Spookiness

[stepbystep]

They say young children are in tune with 'the other side', parallel universes, whatever you want to call it, and by the time we're 5 or 6 we lose it and become the boring skeptics we need to be to cope with this life!

What do you think about what 'they' say Sbs, in particular about scepticism being boring?

I'm open to anything, but question everything geoskid. So much so I find myself an utter bore at times...

[taswegian]

Many years ago my wife refused to camp on a small headland east of Bega.
Mimosa Rocks comes to mind.
It was in the days when you could camp anywhere. She said we will not be staying here, gives me the creeps.
I understood there was some Aboriginal significance to the Site.
Seeing the photos years later still stirs her.
I didn't feel anything but don't doubt her one moment.

Never had any problem camping on Mt. Roland. Just sheer pleasure.

[Onestepmore]

In the late 80's one winter, when I was in my early 20's, a girlfriend and I were on a cattle station in the NT about halfway between Alice and Mt Isa (Lucy Creek Station). We were doing some 'prac work' for our uni course and spending a few weeks on horseback mustering and droving cattle. The brothers who owned and worked on the station had already told us spooky stories about being followed by balls of light when there were driving on the isolated roads - I think they have been called Min Min lights.

Anyway, my friend and I were in our swags, and there was a fire going. There was no moon and it was really dark. We were about 3 m apart, and the guys were spread out out a bit further. Suddenly the whole sky lit up in this orangey colour, and you could see the trees that were a bit further away stand out starkly as black relief. I turned and looked over my shoulder as I thought the fire must have flared up, but no. There was a very bright light in the sky that came down at about a 30 degree angle, that then stayed stationary for about 30 seconds, then shot down to eath at a steeper angle incredibly quickly. then it disappeared and it all went pitch black again.
A couple of the guys said they had steen stuff like this on a couple of occasions before, made enquiries later about weather balloons, military stuff etc but never got any exlplanations.

I don't know what I saw. The intensely bright light over such a huge area, the fact that it stopped mid air and 'hovered' for a bit then the immense speed in which it shot off, stll stay with me today
Did I see a UFO?

[Onestepmore]

Also, I do get the creeps in Belangelo State Forest. (Ivan Milat territory - mass backpacker murderer)

We have friends who breed horses on a property that's right in the middle section. A buddy rides and trains endurance horses there, usually he takes a couple of dogs with him. Also, since the Equine Influenza outbreak a few years ago, (that shut down horse competions for almost a year), he also runs in there as training for marathons.
We've talked about it, and he reckons there's likely to be more bodies out there. Every time his dogs go off and get excited about some certain spot, we think 'what have they found'?

i do not like driving through this forest at night (and yeah I know it's all my overactive imagination). Sends shivers up my spine now just thinking about it.

[perfectlydark]

Nah clearly swamp gas osm. Nothing to see here, move along

[Onestepmore]

Hmm, I just looked it up. How can it be swamp gas if it's in the middle of the desert? I mean, We were moving these cattle because of drought, several stations away, because there had been no rain for the past few years.
/shrug

I just had a look about min min lights, refractive lights (Fata Morgana, mirage etc).
http://www.uq.edu.au/nuq/jack/MinMinCEO.pdf
That's what this thing looked like.

[icefest]

>>In the late 80's one winter,
>>halfway between Alice and Mt Isa (Lucy Creek Station).
>>Did I see a UFO?

In the most literal sense of the word, yes.

What it probably was is a sounding rocket or missile test from Woomera Test Range that went astray.
At the time nobody would've admitted to it.

EDIT: Tell me the month and year and I can try to get a launch history.

[Onestepmore]

Ok I'll have a go. It was 1987
I tried to look up sydney uni semester dates for 1987 but no luck for specifics

It was probably in the main 3 - 4 week mid year holiday in July

(If it was the mid semester break than that was more likely late september)

Location was Lucy Creek Station heading NE towards Argadargada Station, NT

[perfectlydark]

Sorry osm my poor attempt at a joke. If its not swamp gas its definatly a weather balloon(I know you said it wasnt)

[icefest]

August 24, 1987 was the launch of the supernova X-ray telescope.
November 14, 1987 NASA sounding rocket.
November 18, 1987 NASA sounding rocket.

At least, that's the declassified list. :S

[Onestepmore]

Thanks Icefest. Next time I see my friend I'll tell her it might have been the first one you mention. i know she still remembers the incident

[22F]

Since I've been doing some walking in the wilds by myself for a few years, I've had a couple of moments where the hackles rise.

I always follow those reactions, and move away to another area down the track a bit.

The last time that feeling hit me, I was walking alone in the Mackay Highlands. It was rough terrain, the vegetation was pretty tight, being less than 50m for most of the day.
I'd pulled up for the afternoon, deciding to setup for the night. The area was a bit more open, with visibility opening up to 75-100m.

Old habits die hard, and I still stop under a tree or in shadow whenever halted. It's a concealment thing, and I was a slow learner as a young bloke, with grumpy old men beating the lesson into me via boot and pacestick

Anyway, the hackles rose on the back of my neck. I definitely had the feeling I was being watched, and that "they" were on my backtrail. Normally, I stay fairly low out scrub. This time, I actually stood, looking at the treeline over 75m away.
For some unknown reason, without conscious thought I also had my bush knife in my hand, in a fighting crouch.

Felt very uncomfortable after that, so packed up my gear and walked a couple of klicks to another spot. Felt much better after putting in a fish-hook and some distance from that spot.

[puredingo]

Stayed in this hut last weekend for a night...Definitely had it's spooky moments.

[Avatar]

Yeah that looks spooky.

Not given to night terrors but had trouble getting off to sleep in Bryces Gorge park once.
Kept hearing sticks breaking loudly. Like a brumby or deer (but aren't deer quiet?) was wandering around.
I got up to explore reasoning it was better to face whatever it was from a standing and mobile position.
Saw nothing in the dim glare of my headlamp.
I rationalised to myself in order to fall sleep and managed to survive the night.

Hey, anyone got spooked at Howitt Hut?

[bigkev]

The Pilliga Scrub does it for me, camped there with a mate once on our way up to Hinchinbrook, gave us both the heebee geebees. I don't even like driving through it at night.

On my own at Scott Kilvert Hut in the middle of winter had its moments too.

[Travis22]

Avatar, I've camped at Howitt Hut many time and in all conditions - sun, snow, rain and heavy fog. Never felt uneasy there.

Did get a bit of a laugh once a few km up the road at the phone tower (middle of the night, if we need to get a call out we'll go drive up there).. And this one time our phones display changed, where it would usually read Telstra 3G etc... All that was there at the top of the phone screen was:

666

I've only ever felt uneasy once or twice out in the bush and I certainly believe in going with you gut instinct..

I packed up camp late at night once on the Avon River when something felt wrong, and had an uneasy night once out at Camms Top Place; believe me there is nothing top about that area and the hut there makes Puredingo's look like the Hilton

Been back to the Avon camp many times without issue so IMO it isn't the place that bothered me but I strongly felt that night we weren't alone there.

Travis.

[Happy Pirate]

Having said that, anyone been to Aradale? Ararat. Mmmmmm, put the wind in my sails.

[url]
http://stevehallphoto.photoshelter.com/ ... zem6ax_kUM[/url]

All I got from Aradale was how well the guides had been watching Rocky Horror Picture Show. But for scary... nope.
(And I hung out there a bit, lurking in the dark in an old over-coat and a funny hat with an old timey camera with my head under a hood...flitting from location to location... and ....err ...umm...(I was wondering what all the flashes of light and excited voices were all about))

Steve

[Happy Pirate]

Just wondering about others' experiences regarding spooky places. Earlier this year I was travelling back from Kaputar and thought to overnight on the way back to Sydney at a NP to the west of Orange that I'd not visited. It was about 3pm when I rolled in, sunny and clear, birds were singing, etc. Noone else was there, but for some reason I got totally spooked. Still don't know why. Usually I prefer deserted campgrounds, and comfortable with the solitary experience, but not at this one. Something felt wrong. I wandered around a bit then decided, no. I knew of another NP about an hour away, which I'd not been to (Nangar) so headed for that. Completely different experience, perfect for what I wanted, in every way. I still wonder about this.

And related, I guess, was a story I was told about the jail at Lithgow ending up being built on a place which for Aborigines had 'bad energy'. I'm not sure how true this is, but it's interesting how some places feel right, and others don't, for no obvious reason.

Anyone else had this sort of experience?

A really interesting thread this one...
And seriously; I'm surprised this thread isn't more common - should be a sticky: camping ghost stories.
As a species we have been telling scary stories as long as we have been able to communicate.
We ALL love a good spooking and a curious thing is how little analysis has been applied to the rationale behind this universal tendency to abandon reason in favour of the woo.
Why doo we woo?
Is it the necessary influence of a tribal leader to dictate social prohibitions to a clan?
Is it a necessary warding-off of dangerous areas or behaviours?
Is it an in-built fear of high-risk areas or behaviours?

What I find most curious is as soon as you ask this (or certain other questions) all of a sudden the entire community will fall over themselves to abandon reason and rational discourse in order to resort to a culturally embedded stereotype of their scary story.

I've even been known meself to tell a tall tale and swear it's authenticity! (True - really!)
So who can you trust?
(However I did spend a night sharing a swag with a GF in a truck-stop outside of Cooper Pedy with a kitchen knife under my pillow. So how does that compare to irrational fear?)
Steve

[Travis22]

Steve,

I absolutely love reading these sorts of threads.

I guess it can get a little boring out in the bush all alone at night so these sort of threads can be fun and provide some entertainment around the camp fire.

The greatest thread ive ever read on the topic which ive followed since its creation ; http://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=57236

And another thread there which i love just as much ; http://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=87044

Travis.

[perfectlydark]

Damn travis I only read the first post on that thread but that scared the bejesus out of me

[Onestepmore]

Travis I read some of those. I'm so glad we don't have to worry about bears, wolves, cougars, Bigfoot here in Aust.
'You are not the top of the food chain, and this is not your neighbourhood'
It's scary enough just worrying about dropbears.