To Samsara and all,
After some thought, I can say that I really don't recall anything out of the ordinary happening to me as a young child. I was, however, considered "gifted" in intelligence - I recall several sessions of meeting with the grammar school staff in which I was given several mental tests, wooden puzzles to assemble while being timed, etc. The net result of these tests was that I was advanced a year in grammar school at age 6, from the first to the third grade (skipping the second grade year). As I recall, grammar school was still a breeze for me. I did not excel on my report cards, however, only because I didn't apply myself (as with many young boys in that era). Had I only made an effort at my studies, I could easily have "aced" all my classes, however, I simply coasted and became a "C" student because of that. The same applied to my junior-high and high school studies, I "skated" rather than studying, except the science and "shop" classes, in which I always produced straight A's.
I did not attend college until I was in my late 20's, at which time I attained a degree in mathematics and another in the small community college's equivalent of a Mechanical Engineering degree, all with straight 4.0's. I had taken an interest in education then and was applying myself, but college was truly a breeze for me.
There are two other things that happened to me at age 17, that were frightening and unusual, while still living in my parent's home. The first was a natural phenomena that was still very frightening. We lived on a lake, on a large wooded lot. Directly outside my bedroom window, only about two feet from that window, stood a large maple tree, whose trunk was approximately 18" in diameter. My bed was placed with one side nearly against the wall with the window, probably only a foot or so of space between my bed and the window. The window was approximately centered against the left side of my bed, and it was quite large, nearly floor to ceiling in height, and probably 4 feet wide. The sill was just about the same height as the top of my bed.
One summer night at approximately 1:00 am, there was a thunderstorm. All the windows in the house were closed against the storm, including the storm sash. A bolt of lightning struck the maple tree , literally exploding a large chunk of wood from the side facing the house, and propelling it through the storm sash glass and my bedroom window glass, showering my bed and me with broken glass and parts of the wooden window frames. The large splinter of wood (about 18" long and weighing several pounds) continued across the width of my room (approximately 20 feet), through the open bedroom door, across the width of the adjoining living room, and hitting the opposite wall, leaving a large gouge in the plaster. While it was indeed frightening, my parents and I simply chalked it up to a freak occurence of nature. I was uninjured, but it was indeed a very close call. This by itself is certainly not a paranormal occurence, and I would think nothing of it, were it not for what occurred just a week or two later.
Again sound asleep in my bed, the window repaired, on a warm and moonless, very dark summer night. My window was open, only a screen between me and the outside. I was sleeping on my right side, facing the open window. At approximately 1:00am (again) I was shattered awake by an extremely loud, very vicious and evil sounding low-pitched bellowing growling sound, directly outside the window. I can best compare the sound to a lion's roar, very low-pitched, but also very, very sharp and vicious sounding. And the volume was so great it actually caused pain in my ears. The roaring or growling sound came in two bursts, each lasting a good 3-4 seconds, with a short pause in between (like whatever was making the sound took another breath to growl again). I was chilled and frightened out of my wits; I literally was screaming and crying for my father to come to my room, over and over again, at the top of my lungs. I have never been so frightened in my life. At a very masculine 17 years old, I was weeping and sobbing like a child as my parents rushed to my room. I trembled and shook for at least an hour, and did not sleep the rest of the night. I did not hear whatever made the sound leave, run away, or otherwise make any sounds, but again I was screaming at the top of my lungs for my father to come help me. He searched outside the window with a flashlight, but found nothing. I was so frightened of the area that I wouldn't even venture to that side of the house for weeks, so I was unable to search for any tracks or other evidence in the soft ground under the exploded tree.
My parents, of course, attempted to explain what I had heard away, as a dog, or a raccoon, or other common animal in our rural area. At age 17, I was an avid outdoors lover, I hunted the area almost daily during hunting season, and have seen and heard every animal common to Michigan. I had seen and heard several dog fights between the neighborhood dogs, but this growl was not made by a dog. It was not made by a raccoon, a badger, or any other wild animal I have ever come in contact with.
First of all, the sheer volume and depth of the roar was so loud it hurt my ears. I have also used the term "shriek" to describe the sound, but that implies a high-pitched cry. This sound was very very deep and guttural. And the worst part was, to me and all I know then and now, what I was hearing was pure, unadulterated evil...literally bone-chilling in nature. The sound was so evil that at age 17, I was frightened every night at bed time for months. I have never heard anything so evil in my life. I have heard recorded calls of Bigfoot or sasquatch or yeti, and they have an evil sound to them. Some of the Hollywood horror film monsters such as Predator or the Alien have a good dose of evil in them, but they simply cannot compare with what I heard that night, literally three feet from my face as I slept. I have never (nor do I ever want to) heard any sound like that again in nearly 40 years since the incident.
I have no idea if the lightning strike and the subsequent growling sound are related in any way, nor do I know if there is any connection to the "burning" UFO sighting later that winter. But suffice it to say that my 17th year was filled with strange occurences.
In retrospect, I have in the last few years formed the opinion that the creature I heard outside my window was a demonic entity. It is the only explanation I can arrive at for such an unearthly and evil sound that it made. It really piqued my curiosity when a reader of this thread mentioned the episode of night paralysis may have been a demonic visitation. If this IS the case, then I have been visited at least twice by demonic entities in my lifetime.
Another thing that comes to mind as I'm typing this is that for several years now, as poor as my reading vision has become, my peripheral vision remains quite acute. I am almost daily catching glimpes of movement out of the corner of my eyes, as if something streaks away from me just as I turn to see what it is. This has been going on now for a good 3-4 years. It happens most when I am alone in a room, alone in my work shop, alone outdoors. I cannot tell what it is that I am glimpsing, it is usually dark colored, and a foot or so below normal eye level for me (I am just over 6 feet tall). On occasion, I glimpse the same object (?) only 6 to 12 inches off the floor, but it is usually at a height of 5 to 5 and a half feet from the floor or ground. Whatever I am glimpsing is usually between approximately 6 to 10 feet away from me. All I ever see is a dark-colored or black streak, and it moves very rapidly out of my line of sight, so as to blur.
My interest was picqued by the recent airing of the "Rods" episode of Monster Quest, because some of the images shown very much resemble what I am seeing, and the speed of the blur is about the same.
It occurs to me now that I have indeed had several strange occurences in my life, but I have never sat down before and recounted each one together in the same sitting. Visiting this forum and discussing the strange "building" sighting has caused each of these long-passed and more recent occurences to come forward in my consciousness. I admit to being astounded now when I count the strange incidents all at the same time - this must not be normal for most people to have so many unexplained things happen in roughly two-thirds of a lifetime. I don't know if I feel relieved to discuss them all, or if I may be stirring something up that may cause me to wish I had never began discussing any of this at all.
Andy and Sasmsara, I especially appreciate your interest and comments, you are both encouraging me to bring these things forward and discuss them. Andy, I really intend to sometime soon contact the abductee group, but I indulge you for patience with me, I am not sure yet what all of these things mean to me and my life, I am sort of taking things one step at a time as I consider each post and reply as they happen. I am, obviously, a bit confused at this point as to the meaning, if any, behind so many strange happenings in my life. Please continue to comment and offer your thoughts, and please bear with me as I digest everything as it comes.
Thank you,
Slider