Something running across the roof

I've discussed (in this forum) some of the weird events that have happened near a friend's place in Colorado. She has lived in her house for appx 20-25 years. Until
yesterday, nothing paranormal has happened at her house. The events that took place in the past occurred in the forest near her house.

I just had a phone convo with a friend who spent the last few days visiting there in Colorado. Yesterday afternoon, he stayed at the house while a group of friends
went into town for dinner. He was upstairs in the loft bedroom, working on his laptop.

He said it was very quiet, when suddenly, boom! Something large landed on the roof and quickly ran across, covering the length of the house in 5-6 steps. He said he nearly s##t his pants. He's still completely freaked out. (Understandably!)

He laughed at any suggestion that it was a large raccoon or possum.
His impression was that if this thing was flying, it hit the roof running, because after hearing the initial sound, the footsteps followed with no hesitation.

He immediately looked out the window, but didn't see anything.
He ran downstairs and out the door. Whatever it was, it was gone.

He asked me what I thought it could have been. I don't have a clue! I'm thinking if the thing was fast enough, it could have made it
into the forest within the few seconds it took him to run outside.

There doesn't seem to be any ready explanation. The largest birds in the area are eagles and turkey vultures. They get pretty big, but they're not heavy. It couldn't have been a large bird.
He said it sounded like a person running across the roof.

a reply to: ColeYounger

YES! Something not politics!

Very interesting story. Turkey vultures don’t have long strides either.

I know this may sound stupid, but was it windy at the time? Is it possible a tree branch hit the roof and he heard it tumbling off?

I’m also confused about you saying the events took place in the forest near her house. Isn’t the story about something running on the roof of the house?

Another question, is the area rural? You did mention the forest, but it’s kind of confusing.

S & F

We've heard strange things running across our roof too. Turns out they were wind-blown branches and squirrels. Anything of substance would damage the roof, is there any damage on hers?

a reply to: ColeYounger

My grandfather told me a story about something similar that happened to my great uncle back in the 1960s. He lived way out in the sticks in Kentucky. One night, my grandfather received a frantic phone call from my great uncle. He said to get out there right away and bring his gun.

So my grandfather gets out there and my great uncle tells him something had landed on his roof and was running across it banging on it. He grabs his rifle and starts blowing holes in the roof. The thing starts screeching and starts banging harder on the roof and my uncle keeps blowing holes in the ceiling trying to shoot whatever it was. Eventually it flies off and when my grandfather gets there my uncle is sitting there freaked out, blown the roof all to hell.

Who knows what that could have been.

a reply to: KKLOCO

Sorry for the confusion. A few years ago, my friend who lives in the house was walking her dog on a road near her house, when she saw two strange balls of light floating around the edge of the forest. She (along with others) had a strange experience at the Sand Dunes area that same week.

To my knowledge, this the first event that occurred at the house.

a reply to: HalWesten

He insists there is no way it was anything blowing across the roof. If it had been a branch or some debris, he would've seen it when he went outside.

His first thought was that someone used a ladder to get up on the roof.
The roof has a steep pitch, so whatever it was must've been pretty nimble.
My friend is very rational and sensible. He's also pretty brave.
He's tough. This experience has him absolutely freaked out. He is seriously spooked!

No doubts, it was a Skin Walker. Vampire? Ware-Wolf? Bigfoot? Aliens? Home alone, in a strange place.The mind is a powerful thing.

Are there houses close next door? Maybe somebody practicing parkour?

a reply to: Nickn3

It's not a strange place to him. He's been there numerous times.

He's sitting there, reviewing work-related emails on his computer, then suddenly "imagines" something fairly heavy run across the roof?
It was just an auditory hallucination?
OK.

A younger male Cougar....they're out of room in the wilds, the older ones chase into the urban areas....he was hungry...prolly already found something nosing through the trash

Occam would say it's an animal or something else benign.

Occam is right roughly 99.9999999999999% of the time.

originally posted by: opethPA
Occam would say it's an animal or something else benign.

Occam is right roughly 99.9999999999999% of the time.

I'm a fan of Occam, but
along with Occam's Razor, there also exists 'The Tyranny of Simple Explanations".

How close are trees to the house?
I used to have a squirrel highway on the roof of the place I was living. You could hear them scamper across the roof several times a day. There was a branch that was close to the roof and they would launch off of it to the roof, run across and jump to another branch on the other side.

If there are no branches close to the house then it could of been any number of large birds.

a reply to: ColeYounger
If it could run across a house roof in 5-6 steps it was very, very big enough that the roof probably wouldn't support it and break through or it was a mighty small house.

a reply to: ColeYounger

He laughed at any suggestion that it was a large raccoon or possum. His impression was that if this thing was flying, it hit the roof running, because after hearing the initial sound, the footsteps followed with no hesitation.

Maybe a small meteorite hitting the roof at a shallow angle , and bouncing across the roof?

a reply to: RavenSpeaks

That may be the best explanation yet.

I've heard something land on the tin roof of a barn I was sleeping in.
It covered the 40 ft length in three bounds.
A cougar is the most logical guess.
Samsquantch?
I spent the rest of the night with a shotgun by my side.

I believe your story. I had recently moved to a new little town of around 1,400 population. I was in the house checking out the space and where I was going to put some things. The house was small, around 800sf, built around 1900 or so, with an unfinished upper level that could be converted into a small habitable space, i.e. bedroom or such. I don't believe water or electricity had been turned on as yet. The house had no insulation that I could see. It was a sunny afternoon, little wind and no tree branches over the roof.

I was taking a break, enjoying a quiet calm moment, sitting on 4th step or so from the top of the uncarpeted wooden stairs, around 10 steps in all I believe. I heard someone walking across and on the roof for several seconds. It was somewhat quick but not hurried, not a run by any means. I could hear each step as the feet walked across the granular shingles. A heavy man's step with big shoes. It is a very specific sound and if anyone has been in a lower floor of an old thin house and heard the sound of someone walking above them, they know exactly what I mean. I figured it was my friend ('Bob') up there checking things out and waited for him to come into the house to discuss some things. After 5 minutes or so, no Bob so I called his cell phone and asked him why he hadn't come into the house and btw, where was he. He stated he was at the hardware store and had been there for 20 minutes or so and hadn't been on the roof at all. I was still sitting on the stairs as I made the call and at that point, I immediately stood up as a fear chill ran through me. I ran down the stairs and out of the house. I looked around the roof, perimetered the whole area, nothing to see, no ladders, nothing out of the ordinary. No one out and about. I didn't go back into the house until Bob showed up. I told him what I experienced and he assured me he hadn't been on the roof and couldn't understand why I heard what I did. I think he thought I was pulling his leg. Bob mentioned it later to an elderly neighbor ('John'). A few days later, John the neighbor and I were outside talking and he stated he hadn't wanted to tell me before but since I had experienced what I did, he thought he would go ahead and tell me that he had heard the house was haunted. John had lived across the alley about 15 years or so. He was serious as a heart attack.

Now, I have heard a few strange things in my life and I've told this story before on ATS. I did go back into the house, a little nervous at first but I don't believe all 'hauntings' are evil. I was initially afraid because I was startled and didn't expect any unknown presence. My stay in the house was very temporary and I didn't spend a lot of time upstairs and I also didn't hear anymore unexpected noises. But, I know what I heard and there is nothing anyone can say that would convince me I didn't. Can I explain it? No.

a reply to: ColeYounger
Where in Colorado was he?

I've had this exact thing happen more than once where I used to live in the Co Rockies. We had a huge willow tree next to the house that critters used to climb around on. The tree towered the house and had overhang above the roof. One night I heard a LOUD sound that also shook the house a little that made me jump up off the couch, sounded like a person had jumped on to the roof and then ran across the roof. I ran outside quick as I could, It was a bear which looked to be about 300-400 lbs on the roof, left it alone and it made its way off down the same tree. I believe by the size of the limb I found the next morning that the bear was probably climbing on it before its weight broke the limb off and sent it crashing down on the roof.

I've had a couple of cubs as well as raccoons and squirrels on the roof at other times. Large Racoon's can make a fair bit of noise also.

We had bears in the yard 3-4 times a week during peak bear season. They loved hanging in that tree, saw a mom and three cubs in it one night.

Being as close to the forest as you say I would bet on it being a Bear or Cougar, more than likely a Bear. Contrary to their usual casual stride, they're extremely fast when they need to be.

a reply to: ColeYounger
Hey , I didn't realize ( not a sky watcher) ,But
the Quadrantids meteor shower was at it's peak
yesterday.
Quadrantrids