A skeptic experiencing seemingly paranormal behaviour.

Six months ago, my older brother and I (we live together) packed up and moved from one end (West Coast) of my beloved island of Newfoundland to the other (Burin Peninsula). For three months, we lived in a fairly run-down apartment in one beautiful Burin Peninsula outport town. Although the apartment was in poor shape, it was a) huge and b) right on the ocean with some remarkable views of some pretty stunning coastline. On a windy day, the entire apartment was filled with the beautiful sound of huge waves crashing on the rugged coast. I could sit and watch the waves crashing, 15-20ft for hours during a storm.

Our problem in this town wasn't paranormal, it was criminal. Suffice to say, after three attempted break-ins (once while I was home) in three months we decided it was time to move to another town.

My mother and step father live in an outport community on the other side of the Burin Peninsula, my step-fathers hometown. They live in a nice doublewide tralier (yeah, yuk it up, but their rent is cheap )

Their landlord is related in one way or another to my step-father, so he was able to get said landlord to find a place for my brother and I at a reasonable rent. Which is to say, he was able to get us a two bedroom single wide that had been on site since 1975 for 300/mo. Let me make it clear that my brother and I both work, we're not stereotypical 'trailer trash' on welfare with junked cars in the yard and such. Our town's trailer park is tidy and quiet, a mix of older couples and young families just starting off on their own.

Now, time for the paranormal. Please note than I'm a skeptic when it comes to ghosts. In the bright light of day, more often than not I'll say 'of course ghosts aren't real!' But then, in the wee hours of the morning, if I hear a whispering in a wall behind me, I might just think 'wow, is that a ghost?'

Well, that's exactly what happened during my first night in our new trailer. One of my bedroom's walls is directly adjacent to the bathroom. My bed is oriented in such a way that my head was basically resting against that shared wall as I was trying to sleep on our first night at the new place. I swear that at around 2am I heard a faint whispering and a not so faint tapping from the bathroom. Unsurprisingly, the walls in a single wide trailer aren't exactly thick. An inch or two all told is all that separates my bedroom from the bathroom. The boards on the walls in this place are no more than a couple centimeters thick.

The voice of the whisperer, I would describe as a young female. How young is tough to say, as it was very faint. But it was certainly female. Couldn't make out what was said.

Fast forward to last month, and there was no further paranormal activity. Then, one night in mid January, we had a pretty bad blizzard. Got a few feet of snow, with blowing snow and all that jazz overnight. After night fell, around 11pm, he heard three distinct raps at the door. Mind you, this is during an historic blizzard. My brother gets up from his Lay-Z-Boy recliner and looks out the window to see who's stupid enough to be banging on doors in this weather, and he sees a dark figure stood on the front deck (we call them bridges in Newfinese). So he opens the door, and has to push hard because its an outward swinging door and a snow drift had build up behind it. He finally gets it open, and there's nobody there. There are no tracks, human or otherwise, in our driveway, or on the steps leading up to our front deck/bridge. Weird, huh?

And then there was this morning. I had an errand to run in a town 45 minutes away and my brother had a meeting RE a DJ gig in the same town.

So, I hopped in the shower, noticing on my way in that the Glade battery powered sprayer thingy I had hung up in the bathroom was in an odd spot.

My brother had showered before me, so I assumed he changed it.

Got my shower, got dressed, ready to go. So I come out of the bathroom, and my brother asks me "Why did you hang that Glade sprayer thing on the other wall? Such an odd spot for it."

So now we have a mystery. We have company over occasionally, but for the most part it's just me and him. The only rational explanations are either a) somebody broke in, stole nothing, but moved a Glade battery powered auto sprayer thingy to a different wall, or b) my brother did it and is messing with me. I take my bro's word for it, as he's not the sort to do that sort of thing to get a laugh. Plus he swore on his own life and the life of our mother, so there's that.

Any thoughts? Might we have a poltergeist on our hands?

You have to remember that just because you are a skeptic... it doesn't mean that things we do not understand DON'T exist. They don't need our belief to just "be" if they actually "are".

I am kind of a skeptic with this sort of stuff as well, and I have had experiences too. I think it drives skeptics slightly more insane than it does believers who experience the same things, simply because we feel like we can't leave it be until we find a logical explanation.

I have come closer to the conclusion that something exists that we do not fully understand. I don't believe in ghosts as far as thinking they are dead people coming back to visit, haunt, etc. But I do feel there is a possibility for things to exist around us that we just can't see for some reason.

I don't know what happened in your situation. It could be any number of things, but unless someone fesses up to being responsible for it you really have no other alternative than to just keep an eye out to see if more stuff occurs.

I know from experience that you will keep looking for the answer though. I do hope you find it.

Maybe someone forgot they moved the battery powered thing?

Was any alcohol thing involved?

Although, I can sympathize with you IF you believe you heard the world clearly.

2 months after my brother died, when I moved back here to the west coast, during the very first week at my new place, as I lay down to sleep (atop a sleeping bag on the floor cuz i had not got a bed yet) about 5 mins later i heard the voice of my brother distinctly say my name.

I dont think I ever even started a thread here about it, cuz im relatively new here on ats (since oct) anyways

what did the girl voice say?

reply to post by gardener


I abstain from alcohol. To be fair to my brother, he drinks socially at bars and events he works as a DJ, but his alcoholic beverages in our place are in his personal mini fridge. He's not the sort to drink alone at home, he's a very outgoing sort.

reply to post by gardener


I wasn't able to make out what she/it said. As I said, the only impression I got was that it was a young female. Could well have been a child.

Great stories Op, I´m not so much as a skeptic, but more of a pragmatic believer, however, I do actively search for the unexplained and the mysterious, having hunted everything from ghosts, ufo´s, hidden treasure, ghost stories and the like, and have had my share of success.

I have heard my name been called by ghostly voices, and have been witness in an old house to poltergeists and a full body apparition that I will never ever forget.
You see, once you see something that defies explanation beyond the shadow of a doubt, somehow, you open a door and suddenly you become more "aware" and perceptive.

Most of us human beings have had encounters with the mysterious, but have learnt to dismiss the experiences as nothing more than tricks of the imagination.
If the phenomena is active and you or your brother become perceptive of it, it has a probability to escalate, mind you that suggestion does play a part in this, but if you keep a calm and cool attitude (hard sometimes, but doable) and above all, your mind open to the endless possibilities that this awesome existence has to offer, you will be more than surprised about the things you used to consider possible and impossible!

There is so much more than meets the eye in our daily lives, keep your eyes and ears open, keep a written record of the activities and times of the strangeness, and maybe a pattern will appear, consider it an exercise in awesome, and maybe just maybe...

cheers! thanks for sharing Op!

Monger
reply to post by gardener

 

I wasn't able to make out what she/it said. As I said, the only impression I got was that it was a young female. Could well have been a child.

In my bathroom on any given night (yes, I know.), I hear a myriad of voices. Sometimes they sound jovial, other times they sound like they are just discussing normal things, BUT I CAN NEVER make out exactly what is being said. Now I am well aware of exactly how stupid that sounds, so I generally do not go around telling strangers on the street about it. It is the oddest thing to be able to hear the voices fairly loudly but never quite make a word out of it. Logic says that it's not possible, but I have been here for over 10 years and this is an almost nightly occurrence.

I had to reply to this post and say something because you are the only other person I have ever seen that may have experienced the same type of thing (minus my husband). I know some will come along and poo poo this, and that is ok. My posting history will show that I do not often make claims to fanciful occurrences. I just wanted to let you know that you might not be going nuts.... unless we are both nuts.

Hmmm. Well, I will say I've lived in a "mobile home" as we call them here. Yes, the walls are very thin, they are affordable and often very nice to live in. It's been many years, but we had vents in our bathroom ceilings that could alternate between a whooshing sound and then a clicking or thumping noise made by the outside vent housing where the it opened on the roof. Often times could be quite noisy during heavy winds and sometimes our water pipes would make a hissing sound. Just pointing out that trailers or mobile homes can make some distinctive sounds as opposed to a home built on a foundation.

As far as the glade sprayer goes I don't know. I would put a light weight item on top of the kitchen cabinets without telling your brother and see if it mysteriously appears on a counter top one day

Kangaruex4Ewe

Monger
reply to post by gardener

 

I wasn't able to make out what she/it said. As I said, the only impression I got was that it was a young female. Could well have been a child.

In my bathroom on any given night (yes, I know.), I hear a myriad of voices. Sometimes they sound jovial, other times they sound like they are just discussing normal things, BUT I CAN NEVER make out exactly what is being said. Now I am well aware of exactly how stupid that sounds, so I generally do not go around telling strangers on the street about it. It is the oddest thing to be able to hear the voices fairly loudly but never quite make a word out of it. Logic says that it's not possible, but I have been here for over 10 years and this is an almost nightly occurrence.

I had to reply to this post and say something because you are the only other person I have ever seen that may have experienced the same type of thing (minus my husband). I know some will come along and poo poo this, and that is ok. My posting history will show that I do not often make claims to fanciful occurrences. I just wanted to let you know that you might not be going nuts.... unless we are both nuts.

Nope you're not nuts because long ago in another house we lived in we heard voices downstairs on many nights that were incomprehensible and to top it off even further, it sounded like quite a crowd.

The owners used to have what was called "vegas night" at the little bar in the basement and have their friends over to drink and play cards as was common in the 1970's. One of the owners was deceased and one was in a nursing home.

We imagined that was what one of their parties had sounded like but unlike people drinking alcohol...none of the voices never rose in volume, they always stayed at a steady murmur. Although we would strain by heat vents to make out what was being said we never could figure it out.

The daughter who rented the place to us thought her deceased father was hanging around but I was never very convinced of WHO it was. It all became too much and we moved!

I don't know if it has ever happened to you, but when I have heard the "voices" sometimes my inner ears feel as if a change in pressure occurred, like how you hear after being on a plane and somehow hear muffled sounds, on other occasions I have heard the voices like literally right behind me, oh yes those have been the ones that give me the creepers, hearing them far away and hearing them right next to you is unnerving...

gah! gave me goosebumps just typing about it!

The only thing I can think of as to the glade plug in thing is one if your guests moved it. Might be offensive if they're allergic, certain scents gag me and I've moved some air fresheners in other peoples cars into their glovebox, because I simply couldn't breathe. I don't tell them I did, other times I've stuck them under the floor mats!

I suppose in a trailer if you have a metal roof a cat could be walking around up there. Or branches sweeping across in the wind. Whispering would freak me out.

I used to be a skeptic until I encountered paranormal activity.
I've also had knocks on the front door at 3 am, no shadow, nobody there. When I got up in the morning. My flowers had been pulled out by the roots and dumped on my driveway. I was mystified until I heard about others in my neighbourhood had the sane thing done by pranksters.

Another time we got broken into, front door kicked in while we were out in Boxing Day. Nothing was stolen, but a huge gap was in between the cupboards, literally separated by an inch. The cupboard door wouldn't close. Never did solve that one.
To be honest, after some years of it happening I think my husband was playing tricks on me. I was getting hang up calls and did that thing where you write down the times, etc. I also checked my husbands phone bills. Wrote down the times he was out and where he claimed he was going, in case he had a girlfriend. The calls came from his phone! I doubt your brother would do that to you, but my sister used to tap on tables when we shared a room, to scare me. She would say " is that you doing that?". Suffice it to say I'm easily terrorized!

reply to post by violet


Our trailer has a recently rebuilt, shingled roof.

Anyhow, I'm hitting the sack shortly.

Thanks, btw, for all of the replies. I'll use this thread to update on any future paranormal happenings.

reply to post by Monger


The importance of rational thought in the exploration of your experiences. Ie the three knocks may have been just the high winds outside. However you and your brother have had three experiences in a very short time.

What you have described are the hall marks of the beginnings of diabolical infestation. Please ignore any type of interactions. If you do find what seems to be a real demonic problem consult with experts with experience in these matters, don't think you can obtain knowledge from having interactions with whatever appears to you.

Fortify the family and home spiritually. Have the house thoroughly blessed. Skeptic or not, if this is what it is, the spiritual battle has already started.

Thanks for a great story wouldn`t worry too much about the glade thing that could easily have been moved by somebody and forgotten about. But whoa hooded figures and ghostly whispering they could very easily be related. Has anybody else noticed anything over the years or is it just you? Did your brother see the hooded figure or just hear the knock on the door?

Nope, it's not a poltergeist or you would have furniture thrown around, things broken and what-not. Hearing whispers and seeing that figure sounds paranormal, but don't know yet if this is a harmless entity or what. Keep us posted if anything else happens. Perhaps record these things and times that they occur.

reply to post by lonewolf2


I stared you for your advice, honestly given with the best intentions. But I sincerely doubt there's anything demonic about in this day and age. I was christened Roman Catholic as a child, as my father thought a Catholic upbringing was important for his boys, he himself coming from a very troubled and broken home in a time in our province was strictly run along sectarian lines. His mother was an Miqmaq woman and his father was a Catholic.

They split before being married, and my father bore the stigma of being a 'Catholic bastard', as well as a 'half-breed' He lived with his father, a violent (sexually and physically) alcoholic for a short time before going to live with my mother on the reservation. Being a Catholic-half-Native child, he was almost immediately sent to a residential school run by the church. He has never spoken of his time there, but I can imagine the horror stories he has to tell about that place. Fortunately most of the abuses that happened there were way before his time there, but I'm sure he has a horror story or two to tell.

Fast forward a few more years, and my father and mother were taking my brother and I (aged about 4 and 5) to Catholic church every sunday for mass. One day, unsolicited, the priest turns up, asking to spend some 'alone time' with my brother and I. My dad shows him the door and told him in no uncertain terms that this family wouldn't be going back to his church.

As much respect as I have for the good works done by Catholic organizations all over the world, I think the only real demons are the ones dressed in priestly clothes who pray on the young and vulnerable to satiate their own twisted sexuality. More demonic still, perhaps, are those like Pope JPII and BenedictXVI who covered up their actions.

Just before I hit the sack last night, I switched the Glade thingy back over to the wall it was on before the initial incident, without telling my brother. He woke up thing morning, got a shower, any upon getting out immediately realized that it was back on the original wall.

So I'm eating and orange in the kitchen, aghast, and asked if it was me who changed it back.

Sly bugger than I am, I asked 'change what back?'

His eyes were wide in shock.

I was stone faced, until I couldn't take it anymore and admitted that I changed it back to its original position.

So now I'm pretty sure he didn't do it initially. I can read him pretty well. But now I kind of think he thinks I changed it originally to prank him, which I absolutely did not.

reply to post by Night Star


I do plan to keep this thread updated with any further potentially paranormal activities. I appreciate your interest. I've been here for years, but I mostly just read, sometimes reply, but very rarely post threads. Thanks for the interest!

reply to post by dashdespatch


We've only lived here since shortly before Christmas, and I've not had an opportunity to speak to any former tenants. The trailers in this area tend to sit empty for months and sometimes a year or more at a time. There's still that old 'white trash' stigma against living in a trailer, despite their affordability and the fact that mine at least is in quite a nice area.

I am a skeptic, too, who had the fortune (or mis, depending on viewpoint) of running into a litany of paranormal happenings in my time on Earth.

It sure seems relatively rare for most folks and in most places, but perhaps it's just usually subtle... dunno. But it's a fact, for me, that stuff we don't understand does ,indeed, happen. And I can't discount all the folks who think they know what's going on through "psychic" means... I am just not lucky enough to have inside info.

Newfoundland is certainly atmospheric and has a long history of weirdness... and the events sound usual for the unusual... if you get me.

So keep on being skeptical and just admit our understanding of our universe is a work in progress and not everyone who encounters ghosts, aliens and/or has a premonition that comes true is an ignoramus or lying.

It is pretty mind blowing how much weirder and sci-fi this universe (that's already awesome and weird) actually is.