S1 Ep30: The Glowing Visitor

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Oh, and the thing where someone crinkles tissue and whispers at you. Hello. Look, I'm not here to judge what you listen to. I'm here to judge you for not eating Reese's while you listen to it. Reese's. Ashley, go back to the nature sounds. Nice. Yeah, it's really nice. Astonishing Legends Network. The views and opinions expressed by hosts and listeners on the Astonishing Dead Letter office are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Astonishing Legends Productions, the Astonishing Legends Network, or any affiliated entities or guests. When something unexplainable happens to you, it can make you feel isolated or alone. But trust us, you're not. For over a decade, you've been sending your strange stories to Astonishing Legends. And now it's time for our fellow legenders to hear them too. Join us weekly in Blanket Fortiana as we dig through your intriguing messages to the Astonishing Dead Letter office. Tonight's episode, The Glowing Visitor. Welcome back to Blanket Fortiana, where tonight we're reading a dead letter from listener Seth. Seth has been a scientist for 17 years as of tonight and has a PhD. And he's the kind of witness that expects things to have rational explanations, as you'll hear from his story. Yes, exactly. And we say as of tonight, because when he sent this email in two years ago, he had been a scientist 15 years, and we are safely assuming that he's still a scientist. Ah, very nice, yes. But even for the most measured people, though, like Seth, who states at the outset that he is generally skeptical, sometimes these folks encounter things they simply can't explain. Yes, I love it when that happens. And even though this story was from his childhood, he was old enough to understand whether he was dreaming or not. And on top of that, whatever this event was, it was strange enough that it stuck with him for the rest of his life. That it has, and that alone is one thing. But when you hear what the rest of his family has to say about the story, you might rethink the simpler explanations that are always thrown out in cases like these. Forrest, I believe you have the letter tonight. Indeed I do, sir. To begin, I have been a scientist for about 15 years, and I have a PhD. I am generally a skeptical person, but I have not been able to rule out the following experience as anything other than paranormal. It is the only paranormal experience I've had, and to the best of my reasoning, I believe it was an alien encounter. I grew up on the east end of Long Island, New York, and this event took place when I was a teenager, about 15 years old, in my parents' home. My bedroom was across the hall from my sister's room so that if both our bedroom doors were open, we could see into each other's rooms. At the time, my sister was in her late teens, and, like most teenage girls, never left her bedroom door open. One night, I woke up early, around 3 a.m., and happened to look into the hallway. I noticed that my sister's door was open, and inside, I saw what appeared to be a humanoid shape standing in her room. I say humanoid because it didn't register as human to me. There was something about it that was off. It was also slightly glowing, and reminded me of the neon green glow-in-the-dark stickers. Nowadays, I reasoned that it may have been bioluminescent. I put on my glasses and pinched myself, hoping I was dreaming. However, I am certain it was not a dream because I was incredibly frightened, completely alert, and there was nothing dreamlike about the experience. The entity continued to stand there. I then very bravely hid under my covers. Approximately 10 minutes later, I mustered the courage to check on my sister. Although I did not see the entity again, something strange happened when I turned on the hallway light. Instead of light flooding the hallway, it formed a series of halos. This was something I'd never seen before or since then. My sister was fine, and I spent the rest of the night trying to get some sleep. The next morning, I told my family about what I'd seen. It didn't seem to cause much of a reaction at the time. However, at a recent family get-together, I retold my experience of that night. My sister said she remembered me telling our family about it and said it terrified her. She said she had a sixth sense of knowing when her door was open, even while she was sleeping, and didn't understand how it went unnoticed for her that night. My dad then told us about a time when he was awakened by the sound of an engine in the middle of the night. Through the blinds, he saw a pulsing red light that was coming from above our two-story house. He wondered aloud if it was the same night I had the encounter. I also told one of my good friends this story, and he recalled a time when he was driving on the back roads not far from my home. He was with one of his friends, and they both saw a red light in the sky. At first, they figured it was a helicopter. Strangely, however, the red light began to oscillate back and forth before shooting off extremely quickly in a different direction. I recently watched a 60-minute segment where two Navy pilots described their experience with a UFO encounter. Incredibly, they also described the UFO as oscillating back and forth before traveling at a very high speed. Altogether, these are the stories I have about paranormal events occurring near my home. The reasonable explanation of me was that maybe my sister had a guy over that night, although inviting random guys to her home without letting anyone know would be uncharacteristic for her. However, her sincere acknowledgement of her fear of hearing about the entity in her room confirmed that it was not someone she knew. Further, I never heard any footsteps, and the halo light in the hallway was so abnormal, to say the least. My dad and my friend's story about possible UFO sightings also lend credence to an alien encounter. Finally, I was an incredibly straight-edged teenager who would never have taken any hallucinogens. I am 100% certain I was not dreaming because nothing I experienced resembled the irrationality of a dream. Thus, I leave this story for you to share with your listeners, if you wish, for them to evaluate and draw their own conclusions. Well, I really like the story. I like the way it's written. This is clearly a very rational person. You know, towards the end there when he says, I know it wasn't a dream because it didn't have the irrationality of a dream. I love that because, yeah, you know when you remember a dream, you're like, well, that's nuts. Why do I look like a gorilla when I look in the mirror? You know, like things don't make sense. But to him, he was like, this flowed in a linear way even though what he was seeing was weird. It was a linear, it didn't seem like how dreams, you know, they just branch out in all these different directions for you. Well, like I say about myself all the time, it's like, you don't really know, unless you're lucid dreaming and that's fairly rare. Some people can do it. Some people it has happened to accidentally, but you know what reality is when you wake up. You know what I'm saying? Right. Even if it was a very lucid dream or it seemed very real, once you wake up, you generally know you were dreaming unless a lot of times people who have this experience will say like, yeah, I woke up and either I still saw this thing or I woke up and realized, you know, that's something else. It was not a dream or you don't really wake up. You were awake. Right. Something happens, they think it awakens them or it does and then it's not like they wake up a second time. That's kind of my point is that they were awake because you don't go back to sleep and you don't wake up again. So I'm convinced that this person saw what he saw and the fact that it was so vivid, like I said, well, I mean, what's funny that I guess maybe ironic is that some would say the whole experience is irrational or is the irrationality of a dream. You know what I'm saying? But I know what he's talking about. Like the glowing thing didn't turn into your high school gym teacher. You know, like the whole thing is strange. Yes, that experience is strange, especially the halos, but you're awake at that point. And so there wasn't any kind of blending or melding or the other experiences that you're dreaming. So, and yeah, I did like the fact that now this happens to somebody who has a scientific mind and is trying to rationalize this and can't because that's where we're all scientists or regular citizen like ourselves with no training at all at anything, but just it all happens at the same level. You know what I'm saying? It's a very human experience that you're having and it doesn't matter what kind of education you have because one, all levels of people, like I said, you could be the most ignorant person and you can either say like, well, that didn't happen, that's not real or it doesn't make you any more ignorant if you accept it. And then we have very educated people and scientists level who said like, yeah, I can't deny that this happened. The thing about the scientific method is, you know, well, can we repeat this and get the same results? Where's the repeatability? But he's not in control of this experiment. Now, granted, he was 15 and he wasn't a scientist yet, but I'm sure when he's looking back on it, he's thinking, well, I can't repeat this experiment, but what I can do is look for corroboration. Right. It's what you get here. Like I said, I think the gestalt of the whole thing where you, it wasn't just him looking at and seeing this glowing figure, which is also, yeah, I know exactly what that color looks like. If you grew up during a certain era, we've often talked about this on the show, so many toys had that glow in the dark. It was a new, it seemed like a new technology that wasn't irradiating people like it was at the turn of the century with your tritium glass and such. You know, it was a safe kind of thing, but so many things were made out of that glow in the dark. That color is very specific and it was so cool when you're a kid, you know, turn out your lights and you had the glow ball or the Frankenstein or the mask or some Halloween apparatus that had it. I know what that feels like or I can see it right now in my mind and to see if a humanoid shape, again, also not getting in the sense that was somebody had invaded their house. You know what I'm saying? It wasn't a stranger that this was extraordinary and humanoid. Whereas like, if you saw somebody in there, well, of course, I think that they hid under the covers. That's also, it's such a very human experience, but from somebody who later on with a mind to track down the elements of the story, you know, ask witnesses, ask about what happened and to piece together and also to have the open-mindedness that something extraordinary could have happened outside of normal human experience. Yeah, and also hiding under the covers. I mean, I don't want to get Freudian here and, you know, of course, Freudian is widely disregarded these days, I think, but like, I know he still has his followers, but it's like, I'm retreating to the womb. I'm scared. I'm going back to the womb where I'll be safe, you know. I've never really thought about it that way, but I guess you're right. I mean, what are you like tucking down under the covers? There's no protection, really, but unless you're, you know. Wow, okay, well, you went there. I think, no, my idea was about it was, well, the thing is, it's a barrier and I think in this case, it's like, the normal human reaction is if I don't see it, it doesn't exist and maybe it will go away and I got to say, it's not a bad defense most of the time because most of the letters and stories we've heard, does go away. You put your head under the covers, you peek out after a certain time and it's gone because these things are so ephemeral and then a few scary times, anecdotes we've read, the person puts their head under the covers, waits a bit, comes out from the covers and they're still there. That's even more scary because it's like, no, it's real. Yeah, that's true. I'm still here. That's true. You know, I was wondering how the glow in the dark stuff worked because you know, I have some old watches that have been passed out to me by my family and I know that some of those, I think, like you said, had. Tritium, Tritium is, well, that's. It's radioactive. Yeah. That's the thing I remember about that. Well, they were making a lot of glassware with it. Yes, yes. They had wallpaper and paint. Jeez, I can't remember the era but a lot of podcasts have covered it and just like how it was so freely used and a lot of science history shows will talk about it. There were a lot of toxic things. Kelly Green, I think, as a dress dye and wallpaper and this and that was poisoning people but the glow in the dark stuff, you can still get that glass. And it's collectible. I've seen it. Yeah, I've seen it on the internet. Yeah. And so, yeah, the watch is used, I had to look it up here, radium-based lume, L-U-M-E, which was radium mixed with phosphorescent substance like zinc sulfide but that's a little bit different from the stickers. They contain phosphorescent materials that absorb light and then slowly release it as visible light. And again, that can be zinc sulfide or strontium aluminate. But this is interesting to me when you think about whatever this thing was that was in the room with his sister, they are energized by absorbing light and then they gradually release that energy as light. And of course, you know, if you've been to our store, please touch the store. We got all kinds of glow-in-the-dark stuff. I love that stuff and our hoodies have scared many people on road trips and camping trips and stuff. But I guess I'm wondering, you know, when he was saying, well, maybe it's bioluminescent, maybe it's, you know, there are animals that give off a glow, but... Not humanoid types. Not humanoid types. I think that's more likely in the ocean than it is on land with typical terrestrial mammals and animals. Right. I mean, there's fireflies. Things do emit light. But again, this is not a form of glowing plankton did not appear in his sister's room. This is something that was off the way he describes it. Like, it was humanoid, but not, no, it wasn't human. It was off. Right. So what do you think about his dad? His dad being like, because you think, because that's the other thing when we were talking about the corroboration, he's like, well, you know, I want to talk to my family about this. And a lot of times when people tell stories, I saw this and the sister would be like, no, I don't know what you're talking about. You must have been having a dream. And the dad's just like, whatever. But in this case, it seemed like everybody had something to say about it, which is, I thought was a little bit chilling, actually. Because, you know, dad was like, well, you know, I did wake up one night and I heard a machine-like noise and I looked out the window and there was a red, glowing, pulsating light somewhere above our two-story house. And then I was like, oh, and what happened? Did he just go back to bed after that? And, you know, because maybe that's when this was all going down. But yeah, no, that's a common thing. It even happened to our good friend Rob Christofferson when he was a kid. Yeah. Remember that? That's one of my favorite stories from him when he was 11 or 12 and seeing a glowing light outside of his window and getting up and having, I think, a fascination with space and UFOs and such. And that's a real case of paranormal empathy. He said, well, what'd you do? He said, well, I peeked through the blinds and it's like, yeah, there it is. There's something kind of hovering outside the window. Yeah. And then his other thought was, well, it's a school night. I should get back to sleep. And he just went back to bed. So that is a case probably is like, Because that's what they want you to think. Yeah, don't look this, you've seen enough, just go back to sleep. You have a test tomorrow. Well, that was, yeah, that's very responsible of the, whatever the phenomenon is. But in this case, what I loved is the attitude of the family. I loved that aspect of it where the next morning he tells the family about the experience and it was like, huh, well, I don't know about that. You know, like it wasn't much of a reaction. But then more recently at a family get together, as he says, people did recall something and over time they're much more open about it. So I love that it wasn't a reaction of like, nah, you were sleeping kid or of the time we heard a lot about this. It's like, I don't want to hear any more stories out of you, buster. That's the end of it. And they kind of shut it down, I think because, well, the parents don't believe in it or, you know, for the kid's sake, they don't want them dwelling on it, and not to let their imaginations run away from them or just like, they don't know what it is and they're frightened because they cannot stop it and cannot protect their child from it. Yeah. So it's just like, that's enough of that talk. And if you keep lying, you're going to get in a real trouble, buster. So here though, they're much more open about it. It's like, yeah, you know what? Something else happened. The other thing is the sister saying she had a sixth sense about knowing when the door was open or sensing that if somebody came in and that somehow she didn't notice it that night, it was, that sense was turned off. And then, yes, the dad seeing the light. So you get a lot of people chiming in here with like, slightly different. Yeah. But our authors account here with the, that must've been weird. The hall lights being halos. Like somehow it was affecting the light. Oh, that was one of my favorite. Yeah. I've never heard of anything like that. And I would love to, I often wish we had a theoretical physicist in our Rolodex because those, these are the kind of questions that I always want to ask us. Like what would produce that effect in physics? Like what kind of, I don't know. What kind of thing might make you perceive light as a series of halos? Because that is really fascinating to me, that description. Yeah. It may not be physics we yet understand or able to, but it's a, it's an effect that was observable. And yeah, I'm sure Seth here would love to know as well in the physics of optics. And again, I, I just love how the experience was accepted and embraced in a way, but then you wonder like, well, what do those aliens want with this family? Like what was, because we know often it's a generational thing or happens to various family members, not all, just some. And, uh, that's my next question. What do they want? Why were we singled out? Was it for some reason? But also, do you remember Scott, it made, uh, it was not much of a splash, but I shared it with, uh, us in our little UFO talk group here on, uh, on the iMessage. The account from a younger guy who is a Silicon Valley whiz, like a computer genius type, who talked about, very openly, his own experience with aliens and how they were transmitting, just the way he described it, that, uh, he had a bunch of images of information flash before him that they were wanting him to see. Do you remember that? No, I don't remember that. Wait, where did this happen? Well, it was an interview with a young Silicon Valley tycoon type. And, uh, I think he was, uh, of Indian origin. Oh, yes, yes. He openly talked about it. I do remember that now. Yes. Yeah. Because it's very detailed. He was very matter of fact and frank about it. And I, I love the fact that he was not apologetic or shy or embarrassed to talk about it. He's like, nope, this happened. And this is somebody who, yeah, yes, very, uh, of a very scientific engineering type mind and computer engineering and, uh, and software engineering and just, uh, somebody who'd built a, a large business. So, you know, not what you would call a screwball. Right. Uh, but was very open and accepting of this. Like, yep, it happened. Uh, they showed me a bunch of information I was supposed to know. And I, I can't remember cause it was, it was so detailed. It was like, you know, and it's an Instagram clip. So you kind of pass over that, but it was remarkable for whom it came from. The other thing I feel like we would be remiss if we didn't point out too is that Long Island is a notorious, uh, UFO sighting hotspot. It's one of the more popular areas in the United States for repeated, uh, recurring sightings. Well, and wrapping up here, I love all the elements of the story, not only from the background. Of course, we always give more, uh, credence to those in the scientific or, uh, military or law enforcement arenas, I suppose, where, well, maybe if you were in military or law enforcement, you're a trained observer, as they say, as opposed to the old front and, and insult of like, ah, why is it always some hick farmer that's seeing this stuff? Well, I hope we're all over that by now. It's not. And so we're having people from every aspect of society that come forth and, and in the stigma of, of past eras, yeah, if you were of a higher position like this, you were afraid of, for your career. But now I think that's loosening up and I'm glad to see it. Yeah. I hope that occurs more, but it's still happening. Like I said, I think there's still a stigma with the commercial pilots because, uh, you know, that's your job. And the Pentagon, at least the Navy, I think has opened up a channel for those reports to be accepted and come through depending on what they are. But there's still a lot of sequestering of the information. If you remember on the Nimitz, the hard drives that the, uh, radar technicians who had the recording. I love that fact from the, uh, interviews with the guy who was monitoring the radar and, uh, electronic warfare systems that were monitoring on the Princeton that, uh, I think the next day, uh, some uninsigniated uniformed officers had shown up, not Navy, I don't think, but they showed up and they just walked off with the hard drives. Right. So there's still, like I said, it's a little more open. I'm glad that, that the general public is, is more accepting of this and just questioning what this is. Not to say that, uh, how do we know it's aliens or it's just some kind of phenomenon in general, but I loved all the details of the story, the glowing. Maybe Seth just had a weird dream. We, I mean, we, we don't know. Well, he says no. And so, uh, I think I believe him. Yeah. But I had to, we had to put that forward. Well, I mean, here's the thing is that this is all very personal. So I don't like it when I hear this and I would never do this. And that is to tell people what they saw. That's right. I would just never like the, I have the temerity to say like, uh, no, no, no, no. You didn't see that. You saw this. And it was Venus. It's like, okay, you know what? Just, yeah. Don't tell me anything. I don't need, first of all, your opinion doesn't matter what you think it was. And if you need any kind of a rationalization, that's for your own sense of a peace and quiet. But I also like the way that Seth has dealt with this. You know what I'm saying? Of like, well, this happened and I'm going to share this story and, uh, you know, without giving too many details on who they are, but this is an account that I think is worth sharing and I think it may be alien. So there you go. Well, Seth, this is an amazing story and we have to wonder what would happen if you or any other member of your family actually tried hypnosis. See if you can recall any additional details of anything strange. That can be a minefield in terms of finding the right people to work with, but there are objective and impartial experts out there who won't lead or direct your memories if you wish to dig deeper into what may have happened. Either way, your rational and skeptical approach to this entire event, even as an experiencer, is admirable and it helps to eliminate confirmation bias in your own journey to figure out what happened. Please keep us posted if you have any updates and thank you for sending your story into the Astonishing Dead Letter Office. The Astonishing Dead Letter Office is hosted by Scott Philbrook and Forrest Burgess and is executive produced by Tess Feifel. The show is edited and mixed by Sarah Voorhees-Wendell at VW Sound. The theme is based on the Astonishing Legends theme by Judson Crane at Founder Music, arranged by Alan Carissia, who composes all the other music in the show. Tommy Beaver Design created the logo. The announcer is John Bolton. That's me. Stories are lightly edited for length, content, and readability, but otherwise presented as they're sent to us. We're always looking for more Dead Letters, so if you have a story of your own you'd like to share, email it to deadletteroffice at astonishinglegends.com. Please include how you would like to be credited. First name only? First name last initial? Anonymous? A pseudonym? Let us know. Due to the number of emails coming in, we often cannot respond, but we do read them all. No part of this show may be reproduced anywhere without permission. Copyright, Astonishing Legends Productions. All right, quick quiz for the hiring managers out there. What's worse, being understaffed, or being poorly staffed? 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