Just in time for Halloween, Kano comes up with a spooky account of his motorcycle ride into the realm of the supernatural:
It was an October day typical for around here. Cool and crisp as fresh apple cider, sunshine, but with threatening clouds looming in the distance. In other words; a perfect day for a motorcycle ride, or so I thought.
Aiming my Sportster east towards the foothills of the mountains, I was thinking there would be plenty of fall color to see up there.
I rode the hilly back roads for awhile before turning back towards home, a light wind began to get gusty, the clouds got darker, and daylight itself was failing.
Then on the top of a rise an old wooden church building surrounded by a cemetery came into view. I remembered my uncle was buried there a few years back and decided this would be an opportunity to pay my respects before heading home.
After stopping in front of the church, I dismounted the bike. Being a bit of an "old building buff" I grabbed my camera and climbed the steps up to the church. There was no one around, living that is, and the door was slightly ajar. I couldn't resist taking a peek inside.
A plaque by the door described the church and cemetery: Miller Cemetery was established in 1860. Miller Church, built in 1882 with its unique sloped floor identified it as a "burying church". The pews came from an older church in the area that was built in 1853.
Entering the building I noted no light switch or fixtures, apparently electricity had never been installed. This was a single purpose church, a last stop before the grave.
The wooden floor worn and weakened by many footsteps over the years creaked as I walked the aisle towards the back end of the room. I was looking for a good angle to take a picture. The air felt heavy, almost stifling, then it suddenly turned cold.
The hair on the back of my neck bristled. I had a dreadful sense that someone, or something was watching me. A sudden but silent movement in the periphery of my vision to the left caused me to gasp as I turned towards the source. I relaxed a little, relieved that nothing was there. Just an overactive imagination I thought. As I once again looked towards the front of the room a dark human shaped shadow darted across the front front wall and was gone in an instant.
Seriously creeped-out at this point, just wanting to get the heck out of there, I took a quick snapshot with the camera aimed at the place where the shadow had just been. Making a hasty exit seemed the prudent thing to do.
I was relieved to be outside in the fresh air once again. Once back on my bike I hit the starter button, the engine didn't catch. Being in such a hurry I had forgotten to turn the kill switch back into the on position which delayed my departure by moments that seemed like hours. Then I quickly sent my motorcycle through all the gears as I headed down the hill and away from the burying church and west towards the setting sun.
Uncle Bill would have to wait for another time for a visit from me. Next time though I think I will skip looking around the church.
Safely back home I downloaded the photos from my camera onto the computer. I was astonished to see that one of the pictures appeared to have captured the source of my fright. An orb clearly floated in the front of the room where I saw the shadow. When I was on the scene I didn't see the orb but my camera did.
I went to a ghost site on the internet and sure enough, plenty of similar "orb" pictures were there to see, looking hauntingly familiar to my photo. It seems that according to the website, ghosts sometimes can be captured on digital cameras and that the orbs are the energy of formerly living beings.
I thought about alternative explanations for the appearance of the orb. But there were none. I didn't use a flash when I took the picture, and there was no apparent source of direct or reflected light into my lens. Could it be I had captured an image of a real apparition? I'll let you be the judge. Happy Halloween!
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29 comments:
Spoooooooky. Perfect timing for Halloween!
Loved your post and pictures....Wow what a story...!
You should be writing fiction
Thanks for the entertainment.
I was on the edge of my seat until I realized that you faked that photo, I know you had done this on purpose as your scary Halloween post. Almost had me fooled
Mr. Motorcycle, Baron's Life & Bobscoot -Thank you for your comments. The story is part fiction and part true. One of the true parts is the photo. The photo is cropped but not added to or altered in any way. No photo shop magic here! I cropped it because my daughter was sitting in one of the pews and that didn't fit with the rest of the story. My wife and one of my girls were in the room at the time I took the photo and that would have been hard to explain and would have complicated the story too much. So I cropped the photo. If you look really carefully you can see just the outline of my wife at the door just to the left of the orb, just before she made a hasty exit stage left. I'm no photo expert but I've ruled out a light reflection causation, in fact it looks like the orb was in motion not fixed. The motion becomes more evident when zoomed in on. Spooooooooky! If anybody out there has an explanation, I'm open to it. Happy Halloween Ya'all!
wow, spooky . Unless some light was actually directed on your lens there would be no refraction of light. I don't think I would go there alone.
This reminds me one Sunday morning a few years ago when we took a drive up the Sea-to-Sky Highway (from Vancouver towards Whistler) and stopped at Brittania Beach for Brunch at a little roadside cafe. It was an old house converted to a restaurant. Small with around 6-8 tables. We had been there a while having already ordered and waiting for our food to arrive. Our table had a window view. I noticed two people coming up the stairs into the restaurant. An elderly lady and a young girl (preschool age) dressed up in there Sunday best, which is unusual, especially in such a remote location. I did not notice how they got here. In a few moments I got up to use the washroom facilities and looked around for these people. There were a couple of empty tables and some other folks, but the lady and little girl were no where to be seen. I asked the waitress if she noticed them, and she said NO ONE came into the restaurant.
A few months later while in the bookstore I noticed a book on ghost sightings in British Columbia and there was a little article on Brittania Beach where many people have seen this Elderly Lady with a little Girl dressed in period clothing.
Things like this shouldn't be explained. Isn't that the beauty of it? We all have our own beliefs and needs. Little "mysteries" give us the chance to somehow fill those needs by our intrepretations.
I went see George Romero's Night of the Living Dead at the movie theater and thoroughly enjoyed it. Looks like it was shot at your cemetery, not in Pennsylvania. Oh and I don't beleive in ghosts, which is sad but true.
Hmmm... Who knows what we don't know? It sure is fun to speculate though.
Kano,
Are you around and doing ok?
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours.
Enjoyed your posts this year and looking forward to continue doing so in 2009
All the Best
ps: post something soon...I miss reading you.
Kano:
Hope you are well. give us a sign . . .
bob
bobskoot: wet coast scootin
Scary adventure but very rewarding. Good for this coming Halloween.
Hello. And Bye.
Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!
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