The Valensole Incident

Stories of humanoid encounters are easily a guilty pleasure of mine. I have written on a number of occasions on this blog about the variety of strange tales of human interactions with non-human, apparently “extraterrestrial” creatures. As I was flipping back through the various bookmarks I’ve made over the years, I came across a particular incident which I wasn’t familiar with and don’t remember seeing it being discussed very often. I thought I’d take a moment today and share with you the story of the Valensole Incident.

Early on the morning of July 1, 1965 at around 5:45 A.M., farmer Maurice Masse was smoking a cigarette before he began working outside his home which is located near the French village of Valensole. As Masse was smoking his cigarette he heard a strange, whistling sound coming from overhead. Masse was apparently standing beside the ruins of a tall wall located on his fields, next to a vineyard, and had to step around the wall in order to find the source of the noise. Lon Strickler, at phantomsandmonsters.com tells us a version of the events which came next:

At the time, he was positioned next to a 7-foot-tall rubble pile at the edge of a vineyard, so he had to step out from around this to view the source of the sound. It was then that he saw something shaped rather like a rugby ball and about the size of a Dauphine automobile, resting on four legs some 200 feet away in his lavender field. Close to the curious looking object were two figures resembling “boys of about eight years.”

Masse was apparently more curious than frightened by this whole encounter and began to make his approach towards the entities. As he came near the creatures Masse could see they were hard at work collecting lavender from his lavender fields. When he got to about 15 or 20 ft away the creatures apparently noticed Masse and immediately stood up from their “work”. Masse described the entities as such:

less than 4 feet tall, as dressed in gray-green overalls with smooth, bald, pumpkinlike heads, large slanted eyes, and with little holes for their mouths. They made grunting sounds between them, although their mouths did not change appearance, and Masse was not sure where on their bodies the noise was coming from. (source)

Apparently upset or annoyed by the interruption to their flower picking, one of the creatures raised up a long, thin, pencil-like object and pointed it at Masse. This brings to mind the countless similar reports that Jacques Vallee discussed of entities waving pencil-like wands at witnesses in order to paralyze them. Here to, Masse found himself completely stricken and unable to move. At this point, the creatures entered their craft and flew away into the morning sky. One can infer that they were “frightened” by Masse’s interruption of their flower picking and had to flee the scene immediately. Personally this whole thing reeks of the “staged event” vibe. This idea was speculated on by researchers like the late Mac Tonnies, in his writings and in his posthumously published work, The Cryptoterrestrials.

Once Masse found himself able to move again, he went to the spot where the craft had landed. The landing spot had impressions in the ground from the craft and some kind of material which allegedly hardened into something like concrete days later. It was said that nothing would grow in the spot for some time. Many researchers, including Jacques Vallee, conducted interviews and investigated this case. They all came to the same conclusion; that the witness was reliable and was reporting what he believed to be a real event. An interesting little note to end this tale on is that Masse would later report to investigators that he had had some kind of communication with the entities, though he would never reveal the details of this communication. Strickler notes that:

Though he hinted that there had been some sort of communication between himself and the beings, he never revealed the particulars to investigators. He told Vallee that one was best off not sharing such encounters with anyone, even family. “One always says too much,” he added.

What are we to make of this incident? Assuming that the witness is telling the truth, and I see no reason to doubt him, why would these creatures go through so much hassle to obtain lavender? Is there more to the flower than we know? Somehow I doubt it. In my mind, this incident seems to lend credence to the idea that someone is staging these events in order to perpetuate a meme. Of course, that’s only how I feel about the case today. Who knows what tomorrow might bring? I’d love to hear your opinions on this case. Was it an expedition from some distant planet to gain specimens? Did Masse have a weird hallucination? Let me know in the comments below!

Further reading/sources:

Lon Stricklers’ write up

Educating Humanity

ATS thread Started by Kandinsky

Mystery of The Black Stick Men

I consider myself to be a fairly skeptical guy. Granted, I tend to take most paranormal encounter stories at face value.I generally believe that people have had an experience which is meaningful to them, whether that included a paranormal aspect is up for debate in my mind, but for the person the encounter was most certainly real. As such, I very rarely come out strongly on the side of paranormal phenomena being imagined or in some sense not “real”. I’m finding it hard to keep my open-mindedness about today’s relatively recent phenomenon which we are going to discuss. The Black Stick Men are paranormal creatures which, not entirely unlike the Black Eyed Kids, seem to have been born on the internet.

The origin or at least the modern fascination with this phenomenon seems to stem from a 2009 Listverse article entitled “Top 10 Modern Paranormal Phenomena”. All the usual suspects of the paranormal world make an appearance on this list; chupacabras, dog-headed men, shadow people, etc. Among the more normal, paranormal, menagerie the author snuck in a strange report of something he called “Black Stick Men”. From the site:

The black stick man is another entity encountered in modern times. Not to be confused with the shadow man, incredibly he is even stranger. Stick men are supposed to look like totally black, thin, stick figure drawings, such as teachers would make in kindergarten. They have been reported as between average height to impossibly tall. Their heads are just a black circle with no facial features being discernible. They are totally two dimensional, without any depth.

Usually they’ve been sighted walking along roads at night, or at transitional times such as twilight or just before dawn. Bizarrely, some have reported them wearing what appears to be a top hat.

Their walk is described as a weird “lolloping” gait. They are surprised when actually seen, and have followed unfortunate witnesses on occasion. Their pace remains leisurely as they approach. Obviously to be pursued by such an otherworldly creature would be anything but pleasant, and those who have encountered them have been understandably terrified. So far however, apart from being bizarrely frightening, they have done no physical harm, and ultimately just disappear.

Attempting to wrap my head around this “phenomena” is a whole lot harder than most of the paranormal creatures I’ve discussed here at Forteania in the past. Regardless of how bizarre the Black Stick Men might be, it doesn’t seem to stop people from having encounters with them. Author Martin J Clemens, at his Paranormal People Online site, has a great write up about this phenomenon which I recommend checking out. In his post, he points out that the comments section of the original Listverse article has a few examples of encounters with Black Stick Men. Clemens points readers to the following comment:

“In 1982, when I was a student nurse at Warley Hospital, Brentwood in Essex, England, I encountered a ‘stick person’ in the grounds of the Hospital as I was walking home one night. It lopped across the roadway having been, seemingly, pressed up against a wall. It stopped when it saw me and raised it’s arms in fright and quickly walked off into the undergrowth. It was very tall with very thin, extremely long arms and legs and a very small oval head. Totally black and no obvious clothing. I saw no face even though it emerged very near a street lamp and so was well illuminated. I was terrified and to this day, no-one believes me…”

Everyone’s favorite website AboveTopSecret, has a thread dealing with this topic. From the thread I was led to a forum posting on the Fortean Times message boards from 2003, predating the 2009 listverse article, where the anonymous poster reports a Black Stick Man encounter which was supposed to have occurred back in 1978. From the forums:

Simon

“The following account is slightly shortened but otherwise unchanged and comes from my diary record for Tuesday, 31st October 1978. Only the names have been changed. We were all aged between 15 and 17 at the time. The Loose Valley referred to is near Maidstone in Kent. My diary record also indicates that there was a new moon on that night.

"I will record a rather unpleasant experience which took place tonight. A group of about ten of us were sitting chatting in the Loose Valley at about midnight. After about 45 minutes Will leapt to his feet slapping his head saying there was a bee in his hair; he looked absolutely terrified. Both Dorothy and I saw the outline of a tall, thin figure wearing a hat dancing behind him. Will said later it was if a terrifically loud buzzing was coming-up through the top of his head. However only Rachel heard any buzzing.

We partially satisfied ourselves that it must have been a bees' nest, and so we moved a little distance away. As we moved away Dorothy and I saw a ring outlined in the grass which enclosed where we had been sitting. Eventually it started raining so we headed for Rachel's house. As we left I turned around and saw the same thin black figure walk across the opening between the trees to where we had been sitting.”

Here is another account from the same Fortean Times forum thread. Another anonymous poster recounts their experience with the Black Stick Men:

This is my first post. I wanted to share an experience that happened to me some years ago, for which I have no explanation but still to this day I'd like to see if anyone out there has any ideas to contribute. The fact that I stumbled across these accounts on the FT website of black silhouette figures confirms a lot to me, namely that myself and a friend are not alone in something we experienced. Please read on!

I was walking from a friend's house to my own, in the early hours of the morning after a night of general chat while I was at university here in London, UK – specifically, a relatively leafy suburb called Brockley in South-east London. I had drunk only everyday tea or soft drinks all night and had consumed no drugs whatsoever. I'd simply gone without sleep. The time was around 6am and dawn was literally breaking when a friend and I found ourselves walking down my street to where my apartment was located, when we saw a figure walking up the street towards us. The word we coined later to describe its movement was 'lolloping' - a kind of up-down bouncy walk. It took a few seconds for the two of us to realise this was no human being. I asked my friend: "See that man?" "Yes," was the reply. "It's not a man, though, is it?" I found myself asking. "No,' said my friend, sounding scared. "It isn't."

The creature was entirely black and like a cardboard cut-out, flat and one-dimensional. It had no features at all, and it had arms that hung down to its knees. It seemed to be ignoring us, then it seemed to realise we could see it and it began to 'lollop' faster towards us.

We ran to my front door and hid in the hallway as quiet and unmoving as possible when we saw the thing - we felt it was male - approach the front door and appear to look through the glass from the way its head moved up and down and around. It then turned away.

We didn't sleep for some time after that, discussing what we saw. It was shaped like many descriptions of 'greys' but both myself and my friend came away with the impression that what we saw was either of this world or from another parallel dimension. To all intents and purposes, it appeared to be sauntering along the road enjoying the walk before it became shocked to see us staring at it in horror. We instinctively felt this was not a creature to try and communicate with, this was not something that it was good to be near. We might have been wrong but neither myself nor my friend would ever like to see this creature or others like it again, though I'd love to get some ideas on what it was. We felt that if this creature had somehow gotten hold of us, we would not be around today to tell the tale to anyone who might believe us or at least give the story open-minded consideration.

The Fortean Times thread is full of other accounts of encounters with these mysterious entities. I highly suggest you check it out for some more creepy tales of Black Stick Men.  Just what in the world are these things? Even considering the things I’ve discussed on this blog in the past, these entities seem beyond the realm of the possible. I’m not discounting them, after all reality is far stranger than fiction at times. I can’t even begin to think what these creatures may actually be. Figments of the imagination of the witnesses? Sure, may be in some cases.

A part of me can’t help but be suspicious of their modern appearance. True, most of the stories you’ll read will be from the 60’s or 70’s. Yet people only began to relate these strange encounters recently. Could this be because the events were simply too bizarre for the people to recount. Fearing that they would be at best dismissed or at worst ridiculed? I can certainly see how that might be the case. I can’t help shake the suspicion that these entities might be a modern myth in the making, not entirely unlike our friend the Black Eyed Kids. As always, I’d love to know what you all think. Feel free to post your opinions in the comment section below.

The Enigma of Demonic Possession

Demonic possession is a fascinating topic for me. To be honest, I feel a bit out of my element when it comes to this topic. I’m agnostic about religion much like I am most things in this world. I wasn’t raised in a particularly “religious” household, so I don’t have a very Christian background. And while I fully admit there is “evil” in this world, the concept of “demons” hasn’t really been one I’ve ever put too much stock into. Additionally I’ve never watched The Exorcist (please don’t judge me, I’ve gotten bored every time I tried to watch it). In my defense, however, I have watched most of the other demon possession films, including the amazing Repossessed starring the late Leslie Nielsen and Linda Blair, somewhat loosely “reprising” her role from The Exorcist which, regardless of what IMDB suggests, I remember being a funny movie. Although I was probably seven when I first watched it, so that probably flowers my perceptions a little. Perhaps more than that though, as a psychology major, I find myself torn when it comes to determining the causal agent behind the phenomenon known as demonic possession. Is demonic possession simply a leftover superstitious term for medical illnesses which were not well understood by our ancestors? Are there evil entities which are taking control of people, wreaking havoc in their lives and causing despair and anguish?

I’m not too interested in really old cases as it’s harder to rule out the possibility of mental illness being the root cause of the experience, though you could argue the same thing for modern examples as well I suppose. Instead I wish to review some of the more (in)famous modern cases below. What makes some of these modern cases more compelling to me is the amount of documentation that exists on some of the cases. Photographs, recordings, and, in one case, video footage, has been secured which gives a unique glimpse into  the cases which will follow. As always, I will allow you to come to your own conclusions as to what may, or may not, be happening in these experiences.

Anneliese Michel

Probably one of the more  famous modern cases is the sad tale of Anneliese Michel. Born on September 21, 1952, Michel was diagnosed with having temporal lobe epilepsy at the age of 16. Michel was a German Catholic who lived in Leiblfing, Bavaria, West Germany. Her family is said to have been very religious and apparently attended Mass at least twice a week. Not having familiarity with Catholicism I can’t say whether that represents a normal amount or an “extreme” amount. Ido think its worth noting her and her families deeply held religious convictions. I believe these beliefs may have played a part in the events which would unfold in her life. Around the time that Michel had gone off to college, in the 70’s, she suffered a third seizure while at a hospital where she was being treated for tuberculosis. The picture gets a little fuzzy here, though an author( whose name I can’t seem to find on the site) wrote an extensive blog post detailing this case which you should certainly check out here, has much more information than I could possibly provide. Instead I wish to give a thumbnail view of the major points.

Upon her third seizure, Michel was treated with medications which seemed to not have an impact on her symptoms. Around this same time, she began to have severe depression. During these episodes of depression, Michel started to become intolerant towards religious items and reported hearing voices which spoke to her and began tormenting her. Doctors prescribed her medicine which would be used in the treatment for Schizophrenia, largely because auditory hallucinations are one of the hallmarks of Schizophrenia.

Michel and her family believed that she was being targeted by demonic forces. The family sought out an exorcism from their local Priest. By all accounts, the Priests and local Bishops were extremely hesitant to perform the ancient ritual. I don’t wish to speculate too much, but it may be that the Priests were unconvinced that Michel was truly exhibiting demonic possession and not simply suffering from a mental illness. After much persistence, in 1975 two Priests finally relented and agreed to perform an exorcism.

For a period of about 10 months, exorcisms were regularly performed on Michel. Her family stopped seeking medical treatment, instead relying solely on the ritual of exorcism to save their daughter. Eventually, Michel would stop eating and drinking, stating that the demons did not want her to. On June 1st 1976 Anneliese Michel died due to malnourishment and emaciation. Both her parents and the priests who performed the exorcism would later be charged with negligent homicide. Her story would eventually be adapted into screenplay of a not so great “horror” movie in 2005 called The Exorcism of Emily Rose. To read more on the case, including the graphic images and disturbing recordings of the exorcisms, be sure to check out The Entire Case History of Anneliese Michel blog post.

Roland Doe

As I said earlier  I’ve not seen The Exorcist movie before. Although it would be hard for me to deny the cultural impact the film has had. Fortean Times just released their April issue which is all about Exorcisms and celebrates 40 years of The Exorcist movie. Besides it being a great film (allegedly), the movie probably stands out to many people because it is said to be based on a true story.  The name “Roland Doe”, and later changed to “Robbie Mannheim”, are both pseudonyms for an anonymous Maryland boy who was said to have been possessed by demons and was apparently successfully exorcised. Roland’s story begins with the death of an Aunt, when he was around the age of 14 somewhere around 1949 or so. At this time, strange and unexplained phenomenon began occurring around the home. Objects began moving around the house, unusual noises were said to be heard throughout the hose. Honestly, it all sounds a lot like the child may have been experiencing poltergeist phenomena which fits in nicely with both his age and apparent emotional stress level. The family in this case appears to have been quite religious as well, which appears to be a common trait amongst those who are believed to experience demonic possession and subsequently request exorcisms. They turned to their Lutheran pastor, Rev. Luther Miles Schulze. The child had been examined by both medical and psychiatric doctors, according to what the Reverend told a local newspaper, and neither were able to offer an explanation as to what was happening to the child. It was determined that the best course of action would be to have an exorcism performed.

Eventually, Roman Catholic priests would be called in after the Lutheran Exorcism Rite failed to produce any positive results. By the end of it all, exorcisms were performed on the child over 30 times. Various “demonic” manifestations were said to accompany these exorcisms, all of which are recorded in a diary which was kept by the lead priest in the ritual, Father William S. Bowdern. Some of these include objects flying around the room, the bed shaking and lifting off of the floor, and the child making strange sounds with his voice. During the final exorcism, it was reported that the words “evil” and “hell” actually manifested themselves on the childs body. There is a happy ending to this tale, unlike in Michel’s case. After what would be the final exorcism, no more paranormal activity was reported by either the child or his family. Roland had been cured of whatever had been afflicting him. Once again, our unnamed blogger has written up an excellent post about this case as well. I recommend you read The Entire Case History of Robbie Mannheim.

Anna Ecklund

This case takes us back in time a little to the early part of the 20th century. Born in 1882 in the Midwestern United States, Ecklund was (as our pattern suggests) raised as a devout Catholic. Around the age of 12 she began to display the signs of “possession”, which included the usual aversion to religious icons. It also included what’s referred to as “disturbing thoughts about sexual acts”, which seems fairly normal to me for a teenager but I digress. It’s reported that Ecklund had her first exorcism about this time which was performed by Father Theophilus Riesinger. This exorcism was supposed to have been quite effective. However, around the age of 14, Ecklund was “cursed” by her Father ( an account of which I can’t find, but I can’t imagine what the circumstances were behind this event or what it would have done to her mental state). Because of this curse, Ecklund is supposed to have been possessed by a multitude of demons, chief among them Beelzebub.

Rosemary Ellen Guiley tells of this story in her book, The Encyclopedia of Demons & Demonology. It wasn’t until 1928 that Ecklund would be exorcised a final, and apparently successful, time. Why it took until she was 46 before an exorcism was again performed is a mystery to me. During the exorcism many strange feats were supposed to have manifested themselves. Ecklund was said to have levitated and stuck to the wall above the door, at other times her body would become as heavy as lead threatening to break the bed she was in, and she was said to have been able to expose the sins of those who were present around her.  After many long days and nights, Father Theophilus Riesinger was able to free Ecklund from her demonic possession. If you wish to read more on this case I suggest reading Martha Decker’s write up about the case.

Final thoughts

The above cases are interesting food for thought. They represent only a tiny handful of the countless tales of demonic possession, not only throughout time, but even into the 21st century. Only just a few months ago a huge story of alleged demonic possession was reported by the news of a family in Indiana. I still don’t know what to make of these cases. On the one hand, the ages of some of the victims and the attendant phenomenon sound strikingly like poltergeist activity. That’s not to say that the “demons” could not be manifesting this as a form of trickery or deceit, but it’s an interesting parallel to note.  Also, some of the less paranormal aspects of these cases sound a lot like mental illness. Again, I can’t say that the “demonic” influence manifests itself in ways which are similar to mental pathology, but it’s hard to rule out that the person’s may not simply be suffering from mental illnesses. Finally we have the fact that, at least in the cases I cited above, there is a history of devout religious beliefs. Could this be influencing or coloring these events? I’m inclined to suspect that it probably is. I’m extremely interested in hearing what you all think about these cases and demon possession in general. Hit me up in the comments section or drop me an email and let me know your thoughts.

Nurses relate ghostly encounters

I don’t really know what to make of ghost stories. Or rather accounts of actual ghosts and not like campfire tales. Some of them are really interesting, while others are quite dull. Are people actually encountering the spirits of the departed? Is it all just in their minds? Are some people more prone to see them than others? Ultimately I’m not sure. I haven’t really made up my mind yet on this particular paranormal phenomenon. What I bring to your attention today are some rather interesting stories of ghostly encounters that nurses have reported. 

Much like Albert Rosales’ “Humanoid Reports” the following is probably nothing more than paranormal porn, adding nothing really substantive to the body of “paranormal research”, but they are interesting in and of themselves. Besides sometimes it’s fun to just read of other’s encounters with things that I haven’t (thankfully?) experienced yet. I offer no further opinion on the following other than they seem interesting and want to know what you all think. I’ve selected only a few of the stories as there are pages and pages of accounts to go through.

Member stidget99 reports the following:

I used to work in a state inst for developmentally disabled. We were temp relocated to another building for remodeling of our bldg. Anyways...I was working one nite, 2nd shift. We had a locked pica unit. I saw one of the residents walking down the hall. Very distinct gait and very distinct yellow t-shirt w/ a happy face on it. I went into the ward to let staff know that they had an escapee.

This was a serious situation because this particular resident, Larry, would ingest absolutely anything (from clothing to pens to belts to *ugh* a bird's head)...literally anything. He was also very reluctant to go back to his home ward (hence why I didn't bring him back myself...he needed two escorts). When we got back into the hall, less than 15 secs later, Larry was gone!!

We searched the entire building! Outside, downstairs, all wards...he was NO WHERE to be found!!! This whole search lasted last than 10 mins because I had all extra staff looking for him. I was just about to call the house supervisor to let her know that we "lost" someone when out from the bathroom walks Larry w/ one of the staff. He had been getting his bath in the bathroom for the last 30 mins or so. Kind of freaky! I absolutely, without a doubt, saw Larry in the hallway. I never would've short-staffed the wards like I did if I hadn't seen him! Like I said, very distinctive gait, look, clothing. I took a lot of razzing that nite!

They all thought that I was crazy. Anyways, come to find out the next day, after the story goes around that I am crazy (haha, giggle giggle, funny funny)..............Larry had an identical twin brother who died in that building 10 yrs previously.

Member Chad_KY_SRNA shares:

We have a white figure that has been seen in the medicine room, sometimes the carts are moved down the hall while you are in a room giving meds, etc. One of the male CNAs reported seeing a very tall black figure going from room to room several times. We have all seen balls of light floating around. From what we have been able to gather from old pictures of the property that the nursing home is on there was a mobile home park at one end and a cemetary at the other end of the building. Everyone has seen a little boy walking around but the freakiest part was when they saw wet childrens foot prints coming down the hall and followed them to the wall and there were footprints in the snow outside that came right to that place in the wall.

Member ZASHAGALKA

We had a patient, chronic CHFer, always on the call button, hated being on fluid restrictions. you know the type: the nurses have to take turns during the shift answering the call button so the primary can actually do other work.

And this was a frequent flier cause he was very chronic, very borderline, and the hospital was the only place he wouldn't fluid overload.

I work 7p-7a. He died about 8pm. Oh the look on his face, like, "how could you let me die!" - Like it was our fault.

Anyway, family came and gone by 9pm, funeral home gone at 930pm.

About 10pm, the call button starts going off. I was there - call button going off every 5 minutes.

One of the nurses was a very spiritual girl. At about 2am, after like 4 HOURS OF THIS, nurse Mary snaps, 'Enough!'

She walks down to the room, and, practically screams into the empty room, "Mr X, you have died. You can't be in here bothering us anymore. Move along. In the name of Jesus, I'm exorcising you from this plane of existence. Go to the light and be happy!"

And I kid you not, the call button stopped going off then and there.

~faith,

Timothy.

Member gms1976:

Hi! I am a South African Nurse who is currently living and working in California. The weirdest thing happened to me one night when I was working Night Shift back in SA. I had a patient whom I thought was playing with his IV causing me no end of headaches - As we have all experienced. I eventually confronted him after having to open the clamp for what seemed like the hundredth time that night. He got really irate with me and said he had done no such thing but blamed it on a young nurse in a white dress whom he said had fiddled repeatedly with it . I was confused as while we wear specific uniforms in South Africa, they were not white at this specific hospital. Needless to say I was really irritated and I think we both ended the conversation feeling exasperated.

I didn't think about the young nurse for several weeks until one night in a totally different room with a totally different patient. The call light rang and when I went to answer it the patient said he had a problem with one of my staff. Curious, asked what. He said a young nurse in a white uniform was standing quietly in the doorway of the dark bathroom staring at him and it was freaking him out. At this my hair stood on end but I reassured him that he must have been dreaming and checked the bathroom just to be sure. There was nothing there but I will never forget it.

Another instance, there was a patient who was terminally ill with liver cancer in a private room. I was working days but the night shift people said they hated going into the room because something would blow on the back of their necks and shadows would move where shadows shouldn't be. The man was a christian, as was his wife and his wife said she saw this black prescence descend above him and his breathing would become labored. She asked myself and a friend to pray for her which we gladly did being christians ourselves. We anointed and blessed the room and prayed with the family and asked the Lord to seal the room. From that time on the room was filled with peace and love and the man breathed so much more easier. People had no more problems with going in there. This gentle little man eventually passed away, but it was in a place of peace and love.

I think I have a few more stories but I can't remember them right now as I have just gotten home from a crazy night in a wild med/surg unit and I am truly beat!

Again the above stories really only scratch the surface,  I recommend readers to go and check out all 225 (!) pages of reports from the website itself. Considering that my mother is also  a nurse, and was a hospice nurse as well for a number of years, I should really go and ask her if she too has encountered anything. What was it that these folks experienced? The actual souls of the dead? Some sort of psychic projection left on the environment?

Truthfully I can’t say. At the moment I’m leaning towards these experiences being externally created realities, rather than something internal. What the source of these encounters is anyone’s guess. I do enjoy reading these kinds of stories though. Somehow people’s ghost encounters are much more enjoyable to me than their UFO reports, or at least the garden variety “Light’s in the sky” reports. Give me humanoids any day. I’m beginning to ramble at this point.  I suppose that’s all for today, be sure to follow the link and read some more of the encounters and drop me a line via email or the comments section below if you have anything to add.

Until next time this is your friendly neighborhood Fortean Philosopher saying, “Booooooooooooo!!!!!”

Black-Eyed Kids: Monster or Meme?

You’re home alone, it’s late at night. As you’re watching TV you hear a knock at the door. Puzzled, you think to yourself, “Who could that be at this hour?” Confused you make your way to the front door. Turning on the light, you see two children. One looks older than the other, perhaps a teenager, but what strikes you as odd is their dress. Never mind the fact that they’re perhaps out much later than children should be, their dress looks slightly old-fashioned. The last thing that you notice about the children that almost sends you running away in terror is their pitch-black eyes, soulless and dark like a shark or other predator. The children began demanding to be let in, they need to use the phone, or perhaps want a drink of water. Or they want to collect you?

Please sir, won't you let me in?

If the above story, or a slight variation of it, sounds familiar to you then that means you’ve been on the Internet at some point in the last decade. The above is a fictionalized amalgamation of the basic “Black-Eyed Kids” meme that you’ve probably seen pop up on a number of various paranormal sites or even Reddit. Yesterday as I was working (read surfing reddit from my phone) I came across a very recent version of this worn out tale. The story comes from Redditor kyuss534. I’m not going to go into the whole account, but I will link it here. Suffice it to say, my little fictionalized account above isn’t too far from what kyuss534 related.

And I think that’s what my problem with this whole “Black-Eyed Kids” meme, every account of them that I’ve seen is identical. Maybe a little too identical? I dunno, perhaps I’m being a bit cynical about the whole thing, but it reeks to me of an Internet urban legend. Not entirely unlike the “Slender man” meme. The key difference is that we can trace back the origin of Slender man directly to an Internet contest. A few year’s back the gang over at Something Awful held a competition to see if they could create, from nothing, a new paranormal entity. The winning entry was Slender man. If you want to know more about Slender man, I suggest checking out this entry of Know Your Meme.

No, trust me. I'm good with kids!

In my mind, at least at the moment, there is no reality to the Slender man aspect (tulpas and thought forms not-withstanding I suppose). And I guess that’s where I’m at with the Black-Eyed Kids stories as well. Prior to Brian Bethel posting his own account of interacting with the Black-Eyed Kids to a newsgropu in 1998, the Black-Eyed Kids were seemingly non-existent. I’m sure you can find stories that claim to have occurred before 1998, but I doubt you’d find evidence of any stories being recounted before Bethel started the trend.

Frequent readers of this blog, the few of you left after my almost year hiatus, will likely be aware that I don’t tend to state things in definite terms too often. Preferring rather to keep the possibility open for more information in the future. So too it is with my opinion of the Black-Eyed Kids. For the moment I’m leaning towards them being an Internet urban legend, and they do make for great “campfire” ghost stories, but I doubt very much they have any basis in reality. As always I leave the door open for future information that will prove me wrong and I would love to know your thoughts and opinions on the topic. Or, for that matter, if you have a personal account of your own interaction with a Black-Eyed Kid please let me know in the comments or drop me an email.

Until next time (which may actually be this year!), this is your friendly neighborhood Fortean Philosopher saying, “Good night and for the love of god don’t let the children in!”