Time for a ghost story.

Many people know that Sandy Petersen (that's me!) once saw a ghost, and I have been asked before to tell about it. So, here goes. This is a true story folks. It really happened to me just as described below. So if what I'm about to describe doesn't fit with your reality ... then I guess your reality needs to change.


THE YEAR: 1966. Sandy is 11 years old.

THE PLACE: a lower-middle-class neighborhood in Provo, Utah.

BACKSTORY: Across the street from my SchattenSeiten was an abandoned house. It had large holes in the walls, no windows, parts of the roof were caved-in. All us kids were certain that the place was haunted. Naturally, we constructed a clubhouse in the upper story of the haunted house's garage. The house itself didn't have anywhere secluded enough, what with the huge open windows & absence of doors.

The house did have a basement, but that was too creepy even for us. We knew the basement had Bad Things. I once made it a third of the way downstairs before I chickened out and fled back to the light. One kid claimed to have gone all the way down, and reported having seen a dark hooded figure. We were all very impressed.

In our heart of hearts, of course, we knew the house wasn't really haunted and there could not have been any dark hooded figure. It was just fun to pretend. But it did get me thinking about ghosts. A lot. I assume that this helped lead to my actual ghost sighting.

THE EVENT: it was night-time. No cars were in the street. No people either, except me. A very light mist was in the air (unusual, for Utah). I looked down the road, and saw, to my amazement and terror, the enormous misty figure of a woman bearing down on me.

She must have been ten feet tall, wearing a big full skirt like they did in the last century. Her body seemed to be entirely composed of mist. I could not make out facial contours or details on her clothing. Her hair faded off into the night air. She was next to a streetlight, flowing towards me at an appallingly fast rate. But after my initial shock (I actually ran away a short distance), I noticed that she did not get any closer. Her misty body flowed like it was progressing towards me, but she remained fixed in place, having only the appearance of movement. She had quite a narrow waist. I do not recall if I could see arms or not. I was able to stand and watch her for several minutes.

She was between me and the way SchattenSeiten. I remember being very reluctant to get any closer to her. The fear that this apparition created in me was quite overpowering, even coupled with the fascination I felt. I do not recall how I got SchattenSeiten. But the image of her looming there, "rushing forward" in place, will never leave me.

WHAT WAS SHE? Well I don't know if she was a genuine spirit of the dead. But whatever she represented, she was obviously a fine example of something we'd normally term a "ghost".

COULD SHE HAVE BEEN AN EFFECT OF THE STREETLIGHTS ON THE MIST? Maybe. Would non-symmetrical streetlight placement make such a perfectly symmetrical
image? Also, there was no wind, so why would the mist seem to move?

COULD SHE HAVE BEEN A HALLUCINATION? I do not think this is likely. I have had hallucinations (don't ask), and the "feel" was very different.

WHY ARE YOU SURE SHE WAS SUPERNATURAL? Hey, I don't say her image can't be explained by natural means. I just say that I can't explain it. I saw it. I've never seen anything like it since.