Truth Proof Report 198 - Something was trying to get my attention?

reported April 18th 2023

a poltergeist at night - details sent to Paul

Date of event: 1980+

I wrote a while back about the U.F.O. I saw as a 15 yr old in Cheshire in 1967. I wonder if an experience I had at the spooky end of the spectrum might also be of interest?

In the early 1980s I was in my thirties and living in Stockport. I had to collect some stuff from a place just outside Carlisle and as the journey would take me close to Preston I contacted a pal who was living there at the time and invited him to join me for a day out. He was at a loose end at the time and was happy to come along for the ride. I hadn't seen him in a while so I suggested I drive up the night before so we could have a bit of a catch up over a few pints in the pub. His was only a one bed flat in a large, old house but a sleeping bag and some make-do would be enough for a one night visit.

That's what we did: fish and chips, then a few pints in his local til closing time. After a cup of coffee we called it a night and he went off to his room while I pulled the seat cushions off his sofa and armchairs to make a semi-comfortable bed on the living room floor.

The room was small but cosy and at the far end was a full length window which could be opened inward to allow access onto a small balcony which overlooked a well known park near the city centre. There was no other access onto this balcony, other than by ropes, ladders or cat burglar techniques like shinning up drain pipes or something. I think my pal mentioned that this part of the house had originally been the servants quarters.

I settled down with my head towards the kitchen door and my feet nearest the balcony. As far as I can remember I had little difficulty in slipping off to sleep.

However, at some point in the early morning, perhaps just before dawn, I had one of those "suddenly-awake-but-no-idea-why" moments, in other words, I woke with a start. I listened out for sounds of movement - perhaps my pal had got up to go to the loo or maybe the neighbours had an early start but there was no other sound at all, so after a few minutes I settled back down, hoping to drift off again.

I didn't manage it. Just a bit later, there was a sharp tapping on the balcony window behind me. It was definitely a tap on glass and other than the old telly, there was nothing else in that part of the room that could have made a sound like it. There were about four individual taps, with a definite rhythm to them which I sadly cannot now recall but it was something like tap, tap (slight pause) tap, tap. It sounded like a definite attempt to get my attention. And it was loud, as if it was in the room with me or just the other side of the window. I was quite alarmed by this, could someone really be out on the balcony and why would they be there at silly o'clock in the morning? Was someone playing a trick on me, with a long stick from ground floor level, but again, why would someone be doing that at that ridiculous time of the morning?

I thought about getting up to take a look but, do you know what, I talked myself out of it quite easily! Just as well perhaps because the same tap happened again a short time later - exactly the same pattern and just as loud! I must have lain there for about twenty minutes, nothing else happened and I realised it was now definitely getting lighter, so I finally decided to take a look out of the window. It was a great relief to part the curtains slightly to find the balcony empty and with nothing to suggest a cause for the tapping. I got back in my sleeping bag but I don't think I managed to drift off again.

The day eventually got off to a proper start and we set off for Carlisle. For some reason (I can't recall why) I did not mention the tapping to my pal until we were on the way back, mission accomplished. Perhaps I thought he would scoff at it, so I kept it suitably light and skeptical. He listened without comment until I'd finished, then he said:

“Oh, I wish you hadn't told me that, it's happened to me too!”

We'd never previously discussed ghosts to the best of my recollection and certainly nothing about him having one in his flat. I never visited the flat again and in fact he moved not long after - nothing to do with haunted houses, just a job offer that required a relocation. There is, however, a lovely postscript to the tale. Before he moved, he had to collect a prescription from a local pharmacy. When the girl checked his address, she exclaimed something like:

“Ooh, you're brave living there aren't you!”

“Why?”

“'Cos it's well known for being haunted!”

And that's just about where this tale ends. Having decided to write it up, I did a bit of googling and realised that the house was much grander than I remembered it. It was built in the mid 19th Century in an Italianate style and is now a Grade II listed building, but still divided into flats as far as I can tell. Photos of it can be found online, including "that" balcony. I couldn't find any ghost stories about it so maybe things have quietened down or maybe its reputation was always just local tittle tattle and I had been fooled by some easily explained and non-spooky event. Like so many of these phenomena, I don't suppose we'll ever get a proper answer!

p.s. I had an even earlier "spooky" event, at another location - ghostly footsteps and a bedroom door which swung open of its own accord - again, in the dead of night. I might write that one up too!

 

Alan H

Paul Sinclair comments: Thanks Alan for an interesting poltergeist account. Your thorough write-up really gives it atmosphere...... As you will know I often ponder that many of our phenomena are interconnected. And, do please send us details of you other poltergeist - I will paste it on the end of this one.