Post by Oddities Bob on Apr 26, 2016 12:18:24 GMT
Ive only done one over night paranormal event, held at the Galleries of Justice in Nottingham, and the events were around 10 years ago, so please excuse me for being somewhat vague on precise details.
The night followed the usual, i assuming, routine that these things tend to, tour of the property, with some history given, then some time split in to small groups, and placed in areas of "activity" to see if anything happens.
I dont recall the precise order of events, and there was a lot of prompting from those running the night to get people to admit to strange experience happening to them. One example of this is 3 or 4 of us were taken into a cell and asked if we felt anything. I began to experience a sharp pain in my abdomen, (which only started when I entered the cell, and stopped immediately upon leaving) and when I mentioned this, was told "oh yes, a man was stabbed in here, so thats what your feeling", at no point were we shown any evidence of this, so its hard to judge if it was true, or a lie to make it seem that something paranormal was happening.
At one point during the night we were in an area that had been the washroom/laundry for the building, and when standing in one specific spot in the middle of the room, I felt intense pain in my lower back, the kind that occurs when you have been hunched over in one position for too long. Again, as with the cell, when I moved from that spot it abated, and then returned when I moved back into it. Ill admit to suffering from occasional back pain, but this, to me, seemed out of the ordinary.
However, because, I suspect, the guide couldn't fit it into any kind of exciting narrative, it was dismissed.
The strangest thing that happened to me, and possibly the whole group took place in the caved under the Galleries.
Nottingham is built on a large sandstone outcrop, and ground below the city is riddled with caves and tunnels dug from the rock. It was in one of these that my experience occurred. The whole party, some 20 people were asked to stand in a circle and hold hands, and then the lights were turned out. This left us in total darkness. The kind of dark that is so black your eyes and mind play tricks on you as they are desperately trying to find something to focus on.
We were told, that should anything come into our minds, no matter how odd it was, that we were to tell the group. Now, given that ten years or more have passed, I dont recall much being said, other than a one lady describing what she was "seeing" and what I saw in my mind and the experienced. I could clearly see, in my mind the image of a woman in a green dress, of a period I couldnt pin point, but somewhere between late medieval and victorian, high neckline, small waist and large skirt, and the accompanying image of a small monkey.
After 10 minutes or so of this, I began to shake. much as you do in the way you do when your cold, that intense all over body shiver that you cant control. The people holding my hands to either side of me were quite unnerved by it, with, as i recall, one of them mentioning it to the tour leader as it was so pronounced. The odd thing was, I didnt feel odd or cold, or unwell, I was just shaking uncontrollably for about, I think 5 minutes.
I think, given the reaction of the group leader actually seemed quite concerned, as he said this wasn't something they had ever seen happen before, and quickly took us out of the cave.
Its not something i've ever experienced before or since.
As paranormal events in my life go, thats about it, and even then Im not sure if anything odd did really happen.
The only other things I could report happened when I was a small child. My parents were looking to move quarters (my Dad was in the RAF), and we were being shown round a property that was completely vacant, no furniture, and I think bare floor boards. The only thing in the house, and oddly I recall this clearly, was a yellow babys knitted cardigan. As my parents tell in, after a few minutes of looking round the property, they realised I had gone. They looked for me, and found me sitting outside the house, upset. They recount me telling them that I didnt like the feeling of the house, and didnt want to be in there. A few days later they got talking to the person in charge of moves, and were told that the house was vacant as the previous occupants had moved out as their baby had died in the house. He also told them that when ever he tried to take a photo of the property the resulting image would come out with an odd discoloration over just that specific house. (this was in the early '80's)
www.galleriesofjustice.com/galleries_history.html
www.galleriesofjustice.com/galleries_of_justice_hauntings.html
The night followed the usual, i assuming, routine that these things tend to, tour of the property, with some history given, then some time split in to small groups, and placed in areas of "activity" to see if anything happens.
I dont recall the precise order of events, and there was a lot of prompting from those running the night to get people to admit to strange experience happening to them. One example of this is 3 or 4 of us were taken into a cell and asked if we felt anything. I began to experience a sharp pain in my abdomen, (which only started when I entered the cell, and stopped immediately upon leaving) and when I mentioned this, was told "oh yes, a man was stabbed in here, so thats what your feeling", at no point were we shown any evidence of this, so its hard to judge if it was true, or a lie to make it seem that something paranormal was happening.
At one point during the night we were in an area that had been the washroom/laundry for the building, and when standing in one specific spot in the middle of the room, I felt intense pain in my lower back, the kind that occurs when you have been hunched over in one position for too long. Again, as with the cell, when I moved from that spot it abated, and then returned when I moved back into it. Ill admit to suffering from occasional back pain, but this, to me, seemed out of the ordinary.
However, because, I suspect, the guide couldn't fit it into any kind of exciting narrative, it was dismissed.
The strangest thing that happened to me, and possibly the whole group took place in the caved under the Galleries.
Nottingham is built on a large sandstone outcrop, and ground below the city is riddled with caves and tunnels dug from the rock. It was in one of these that my experience occurred. The whole party, some 20 people were asked to stand in a circle and hold hands, and then the lights were turned out. This left us in total darkness. The kind of dark that is so black your eyes and mind play tricks on you as they are desperately trying to find something to focus on.
We were told, that should anything come into our minds, no matter how odd it was, that we were to tell the group. Now, given that ten years or more have passed, I dont recall much being said, other than a one lady describing what she was "seeing" and what I saw in my mind and the experienced. I could clearly see, in my mind the image of a woman in a green dress, of a period I couldnt pin point, but somewhere between late medieval and victorian, high neckline, small waist and large skirt, and the accompanying image of a small monkey.
After 10 minutes or so of this, I began to shake. much as you do in the way you do when your cold, that intense all over body shiver that you cant control. The people holding my hands to either side of me were quite unnerved by it, with, as i recall, one of them mentioning it to the tour leader as it was so pronounced. The odd thing was, I didnt feel odd or cold, or unwell, I was just shaking uncontrollably for about, I think 5 minutes.
I think, given the reaction of the group leader actually seemed quite concerned, as he said this wasn't something they had ever seen happen before, and quickly took us out of the cave.
Its not something i've ever experienced before or since.
As paranormal events in my life go, thats about it, and even then Im not sure if anything odd did really happen.
The only other things I could report happened when I was a small child. My parents were looking to move quarters (my Dad was in the RAF), and we were being shown round a property that was completely vacant, no furniture, and I think bare floor boards. The only thing in the house, and oddly I recall this clearly, was a yellow babys knitted cardigan. As my parents tell in, after a few minutes of looking round the property, they realised I had gone. They looked for me, and found me sitting outside the house, upset. They recount me telling them that I didnt like the feeling of the house, and didnt want to be in there. A few days later they got talking to the person in charge of moves, and were told that the house was vacant as the previous occupants had moved out as their baby had died in the house. He also told them that when ever he tried to take a photo of the property the resulting image would come out with an odd discoloration over just that specific house. (this was in the early '80's)
www.galleriesofjustice.com/galleries_history.html
www.galleriesofjustice.com/galleries_of_justice_hauntings.html