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Observed On A Crosswalk

 

It's been some time since I had an experience to relate, and this one will require a little context.

My wife and I work together in the English department at our school. Since we bought our house five years ago, we have saved money by doing without a second car and sharing one nice, affordable vehicle. Because I can become impatient when I'm driving, my wife tends to drive when we are travelling together; I'm adult enough to concede that she is the safer driver.

Driving home at the end of the school day, when we cross the border into our hometown there are two different routes we can take to get to our house. The left-hand route appears to be shorter on the map; in fact it is slower because it is congested with rush-hour traffic and four traffic lights in close proximity. The right-hand route veers away from the right direction, but loops back around quite close to our house and there is far less traffic on that road. My wife favors taking the right-hand road almost every night.

On Thursday night (December second), just about sunset, we were taking the customary right-hand route. After we cross a bridge, there is a crosswalk for pedestrians about 30 feet away. Though there were no pedestrians on the crosswalk, nor any approaching it, my wife slowed down to almost a complete stop. I looked out of the windshield to see a roughly pyramid or cone-shaped mist, about two-and-a-half to three feet in height, standing/hovering on the crosswalk about a foot away from the curb. The mist was a pale, translucent grey that lingered for 5 or 6 seconds as we watched it slowly evaporate. It did not appear to be moving in any direction, it was visible both in our headlights and the headlights of the vehicle behind us, and it did not have a shadow that I could see. The grey mist did not ascend like smoke, nor did it roll away like fog; it became more and more pale until it was invisible. Once it had disappeared, my wife accelerated away from the location at a reasonable speed.

I asked her, "did you see that, too?"

She responded, "what, the grey thing?" When I described it as I have in the above paragraph, she added, "I couldn't have given you that much detail, but yeah. What was it?"

My reaction was that it was one of two possibilities: first, some sort of optical illusion, though how it was created, how it was maintained, and what made it disappear were in no way consistent with the environment in which we saw it; or, second, that it was some sort of paranormal entity or object. She stated, "well, I'm not in any way psychic, so I think it was an illusion. I've never seen a ghost."

I pointed out that the fact that most people haven't seen one is the reason that seeing one frightens them. I did not mention to her that my "supernatural sense" was active while I was observing the object, as I did not wish to alarm her; also, it wasn't a full-blown atmospheric vibe that I normally experience, more of a dull tingle that something was "off" about the whole situation.

Has anyone else here on YGS seen something like this? The last narrative I posted about supernatural objects ("Metallic Manifestations") that I saw described items that appeared to be solid objects; witnessing a translucent, almost transparent, object is a new experience for me. The fact that my wife saw it, too, is highly unusual. I'd appreciate any feedback from the forum on this, and I'll try to respond in a timely manner to any questions you might have.

Best,

Biblio.

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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, Bibliothecarius, has the following expectation about your feedback: I will read the comments and participate in the discussion.

sancartier (1 posts)
+1
6 months ago (2024-03-30)
Hi, I just joined this group and this is my first post. Yes, I've seen the mist. As I was watching TV in the evening I was facing the hall coming into the living room when I saw a shadow materialize into a tall shape with a curve on the side. It appeared to walk toward the living room until it was almost to my side. At that point it dissipated. My son died 5 months ago (54) and I believe it to be him. He was that tall. At the place it disappeared there was a desk with his urn and pictures on it. This was actually the 4th paranormal experience related to his death but I'll save those stories for another time. I just wanted to comment on your grey mist. This one did not have a shape of a human but I could tell it was walking, not just gliding. It certainly seemed intelligent, and I hope it was my son. It was my first impression that it was. My only other experience with a grey mist appearing to me was my grandmother, dead 6 months, many years ago. I knew it was her even though she appeared as a shape of a person with no discernable features. It appeared she wore a cloak, like a monk's cloak. Your story is so interesting. I have read that spirits like to interact with people, and it seems that's what yours did by causing the car to slow down for the crosswalk.
Tweed (36 stories) (2529 posts)
+2
2 years ago (2023-03-13)
Biblio, how odd. I've heard of clouds of mist moving from here to there, defying logic as they go. But nothing like this. Did anyone on the street seem to be reacting to it? If not I'm guessing it was such an unusual occurrence everyone dismissed it en masse. Maybe you witnessed a residual object. I'm sure there's a better term for that, but the static shape makes me think some static object was once there. Or will be there one day, like maybe something redirecting traffic, a temporary road sign perhaps?
Bibliothecarius (9 stories) (1091 posts)
+4
3 years ago (2021-12-17)
Greetings, LightMight.

The idea of an energy vortex or portal never even occurred to me! I've never heard of cone shaped mists seen floating around hospital patients, either, but that just makes your contribution to the discussion all the more interesting.

I agree with your suggestion that we saw the gathering energy of a spirit; the idea that it may have manifested as it did due to an energy vortex would account for how unusual the phenomenon was. While I have had multiple encounters over the years, few of them have been visible to the naked eye.

We've driven this road another eight times since this encounter, and we have not experienced anything like it since.

Best,
Biblio.
Bibliothecarius (9 stories) (1091 posts)
+4
3 years ago (2021-12-17)
Greetings Rajine:

I like logical explanations, too, which is why I tried to debunk what I'd seen by scanning the area to see if I was looking at an illusion. If it had been an effect of another car's headlights aimed toward us through trees, for example, it wouldn't have reacted visibly to the headlights of our car. When I discussed it with my wife, I ran through a couple of ideas that *might* have created an illusion, but none of them matched up to the phenomena we'd both seen.

Even though she's more comfortable with the idea that it was an illusion, she was positive enough that there was something on the crosswalk that she slowed the car before I even saw the phenomenon.

Best,
Biblio.
LightMight (4 stories) (137 posts)
+4
3 years ago (2021-12-12)
Hi Bibliothecarius,

Fascinating story you've shared here, especially since both you and your wife witnessed the same type of sighting in the road!

You mentioned that it 'felt' like a young, female - perhaps it was a wayward spirit revisiting her last place of existence in our realm?

In regard to the cone shaped mist you saw in the road, this may have been an energy vortex, or portal. Supposedly energy vortexes are passages for spirits, and can be cone-shaped. Maybe you were seeing some type of gathering energy (spirit?) just before it started to dissipate?
I've experienced a few cone shaped mist floating around several hospital patients I've visited with while I've been at work. Usually there was a feeling of a calm presence that accompanied the mist, but nothing (unfortunately) that would definitively explain what I was seeing...

Whether it was caused by something natural, or supernatural forces, next time you travel along that road consider recording it on your phone!

Take Care, LightMight
valkricry (49 stories) (3286 posts) mod
+3
3 years ago (2021-12-10)
Wow, Bradbury's autograph? Lucky you! Let me know if you locate that story, because now it's sort of driving me a bit crazy.😉 When I say 'a long time ago', I mean late 60's, early 70s. I read a lot of sci-fi back then, also saw my share on TV, but I'm pretty sure it was something I read and not saw. Don't think it was the Martian Chronicles... Sigh, wish I could recall.
Rajine (14 stories) (882 posts)
+4
3 years ago (2021-12-10)
Hi Biblio

I have also experienced something similar to this which I posted a while back, usually I always try to find a logical explanation as well before I pin it down to being supernatural.
Bibliothecarius (9 stories) (1091 posts)
+4
3 years ago (2021-12-09)
Greetings, Val.

I'll have to look for the story you mentioned. I don't immediately recall one about an alien opening portals, but I'll start with The Martian Chronicles & then try my Complete Short Stories of Ray Bradbury.

Sidenote: I had him sign the latter of these collections; he was a very nice and approachable man with a good sense of humor.

Best,
Biblio.
Bibliothecarius (9 stories) (1091 posts)
+4
3 years ago (2021-12-09)
Greetings, all. Some responses are in order, and I'll put a few of them together here.

MrsRamsay: My wife slowed down the car *because* there was something on the crosswalk. She said that was her natural reaction to something being there, even though it was not tall enough to be a person (adult or teen out alone around dusk). The slowing of the car was what brought it to my attention.

CrimsonTopaz: Thanks for finding Rajine's story of a similar mist/fog apparition taking a geometrical shape. At least we're not alone in seeing something this peculiar.

Lady-glow: Thank you for reading. Even though it was mist in an unusual shape, it "felt" like an entity to me, which was pretty strange. Usually I get the mental impression of the entity, but no visual data. I had the sense that it was young and female, but I have nothing to substantiate that other than my instinct.

Sleeping-with-steve: Thanks for reading this tale. As I just mentioned to lady-glow, it did "feel" like an individual to me, even though it did not look like one.

Best to all,
Biblio.
valkricry (49 stories) (3286 posts) mod
+3
3 years ago (2021-12-09)
Hi, Biblio! Your description puts me in mind of a story I read a long time ago. It may have been a Ray Bradbury short, but I won't swear to it. Anyway, that was pretty much the way he describes the alien made portals for interdimensional travel. Not saying that's what you saw, only the description, at least in my memory is similar. Which makes me wonder if he somewhat shared your experience at some point.
Personally, I've only seen one transparent object, which I described as a soap bubble. Outside of being very translucent, I don't think there's any commonality.
On the bright side - you have a witness, so not your imagination:)
Sleeping-with-steve (guest)
+2
3 years ago (2021-12-08)
Hello Biblio,

What a fascinating experience.

I don't have much to offer in terms of help or ideas of what it could have been. (Sorry) 😕

I just wanted to say I have heard this happen before to others. Rajine mentions something similar in his post as per the link my sister, (CrimsonTopaz) has shared.

Please keep us posted if you solve this mystery.

Best wishes,
SWS/Miandra 😘
lady-glow (16 stories) (3186 posts)
+5
3 years ago (2021-12-08)
Hi Biblio.

Intriguing experience, I have no idea what could it have been, but enjoyed reading your experience.

Thanks for sharing.
CrimsonTopaz (1 stories) (239 posts)
+3
3 years ago (2021-12-08)
I found it Bibliothecarius.
Here's the link.
Https://www.yourghoststories.com/real-ghost-story.php?story=27545
CrimsonTopaz (1 stories) (239 posts)
+2
3 years ago (2021-12-08)
Bibliothecarius,
Excuse my absent writing skills. Being in the English department, you probably notice good writing skills in the first instance.
All that aside, I've being reading situations on here for about 2 years. I do remember someone putting up a situation about a fog hovering above their vehicle and the fog was no where else.
I have looked high and low and can't find who put that up on here. To begin with I thought it was Aussie Daz. I looked at his profile page and his situations and unless I missed it, it doesn't seem to be him. I'm sure my sister commented on that thread. I looked at her profile and the same thing, no sign of that situation.
I'll keep looking. Knowing me, I probably commented on the thread so I'll look at my comments too.
I really enjoyed reading about this situation you and your wife experienced.
Thank you sharing.
Bibliothecarius (9 stories) (1091 posts)
+4
3 years ago (2021-12-08)
Greetings Mrs. Ramsay.

I, too, had the sense that the shape I saw was an entity, even though it was not particularly anthropomorphic. I'm pleased that your mother was able to attend your daughter's wedding and that you witnessed her presence.

For me, the fact that the shape was more geometrical in nature was the really unusual part. When I sense spirits without physically seeing them, I can tell where they are, how tall they are (or if they are standing/crouching), and which direction they are facing. This shape looked almost like a placeholder for the entity I was sensing.

My hometown is one of the older ones in the Farmington River Valley of Connecticut. A friend of mine keeps telling me that I have to visit the cemetery in the center of town to see the older graves at the top of the hill. It's on my never-ending "to do" list!

I'll have to ask my wife later about why she slowed down to begin with and I'll get back to you on that.

Best,
Biblio.
MrsRamsay (guest)
+4
3 years ago (2021-12-08)
So interesting that you discerned this, and that your wife noticed something also, even while she was driving. I wonder if she has an idea what caused her to slow down? Perhaps just an intuitive sense that you both got at the same time?

I believe I've sensed if not quite seen something similar a few times. Honestly, it's the kind of thing that can easily go unnoticed. I am always wondering if my writer's imagination or my love of history causes me to go here.

My eldest daughter got married in 2017 and it was a late April, southern garden wedding at an antebellum mansion built in 1840. She walked down the aisle at 7:30 pm, but in the first five minutes I realized the minister had probably never done a wedding before as he was talking about his own baldness. Sitting in the front row in the midst of thinking, "Wow, this is one of the worst wedding officiants I've ever heard..." things all of a sudden got very heavy and quiet (my perception) -- enough that I became aware of "something going on." While the minister's droning kept on and as he finished up, I became distracted and noticed some kind of mist, barely perceptable, up in the air just in front of me and to the right, above and in front of the couple who were about to say their actual vows. It caused me to actually LOOK UP instead of at my daughter. All of a sudden, her long veil blows up and sort of hangs in the air before being pulled off and flying towards us in the front row! Just then (at the strange time of 7:40ish) the bells at the Baptist church next door rang twice, though no one else seems to remember that fact except me. Of course, everyone got a good laugh, but I knew EXACTLY what had happened. (and I'm sorry for the long story, when all you wondered is have we seen a mist thing). My mom had died in 2013 after being very, very close to my daughters growing up. At the same time, my daughter had initially not wanted to wear a veil with her dress, which became a little contentious between us in the weeks before her date. A week before the wedding, she finally caved... Called me and said, "Ok mom, I'll go with a veil." So the night of her wedding, we of course made certain that veil was ON her head, with at least 3 combs holding it into her expensive hairstyle. BUT... When that veil flew off in a wind that didn't really move anything else around her, I knew immediately that was MOM, and she was saying to me, "OK Laura, she wore the veil down the aisle and throughout the weird minister's commentary, and now she gets to take it off!" Mom always spoiled her. She was always the Good Cop and I was always the Bad Cop, if you follow...

But that's just one of the places I've noticed a slight mist. Which by the way you can vaguely see in the wedding photos taken from two angles. I can see clearly where the lace of the veil comes up to a point in mid air, while it's still attached to my daughter's head. And there is a mist there, as though a hand but not in the shape of a hand. The actual "mist" to me is more of a difference in the air itself and shows as a slightly lighter spot in the photos.

Not sure exactly what CT town you're in, but I have a lot of ancestors who founded some of those old towns there almost 400 years ago. The history in and near them is riveting to me, and I cannot wait until I can visit (never been north of NYC). The amazing history of the Old Connecticut Path and the Puritan settlers who followed it to adventure in the New World really stirs the imagination, especially if half your family tree is made up of those families! Thanks for your interesting story!
Bibliothecarius (9 stories) (1091 posts)
+4
3 years ago (2021-12-08)
Greetings, RC!

No, it was not a foggy evening, nor was it raining, which is part of the reason we were surprised to see this manifestation "standing" upright in the crosswalk. Sorry I didn't make that clear in the original narrative.

As for the "adult enough to concede" statement, that's something I've had to come to realize the long way around, and it's something that I occasionally need to remind myself, too!

Best,
Biblio.
RCRuskin (9 stories) (847 posts)
+4
3 years ago (2021-12-08)
Biblio, I can only say that I personally have not seen such a thing before. At least, not that I'm aware of.

Also: "I'm adult enough to concede". This really jumped out at me. Dealing with dad's cancer, and his attitude, plus some other things I could mention but won't, I really wish people would understand: Our choices/actions have consequences. And because we choose what we did, the consequences are our responsibility. No blaming someone else.

But back to being on topic, a pyramid or cone shaped mist? Was it a foggy commute that evening?

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