Sue Darroch and Matthew Didier's Paranormal Blog

Each Friday we will have a look at the stories and experiences that have been related to us over the years that are amongst our personal favourites. These will include Crypto, Ghosts, UFO's and other strange events that may be considered Fortean from in around the Toronto, Canada area .... and since they are from our own personal files will likely not be found elsewhere on the web .... enjoy!

We have often heard the statement that young children are far more "psychic" than adults. This being attributed to children being closer to the "veil" or "otherside."

We respectfully disagree with that statement. In our opinion, young kids are still learning about their environment what is and what should not be. This enables them to verbalise exactly what they are seeing out loud until such a time when they learn to fear ridicule and perhaps dismiss the odd as a trick of the light or an over active imagination.

The following experiences were sent to us by a reader who as an adult has taken a deeper look at two incidents from his own childhood.

Enjoy!

Childhood Memories...Out Of Place And Time......

"As a child, I traveled a lot. I didn't celebrate a birthday on Canadian soil until I was 8. I was born in the summer months and both my parents were teachers, so our summers were spent usually abroad.

The first experience to tell is one that I didn't remember until many years later, when my parents were recounting the story at a holiday dinner. My memory of the event was much different. It was then that I realized that the events I witnessed unfolding were not seen by anyone else.

I was 4 at the time, almost 5. We were in Germany. This was in 1983, and as we all know, the Berlin Wall was still up, and very strictly enforced.
As we crossed from one side of the wall to the other, armed guards entered
the bus, checking everyone's documentation. I remember my mother becoming very apprehensive (she is easily excited) and continually telling me to behave, and to pay attention. I was distracted by something I could see
going on outside the bus.

It was the middle of the afternoon, and not 20 yards from my window, I could see three soldiers, in very long grey coats and helmets talking to a
shabbily dressed older man. My mother stopped talking (in actuality she did not, I just no longer could hear anything, except for very muffled and
heated debate from the 4 men. I saw one of the soldiers take papers from the man's hand and throw them to the ground. He turned, facing me dead on and started walking towards the bus with his hands folded behind his back. I could make out the other three soldiers behind him dragging the man through the mud. I could hear him sobbing and crying, but still very muffled. Over top of it all, I heard a clear and loud shot ring out. It was very loud, like the gun went off inside my mind, or right next to my ear.

I screamed and started crying, shutting my eyes and throwing myself against my mother. I remember distinctly looking up and seeing another German soldier staring right at me, obviously very surprised by this hysterical Canadian child. My mother shushed me instantly, obviously put off by my reaction and not wanting to raise any suspicion. I turned to point out what had happened and there was nothing there. No soldiers, no man, and no mud.

Where I had been looking was in fact a wall, with pavement all around.
When I retold my version of the story some 15 years later, it still seemed
like a memory, a real memory. My mother remembered my hysterics, but again...Overactive imagination.

But now, I have a better idea of what I saw. The long grey coats are
definitely signature Nazi attire. The helmets, with odd shape (ear guard)
were also WWII period. Both things a 4-year-old Canadian boy should not have known about, nor been able to draw the connection.

The next experience was even stranger. I will need to reconfirm with my
parents for the exact location, but on a subsequent European vacation, we
visited a very old Christian monastery. My parents are both religious
people, and as such, I have a hard time trying to talk to them about my
"experiences". This church (I really need to get the name and proper
location) dated to the days before Christianity's acceptance. As such, it
was partially concealed in the side of a hill, without the grandeur we
associate with Cathedrals. I'm fairly confident it was in Germany, likely
near the Black Forest (we stayed there for most of the trip) be we did also travel by car through France, so it's entirely possible it was elsewhere on our vacation.

The monastery had a standard cross-shaped layout, with the entrance being
the foot of the cross, and the dais being at the head. Along both sides of
the cross were the monk's quarters, accessible by larger hallways from the
pews.

As our tour guide moved towards the dais, I fell back, as any 5 year old
would. As we crossed the center of the structure, I saw a monk, in heavy
garb, walking along the wall (we were in the center aisle between the pews, walking up en masse). I couldn't tell if he had his hood up, or just had his head low, because it was dark, but he was also partially obscured from the shoulders up in darkness.

I cut down through the pews and headed in his direction. I don't know why,
but I felt compelled to follow him. It was then that I noticed his feet
didn't seem to be moving normally. He was out of step with the speed he was moving and he didn't bob as a person should. He was taking normal steps, he just seemed to be moving faster than possible.

He made an abrupt turn down the darkened corridor, and it was then that my
mother's voice caught my attention. I tuned and saw her, red faced, with the tour guide and my father in tow.

She asked me what I was doing, and as I turned to point out the monk, I was staring straight at a heavy wooden door. Both hallways on either side were blocked off by massive doors. The tour guide explained that the doors are kept closed at all times, as the quarters have not been used in many years.

All the monks had moved to a different location on the property many years
prior, and only came to the cathedral for prayer.

Something in the way she looked at me suggested I was likely not the first
person to see such a thing.

Anyway, as I said earlier, over-active imagination, or something else, based on the fact that memories fog or sharpen over time, and that no one else can corroborate the stories, they remain curiosities for me..."

Our thanks to the witness for sharing these memories with us.

Do you have a real life ghost story, an encounter with a UFO, or other paranormal experience/s you'd like to share? If so, we'd love to hear from you! Post your own experiences in our comments section or send us an email. Please post only true life experiences ... we love good fiction, but there are other fantastic blogs out there to post fictional accounts to.