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Winter solstice hooded figures


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I'm a 26 year old man who has ALWAYS been thoroughly certain that people who tell stories like this are only doing so because they're ignorant and want attention.. in fact gave this girl I was with for a few months SOOOOOO much flack because she said she was a psychic and all kindsa crazy stuff.. 

Well, it's December 24th, 2018 and I and my girlfriend drove through Greenwood cemetery in Decatur Il at precisely 3:45 PM. I want to add that not ONLY is it the Winter Solstice, but it's ALSO a full moon, the last expected to occur until 2084.. 

Read more: https://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/stories/112208/winter-solstice-hooded-figures

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The winter solstice was on the 21st, and the full moon on the 22..... not on the 24th.

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Should have taken a picture, or video. 

If it really happened, cool experience.

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My first thought is Shadow Figures which is one of the more commonly described paranormal phenomena. Has your research led you into that area and if so what do you think?

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Could have been real life humans sitting on the hill wearing heavy coats with their hoods up. Probably pretty cold day. Possibly Shadows played a part in what you saw. How far away were you. What was the surrounding area like? 

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What a huge missed opportunity , i didnt know the moon was out at 345pm and not sure why the drive thru the cemetery unless perhaps you had horrorpops playing on your stereo,

Damn, a "psychic" on board and she was perplexed too.

In the early 2000s a gmother and gson when missing 3 years later by happenstance not psychic intervention sadly the boys body was found in cassadaga florida, the irony is cassadaga is town proclaimed as  "Psychic Capital of the World". Ive been there many times Yet not one of them knew the poor kids remains were in their backyard.

 

Sorry, back to topic,

This is yet another anecdote and one that sounds to me like fiction, but it was dramatic,

About 15 18 years ago many times i would go sit at my gmothers grave, hours and hours , many times it would get dark, the grounds keeper not only got used to me but used to "sighting reports" that corresponded with nights i was there....i never had anyone approach me but several times cars actually peeled out when they saw me in the field.

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2 hours ago, the13bats said:

 

About 15 18 years ago many times i would go sit at my gmothers grave, hours and hours , many times it would get dark, the grounds keeper not only got used to me but used to "sighting reports" that corresponded with nights i was there....i never had anyone approach me but several times cars actually peeled out when they saw me in the field.

Do you think people ran away because they thought you were a ghost or do you think they ran away because they thought you were up to no good in a cemetery late at night. Were the "sighting reports" about ghosts ?.

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47 minutes ago, John n b said:

Do you think people ran away because they thought you were a ghost or do you think they ran away because they thought you were up to no good in a cemetery late at night. Were the "sighting reports" about ghosts ?.

Im pleased you asked that now i can babbling about perceptions,

It is telling that no one asked what you did  about the OPs story, it was presented that "paranormal" was the only possible answer even with answer that actually being the very least likely.

The cemetery in my story is one if those where they do not have above ground stones but its huge and has buildings memorials etc,

Im 6 ft 2 in the boots 6, 4 most all those times i had a long black coat on and my dark hair is to my waist,

There are neighborhoods basically on all sides of the park, with houses right on the edges, my mother and grandmother bought their plots in the early 70s and being i knew people, friends who lived around there, i had been there countless times.

In 30 plus years there never was any big mischief there that i heard of.

Being i have had a life long interest in such topics of paranormal i did have my eyes open even though that wasnt what was on my mind it was a down time in my life, being there was nice but several times i dozed off and was there very late, alone  there never saw anything odd,

As far as people peeling out because they thought i was a neighborhoodlum or a "ghost" one or the other they wanted no part of.

Why dont we ask the question besides kids goofing off how much "no good" really happens in cemeteries at night?

I dont really know how many times i was reported but it was a joke to the grounds keeper that basically the reports called me things like "it" a "tall thing" a "spooky whatever" i pressed him and he said while no one said "ghost" no one said "man" and all tip toed that i was paranormal not natural.

What stands out here is the OP is adamant that paranormal is the only answer when it might have been and old lady walking her dog, the story has no source and is just a camp fire story, and me hanging benign in a grave yard at night and how i was reported shows where some minds want to go,

I can assure you had i, if i ever see anything weird i will try to get close figure it out, never would i post a meaningless empty story and try to claim it proves anything.

 

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23 minutes ago, the13bats said:

Im pleased you asked that now i can babbling about perceptions,

It is telling that no one asked what you did  about the OPs story, it was presented that "paranormal" was the only possible answer even with answer that actually being the very least likely.

The cemetery in my story is one if those where they do not have above ground stones but its huge and has buildings memorials etc,

Im 6 ft 2 in the boots 6, 4 most all those times i had a long black coat on and my dark hair is to my waist,

There are neighborhoods basically on all sides of the park, with houses right on the edges, my mother and grandmother bought their plots in the early 70s and being i knew people, friends who lived around there, i had been there countless times.

In 30 plus years there never was any big mischief there that i heard of.

Being i have had a life long interest in such topics of paranormal i did have my eyes open even though that wasnt what was on my mind it was a down time in my life, being there was nice but several times i dozed off and was there very late, alone  there never saw anything odd,

As far as people peeling out because they thought i was a neighborhoodlum or a "ghost" one or the other they wanted no part of.

Why dont we ask the question besides kids goofing off how much "no good" really happens in cemeteries at night?

I dont really know how many times i was reported but it was a joke to the grounds keeper that basically the reports called me things like "it" a "tall thing" a "spooky whatever" i pressed him and he said while no one said "ghost" no one said "man" and all tip toed that i was paranormal not natural.

What stands out here is the OP is adamant that paranormal is the only answer when it might have been and old lady walking her dog, the story has no source and is just a camp fire story, and me hanging benign in a grave yard at night and how i was reported shows where some minds want to go,

I can assure you had i, if i ever see anything weird i will try to get close figure it out, never would i post a meaningless empty story and try to claim it proves anything.

 

I can see where your coming from with that story, some people do jump to conclusions when they see what they think is something out of the ordinary. if they saw you in there during the day they wouldn't give it a second thought, but when it's dark that's when imaginations run wild .

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John, its not limited to me, some people jump to and adhere to the only possible answer is paranormal, i respect that i simply ask have an open mind, in this threads case IF the whole story isnt fiction then the likely answer is it was just people out there, and if a person wants to denounce that with zero proof to the contrary thats where they loose me.

 as far as seeing me in the day, ive scared a few in day light too, but no, in context most people see another person in a grave yard they think "person" not something otherwordly unless thats what they want to see, and thats a form of biased.

Very few if any of the people i interact with here the most wouldnt have gone and checked out the hooded figures, they sure wouldnt tuck tale and run, but running scared adds drama, finding a goth goose in his ob1 robe drinking red fruit punch in a grave yard at night isnt dramatic or scary.

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4 hours ago, the13bats said:

Why dont we ask the question besides kids goofing off how much "no good" really happens in cemeteries at night?

Sorry to snip the rest but... Good question. As someone who has been a cemetery conservationist, I got some answers.

A lot of illegal trespassing with some occasional illegal driving or parking. Dealing and doing drugs, sometimes leaving drugs behind to grow, sometimes leaving dangerous paraphernalia behind. Public drunkenness and some illegal drinking by minors. Public sex and nudity, which are illegal and sometimes leave sexual garbage behind. Littering or purposely leaving junk behind that the cemetery keeper has to clean up. Vandalism, like spray painting or otherwise marking gravestones, damaging or knocking stones over, stealing stones, breaking into vaults if they are in the cemetery, stealing grave contents. Sometimes this goes beyond just those crimes into hate crimes when particular cemeteries are damaged with things like racial or religious slurs. Damaging or stealing memorials and greenery. Starting fires or leaving burning objects like candles or incense unattended. Sometimes there are unsavory folks that do nasty crimes in cemeteries like beatings, rape, murder, body dumping, animal harm and death. There are liability issues if someones gets hurt or killed tripping over headstones or whatever in the dark. Some cemeteries get issues with people driving various vehicles off road and tearing it up. Some cemeteries are located close enough to the living that hijinks create enough noise/screaming that the police get called in. Some folks like to create hoaxes in cemeteries. A few others do night-filming against ordinances or without permits. Sometimes folks that are homeless or want an overnight challenge sleep/camp in cemeteries overnight, usually against ordinances.

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30 minutes ago, rashore said:

Sorry to snip the rest but... Good question. As someone who has been a cemetery conservationist, I got some answers.

A lot of illegal trespassing with some occasional illegal driving or parking. Dealing and doing drugs, sometimes leaving drugs behind to grow, sometimes leaving dangerous paraphernalia behind. Public drunkenness and some illegal drinking by minors. Public sex and nudity, which are illegal and sometimes leave sexual garbage behind. Littering or purposely leaving junk behind that the cemetery keeper has to clean up. Vandalism, like spray painting or otherwise marking gravestones, damaging or knocking stones over, stealing stones, breaking into vaults if they are in the cemetery, stealing grave contents. Sometimes this goes beyond just those crimes into hate crimes when particular cemeteries are damaged with things like racial or religious slurs. Damaging or stealing memorials and greenery. Starting fires or leaving burning objects like candles or incense unattended. Sometimes there are unsavory folks that do nasty crimes in cemeteries like beatings, rape, murder, body dumping, animal harm and death. There are liability issues if someones gets hurt or killed tripping over headstones or whatever in the dark. Some cemeteries get issues with people driving various vehicles off road and tearing it up. Some cemeteries are located close enough to the living that hijinks create enough noise/screaming that the police get called in. Some folks like to create hoaxes in cemeteries. A few others do night-filming against ordinances or without permits. Sometimes folks that are homeless or want an overnight challenge sleep/camp in cemeteries overnight, usually against ordinances.

That's sort of depressing that all that stuff happens.

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11 hours ago, rashore said:

Sorry to snip the rest but... Good question. As someone who has been a cemetery conservationist, I got some answers.

A lot of illegal trespassing with some occasional illegal driving or parking. Dealing and doing drugs, sometimes leaving drugs behind to grow, sometimes leaving dangerous paraphernalia behind. Public drunkenness and some illegal drinking by minors. Public sex and nudity, which are illegal and sometimes leave sexual garbage behind. Littering or purposely leaving junk behind that the cemetery keeper has to clean up. Vandalism, like spray painting or otherwise marking gravestones, damaging or knocking stones over, stealing stones, breaking into vaults if they are in the cemetery, stealing grave contents. Sometimes this goes beyond just those crimes into hate crimes when particular cemeteries are damaged with things like racial or religious slurs. Damaging or stealing memorials and greenery. Starting fires or leaving burning objects like candles or incense unattended. Sometimes there are unsavory folks that do nasty crimes in cemeteries like beatings, rape, murder, body dumping, animal harm and death. There are liability issues if someones gets hurt or killed tripping over headstones or whatever in the dark. Some cemeteries get issues with people driving various vehicles off road and tearing it up. Some cemeteries are located close enough to the living that hijinks create enough noise/screaming that the police get called in. Some folks like to create hoaxes in cemeteries. A few others do night-filming against ordinances or without permits. Sometimes folks that are homeless or want an overnight challenge sleep/camp in cemeteries overnight, usually against ordinances.

Pretty dismal but not the rule here the exception with the ones i have been to around here and yep to a small degree i have been involved with cemetery conservationist and histological work too, sure those things can and do happen but lets not get carried away, so perhaps your srea is that bad not mine, so my question,  just how much, was in context.

And if the cemetery i hung out at or better yet the OP one had a fraction of those issues then a young couple would have been asked their business and hooligans in hooded robes would be reported investagated, doing anything else might be possibly allowing a rape, murder, body dumping, vandalizing, etc to take place, which is inexcusable to turn a blind eye to,

Geez i wonder did the op witness a horrific crime in action and did nothing...for shame.

 

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31 minutes ago, the13bats said:

 

Geez i wonder did the op witness a horrific crime in action and did nothing...for shame.

 

bats, has this story morphed to the point that you are assuming these people were so effected by regular people in robes. I can't dismiss that possibility, but re-read the OP story again. It almost seems like you are insulting the two observers intelligence in saying that they were that effected by two people in robes. I am sure in their lives they have seen a lot of people and weirdness and have been in all kinds of lighting conditions and this doesn't sound like they are describing anything even close to normal.

The OP person I assume is not around, so, there it will lie.

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George,

Try not to take things i say and remove the context i subscribe to them and then rework them into something else to suit your agenda.

I am not wanting or trying to insult anyone but if my questions and doubts about the validity of an anecdote does that so be it, if a person has such thin skin perhaps posting questionable stories to be gauged and critiqued by the public isnt for them.

the quote you made of me was in a context that all cemeteries or most are wretched hives of crime, while i do not belive that myself i would expect some places are better than others, so any suspicious activity should be reported at once.

 

Now on to your inquiry of what i think.

First i see the true believer in you coming out, allegedly seeing a couple figures in hoods ( this is what was reported ) is not as badly as you want it to be an automatic jump that it it some paranormal encounter but on the contrary if it even happened and wasnt made up it was just people out there, and yes the observers were so deeply effected by nothing more than at best a couple people in robes that they dont investagate themselves but rather tuck tale and run scared, and sure i find it derelict in the duties of any citizen not to report a possible crime to the proper authorities.

I do not claim to be a monument to bravery but i wouldnt tuck tail and run scared from hooded figures, would you?

Do i really believe a crime taking place is what happened in this case? No, i believe its a made up story.

 

 

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2 hours ago, the13bats said:

Pretty dismal but not the rule here the exception with the ones i have been to around here and yep to a small degree i have been involved with cemetery conservationist and histological work too, sure those things can and do happen but lets not get carried away, so perhaps your srea is that bad not mine, so my question,  just how much, was in context.

And if the cemetery i hung out at or better yet the OP one had a fraction of those issues then a young couple would have been asked their business and hooligans in hooded robes would be reported investagated, doing anything else might be possibly allowing a rape, murder, body dumping, vandalizing, etc to take place, which is inexcusable to turn a blind eye to,

Geez i wonder did the op witness a horrific crime in action and did nothing...for shame.

 

Glad you don’t get much bad human cemetery activity around you. A lot of cemeteries don’t, and that’s a good thing.

Unfortunately a lot of cemeteries all over the place do face such problems. It might not seem like a lot, but several to over a dozen cemeteries around the country see crime enough to make the bigger local media every week. More are on police blotters and local gov reports that don’t make it into the bigger local media. This can double or so in the weeks leading up to Halloween. Places that have haunted reputations tend to see more traffic all year. 

Back to Greenwood... its a cemetery reputed to be haunted. And has seen a lot of bad human activity for many years, particularly trespassing, ghost hunting, and vandalizing to the point they hired on a director to help reduce the problem a few years back. He helped a lot, but the Township cut the position durning budget cuts in 2017. In July 2017, a man was shot to death in the woods behind the cemetery. There’s more stuff like this, but I’m on a tablet right now and the dang thing will only paste general site links instead of specific citations. 

I really do so hope the OP didn’t witness a horrific crime, and by the description it might be scary, but not horrific. I don’t think it’s outside the realm of possibility they saw some human activity. Nefarious or not.

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I was in new orleans after the hurricanes and saw closed graveyards due to bio hazards and hoodlums I do not have and at the risk of sounding snark dont care to have the statistics listing crimes like murder, rape, body dumping etc at cemeteries across the USA, not my point here in this thread this is in my opinion a derail of the OPs story and my point.

Either the story is made up, fine done, over,

However, if it did happen if it was supernatural which i do not subscribe to then its also done, over.

However, since i believe it was either made up or real people if real people then even if the witnesses were weenees and ran away scared they should have reported it to authorities first not seeked online attention,

i know if i saw a possible crime of any kind and didnt report it only to learn later someone or something got harmed that would be hard for me or anyone with a conscience to live with,

Thats what is getting lost here.

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Not being there, I can't speak about what was seen, but I wouldn't worry much about it. It wasn't like the hooded figures were being threatening in any way. Whatever they were, they were just there. Unless you see them again or feel threatened, just chalk it up as unexplained & a cool story to tell.

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13 hours ago, the13bats said:

 

 

Now on to your inquiry of what i think.

First i see the true believer in you coming out, allegedly seeing a couple figures in hoods ( this is what was reported ) is not as badly as you want it to be an automatic jump that it it some paranormal encounter but on the contrary if it even happened and wasnt made up it was just people out there, and yes the observers were so deeply effected by nothing more than at best a couple people in robes that they dont investagate themselves but rather tuck tale and run scared, and sure i find it derelict in the duties of any citizen not to report a possible crime to the proper authorities.

I do not claim to be a monument to bravery but i wouldnt tuck tail and run scared from hooded figures, would you?

 

 

 

Well you want to claim I want to 'automatic jump'  to the paranormal. I fully consider the possibilities of lying and misinterpretation of regular people. 

And what should even make these observers suspect a crime was going on? 

13 hours ago, the13bats said:

 

Do i really believe a crime taking place is what happened in this case? No, i believe its a made up story.

 

 

Made-up story? For what? and for why?  Lying is always a possibility in stories from someone we don't know, but I am not seeing the likeliness of that explanation here. 

My most likely theory: These people encountered something they didn't recognize as normal. And giving credit to normal adults' ability to distinguish between two normal people in costume and something unknown in their experience, I have to rate the paranormal as more likely than not in this story.

WIth no OP person to discuss with, we can't go much further.

 

 

Edited by papageorge1
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I don't understand how a couple of emos in robes on a hill in a cemetery on Christmas eve is scary or odd. I guess it is odd, only in the fact that a couple people feel the need to do that on that day, but it's far from unheard of, probably some pagan BS. Full moon on Christmas near the solstice = extra special pagan stuff. Where else better to view it than on a hill overlooking a cemetery?

The whole story reads like fiction anyway, with dramatic flair added for no reason - "saw two people on a hill" isn't exciting enough I guess, gotta add screaming and squealing tires and "darker than the darkest dirt" nonsense.

Edited by moonman
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11 hours ago, papageorge1 said:

Well you want to claim I want to 'automatic jump'  to the paranormal. I fully consider the possibilities of lying and misinterpretation of regular people. 

And what should even make these observers suspect a crime was going on? 

Made-up story? For what? and for why?  Lying is always a possibility in stories from someone we don't know, but I am not seeing the likeliness of that explanation here. 

My most likely theory: These people encountered something they didn't recognize as normal. And giving credit to normal adults' ability to distinguish between two normal people in costume and something unknown in their experience, I have to rate the paranormal as more likely than not in this story.

WIth no OP person to discuss with, we can't go much further.

 

 

George,

They observed something as you put it,

Quote

they didn't recognize as normal. And giving credit to normal adults' ability to distinguish between two normal people in costume and something unknown in their experience,

So at the very least im safe to call what they allegedly observed "suspicious" and in my opinion its derelict as a citizen not to report suspicious activity immediately to proper authorities not because they suspect a crime is going on but because they dont know, and not reporting it could cost a life.

 

Then you say,

Quote

My most likely theory: These people encountered something they didn't recognize as normal. And giving credit to normal adults' ability to distinguish between two normal people in costume and something unknown in their experience, I have to rate the paranormal as more likely than not in this story.

 

Your "theory" this is a paranormal encounter even if in your mind is the most likely explanation in reality is the most unlikely possible explaination,

Even if i do as you did giving credit that normal adults would be able to distinguish between people in robes with hoods over something "unknown" doesnt make the instant jump from "unknown" to "paranormal" but simply fuels my opinion suspicious activity should be reported to authorities.

Why even ask why people make up tall tales or lie, look how many fall for hoaxes i have seen you fall for many on this forum,

Since i do not automatically jump to the paranormal answer as you do and i open mindedly unbisedly do consider all possibilities and evidence in this case i agree with moonman,

Quote

The whole story reads like fiction anyway, with dramatic flair added for no reason - "saw two people on a hill" isn't exciting enough I guess, gotta add screaming and squealing tires and "darker than the darkest dirt" nonsense

And add i dont even believe anything was seen i believe the story was made up fiction. Which is the most likely explanation, if it wasnt someone out geeking in a robe.

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