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Strange Knocks
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Keith Linder
Sep 7, 2022, 9:20:05 PM9/7/22
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Strange phenomena - been a while since I experienced it. Strange loud knocking(like someone at the front door) hasn't happened in a while, but when it does - always when my eyes are about to close for a much-needed nap. TODAY IT HAPPENED Example. https://jstor.org/stable/24243011
Ouisie
Nov 3, 2022, 4:31:57 PM11/3/22
to
The account of the strange knocking sound gave me cause to mention
something very similar, along with some comments and observations
related to my own personal experiences with such matters, i.e.
apparitions and other manifestations, including sounds and smells, in
addition to sightings, which I'll mention at the end of this related
experience...a totally true experience.
This situation was experienced from 1967 until 1977, when we moved out
of the upper flat of a two flat building in Chicago's Back Of The Yards
neighborhood.
At that time, our nuclear family, both my parents and two siblings, was
living together in the flat when in the early afternoon, less than a
year after we had moved in, with all five of us present in two adjoining
roome (dining and living rooms), and within no further than about ten
feet from each other, we all beheld a most terrifying sound - the
absolutely unmistakable ratcheting sound coming from our front door,
located in the dining room, that occurrs only when a key is inserted
into the lock.
What had totally spooked us at the time had nothing to do with ghosts
and such but rather the clear and very real possibility of a term that
wasn't even in use then - home invasion!
In an instant, my father leaped off the couch and practically dived into
the living room's adjoining front bedroom, emerging in seconds with a
cannon in his hand, an enormous .45 caliber revolver.
Since I was closest to the front door, my father instructed me to, on
his signal, quickly unlock and pull it wide open as he got into position
to confront whomever may be on the other side.
He then aimed his gun and said "now"!
I instantly unlocked and yanked the door wide open, exposing the space
beyond it to his path of fire...but no one was there.
He then immediately proceeded to clear the path down the long flight of
stairs which led to our flat and noticing that no one was there either,
proceeded down the stairs to the first floor landing, where someone
would be able to hide in front of the first floor flat's front door
which opened into their living room - still no one there.
Next, he pulled open the thick large glass center door which led to a
flight of about eight concrete stairs leading to the sidewalk. For a
long time, even before we moved in, that door had a nonfunctional lock
and didn't even latch although its weather stripping was excellent and
it never blew open when fully closed.
As he stood, gun in hand, outside the building's entry door, quickly
visually scanning left and right on both sides of the street, looking
for any traces of anyone trying to get away, and not finding anything
there either, he considered going out on the sidewalk but decided
against it as it would be too dangerous if he was seen by neighbors or
the police, so he reluctantly went back inside to our flat. Besides, we
had a lot to talk about.
All five of us were noticeably shaken by what had, or had apparently
almost happened...a home invasion.
But quite some time before this incident, shortly after we moved in, we
had the locks changed - so 'that' must be why we stayed safe.
But I was already replaying the details in my mind and noticed some very
glaring inconsistencies.
Having excellent hearing and being closest to the front door when it all
started, I nonetheless never heard any kind of movement whatsoever on
the flight of stairs going to our front door. Why?
I next mentioned that because the stairs were thin wood with a thin hard
layer of rubber matting on top of them, causing them to work like a
sounding board, it was impossible for anyone to go up or down those
stars without being clearly heard by anyone who wasn't deaf on the other
side of the door.
It was before this time reassuring - someone goes out to the store, they
close the door behind them, then the 'thump', 'thump', 'thump' of their
footsteps growing fainter and fainter as they walked downstairs to go
out...then when they returned, the faint 'thump', 'thump', 'thump'
growing ever louder as they walked back up the stairs, and then, with
the thin wood on the front door amplifying the sound, the ratcheting
sound of the key going into the lock, and then the door opening as they
came back in - absolutely consistent and unmistakable sounds - but NOT
QUITE THIS TIME!
I then invited/challenged all of us to dare to try to sneak up and down
the stairs undetected to see if we could do it - we all tried, doing our
very best to be as quiet as we could - no chance...it was a naural alarm
system that never failed - except apparently this time, but why?
Not only that, but the downstars main door was fully closed...the
weather stripping fully butted against the frame as though closed very
carefully, indicating a total absence of any kind of haste.
Now came the bombshell - I recalled each detail of what we experienced
as it came up:
1. No sound on the stairs whatsoever - then, suddenly:
2. The unmistakable sound of the key going into the lock - and we all
heard it clearly.
Scenario:Pprospective 'home invader' has a key and inserts it into the lock.
What then? What does anyone, criminal or not, do when they insert a key
into a lock? They Turn it, or Attampt to - if their attempt fails, they
jiggle it back and forth in both directions making even more noise, and
*that* can be clearly heard, whether the lock opens or not.
What then, when the lock tumblers do not turn? They either remove the
key, resulting in a repeat of that loud unmistakable sound of key
contacting lock...or they leave the key in the lock, which becomes Evidence!
But there was Never the sound of a key being pulled out OR a key left
behind in the lock...ONLY SOUNDS!
I then announced: "It appears that we have been visited by a ghost".
The point was well taken, probably because it was pretty much
irrefutable in view of the evidence...and, the lack of evidence to the
contrary.
But that was far from the end, in fact it was only the very first time,
there would be many more throughout the time we lived in that flat.
Over the years we actually became accustomed to the occasional
manifestations and even got to the point where we'd say to one another;
"did you hear that? Is that the ghost again"? "Yeah, it's the ghost".
Shortly after the first enounter when my mother told our landlady who
lived on the first floor about the incident, she was able to provide
still more details.
A man had died up in the flat we lived in. He was a mailman and often
briefly stopped by home during his working day, since his route was in
that area, and at times which corresponded to the times we heard the sounds.
And finally, a seemingly unrelated strange occurrence - it was holiday
season in December some few years after the first mailman 'ghost' visit.
Directly across from our front door was a window, which even on hot
summer days was rarely open and by this time was securely locked and
airtight. There was no air movement whatsoever in the stairwell or small
hallway between our front door and the window.
A styrofoam Santa face Christmas decoration had been affixed to the
outside of our front door by its thin string around a thumbtack in the
center of the door. It had been there for days totally without incident,
until one day while I was talking with my mother near the door and there
was a strange sound outside the door. No longer fearing the 'ghost', and
definitely never having heard any movement on the stairs, I opened the
front door and anxiously looked out.
At first, scanning directly ahead, I saw nothing. But upon noticing
something on the floor near the door, I discovered that the Santa face
Decoration was lying face down. My mother asked me what happened and
assuming a reasonable explanation, I said that the thin string the
decoration was hung up by had broken - but the string was intact. Upon
discovering that, I next said that the thumbtack in the door must have
somehow come out...but it too, was intact, still securely sticking in
the door. It was almost as though some invsible force had lifted the
decoration's string clear of the thumbtack and let it fall to the floor.
Was that the doing of the mailman's 'ghost' too?
Explanations
So what happened here?
Was it a ghost?
Depends on what "ghost" means. A spirit? "spirit" meaning what appears
to be a form of energy exhibiting intelligence, thought, psychological
character, personhood, etc.?
I'd definitely say NO!
Instead, I would suggest that the kind of 'ghost' this manifestation is
would be best described as a "playback"...literally a recurrance of
energy originating from an earlier time and simply 'reflecting' around
until it is perceived to "play back".
As an example, my favorite comedians of all time, the Three Stooges, are
all dead and buried. Yet every Saturday they 'come to life' on
television screens and it's said that they now have more fans than they
ever had before, and that number keeps growing...because their
apparitions, their 'ghosts' are in the form of both visual and audible
"playback".
Another example, near the end of the twentith Century, the Titanic's
1912 distress signal was received by radio telescopes from deep space,
a reflection of course, but also a 'ghost'.
And remember what signal reflections do when received on analog
televisions, they produce a second image literally known as a 'ghost'.
Then there's a story of a "ghost train". Since trains are inanimate
objects, it's unlikely that any kind of 'spirits' are involved, but
ghosts are. As the story went, a couple had recently purchased their
dream home, an idyllic nest which incuded lots of 'enchanted
forest'-like land to go with it. They were amazed at how almost
storybook-like it was - until one summer night, when they had their
windows wide open to a cooling breeze and were just getting to sleep
when a distant yet distinct rumbling sound was heard...and it was
getting louder and louder. Soon light seemed to appear from nowhere, at
first dimly then more and more brightly illuminating the inside of their
house as the sound got even louder. Looking out one of the windows, they
clearly saw a brilliant headlight coming almost right at them, and heard
the powerful sound of chugging steam pistons as a locomotive and the
rest of the train roared right past their house.
The next day, more furious than thinking, they called their realtor to
complain. He assured them that no one was trying to scam them by
concealing the existence of an active railroad track on their property
and although they had a hard time believing it, they both realized that
as they explored their property, they had found no evidence of trackage,
not even several miles away as they would later learn.
Then they got an idea, their new town had a historical society, which
was able to tell them about railroad activity in the town over time -
and what they found was that there was indeed a railroad track running
close to their house...but that it had been totally removed over one
hundred years earlier.
All of these are "playbacks"...and while most involve sight and/or
sound, other senses can be involved too. I personally experienced the
scent of freshly made toast, often much later in the day than usual
breakfast time, and in the living room, of an apartment I used to live in.
So what then are ghosts?
Unless they're fully explained, they're what they have always been...SPOOKY!
something very similar, along with some comments and observations
related to my own personal experiences with such matters, i.e.
apparitions and other manifestations, including sounds and smells, in
addition to sightings, which I'll mention at the end of this related
experience...a totally true experience.
This situation was experienced from 1967 until 1977, when we moved out
of the upper flat of a two flat building in Chicago's Back Of The Yards
neighborhood.
At that time, our nuclear family, both my parents and two siblings, was
living together in the flat when in the early afternoon, less than a
year after we had moved in, with all five of us present in two adjoining
roome (dining and living rooms), and within no further than about ten
feet from each other, we all beheld a most terrifying sound - the
absolutely unmistakable ratcheting sound coming from our front door,
located in the dining room, that occurrs only when a key is inserted
into the lock.
What had totally spooked us at the time had nothing to do with ghosts
and such but rather the clear and very real possibility of a term that
wasn't even in use then - home invasion!
In an instant, my father leaped off the couch and practically dived into
the living room's adjoining front bedroom, emerging in seconds with a
cannon in his hand, an enormous .45 caliber revolver.
Since I was closest to the front door, my father instructed me to, on
his signal, quickly unlock and pull it wide open as he got into position
to confront whomever may be on the other side.
He then aimed his gun and said "now"!
I instantly unlocked and yanked the door wide open, exposing the space
beyond it to his path of fire...but no one was there.
He then immediately proceeded to clear the path down the long flight of
stairs which led to our flat and noticing that no one was there either,
proceeded down the stairs to the first floor landing, where someone
would be able to hide in front of the first floor flat's front door
which opened into their living room - still no one there.
Next, he pulled open the thick large glass center door which led to a
flight of about eight concrete stairs leading to the sidewalk. For a
long time, even before we moved in, that door had a nonfunctional lock
and didn't even latch although its weather stripping was excellent and
it never blew open when fully closed.
As he stood, gun in hand, outside the building's entry door, quickly
visually scanning left and right on both sides of the street, looking
for any traces of anyone trying to get away, and not finding anything
there either, he considered going out on the sidewalk but decided
against it as it would be too dangerous if he was seen by neighbors or
the police, so he reluctantly went back inside to our flat. Besides, we
had a lot to talk about.
All five of us were noticeably shaken by what had, or had apparently
almost happened...a home invasion.
But quite some time before this incident, shortly after we moved in, we
had the locks changed - so 'that' must be why we stayed safe.
But I was already replaying the details in my mind and noticed some very
glaring inconsistencies.
Having excellent hearing and being closest to the front door when it all
started, I nonetheless never heard any kind of movement whatsoever on
the flight of stairs going to our front door. Why?
I next mentioned that because the stairs were thin wood with a thin hard
layer of rubber matting on top of them, causing them to work like a
sounding board, it was impossible for anyone to go up or down those
stars without being clearly heard by anyone who wasn't deaf on the other
side of the door.
It was before this time reassuring - someone goes out to the store, they
close the door behind them, then the 'thump', 'thump', 'thump' of their
footsteps growing fainter and fainter as they walked downstairs to go
out...then when they returned, the faint 'thump', 'thump', 'thump'
growing ever louder as they walked back up the stairs, and then, with
the thin wood on the front door amplifying the sound, the ratcheting
sound of the key going into the lock, and then the door opening as they
came back in - absolutely consistent and unmistakable sounds - but NOT
QUITE THIS TIME!
I then invited/challenged all of us to dare to try to sneak up and down
the stairs undetected to see if we could do it - we all tried, doing our
very best to be as quiet as we could - no chance...it was a naural alarm
system that never failed - except apparently this time, but why?
Not only that, but the downstars main door was fully closed...the
weather stripping fully butted against the frame as though closed very
carefully, indicating a total absence of any kind of haste.
Now came the bombshell - I recalled each detail of what we experienced
as it came up:
1. No sound on the stairs whatsoever - then, suddenly:
2. The unmistakable sound of the key going into the lock - and we all
heard it clearly.
Scenario:Pprospective 'home invader' has a key and inserts it into the lock.
What then? What does anyone, criminal or not, do when they insert a key
into a lock? They Turn it, or Attampt to - if their attempt fails, they
jiggle it back and forth in both directions making even more noise, and
*that* can be clearly heard, whether the lock opens or not.
What then, when the lock tumblers do not turn? They either remove the
key, resulting in a repeat of that loud unmistakable sound of key
contacting lock...or they leave the key in the lock, which becomes Evidence!
But there was Never the sound of a key being pulled out OR a key left
behind in the lock...ONLY SOUNDS!
I then announced: "It appears that we have been visited by a ghost".
The point was well taken, probably because it was pretty much
irrefutable in view of the evidence...and, the lack of evidence to the
contrary.
But that was far from the end, in fact it was only the very first time,
there would be many more throughout the time we lived in that flat.
Over the years we actually became accustomed to the occasional
manifestations and even got to the point where we'd say to one another;
"did you hear that? Is that the ghost again"? "Yeah, it's the ghost".
Shortly after the first enounter when my mother told our landlady who
lived on the first floor about the incident, she was able to provide
still more details.
A man had died up in the flat we lived in. He was a mailman and often
briefly stopped by home during his working day, since his route was in
that area, and at times which corresponded to the times we heard the sounds.
And finally, a seemingly unrelated strange occurrence - it was holiday
season in December some few years after the first mailman 'ghost' visit.
Directly across from our front door was a window, which even on hot
summer days was rarely open and by this time was securely locked and
airtight. There was no air movement whatsoever in the stairwell or small
hallway between our front door and the window.
A styrofoam Santa face Christmas decoration had been affixed to the
outside of our front door by its thin string around a thumbtack in the
center of the door. It had been there for days totally without incident,
until one day while I was talking with my mother near the door and there
was a strange sound outside the door. No longer fearing the 'ghost', and
definitely never having heard any movement on the stairs, I opened the
front door and anxiously looked out.
At first, scanning directly ahead, I saw nothing. But upon noticing
something on the floor near the door, I discovered that the Santa face
Decoration was lying face down. My mother asked me what happened and
assuming a reasonable explanation, I said that the thin string the
decoration was hung up by had broken - but the string was intact. Upon
discovering that, I next said that the thumbtack in the door must have
somehow come out...but it too, was intact, still securely sticking in
the door. It was almost as though some invsible force had lifted the
decoration's string clear of the thumbtack and let it fall to the floor.
Was that the doing of the mailman's 'ghost' too?
Explanations
So what happened here?
Was it a ghost?
Depends on what "ghost" means. A spirit? "spirit" meaning what appears
to be a form of energy exhibiting intelligence, thought, psychological
character, personhood, etc.?
I'd definitely say NO!
Instead, I would suggest that the kind of 'ghost' this manifestation is
would be best described as a "playback"...literally a recurrance of
energy originating from an earlier time and simply 'reflecting' around
until it is perceived to "play back".
As an example, my favorite comedians of all time, the Three Stooges, are
all dead and buried. Yet every Saturday they 'come to life' on
television screens and it's said that they now have more fans than they
ever had before, and that number keeps growing...because their
apparitions, their 'ghosts' are in the form of both visual and audible
"playback".
Another example, near the end of the twentith Century, the Titanic's
1912 distress signal was received by radio telescopes from deep space,
a reflection of course, but also a 'ghost'.
And remember what signal reflections do when received on analog
televisions, they produce a second image literally known as a 'ghost'.
Then there's a story of a "ghost train". Since trains are inanimate
objects, it's unlikely that any kind of 'spirits' are involved, but
ghosts are. As the story went, a couple had recently purchased their
dream home, an idyllic nest which incuded lots of 'enchanted
forest'-like land to go with it. They were amazed at how almost
storybook-like it was - until one summer night, when they had their
windows wide open to a cooling breeze and were just getting to sleep
when a distant yet distinct rumbling sound was heard...and it was
getting louder and louder. Soon light seemed to appear from nowhere, at
first dimly then more and more brightly illuminating the inside of their
house as the sound got even louder. Looking out one of the windows, they
clearly saw a brilliant headlight coming almost right at them, and heard
the powerful sound of chugging steam pistons as a locomotive and the
rest of the train roared right past their house.
The next day, more furious than thinking, they called their realtor to
complain. He assured them that no one was trying to scam them by
concealing the existence of an active railroad track on their property
and although they had a hard time believing it, they both realized that
as they explored their property, they had found no evidence of trackage,
not even several miles away as they would later learn.
Then they got an idea, their new town had a historical society, which
was able to tell them about railroad activity in the town over time -
and what they found was that there was indeed a railroad track running
close to their house...but that it had been totally removed over one
hundred years earlier.
All of these are "playbacks"...and while most involve sight and/or
sound, other senses can be involved too. I personally experienced the
scent of freshly made toast, often much later in the day than usual
breakfast time, and in the living room, of an apartment I used to live in.
So what then are ghosts?
Unless they're fully explained, they're what they have always been...SPOOKY!
pH
Nov 4, 2022, 12:50:53 AM11/4/22
to
On 2022-11-03, Ouisie <us...@example.com> wrote:
<snip
in when I have a bit more time.
pH in Aptos, CA
<snip
> So what then are ghosts?
> Unless they're fully explained, they're what they have always been...SPOOKY!
>
> On 9/7/2022 8:20 PM, Keith Linder wrote:
>> Strange phenomena - been a while since I experienced it. Strange loud
>> knocking(like someone at the front door) hasn't happened in a while, but
>> when it does - always when my eyes are about to close for a much-needed
>> nap. TODAY IT HAPPENED Example. https://jstor.org/stable/24243011
>
>
Wow, that was a lot of typing and great story. I'll have to put one of mine
> Unless they're fully explained, they're what they have always been...SPOOKY!
>
> On 9/7/2022 8:20 PM, Keith Linder wrote:
>> Strange phenomena - been a while since I experienced it. Strange loud
>> knocking(like someone at the front door) hasn't happened in a while, but
>> when it does - always when my eyes are about to close for a much-needed
>> nap. TODAY IT HAPPENED Example. https://jstor.org/stable/24243011
>
>
in when I have a bit more time.
pH in Aptos, CA
Ouisie
Nov 4, 2022, 6:43:58 AM11/4/22
to
On 11/3/2022 11:50 PM, pH wrote:
> Wow, that was a lot of typing and great story. I'll have to put one of mine
> in when I have a bit more time.
>
> pH in Aptos, CA
I actually did write a spooky fiction story about five years ago for
> Wow, that was a lot of typing and great story. I'll have to put one of mine
> in when I have a bit more time.
>
> pH in Aptos, CA
Halloween entitled "Running Flat Out Scared", but the real events are
the most interesting, and much spookier if they can't be explained.
Ouisie
plateshutoverlock
Jan 27, 2023, 3:55:20 AM1/27/23
to
On Wednesday, September 7, 2022 at 6:20:05 PM UTC-7, Keith Linder wrote:
> Strange phenomena - been a while since I experienced it. Strange loud knocking(like someone at the front door) hasn't happened in a while, but when it does - always when my eyes are about to close for a much-needed nap. TODAY IT HAPPENED Example. https://jstor.org/stable/24243011
Some years ago, I would be startled awake by what sounded like a massive explosion just outside my house. I would check, but there was nothing amiss. I've had numerous incidents like this, always when I was about to fall asleep. I had the "knocking on the front door" and what sounded like something crashing to the floor in my house as well when I was about to transition to groggy to sleep.
> Strange phenomena - been a while since I experienced it. Strange loud knocking(like someone at the front door) hasn't happened in a while, but when it does - always when my eyes are about to close for a much-needed nap. TODAY IT HAPPENED Example. https://jstor.org/stable/24243011
This is a known (medical?) condition
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21907-exploding-head-syndrome-ehs#:~:text=Exploding%20head%20syndrome%20(EHS)%20is%20a%20type%20of%20sleep%20disorder,wake%20up%20during%20the%20night.
plateshutoverlock
Jan 27, 2023, 3:59:30 AM1/27/23
to
On Wednesday, September 7, 2022 at 6:20:05 PM UTC-7, Keith Linder wrote:
> Strange phenomena - been a while since I experienced it. Strange loud knocking(like someone at the front door) hasn't happened in a while, but when it does - always when my eyes are about to close for a much-needed nap. TODAY IT HAPPENED Example. https://jstor.org/stable/24243011
Some years ago, I would be startled awake by what sounded like a massive explosion just outside my house. I would check, but there was nothing amiss. I've had numerous incidents like this, always when I was about to fall asleep. I also had the "knocking on the front door" and what sounded like something crashing to the floor in my house, also when I was about to transition to groggy to sleep.
This actually a known (medical?) condition:
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21907-exploding-head-syndrome-ehs#:~:text=Exploding%20head%20syndrome%20(EHS)%20is%20a%20type%20of%20sleep%20disorder,wake%20up%20during%20the%20night.
Mark Prince Molina
Oct 25, 2023, 9:08:11 AM10/25/23
to
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9f33dsjL9zM&list=UULFMqyv6NpcNHXUQhzkkKiPfw
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