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Encounters Archive:

2005 Encounters:
The Old Man in Our House - Edmonds, Washington

Grandmother's Angry Goodbye - Woodbury, Minnesota

The Fourth Kitty - Jasper, Tennessee

Dad's Kitten - San Diego, California

The Shadow and the Footsteps - Queens, New York

The Faucet Turned Itself On - West Virginia

The Dark Phantom at Paris Les Halles - Paris, France

The Haunted Family Home - Exeter, United Kingdom

Mysterious Footprints - Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Precognitive Dream About my Sister's Passing - Orlando, Florida

Remembering G.G. - Long Beach, California

1700s Ghost Lady - Dublin, Ohio

Dad's Message - El Dorado, Arkansas

The Graveyard Woman - Indianapolis, Indiana

Apparition at Senator Bard's Mansion - Ventura, California Ghost picture

The Vanishing Soldier - Posovina Corridor, Bosnia

Belleview's Haunted Biltmore Hotel - Clearwater, Florida

In Memory of Uncle Fred - Shelby Twp., Michigan

Floating Down the Stairs - Omaha, Nebraska

Our Old-Time Visitor - Savannah, Georgia

The Footsteps and Opaque Mist - Fraser, Michigan

Graveyard Shift at the Water Plant - Dayton, Tennessee

University of West Florida Pirate Apparition - Pensacola, Florida Ghost picture

The White Lady of Easton - Easton, Connecticut Ghost picture

A Spirit Saved My Life - Austin, Texas

My Sign From Dad - Kansas City, Missouri

Gram's Warning - Philidelphia, Pennsylvania

Jordan's Vigilant Watch - Tehachapi, California

A Strange Light in Willer Hall, Quincy University - Quincy, Illinois

Dad's Spirit - Navasota, Texas Ghost picture

The Rotating Bed - Virginia

Poltergeists at the Desert Sands Inn - Albuquerque, New Mexico

The Reclining Ghost - Gresham, Oregon

The Hand Grabbed Me - Salt Lake City, Utah

The Dark Figure - Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada

Grandpa's Late-Night Visit - Colorado Springs, Colorado

Second Sight After Surgery - San Diego, California

Mom's Goodbye Kiss - Virginia Ghost picture

Encounters At My Grandparent's House - Lumber City, Georgia

The Spirit Girl Who Lived With Us - Flagler Beach, Florida

My Cousin By the Pool - Dubai, United Arab Emirates

My Doppelganger - Perth, Western Australia

The Orb Brushed Beside Me - Blooming Grove, New York

The Old Beauchamp House - Grove, Oklahoma

Knocks, Shadows, and Apparitions - Alexandria, Minnesota

The Misty Working Girl - Chicopee, Massachusetts

The Shinto God at Tojinbo Cliffs - Tojinbo, Fukui Prefecture, Japan

My Car Crash Premonition Dream - Atlanta, Georgia

The Ghost Who Pinches Toes - Birmingham, England

A Voice In My Ear - Sitka, Alaska

The Entity From My House - Georgia

Talking to Grammy - Evanston, Illinois

The Ghost Followed Me Home - New Orleans, Louisiana and Santa Rosa, California

The Man in the Pool - Marietta, South Carolina

The Girl at the End of My Bed - Louisiana

Fog of Spirits on the Graveyard Shift - Springfield, Pennsylvania

Floyd and the Walking Horse Hotel - Wartrace, Tennessee

Rattling Cabinets From Mom - Pensacola, Florida

The Basement Girl - Eau Claire, Wisconsin

Scarborough Beach Restaurant Apparition - Scarborough Beach, Western Australia

The Ghostly Ballroom - Delevan, Wisconsin

The Haunted Garden - Cornwall, England, UK

Gale Force Phantom Winds - Sussex, England, UK

Tomkins Square Park Apparition - New York, New York

The Girl in the Pilgrim Dress - Griffin, Georgia

A Late-Night Visitor - Loveland, Colorado

The Mohawk's Cry - Altamont, New York

Granny's Passing - Jonesboro, Arkansas

Anna Tried to Show Me - Rochester, New York

The Shadow in the Kitchen - Elgin, Illinois

Bessett House Orbs - Bannack, Montana

My First Haunting - Wareham, Massachusetts

Our Haunted Office - Ocala, Florida

James's Last Call - Austin, Texas

Great Grandmother's Ghost - Mendoza, Argentina

Channel Road Apparition - Sanger, California

Haunted Practice Space - Massillon, Ohio

Strange Sounds in Our House - Portland, Oregon

Paris Theatre Orbs - Paris, France

My "Daughter" Sarah - Somersworth, New Hampshire

My Creepy Apartment - Amherst, Massachusetts

Nan's Ghostly Girl at St. Mary's - Jersey Channel Islands, United Kingdom

Greatmother's Message - Pittsburg, Kansas

Bessett House Orbs - Bannack, Montana

The Disappearing Battery Pack - Honolulu, Hawaii

Paul's Goodbye - UCONN, Storrs, Connecticut

My Haunted Life - Orange County, California

My Ancestors' Spirit at Ruthin Castle - Ruthin, Wales

The Little Red Rocking Chair - Brooklyn, New York

My Uncle's Visits - Wiggins, Colorado

Strange Sounds at The Rock - San Francisco, California

A Visit From Ole Pete - Sharpsburg, Virginia

Shadow Figures - Sykesville, Maryland

Flagler Museum Energy Ribbon - Palm Beach, Florida

Phantom Perfume at the Whaley House - San Diego, California

Floating Red Eyes - Uvalde, Texas

Ivy's Watchful Vigil - Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom

Mists and Streaks in the Philippines - Cebu, Liloan, Philippines

Six Days of Torment - Old Wethersfield, Connecticut

Scratching Torment - Palm Coast, Florida

Granny's Bouncing Lights - Jemison, Alabama

Visions From Lourdes - Lourdes, France

The Evil Eyes - Northern Ireland

Sleeping by Camp Letterman - Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Living With Spirits - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Cozy... Haunted, But Cozy - Warrensburg, Missouri

My Grandmother Walked By - Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada

Entities at a Prayer Meeting - Salem, Illinois

The Foreboding House - North Shields, Tyne & Wear, UK

Waverly Hall Cemetery Anomalies - Waverly Hall, Georgia

The Island Ghost That Follows - Wrentham, Massachusetts

The 4:05 AM Banshee - Suffolk, Virginia

My Cousin's Ghost - Bronx, New York

Do Orbs Mean a Haunting? - Newton, Iowa

A Guardian Angel and Haunted Home - Massachusetts

The Spirit of Mrs. Rogers - Wakefield, England

Conjoining Mist Spirits - Chesterland, Ohio

My Family's Clairvoyant Gifts - Region 1, the Philippines

The Queen of Hearts - Irwin, Pennsylvania

"Little Chicken" at Hotel Meade EVP - Bannack, Montana

My Two Haunted Houses - Bridgend, Wales, UK

The House Of Ludington Ghost Video - Escanaba, Michigan

Dad's Ice Cream-Eating Angel - Barboursville, West Virginia

A Phantom Leg Rub - Sheridan, Michigan

The Ghosts of Iversons Pits - Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Spirits on the Land - Milton, Florida

The Ghost Who Doesn't Like Men - Neptune City, New Jersey

The Old Aunt's House - Indiana

The Ghost of Opus - Nashua, New Hampshire

Dad's Last Visit - Cliffside Park, New Jersey

The Glowing Window - Glendale, California

Grandmere's Gift - Louisiana

Blizzard's Ghost - Lynn, Massachusetts

Contacting Sam - Stinson Lake, New Hampshire

Grandma's Dusty Sign - Scituate, Massachusetts

The Face on the Floor - Southampton, England

The Ghostly Roommate - Channel Islands, UK

Captain Tony's Saloon's Haunted Bathroom - Key West, Florida

Grandma's Last Call? - Grapevine, Texas

The Front Porch Moaning - Managua, Nicaragua

The Crystal Curse - Chesapeake, Ohio

Bringing Evil Home - Denver, Colorado

Mr. Ruckman's Mansion - Runge, Texas

Brown Robed Figure - Fremont, California

The White lady of Old Burial Point - Salem, Massachusetts



April 18, 2005

Visions From Lourdes

Rate this encounter:
Votes:94 Rating: Rating = 6.07 Ratings Breakdown
James Sobik, Lourdes, France, February 1, 2005, info@ghostvillage.com

Click on pictures for larger view in pop-up windows.
Ghost picture - Lourdes, France

Ghost picture - Lourdes, France

I traveled to Lourdes on February 1, 2005 on business with two friends. My job was to help them decide on a hotel to buy for pilgrimages. Jeannette and Father were Catholics, and I was brought up in the Church of Scotland. My father was a Polish Catholic, but died some years previous. Our journey getting to Lourdes was one delay after another -- Father left his Mass kit on the bus, we missed our train, then there was a bomb scare at the station. Four hours later, we arrived at Lourdes and then had to walk to the hotel. At the hotel, all that was talked about was the journey -- Jeannette described it as a journey of penance. All I knew was I would not want to be traveling like that again. They were talking about religious experiences -- I suppose I was the odd one out.

Then this little Scottie dog came in. My father had done an oil painting when he was younger and hung in my mother's drawing room. This dog even had the same tartan collar. I mentioned this and the dog's owner made the comment, "You do not come to Lourdes, you are brought to Lourdes." It didn't really mean much to me at the time.

That evening we went to look at the grotto. Saturday morning we visited the hotels, and my business was done. On Sunday morning after breakfast the owner asked if Father would take Mass. I was sitting next to Jeanette listening to her conversation while the table was prepared for Mass. I looked around and saw a statue of the immaculate conception being put on the table. I suddenly felt sick, and my whole body became light I had to leave the room. Jeannette asked what was wrong. I explained and we went to her room. At that moment the little Scottie dog ran into the room and jumped up beside me. I did not feel well, but after some time we went down and I sat and watched the Mass with one eye on the statue. After the Mass, we decided to take a walk to the grotto -- this was the first time I had seen it during the day. We walked on the other side of the river opposite the grotto. Jeannette was walking with a gentleman who was staying at the hotel (Michael), he was a tour guide for pilgrims. As I walked, my legs went limp again as in the hotel, but as I walked on the feeling disappeared. I walked back and my legs went again. I said, "The statue looks a lot better from this spot." Michael said not many people know this, but around here somewhere Bernadette had her longest apparition experience. At that moment I said to Jeannette quietly, "I want to come back here tonight." 

That evening, at 10:00, Father, Jeannette, and myself headed for the spot. As during the day, my legs went light, so I knew we were getting close. For the first time I asked Jeannette to help me pray. The three of us knelt on a concrete bech and prayed. Looking back, it was a very spiritual moment. Without going into my past, my two children had been through a lot. In a way, their mother had not been treating them very well (we divorced). In my simple way, I asked the lady of the house if she would mind looking out for my two daughters. As I looked over at the grotto, I thought I saw our lady wave at me, so I did a little wave back. For some form of reassurance, I said, "Did anybody see her wave?"  The father replied, "Is she not turning her head?" I thought he was just consoling me. I took my camera out and took a picture. 

We crossed over to the grotto where I had a little chat with our lady and took two pictures hoping that she would not have red eye. As we left, we stopped at the crowned virgin Mary. I took another picture, but didn't check it until the morning when I noticed the crown on the virgin Mary was all cloudy. Not thinking much of it, I took pictures that night around 11:00 (the night sky was crystal clear on both nights). We left Lourdes and I was picked up at the airport by my friend, Robert. He had to stop off for a message on the way home, so I just sat in the car. I closed my eyes for a rest, then strange things started happening. A vision appeared: as clear as day, I was in the sky looking down on green pastures where people were walking. I was then on the ground at somebody's feet wearing a bright red robe and leather sandals. I am wondering what I am seeing. It is so clear -- like watching a video. There was a stone building, a window, and a beautiful women looking in at a crowd of people -- I blink my eyes -- I see many crosses. I am looking down and the car door opens -- Robert arrived. Back at home I wonder if the vision would happen again. I sit on the couch, close my eyes and bright red fire then drops to the ground. Strange images come flying at me, then a beautiful women, a man, and then a small light in the distance is coming toward me. As it gets bigger, a face appears, then pauses, then disappears. Then pictured of Hitler, Stalin, a Chinese person, then African people I did not recognize. I decided to open my eyes.

Later, I was looking at the pictures I had taken at Lourdes. I was showing the cloudy picture to my family from the camera viewer. A picture error then came up, but the strange thing was I had over 140 images on the chip and only 6 had picture errors (the ones from Lourdes). Why six and not one from the rest of the trip, I don't know. I looked at them closer to find at the grotto, as I zoomed in, I saw the eyes and faces I had seen in my visions. My first week back I felt I was in cloud -- cuckoo land -- but as the images have been explained to me, I am more at peace. These images are still happening and I hope your readers will see what I see in the pictures. I have told this as it happened to me. The camera was an Olympus c300 digital. I'd welcome any thoughts on these. 




2014 Haunted New England Wall Calendar by Jeff Belanger photography by Frank Grace
Check out the 2014 Haunted New England wall calendar by Jeff Belanger and photography by Frank Grace!


Paranormal Conferences and Lectures
Don't miss the following events and lectures:

Jeff Belanger and “The Bridgewater Triangle” at Dedham Community Theatre - April 6, 2014 9:00PM

The Spirits of the Mark Twain House - Hartford, Connecticut - April 12, 2014

Paracon Australia - East Maitland, New South Wales, Australia - May 10-12, 2014