Drums and shadows

[rashore]

Do you have sound corridors? As in creek beds or farming ditch channels, wind breaks that channel air direction, old paths/roads through trees sorts of things. Sometimes something much further off can carry down these and sound much closer than they are. A great example of this is some of the "ghosts calls" in a haunted cemetery in Chicagoland- it's really a couple of sound corridors of an active creek bed and a defunct road carrying sound into the area. It's just grown over enough that people don't think about how effective a sound corridor can be. Where I live I have a fun double corridor that brings in a highway noise that at times sounds like large loud trumpets in my yard, and sometimes it has it's own echo! But it's really a truck hitting rumble strip- far enough away that I can't hear it unless it happens in those sound corridor spots. Took me a while to figure out the layout of those. I have more out back, an open strip between trees, a farmers drainage that turns creek, and an old farmers path. All of them can carry sound well into particular areas of the back, yet be almost completely muffled if it and I aren't in the right spots. I've chased down kids, dogs, and chainsaws that weren't really on my property- just sounded clear enough that I thought they were there. I know who is taking target practice vs hunting by the way the sounds travel around here too- that also took a while to figure out. Some nights the train a mile or two from here will sound like a base drum softly thrumming just down the road. A couple summers of regular thumping of road crews reworking back roads I have no idea where, but I was able to pick it up way out back where I know there wouldn't be crews doing stuff. 

So you might be catching the sound of farm machinery, trains, or other rhythmic from farther away that's getting carried in to where you are hearing it more clearly. And you might be able to hear it more clearly, yet it still just sounds like drumming instead of a more distinguishable noise. 

[+Desertrat56]

1 hour ago, papageorge1 said:

I'm saying we need to consider both normal and paranormal as I feel both are in play at this time. Usually. we can never rule out all normal possibilities. How could we ever prove there were absolutely no people playing drums in the wilderness??? We're always judging likeliness in this game of conjecture. And opinions can differ on likeliness.

Some people think I give the paranormal too much possibility and I think some are too resistant to the paranormal. And on we go.....

People leave evidence of their being in a place.  There will be a fire pit or a trampled area, maybe some trash.    It would be obvious that a group of people were out there drumming.   What is so hard about the thought of eliminating that?   You are clinging too tightly to your paranormal armchair.   Since we are all essentially strangers on this forum how can you make any assumption about any one's post.  You make your assumptions based on what you want, wish and believe.   I do my best not to make assumptions, and this OP seems more reasonable than the ones who insist what ever they imagined is parnormal.  He truly seems to want to explore the possibilities.   So, you list all of the possibilites with paranormal coming only after eliminating the mundane.  That is the rational way to approach this.   As for being "too resistant to the paranormal", that is not me, what I am resistant to is assumtions based on no facts or rational thought.

Edited March 10, 2022 by Desertrat56

[papageorge1]

9 minutes ago, Desertrat56 said:

People leave evidence of their being in a place.  There will be a fire pit or a trampled area, maybe some trash.    It would be obvious that a group of people were out there drumming.   What is so hard about the thought of eliminating that?  

Where for one second would I not encourage doing that????   I do encourage doing that. My point also was if they find no clues they still have not ruled out the possibility of people just sitting on the ground or whatever. So the conjecturing goes on.

There's no harm in conjecturing the paranormal at any point. There would only be a problem if I took the opinion quickly that it WAS paranormal. It's just one possibility out there at this point and no harm in talking about it.

[FrecksSpecks]

9 hours ago, papageorge1 said:

Does the drumming sound like consciously organized patterns as in a musical drumming setting?

The pattern doesn't just, just the speed. The faster the beat, the louder the sound. As far as pattern, it's steady like a heart beat is if that makes sense?

[FrecksSpecks]

9 hours ago, Desertrat56 said:

I think that is a good question, goes back to something I mentioned earlier, it could be a group of people out in the woods doing a drum ceremony.

I can say with probably a 99% certainty there's nobody doing a circle. From the edge of the woods is fields/pastures and clearly visible. You would see the lights and cars if nothing else. I know all the neighbors for miles. All are 45yrs+ with the majority over 60. I've asked around and none of them hear or have any drum circles.

This is an agricultural area so lots of open land but still a very small community.

[Timothy]

Hi @FrecksSpecks have you recorded it?

Can you record it and post it somewhere for us to listen to?

[FrecksSpecks]

9 hours ago, Desertrat56 said:

Well, if someone had a fire and people were moving between the fire and where his house is he would see shadows.   I still think we have to eliminate Every mundane possibility before going to paranormal possibilities.  I am not saying there is no such thing as paranormal, I am saying we can't go there if we haven't ruled out everything else.

The shadows at dusk/night I just chalk up to the lack of light. The ones in high grass or woods I write off along the same line. I don't know if that's correct but seems logical.

The shadows I mentioned I haven't found an explanation. Varied shapes, sizes, different places in the maintained lawn but they always go into the overgrown areas. I teased with the idea of birds flying over, but that doesn't fit.

[FrecksSpecks]

9 hours ago, rashore said:

Do you have sound corridors? As in creek beds or farming ditch channels, wind breaks that channel air direction, old paths/roads through trees sorts of things. Sometimes something much further off can carry down these and sound much closer than they are. A great example of this is some of the "ghosts calls" in a haunted cemetery in Chicagoland- it's really a couple of sound corridors of an active creek bed and a defunct road carrying sound into the area. It's just grown over enough that people don't think about how effective a sound corridor can be. Where I live I have a fun double corridor that brings in a highway noise that at times sounds like large loud trumpets in my yard, and sometimes it has it's own echo! But it's really a truck hitting rumble strip- far enough away that I can't hear it unless it happens in those sound corridor spots. Took me a while to figure out the layout of those. I have more out back, an open strip between trees, a farmers drainage that turns creek, and an old farmers path. All of them can carry sound well into particular areas of the back, yet be almost completely muffled if it and I aren't in the right spots. I've chased down kids, dogs, and chainsaws that weren't really on my property- just sounded clear enough that I thought they were there. I know who is taking target practice vs hunting by the way the sounds travel around here too- that also took a while to figure out. Some nights the train a mile or two from here will sound like a base drum softly thrumming just down the road. A couple summers of regular thumping of road crews reworking back roads I have no idea where, but I was able to pick it up way out back where I know there wouldn't be crews doing stuff. 

So you might be catching the sound of farm machinery, trains, or other rhythmic from farther away that's getting carried in to where you are hearing it more clearly. And you might be able to hear it more clearly, yet it still just sounds like drumming instead of a more distinguishable noise. 

It's really overgrown and only a deer trail to where it's loudest. Once this storm melts I can look again but nothing is jumping to mind right now close to the area. There's a run off creek where the woods end turning to field but it's less than a foot deep and aways from the area.

[FrecksSpecks]

25 minutes ago, Timothy said:

Hi @FrecksSpecks have you recorded it?

Can you record it and post it somewhere for us to listen to?

I've tried recording it on my phone and just having someone listen during a call. The recording just had that dead air hiss. The caller didn't hear anything. They aren't loud even when they're at their loudest. 

[Alchopwn]

The Drumming sounds are the easy target here.  There are loads of potential mundane answers.  Tell us more about these animal shadows...

Edited March 11, 2022 by Alchopwn

[the13bats]

5 hours ago, FrecksSpecks said:

The shadows at dusk/night I just chalk up to the lack of light. The ones in high grass or woods I write off along the same line. I don't know if that's correct but seems logical.

The shadows I mentioned I haven't found an explanation. Varied shapes, sizes, different places in the maintained lawn but they always go into the overgrown areas. I teased with the idea of birds flying over, but that doesn't fit.

Seeing dark or black shapes imagines etc can be a symptom of an eye or health issue that is the first thing to have checked by a professional medical person..

I live on a cornor lot, the rest of the block main street side is a huge church, in front of the church is a street lamp and the tree branches and moss cast some pretty cool stuff on the street under it and all the way on the side of my house.

Likely not what you are seeing but i also believe you can discover an explanation for example is it fleeting or will it happen every time you go out there at night?

 

Edited March 11, 2022 by the13bats

[rashore]

8 hours ago, FrecksSpecks said:

It's really overgrown and only a deer trail to where it's loudest. Once this storm melts I can look again but nothing is jumping to mind right now close to the area. There's a run off creek where the woods end turning to field but it's less than a foot deep and aways from the area.

OK, so you have at least two sound corridors in the area, one going right into the area. Depending on what their orientations are to each other, two sources for sound or a double source for sound. 

Any patterns to the sound? As in do you hear it more at certain times of the day, the week vs weekend, is it year round or comes and goes during seasons? That sort of thing. If you haven't been keeping a journal to track the timing of the sounds and shadows for the last few years, you should do so. 

[quiXilver]

On 3/10/2022 at 8:03 PM, FrecksSpecks said:

I've tried recording it on my phone and just having someone listen during a call. The recording just had that dead air hiss. The caller didn't hear anything. They aren't loud even when they're at their loudest. 

You would likely need a quality Boom mic, and even then, depending how far from source there could be much interference and fall off.

Any mic sensitive enough would be picking up your breathing, clothes rustling, etc.  Tough one to capture, but with the right set up, doable.

[FrecksSpecks]

On 3/11/2022 at 12:43 AM, Alchopwn said:

The Drumming sounds are the easy target here.  There are loads of potential mundane answers.  Tell us more about these animal shadows...

I'm just focusing on the ones that happen during the day in the maintained lawn. Any at night or in the overgrown areas I figure can have a ton of explanations.

The day ones range in size from rabbit to large dog approximately. There's no noticeable details, just mostly blob like. Instead of being flat like a shadow cast on the ground, they have height. Edges are crisp and not fuzzy. Color is gray.

I've seen anywhere from 1-7 at once. The closest I've been to one was approximately 15ft. I came out of a building, saw it, and it just kept it's course.

They always go into an overgrown area. I have tried following a few times but I can't move as fast in the overgrowth.

[FrecksSpecks]

On 3/11/2022 at 2:37 AM, the13bats said:

Seeing dark or black shapes imagines etc can be a symptom of an eye or health issue that is the first thing to have checked by a professional medical person..

I live on a cornor lot, the rest of the block main street side is a huge church, in front of the church is a street lamp and the tree branches and moss cast some pretty cool stuff on the street under it and all the way on the side of my house.

Likely not what you are seeing but i also believe you can discover an explanation for example is it fleeting or will it happen every time you go out there at night?

 

I've been checked out by doctors and didn't find anything to cause this. The night shadows I disregard because there's so many possibilities. 

I don't see the shadows every time I go out. I've only seen them when there's drumming. I've watched them go over 100ft on open maintained lawn and I've seen them just a couple feet from the overgrowth.

[FrecksSpecks]

On 3/11/2022 at 6:47 AM, rashore said:

OK, so you have at least two sound corridors in the area, one going right into the area. Depending on what their orientations are to each other, two sources for sound or a double source for sound. 

Any patterns to the sound? As in do you hear it more at certain times of the day, the week vs weekend, is it year round or comes and goes during seasons? That sort of thing. If you haven't been keeping a journal to track the timing of the sounds and shadows for the last few years, you should do so. 

The trail and run off are both oriented north/south basically. The run off is probably a 15 minute walk to the sound area.

I've been keeping a loose record since 2018 summer. During the 2020 mess I saw and heard stuff more often but I figure that's from being here so much more.

I haven't seen a pattern when it's more common though. Drums I've heard throughout the year, day and night. Weather doesn't seem to be a factor. This thread did make me realize I only see shadows when there's drumming though.

[papageorge1]

1 hour ago, FrecksSpecks said:

This thread did make me realize I only see shadows when there's drumming though.

That does add weight to my idea that the paranormal is involved. I'd keep residual energy from Native American drumming/dancing rituals out there as a possibility. I wonder if a really talented psychic could sense something?

 

[Alchopwn]

17 hours ago, FrecksSpecks said:

The trail and run off are both oriented north/south basically. The run off is probably a 15 minute walk to the sound area.

I've been keeping a loose record since 2018 summer. During the 2020 mess I saw and heard stuff more often but I figure that's from being here so much more.

I haven't seen a pattern when it's more common though. Drums I've heard throughout the year, day and night. Weather doesn't seem to be a factor. This thread did make me realize I only see shadows when there's drumming though.

Honestly idk that I am getting the correct mental picture of what is going on from your description of these grey shapes, but they seem a lot more interesting than the drumming to me.

Is there anyone with a vested interest in spooking you off your land that you know of?  There is a remote possibility that you are being gaslighted with a sound and light show, in which case you would do well to get evidence and sue the perpetrator.  

It is worth pointing out that you probably aren't having schizophrenic episodes, as visual and audio hallucinations don't happen at the same time due to the way the brain functions as far as I am aware.  It's something of a "reality check".  All the same, don't get too emotionally worked up about the phenomenon.  The more you fear, the less clearly you will think and observe, and the correct mindset is to become a hunter I have found, and look for clues, tracks, evidence of any kind etc.

My advice is to look hard and think laterally regarding mundane causes.  I think you have a long way to go before you exhaust those mundane possibilities.

[FrecksSpecks]

19 hours ago, papageorge1 said:

That does add weight to my idea that the paranormal is involved. I'd keep residual energy from Native American drumming/dancing rituals out there as a possibility. I wonder if a really talented psychic could sense something?

 

I have no idea. I'm not discounting paranormal but I still have possible mundane explanations that could be causing some/all of it 

[FrecksSpecks]

2 hours ago, Alchopwn said:

Is there anyone with a vested interest in spooking you off your land that you know of?   

My advice is to look hard and think laterally regarding mundane causes.  I think you have a long way to go before you exhaust those mundane possibilities.

I can't think of anyone that would want the property. Nobody's approached me and it had been up for sale awhile before we bought it. 

I've been slowly whittling away at possible answers over the years. At first it was annoying, frustrating, and a bit scary. Getting a clean bill of health and someone else hearing it soothed the fear. Now I see it as an intriguing mystery to figure out.

[Alchopwn]

17 hours ago, FrecksSpecks said:

Now I see it as an intriguing mystery to figure out.

Well in fact I am a bit envious.  I love me some Scooby-do.  I think it is great that you have a really positive attitude about this rather than being scared.  As an atheist I can't meaningfully say "God bless", but I hope the chaos of an indifferent and implacable universe swings your way. 

[papageorge1]

On 3/13/2022 at 11:41 AM, FrecksSpecks said:

I have no idea. I'm not discounting paranormal but I still have possible mundane explanations that could be causing some/all of it 

I am only saying you can consider both normal and paranormal possibilities simultaneously. Human reasoning allows us to consider multiple varying theories at the same time.

[the13bats]

On 3/13/2022 at 8:53 AM, Alchopwn said:

It is worth pointing out that you probably aren't having schizophrenic episodes, as visual and audio hallucinations don't happen at the same time due to the way the brain functions as far as I am aware. 

Wrong!

A person with schizophrenia sure can have audio and or visual hallucinations at any time.

 

[the13bats]

I am not credulous enough to think unknown sounds or shadows are an acceptable jump to paranormal a good reason why is throughout time people have made claims to hearing or seeing things and much or it has been well explained and proven beyond question or doubt it was mudane, prosaic, of this world.

Mental illness certainly is one cause but not my go to, there are folks who think something is something thst its not just not of their understanding, how many people until this thread ever heard of a sound corridor?

We have all kinds of other proven non paranormal explanations but as far as paranormal goes the evidence is never there. Stories are only evidence to true believers, not once has any case been proven paranormal so i will not be making blind jumps.

If the shadows are something you want to solve sit in a lawn chair get a friend with you and when it hapoens again in a safe way investagate it, solve it. Or just call it a fun story.

 

[FrecksSpecks]

Right now there's only a very few people who know because I don't want to be seen as crazy or have kids hurt trespassing. Posting is a way to get new theories to test without locals getting involved and muddying the water.

I have followed the shadows but I can't keep up with them in the brush. Aside from clearing the overgrown areas, which I absolutely won't do, I don't think I'll ever manage to keep up. I have several game cams up but they don't catch the shadows. Just normal critter activity.