To be fair, it was some years ago now but I can't shake the image or the feeling. The freaky thing is, is that my friend saw them too. I live in the Waitakere Ranges west of Auckland, New Zealand, one night my friend and I were driving out to Piha to house-sit, it was very misty. We could barely see the road. Then all of a sudden we emerged into a slightly clearer patch and there in front of us were 5 figures. Very, very slender with long white hair. white, white skin, glowing infact. You couldn't see features and yet somehow I knew they were both male and female. It seemed as though we had surprised them, they split-up and ran off both sides of the road but they couldn't have gone anywhere because one side is a cliff and the other is a steep drop with dense bush. My blood went cold, I got the goosebumps and froze then finally plucked up the courage to ask my friend if she had seen anything weird, she replied that she thought she had imagined it. We both screamed and sped out of there. Interestingly she is part Maori (indigeonous people to NZ).Can anyone share?

there are lots of stories of ghosts on roads in my country, but i've never heard of mist-people. naturally i'll go wiki them in a moment
did they seem solid, or actually *made* of mist?
i'm more inclined to believe stories like this since i began researching into dimension theory. although it's a long shot, things like this do seem more plausable if you include dimension theory in an explanation
but anyways, that's all speculation and silliness at the moment. please ignore my waffling until i've actually wiki'd and can speak with confidence of the subject.
in the meantime, more info please, zeph!

Hi Batty, thanks for replying. As we were travelling in a car, fairly fast it would be hard to say with confidence that they were one or the other but I suppose, judging by the way they ran I would say yes, they were solid. I have an aquaintance, who knew a child who came face to face with one and it had a full moko (face tattoo). He/it was completely white except for the dark grey moko. He just looked at the child, which naturally ran away. Historically they have been known to take mostly women and children, occasionally men. In the Coromandel Peninsular they are known to be volatile but the Waitakere ones are shy, and keep very much to themselves. There is lots of folklore on them and even a Google image search brings up the odd image that looks something like what I saw but these are usually artists impressions. Also may be known as Turehu.
Can you tell me why you should be ignored. DON'T BS ME!



[edit on 13-5-2007 by zephyrgirl]

hiya zeph, i just meant not to put too much importance on my reply as it was just a preliminary one to show interest

i couldn't find anything on wikipedia about these guys, but i did find this on a website:

Patupaiarehe, tūrehu and other inhabitants

The following story was written by Hoani Nahe, a Ngāti Maru (Hauraki) elder of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He writes graphically of a people called the patupaiarehe and the tūrehu, who inhabited the land prior to the arrival of the Polynesian peoples.

Now listen. When the migration arrived here they found people living in the land – Ngati Kura, Ngati Korakorako and Ngati Turehu, all hapu or sub-tribes of the people called Patupaiarehe. The chiefs of this people were named Tahurangi, Whanawhana, Nukupori, Tuku, Ripiroaitu, Tapu-te-uru and Te Rangipouri. The dwelling places of these people were on the sharp peaks of the high mountains – those in the district of Hauraki (Thames) are Moehau mountain (Cape Colville), Motutere (Castle Hill, Coromandel), Maumaupaki, Whakairi, Kaitarakihi, Te Koronga, Horehore, Whakaperu, Te Aroha-a-uta, Te Aroha-a-tai, and lastly Pirongia, at Waikato. The pa, villages, and houses of this people are not visible, nor actually to be seen by mortal (Tangata Maori) eyes – that is, their actual forms. But sometimes some forms are seen, though not actually known to be these people … Sometimes this people is met with by the Maori people in the forests, and they are heard conversing and calling out, as they pass along, but at the same time they never meet face to face, or so that they mutually see one another, but the voices are heard in conversation or shouting, but the people are never actually seen.
On some occasions also, during the night, they are heard paddling their canoes … At such times are heard these questions: ‘What is it?’ ‘Who are the people who were heard urging forward their canoes on the sea during the night?’ or, ‘Who were heard conversing and shouting in the forest?’ The answer would be as follows: ‘They were not Tangata Maori, they were atua, Patupaiarehe, Turehu, or Korakorako.

and this...

Patupaiarehe. This was another ancient race I was told: The Maeroero were an ancient race who became goblins, and the Patupaiarehe were once a race of people but are now spirits and fairies . Presumably they were a lighter-skinned people than the Maeroero for they are represented as having an elfish appearance, and they enjoy a more cheerful reputation. Against the idea that they were a fairer people I was told that the North Island fairies called Turehu were of the Maeroero race. A number of stories about the fairies can be left over in the meantime; this race also seems to have become extinct centuries ago.

it would certainly seem from your description, that what you saw was a Patupaiarehe
are there any paranormal societies in auckland? if so, perhaps contacting them would be an interesting move. they may have other sightings you can compare your to, and might even get to go on a 'spirit stakeout' with them.
thanks again for sharing your experience with ATS

I was walking in the Waitakere Ranges one night with my elderly missus and this car sped out and forced us to jump out of the way. Freakin younguns...
Well, we turned white with fright and the adrenalin pumped so hard, pearl jumped one wasy and I jumped the other.
Anyways, my missus jumped to the wrong side and fell over a cliff. God bless her soul, I miss her, she was a real sweetheart.

This is really interesting! I've read up on Patupaiarehe now and it's really interesting that there have been sightings, and that this... tribe? Race? Isn't treated as a demon or negative even. They supposedly have their own culture and interests. That's unique to me, since everything I've read about as far as creatures has a direct effect on humans whether it's preying on them or luring them away to never appear again.

The stuff I read on them said that the few people that did return from being taken by them returned with new artistic skills and were pretty much in good health. Of course, since this would be a completely different type of race, there would be different types of personalities... So hopefully the next person to stumble onto one, stumbles into a nice one.

I've added a location to my 'places I want to go before I die' list. I'll put that last on my list just in case I get mist-napped. xD

This is beyond strange... I love this..

So you had like a tantilising glimpse of Patupaiarehe? Wow, I just know I'd get shivers, a sense that that was something I wasn't meant to see..

And that post by ai.therapy just weirded me out even more..

BIG S&Fs here!

I've seen something similar. My mom used to call them White Men. Beings who'd emerge from the fog. I was driving home and they kept dancing all around my car. It was really freaky.

ive seen the faeries up in mt. Nongataha.