01:36.280 --> 00:01:38.920 who had recently walked around his house to raise money 22 00:01:38.920 --> 00:01:41.680 for charity. We even had a mural commissioned at the 23 00:01:41.799 --> 00:01:44.480 end of the high Street. He was truly an inspiration 24 00:01:44.599 --> 00:01:47.760 to us all. After his passing earlier in the month, 25 00:01:47.959 --> 00:01:50.519 there was a feeling of grief among most, and I 26 00:01:50.599 --> 00:01:53.439 felt that I was feeling it hard. I had painted 27 00:01:53.439 --> 00:01:55.760 my own mural from my bedroom of the Great Man 28 00:01:56.000 --> 00:01:59.400 standing with his trademark thumbs up pose as if to say, 29 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:03.719 everything is going to be okay. A couple of weeks past, 30 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:06.359 and though most had moved on, I was struggling to 31 00:02:06.359 --> 00:02:08.319 come to terms with the loss of someone that I 32 00:02:08.360 --> 00:02:11.080 looked up to as a hero. But then one night, 33 00:02:11.199 --> 00:02:14.199 at around two a m I awoke suddenly, but I 34 00:02:14.240 --> 00:02:17.000 was unsure why. I hadn't had a bad dream or 35 00:02:17.039 --> 00:02:19.680 heard anything as I sleep with headphones on, and that 36 00:02:19.800 --> 00:02:21.840 night I had been listening to Can I Play with 37 00:02:21.919 --> 00:02:25.319 Madness by Iron Maiden, so I wouldn't have heard anything 38 00:02:25.360 --> 00:02:29.199 outside of that, but I could feel a presence. Once 39 00:02:29.240 --> 00:02:32.159 my eyes had focused to the darkened room, I looked around, 40 00:02:32.240 --> 00:02:34.840 trying to see if anyone was there. I then heard 41 00:02:34.879 --> 00:02:38.360 a shuffling noise from downstairs, so I went to investigate. 42 00:02:39.199 --> 00:02:41.759 I entered the kitchen, and to my horror, there was 43 00:02:41.800 --> 00:02:45.199 a man stood there, a scraggly looking man. I knew 44 00:02:45.199 --> 00:02:49.240 straightway that this was Scraggly Dave. He was gaunt, with long, 45 00:02:49.280 --> 00:02:52.039 whispy hair, but with a nun on top, almost like 46 00:02:52.080 --> 00:02:55.879 a spaniel's ears. He stood motionless for a few moments 47 00:02:56.080 --> 00:02:59.360 until he gestured toward the dining room, which is when 48 00:02:59.400 --> 00:03:03.560 I saw him Captain Tom. He was stood with his 49 00:03:03.639 --> 00:03:07.360 Zimmer frame, smiling as if to say, don't worry about me. 50 00:03:07.719 --> 00:03:11.360 I'll be okay, and so will you. This gave me 51 00:03:11.400 --> 00:03:14.120 a warm comfort. I asked him what I should do, 52 00:03:14.479 --> 00:03:17.159 but he just smiled back and lifted his thumb aloft 53 00:03:17.280 --> 00:03:21.120 in his trademark pose, and then fading into the ether. 54 00:03:22.080 --> 00:03:24.520 I turned back to look at Scraggly Dave, but he 55 00:03:24.599 --> 00:03:28.039 too had vanished. I couldn't get back to sleep that night, 56 00:03:28.240 --> 00:03:31.199 hoping they might return once more, but they did not. 57 00:03:33.240 --> 00:03:35.479 Thank you for reading my story. I've had a few 58 00:03:35.479 --> 00:03:39.319 more paranormal experiences, but I will save those for another day. 59 00:03:40.360 --> 00:03:44.639 Keep up the good work, and thank you again, Jake. 60 00:03:49.080 --> 00:03:52.479 Our next experience comes to us from Haley, and Haley 61 00:03:52.520 --> 00:03:58.280 calls her experience the Woman in the White Dress. II, Nick, 62 00:03:58.599 --> 00:04:02.080 my son, Jacks and I. Your podcast the Endless scary 63 00:04:02.120 --> 00:04:04.840 stories and tales of the unexplained always have been so 64 00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:07.960 fascinating to us. Thank you for giving everyone a safe 65 00:04:07.960 --> 00:04:11.759 space to tell their stories and to feel heard. My 66 00:04:11.879 --> 00:04:14.719 whole life, I have always been sensitive to energy. I 67 00:04:14.759 --> 00:04:17.680 can feel darkness in certain places, and I remember being 68 00:04:17.759 --> 00:04:20.639 this way ever since I was a child. This story 69 00:04:20.639 --> 00:04:22.680 that I wanted to share with you takes place in 70 00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:25.680 the home of someone that I was previously a caregiver for. 71 00:04:26.279 --> 00:04:28.839 The man I was working for is an autistic man 72 00:04:29.040 --> 00:04:31.240 and is one of my favorite humans to this day. 73 00:04:31.800 --> 00:04:34.519 We will call him Be. I was hired by Bee's 74 00:04:34.600 --> 00:04:37.199 parents to be his caregiver, and I loved every day 75 00:04:37.199 --> 00:04:40.079 of it. One thing that I noticed about Bee's house 76 00:04:40.319 --> 00:04:42.879 is that it sometimes felt like I was being watched, 77 00:04:43.319 --> 00:04:45.360 not in a negative way, but in a way that 78 00:04:45.399 --> 00:04:48.000 made me feel like there were spirits in the home 79 00:04:49.079 --> 00:04:53.079 when watching Be. On this particular evening, it was just him, myself, 80 00:04:53.160 --> 00:04:55.920 and the family dogs. B was in his room watching 81 00:04:55.959 --> 00:04:57.920 one of his favorite movies, and I was in the 82 00:04:57.920 --> 00:05:00.959 family room with the two dogs watching true crime show 83 00:05:01.319 --> 00:05:03.360 when all of a sudden, I saw a glimpse of 84 00:05:03.399 --> 00:05:06.399 someone in all white out of the corner of my eye. 85 00:05:06.879 --> 00:05:09.040 As soon as I looked, I didn't see anything more, 86 00:05:09.319 --> 00:05:11.399 and I just played it off as my mind playing 87 00:05:11.439 --> 00:05:14.560 tricks on me. But then a few minutes later, the 88 00:05:14.600 --> 00:05:17.800 same thing happened, only this time the dogs noticed her too. 89 00:05:18.399 --> 00:05:20.800 There was a woman standing in the hallway wearing a 90 00:05:20.839 --> 00:05:24.120 long white wedding dress. She was small in stature, and 91 00:05:24.160 --> 00:05:27.480 she had beautiful, dark black hair. Just as quickly as 92 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:31.079 I noticed her, she turned the corner and disappeared. In 93 00:05:31.120 --> 00:05:33.879 that moment, I knew what I had seen and what 94 00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:37.160 the dogs saw too. There was no sense of darkness 95 00:05:37.240 --> 00:05:40.439 or evil. There was just a sense of wow that 96 00:05:40.560 --> 00:05:44.040 was strange, but I didn't feel anything negative. I knew 97 00:05:44.079 --> 00:05:46.480 what I saw, but also I knew that what I 98 00:05:46.519 --> 00:05:50.079 saw wasn't a real person. The dogs never barked, They 99 00:05:50.120 --> 00:05:52.920 simply just stared at her. With me, it was almost 100 00:05:53.040 --> 00:05:56.920 like they knew who the woman was. About fifteen minutes 101 00:05:56.959 --> 00:06:00.360 after seeing the woman, Bee's dad came home. I was 102 00:06:00.480 --> 00:06:02.600 visibly a little shaken, and he asked me if I 103 00:06:02.639 --> 00:06:05.920 was okay. I replied, I know that you might think 104 00:06:05.920 --> 00:06:07.839 that what I'm going to tell you is crazy, but 105 00:06:08.199 --> 00:06:10.360 I just saw a woman in the hallway wearing an 106 00:06:10.360 --> 00:06:14.120 all white wedding dress. He then replied, really, what did 107 00:06:14.160 --> 00:06:16.600 she look like? I told him that she was small 108 00:06:16.639 --> 00:06:19.480 and had dark hair, and he said, you know, my 109 00:06:19.519 --> 00:06:22.279 mom passed away recently before you started working for us. 110 00:06:22.680 --> 00:06:25.600 She passed away right here in this living room. She 111 00:06:25.720 --> 00:06:28.399 was on hospice, and we had her hospital bed right 112 00:06:28.439 --> 00:06:30.240 out here in the living room during the end of 113 00:06:30.279 --> 00:06:33.879 her life. Well, I was shocked. I truly believed the 114 00:06:33.920 --> 00:06:36.600 woman that I saw was his mother. He told me 115 00:06:36.639 --> 00:06:38.720 that he felt her presence there for a few months, 116 00:06:39.120 --> 00:06:42.240 and then he suddenly didn't any more. I could feel 117 00:06:42.240 --> 00:06:46.120 the energy change there over time as well. A few 118 00:06:46.120 --> 00:06:48.560 weeks later, I noticed that the family had put up 119 00:06:48.560 --> 00:06:50.639 a picture of both her and her husband on their 120 00:06:50.639 --> 00:06:53.920 wedding day. This just further clarified that the woman that 121 00:06:53.959 --> 00:06:57.680 I saw was in fact Bee's dad's mother, a k a. 122 00:06:58.040 --> 00:07:01.120 Bee's grandma. She looked just like she did in her 123 00:07:01.120 --> 00:07:04.600 wedding photo when I saw her. A beautiful, small woman 124 00:07:05.040 --> 00:07:08.959 with black hair. I just wanted to share this story 125 00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:11.800 with everyone today because I truly believe that our loved 126 00:07:11.800 --> 00:07:14.879 ones do stay with us after they pass on. I 127 00:07:14.959 --> 00:07:17.000 believe they stay for as long as we need them to, 128 00:07:17.360 --> 00:07:19.680 and that if you think you see something or someone 129 00:07:19.720 --> 00:07:22.240 out of the corner of your eye, don't tell yourself 130 00:07:22.240 --> 00:07:24.920 that you're crazy. There is so much more out there 131 00:07:24.959 --> 00:07:29.519 than we can even comprehend or explain. Thank you, Nick 132 00:07:29.519 --> 00:07:36.120 for letting me share my experience with you, Sincerely, Hailey, Hailey. 133 00:07:36.279 --> 00:07:38.399 Thank you to both you and your son Jack's for 134 00:07:38.519 --> 00:07:46.360 listening and for sharing your experience. Our next experience comes 135 00:07:46.360 --> 00:07:51.000 to us from Bridget, and Bridget calls their experience paranormal 136 00:07:51.000 --> 00:07:57.680 phenomenon in the Australian mining desert. Bridget says, Hi and Nick, 137 00:07:58.120 --> 00:08:00.240 I've written before, and I thought that, but it was 138 00:08:00.279 --> 00:08:04.319 about time that I sent through my two latest unexplainable experiences. 139 00:08:04.800 --> 00:08:07.920 These two experiences relate to my current hometown and the 140 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:10.639 job that I was hired in at the time. Although 141 00:08:10.680 --> 00:08:13.680 these stories are separate, they involved the same coworkers in 142 00:08:13.759 --> 00:08:17.680 similar times of day. My current hometown is located in 143 00:08:17.800 --> 00:08:21.720 rural northwest Queensland, Australia. It's a small city in the 144 00:08:21.720 --> 00:08:25.120 middle of the harsh Australian desert. As a mining town, 145 00:08:25.360 --> 00:08:27.720 it's no wonder that you hear all sorts of ghostly 146 00:08:27.800 --> 00:08:31.319 stories of the scattered active and non active mind sights 147 00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:34.679 from in town and on the outskirts. Presumably due to 148 00:08:34.720 --> 00:08:38.799 the fallen miners from past decades. There are also whispers 149 00:08:38.799 --> 00:08:44.200 of extraterrestrial activity in such locations. Any who, My first 150 00:08:44.200 --> 00:08:48.799 experience goes as such. About two years ago. My line 151 00:08:48.799 --> 00:08:51.200 of work at the time required me to attend to 152 00:08:51.279 --> 00:08:54.240 laundry duties for the mines, and my team worked in 153 00:08:54.279 --> 00:08:57.039 the main intown mine for most of it, but also 154 00:08:57.080 --> 00:09:00.399 required a daily afternoon commute to the sister mine, twenty 155 00:09:00.440 --> 00:09:03.799 minutes out of town. This commute involved myself and two 156 00:09:03.799 --> 00:09:07.960 other coworkers. This particular afternoon, we were actually on the 157 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:10.960 subject of ghostly stories about this mind sight that we 158 00:09:10.960 --> 00:09:13.360 were traveling to, and this is when we dared one 159 00:09:13.399 --> 00:09:15.840 of the coworkers to enter the lady's change house by 160 00:09:15.879 --> 00:09:18.600 herself to collect the laundry and to see if she 161 00:09:18.600 --> 00:09:22.440 could pick up any energies or witness any activity. Keep 162 00:09:22.480 --> 00:09:24.600 in mind, this was a change house that we needed 163 00:09:24.600 --> 00:09:27.080 to enter daily to get our duties done, but this 164 00:09:27.279 --> 00:09:30.799 change house was quite eerie, old and quiet, with having 165 00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:32.840 almost no one coming in or out of it. At 166 00:09:32.840 --> 00:09:35.759 the time that we were there, myself and the third 167 00:09:35.799 --> 00:09:39.559 coworker attended another change house while the lone worker followed 168 00:09:39.559 --> 00:09:43.559 our dare. Afterwards, she came out a little shaken but excited. 169 00:09:44.120 --> 00:09:47.960 She then explained something odd that she had witnessed. As 170 00:09:47.960 --> 00:09:50.440 you walk into the change house, on the right hand side, 171 00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:53.159 hanging on the wall sit several hooks mounted on the 172 00:09:53.159 --> 00:09:57.000 wall to hold hard hats, hard plastic safety hats required 173 00:09:57.039 --> 00:10:00.080 for the workplace. There were several of these hard hats 174 00:10:00.159 --> 00:10:03.120 that were hung on the hooks. As she walked past 175 00:10:03.159 --> 00:10:06.720 the hats, one fell, startling her a little. She didn't 176 00:10:06.759 --> 00:10:08.960 feel that she was close enough to it to accidentally 177 00:10:09.039 --> 00:10:11.759 knock it or anything, but she quickly brushed it off. 178 00:10:12.399 --> 00:10:14.879 A few seconds later, as she got on with collecting 179 00:10:14.879 --> 00:10:18.440 the laundry and soaking in the spooky atmosphere, she witnessed 180 00:10:18.440 --> 00:10:21.440 a second hard hat fall off the hook. She was 181 00:10:21.480 --> 00:10:24.240 no longer near that wall any more, and still there 182 00:10:24.279 --> 00:10:26.279 was no other soul that was in the change house. 183 00:10:26.720 --> 00:10:30.440 There was no draft or vibrations inside. She witnessed it 184 00:10:30.480 --> 00:10:34.159 fall directly an eye shot this hat. Her shaken, as 185 00:10:34.240 --> 00:10:36.919 there isn't physically any way these hats should have fallen. 186 00:10:37.240 --> 00:10:39.639 The hooks curve upwards in the air, and to grab 187 00:10:39.679 --> 00:10:41.440 a hat with your hand you need to lift it 188 00:10:41.519 --> 00:10:44.480 upwards to sort of unhook it. For both to fall 189 00:10:44.519 --> 00:10:47.679 directly downwards without her touching them, let alone not being 190 00:10:47.720 --> 00:10:51.320 near them, should not have been possible. She quickly dashed 191 00:10:51.360 --> 00:10:55.720 out and in her excitement, shared her happening with us. Now, 192 00:10:55.759 --> 00:10:58.320 I know that it's not a groundbreaking story, but it's 193 00:10:58.320 --> 00:11:01.080 something that plays on my mind from time to time. 194 00:11:02.720 --> 00:11:06.600 My second experience involves the same coworkers, the same commute, 195 00:11:07.039 --> 00:11:10.200 but a different day. We had finished our duties at 196 00:11:10.240 --> 00:11:13.080 the sister mine and we were traveling back via vehicle 197 00:11:13.120 --> 00:11:16.279 to the main mine. The terrain is unforgiving desert, and 198 00:11:16.320 --> 00:11:18.559 it was getting late in the afternoon, but it was 199 00:11:18.600 --> 00:11:22.799 still sunny. Truly, it's quite beautiful. We had just hit 200 00:11:22.840 --> 00:11:26.000 the highway and in mid conversation, we all stopped talking 201 00:11:26.240 --> 00:11:29.080 and the vehicle went dead silent on the side of 202 00:11:29.120 --> 00:11:31.879 the road. Something lingered that caught all of our eyes 203 00:11:31.960 --> 00:11:35.559 simultaneously and silence was required for us to figure out 204 00:11:35.759 --> 00:11:38.159 what the hell we were seeing. I was in the 205 00:11:38.159 --> 00:11:40.559 passenger seat and on the same side of the road 206 00:11:40.639 --> 00:11:43.840 that this thing was on. To the best of my 207 00:11:43.919 --> 00:11:47.440 ability to describe it, it was like a smoky jellyfish, 208 00:11:48.159 --> 00:11:50.480 just where the dead grass meets the bitumen. It was 209 00:11:50.519 --> 00:11:53.080 about the size of a large jellyfish, floating about a 210 00:11:53.120 --> 00:11:55.519 half a foot from the ground. It had a fixed 211 00:11:55.519 --> 00:11:58.759 shape or definition, as in the smoky texture was not 212 00:11:58.799 --> 00:12:02.200 completely free flowing, except for when this thing hit the ground. 213 00:12:02.679 --> 00:12:05.120 Imagine a parachute or a hot air balloon hitting the 214 00:12:05.120 --> 00:12:09.440 ground softly and the sides spilling outwards. This is what happened. 215 00:12:09.440 --> 00:12:12.679 When this thing softly hit the ground, the smoky texture 216 00:12:12.759 --> 00:12:16.399 spilled outwards. This all happened in a matter of seconds. 217 00:12:17.559 --> 00:12:19.519 After we passed it and it was out of sight, 218 00:12:19.919 --> 00:12:23.679 I muttered, what the hell was that. I actually wasn't 219 00:12:23.679 --> 00:12:26.000 sure if my coworkers had seen it, because it was 220 00:12:26.039 --> 00:12:28.639 me who stopped mid sentence, and I half thought that 221 00:12:28.679 --> 00:12:31.480 their silence was just waiting for me to finish. But 222 00:12:31.559 --> 00:12:34.840 to my validation, they exclaimed that they had also seen it, 223 00:12:35.120 --> 00:12:37.960 and they were all just lost for words. There was 224 00:12:38.000 --> 00:12:40.759 absolutely nothing around that area that could have been related 225 00:12:40.799 --> 00:12:44.000 to this thing, no animals in Australia that look anything 226 00:12:44.200 --> 00:12:47.919 like it, no fires around, and certainly nothing nearby that 227 00:12:48.000 --> 00:12:51.879 could justify anything smoky around it. It wasn't a shadow, 228 00:12:52.240 --> 00:12:55.720 as this thing had definition. We talked about it on 229 00:12:55.759 --> 00:12:59.440 the way back home, and the supposed extraterrestrial activity this 230 00:12:59.559 --> 00:13:02.919 land was no notorious for I did get an alien 231 00:13:03.039 --> 00:13:07.320 like feeling from this creature. When my shift was finished, 232 00:13:07.440 --> 00:13:09.159 I just had to go back to the site to 233 00:13:09.200 --> 00:13:11.960 see if I could find anything, but to my disappointment, 234 00:13:12.200 --> 00:13:15.559 I found nothing. I haven't seen anything like it again. 235 00:13:16.639 --> 00:13:19.919 If anyone has witnessed anything similar or has any stories 236 00:13:19.960 --> 00:13:22.879 of the Australian desert, I would love to hear it. 237 00:13:24.080 --> 00:13:32.000 Thanks Nick. Before I continue, please consider showing your support 238 00:13:32.039 --> 00:13:36.000 by subscribing, sharing, and giving the podcast a positive review. 239 00:13:36.399 --> 00:13:39.360 You can also visit me on Patreon, buy me a coffee, 240 00:13:39.519 --> 00:13:41.759 or a PayPal where you can make a donation or 241 00:13:41.799 --> 00:13:44.279 become a member. You can even join my Patreon for 242 00:13:44.360 --> 00:13:47.679 free and get access to future updates. And of course, 243 00:13:47.919 --> 00:13:49.960 just being a listener is the best support of all 244 00:13:50.240 --> 00:13:54.000 and I'm grateful to have you here. Now. Please stay 245 00:13:54.000 --> 00:13:57.679 tuned and I'll be right back. After these brief messages, 246 00:14:02.039 --> 00:14:05.080 our next experience of the night comes to us from Louise, 247 00:14:05.759 --> 00:14:13.519 and Louise's experience is called Invisible Monkeys. Louise says, when 248 00:14:13.559 --> 00:14:16.759 my brother was around three years old. He's twenty seven now, 249 00:14:16.960 --> 00:14:19.639 we lived in a house that had a very strange atmosphere. 250 00:14:20.159 --> 00:14:23.440 Even today, I still have nightmares about that house. Although 251 00:14:23.480 --> 00:14:26.759 I can't fully explain why. There was just something unsettling 252 00:14:26.799 --> 00:14:31.120 about it. Strange things seemed to happen there. One incident 253 00:14:31.159 --> 00:14:34.000 that has always stayed with me happened when I was seventeen. 254 00:14:34.600 --> 00:14:36.919 My brother and I shared a bedroom and our small 255 00:14:36.960 --> 00:14:39.360 dog was asleep at the foot of my bed in 256 00:14:39.399 --> 00:14:41.840 the middle of the night, completely out of nowhere. He 257 00:14:41.960 --> 00:14:45.720 woke up, leapt off the bed and started growling. Every 258 00:14:45.759 --> 00:14:48.840 hair on his body stood on end. He stared at 259 00:14:48.879 --> 00:14:51.960 something I couldn't see for a few moments before suddenly 260 00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:55.360 bolting out of the room at full speed. The house 261 00:14:55.399 --> 00:14:59.600 itself was unusual. It was known locally as the Smuggler's House, 262 00:14:59.720 --> 00:15:03.399 and it was located in a small seaside town in Essex, England. 263 00:15:04.039 --> 00:15:06.639 Built into the walls were hidden bookshelves that could be 264 00:15:06.639 --> 00:15:09.879 pulled out, revealing spaces behind them where you could crawl 265 00:15:09.919 --> 00:15:13.000 around inside the walls. From the time that my brother 266 00:15:13.039 --> 00:15:16.960 could talk, he was fascinated by what he called the monkeys. 267 00:15:17.559 --> 00:15:20.600 He would laugh with them, talk with them, and sometimes 268 00:15:20.679 --> 00:15:24.200 even appear to be having full conversations. At other times 269 00:15:24.320 --> 00:15:28.279 he would become terrified, screaming and running away and saying 270 00:15:28.320 --> 00:15:30.679 that one of the monkeys was trying to get him. 271 00:15:31.360 --> 00:15:33.840 One day, he explained them to me in more detail. 272 00:15:34.320 --> 00:15:36.840 He said that there were two monkeys, a girl monkey 273 00:15:36.879 --> 00:15:39.679 who was friendly, and a boy monkey who scared him 274 00:15:39.919 --> 00:15:43.519 and tried to catch him. Not long afterwards, my mom 275 00:15:43.600 --> 00:15:46.200 was chatting with our elderly nextdoor neighbor, who was in 276 00:15:46.240 --> 00:15:49.960 her nineties. During the conversation, my mom happened to mention 277 00:15:50.159 --> 00:15:52.840 that we lived in the old smuggler's house. The neighbor 278 00:15:52.879 --> 00:15:57.600 then casually replied that many years before, monkeys had actually 279 00:15:57.600 --> 00:16:00.559 been kept there. Now my mom was alone when she 280 00:16:00.639 --> 00:16:02.840 heard this, and she thought that it was a very 281 00:16:02.840 --> 00:16:06.399 odd coincidence. A few weeks later, she went to a 282 00:16:06.399 --> 00:16:09.639 psychic medium. Now the woman had never met my mom before, 283 00:16:09.879 --> 00:16:12.279 and she knew nothing about our family. We had only 284 00:16:12.320 --> 00:16:15.120 recently moved there from London, so there was no reason 285 00:16:15.159 --> 00:16:17.720 that she could have known anything about us. As soon 286 00:16:17.759 --> 00:16:20.519 as my mom sat down, the medium looked directly at 287 00:16:20.559 --> 00:16:24.639 her and asked, what's all this about the monkeys. Shocked, 288 00:16:24.879 --> 00:16:28.000 my mom told her everything about my brother and his stories. 289 00:16:28.679 --> 00:16:32.000 The woman listened and then simply said, don't worry about 290 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:35.799 the monkeys. They won't bother him any more. From that 291 00:16:35.879 --> 00:16:40.679 day forward, my brother never mentioned the monkeys again. To 292 00:16:40.720 --> 00:16:43.559 this day, none of us can explain it. Perhaps it 293 00:16:43.600 --> 00:16:47.320 was all just childhood imagination and coincidence, but considering the 294 00:16:47.399 --> 00:16:50.799 history of the house, the neighbor's comment, and the psychic's 295 00:16:50.879 --> 00:16:55.200 unexpected question, it remains one of the strangest experiences that 296 00:16:55.279 --> 00:17:02.840 our family has ever had. Our next experience comes to 297 00:17:02.919 --> 00:17:08.559 us from Jeremy, and Jeremy's experience is called Apparition at 298 00:17:08.559 --> 00:17:13.000 the Door. Jeremy says, Hey, I'm a big fan of 299 00:17:13.039 --> 00:17:15.480 your podcast. I love listening to your show during my 300 00:17:15.519 --> 00:17:19.160 work shift. Before my grandmother passed away, she told me 301 00:17:19.200 --> 00:17:22.319 a story. We live in the North Island in New Zealand, 302 00:17:22.519 --> 00:17:25.519 and this happened in a small rural place called Galatia 303 00:17:25.759 --> 00:17:28.920 in the mid nineteen sixties. My mum grew up in 304 00:17:28.960 --> 00:17:32.039 a big family. My grandfather was down in the milking 305 00:17:32.079 --> 00:17:34.799 shed one evening and my grandmother had the kids in 306 00:17:34.839 --> 00:17:37.079 the bath, and this is when there was a knock 307 00:17:37.119 --> 00:17:39.880 at the door. She answered the door to a man 308 00:17:39.960 --> 00:17:42.240 that was standing there in the evening, dressed in a 309 00:17:42.319 --> 00:17:46.279 nice suit, which was very strange. She asked him, can 310 00:17:46.319 --> 00:17:48.480 I help you? And the man asked her about the 311 00:17:48.519 --> 00:17:52.279 neighbors whereabouts now? The neighbors stayed abroad for a certain 312 00:17:52.279 --> 00:17:55.319 amount of time every year, so she explained that he 313 00:17:55.440 --> 00:17:59.119 wasn't home. This man thanked her and bit her farewell. 314 00:17:59.720 --> 00:18:02.960 She closed the door, looked out the window, and the 315 00:18:02.960 --> 00:18:07.039 man was gone. My grandfather returned from the milking shed, 316 00:18:07.160 --> 00:18:09.680 to which my grandmother asked him, did you see a 317 00:18:09.720 --> 00:18:13.880 man leaving the house? My grandfather, obviously confused, said that no, 318 00:18:14.039 --> 00:18:19.559 he hadn't. Not a man, not a vehicle, nothing at all. Well, 319 00:18:19.720 --> 00:18:22.599 months went by and the neighbor returned. He came to 320 00:18:22.640 --> 00:18:24.880 my family's home to collect his mail and to have 321 00:18:24.920 --> 00:18:28.240 a cup of tea. My grandmother told him about the visitor, 322 00:18:28.440 --> 00:18:31.039 and he asked her to describe him, to which she did. 323 00:18:31.759 --> 00:18:35.160 The neighbor went silent and looked spooked, so my grandmother 324 00:18:35.200 --> 00:18:38.440 asked him what was wrong. He then said, you have 325 00:18:38.599 --> 00:18:47.039 just explained my father. He passed away a few years ago. 326 00:18:47.279 --> 00:18:50.519 Our next experience comes to us from Stefan, and their 327 00:18:50.559 --> 00:18:57.519 experience is called Ghostly Footsteps and Unknown Shadows. Steffan shared 328 00:18:57.519 --> 00:19:00.000 a previous experience with me, which I aired an episode 329 00:19:00.200 --> 00:19:03.039 for seventy one, and it was called Stone Tape Theory. 330 00:19:03.519 --> 00:19:06.200 To this day, it remains one of the most remarkable 331 00:19:06.240 --> 00:19:08.680 and touching experiences that I have ever had the honor 332 00:19:08.720 --> 00:19:11.799 of reading. If you haven't listened to it, I highly 333 00:19:11.799 --> 00:19:17.799 recommend doing so. Stefan says, greetings, Nick. First, I want 334 00:19:17.799 --> 00:19:20.119 to thank you for presenting my story in episode four 335 00:19:20.200 --> 00:19:23.160 seventy one, most kind of you. I do have a 336 00:19:23.160 --> 00:19:25.960 couple of short encounters that happened well before the Stone 337 00:19:26.000 --> 00:19:30.359 Tape incident. This first event I call ghostly footsteps, and 338 00:19:30.440 --> 00:19:32.839 it happened to my parents when they were first married. 339 00:19:33.400 --> 00:19:36.279 My father repeated this story several times over the years, 340 00:19:36.519 --> 00:19:40.000 with my mother corroborating it, and she, by nature, had 341 00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:44.240 no time for what she called supernatural silliness except for 342 00:19:44.319 --> 00:19:49.200 this event. I believe this took place in nineteen sixty one. 343 00:19:49.640 --> 00:19:52.559 My newlywoed parents were living in Bryan, Texas at the 344 00:19:52.599 --> 00:19:55.759 time while my father was finishing his degree at Texas 345 00:19:55.759 --> 00:19:58.200 A and M. The place where they were living was 346 00:19:58.240 --> 00:20:01.480 a farmhouse style home whose story with a porch that 347 00:20:01.519 --> 00:20:04.319 wrapped around three of the four sides. It was owned 348 00:20:04.359 --> 00:20:07.200 by an elderly lady who rented out the upstairs bedrooms 349 00:20:07.279 --> 00:20:10.519 to earn some extra money. My parents rented a bedroom, 350 00:20:10.599 --> 00:20:13.240 and across the hall my dad's best friend and his 351 00:20:13.319 --> 00:20:16.640 wife rented another. I'm not sure how many bedrooms there 352 00:20:16.680 --> 00:20:19.559 were on the second floor, but for this story that 353 00:20:19.720 --> 00:20:23.920 isn't relevant. According to my father, there were a few times, 354 00:20:24.119 --> 00:20:26.759 usually in the late evening or early morning, when the 355 00:20:26.799 --> 00:20:29.440 sound of footsteps would be heard coming up the staircase, 356 00:20:29.759 --> 00:20:32.599 passing their bedroom door, and then stopping at the wall 357 00:20:32.680 --> 00:20:35.279 at the end of the hallway. A couple of times, 358 00:20:35.519 --> 00:20:38.200 my father heard the footsteps start up the staircase and 359 00:20:38.279 --> 00:20:41.000 he opened the bedroom door to find no one. Yet 360 00:20:41.000 --> 00:20:44.759 the footsteps continued right past him and kept going. Even 361 00:20:44.799 --> 00:20:46.720 his best friend poked his heat out once to hear 362 00:20:46.720 --> 00:20:50.599 the footsteps passing by his room. No living person nor 363 00:20:50.680 --> 00:20:54.720 ghostly apparition was ever seen, just the steady, heavy tread 364 00:20:54.759 --> 00:20:58.160 of footsteps walking to the end of the hallway. The 365 00:20:58.200 --> 00:21:00.920 elderly lady who owned the home had the house renovated 366 00:21:00.960 --> 00:21:03.839 shortly after her husband passed away. He had been a 367 00:21:03.839 --> 00:21:07.839 traveling salesman prior to his passing. Remember this was nineteen 368 00:21:07.880 --> 00:21:11.119 sixty one, and during the fifties and early sixties, a 369 00:21:11.160 --> 00:21:14.720 man could make a fairly decent living traveling around selling whatever. 370 00:21:15.559 --> 00:21:18.519 My father believed that every now and again the husband 371 00:21:18.519 --> 00:21:21.559 would come home from a business trip and would go upstairs, 372 00:21:21.839 --> 00:21:25.079 hence the sound of footsteps on the staircase and passing 373 00:21:25.079 --> 00:21:28.359 the bedrooms. The interesting thing is that the wall at 374 00:21:28.359 --> 00:21:30.759 the end of the hallway was originally where the master 375 00:21:30.839 --> 00:21:35.440 bedroom sat prior to the renovation. Apparently the husband just 376 00:21:35.519 --> 00:21:39.480 wanted to come home and go to bed. My mother 377 00:21:39.559 --> 00:21:42.240 told me that late one night she awoke to see 378 00:21:42.279 --> 00:21:44.279 an older man standing at the foot of the bed 379 00:21:44.559 --> 00:21:47.519 and staring at her with an irritated look of curiosity 380 00:21:47.599 --> 00:21:50.640 on his face. As my mother came more fully awake, 381 00:21:51.079 --> 00:21:54.599 the man faded. She thought that the apparition was probably 382 00:21:54.720 --> 00:21:57.759 just remnants of a dream, but my father didn't think so, 383 00:21:58.359 --> 00:22:01.480 he was pretty sure was the landlady husband, wondering what 384 00:22:01.519 --> 00:22:05.200 these strangers were doing in his house. There is a 385 00:22:05.279 --> 00:22:08.559 last and somewhat humorous anecdote to this story, and this 386 00:22:08.599 --> 00:22:12.359 occurred after the ghostly figure incident. One night, it had 387 00:22:12.400 --> 00:22:15.079 been rather windy, the moon was casting quite a bit 388 00:22:15.119 --> 00:22:18.640 of light into their bedroom, and a noise finally roused 389 00:22:18.640 --> 00:22:21.519 my father. Now bear in mind that my father could 390 00:22:21.559 --> 00:22:24.720 sleep through a nuclear detonation, so this noise had to 391 00:22:24.759 --> 00:22:30.759 have been either loud or repetitively irritating, or most likely both. Nevertheless, 392 00:22:30.920 --> 00:22:33.680 he groggily opened his eyes and saw what he thought 393 00:22:33.720 --> 00:22:37.000 was a person in white standing just inside the doorway. 394 00:22:37.559 --> 00:22:39.720 Thinking that there was an intruder in the room, my 395 00:22:39.799 --> 00:22:42.039 father leaned over the edge of the bed, pulled out 396 00:22:42.039 --> 00:22:46.079 his grandfather's old double barreled shotgun, closed the breach rose 397 00:22:46.160 --> 00:22:48.480 up in the bed, and he aimed down the barrels. 398 00:22:49.200 --> 00:22:51.759 By that time he was a bit more awake, and 399 00:22:51.839 --> 00:22:54.240 as he had the figure in his sights, he slowly 400 00:22:54.240 --> 00:22:57.720 eased his finger off the triggers and wisely muttered to himself, 401 00:22:58.400 --> 00:23:02.839