Tonight we present three different tales from Coast listeners for your Valentine's Day enjoyment, though only one of them could be called heartwarming...
The Glaring Woman Hi Coast to Coast! Ok, this is NOT a Valentine's story, unless you are the Undead!!!!!
I had an "encounter" 13 years ago. This happened in Edmonton, Alberta Canada in 1990. It was a very nice sunny day in the summer, and I left my apartment to go to the store. As I was walking, I saw an ambulance across and down the street with no obvious car crash, but a bunch of people were gathered around. It was at the moment I could feel someone staring, more like glaring at me (remember, I am still a good block away from this accident scene) and I thought, "Oh, they think I'm rubbernecking and that's just rude, so I won't look." But the glaring continues. Then I look up and there is a dark haired woman standing about 20-30 feet back from the ambulance, and she is just glaring at me. "OK, enough of this", so I dart down a back alley and continue on my way.
About 7 hours later, I take off on my ten-speed to my favorite Chinese restaurant downtown, jump up onto the sidewalk, dismount and walk with my bike around the corner of a building. Guess who's there? It's the dark haired woman, and she's angry. She was 2 feet in front of my face, and says "You think its funny, don't you?" And she is mad. I knew immediately what she was talking about, and I said, "No I don't," and with that, she justs walks by me, goes around the corner and vanishes.
So, I'm getting mad, thinking, "What the hell is this woman's problem, this is 2 times today I've had a run in with her!" Now, both the times I have seen "her" today, I don't think this is a ghost; she looked exactly like a live, breathing, person. You know how I found out? The next day in the paper they had a report about a cyclist that was hit by a car, 2 blocks from my apartment and had died there was a picture of the woman. It was her.So what a delayed freak out that was! She never came back and I never had anything like that happen to me again.
--Sandi C.
sandi@arc.ab.ca
The Missing Ring I was collecting water cress for salad in a country dinner off the bow of my canoe on the Meramec River in Steelville MO. My hands were under the very cold water for some time, when I realized I had lost my grandmothers ring that I wore for years on my left pinky. The water was very cold, and it took the ring off my finger. Sad weekend for me. She was very important to me.
Many years and moves later, while I was showering, (I had moved many many times all over the country) I stepped back on what appeared to be a pebble at my feet inside the shower. Normally, I would have just reached down and swooshed into the drain. But I stopped, picked up the pebble filled with mud, and began to run it between my fingers. As I did this, and I still do not know why, my grandmother's ring came through the mud.
This could not have happened. I immediately put it on, and have not taken it off since.
--Jody S.
An Alaskan Mystery I'm a helicopter pilot in Alaska for a company that flies customers into remote Alaskan locales to hunt, fish, or other adventurous activities. One particular morning I was assigned to fly a party of five people to a lodge that resided deep in the mountains and they were registered to stay for one week. When I returned to pick them up, what I found is something that haunts me still to this day.
I began the trip by taking a slight detour to our destination by taking the scenic route for the guests expressed an interest in seeing some of the native wildlife such as caribou, wolf packs, etc. As we swung low over the last mountain range, I noticed near an open meadow a large pack of caribou down below and pulled the machine down close so they could take pictures. Swooping above the herd, we noticed that the entire group was being vigorously pursued by a very large and hideous looking animal. The creature was enormous, looked to be about 13 feet tall, stood completely erect, and was completely covered in a thick matted fur coat. It seemed to cover ground quickly with huge leaps and bounds and caused quite a panic in the fleeing herd of caribou. As we flew over, the creature stopped dead in its tracks and looked up at us. Even shielding its eyes with one huge hand like a human would do.
The pursuer and its prey quickly disappeared into the forest and we flew over the next ridge en route to our destination. Upon arrival at the lodge the nervous discussion was somewhat heated as to what exactly we all witnessed. The terms "Bigfoot" and "Yeti" where brought up as well as a debunker analysis that it was a "large human looking bear." The guests all settled in and I prepared to leave safe in the knowledge that several of the men carried rifles and plenty of ammunition should the creature only a few miles away wander by the cabin.
A week later upon my return I was shocked to find that the group had virtually vanished without a trace. All that was left was a missing front door and an overturned table in the cabin. No blood, no sign of struggle aside from the table and missing door, and no empty cartridges. For months the Alaskan government combed the mountain range for any sign of bodies and ended up with nothing. They filed it as possible cabin fever and they probably wandered off into the wilds to die but I have mixed feelings. Only a very intelligent and powerful animal could have extracted its prey with such efficiency. And based on what I saw that day with my own eyes I know it still roams freely and is probably very much alive.
--David S.