What's the Weirdest/Strangest Thing You've Ever Seen/Witnessed?

[Einstein_was_a_Hippie]

@Wendell_Wagner

There is a set of threads from years ago which you can find if you search for the words “very”, “vaguely”, and “creepy” in the thread titles. It’s quite similar to what this thread is asking for. Actually, the first of those threads didn’t come up when I searched that way, but I found it linked to in another of those threads. Here’s that original thread with 505 posts:

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=30758

Thanks, I really am interested in these kinds of stories.

[nearwildheaven]

@watchwolf49

Once I went to call my brother on the telephone and when I picked up the handset, he was already in the line … spooked us both pretty good let me tell you.

At times, Venus can be seen during the day … you have to know exactly where to look but it’s there. I found it just before and after the Moon occluded her, it was an easy thing to see.

ETA: Total solar eclipse … the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen … for the USA posters, August 21st, 2017 is a MAJOR red letter day for you … don’t miss the spectacular

And another on April 8, 2024, with much of its totality in the same general area.

[panache45]

@watchwolf49

ETA: Total solar eclipse … the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen … for the USA posters, August 21st, 2017 is a MAJOR red letter day for you … don’t miss the spectacular

I’ve seen three totalities. The most spectacular was on the island of Guadeloupe in 1998. The sky was absolutely clear for the entire transit, and during totality, Mercury and Jupiter could be seen very close to the sun, as well as a few other planets farther away. Looking forward to next year!

[KRC]

I saw a man standing on a cliff on a Mount Sandia.He was looking around and there was nothing near him. I looked at the trail to make sure I wasn’t about to walk off a cliff, then looked back to the old man.

He wasn’t there; a raven was hovering in where he had stood. There was nothing he could have hidden behind and he wouldn’t have run to the Crest Housed 100 yards away without being seen; someone would have seen him.

I told people about the disappearing man and got answers telling me I was high ( I did get high then but wasn’t at that moment) and that the whole thing had to do with the prophecies of Carlos Castenada.

I just took this incident in stride as one of those things you can’t figure,

[Lee_Q]

@kayaker

During a strange, spur of the moment trip to Memphis (long story), I smoked part of a joint, then walked a dozen or so blocks to where a friend was staying, using a map. I finally found The Peabody Hotel and walked into the lobby, where ducks were walking in a line.

For a brief moment I was certain I was the only one who saw ducks in an upscale hotel lobby. I had never heard of it before.

Have been to The Peabody Hotel in Little Rock. They have the ducks, too. They march in a line to and from the fountain in the lobby, right? It’s a thing. (Nice hotel too btw!)

[kayaker]

Yep, complete with a doorman, red carpet, etc.

[spamforbrains]

I woke up in the middle of the night and felt like someone was sitting on my chest. Then I tried to roll over and as I did that the lamp by my bed came on real bright, blinding me for a second, then it went out. The next thing I knew I was face down on the floor and the whole floor felt like it was electrified and I was getting shocked. That hurt like hell. My mother came in my room because she said she heard me screaming and found me face down on the floor.

That’s just sleep paralysis. Fairly common- you think you woke up and are sure that someone’s sitting on my chest, someone or something is in the room with me. Seems to be caused by a minor glitch in coordinating the phases of sleep.

[Sage_Rat]

I took a class of aikido and our teacher had us do some particular breathing patterns and stretching and swinging our arms around in various ways. At the end of it, he told us to fill the ball of “ki” that we had created in front of us.

And I did. I felt a slight sensation like there was a basketball sized sphere that was resisting compression between my hands, right in front of me.

My guess is that either the stretches created a similar effect as when you try to push your arms up between the frames of a door and then step out. The sensation of resistance to pushing in was more like that - my arms resisting being moved in a certain direction rather than a pressure on the palms of my hand.

Some amount of hypnotic suggestion is also possible.

Or a ball of ki.

I’m going with option #1, but I’d be curious to know if there’s any research into it.

[Baker]

I was in O’Hare airport in Chicago, waiting for an arrival.

An ordinary, upper middle age couple was sitting together, nothing seemingly odd about them. He turns to her and says something I can’t hear. She stands up, digs in her purse and brings out a tiny pair of scissors, which she uses to trim his ear hairs!

Then, he tilts his head back and she trims his nose hairs!!! Wipes the scissors off, puts them back in the purse, and sits down again.

[LouisB]

I once saw a guy with a double-bladed axe chasing another guy down a sidewalk. Never saw any kind of story about it in the newspaper so I guess the chaser didn’t catch the other guy.

[davidm]

@kayaker

During a strange, spur of the moment trip to Memphis (long story), I smoked part of a joint, then walked a dozen or so blocks to where a friend was staying, using a map. I finally found The Peabody Hotel and walked into the lobby, where ducks were walking in a line.

For a brief moment I was certain I was the only one who saw ducks in an upscale hotel lobby. I had never heard of it before.

@Lee_Q

Have been to The Peabody Hotel in Little Rock. They have the ducks, too. They march in a line to and from the fountain in the lobby, right? It’s a thing. (Nice hotel too btw!)

@kayaker

Yep, complete with a doorman, red carpet, etc.

Peabody Hotel