When I was younger and living in Northern California, my friends and I used to do some late-night cat fishing at Camp Far West Lake.  We’d lay on our backs and watch for satellites passing by in orbit. We saw many of them as the lake is a good distance from the nearest metropolitan area and didn’t have much light pollution.  We spent many nights Catfishing all over the Sacramento Valley. In all that time watching the skies, we never saw anything, “Unexplainable” or otherwise. But that would all change later.

I often think back to my childhood, in particular my teenage years living in and near Sacramento. Man, I had some good times and fond memories growing up there. Sacramento is a city that no matter what time of the day or night you look into the sky, there is always some sort of aircraft visible. The nighttime sky accentuates aircraft nicely. But it wasn’t always man-made aircraft we saw. A handful of times, we’ve seen what can easily be considered UFO’s.

One particular time, while working at a window factory in Rancho Cordova, CA, a co-worker and I saw a literal UFO. As with many of the jobs I’ve had I worked a swing shift, and this incident happened around midnight.  I’ve always been a night owl. So, it was break time and he and I walked outside the building to the soda machines to get a soda and smoke a cig. I don’t remember who saw it first, but we both simultaneously saw the brightest light, low on the horizon and moving at a slow speed. It then stopped and hovered before slowly starting a decent again. He and I looked at each other and said “woah, what the hell is that?”  It was much too bright to be an airplane with landing lights on and was also silent. The nearest airfield is the old Mather Air Force Base, but it had been decommissioned many years earlier. Mather was a good 5 miles as the crow flies and this was the estimated distance the light, we saw was away from us.

The light then stopped and began changing brightness and color. It cycled through about 4 or 5 different colors and then suddenly……POOF!!  It sounded light someone struck a match, and the light sped off away from us and up, leaving a trail of light behind it. A tracer if you will. It was gone from sight in less than a second traveling at an incredible speed and distance in such a short time. We ran inside to tell our other co-workers and were scoffed at. It seems most people scoff at UFO stories, but I know I’ve seen some and I know many other people that have as well.

Have you seen what can be only defined as an Unidentified Flying Object? How about paranormal or ghost activity?  I’ve seen some of that in my life as well but mostly in my childhood.

Some cousins of mine lived in a haunted house in Newcastle, CA.  There was no mistaking that some freaky shit happened in the place. I was about 10 years old or so this one time I was at their house spending the night. I was in the bathtub with the curtains closed and heard footsteps coming in the bathroom. I opened the curtain thinking I was going to see one of my cousins but there was nothing. And the footsteps continued through the bathroom and into the master bedroom. I closed the curtain and sat there motionless for quite some time before I got the nerve to call out to my cousin Karen. I may or may not have peed myself right there in the tub!

There is some back history of the house that fed into the reputation it had for being freaky. A family member of my cousin’s husband evidently committed suicide in the back room of the place. I refused to sleep in that room and would only go in there in the daytime. Never at night. I only needed one time in that room at night to never step foot in it again in the dark. I was sound asleep in the bed and in the middle of the night was awoke by a guttural scream that pierced the quiet night. That time I didn’t need to wait for my nerves, I got up and bolted out of that room. My feet may have well not have been touching the floor I was gone so fast.

As a child I used to hear very low voices, almost in a whisper all the time. I would put my ears to the wall and try to hear words but couldn’t really make any out, like they were in another language.

Going back to my cousin’s house, it was that house that kind of made me “turn off” my intuition or close up to what I now can imagine were spirit guide speak or something of that nature. I’ve seen quite a few other things in my life after my childhood well into my 20’s.  A story for another time is a time I visited another co-worker’s house and had a ghost walk through me. Yeah, it happened. And no, I’m not crazy nor was I under the influence of anything.

I tell these stories of my childhood because to this day, I know a few people who have either seen UFO’s or ghosts or both. I think most people have had an encounter with something “unexplainable” by logical means. Think about it, have you ever been to a genuine haunted place? You can literally and I do mean literally just “feel” the energy that many just shrug off and close down to. I’m reasonably sure what psychic mediums feel when communicating with, whatever it is they’re communicating with.

The movie the Exorcist pretty much did me in for any real time, playing around with a Ouija board. If you’ve never read or seen the Exorcist than you know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t then I’ll give you the quick synopsis of the movie. A young child plays with a Ouija board and talks to something or someone she calls “Captain Howdy.” It then takes control of her and possess her which necessitates an exorcism. Back in the 70’s when this movie came out, it scared the living shit out of people. Society is so numbed out to stuff like that, compared to back then. Oh god, I’m sounding like a grandparent.

I haven’t been on a ghost hunt since I lived in Chicago 5 years ago. I live near an epicenter for psychic activity in a town called Cassadaga Fl. And also, a haunted haven of places in the oldest city in the US, St Augustine, Fl.  I’m trying to find the drive to go out and explore the area more, but I seem to be totally wrapped up in the day-to-day world of working and just existing. It’s a shame I think I have what it takes pull out of the funk I seem to live in but lack the courage to try anything new. One of my biggest fears is change. I’m content doing the same shit every day. I hate that about myself. So why am I continuing to feel like that?  Does this relate to you in any way?

I’ve heard many times that anyone’s dreams can come true if you just believe. Well, I believe but still live with cement on my preverbal feet. I’m ready for the next chapter of my life. And it’s going to have a big awakening of my true self. I think the earth is in a transitional time that society is becoming more aware of everything. The knowledge that is available at your fingertips with the internet is just mind blowing. You don’t have to look back too many years to see how fast and how much society has progressed in everything. Good and bad. And that is what it’s all about. Balance.

So, here’s to striving to find your balance in life. And mine.