Mr. Strickler - I wanted to communicate with you a few strange incidents I experienced this past week.
I am a collector of vintage Christmas ornaments and have done so for over 30 years. The day after Thanksgiving, I received a telephone call from a local auctioneer who had just received a consignment that included several rare handmade ornaments. The next week, I attended the auction and was delighted after obtaining several of these fine pieces at very reasonable prices. One ornament in particular stood out from the rest. It was a porcelain figure of a St.Bernard dog that was English and hand painted.
Each Christmas, I select my favorite ornaments from my collection to display on my tree. I was very proud of the new St. Bernard dog ornament and wanted to show it off to my friends and family.
One morning last week, I noticed that the ornament had fallen from the tree and was laying on the carpet. The string that attached it to the tree branch was not tore and felt fortunate that it had not broken. I just placed it back on the tree.
That evening, I was sitting in the living room reading a magazine when I started to hear a 'ringing' sound coming from the tree. It was like a the sound of a porcelain bell. The sound lasted for a few seconds then suddenly stopped. About an hour later, the ringing sound started again but this time it was a bit louder and lasted for almost a minute. I looked at the tree but could not tell where the sound was coming from. I just assumed it was coming from outside the house.
That night, I was laying in bed asleep (around 11:45 pm) when I thought I heard heavy footsteps coming down my upstairs hallways towards my bedroom. I got up, looked around the house and rechecked the intruder alarm. I was in the kitchen checking the outside door when I heard footsteps rapidly going up the stairs to the second floor. I live alone, so I was very concerned, so I called 911 just to be safe.
The police looked around the property to make sure it was safe. I live in a small community where everyone knows everyone else's business, so anything out of the ordinary is common knowledge the next day. The police assured me that they would not make a report. They soon left and told me to call back if I noticed anything unusual. I thought that was an odd statement but I appreciated their concern.
I walked up the stairs and turned towards my bedroom. As soon as I got to the bedroom door I noticed it. The St. Bernard ornament was setting on my nightstand. Now I was freaked out. I have never experienced any paranormal activity though I love to read about these things. Now it was happening to me.
I picked up the ornament, walked downstairs and placed it back on the tree. I looked at it for a minute or two and then noticed that two other ornaments were missing. I looked on the carpet but nothing was there. After looking around for several minutes I decided to go back to bed and look again in the morning.
The next morning, I woke and walked downstairs. I entered the living room and immediately noticed that the St. Bernard ornament was missing from the tree - but the two ornaments that were missing the night before were back on the tree. I looked all over the house, but the ornament was gone.
It has been almost a week and the St. Bernard ornament is still missing, but there has been no further activity since it disappeared. I cannot explain any of this. Are you familiar with this type of activity? I hesitate to speculate what is going on and really don't what anybody coming into my house to investigate.
If the ornament returns, I will notify you. Please feel free to publish my story if you like but I would appreciate anonymity. I have included a photo of a similar ornament I found in a dealer catalog. Thank you for your help.
NOTE: I referred the writer to Spirit Rescue International if they need further help. I suggested that these incidents resemble poltergeist activity but there could be other explanations as well. Any thoughts from the readers? Lon
