High Strangeness

[Sthenno]

While I've always been an avid listener to tales of the weird and wonderful, my favourite topic has always been accounts of 'high strangeness'; incidences of such utter barminess that they don't seem to fit even within the realms of existing paranormal phenomena. These aren't your ghosts, your aliens or your monsters, they're singular, inexplicable moments of "What the...?"

Charles Fort talks of the dog that said good morning and disappeared into a green vapour; there is a park in England plagues by sightings of tiny gnomes driving red cars... one of my favourite online stories was from a woman who kept on digging up fresh mince pies in her garden.

My own personal experience of high strangeness came in my home town. I was sitting on a bench with a friend eating an ice cream when a distinctive local character walked past. We turned to talk to each other for a few moments, and then looked back at the road only to see the same man walking past in the same direction, with no possible way of getting between the two points.

I would really like to hear others accounts of high strangeness... things that don't really link in with any wider belief or theory, but just make you suspicious that somebody, somewhere is having a laugh...

[Feenix Fire]

I'm sorry to say that i don't have any stories to tell. But I would absolutely love to read some of the ones mentioned in your post. Do you have any links?

[Spectre1979]

While I've always been an avid listener to tales of the weird and wonderful, my favourite topic has always been accounts of 'high strangeness'; incidences of such utter barminess that they don't seem to fit even within the realms of existing paranormal phenomena. These aren't your ghosts, your aliens or your monsters, they're singular, inexplicable moments of "What the...?"

Charles Fort talks of the dog that said good morning and disappeared into a green vapour; there is a park in England plagues by sightings of tiny gnomes driving red cars... one of my favourite online stories was from a woman who kept on digging up fresh mince pies in her garden.

My own personal experience of high strangeness came in my home town. I was sitting on a bench with a friend eating an ice cream when a distinctive local character walked past. We turned to talk to each other for a few moments, and then looked back at the road only to see the same man walking past in the same direction, with no possible way of getting between the two points.

I would really like to hear others accounts of high strangeness... things that don't really link in with any wider belief or theory, but just make you suspicious that somebody, somewhere is having a laugh...

Sounds like drugs are the culprits here!

[Sthenno]

Charles Fort's stuff is full of it... check out Wild Talents here http://www.resologist.net/talent05.htm

The mince pies story is here http://www.forteantimes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3115&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

And the gnomes here http://lovecraftseye.blogspot.com/2009/11/gnomes-riding-cars.html

There's a whole host of wonderful weirdness on the Fortean Times message boards!

[Sthenno]

Sounds like drugs are the culprits here!

Well I can't speak for Mr Fort, but the other witnesses were children and middle aged women, so unlikely to have been under the influence!

[Feenix Fire]

Charles Fort's stuff is full of it... check out Wild Talents here http://www.resologist.net/talent05.htm

The mince pies story is here http://www.forteantimes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3115&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

And the gnomes here http://lovecraftseye.blogspot.com/2009/11/gnomes-riding-cars.html

There's a whole host of wonderful weirdness on the Fortean Times message boards!

thx!

[Sthenno]

Another one of my favourites here... http://www.forteantimes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=23173&highlight=petrol+station+forest

[Sthenno]

Another one for the proper "eh?!" factor here: http://morrisspuds.blogspot.com/

It's about three quarters of the way down the page, called dancing cows...

[bigdaddyinge]

oh... high strangeness... i see.. i was thinking strange highness...lol

[Murrangurk]

Ooh! Ooh! I've got one!

My best friend from high school's cousin had a powerful fear of jesters. Not clowns. Jesters.

Why?

Because one day when she was young, she was playing in her room when suddenly a jester, complete with rattle and hat, crawled out from under her bed and ran out fo her room. She totally freaked, and went crying to her mum, but no one had seen any multi-coloured harleqins running about.

She was too afraid for many years to even check under her bed, needless to say sleeping was very difficult. Didn't want any toes hanging out of the bed, you know how it is!

She remembered this into her adult life, when she told me. Her parents to this day think it was her imigination, but she swears it was real.

So.

There ya go!

If any more come to hand I'll let you know. I love these stories too!!

[Tw3ntyThr33]

WTF?

Gotta love drugs I guess.

Lay off the acid trips.

[Feenix Fire]

oh... high strangeness... i see.. i was thinking strange highness...lol

Your avatar suits your post.

Ooh! Ooh! I've got one!

My best friend from high school's cousin had a powerful fear of jesters. Not clowns. Jesters.

Why?

Because one day when she was young, she was playing in her room when suddenly a jester, complete with rattle and hat, crawled out from under her bed and ran out fo her room. She totally freaked, and went crying to her mum, but no one had seen any multi-coloured harleqins running about.

She was too afraid for many years to even check under her bed, needless to say sleeping was very difficult. Didn't want any toes hanging out of the bed, you know how it is!

She remembered this into her adult life, when she told me. Her parents to this day think it was her imigination, but she swears it was real.

So.

There ya go!

If any more come to hand I'll let you know. I love these stories too!!

I never quite understood the fear of clowns but that is creepy!

Edited April 16, 2010 by Feenix Fire

[Sir Wearer of Hats]

Another one of my favourites here... http://www.forteantimes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=23173&highlight=petrol+station+forest

I've got one like that actually, now that you come to mention it.

As a nipper I loved comics, and it was always a highpoint of my holidays when I got to go into town (nearly an hour's trip from home) because we had three comic stores. Anyway, one day we found a forth. It was on Adelaide Street, just opposite the library. Up a daunting and dimly light flight of stairs and the store itself was on three levels with a library (no better word leaps to mind) of comics on the upper floor. It was full of comics the upper floor, and the lower floor had all the other paraphernalia that comic stories carry.

I distinctly remember the layout of the place, and how it was dark, dank and had a smell that my policeman father told us was "marijuana" and therefore not to leave his sight in the store.

Anyway, it was the first and last time I ever went to that store. Despite it basically being shangri-la for someone like me.

Years later, I became friends with someone who ran a cult book and toy store in Brisbane. Sadly the store closed down, but he still ran some of it for certain customers out of a loft he rented.

On Adelaide Street.

Just opposite the library.

And it was on three levels.

I asked him "was there ever a comic store here?" and was told that he'd owned/rented the place for as long as he'd had the Fan Attic (his other store), so not to his knowledge. But I was certain that the comic store was there, it wasn't the other comic store that was a few doors up.

[Feenix Fire]

I"m having so much trouble finding this flippin' photo.

The talking dog and other things in one of those links you mentioned, reminded me of a photo i saw on another site that came with a story.

From what I remember, it was something like this.

This person was going through some old family photos and came upon one of their uncle me thinks. It was the uncle and a sister and some other lady. lol idk. the pic had a man and two ladies lol. The person explained that the uncle was put in a hospital for hallucinations. He said that he'd see animals. everybody thought he was crazy. The picture taken was of a visit the two ladies made while he was at the hospital. You can see the three of them standing together smiling, with what looks like idk, the spirit/ figure of a bear next to them!

It was pretty cool. I really wanted to find it before posting this but i had no luck.

[bigdaddyinge]

Your avatar suits your post.

how's that?

[Mantis914]

I have one that I'm not sure if I posted before so if I have, my apologies. One day at my brother's home, I was helping him move the refrigerator in the kitchen and through one door in the kitchen, you can look into my brother's bedroom and see his bearded dragon's habitat. As I was getting ready to Heave Ho, I heard a distinct clearing of the throat coming from my brother's bedroom. As I glanced in there, I saw the bearded dragon looking back at me and blinking as most of them do. Later on, another time, I heard a child's voice coming from my brother's room. I'm not sure what it was saying as it was not loud enough. Again, I peered into the room and the bearded dragon was the only one present just blinking and staring at me. The TV was not on nor was the radio or any broadcast so I'm not sure where it could have originated from other than the bearded dragon. No, I was not drunk or drugged either...