My
family is prone to "paranormal" stuff, and I seem to be no exception.
I have quite a few experiences to relate, both personal and heard
second-hand through my family. This is usually the first one I tell
people:
I served
as an officer in the navy onboard a cruiser. One night, while we were
in port, I was awoken from my sleep by a "feeling." What I saw
hovering before me was a semi-distinguishable face, but better
described a nebulous form. What I remember most was the sound which
filled my ears: not loud, not soft, very present, but nothing
specific. The only way I've been able to describe it is that sound the
transporters made in the old Star Trek, but at a constant pitch and
kind of muffled. I could feel myself trying to speak, yet could not
hear words out of my mouth. I could feel myself trying to move, but
again, nothing was happening. The apparition floated above me for what
must have been 10 to 15 seconds, then suddenly disappeared. The sound
was gone, I could move, I could hear myself speak, and the rest of my
stateroom came back into focus. The first thing I did was reach up and
touch the pipes which ran through the overhead (my rack was the top
rack, or bunk-bed, for ye lubbers) to make sure I wasn't dreaming, for
it felt like a dream-state. I had two choices: believe it was a dream,
or believe it was something else. I didn't make the conclusion right
away. Later that night, I had the mid-watch (from midnight to 4 am) on
the quarterdeck. Once the drunks are on-board, this can be a very
boring watch. Two other people are up there with you: the Petty
Officer of the Watch, and the Messenger. Discussion always varies, and
that night, it turned to ghost stories. We swapped a couple, and my
mind thought back to the incident earlier in my stateroom. I shared it
with them, with no real conclusion, because I had not made one yet.
That's when I noticed the pale look on the Petty Officer of the
Watch's face.
A year
or so ago, on the deployment before my arrival, a young petty officer
was doing maintenance on a radar system. He had defeated the safety
interlock (a big no-no) on the radar's cabinet, exposing a fully
energized klystron (something with lots of power going through it). He
was wearing a sound-powered phone set, which is comprised of a
head-set, and a mouth-piece which rests on a metal plate which rests
on your chest, suspended by a a cord, and rests on your chest. This
young man (could not have been over 21) got too close to the klystron,
an high-voltage arc of electricity leapt from the klystron and landed
on the metal plate, killing him instantly. The spot where he died was
two decks above my stateroom, almost directly above where my rack
(bed) is.
The
petty officer of the watch had the messenger retrieve a cruise book
from that deployment (like a yearbook). The first page was a memorial
to the petty officer who died, complete with his picture. It was his
face I could barely make-out in my stateroom. We all just stood there.
I didn't say a thing (outside of what I had to say for duties) for the
rest of the watch, I just stared out into the night.
Given my
belief in these matters, I figured he (the "ghost") was trying to tell
me something. Typically, they all are. He woke me up only one other
time after the first time. I tried to speak to him, but the same thing
that happened to me physically during the first encounter impaired any
communication. The ship has since been de-commissioned. I only hope he
had the opportunity to tell whatever it is he wanted to say to someone
else.
