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A Staticky, Shimmery, Flashing Something

 

About twenty years ago, when we lived in Navy housing out on Oahu, Hawaii, my daughter and I experienced something that still haunts me. Honestly, I'm not sure what it was. In that, I'm not sure if it was a ghost.

At the time we, my husband, our two daughters and I were living in Navy housing. I had never believed in ghosts or the supernatural and we didn't entertain such stories or thoughts in our home.

It was a sunny summer day. My husband was at work, my oldest daughter was out surfing with her friend, and my youngest was at home with me. We had just finished lunch and decided to watch some TV. The TV room was just off the living / dining room and filled with windows and two doors: one to the kitchen and one to the back yard. There was a wall composed of 2 large sliding doors that separated the living / dining room from the TV room. Against that (make-shift sliding door) wall was a loveseat that my daughter was sitting on. I was sitting on a chair opposite the loveseat. The TV was to the side of us on a low bookcase below a bank of windows.

While sitting there watching TV, something shimmery, a staticy sparkly, flashing sort of mass passed between us and the TV. It had entered from the living room, into the TV room, and then moved across the room and out the back door. Within seconds of seeing it, we turned to look at each other. She then jumped into my lap, and we sat hugging each other tightly for a bit before either of us could speak. I knew by her actions and the panic on her face, she had seen what I had. With fear in her voice, she asked me "What was that?!"

I had no idea what it was, but I tried to reason it away. Staying as calm as I could, I told her it was probably the sun reflecting off a car passing the house. With a trembling soft voice (almost whisper) she replied "But all the blinds are down." Not wanting to give in to the panic, I told her that the shades don't fit the windows so tightly that light can't find its way in between window frame and shade. I then changed the subject to our picking up my oldest daughter and going for shaved ice (a Hawaiian snow cone, but better). Other than telling family and friends for the next few weeks, we didn't / haven't talked about it since. We put it behind us.

Fastforward two years later, my husband (reassigned back to Rhode Island) had moved back to the mainland to open our old home and get it ready while the girls and I were still in Hawaii. The girls still had a few months of school to finish, so he went ahead without us.

The last few days on the island, I spent alone cleaning our base housing. All our household belongings had been moved out the day before, and were on their way back to Rhode Island. While I cleaned the house, readying it for inspection, my girls enjoyed their last days with friends on the beach.

I had cleaned the kitchen and laundry the day before and was now cleaning the bedrooms, bathrooms and on into the living / dining and TV rooms. The whole house was floored with linoleum which I had to sweep and mop spotless. I was mopping the living / dining area. The only thought in my mind was how warm it was now that the air conditioner was gone. Then, out of nowhere, appeared that same shimmering sparkling wild flashing mass. It crossed the room right in front of me.

Being all alone and startled by what I was seeing, I packed up and left. I still hadn't mopped the TV room, nor finished the living / dining room. I didn't care. I was out of there! I grabbed my cleaning supplies, my purse and locked the door. I left the mop and bucket with the curbside trash and got in the car and didn't look back.

I have never ever seen anything like this before or after Hawaii. I have also since become more open minded to ghosts. Once back in RI, I started watching the many supernatural and ghost hunting shows that had since started appearing on TV. And, although I am open minded now, I haven't seen any real proof. I say that because I still am not sure what I saw out in Hawaii. I still feel there might have been a logical explanation.

I'm still waiting to come across someone somewhere who has experienced the same thing, someone who can tell me what it was that my daughter and I saw.

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Comments about this paranormal experience

The following comments are submitted by users of this site and are not official positions by yourghoststories.com. Please read our guidelines and the previous posts before posting. The author, Mainlander, has the following expectation about your feedback: I will participate in the discussion and I need help with what I have experienced.

vulcan10 (5 stories) (332 posts)
+1
5 years ago (2019-02-23)
That's very interesting. I have scene several programs on volcanoes and earthquakes throughout the years. Many things can happen in those areas and hawaii has had the eruptions lately. It takes years for that to build up. Many of the unexplained around those areas are having to do with energy seemingly self sustaining in air or on the ground. I'm glad you didn't touch it as it may have proven fatal. I'm not saying that this is the answer, it doesn't sound like the whatever it was didn't interact with you so it doesn't really sound alive but more of a natural phenomenon perhaps local to the area. I haven't read other sightings that are exactly like yours. It sounds like a cool experience to look back on though.
Mainlander (1 stories) (4 posts)
 
7 years ago (2017-08-16)
Hello rookdygin...
That was a most intestering article. I would love to read more on this ball lightning... Maybe one day actually see it.
That said, I don't think I saw / experienced ball lightning. What I saw was not ball shaped. What I saw was a mass. It was like a column of about 2.5 feet x 4 feet. It moved sideways much like a tornado does and changed those dimensions ever so slightly as it moved.
Now thinking more on it, I would say it sparkled and flashed similar to the flashing and sparkling that Hollywood used for the Star Trek transporter... Not exactly, but sort of like it. It was sort of translucent. The sparkling and flashing was suspended in the air and turbulent. There wasn't any static or any other sound to it.
Often, I have wished to see it again to get a better look at it. Those two times I saw it, I was shocked, freaked out and too frightened to stick around and explore it any further.
Anyway, thanks again for the information and support. I will be looking further into this ball lightning. Amazing!
Mainlander (1 stories) (4 posts)
 
7 years ago (2017-08-16)
Hello Argette...
Thank you for reading my post and commenting.
I look forward to reading some of your posts as well.
A gray, bouncy thing? That sounds very interesting. Did you write about it?
I would love to hear about that!
Mainlander (1 stories) (4 posts)
 
7 years ago (2017-08-16)
Hi Tweed...
I checked out those 2 links you suggested but didn't have time to come back and comment on them until now. Sorry.
Now, a week later, I have some free time to sit and write. Being a week later, I had to go back and reread them. Having done so, I must tell you that they do not leave me with the impression of what I experienced. Both incidents deal with figure apparitions. What I saw was not a human-like figure. It was just a mass.
I suppose if I had to compare it to something else, I would suggest a tornado.? That is, it was non-structure, maybe 2.5 feet wide and 4 feet tall but changing ever so slightly in those dimensions as it moved. It was not of human form. It had no head or appendages. It moved sideways through the room and (I would say) about a foot off the floor. It didn't spin (as a tornado) and there was no funnel shape to it. There was a vibration of sorts, but only in the display of the shimmering flashing, etc. We didn't feel any sort of vibration and there was not any sort of sound with it.
Anyway, thank you for your suggestions. They were interesting experiences, just not like mine. 😊
grain_of_sand (guest)
 
7 years ago (2017-08-15)
Hi Mainlander. Very interesting, thanks for sharing your experiences! The description of the phenomena you saw reminds me of what this person, along with witnesses as well, reported seeing about thirty years ago in Ontario [click on link provided]. It's a similar kind of thing. Http://noufors.com/audio/Allison_Allen_1_October16_1993.mp3 Her description begins at around 00:2:15 and is from the noufors.com website. I've read and heard other people describe similar experiences to yours as well over the years. It's actually more common than you think! So, you're not alone in that.
rookdygin (24 stories) (4458 posts)
+1
7 years ago (2017-08-13)
Mainlander,

Your descriptions are very striking, very 'striking' indeed.

"something shimmery, a staticy sparkly, flashing sort of mass passed between us and the TV."

And

"out of nowhere, appeared that same shimmering sparkling wild flashing mass..."

I can not help but wonder if what you experienced with your daughter AND by yourself as you cleaned was a electrical phenomenon called 'ball lightning'.

(http://nautil.us/blog/a-new-explanation-for-one-of-the-strangest-occurrences-in-nature-ball-lightning)

Just a thought. Thanks for sharing.

Respectfully,

Rook
Argette (guest)
 
7 years ago (2017-08-09)
That's amazing, Mainlander.

I saw a a gray bouncy thing once, but never something like you describe.

Thank you for an interesting account. Welcome to YGS.
Mainlander (1 stories) (4 posts)
 
7 years ago (2017-08-09)
Thank you, Tweed. I most definitely will check out those links.
Tweed (33 stories) (2475 posts)
 
7 years ago (2017-08-09)
Hi Mainlander, cool experience whatever it was!

There's been a few on here who describe something similar to you. You might enjoy reading these:
Http://www.yourghoststories.com/real-ghost-story.php?story=22998
Http://www.yourghoststories.com/real-ghost-story.php?story=22214

No idea what it might have been, but it seems you're not the only one to encounter something like this. 😊

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