Trip's Stories

I’ve had so many paranormal encounters in my lifetime, I figured it would be worth telling. My writing skills are a little rusty, but that’s what editors are for. I want to create an illustrated book, complete with drawings, and photos of specific locations. Most people won’t believe the stories, and I’m sure some of them may be explained naturally. So far I haven’t been able to find a natural explanation of most of the events. It’s not just ghost encounters. I have a bigfoot story, that’s pretty funny. Stories of predictions that have come true. A couple of UFO encounters, one really close. Most of my stories are firsthand, I have some that friends and relatives have experienced. I have another one that sounds so made up it even has a, sort of, punch line... Trip

The Storm Drains

I remember when I lived across from a large cemetery in Dayton, Ohio. I was about 13 years old, and I lived in the house about 2 years. Almost every night about 2 or 3 in the morning I’d wake up to a baby crying that came from our attic. It would cry for a long time.

I never told anyone in the family, because they probably wouldn’t have believed me, but found out later I wasn’t the only one who heard it. I went up to the attic several times, but found nothing that would make the noise. I considered the notion that it might be a cat, but the crying sound was too distinctive. It was definitely a baby’s cry.

There was a nursery about half a block down the street, but they were closed at night. We knew all of our neighbors, and none of them had a baby. There were plenty of kids in our neighborhood, but most were my age or older. The crying went on most every night, and continued until we moved away. It was very creepy, especially at that age. That was my third encounter with a ghost.

The other two took place when I was about 7 or 8 years old near my grade school Cleveland Elementary. The school had a huge public park right behind it, with a woods attached to the park. In the woods was a storm drain that turned into part of Dayton’s drainage system. The first ghostly encounter took place in the storm system.

About 7 boys, including myself, wanted to explore the storm drains in Dayton. It had an entry point right in the middle of the woods. We all brought flashlights, and went exploring. Now, that was very dangerous to do, because a boy died in those tunnels many years ago. It was said to be haunted by that boy.

We went inside to follow the drains all the way to the river downtown. That was tricky, because the elevation changed in the tunnels. That’s how the boy died. He fell into one of the lower systems and drowned.

We went in, I was second, and our intentions were to veer right at the first intersection. Instead of turning right the first boy made a left, that went under the baseball diamond. I asked the boy in front of me where the first one was going, and he just shrugged. We went all the way under the baseball diamond, and found a girls panties. We all had a laugh, thinking somebody else did a little exploring of their own.

After a while, we became bored, and one of the boys said we should do something else. We turned around in the opposite order we came in, it was hard to pass anyone because the tunnel was so narrow. We made our way back to the opening, and came out one at a time.

All but one was out, when the last one stopped just inside by the intersection. We told him to hurry, because we were going to play something else. The boy inside didn’t say anything, but turned around, and he went back to the right towards downtown. At first we thought, man he has a pair to head that way by himself. Then we noticed we were all outside. Who the heck was he?

Remember, I said I was the second one to go in, but the boy two ahead of me decided to turn left instead of right. After talking it over we decided it must have been the boy who died years ago. He kept us from going towards the river, where it was dangerous. Then, like boys that age, we got the heck out of there. I’m sure to this day, all the boys who are still alive, tell this story. It was one for the books. By the way, we never ventured into the storm drains again... Lesson learned... Trip

The Path

My second encounter with a ghost happened close to the first encounter. It happened in the same Cleveland Woods just behind my old elementary school. A lot of kids used to get together in the woods and play Ditchem’. For those who never heard of it, it’s a game of team tag. The game is played over a fairly large area to make it interesting.

Cleveland Woods used to be a large stand of woods, considering it’s urban setting. The best thing is that it had lots of hiding places, but even in a large woods new hiding places became scarce.

My best friend, at the time, and I went to the woods, one afternoon, to find a new hiding place. We entered the woods on the residential side, and walked in only about 50 feet. The woods were full of paths and we found one that was covered over by bushes on both sides. We had to stoop down to go down the path, but it wasn’t that difficult. The path started at the top of a hill, and went straight down to the bottom. At the bottom the path ended in a large group of bushes that had a large clearing in the center. It was hidden from view, but you could see through the bushes to look outside. It even had enough space for both of us to stand up.

The sun was getting high and cast our shadows against the inner wall of the bushes. There were two of us, and three shadows. I’d wave my arms, and my shadow would move with me. Then Mike, my best friend, waved his arms and his shadow moved. The shadow between us didn’t move. Then we both waved our arms, and our shadows moved, but not the shadow casts between ours. Suddenly the middle shadow started to move. It’s arms raised up like it was getting ready to grab us. It freaked us out so bad we ran back up the hill, and all the way home.

Home was about two miles from the woods, and by the time we got there our fear was replaced with amazement. We got as many of our friends as we could find, and went back to the woods to show them the ghostly shadow. We entered the woods from the same place we did earlier. We went in about 50 feet. The path was there, but the bushes were all gone. We checked to make sure we were in the right place, but they just vanished. It’s like the bushes were never there. I hate to think what would have happened if we hadn’t ran. Would we have been just another couple of missing children, never to be found again? Who knows... Trip

Commanding the Wind

I had a couple paranormal experiences when I was in the Navy. Well, I’m not sure it this story should be lumped in with the paranormal, but what the heck. This story isn’t scary or creepy in the least. It was a weird set of events that would’ve caused a nervous laughter, if you were there.

In the late 1970’s I had shore duty in Norfolk, VA., on the CINCLANTFLT Headquarters. That’s Commander in Chief of the Atlantic Fleet, for those who aren’t familiar with Navy lingo. After an evening watch, somebody, I can't remember who, made me real mad. It was one of my supervisors.

Two of my friends were walking back to the barracks with me. I was ranting about whatever it was, and I was really ticked off. I told them I wished the wind would blow this blanking (fill in your standard Navy curse words) base away. Just after I said that a gale force wind came ripping through our base. It surprised me, and I said, “man I wished this would stop,” and it did. I thought that was so cool I started to forget about whatever it was that made me mad.

I commanded the wind to blow again. It did, even harder than before. I pointed at the barracks front door, and I commanded it to open! The door suddenly sprung open, and I was starting to feel good. I walked through the door, turned around, and said stop. Just as suddenly as it started, the wind calmed down, and remained calm the rest of the night.

After the wind died the door gently closed. I was standing there smiling waiting for my friends to come inside. The chose to stay outside. They just stood there with slacked jaws, and a dumb expression on their faces. I waited for a minute, and they still didn't come inside.

I went out and asked them if they were coming in. They asked me what the heck just happened. I told them it was just a coincidence, but it was pretty cool. It took a long time to convince them I didn't have anything to do with it, but I guess from their perspective it did look mighty suspicious. The story spread around the entire barracks. The Navy, in general, are a very superstitious group. I’m sure I didn’t help ease their superstitions. As I look back, it was pretty funny, but a total coincidence. I’m sure to this very day you couldn’t convince my friends it was a coincidence.
Trip

Strange Dreams?

Not long after the seeming magical wind incident, I started having really strange dreams. It’s not that I haven’t had strange dreams all my life, but these, some 16 dreams, were all one, and the same. From my last story I told you of my two friends. What I didn’t tell you was, they were both my roommates.

Before I get into the dream itself, it’s important to give you the layout of our room. As you’re facing the room from the hallway, the door was on the left side of the room. From the inside it was on the right. The rooms in the barracks were fairly large and very comfortable. As you walk into the door, on the left were three sets of lockers. Mine was the last, closest to the window facing the front of our barracks. Next to the lockers was my bed. The head of my bed was just below the windows that stretched across the entire width of our room. Next was my roommate, and best friend, Tiny’s bed. His bed was facing a different direction from my bed. His bed stretched along with the windows. The head of his bed was against the far wall to the right as you’re facing from the hallway. Next to Tiny was our dressers. Three sets stretched across the wall. Mine was the last. Then, came Little Joe’s bed. The head of his bed faced the same wall Tiny’s did, and stretched along the front wall nearest the hallway. In the center of the room was a table and chairs, with a few other comfortable chairs cast around, and often moved for individual comfort. Bare with me, the room layout is important.

I started having dreams. My roommates and I were very good friends, so I told them about the dreams. I was laying in my bed, and I would suddenly wake up to somebody standing beside my bed. It was an old man with long grey hair. He had deep set eyes, and a strong nose. He had a gaunt face, and very pale. He was tall, thin, and dressed in an old dark grey suit.

He would just stand there looking out the window. He didn’t move or look at me. I felt very sleepy, and scared, but I would fight to stay awake. I, eventually lost the fight to stay awake, and I fell hard fast asleep. I really meant fell hard, because I felt like I had vertigo, falling backwards. As I landed I startled awake. There was nobody there. I looked over at my roommates, and they were snoring, fast asleep.

The next morning I told my roommates the dream. They were already a little afraid of me, because they thought I conjured the wind. As time went by, I had the same dream many more times. Each time I told my roommates, who grew a little concerned. Most of my friends knew of my dreams. They waited, as if on the edge of their seats, to see what would happen next. In total I had the dream about 16 times. All but one happened in my barracks room. Once on leave at home in Dayton, Ohio, it happened. The man never moved, and never looked at me. He was very creepy to the extreme. If you could remember Creepy and Eerie Magazines, he favored Uncle Creepy. Each dream was the same ending in that falling sensation, and a startled wake up call. They were all the same except the very last dream. This is where it gets creepy.

Time went on. Many months have past, almost a year. I was getting ready to change duty stations. I was going from Norfolk, VA., to Keflavik, Iceland. If I’m not mistaken, the last dream occurred sometime in October of 1979. I woke up the same as I did with all the dreams. The man was standing at the head of my bed facing the window. He stared out the window for about 15 seconds.

Suddenly, he turned away from me, and walked over towards my dresser. On top of my dresser was a stack of about ten books. As anybody knows, books comes in handy in a midnight watch. There wasn’t much to do on the third shift other than clean our workspace. When that was over, we passed time by reading, or sneaking in a game of chess, or cards. I enjoyed reading, and I would read several books at once.

He picked up the stack of books, and carried them over to the other end of the dresser. Before he set them down, he took the bottom book and placed it on top of the stack. Then he turned around, and walked back to the head of my bed. He stopped there, and started to stare out the window. He stared out only for a couple of seconds. Then he looked down directly into my eyes. He smiled a real mischievous grin. Then he disappeared before my eyes. All the time I fought to stay awake, but like usual I dropped into sleep. Only this time I didn’t startle awake. I slept the whole night.

The next morning I woke up, as did my roommates. I sat up very quickly, and informed them I had the dream, but it was different. I told them the man moved, and as I told them about the books I pointed to where my books where. They were moved. I asked my roommates if they moved the books, and they denied moving them. He took the bottom book, and placed it on top. As I told them that I was walking to where the books were moved.

Little Joe looked over at the books by his bed, and scooted away from them. Tiny got up and looked at the same time I got to them. We both read the title of the book, and this is where the story sounds made up. The punch line to beat all punch lines. The title of the book, “And the Devil Will Drag You Under.” We all froze for a moment. A little nervous laughter. Tiny went back to sit down. Little Joe just looked scared. “What the (Navy Cursing)!”

We didn’t know what to think. We discussed it, but there was mostly silence. Soul searching to the tenth power. What did it mean? Was it a warning? Just an evil spirit? Was it an extreme case of sleep paralysis, or was it more. The next month I left my duty station. I went home for an extended leave, then reported to my new duty station at the first of the year. I never had a dream like that again. That is if it was a dream... Trip

Facing my Fears

This story happened when I was about 16 years old. It happened just before the bigfoot incident (I’ll tell you later). It’s a story about facing my fears, and a voice that gave me peace of mind. The voice seemed to have a power over me. It calmed me, and put me into a dreamlike state. If they could bottle that feeling the world would be in a more peacefuly state of mind. If felt like a bit of heaven.

I remember one evening while visiting my uncle. It was still daylight, but dusk was approaching. I decided to go back into the woods, and do a little hunting. I took a shotgun, and shells, but I didn't load the gun. I was a teenager, and I wasn't much of a hunter, nor was I very experienced with the wilderness. Well, we played in the woods as children, but that was in a big group of kids during the daytime. I was a little afraid to go into the woods by myself, especially this close to dusk.

I went behind my uncles house to the edge of the woods at the top of the hill. I stopped, and almost backed out of going because it was getting so late. Just as I started to turn to go back I heard a voice. A male voice that calmly said, "Don't be afraid." The voice eased my fears. I went into a kind of dreamlike daze, and proceeded on. I walked through the woods without a care in the world. It was very surreal.

I was gone for a while, because when I got back to the hill behind my uncle's house, it was dark. When I got there I snapped out of the daze, and I realized that I just walked deep into the woods by myself. If anybody knows this part of Kentucky, the woods at night can be very dangerous. We have all sorts of wild animals, high cliffs, and a lot of deadfall. It’s easy to get lost in the daytime, let alone the night.

I went down to my uncle's house, and returned his shotgun. Then I walked home. I never told my uncle about the voice, or the dazed state during my little stroll. I don't know who’s voice it was. I couldn’t tell you if it was my guardian angel, or just a friendly spirit. Maybe even the Lord Himself. I don't know. Heck, wouldn’t it be funny if it was somebody hiding behind a tree. One thing I do know, it wasn’t just my imagination. There was just too much to the whole thing.

The voice urged me past my fears, and I took that first step. I remember the whole trip, but it was strange. I had a real sense of the forest, and it seemed like something was with me just out of site. Every now and then I would get a glimpse of something with me. It’s funny, but looking back it seemed as though I witnessed the whole thing outside of my body. It was like I was walking beside myself. Wouldn’t it be funny if the presence walking by my side was me? To this day, I wouldn't go into the woods that late by myself. It's just too dangerous. I live in a very rural area with lots of wilderness. I live between a state park, and a national wildlife preserve. It's very beautiful, but it can be very dangerous, too. Many people die each year, because they don’t appreciate the terrain... Trip

Bigfoot

The story happened just after I heard the voice in the woods. I never believed in monsters, until I had this experience. The Bigfoot legend has been around since ancient times. It is a part of Native American folklore, and is said to be a friend of mankind. In my experience, it didn’t seem too friendly.

I remember when I was a teenager and my family came to Kentucky to visit my Grandmother. We’ve lived in this area of Kentucky off and on all my life. This time we were just visiting. It was late summer and we stayed for several days. My cousin James lived with my grandmother. He did as few chores as possible, especially when we came down to visit. We liked to run around in the woods of Devil's Creek and Mill Creek. Two huge wilderness areas divided by a long ridge. The area plays a big part in the John Swift silvermine, and lost treasure legend.

One of Jame’s chores was to feed a mule owned by my uncle. He kept the mule behind my grandmother's house just past her vegetable garden. James would normally feed the mule during the day, but forgot on this particular day. He complained about having to feed the mule in the middle of the night, so I told him I'd go with him. The moon was full and visibility was pretty good. James carried the feed in a bucket and we took a path through the garden to the main dirt road. It was a short walk to the fence where the mule was kept. There was a very large black gum tree which doubled as a corner post for the barbed wire fence. I waited at the black gum tree as James hopped the fence and went down to the pen to feed the mule.

The road was about halfway up the hill that the farm was on, and at the top of the hill was a barn. I leaned against the black gum while James was feeding the mule. The barn wasn't more than 50 ft. away from where I was standing. All of a sudden we heard a big crashing noise. I turned and looked up towards the barn, and there in the doorway stood a very large and hairy looking thing. It stood as tall as the barn doors, and stood on two feet. It was huge, and I didn't take time to ponder on just what the heck it was.

I ran as fast as I could back to the house. I heard large footsteps behind me, which scared the crap out of me, because I thought that the monster was chasing me. I was running as fast as I could, but I had to look back to see what was following me. I looked back and saw James fast on my heels. He hurdled the barbed wire fence at full run. He yelled out, "Did you see that?" We stopped at the back door of my grandmother's house and turned to see where it was. We didn't see it. We were out of breath and white as ghosts. Visibly shaken we went inside to tell what had happened, nobody believed us. Believe me, that incident left a lasting impression.

A few years later, to show you my luck, my parents moved back to Kentucky, and they built our home right in beside the barn where it all happened. Needless to say, it took a long time to get used to sleeping there. Every little noise would wake me up. On night's when the moon was full my mind would always drift back to that night. I don't think I ever got a good night's sleep at that house. The sighting took place back in the mid 70's. There were lots of Bigfoot sightings all around America during that time. Even in Kentucky I distinctly remember hearing of a sighting somewhere around Irvine, Kentucky. This was my sighting. I can't say it was a bigfoot. I'm not even sure they exist. Something does. Throughout my life I've heard of several Bigfoot sightings. Several from around the county where I live.
Trip

I believe I have my time-line wrong on the last two stories. I reported them as the mid 1970’s, and more specifically 1976. That can’t be right. It would be more like 1973 to no later than late summer of 1975. It’s been so long ago I mixed up my dates, but the stories themselves are etched into my memory.

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