Good morning/evening/afternoon (delete as applicable) - wow, why do I suddenly feel so NERVOUS?

So you wanna know about ME? Okay, if you insist.

I'm a bloke the last time I checked, living in the South of England (in the deadly dull but kinda pretty Home Counties), married for over two decades - and Gawd bless 'er perseverance - in fact, I blame/credit my wife for introducing me to the wild and weird world of... what's the buzzword du jour?High Strangeness, that's the bugger. And I don't mean I started swinging from the chandelier dressed as Thor with a Luis Elizondo goatee, even though I have 100% Latin blood gushing through my veins.


UFOs interested me as a kid as soon as I saw the headline, "UFO LANDS IN SUFFOLK! AND THAT'S OFFICIALLY A CUE FOR MIRRORMAN'S GLORIOUS THREAD!" So, yup, I've lurked around the UFO/Aliens forum for a few months - the only topic I've visited on ATS, so I'm fairly tunnel-visioned so far. Yes, that's how adventurous I am! But I have been truly astonished at the level of expertise and powers of presentation shown by many ATS-ers on the topic. I worked in the Criminal Justice System as a Judge's Clerk for over 20 years, so I may even have bumped into the legendary Isaac Koi at some point during a trial, who knows? I like The GUT, too. Oh, and that Springer geezer's alright, innee? Hell, I bow to you ALL. Well, most.


Rendlesham led to me devouring UFO stories, new and old, for a few years until jobs, relationships, getting wildly drunk, making lots of mistakes, wondering what this crazy, loud life entails... all kinda diverted my attention away from the subject until I met my other half. She soon related a bizarre tale from her teens of witnessing a gigantic black triangle UFO over Essex at least a decade before the Belgians showed us how to rock'n'roll to this stuff properly. She had no interest in Ufology and it terrified both her and her best friend (always handy to have a +1 in these situations!), but she oddly never spoke or thought about it again until she'd met yours truly and we were watching a TV show, 'Strange But True', presented by Michael Aspel (a sort of a low-powered, rather glum Brit version of George Knapp whilst the series aired over 2 seasons).


She screamed in surprise when the Belgian flap was featured in one show, jabbing her finger at the screen, yelling, "THAT'S XXXing IT! I REMEMBER NOW!!" I was taken aback as she explained her reaction and previous experience. I rubbed my chin as my interest in the subject rose again, and my own personal experience of Strangeness soon followed when we visited her parents' home in Cornwall on the western coast.


I'd been there many times over three years, but my wife and family deliberately never told me about bizarre, very potent poltergeist activity that had occurred, as well as the occasional UFO yellow 'disc' flying over and - get this - a pair of fiery red eyes - nothing else, just eyes - staring at my brother-in-law from the back seat of his car. My wife's uncle swears he was confronted by and 'threatened' by a large black dog that' materialised' in the spare bedroom. On another occasion, my father-in-law's bed shook up and down violently whilst he was in it. My mother-in-law was so frightened by loud thumps on the walls of the lounge one evening that she left the house. Add 'black clouds' drifting across rooms and it all sounds like a mini-mart version of Skinwalker Ranch!


No wonder they kept it from me, a complete virgin in all these matters! I never saw UFOs - dammit - or 'beasties', but eventually had one helluva night and subsequent morning of poltergeist/ghost activity that, after the initial shock, utterly fascinated me and prompted me to seek Answers. Briefly (coz I must have outstayed this Welcome by a long shot), when the house was empty aside from me and my better half, at 3am I was awoken by a shuffling sound outside the shut bedroom door, accompanied by what sounded like clanking chains (something I often hesitate in describing to friends and colleagues due to its sheer cheesiness, right?). I nudged my wife. Then the door handle rattled up and down, loudly and very violently. Naturally I thought it was an intruder and leapt out of bed, wielding a Playstation console to whack the sod if need be - the only thing I could grab in the spur of the moment. Then silence... until the door suffered an extremely loud thump as it swung open. Nothing/nobody there.


The next morning, footsteps were heard outside the door. We called my bro-in-laws's name, but the house was empty, yet the footsteps encircled us, entered the kitchen, leading to the sound of the cutlery drawer being opened, but not physically opened. We heard the rustle of forks/knives before the footsteps departed as nonchalantly as they'd arrived. I found it fascinating rather than frightening on that occasion.

I've never posted this anywhere before, but ATS seemed the perfect venue because you all seem a VERY smart and understanding crowd.

Blimey, that was a bit long-winded, sorry.

But yeah, HI!

Welcome,

I enjoyed reading your post and look forward to reading you next post

Have a great weekend

Great intro! Hello and welcome! I look forward to seeing you around the boards.

a reply to: ConfusedBrit

Nice to meet ya bloke.

Welcome to the site.

Welcome indeed and that was one heck of an intro---fired me up and made me chuckle a bit too. I can tell you're gonna be fun, mate, and a sharp eye.

What a treat to read something by someone that knows the difference between Their and There.

I don't even bother to relate my high strange events anymore because of the trolls. Welcome.

a reply to: ConfusedBrit

Welcome to ATS!

Welcome to the nut house.

Lots of nuts in here. Nice house though.

If you would like a spiffy avatar click the link to find wonderful members who would like nothing more than to make you an Avatar. All you need is a starting place for them.

Click Me ... it costs nothing, nada, 0

P

originally posted by: pheonix358


If you would like a spiffy avatar click the link to find wonderful members who would like nothing more than to make you an Avatar. All you need is a starting place for them.

Click Me ... it costs nothing, nada, 0

P

........what's the catch??

Welcome to ATS!

That's a great intro. Looking forward to seeing your input in some of our more interesting "high strangeness" threads.

-dex

I didn't even read it, and now I feel left out.

Thanks

It funny , because I'm sure we met yesterday ? Do you remember this part of the conversation ?

"Look lads , it's an amateur ghost ! And lo and behold it was very obviously the Walter Mitty of the spirit world , posing as an idb . "

Down by the river ? Wouldnt that be a coincidence !?

a reply to: ConfusedBrit

Great intro, when I’ve looked into poltergeist activity before I’ve come to the conclusion that it has something to do with unconscious psi phenomenon particularly coming from teenage girls. Your account has just dissuaded me of that notion though.

It seems connected to the house itself in your story, which is the common belief so I wonder if some places are literally portals to other dimensions, where the veil is thin between this and other worlds or timelines..

Either way thanks for peaking my interest in this stuff again and looking forward to reading your other posts.

Welcome to the sideshow!
Speak your mind as you see it, screw any detractors and trolls, and above ALL have a good time while you're here~

steady as she goes southern fellow of these isles.

nice intro

f

a reply to: ConfusedBrit

Welcome to ATS

If your posts here are anything like your introduction I really look forward to reading more

JB

Thanks for the warm welcomes and the warning about trolls - trolls are welcome to spout whatever they please so long as it's not switchblades at dawn. After all, it comes with the territory, especially THIS territory! I feel I've gauged the general temperature of ATS after a few months lurking in the shadows - I'm locked and loaded, even though I have no agenda whatsoever beyond: "Mannn, what the beejayzus is going on???"

originally posted by: The GUT
Welcome indeed and that was one heck of an intro---fired me up and made me chuckle a bit too. I can tell you're gonna be fun, mate, and a sharp eye.

I listed a handful of posters I've admired (among many) whilst lurking, and I gotta say you never fail to bring a big, broad stupid grin to my face as you tackle Strangeness with incisive info mixed with genuine wit that always makes my day.

Oh, and you can have that fiver back, GUT, I don't need sweeteners up to shower the praise. I

As far as labels go, I guess I'm a sceptic - I can only relate what I perceived myself but cannot rush to explanations beyond "Well, that was a bit NUTS". Hence why I registered at ATS. I take my wife and families' personal experiences with a tiny pinch of salt due to the 'Seeing Is Believing' gene I possess that I can't shake, but even if I HAD shared the more extreme events, I still wouldn't leap to conclusions.

But they do 'power me up' to seek the truth whilst I nod or shake my head, scratch and wonder. What ATS has achieved for me already is to dump into my own fake bucket dozens of UFO cases down the years that I once respected and admired. It's like seeing your favourite kittens drowned in front of you, but gotta split the chaff from the wheat as we plough through this strange field.

Greetings from Essex. I class myself as a part time lurker and someone who asks the stupid simple questions. welcome aboard the crazy train and just for the record there are no stops .. you're on the ride forever

Welcome to ATS! It sounds like you are open-minded and inquisitive in nature, so you will find many topics of interest to you here. Enjoy!