Author Topic: Alright I need the thought pool, and someone to tell me I'm crazy maybe  (Read 15569 times)

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Offline FunkyZero

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Alright, this post is going to contain visuals that some of you might find comical, but here goes anyway...  and feel free to call me a nut at the end of it, because right now I'm wondering about that myself.

Last night I'm grudgingly mowing the lawn, the wind is blowing and it's kind of dry. You know the deal, covered in sweat, grass all stuck to you and itchy... so I wrap it up and head for the shower. It's dark by the time I get inside and get to the shower.
Lead in:
At this time, we are all home... there are my two teenage boys, the wife, the dog, and myself.
The bathroom for our master bedroom has an entrance from the main bedroom AND into the back hallway, and the doorway to the basement stairs is right next to the bathroom door in this halllway area. Our basement is finished, carpeted etc and I have a home office down there, lots of firearms, all sorts of fragile and expensive stuff, all things the two teenage boys aren't allowed to be around without supervision. There's expensive stuff and dangerous stuff down there, so they are banned from the area. In the back room of the basement is the laundry/furnace/network gear... the utility area, and I had some laundry down there that hadn't been put away yet.

I get out of the shower and realized I didn't get the clothes that I wanted from the basement, so I decide I'm going to have to do the naked dash around the corner to the basement to retrieve them. So I peek around the corner to see if the coast is clear and it is, then I make the turn to go down the basement stairs, and that's when I see a shadow move across the floor at the bottom of the basement stairs, no real shape, just a shadow that moved across the visual area I could see (looking down the stairs is sort of like a tunnel). Also, the lights aren't supposed to be on down there, and they are. I naturally assume one of the boys has ignored the rule (again) and went down there goofing around, plus I'm naked so I don't want to run down there... so I call out "who is in the basement".  I see the shadow again, this time it goes the other direction. Now I'm pissed because one of them is down there, knows he's not supposed to be down there, and is now ignoring my call-out.
That is the moment when the younger one answers me... from his bedroom (upstairs). Then the other one answers me, he is in the upstairs computer lounge area. Then the wife hollers from the den and asks me what all the hubub is about. I ask where the dog is, and the older one answers "in here with me".
So now, my brain switches modes. I grab a weapon from the bedroom (still freekin naked, by the way), and head for the basement. A very thorough search turns up... nothing. I spent a little time down there watching TV after that, and still heard and saw absolutely nothing, I even searched the place again.

I don't get it. I don't know how to explain it. The only other way out of that basement is through the escape windows in the utility area, and I know that didn't happen. I don't know what the heck I saw. I don't partake in mind-altering substances, and I wasn't even drinking.
I'm writing this long and silly story because I'm really uneasy about what I saw and the complete lack of a logical explanation. I don't believe in "ghosts" or anything of the sort, but it's making me question my reality now. I've seen very strange and unexplained things in my life, but there was always an open-ended list of possibilities that could potentially explain them. This one... not so much.
I know it wasn't a visual artifact, because the shadow was defined separately from the surrounding... in other words, not everything went darker, it was there and it moved in front of the light... twice.. in opposite directions.
Am I freekin nuts?
I'm left pretty uneasy about the whole thing and can't stop thinking about it.

Offline Texacon

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Re: Alright I need the thought pool, and someone to tell me I'm crazy maybe
« Reply #1 on: September 06, 2018, 12:28:48 PM »
Could it have been a moth or other type of insect?  Is it a naked bulb, or does it have some type of shade or housing?

KC
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Offline FlaGator

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Re: Alright I need the thought pool, and someone to tell me I'm crazy maybe
« Reply #2 on: September 06, 2018, 12:45:30 PM »
Rat is my guess.
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Offline Wineslob

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Re: Alright I need the thought pool, and someone to tell me I'm crazy maybe
« Reply #3 on: September 06, 2018, 01:06:33 PM »
Soon....
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Offline Texacon

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Offline FunkyZero

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Re: Alright I need the thought pool, and someone to tell me I'm crazy maybe
« Reply #5 on: September 06, 2018, 02:20:15 PM »
Could it have been a moth or other type of insect?  Is it a naked bulb, or does it have some type of shade or housing?

KC

No it's a light fixture on the ceiling. I wouldn't be able to rule out a mammoth moth, but I've never seen anything like that inside the house... and I would expect to have seen some sort of fluttering. I won't/can't rule it out, but I don't think it's likely.

Offline FunkyZero

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Re: Alright I need the thought pool, and someone to tell me I'm crazy maybe
« Reply #6 on: September 06, 2018, 02:21:13 PM »
Rat is my guess.

haha!
If that was a freekin rat in the house and that big, now I'm more spooked than I was before!

Offline franksolich

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Re: Alright I need the thought pool, and someone to tell me I'm crazy maybe
« Reply #7 on: September 06, 2018, 03:05:42 PM »
I suspect that because of your state of undress, and that there were people around you (their exact location not known to you at the time), you were nervous and "saw" things.  It happens.  I have no solutions, other than that it's helpful to have a good sense of humor in case it is something or someone real.
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Offline FunkyZero

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Re: Alright I need the thought pool, and someone to tell me I'm crazy maybe
« Reply #8 on: September 06, 2018, 04:09:04 PM »
I suspect that because of your state of undress, and that there were people around you (their exact location not known to you at the time), you were nervous and "saw" things.  It happens.  I have no solutions, other than that it's helpful to have a good sense of humor in case it is something or someone real.

I guess that's what I'm stuck with as an answer. I've thought all this over countless times in my head since last night...  with no answers. I even had the "huge giant bug on the ceiling" theory, but frankly, I've seen no sign of such a beast in the house.
I guess in the end, "I'm crazy" is the only answer... and the only one that even remotely makes sense to me. This does not, however, make me feel any less uneasy about what I "saw"... and I don't get spooked very easily.
I'm having difficulty getting rid of the thought that someone unknown was in my damned house, and even that nears impossible on the list based on the conditions.

Offline Eupher

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Re: Alright I need the thought pool, and someone to tell me I'm crazy maybe
« Reply #9 on: September 06, 2018, 09:57:56 PM »
I tend to agree with Frank. In your heightened state of anxiety, you could very well have imagined you saw something.

Unless, of course, you dash around the house naked more than occasionally.

Besides, why weren't your sons out mowing the lawn, dammit?  :-)
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Offline FlaGator

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Re: Alright I need the thought pool, and someone to tell me I'm crazy maybe
« Reply #10 on: September 07, 2018, 06:01:52 AM »
haha!
If that was a freekin rat in the house and that big, now I'm more spooked than I was before!

Depending on the distance between the light source and the rat plus the distance to where the shadow was projected it probably appeared bigger than it actually was.
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Offline franksolich

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Re: Alright I need the thought pool, and someone to tell me I'm crazy maybe
« Reply #11 on: September 07, 2018, 10:07:48 AM »
Depending on the distance between the light source and the rat plus the distance to where the shadow was projected it probably appeared bigger than it actually was.

Yeah.

It's been a good twenty-five years or more now, but one time I had a bat in the dining room where I then lived.  It was night-time, and the overhead light was on.

Judging from the shadow, the thing looked as if it had a wing-span to rival a miniature B-52.

But when someone professional came to "humanely" catch it--I didn't care how it was captured, and took whoever I could get--it was the size of a mouse.
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Offline Mary Ann

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Re: Alright I need the thought pool, and someone to tell me I'm crazy maybe
« Reply #12 on: September 12, 2018, 10:04:00 AM »
How is your vision? It's possible that you need to have your eyes checked.

Offline FunkyZero

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Re: Alright I need the thought pool, and someone to tell me I'm crazy maybe
« Reply #13 on: September 12, 2018, 05:04:25 PM »
How is your vision? It's possible that you need to have your eyes checked.

haha... no, I'm fine on the vision front, I go every year like I'm supposed to.
I was afraid everyone would make fun of me over this but I swear! I'm not the kind to believe in weirdo stuff either.
I didn't just see it, I saw it TWICE about 30 seconds apart.

The only time I've ever really been sort-of spooked is when I first moved to the city about 25 years ago.
Where I came from in the middle of nowhere, if you heard noises outside at night, you had a very real problem on your hands.
It took me a long time to learn to ignore all that when I moved here, noises outside are continual here and it never really gets dark.
But this was nothing like that. I witnessed this with clarity.

Offline J P Sousa

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Re: Alright I need the thought pool, and someone to tell me I'm crazy maybe
« Reply #14 on: September 14, 2018, 04:37:08 PM »
Could it have been a moth or other type of insect?  Is it a naked bulb, or does it have some type of shade or housing?

KC

I vote for moth. It has happened to me.
They like the light and are always on the move.

But I also see a shadow out of the corner of my eye sometimes that turns out to be nothing.  :whatever:
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Offline Ausonius

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Re: Alright I need the thought pool, and someone to tell me I'm crazy maybe
« Reply #15 on: September 14, 2018, 08:53:41 PM »
haha... no, I'm fine on the vision front, I go every year like I'm supposed to.
I was afraid everyone would make fun of me over this but I swear! I'm not the kind to believe in weirdo stuff either.
I didn't just see it, I saw it TWICE about 30 seconds apart.

The only time I've ever really been sort-of spooked is when I first moved to the city about 25 years ago.
Where I came from in the middle of nowhere, if you heard noises outside at night, you had a very real problem on your hands.
It took me a long time to learn to ignore all that when I moved here, noises outside are continual here and it never really gets dark.
But this was nothing like that. I witnessed this with clarity.

It is not impossible that your own shadow was being projected down the stairs, so that a slight motion by you made the shadow move in the basement.

Is it possible that somebody outside was walking by the basement windows, thereby casting the shadow? 

My best theory:

Was the sun casting shadows of moving clouds through the windows?  This would explain the "formless" aspect of the shadow, and why it disappeared, then reappeared.

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Offline FunkyZero

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Re: Alright I need the thought pool, and someone to tell me I'm crazy maybe
« Reply #16 on: September 15, 2018, 06:47:20 AM »
It is not impossible that your own shadow was being projected down the stairs, so that a slight motion by you made the shadow move in the basement.

Is it possible that somebody outside was walking by the basement windows, thereby casting the shadow? 

My best theory:

Was the sun casting shadows of moving clouds through the windows?  This would explain the "formless" aspect of the shadow, and why it disappeared, then reappeared.

It was actually after dark when this happened, and no... The "base" of the shadow was directly north of my out of sight, hidden by the stairway ceiling. I could see the "top" of the shadow, but not the bottom, it was opposite side of the room...  and all the basement windows are in another room down there anyway

Offline Ausonius

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Re: Alright I need the thought pool, and someone to tell me I'm crazy maybe
« Reply #17 on: September 15, 2018, 07:56:06 AM »
It was actually after dark when this happened, and no... The "base" of the shadow was directly north of my out of sight, hidden by the stairway ceiling. I could see the "top" of the shadow, but not the bottom, it was opposite side of the room...  and all the basement windows are in another room down there anyway

Okay, one more idea: are the windows completely blocked by a door?  Could headlights have reflected through them and caused a shadow?  A neighbor pulling in and/or backing out?  Or was a neighbor possibly out walking around with a flashlight for some reason?
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Offline FunkyZero

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Re: Alright I need the thought pool, and someone to tell me I'm crazy maybe
« Reply #18 on: September 15, 2018, 11:14:43 PM »
Okay, one more idea: are the windows completely blocked by a door?  Could headlights have reflected through them and caused a shadow?  A neighbor pulling in and/or backing out?  Or was a neighbor possibly out walking around with a flashlight for some reason?

Yes, there are doors and actually a hallway separating it all, but I have to say, the base of the shadow was from the opposite direction.
At this point I've just convinced myself that since I don't have huge ceiling rats in my house, the only thing it really could have been was a very large and elusive bug crawling on the ceiling light fixture.

Offline Karin

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Re: Alright I need the thought pool, and someone to tell me I'm crazy maybe
« Reply #19 on: November 22, 2018, 06:07:11 PM »
Could be a ghost.  We don't know all the secrets of the universe.

Offline Ralph Wiggum

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Re: Alright I need the thought pool, and someone to tell me I'm crazy maybe
« Reply #20 on: November 22, 2018, 06:10:09 PM »
Russians. :panic:

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Offline FunkyZero

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Re: Alright I need the thought pool, and someone to tell me I'm crazy maybe
« Reply #21 on: November 22, 2018, 09:21:09 PM »
Russians. :panic:

 :rotf:

Hey man, laugh at the retard all you want...  but I'm telling you , it happened!

Offline Ausonius

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Re: Alright I need the thought pool, and someone to tell me I'm crazy maybe
« Reply #22 on: November 23, 2018, 05:00:16 AM »
Yes, there are doors and actually a hallway separating it all, but I have to say, the base of the shadow was from the opposite direction.
At this point I've just convinced myself that since I don't have huge ceiling rats in my house, the only thing it really could have been was a very large and elusive bug crawling on the ceiling light fixture.

Actually, Edgar Allan Poe wrote a 3 1/2 page story about something very similar to your experience:

https://books.eserver.org/fiction/poe/sphinx
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