Some encounters with supernatural

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Spirits
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Paranormal
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SOME ENCOUNTERS WITH THE SUPERNATURAL

By Robert Snow

I consider myself fortunate in as much, that so far in my life, I have had some experiences for which I can find no normal explanation; therefore I must call them supernatural or paranormal.

I suppose my first experience of any consequence happened in Dorset in the early sixties. You see as a child, my parents, my sister and me lived in The National provincial Bank House, now The National Westminster Bank, at a small Dorset market town, my father being a bank employee.

Around 1956, if my memory serves me correctly, we moved to Southsea as my father was transferred to a branch of the bank at Portsmouth , but every Christmas we would all return to the Dorset town to stay with some friends who lived in the old rectory; the house is now called ‘Bleak House’ (name changed to avoid embarrassment to the present owners).

When we visited ‘Bleak House’ I used to sleep in a room that was known as the sewing room, it was located on a mezzanine floor, half way between the ground floor and the first floor. The main staircase went from the entrance floor up one flight, at the top of which was the sewing room on the left. There was a ninety degree turn to the right and another flight went up to the first floor.

One particular night in 1960 at Christmas time, I think it was the night of Christmas Eve, but it could have been a couple of days after Christmas. Anyway I had just finished reading in bed and went over to the door to switch off the overhead light as there was no bedside lamp. I climbed back into bed and lay there with my eyes open with nothing particular on my mind; just looking at the ceiling which was illuminated by the strong moonlight which was shining through the window which looked onto the churchyard.

After a few minutes I noticed what I can only describe as a circular misty cloud forming over the foot of my bed, it seemed to be growing in size; at the same time it was giving off a strong light of its own in spite of the fact that the moonlight shining through the window was very bright.

As I watched the glowing mist, it seemed to be growing in size and density until it reached four or five feet across. There was one peculiar characteristic and that the mist seemed to be confined inside a barrier. Let me explain, it was swirling around all the time and becoming denser but at the same time it was confined, as it were inside a glass globe. After a while I plucked up courage and jumped out of bed and ran over to the door to switch on the overhead light.

I sat on the side of the bed wondering what to do next. I was feeling very frightened to say the least. I eventually decided to put out the light and get back in bed, as the room was extremely cold, there being no central heating in the house.

I lay in bed thinking that it must have been my imagination when the same thing happened again. The same swirling, mist giving out the same phosphorescent glow and still confined inside that invisible globe. This time it increased in size much more slowly than before. All the time I was watching it, absolutely terrified, but I felt compelled to keep it under observation.

After a while I put my head under the bed clothes as it had still not gone away. Eventually I must have fallen asleep because the next thing that I knew was that it was morning and time to get up for breakfast.

I do not know what it was that I saw that night, but there are two things that I am certain of and they are that it was not my imagination, and that it was evil because there was a very loathsome feeling about it.

Some time afterwards, meaning several years later, I did find out that the wife of the owner, namely our hostess, unknown to her husband and family or us had dealings with the occult. Could this be something to do with it?

In 1986, a daughter of the owner asked me to accompany her to ‘Bleak House’, to collect some belongings of her mother who had just died. She told me that she was afraid to go to the house on her own, having spent every day for the last two weeks packing up her mother’s belongings. “There is something very evil in that house”, she told me. “I can not spend another minute there on my own”. She said that she always made a point on leaving the house before darkness fell.

Anyway, I went with her to the house and as soon as I entered the main entrance hall I felt very uncomfortable. She asked me to go upstairs to collect some items for her, which I did. As soon as I set foot on the first floor landing I had a feeling of extreme dread. My feet felt as if they were too heavy for my legs.

The further I walked away from the staircase onto the first floor the worse I felt. I have heard of people having a hair raising experience, well up to that day I thought that it was a metaphorical figure of speech. I can honestly say that I felt a tingling sensation running over my scalp.

As soon as I had collected the items, I left the first floor via the stairs and felt much more comfortable, although I did not feel entirely at ease until I had left the house.

There is no doubt in my mind that there is or was at the time a presence in that house. It was a presence of the most unpleasant kind and I am sure that it was not of this world.

The old rectory was typical of a large Victorian house with numerous large rooms, each with hight ceilings; very cold and draughty in the winter. When in that house I felt that I was too far from the living and much too close to the dead.

Whilst doing my army basic training at the R.E.M.E. Training Depot which was at ‘Poperinghe Barracks’ in the Berkshire village of Arborfield, also had a very strange experience.

One night I got out of bed to go to the toilet and looked at my watch and it showed 11.30 pm. I returned to my bed which was just inside the door of the barrack room, on the left by the light switches. I had not yet been asleep and was perfectly sober.

I suppose that I had been in the barrack room for about ten minutes or so when the door opened. I saw a figure enter the room and walk up the central isle, between the two rows of beds. I could see it clearly in the bright moonlight that was shining through the windows.

The figure went up to one of the steel lockers, opened it and started rummaging aroud inside it. Thinking that it was someone trying to steal from one of my colleagues, I jumped out of bed and switched on the electric ligh. There was no one there at all. The figure had completely disappeared.

The following morning I found out that three other people in the barrack room had also seen the person walk into barrack room. They saw rummage inside the locker, their reports tallied mor or less with what I had witnessed. So I could not have imagined the incident. This strange occurrence happened in 1962.

There is another strange experience from my army days that I would like to mention. I was posted on the permenant staff of the R.E.M.E. School of Electronic Engineering at Hazebrouk Barracks also in Arborfield.

On the night in question I was on guard duty and had to patrol, with a colleague, the neighbouring ‘Beaulieul Barracks’, which was located about half a mile away. It was a mostly disused barracks with a lot of empty huts known as ‘spiders’.

As we approached the centre of the camp we both saw a person walking towards us and then walk between two legs of one particular hut. We both shone our torches onto the figure as we thought that it was an intruder.. the moonlight was very bright that night and the security lights were on throut the camp, so there was no mistaking anything else for a person.

Both my companion and I ran towards the spot where the the figure went and when we arrived there was no one there at all. There was no way that the figure could escape without us noticing it. There was no door into the building and all the windows were fastened securely.

There had been, over the years, many strange happenings in that place; it seemed to have a rather unsavoury reputation.

About two hours later we were walking along the edge of the parade ground when we both heard what sounded like someone marching across the parade ground in hobnailed army boots. Despite the fact that the whole area was illuminated by the perimeter lights we could not see anyone at all.. the invisible marcher seemed to pass within about twenty feet or so of where we were standing, pass and gradually fade away.

In more recent years I have experienced a couple of minor but interesting incidents for which I can find no rational explanation.. I live in a cottage in the heart of The Dorset countryside. One evening, as I was going to bed I heard a noise coming from inside the bedroom fireplace. The grate had a piece of plywood over the front of it to stop draughs coming down the chimney, I did not use the fireplace at all. The noise sounded as if two or three birds had fallen down the chimney and were fighting or flapping about.and were unable to escape. The noise was certainly very loud and coming from the fireplace. I immediately removed the piece of plywood that was covering the opening and expected to see a bird or two fly out; there was nothing there at all, not even one bird. I replaced the wood and almost immediately the same thing happened again, the flapping and scratching sound; just as loud. Again I removed the plywood cover and again there was nothing visible to account for the noise. On both occasions the noise stopped immediately the cover was removed.

In 1985, I was visiting the owner of a very large and isolated country house in North Dorset, the building was being restored at the time and the owner, whom I know well, wished to show me the near completed restoration work. There was no furniture in the house at the time and the only contents were the workmen’s tools and equipment. It was on a Saturday morning so the workmen were not there. Just as I was about to say goodbye to the owner and his wife and leave there was a tremendous crashing sound which sounded as if thousands of glass bottles had been dropped onto a stone floor from a great height. It was really deafening. We immediately searched the whole building from attic to cellar. But were unable to find anything to account for the noise.; everything was as it should have been; all in order.

I have had an interest in mysteries and the unexplained for many years. I think that most people, if they are to be honest with themselves and intrigued with mysteries. The supernatural is a veil through which we cannot see, it is a door for which we have no key.