Monday, February 23, 2009

The Night of The Weird Thing




Our Navajo guide was resting with his back against a tree while the students laughed and gossiped, exploring friendships and newly found low notes in their tents. Gathering a moment to myself I looked out over the plains from our high perch on the sacred mountain, and let my gaze lift up to the soft blue light still present on the western horizon and, what the heck is...

“Hey, Phil, what is that thing?” I pointed at the huge point of light hovering in the clear New Mexico sky. It was way too big to be a planet or a star.

“I’ve seen that before.” Phil knew what it was. Grabbing his binoculars from his knapsack he stepped out into the clearing and took a good long look.

“What is it?” I pleaded.

“Look,” He handed me the binoculars.

“Oh my God!” I stared for several minutes at what looked to me like a huge diamond shaped space station with bars of light that were moving in a line across its front section. It seemed to have much smaller objects flying around it but I could not tell if my eyes were playing tricks.

The kids came out of their tents and gathered to see. They passed the binoculars and as each one looked, a jaw would drop and the words, “Oh my God!” would emanate quietly from wonder filled lips. Wasted attempts to get a photograph were made and awe turned to laughter as the kids analyzed the possible meanings with jokes and giggles.

The weird thing stayed there, unmoving, for 45 minutes before retreating, turning red, and fading off into space.

_____

I wouldn’t have believed it either if I hadn’t seen it for myself.

Back at school a couple of weeks later we all met again and I asked the kids to draw what they remembered. The image at the top was the most detailed version.

Have you ever seen anything that can't be explained?

32 comments:

Khaled KEM said...

Sometimes I see things that you could not explain...but I never experienced something like that.

Very well written that I could not tell if it is real or fiction?!

When I was a teenage, I was fascinated by space ships, the creatures living out there in other planets, the stars and the whole Universe. I read a lot about it.
I am still curious but not as before as I try first to understand the human being and decode his secrets before shifting to other creatures.

ceedy said...

Interesting.....hope it is true :)

jaz said...

Like Khaled, I thought this was fiction in the beginning, but by the end it felt real. Fascinating in either case, but of course more in the latter! :)

Catherine Vibert said...

I swear on a stack of all religious texts that the story is true.

JR's Thumbprints said...

A friend of mine once saw bigfoot, but he also did too much acid.

Are you sure there wasn't an explanation for what you saw? Are you really really really sure?

... if so, then I believe you.

Noelle Dunn.... A Poet in Progress said...

not quite like that, my dear.

Catherine Vibert said...

JR-I only know that I can not explain it based on any information I have knowledge of.

Noelle-Actually, pretty much exactly like that, I kid you not. Like I said, I wouldn't believe it either if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. If there is any fiction in the story, it is the editing down of everyone's reactions to make the story read shorter. Otherwise, it's the truth, cross my heart.

Karen said...

My sister swears she was chased by a UFO which whizzed on by as she swerved off the road. Like JR, I have my suspicions! LOL

Seriously, though, I can't imagine that we're the only creatures out here.

Sarah Hina said...

Wow...I believe you, Cat.

I don't know what it was, obviously, but I know you all saw it, and that it was a profoundly mind-bending experience.

Where exactly were you guys? And have you Googled to see if others have shared the same experience in that area? I'm completely fascinated...

And no, I've never experienced anything like this. Though, as a former X-Files addict, I've always really wanted to. :D

Cherie/ Butterfly Dreamer said...

Yes I have and your experience sounds amazing.

laughingwolf said...

nothing like that, cath, but as a youngster in southern ontario i did see two, one cigar shaped, the other more like a standard alien 'saucer'

bluesugarpoet said...

That is absolutely fascinating! I've never had the fortune to see anything like this, but I don't doubt you did for one second. The universe is vast, and there is just so much that we don't know.

I love the drawing!

Anil Sawan said...

u actually saw a space ship????

Catherine Vibert said...

Karen-I think there are a lot of very weird stories out there, many are I'm sure quite fictional. My story, however, is true. But I can't tell you what it was.

Sarah-Exactly. It was just a weird thing that can't be explained. It was a Waldorf high school field trip to New Mexico in September of 2005 and I was asked to join them as a supervisor/driver. Our explorations included Chaco Canyon and then on up to this sacred mountain where it is said was the birthplace of the Navajo tribe. I won't offend them by quoting you the wrong story as I have forgotten the exact details.

Cherie and Laughingwolf, I'd LOVE to hear your stories.

Blue Sugar Poet, I love this drawing too. Waldorf kids are so amazingly talented with their artful expressions. Instead of having textbooks, they make their own so they get very good at this kind of detailed creative thinking.

Sawan-Well I can't say that for sure, but I can say that it sure looked like that.

ceedy said...

Just read this and reminded me of this story - check it

http://news.aol.com/article/ufo-explanation/355442

Catherine Vibert said...

Hey Ceedy, thanks for that link! I looked at all the pictures and none of them remind me of what I saw. The way it hovered for 45 minutes then left by getting smaller and fading to red before it finally disappeared was particularly unexplainable, I think so anyway.

Anonymous said...

Wow. That was very cool to have everyone looking at the same object!

Once I was alone on a mountain top before dawn. In the sky above me, I suddenly saw lights drifting. Yellow and red lights. I watched for a while strangely calm and thought, wow, so this is what it's like to see a UFO.

After a few minutes, the realization struck me. There was a plateau above my position that I couldn't see because it was so dark. A pickup truck must have driven along the fire break that ran along the ridge top. I was seeing its lights as it was rolling around. I never expected a vehicle so far from any paved road.

Catherine Vibert said...

Jason-Aw! Too bad, I wanted it to BE a UFO! Very funny story, thanks for sharing that!

ceedy said...

Was just sharing as it popped up on AOL...

I really want these UFO to be there....only they can get us out of this current turmoil....here on earth

Geraldine said...

Actually we did a couple of nights ago. A very bright light in the night sky with points radiating from it. It was mesmerizing.

Wonderful story Cat!

Hugs, G

Catherine Vibert said...

Ceedy- Maybe 'they' are waiting to see if we can work it out on our own? Who knows? One can only speculate.

Geraldine-That is cool! Did you happen to look through binoculars to get a closer view? I'm so curious. More! More!

Khaled KEM said...

Hi Cat,

Usually when I write, I just have an initial idea about the topic of the poem. it happens sometimes that by the end of the poem I add more ideas to the original idea or the idea shifts towards a second meaning. Some poems are just thoughts connected through one common target. I guess it is the same that happens to all of us (writers, poets, etc..)

I do not try to make my poems complicated but very thoughtful. I am always a big fan of the simple creative school in art and literature and in my opinion it is the hardest one.

I hope that you decoded it.
Waiting for part 5 of Maddening hearts in the last year of innocence.

K.Lawson Gilbert said...

Cat that is such a wonderful experience. So well written. I love the picture.

We live in a rather isolated area. Years ago now, my son and I were in yard, when suddenly a huge craft of some kind appeared above us. We tried to follow it as it hovered over the hill across from the house, but as we got to the top of the hill, it sped away!!! Many people in our area and surrounding towns saw "something" unexplained that same day...and to this day it is still unexplained.

Catherine Vibert said...

Khaled-Your wish is my command! ;-)

K. Wow! What an amazing experience THAT must have been! Thank you for sharing that story. :-)

Geraldine said...

Oh Cat, that would have been a good idea. Actually we just enjoyed the moment together (me and Joe) gazing up at this lovely bright light in the sky. I think it may have been a comet actually, now that I've read more about how they can appear. It was dazzling to behold!

Hugs, g

Catherine Vibert said...

Geraldine, really? I thought comets tend to hang out for a number of days! I've seen two in my life, I watched every night with obsessive glory Hale-Bopp when it came mid 90s, that one was STUNNING. The other one I saw when I was about 10, and I still have the memory etched like a smile across my memory cells.

Cynthia said...

That celestial diamond cage sounds
awe-inspiring Cat.
I haven't seen any mysterious
sky huggers, but I have heard a
few things myself, and was happy
to find out a handful of other
people heard the same thing.

Catherine Vibert said...

Cynthia, Yup, it was pretty darn weird and one can't help but draw conclusions...still it is only speculation.

christopher said...

Cat, I couldn't resist. :)

The Sighting

It was diamond
shaped and shivered, spitting light
from the three corners
as it hung weightless
small and close, far and larger,
I don't know, she said,
and I can't tell what
I know because I am sworn
and they keep watching.

Catherine Vibert said...

Christopher-I love it. I have often thought that I was one, you know, an alien. :-)

Vesper said...

I swear on a stack of all religious texts that the story is true.

Wow, Cat! Absolutely fantastic! I very much wish I were there. (I am terribly sceptical by nature...)

Catherine Vibert said...

Vesper-I am very much a skeptic too! :-) I hope to see it again sometime, and perhaps a little closer for a better view.

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