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Head scratchers???

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10:39 am
July 4, 2008


Haephiteus

Taylor, MI

Investigator

posts 54

Two days ago about 11 pm I stood at my backdoor and watched a ball of light go across the yard. The light was dim and free floating. It was a heavy drizzle and we wre flooded. I seen no cars nor heard any. Now let me do some explaining, I have been living hear for 30 yrs, the backyard is huge. My house is located on a corner with plenty of traffic, So I know when I see traffic lights, going around the corner, pulling in and out of driveways, on my street, the street behind me etc. So what I'm saying is, I am a 100% certain is wasn't traffic lights. I know my area pretty well.

For the past 20-25 years I would say 3 different times while is was raining, as I remember between midnight and 3 am (the witching hour, which I believe is a bunch of hoopla) I would hear somebody whistling a happy little tune outside. My sister has also heard this on 1 or 2 occasions. Now it's very possible that someone WAS out there, and I did ask around. One time it was frigid cold and I think it would have been a little tough to whistle with teeth chattering.

Now this one was several years ago, so let explain my dog. She's akita/st bernard. Rarely if ever barks, will kill or try to, any small animal, skunks, possums, cats, smaller dogs, except for our cats. She was at the backdoor barking, and I let her out trailing with flashlight in hand. She went straight to the center maple tree, and with her rear toward me and head down she appeared to be licking something. With flashlight pointing at her I called her name she looked at me ( her eyes glowing of course) a second set of eyes also glowing came up out of the ground raised up about a foot and disappeared. I went to the tree to find nothing on the ground or nothing in the tree, and the dog casually walked away. ( I have buried many beloved pets in the yard, so you know where some ppls explainations came from.)

There have been several incidences in the yard and area, too many to explain and have been witnessed by several people at once. So this had lead to me and the hubby to grab a couple of brews, recorders, video cam, and have a quiet night in the yard. We were out for a few hours when the dog (same one) came out and started acting strange, sniffing around etc. I know dogs have a keen sense of hearing, seeing, and smelling, so we shrugged it off. Now when I played the recorder back as I started talking about IR lights (of all things) you could hear a child singing. It was after midnight, the hood was quiet. Of course my sister had pointed out to me that that was not the first time that I had picked up the sounds of a female child around me. She thinks I have one following me. She could be right. There could be a logical explanation for it. I'm open to it, especially the eyes I seen.

I'd like to hear what others think, please let me know your opinions.

You are a god among insects. Never let anyone tell you different. ~Magneto

1:49 pm
July 5, 2008


Stephen

San Jose, CA

Admin

posts 589

Thanks for the post, Haephiteus!

I'd like to try to get a better understanding of the most recent incident (the moving light).

My questions:

1. Did you see the light pass in front of anything? If so, how far away was that thing?

2. Which direction were you facing? (Compasswise)

3. About where were you located? No need to give an exact address, but a nearby major intersection or landmark would let me get an idea of what the sky should look like from there. I'm assuming you were in Taylor, MI, like it says on your byline.

4. What was the angle to the light? Directly above your head would be 90 degrees, while eye level would be 0 degrees.

5. How long did the whole incident last?

Your account matches the local weather report, so that's one corroborating detail.

Also, would it be possible for you post the relevant section of the "child singing" sound online somewhere? I'd be curious to hear it.

Stephen the Friendly Skeptic

5:56 pm
July 5, 2008


Haephiteus

Taylor, MI

Investigator

posts 54

Ok let me descibe this the best I can. I was facing due west, the light started about 45-50 ft from me, at my app. 11 o'clock. Moved left (south) at about a 20-30 degree angle and dissappeared at the neighbors fence about 50-55 ft away. It dissappeared between my 9 and 10 o'clock. I'm lousy when it comes to feet measurement, so bear with me. The light would have been eye level to me but I was about 2 feet up in the doorway. I'm about 5'4". The whole thing lasted for probably 2-3 second. It was quick but slow enough for me to watch it, If you know what I mean. As for location I live down the street from Masco Headquarters. If you need more specifics let me know. And as for the EVP I would like t get it out here soon but I have to figure out how to do all that yet. My computer time seems to be limited, cause I work alot, but as soon as I can get it out here I will let you know.

Thanks, hope this helps

You are a god among insects. Never let anyone tell you different. ~Magneto

11:47 pm
July 5, 2008


Stephen

San Jose, CA

Admin

posts 589

Thanks! Good observations.

Final question (for a while): what color was the light? Also, can you describe how it moved?

I'll let you know if I can come up with anything.

Stephen the Friendly Skeptic

7:40 am
July 6, 2008


Haephiteus

Taylor, MI

Investigator

posts 54

The best way to desbribe the movement is put your left arm out straight in front of you and keeping your hand level with your shoulder move it left to your side. I would say that would be pretty close to the angle it seemed to move also. There is a small pear tree (which it passed in front) at my app. 10 o'clock and is probably about 40-45 ft from the back of my garage, which is flush from where I was standing. I hope you understand all this, cause believe me I'm confusing myself. LOL Let's say this is exact measurements. (From it's starting point at 11 o'clock it was 50 ft out, when it got 10 o'clock it was 45 ft out.) And as for color it was white, (picture frosted glass). It had soft edges, like looking at the sun as opposed to the moon. Hope you understood that. And the size of a softball. Sorry for the going on, but I am trying to give the best picture of it I can. Believe me, I probably would have shrugged it off, but too many odd things thru the years makes one wonder.

Thanks for your time and looking into this.

If you have more questions, ask away, it's not a problem.

You are a god among insects. Never let anyone tell you different. ~Magneto

10:31 pm
July 15, 2008


Stephen

San Jose, CA

Admin

posts 589

Hi, Haephiteus!

After you put all that work into answering my questions, I didn't want to leave the thread with a "we'll get back to you". The short answer is that I reviewed a few possibilities that might make some sense, but nothing really stuck.

Here are some areas I considered.

1. Celestial

My first thought was that you might have seen a meteor. However, there weren't any strong meteor showers listed at the time of your sighting– and of course, there's the fact that the light crossed in front of your pear tree. That knocks out all celestial explanations, unless there are meteor craters in your back yard which you forgot to mention. :) Still, it was worth a look.

I used a program called Stellarium to simulate what the sky looked like from your backyard at the time. You had three fairly bright objects setting due west right then: Saturn, Mars, and Regulus. Still, hard to imagine any of those being bright enough, and presumably none of them moved rapidly or jumped in front of your pear tree. The moon had already set.

2. Meteorological

It was drizzling at the time of the sighting, and I'd bet that the rain had something to do with it– not that it caused the light, but that it somehow distorted it. However, not having any idea what the original source of the light is, this is just a guess.

I looked into ball lightning, but it appears to be so rare and so poorly-described that you'd be almost as likely to have seen a ghost.

3. Zoological

Considered fireflies. (I always consider fireflies.) I've never seen a firefly in the rain, and most fireflies emit green light. (Well, as far as I can tell. Wikipedia was unusually quiet on the subject.) About as close as I have to a plausible scenario would be a firefly whose light was diffused by the rain. Unfortunately, it just doesn't work.

4. Artificial

Without actually kicking around your back yard, it's hard to guess what kinds of artificial light sources might be around. You mentioned car headlights; I'll take your word for it that that can't be the cause.

The biggest hit I've got: basing your location on Masco Headquarters in Taylor, the starting point to your bright light would just about line up with the end of the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, which is fairly nearby (according to my guess as to your location). Of course, if it passed in front of your pear tree, then that doesn't work. Still, something to think about. I live fairly near the San Jose Airport, and on some nights I swear the planes look like they're in my back yard.

So I'm not able to come up with a definite (or even terribly plausible) mundane explanation for your sighting from my desk chair in California. Of course, this doesn't mean that it's paranormal, just that it's beyond my powers.

I'd like to thank you for your willingness to answer my questions and applaud your precision in observation.

Stephen the Friendly Skeptic

3:45 am
July 18, 2008


Haephiteus

Taylor, MI

Investigator

posts 54

Something I thought of. Maybe this is stretching it but, I do have a pond in the backyard-swamp gas? I don't know much about it, but it is a thought. Anyway here is the link to the EVP. Hubby threw a site together real quick so I could get it out here. I hope to put others on soon.

http://geocities.com/paranormal4k/

You are a god among insects. Never let anyone tell you different. ~Magneto

1:20 pm
July 19, 2008


Stephen

San Jose, CA

Admin

posts 589

Haephiteus said:

Something I thought of. Maybe this is stretching it but, I do have a pond in the backyard-swamp gas?


Good thought. I don't know too much about swamp gas. Is it a natural pond in your backyard, or an artificial fish pond? Are there lights in it?

On the other hand, you could be getting reflections from the pond, which could explain one or two of your sightings.

Thanks for posting the MP3. I can hear the singing voice, although at times it seems to resonate with what I'm assuming is the traffic noise in the background. Can you tell me what kind of recorder you used?

Stephen the Friendly Skeptic

5:42 pm
July 20, 2008


Haephiteus

Taylor, MI

Investigator

posts 54

It's an artifial pond, and yes there are lights, they are solar lights but I can remember only a couple were lit. It had been surrounded with weeds and they were not charging. I did think about those but I can't see anyway for them to reflect. They are not that bright and I don't think they were bright that day, and it has rained since and I have watched, and looked to see if I can see the same thing again.

As for the eyes in the backyard there were no lights at all out there at the time.

And yes that is 94 in the background, and I'm pretty good at tuning it out, but for others I know It can be a pain. As for the recorder, it's a Sony IC recorder model ICD-B600. When I go out I take my RCA, which has better sound quality. The other night I was on the phone and walked out back to see the cat staring at nothing, so I grabbed the RCA and set it outside while I walked around. I picked up what sounded like whispering but it is too faint to tell (I know there are others who would put it out there and say "I got something" but I can't hear nothing). But when I got off the phone I was coming in the house and started running from a June Bug. And as I was closing the screen door it sounded like a child laughing at me, so I went back and played with the door (both) and I could'nt recreate the sound.

I do plan on trying get my other EVP's on my website and more stories, so u might want to check back for them in the future.

You are a god among insects. Never let anyone tell you different. ~Magneto

11:23 pm
July 20, 2008


Stephen

San Jose, CA

Admin

posts 589

Interesting. If it's an artificial pond, I don't think swamp gas is a big possibility– that's normally methane produced by rotting vegetation. (I think.) It wouldn't surprise me if the pond were somehow involved, but I'm not sure how.

I doubt if I'll be able to shed any light on your two glowing incidents from my armchair (well, desk chair), nor the happy little tune. I'm happy to keep throwing out suggestions, though– you never know.

IC recorders have some properties that they don't mention in the instruction manual. The voice compression can produce voices– particularly singing voices– out of background noise. You might find my EVP article interesting.

If we could verify that it's the compression causing the singing voice, that would be a really impressive example. The best way I could think of would be to record some highway noise with your "good" recorder, then play that into your IC recorder, and see if you can hear the singing. If you can do that repeatably, that's something I'd love to hear about. (On the other hand, I do understand if you're short on time.)

Stephen the Friendly Skeptic

10:37 am
July 23, 2008


Haephiteus

Taylor, MI

Investigator

posts 54

I read your article and found it interesting. As for the singing, I understand that, cause there have been times I thought I heard singing, and well it wasn't enough for me. Now I know about the IC recorders that explains alot. That peticular one has stood out. I had left both recorders together setting in the back yard and I'm going to compare the sounds, and I'm also going to experiment like you said asap. I'll let you know what I come up with.

You are a god among insects. Never let anyone tell you different. ~Magneto

6:55 am
July 30, 2008


Haephiteus

Taylor, MI

Investigator

posts 54

Stephen,

I have been doing different test with my recorders, and the results are pretty interesting. But I do have a question I hope you can answer. As you know I'm located near 94 and not to far from an airport. Knowing the sounds of the freeway and planes going over, I found the other night (can't remember exact date) that my recordings were a little different in sound on both the IC rec. and my RCA. There were storms all around us, in the east and north I believe. My question is, can those storms have caused the difference in sound? This was very noticable to me for I, once again know the area well, as well as the RCA recorder.

You are a god among insects. Never let anyone tell you different. ~Magneto

8:39 am
July 30, 2008


Stephen

San Jose, CA

Admin

posts 589

Hi Haephiteus,

The air traffic pattern could have switched around to avoid the thunderstorms, causing a change in sound. I'm not sure if the changes in air pressure, humidity, or the rain accompanying thunderstorms would change the sound, but it certainly might.

Stephen the Friendly Skeptic

9:47 am
July 30, 2008


Haephiteus

Taylor, MI

Investigator

posts 54

Thanks

I had to rule out air traffic patterns (hubby knows his planes, runways etc.).

Besides it also changed the sounds of the freeway. It just seems the sounds were more compressed or something.

You are a god among insects. Never let anyone tell you different. ~Magneto

2:43 pm
July 30, 2008


Dixie

Guest

I saw ball lightning once; and it looked just like what you have described. It followed a loud clap of thunder tho'. Here is a good video on youtube of BL.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V65iWNNYrNU&feature=related

did it look like this at all?

6:38 pm
July 31, 2008


Haephiteus

Taylor, MI

Investigator

posts 54

That was totally awesome. But no it looked nothing like that. I seem to remember seeing something like that once on the news or the weather channel. The light I seen just seem to glide, the one you showed seem to have a mission. Also there was no more thunder and lightning, just a steady drizzle of rain. I appreciate everyones input, I hate jumping to conclusions when there could be a logical answer out there.

You are a god among insects. Never let anyone tell you different. ~Magneto

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