A scientist’s experience of the paranormal

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On August 13, 2019

Category: Common Courtesy, Getting Through Life and Work, Growing Old is Not for Sissies, Life Outside of Work, Psychology

I am a scientist and, as a scientist, I prefer to base my decisions on data and other provable information. However, there are some things that cannot be explained by logic, science, or anything else; they remain mysteries. As I write this post at a time near the 10 year anniversary of my mother’s death, I pause to reflect on the manner in which she passed away and its inexplicable circumstances. Scientifically speaking, what happened could not have happened, but my experience, shared with my husband, David, and my brother, Frank, did, without a doubt, happen. Mom passed away at the age of 93, from a form of dementia colloquially known as Pick’s Disease. Many years prior to her having dementia, she placed me in charge of her long term care, finances, and in general, her well being. Included in our discussions about her future, she asked me to promise I would never place her in any type of facility if/when the time came for her to require assistance in performing activities of daily living. I agreed to this request and, when the time came, I hired professional care givers to provide assistance to her in her home, to supplement the excellent care she received from Frank, who lived with her until she passed away. In addition to paying all of Mom’s living expenses and care givers, David and I bought a house 3 doors down from Mom, on the street where I grew up, so that we could spend as much time as possible providing care to her. On the day Mom passed away, David and I had just returned to our east coast home after a lengthy stay in our home near Mom, only to have Frank call and say, “Hurry back. Mom’s not going to make it much longer.” David and I did, indeed, hurry back to Fort Myers, where we found Frank at Mom’s bedside and Mom in a comatose state. Frank and I said our goodbyes, told Mom we were ready to send her “home with the Lord,” and kissed her cheek. The 3 of us began to rest to prepare for what we thought would be a long night. Then it happened. Exactly at the stroke of midnight, a loud electrical sounding buzzing noise occurred and all of the lights in Mom’s house went out. David, Frank, and I ran to Mom’s side, although all of us knew what had happened: Mom passed away at the same moment we experienced the power outage and loud noise. The sound we heard, at least in my opinion, was the sound of Mom being sent to heaven. The next day, we asked the neighbors whether they had experienced a power outage or heard any strange noises, and, as you might expect, their answer was “No.” However, the care giver who spent Mom’s final day with her, but whom we had never before met, reported that she experienced a power outage at midnight and, like David, Frank, and me, she knew it marked Mom’s passing. There are some things that cannot be explained. Thankfully for me, there are 2 other people who shared in my one and only experience of the paranormal.

Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On August 13, 2019

Category: Common Courtesy, Getting Through Life and Work, Growing Old is Not for Sissies, Life Outside of Work, Psychology

I was just thinking of this event recently, before reading what Melissa wrote about that night. I, too, am very glad that we were all together when Leola turned out the lights in that I don’t think the experience would have otherwise been believable. She was not connected to any machines, so there was nothing to create any explainable electrical interference. But, it the lights flickered and there was an audible buzzing sound that got our attention quickly and caused us to spring up and check on her. It was, perhaps, not until a bit later that we considered what we observed. Sitting on the porch in the early morning hours after the mortician had taken her away, the reality of it all set in. We have joked about haunted hotels, the mysteries of divining rods and vortexes, but this was on a different level and it serves as a reminder that we can never know the explanations for all we experience in this world!

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