(A) Poltergeists, Spirits & Nighttime Visitors | Archive Ep52

[00:00:05] You're listening to The Archive, a glimpse into the past of Paranormal Mysteries.

[00:00:20] It's not always easy to share a personal encounter with the unexplained. Heck, it took me five episodes before I was ready to tell all of you about my own experience, which happened many years ago.

[00:00:31] My point is, we all share the same fear, and ironically, it's not a fear of the unexplained, but a fear of being ridiculed when we share our experiences with the people that we love and trust.

[00:00:44] This is why sharing our experiences is so important, and why it not only helps the person telling the story, but it helps others to feel confident in sharing their encounters as well.

[00:00:54] So thank you to all of you for listening and keeping an open mind. And of course, a big thank you to the people who trust us with their stories.

[00:01:05] The first time it happened, I was sleeping and woke up because I felt a hand on my leg, and I realized that I couldn't move.

[00:01:16] And he'd come across this object on the ground which was the shape of a flying saucer.

[00:01:20] So he jumped out of his pickup and went down there, and there was four beings laying on the ground.

[00:01:26] When I raised my head back up, I was turning my head and out of my peripheral vision, I seen something hop to a tree.

[00:01:34] And it was tall, about seven, eight foot tall, and it was black, real hairy, like a gorilla.

[00:01:54] Welcome to the Paranormal Mysteries Podcast. I am your host, Nick Ryan.

[00:01:59] Our first story comes from Wyatt.

[00:02:01] Wyatt says,

[00:02:02] Hello.

[00:02:03] The summer after high school, my best friend and I spent a week at his parents' old general store in a tiny town in Michigan.

[00:02:11] They had bought it years before, and had been going there for years during the summers to fix it up.

[00:02:17] Even after years of work, the inside was mostly just old framing, and burlap sheets hung up to divide the rooms.

[00:02:26] The first night there, his family had a little campfire outside the building, and after some time I went into the building to chill myself.

[00:02:34] I was on my laptop, when from behind me I heard a floorboard squeak.

[00:02:39] I grew up in an old house, so I wrote it off as nothing.

[00:02:43] Then I heard another one, closer, and then another one.

[00:02:47] The first floor of this store is large, and I heard the first creak at the bottom of the stairs to the second floor, which was farthest away from me.

[00:02:56] I didn't turn around, but heard these creaks get closer and closer.

[00:03:01] I finally turned around and stared at the room.

[00:03:04] The moment I turned, the squeaks stopped.

[00:03:08] I just kept staring, trying not to breathe so I wouldn't miss any other sound.

[00:03:13] Then, as I continued to look, the squeaks began to slowly back away from me, back toward the stairs.

[00:03:19] I listened as it very clearly walked back up the stairs.

[00:03:23] Then it was gone.

[00:03:25] Trying to stay as calm as possible, I got up and hurried back outside.

[00:03:30] Later that night, everyone was in their beds, on the second floor.

[00:03:34] My best friend and I shared a room, with our beds like an L shape.

[00:03:38] We had been asleep for several hours, when I suddenly woke up instantly, for no apparent reason.

[00:03:44] I woke up on my side, looking at my best friend's bed.

[00:03:48] The only light came from the moon through the window,

[00:03:51] and still, I saw this thing leaning over my best friend.

[00:03:55] It looked like smoke, if that makes any sense.

[00:03:59] Its back was to me, in a way that I saw its side profile as well.

[00:04:04] It was dark grey, and had ridiculously long, skinny claws from its hands.

[00:04:10] It seemed to be floating right next to his bed, just leaning over him, a few inches above him, staring at him very intently.

[00:04:19] Its claws were nearly touching him, but it wasn't moving, except for its body, which was constantly rolling like smoke does.

[00:04:27] The moment my eyes snapped open from sleep, I saw this thing.

[00:04:32] I yelled, what the hell? loudly, and keep in mind that his entire family, parents and siblings, were all asleep.

[00:04:40] The instant I yelled, this thing whipped its head around toward me, and glared at me with so much anger,

[00:04:45] that it still messes with me occasionally, like eight years later.

[00:04:50] It was furious that I saw it, and interrupted it from whatever it was doing.

[00:04:55] And as soon as it looked at me, it was gone, just like that.

[00:05:00] Everyone woke up and asked what had happened, and I told them that it was a dream,

[00:05:04] because I still had no idea what it actually was at the time, although I think I do now.

[00:05:11] I told my friend the next day, and he was understandably upset, but we kept it to ourselves.

[00:05:17] After I told him, he told me the things that they had found in the building, which I had not known about before.

[00:05:23] If you want, I can go into that later.

[00:05:26] I never saw that thing again, and my friend has been okay as well.

[00:05:31] I could still draw a picture of this thing. Its image is so burned into me.

[00:05:36] Thanks for reading this.

[00:05:38] I've only told maybe five people about that incident,

[00:05:40] and wanted to share it with someone who might not look at me like I'm crazy.

[00:05:44] I have some other experiences that kind of connect to that.

[00:05:48] If you would like to hear them, just let me know.

[00:05:51] Thanks for reading this. Have a good night.

[00:05:57] Our next story comes from Dreamweaver.

[00:06:00] They call their story, Keeping Emotions in Check.

[00:06:03] They say,

[00:06:04] Hello.

[00:06:05] I have a number of stories that I'm not ready to share yet.

[00:06:09] My family had a long history of haunting experiences in a particular house.

[00:06:14] Outside of that history, I personally have a number of paranormal experiences growing up and into my twenties.

[00:06:20] Everything from forerunners to prophetic dreams, to direct contact with darker entities.

[00:06:26] It was a bigger part of my life and beliefs back then.

[00:06:30] However, I don't really feel connected to any of that anymore, because I experienced a loss of religious faith in my thirties.

[00:06:37] A side effect of this is that in my forties, I no longer feel sensitive to anything paranormal anymore.

[00:06:44] I basically don't believe anything.

[00:06:47] I have to remind myself that these things I experienced in the past were real, and that they did happen.

[00:06:53] It's part of why I started listening to your podcast a couple of months ago, to keep me from burying it all too deep.

[00:07:01] Occasionally though, I still get glimpses of things that my skeptical mind has a hard time dismissing.

[00:07:06] The story I'm going to tell you is an odd little incident I experienced more recently.

[00:07:11] I have language to explain what happened, but I'm so skeptical now that those words sound crazy to me.

[00:07:18] And yet I can't deny that something happened.

[00:07:22] Late one evening a few months ago, I was driving a friend home.

[00:07:26] We stopped at the store on the way, and then kept going toward his place.

[00:07:30] He was experiencing some issues at home that made him more and more upset and mentally agitated as we got closer to his building.

[00:07:38] He was trying to talk to me, but the way he spoke made it clear that his thoughts were becoming more and more erratic.

[00:07:45] As we were driving under a street light, it shorted out.

[00:07:48] It didn't just turn off, as sometimes happens when you pass under a street light.

[00:07:52] It shorted and sputtered loudly, and then it sparked and went out.

[00:07:57] Then it happened again.

[00:07:58] I pointed out that this was pretty weird.

[00:08:01] But then it happened again and again.

[00:08:03] And it didn't feel coincidental.

[00:08:06] When we stopped at the next intersection, I looked at my friend and laughed nervously.

[00:08:11] Stop it, I half-joked.

[00:08:13] You're doing that to the lights, aren't you?

[00:08:15] It stopped.

[00:08:17] We were both a little shocked.

[00:08:18] Was it him?

[00:08:20] This kind of thing doesn't happen in real life.

[00:08:22] At least not to me.

[00:08:24] At least not anymore.

[00:08:26] I looked at him strangely, but just shook my head and kept driving.

[00:08:30] Immediately, I started hearing a whining noise like a small motor running in my SUV.

[00:08:36] I couldn't tell what was making the noise, and neither could my friend.

[00:08:40] It was really bugging me.

[00:08:42] By the time I had stopped in front of his place, I had figured out what was causing the noise.

[00:08:46] My partner and I had purchased the SUV used a few months earlier, and the windshield wiper arm had been completely removed from the back window.

[00:08:56] We hadn't replaced the arm yet, so we never turned on the back wiper.

[00:08:59] But now, the wiper motor was running and would not shut off.

[00:09:04] In fact, when I tried turning off the switch, it appeared never to have been turned on.

[00:09:10] I called my partner and asked for advice.

[00:09:12] He was sure I had accidentally bumped the switch, and advised me just to turn it off.

[00:09:17] I explained that the switch was the first thing I'd tried, but it still wasn't shutting off.

[00:09:23] Just to humor him, I tried the switch one more time.

[00:09:26] This time, it worked and shut off normally.

[00:09:29] My friend went inside, and I drove home.

[00:09:32] I kept thinking about it on the way home.

[00:09:35] In my gut, I knew what had happened, even if the word itself seemed ridiculous to me.

[00:09:40] Before I could talk myself out of it, I messaged my friend and bluntly told him that he needed to gain better control of his emotions, because manifesting a poltergeist could be dangerous.

[00:09:51] At the time, my friend and I both thought it was a significantly weird and creepy incident.

[00:09:57] However, when I attempted to revisit the topic with him a few weeks later, he had no recollection whatsoever of the event.

[00:10:04] He could only remember where we had gone and what we had discussed prior to stopping at the store.

[00:10:10] He didn't remember the shorting out streetlights, and the windshield wiper motor, the call to my partner for help, or the message I sent him later about his poltergeist.

[00:10:20] Nothing else strange has ever happened in that SUV, so it's definitely not an issue with the vehicle itself.

[00:10:31] Our next story of the night comes from Gerard.

[00:10:34] Gerard calls their incident, sleeping paralysis and astral projection.

[00:10:39] Gerard says,

[00:10:40] Hello, it's me again. Thanks for reading my story at your 50th episode. I really appreciate it.

[00:10:46] As promised, I'm going to share another story of mine.

[00:10:49] This experience didn't happen to me, but to my mother.

[00:10:53] She told me this story a while ago when our topic was about paranormal stuff.

[00:10:58] She told me that when I was in second grade, and we were currently living in my grandma's farm,

[00:11:02] I wasn't aware that my mom had been carrying a lot of problems financially and emotionally at that time.

[00:11:13] She told me that she broke down one day, and started questioning if God was real, if Jesus was real, and if they are, to show her a sign.

[00:11:23] After a while, she fell asleep, and that's when it happened.

[00:11:27] She told me that she had a nightmare, but in this case, I know it was sleep paralysis.

[00:11:32] She told me she was awake, but couldn't move her body, and she wanted to scream, but the voice wouldn't come out.

[00:11:39] She was panicking, and she felt like her soul was leaving her body, and much to her surprise, she believes it did.

[00:11:46] She saw herself lying in her bed, and she was already floating away from it.

[00:11:51] She told me that she heard a voice saying to her,

[00:11:54] You must get back.

[00:11:55] So she tried desperately to return, but when she tried putting herself into her body again, it wouldn't fit anymore.

[00:12:03] She felt as if her physical body had shrunk.

[00:12:06] She started crying, thinking that it was the end of her, and then she realized that it was the sign that she was asking for,

[00:12:13] and started praying and apologizing for doubting the existence of the higher being.

[00:12:20] That's the time she was able to get back.

[00:12:22] She felt a warm feeling coming back over her, and she was able to move again.

[00:12:27] That's the lesson she told me, and to never try questioning if God was real.

[00:12:32] My mom's not a religious person, but she believes that God exists.

[00:12:37] I'm not sure if her experience can be considered as astral projection, and I've been curious about it.

[00:12:43] I hope you or some of your listeners can tell me about the pros and cons of performing it.

[00:12:50] Thank you for reading my story. I wish you good health.

[00:12:53] Gerard

[00:12:54] Our next story of the night comes from Lee.

[00:13:01] Lee's story is called Spirits.

[00:13:03] Lee says,

[00:13:04] Hi Nick.

[00:13:05] I've been listening to your podcast for a while now, and I thought I might share some encounter stories of my own.

[00:13:11] As many of your listeners, I have always been fascinated with the paranormal, but never had any experiences as a kid.

[00:13:18] My first experience happened in the fall of 2012.

[00:13:21] I started my first semester of college in my hometown, so I was still living with my parents.

[00:13:27] I went to the kitchen at night. It must have been about 8 or 9 p.m. to grab a glass of cocoa milk.

[00:13:33] The kitchen at my parents' home has a counter that faces the living room.

[00:13:37] I started pouring the milk and quickly turned around to grab some cocoa powder.

[00:13:42] As I turned back to continue preparing my drink, I saw a little girl with a white dress just in front of me.

[00:13:48] I felt paralyzed.

[00:13:49] She had a white dress and blonde hair and fair skin.

[00:13:53] I felt kind of like I was in a trance.

[00:13:56] She hid very quickly, as if she had gotten scared, and for some reason, God knows why, instead of running back to my room, I walked to the living room and looked to see if she was still there.

[00:14:08] She wasn't.

[00:14:09] I headed back to my mom's room and sat at the end of her bed.

[00:14:13] She asked me desperately if something had happened to me, as she could notice my lost expression and pale face.

[00:14:20] I could not talk at all.

[00:14:22] She continued asking until I could finally explain what had happened.

[00:14:26] She went with my dad to check all the rooms in the house, but they found nothing.

[00:14:30] I could not sleep by myself for months.

[00:14:33] It was hard.

[00:14:35] I remembered I had moved my mattress to my parents' floor and always covered myself from head to toe.

[00:14:41] I had an irrational fear of opening my eyes because I thought I would see her, right there, looking back at me.

[00:14:48] With time, I started to become more comfortable and went back to my room.

[00:14:52] A few months later, my mom's side of the family had planned to celebrate Thanksgiving with our family on the countryside.

[00:15:00] My brother and I were excited, as this would have been the first time our mom would have let us stay overnight at a family relative's house.

[00:15:07] My parents had left back to the city, and we were joking around with my cousins.

[00:15:13] After about 15 minutes, my parents came back and said they had changed their mind, and that we were heading back home.

[00:15:19] My brother and I were upset and disappointed, but we left.

[00:15:23] Mom told us that Dad, who was always the more permissive, felt that it would be better for us to head back home.

[00:15:31] When we got back to our house, we went directly to sleep.

[00:15:35] My mom, who always wakes up at around 10am, woke me up at 5 in the morning to ask me about the little girl I had seen a couple of months ago.

[00:15:43] She asked me to describe her again, and then proceeded to tell me what she had experienced that night when we came back.

[00:15:50] She said that before bed, she started washing some dishes, and that in the corner of her eye, she could see a little girl floating.

[00:15:58] My mom has always had paranormal and spiritual encounters, so she wasn't afraid.

[00:16:03] She said that she kept looking, and the little girl was still there, not moving.

[00:16:08] My mom spoke out loud and said, this is not real, as the girl was leaving.

[00:16:14] My mom told me that immediately after saying this, the girl got back to the kitchen, and told her, you protected them.

[00:16:21] That was when my mom got the chills.

[00:16:24] She told me not to tell my brother, as he would get scared, and she didn't want that to happen.

[00:16:29] My mom never felt that she was evil.

[00:16:32] She just got startled because she heard her speak.

[00:16:35] As a way to cope, I think, we gave her a name.

[00:16:39] Ginny.

[00:16:40] Another encounter with Ginny happened sometime later, when my mom started joking to scare my brother and cousin,

[00:16:46] saying she had seen Ginny in the hallway.

[00:16:49] I felt a knot in my throat, and told mom not to say such things or play with that.

[00:16:55] Suddenly, she started screaming, like she had some kind of catharsis.

[00:16:59] My brother and cousin threw themselves to the floor and covered their ears.

[00:17:03] I was really scared and started calling my dad.

[00:17:06] He came and calmed her down, and she said she would never joke about it again,

[00:17:11] as she actually saw the girl, and she was kind of upset for playing like that.

[00:17:17] No more encounters, at least with Ginny, happened after that.

[00:17:21] Except my parents finding an old drawing of an angel I have made when I was in third grade,

[00:17:26] that my mom said resembled Ginny.

[00:17:29] I'll write some other time to share some of my other experiences.

[00:17:34] Take care, and keep on with the good job.

[00:17:36] Before I continue, please consider showing your support by subscribing, sharing, and giving the podcast a positive review.

[00:17:50] You can also visit me on Patreon, buy me a coffee or PayPal and make a donation,

[00:17:56] or become a member starting at just a dollar a month.

[00:17:59] You can even join my Patreon membership for free, and get access to all of my future updates.

[00:18:04] And of course, just listening to the show is the best support of all, and I'm grateful to have you here.

[00:18:11] Now, please stay tuned, and I'll be right back after these brief messages.

[00:18:16] Our next story of the night comes from Chris.

[00:18:23] Chris' story is called Nightly Visitor.

[00:18:26] Chris says,

[00:18:28] Hi Nick.

[00:18:28] Thank you for providing us a platform to tell our stories.

[00:18:32] My story takes place back in early 1997.

[00:18:35] I was in college and still living at home with my folks.

[00:18:39] I need to set up the story.

[00:18:41] My bedroom was a very small room.

[00:18:43] The house was built in 1964.

[00:18:46] My parents lived there their entire marriage, and continue to live there today.

[00:18:51] The bedroom has hardwood floors.

[00:18:54] The small single bed was pushed up against the far corner.

[00:18:57] Directly across from the bed, up against the wall, was a VHS slash CD storage rack made of wood.

[00:19:04] This night, I was in bed, lying facing the wall, my back to the door.

[00:19:10] I was sleeping when I felt the side of my bed go down, as if someone came in and sat down on the corner of my bed.

[00:19:18] I should interject here that this is not the first time that this has happened to me.

[00:19:23] I woke up facing the wall with the side of the bed down.

[00:19:27] I reached over with my left hand, grabbed what was sitting there, and pulled it over to my front side.

[00:19:35] I remember I was awake because my eyes were open, and I refused to look at what I had.

[00:19:42] I kept my eyes looking up as I felt around.

[00:19:45] What I held was a small, round body.

[00:19:49] No head, but I felt its butt.

[00:19:52] The arms were spindly, like it was nothing but skin and bones.

[00:19:57] The skin that I had grabbed flaked off, as if dried mud was covering it.

[00:20:03] I kept feeling around, and then I just threw the thing away from me.

[00:20:07] Throwing it across the room, I went back to sleep.

[00:20:11] The next morning, I asked my folks if they had heard anything like a crashing noise last night.

[00:20:16] My father jokingly asked if I had fallen off the bed.

[00:20:20] I told him no, and I just changed the subject.

[00:20:24] That night, I had a hard time keeping my left shoulder covered by the blanket.

[00:20:28] I woke up the next morning to discover that my comforter had a huge piece ripped out of it.

[00:20:34] The edges of the tear looked like they had melted.

[00:20:38] Underneath that was a blanket, and it had three slashes in it.

[00:20:42] I was terrified.

[00:20:44] I told my mother, and she was thinking that maybe I got it hooked onto the bed frame and ripped it.

[00:20:49] She then suggested that maybe I had washed it, causing it to rip, and the dryer had melted the edges.

[00:20:56] But none of that had happened.

[00:20:58] That day, I took the comforter and the blanket, and I took it to a business's trash dumpster, and disposed of them.

[00:21:04] Not long after that, my parents put new carpet down.

[00:21:08] Of course, I had to move my furniture out for the carpet guys to put it down.

[00:21:13] That piece of comforter has never been found.

[00:21:17] I hope you can use this story.

[00:21:19] It's just one of the many encounters I've had.

[00:21:22] Hopefully soon, I will submit a new story.

[00:21:25] Take care.

[00:21:26] Chris

[00:21:27] Our next story of the night comes from Cassandra.

[00:21:34] Cassandra's story is called,

[00:21:35] The Man Who Slid His Throat.

[00:21:38] Cassandra says,

[00:21:40] Hi Nick.

[00:21:40] I have been listening to your podcast for almost a year now.

[00:21:43] I just want to say thank you for creating a space for others with encounters with the unexplained to feel not so alone.

[00:21:50] Keep up the good work, and I hope you are well.

[00:21:53] After listening to many stories, I felt compelled to write in.

[00:21:57] I've had many experiences with the paranormal, and I thought you and the listeners may find this interesting, or possibly relatable.

[00:22:05] Back in 2015, I was working in a small office.

[00:22:09] Just me and a couple other women.

[00:22:11] The other woman in my department, we will call her Julia, sat across from me.

[00:22:17] After working together for several months, we became close and often confided in one another about goings-on in our lives.

[00:22:24] One morning in the beginning of our shift, Julia received a phone call.

[00:22:28] As she held the phone to her ear, I saw her face drop and go pale.

[00:22:33] She excused herself to the restroom.

[00:22:35] After she came back, I asked her if she was alright.

[00:22:38] She explained to me that her closest friend, Brittany, had lost her father to suicide.

[00:22:44] Julia grew up with Brittany, and in turn was also close with her father.

[00:22:49] Julia told me Brittany's parents divorced a couple years prior, and he began having a drinking problem as he fell into a deep depression.

[00:22:58] Tears welled up in her eyes as she told me the way he took his life.

[00:23:02] He had slit his throat in his bathroom.

[00:23:05] I went home that night with an uneasy feeling.

[00:23:08] I felt so terrible for the family.

[00:23:11] In the days that followed, Julia kept me updated on what was going on in her family.

[00:23:16] Between funeral arrangements, family arguments, and things of that sort, I had a look into Brittany's life, and I had never met her before.

[00:23:25] At the time, my boyfriend and I lived in a small 560 square foot apartment.

[00:23:31] Our bedroom was across from the entryway.

[00:23:34] He would leave before me to go to work.

[00:23:36] As I was locking up and went to the door, a voice in my head told me,

[00:23:41] Don't turn around.

[00:23:43] So naturally, I turned around.

[00:23:45] Standing at the foot of our bed, staring at me, was an older gentleman.

[00:23:50] He looked to be in his 50s to 60s, with a mustache and glasses.

[00:23:55] He had a solemn look on his face, and a deep sadness washed over me.

[00:23:59] I quickly flew out the door and headed to work.

[00:24:03] When I arrived, Julia angrily walked over to my desk and slammed down a newspaper clipping.

[00:24:08] She said to me,

[00:24:10] Can you believe this?

[00:24:12] This is a picture in the obituary for the paper.

[00:24:14] This is what his ex-wife chose.

[00:24:17] Almost to say,

[00:24:18] Go hard or go home when it comes to ending your life.

[00:24:21] I looked at the picture, and to my astonishment, it was the man standing in my bedroom from that morning.

[00:24:28] He was smiling, making a thumbs up.

[00:24:31] I felt nauseated.

[00:24:33] I knew Julia was a skeptic.

[00:24:35] And how would she believe me that her best friend's father was visiting me?

[00:24:40] I came home that night exhausted.

[00:24:43] I laid in bed with my boyfriend, just scrolling through my phone as he dozed off.

[00:24:48] I had told him nothing of what had happened earlier in the morning.

[00:24:51] All of a sudden, he shook, almost as if he had had a short-lasting convulsion.

[00:24:57] I patted his arm and asked if he was okay.

[00:25:00] He replied,

[00:25:01] Yes.

[00:25:02] I just had a weird dream that an elderly man with glasses got in my face.

[00:25:08] Chills ran up my spine, and I told my boyfriend everything.

[00:25:12] I went to see my spiritual advisor, and she told me that Brittany's father had latched onto me

[00:25:18] from the immense amount of guilt he felt from taking his life.

[00:25:22] Everyone around him was a skeptic, and he came to me in hopes to send a message.

[00:25:27] She said he was having trouble going to the other side.

[00:25:30] She gave me a bundle of sage and advised me to smudge the apartment

[00:25:34] and salt the windows and doors and pray for him.

[00:25:38] That Sunday, I did just that, and there was no longer any activity.

[00:25:43] I would like to think hopefully he and his family finally found some peace.

[00:25:49] You never know who might come to you for help.

[00:25:53] Regards, Cassandra

[00:25:54] Our last story of the night comes from Trish.

[00:26:01] Trish's story is called Shadow Person.

[00:26:04] Trish says,

[00:26:05] I've had unusual experiences my entire life, and for the most part, I welcome them,

[00:26:10] since I have learned to protect myself from the types of experiences that terrified me

[00:26:15] in my childhood and very early adulthood.

[00:26:18] While I have always been familiar with the paranormal,

[00:26:21] the experience I'm about to relate to you took place before I had heard of shadow people.

[00:26:26] This incident took place when I was a young soldier, 20 years old,

[00:26:31] stationed at a base in Texas in the late 1990s.

[00:26:35] I lived in the barracks in a single-person room.

[00:26:38] All of the barracks rooms opened to the outside,

[00:26:41] rather than into an interior hallway,

[00:26:44] where bright yellow-orange lights lit up the outside walkways and common areas at night.

[00:26:50] Because many of us were shift workers who often worked nights,

[00:26:53] we were provided with very heavy blackout curtains to help us sleep during the day.

[00:26:58] But even when the curtains were used,

[00:27:00] you could still see an outline of light,

[00:27:03] either sunlight or exterior lights,

[00:27:05] all around the edge of the window.

[00:27:07] I promise this is important.

[00:27:10] My bed was in the left corner of the room,

[00:27:13] and when I was in bed, my feet pointed toward the exterior door of the room.

[00:27:18] The window with blackout curtains was to the right of the door.

[00:27:22] On my right side was a wall,

[00:27:24] with a large wall locker and a dresser with a small TV and VCR combo

[00:27:28] that had a small display of the time in bright green numbers.

[00:27:33] Immediately next to my bed was a small nightstand with a lamp,

[00:27:36] and next to that was a chair that I used for my uniform,

[00:27:40] to keep it crisp and creased and ready for each day.

[00:27:44] One weekend night, I had been up late reading, as usual,

[00:27:48] and I finally decided to turn in.

[00:27:50] It was around 2am, I think.

[00:27:52] I turned off the lamp,

[00:27:54] the black curtains were pulled,

[00:27:56] and I could see the orange glow all around the edge of the window.

[00:28:00] As I lay there on my back, trying to wind my mind down,

[00:28:04] I noticed that my door suddenly seemed very dark.

[00:28:08] As I watched, confused,

[00:28:10] the darkness seemed to spread to the right,

[00:28:13] slowly oozing across the far wall.

[00:28:16] As it progressed, everything it touched slowly went darker than dark.

[00:28:20] I know that people who have seen shadow people know what I mean when I say that it was somehow blacker than pure darkness.

[00:28:28] It spread across the window until all of the orange light was blocked out,

[00:28:33] and when it came to the corner,

[00:28:35] it turned and started spreading across that wall.

[00:28:39] By this point, the terror was starting to set in,

[00:28:42] as I realized it was working its way toward me, wall by wall.

[00:28:46] It oozed across the right-hand wall,

[00:28:49] and I saw the display on the TV-VCR combo wink out as it was covered.

[00:28:56] Then it turned toward me, and I discovered that I was totally paralyzed.

[00:29:00] I found it difficult even to think, as I was so overcome with fear.

[00:29:05] It seemed to settle in the chair next to my bed.

[00:29:08] Even though the whole room was shrouded in darker-than-dark blackness,

[00:29:12] the mind, if you will, was in the chair next to me.

[00:29:17] I was frozen, trying desperately to move any part of my body, when I heard the voice.

[00:29:23] I have heard voices in scary movies that come close,

[00:29:26] but it was an impossibly deep, malevolent voice that seemed to speak into my ear and my mind,

[00:29:33] and it said,

[00:29:35] Do you think you can keep your big mouth shut?

[00:29:38] I have no idea what it meant or what it planned,

[00:29:41] but my thoughts cleared enough that I was able to pray frantically in my mind,

[00:29:46] asking Jesus for help over and over and over again.

[00:29:50] As soon as I began praying, the abnormal darkness lifted,

[00:29:54] kind of zipping back the way it had come and dissipating at the same time,

[00:29:59] and I found that I could move again.

[00:30:01] I turned on my lamp and every other light in the room,

[00:30:05] dressed quickly, and ran to a friend's barracks in another building.

[00:30:10] Despite the very late hour, we were good friends,

[00:30:12] and I knew he would believe me when I told him what had happened.

[00:30:16] I spent the rest of the weekend in his room,

[00:30:18] only going back with him as an escort to get items from my room.

[00:30:23] It never happened again,

[00:30:24] but I was never able to sleep in that room without a light on again.

[00:30:29] I'm sorry this is so long,

[00:30:31] but it's just nice to have a forum where I can share this story

[00:30:34] and not be seen as crazy.

[00:30:36] I have many others, if you are interested.

[00:30:39] Keep up the good work, and thank you.

[00:30:45] As we come to the end of yet another episode,

[00:30:48] I'd like to say thank you to all of you for listening,

[00:30:50] and for supporting the podcast.

[00:30:52] And I'd like to say thank you to

[00:30:54] Wyatt, Carolyn, Dreamweaver,

[00:30:57] Gerard, Lee, Chris, Cassandra, and Trish,

[00:31:02] for writing in and sharing their experiences with all of us.

[00:31:05] If you believe that you or someone that you know

[00:31:08] has witnessed something unexplainable,

[00:31:10] and you'd like to have your story shared on the podcast,

[00:31:12] you can contact me at paranormalmysteriespodcast at gmail.com.

[00:31:16] Please remember that no matter how insignificant or outlandish

[00:31:20] you believe your experience may seem,

[00:31:22] I'd like to hear about it.

[00:31:23] From all of us at the Paranormal Mysteries Podcast,

[00:31:26] thank you for listening, and remember,

[00:31:29] don't wait for the unknown to come to you.

[00:31:31] Get out there and find it.