Reindeer Bells

There are a few UFO or paranormal related experiences in my life that I haven't shared public, for a variety of reasons. Mainly, they're -- more correctly, I'm -- too embarrassed to acknowledge. Some are very personal and "embarrassing" or maybe intimate is a better word, others are almost goofy in my perceived embarrassment. And sometimes the event is something I'm not sure what to do with, regardless of embarrassment factor.

Last night, in bed, I was thinking about something that happened to me when I was a kid. I always thought it was too silly-goofy to really think about it, but it always troubled me. I must have been about five, because that's how old I was when we lived in that particular house.  The memory:

I'm in my bed, nighttime.  (This is the same bedroom where I had my "cylinder alien heater" episodes.) Suddenly I hear the bells -- jingle bells! Santa's bells! He's here! I run, very excited, to the window, and look outside. I can clearly hear the bells; sweet, tinkling, jingling bells right above me, on the roof. I stick my head out the window, trying to look up to the roof to get a glimpse of Santa and the reindeer. Nothing. But those bells! They are calling me! I'm very happy and in a waiting mode -- I know "they" (he? it? Santa?) are/is here. I just have to be patient.

Now, I've never related this story because it seems like a typical little girls innocent anticipation of Santa and Christmas magic. I have always been a little embarrassed , as an adult, that this memory has always been so damn vivid. It was real!  I wasn't dreaming, I didn't just think it happened, it did happen! So, I just put this memory into that gray basket.

But last night, with a jolt of awareness, I realized that this event didn't happen during Christmas time!  Adding to the strangeness: in the memory, I am on the second floor. I remember distinctly the night sky and the brilliant blue stars, so close I could easily touch them.  Only, we didn't have a second floor.

That familiar nudging voice appeared, that told me, with a soft little kick, that this was a cover memory, and Santa had nothing to do with the memory. Those bells were not the bells on reindeer harnesses, but something else entirely.

The memory, the feeling of this memory, has always been on the same level, the same emotional tone, as the ones involving waiting for my "invisible" little friends -- the ones who would carry me out through walls and doors and into the large tree, where I'd look up at those stars, into the rich velvet blue night, to wait . . .

Entering the Orb: Dream of... the Orb!

Category: Dream
Location: Eugene, Oregon
Date: Feb. 24th, 2012

Just a fragment, a bare memory, but with such intensity! Last night a dream, and something about "the orb."

I was telling someone in the dream about the orb that I saw, and as I was telling her (I seem to remember it was a "her") the image of the orb in the night sky was present. I told her that the orb was a three dimensional sphere, and an actual craft/machine, intelligently controlled. Whether or not that intelligent control came from the orb itself, or was being remotely controlled, I couldn't tell. The orb, I went on to describe, was it from within. And in the dream, a new detail: I was describing the color. Orange, amber-orange (not brown amber, but...) and in the middle, a more yellow orange. All still orange. The middle lighter possibly because of the location; that's where the energy or source of it all, the engine or who knows, was emanating from.

Then the person I was speaking with told me all about her orb sighting. Pretty much sharing the same details in every way. As if we were in a hyper telepathic communication with each other; knowing what the other would say about the orb's color.

That's it. That's all I remember of the dream; don't know if there was more prior or after that "dream scene" but what I do remember was so damn vivid and held an importance of emotion to it, as dreams do.

Entering the Orb: Location Connection Dream

 Category: Dream
Location: Eugene, OR
 


I had the following dream last night; I'm leaving out one detail because it was about a public figure's death. (Said person is, as far as I know, very much alive.)

 I drive out to the coast, but it wasn't a place I'd been to before.  Like most dreams, this location is all mixed up. Part coast, (50 miles west) but part  south of me towards the small town of Cottage Grove, a straight shot down 1-5 from Eugene. About 25 min. away. (Cottage Grove is said to be haunted in a lot  of ways: UFOs, strange things, and in fact, I've always felt uneasy and, well, "haunted" whenever out there. That includes the outlying areas like Dorena Lake.)

I arrive at my destination. Jim is with me. We're all about UFOs,  Mothman, ghosts... lots of talk about that with others who are researchers and witnesses.  The woods are all around us. It turns into night.  I become very  nervous because I have to drive back to Eugene  but don't like to  drive at night, especially on a road I'm not used to. Jim seems to have  disappeared around this time; for some reason, I have to drive back alone.  Several of the people here accuse me of being a big  chicken and not serious about UFOs because I want to wait until morning to  drive back.  I try to make them aware that driving at night, in the dark without lights and on an unfamiliar road in an unfamiliar town is irresponsible.

It wasn't until I started writing this, sharing it with others (because of the person dying, mainly) that I realized with a jolt the Cottage Grove-orb-missing time  connection. Jim and I were coming back from Cottage Grove, at night, decades ago, when we had our orange orb sighting and missing time, dreams of being paralyzed by beams of light, etc.

Was the dream a bit of memory, a nudging from the subconscious?

Creepy Water Dream

Date: December 28, 2009
Category: Dream

A disturbing dream the other night. I can't shake the creepy emotions of the dream, which had a very strong "invisible alien" UFO vibe to it, even though no UFOs or aliens were seen in the dream.

In the dream, I'm:

in the kitchen of the house I grew up on Sherbourne Drive in Los Angeles. I'm me, now, kind of, but in typical dream logic also younger, in my late twenties, maybe. It's nighttime, I can see the inky prussian blue sky outside the kitchen window, and the overhead kitchen light is on. The light bothers me; it's very bright and harsh. Everything is out of the kitchen, except for what I assume is the big silver refrigerator behind me (ours was green, and then we had a brown one, but never silver) and the kitchen is flooded with water. The water comes up to my ankles. I'm trying to mop the water up with an old fashioned type of mop, but it's a big job. I can't leave; something, or someone, is keeping me here. I feel like I'm in a fairy tale, where the job must be done, as dictated by the non-human creature: fairy, elf, troll, witch, etc. I'm kind of like Alice; growing taller, the kitchen is becoming smaller. I have the acute sense that a UFO is just outside, and the aliens -- those small, invisible spindly little creatures that I can't see but know, without any doubt, are there -- are watching me.

I just remembered that before going to sleep, I did my intent thing of trying to get at some of this UFO stuff in my life, retrieve some information, memories, of experiences.

The Orange Orb: UFO Hunter's 'Dark Presence' Episode and Wolf Dream

I wrote this for UFO Magazine's blog last night, after watching UFO Hunter's episode on the orange orb sightings. I found that what the witnesses were describing matched much of my own sighting of an orange orb many years ago in Eugene, Oregon:

The Orange Orb: UFO Hunter's "Dark Presence" Episode

Watching this episode of UFO Hunters ("Dark Presence") about the orange orb UFOs seen in recent months was an intensely personal experience for me because of my own orange orb sighting.

It seems that witnesses have been seeing orange (and sometimes green or other colored) orb UFOs. These are not orbs as in spirit orbs, which are very different, but spheres -- round objects -- that are craft, or machine, or something "nuts and bolts."

These sightings are occurring now, but go back a ways as well. One woman who appeared, her identity disguised, saw one of these orbs when she was child. My own sighting took place over twenty-five years ago in Oregon.

There are many parallels to my orange orb sighting -- and the sighting that started me on my path of exploration into UFOs -- and the ones discussed in the UFO Hunters episode. Many witnesses reported feelings of dread, of fear, though some had experienced feelings of elation, upon seeing these orbs. I had both: feelings of a happy intrigue when I first saw the orb, and a real goofy, almost psychedelic response right after seeing it. And yet, even though I actually walked to the front door after going inside, with the intent of going back outside to look for the orb, I couldn't do it. I couldn't open the door. I remember thinking how odd it was that here I just saw an incredible thing -- experienced an incredible thing -- yet couldn't make myself go out to look further. I also had the most terrifying dreams of my life right after seeing the orb. These dreams were always the same: I'm paralyzed inside a brilliant white beam of light that is so bright I can almost see through things. There is something huge above me, some kind of object. My husband is nearby but has been taken from me and I'm screaming for him, for "them" to return us to. . . or get us out of, wherever the hell we are.

These orbs were described by witnesses as being basket ball sized, or even larger, like a beach ball. That's exactly how I've been describing the size of the orb I saw all these years. Witnesses also said they felt a premonition, or some kind of telepathic communication between the orb and themselves; I also had that experience when I first saw the orb. I had glanced up having noticed the orb, which I estimated to be about a mile away. I had the distinct feeling it was waiting for me, and as soon as I thought "What the hell is that thing?" it zoomed right to me, following us along the road. As we turned the corner to go home (our house was right around the corner) the orb stopped for a moment above a house across the road from us, then just sank down, "landing" in their backyard. Similar behavior was reported by witnesses on the UFO Hunters episode.

People have asked me if there were lights on this thing, and I've always described as a real, physical craft (as opposed to a cloud, or a spirit orb, etc.) and no lights on it, or around it, but lit from within. Witnesses on UFO Hunters described their orbs the same way.

Missing time was mentioned by at least one witness; I also experienced missing time in connection with this orb.

On this last point, there's something very strange. To this day, after countless discussions, my husband and I still differ on some things. These points where of disagreement were brought up again as we were watching UFO Hunters. He insisted we saw the orange orb when we lived on Hilyard street... I had to remind him of the detail of that sighting, which happened when we were on Friendly street. He seemed to then remember that yes, we were living on Friendly street when we saw the orange orb, but the missing time happened when we were on Hilyard, during a different UFO sighting. But neither of us can remember where we were coming from when we saw the orb. Where had we been? Why can't we remember? It was dark when we saw the orb; where would we be coming from in that direction? We were on our way in back to town when we saw the orange orb-- so where were we? We don't know. Does this mean we have had three episodes of missing time?

Recently, I posted on my blog The Orange Orb my experiment of trying to remember these missing time events. Maybe with focused intent, through dreams and other methods, I can uncover what happened.

When I had my orb sighting all those years ago, I read every book I could find on UFOs. I found all kinds of fascinating information, but nothing that came close to describing what I saw. Yet UFO Hunters showed us that these orb sightings have been experienced by many, and are happening now.

Was the orb I saw the same kind of orb talked about in UFO Hunters? Sounds like it. While the time line is different -- mine was over twenty-five years ago, and, from what I could find at the time, didn't seem to match up with any reports -- there were witnesses who'd seen orbs long ago, as well as more recently.

Lots of speculation on what the orbs are of course from witnesses and researchers, but we can't say for sure. What did I see that night? An orange orb lit from within, the size of a beach ball, that followed me, seemed to be waiting for me, could read my thoughts. Where did it come from, who made it and why, what did it want -- those are questions I have no answer for, even after all these years.

Post script: I wrote this last night right after watching the UFO Hunters episode. That same night I had the following dream that, while no UFO or alien was present, or even alluded to, had a very strong UFO vibe to it. When I woke up, the first thought I had was a clear "That was about my orb sighting. . . "

Nervous Wolves
It's nighttime, and very, very dark. Ink black. I'm outside the house I live in, which is a white, small little building -- there is only an upstairs, like a small apartment, that is reached by a narrow flight of stairs. The stairs are inside, in other words, they're surrounded by walls. There's nothing underneath, just the covered stairs leading up to the apartment, which sits on a little hill. This place is surrounded by woods, the trees are bare. It's impossible to see into the woods since it is so dark.

For some reason, I'm outside the house/apartment. I'm surrounded by my "pets" which are wolves, and wolf hybrids. The wolves are very nervous, agitated. Even though these animals are "mine" we have an odd relationship. I find myself wondering why I have wolf hybrids as pets, since I don't think people should own such animals (neither wolves, or, hybrids) and I would never own such beings. Yet I've ended up with them somehow. They are my protectors in some ways, yet are also unpredictable. I'm a little wary around them.

I'm also concerned, they're skinny. I wonder why, have I not been feeding them properly? Then again, some of them have just sort of shown up from "out there" and joined us. I feel responsible for them.

So here we are, out in the ink black night, starless, on a grayish hill of parched grass. Something awful has happened in the woods, many of the wolves come running up, and we all run up the stairs into the house. There is a man in uniform kneeling down inside, working on something, some kind of control panel or machine or something. He's human and kind of creepy. I tell him he has to do something, that there's some kind of creature out there attacking my wolves. "Maybe a rabid raccoon, I don't know, something, but we have to kill it" I say. He ignores me, he's pretty cold. There's also something about another man who kind of sneaks off, thinking I didn't notice. I also wonder what the hell these guys are doing in this, "my" house, but I also know that they're in charge. Since they're in charge, I demand they protect us, fix things. But they don't.

All I care about are my wolves, and myself of course. . . just save us, get us the hell out of here, and take care of that nasty thing out there that's trying to hurt these poor wolves who aren't hurting anyone.

That's the end of the dream, or, all I remember.

Alien Ant Watercolor

This was originally posted on my The Orange Orb blog in June of 2008.


Untitled, watercolor 1979? by James Rich


This painting is a watercolor Jim did many years ago, when we were first together. I remember when he painted it. It's a small watercolor on paper; about 18" by 18". He was going through his old portfolios last night and found it.

I told him it was an "interesting painting" and that it reminded me of an alien; some kind of alien painting. He said he had no idea what was going on when he painted that; what he was thinking or why he painted it. No recollection of the inspiration or what he was trying to do.

He asked me what I meant by "alien painting" I said, well, it immediately, for some reason, just screamed alien and spaceship at me. I have the impression the ant is female, very large, "alien," and is holding something, some sort of tablet. Jim looked at it and said he saw what I meant. I reminded Jim of all the giant insect alien stories; usually praying mantis type creatures, or giant grasshopper type beings some speak about in connection with UFO encounters. After he looked at it he said it reminded him of a female being as well; probably because of the way it's sitting and the long robe or whatever it is it/she is wearing.

It was at that time that Jim and I were experiencing a lot of unusual UFO events, including an episode of missing time. I had my "Geisha Woman Alien" dream during that time frame.

Speaking of alien insectoid beings, in a bit of synchronicity I was listening to George Noory last night on C2C. (By the way, say what you will about him, and I have, he is a goof ball in many ways, but he was defending the medical marijuana use law in California, so good for him) and he and a caller were sharing praying mantis stories. Not in the context of aliens or UFOs however, more mundane than that. And earlier today I read Richard Thomas Room 101 column on Binnall of America, where he writes about Ghosts, Aliens, Yeti and the Late Great Nigel Kneale British "father" of sci fi television and movies. Which inspired me to post something on my blog Frame 352: The Stranger Side of Sasquatch with this image:

I'm deathly, pathologically afraid of insects. I had some chilling experiences as a child -- I won't go there, far too personal and wrapped up in family dysfunction abuse horrors -- but at the same time, I don't like to see people just stomp on insects for no reason. (There was also a weird event in Crescent City, California, involving a Japanese beetle, alcoholic abusers though not to me, hmm, a theme here I see, and I kid you not, a real life scene with "Deliverance" type redneck hillbillies, complete with shotguns and a truck full of pitbulls. But I digress.) (And there was another thing with a bumble bee when I was a kid, and my sister as well, I found out years later, that has to do with missing time and high strangeness.)I'll certainly go out of my way to kill bugs in the house, depending on what kind; wasps, etc. Others I take outside. Well, okay, I try to get Jim to take them outside, but the point is, I don't like killing things if I can help it.

Well, that all took a weird turn, I see. As disjointed as all this might seem, one thing stands out: a conflicting relationship with insects. I like some of them, they're pretty, many are harmless, etc. Others I am fearful of to the point of vomiting. People with encounters with giant insectiod alien beings report both terrifying experiences, as well as ones of learning, wisdom and beauty. Why this contrast? Are our mundane encounters a relfection, on a symbolic level, of these experiences?

Silver Spinning UFO

Category: UFO sighting, missing time, screen memory
Location: Lorane Highway, outside of Eugene, Oregon
Date: late 1980s


This is a photo of the field where Jim and I saw a silver, spinning, hovering UFO. This photo was taken a few weeks ago; the sightings occured in the late 1980s, but, considering the changes in tree lines, etc. it's still pretty accurate. In fact, while we were standing there, discussing the sighting and taking pictures, we both got very anxious.

The UFO was a dull silver color; it was very low and hovering, spinning or rotating in place. A white beam of light was coming down onto the field from the underside of the object. It was still light outside; late afternoon.

This sighting has a lot of high strangeness; missing time, screen memories or cover memories -- for example, to this day we still disagree about what the events were before and after the sighting -- and so on. The only thing we are absolutely in agreement about is the fact we saw this thing, remember it and the location, and remember commenting how very weird it was. We remember driving by, slowing down, wondering if we should stop and get out and look, and wanting to, but at the same time, being very adamant we should do no such thing. We kept driving.

The photo below is a bit silly; it's a Christmas tree ornament, and shinier than the UFO we saw. Also, the UFO we saw was more of a flattened oval, not a sphere. But you get the idea.