I would like to share an experience I had several years ago that left me somewhat scared and totally confused. The encounter was brief and is still a mystery.
It happened on a cold winter night shortly after midnight 5 or 6 years ago. My girlfriend and I lived in a trailer home out in the county. To conserve heating fuel we would hang a blanket at the end of the hallway. Her and I and our two dogs slept in the bedroom located in the back of the house. Sharon had gone to bed early and was sleeping soundly when I came to bed. I dozed off quickly but not for long. We both woke to the aggressive barks of our small but protective chihuahua (Chica) and our much larger pit bull mix (Riker). Chica was running down the log hallway and Riker stayed by the bed barking aggressively.
As I jumped out of bed I grabbed a flashlight and a knife from my nightstand. Chica was about halfway down the hallway and going crazy barking and growling. Then we heard a loud thump that sounded like something hit the outer door. I started down the hallway and heard the front door open. I was sure I had locked the door but still it had opened. It was a tight fitting door and sound of it opening is unmistakable. I felt a cold chill in the hallway which at the time didn't seem to surprise me because it was cold out and the door was opened. With the blanket at the end of the hallway I couldn't see much but I saw what appeared to be the beam of a flashlight through the gap at the top and sides of the blanket. The beam moved around the ceiling a bit then on the wall then around the floor.
Wishing I had more than a knife in my hand I shouted asking who was there. No answer. I yelled again telling whoever was out there that I was armed and they needed to identify themselves. The light on the other side of the blanket was pointed directly at the center of the blanket. Much brighter than I thought a flashlight would but I yelled one more time and somehow got the courage and rushed to the end of the hall and pulled the blanket to the side and quickly shined my light around the dark room. Both dogs immediately stopped barking.
Nothing was there. Everything looked as it did when I headed to bed. The door that we had heard open only a moment ago was closed and locked. I ran to the kitchen and looked out the window and there were no tracks in the driveway. It had snowed lightly earlier in the evening so if a car had been there it would be easy to tell. I went to the front door and unlocked it and stepped out in the porch. Nothing looked out of place. The outer door was closed but not locked as usual. Stepping outside I saw no tracks other than my own and the two dogs I let out just before going to bed.
Sharon and I looked at each other with a confused look. With her phone in hand she was right behind me and she heard and saw exactly what I saw. She felt the same chill which without the door actually opening could not have been a rush of cold winter air as we originally thought. She had dialed 911 as we were coming down the hallway but she hadn't pressed send yet. She asked if she should call and report it. Report what? There was nothing physical to see now. No tracks, no sign of any entry. Just sound and light.
We stayed up for another hour or so and talked about what just happened or didn't happen. By now I was confused but oddly calm. We went back to bed and the dogs were already sleeping quietly cuddled up as usual. I drifted off to sleep and slept through the night without interruption. Sharon said it took her a while to get back to sleep but eventually the sound of my snoring comforted her and she drifted off.
We don't tell that story to many people because when we do we just get strange looks and jokes about smoking something. I had smoked a couple hits of weed before going to be but she didn't smoke. I've never had audio or visual hallucinations from smoking pot but if I had been alone I would have written it off as a bad batch. The dogs were the ones that alerted us so they must have heard something.
Someone suggested that it must have been headlights flashing from a passing car. Not likely. This is a rural area on a dead end gravel road with no side streets. Nothing like this before or since then. Even if the lights could be easily explained, the sounds cannot. I am curious what others think we may have experienced.
It happened on a cold winter night shortly after midnight 5 or 6 years ago. My girlfriend and I lived in a trailer home out in the county. To conserve heating fuel we would hang a blanket at the end of the hallway. Her and I and our two dogs slept in the bedroom located in the back of the house. Sharon had gone to bed early and was sleeping soundly when I came to bed. I dozed off quickly but not for long. We both woke to the aggressive barks of our small but protective chihuahua (Chica) and our much larger pit bull mix (Riker). Chica was running down the log hallway and Riker stayed by the bed barking aggressively.
As I jumped out of bed I grabbed a flashlight and a knife from my nightstand. Chica was about halfway down the hallway and going crazy barking and growling. Then we heard a loud thump that sounded like something hit the outer door. I started down the hallway and heard the front door open. I was sure I had locked the door but still it had opened. It was a tight fitting door and sound of it opening is unmistakable. I felt a cold chill in the hallway which at the time didn't seem to surprise me because it was cold out and the door was opened. With the blanket at the end of the hallway I couldn't see much but I saw what appeared to be the beam of a flashlight through the gap at the top and sides of the blanket. The beam moved around the ceiling a bit then on the wall then around the floor.
Wishing I had more than a knife in my hand I shouted asking who was there. No answer. I yelled again telling whoever was out there that I was armed and they needed to identify themselves. The light on the other side of the blanket was pointed directly at the center of the blanket. Much brighter than I thought a flashlight would but I yelled one more time and somehow got the courage and rushed to the end of the hall and pulled the blanket to the side and quickly shined my light around the dark room. Both dogs immediately stopped barking.
Nothing was there. Everything looked as it did when I headed to bed. The door that we had heard open only a moment ago was closed and locked. I ran to the kitchen and looked out the window and there were no tracks in the driveway. It had snowed lightly earlier in the evening so if a car had been there it would be easy to tell. I went to the front door and unlocked it and stepped out in the porch. Nothing looked out of place. The outer door was closed but not locked as usual. Stepping outside I saw no tracks other than my own and the two dogs I let out just before going to bed.
Sharon and I looked at each other with a confused look. With her phone in hand she was right behind me and she heard and saw exactly what I saw. She felt the same chill which without the door actually opening could not have been a rush of cold winter air as we originally thought. She had dialed 911 as we were coming down the hallway but she hadn't pressed send yet. She asked if she should call and report it. Report what? There was nothing physical to see now. No tracks, no sign of any entry. Just sound and light.
We stayed up for another hour or so and talked about what just happened or didn't happen. By now I was confused but oddly calm. We went back to bed and the dogs were already sleeping quietly cuddled up as usual. I drifted off to sleep and slept through the night without interruption. Sharon said it took her a while to get back to sleep but eventually the sound of my snoring comforted her and she drifted off.
We don't tell that story to many people because when we do we just get strange looks and jokes about smoking something. I had smoked a couple hits of weed before going to be but she didn't smoke. I've never had audio or visual hallucinations from smoking pot but if I had been alone I would have written it off as a bad batch. The dogs were the ones that alerted us so they must have heard something.
Someone suggested that it must have been headlights flashing from a passing car. Not likely. This is a rural area on a dead end gravel road with no side streets. Nothing like this before or since then. Even if the lights could be easily explained, the sounds cannot. I am curious what others think we may have experienced.