Scary dark site stories part 2.

[SteeDee87]

Hi guys,

I recently had a bit of a movie night with a few old thriller/horror movie titles thrown in the mix! After everyone went to bed around midnight I decided to check out the sky. It was a really nice night and just had to take the scope out! I was half asleep with heavy eyes and my mind was playing tricks on me. I kept seeing shadows and by the time I thought I seen the Mothman I figured it was time to come in (ten minutes after setting up haha). But anyway I decided to try and find some threads on this forum about scary moments etc. I found one from 2011 called "scary dark site stories" amongst a few others! I couldn't stop reading them! I was hoping some of you could share some freaky moments. Surely there must be some new stories since 2011!

Steve

[big_dav_2001]

I was in the backyard with the scope a few months ago, about 2.30-3am, when I heard a noise behind me that was unlike the usual night noises (bats, owls, cows in the next paddock)...
I turned around and spotted a torch beam moving around the driveway...
I snuck up to the corner of the garage and saw a guy shining a torch in my car looking for things to knock off, he obviously hadn't seen me in the dark even though I was only a couple of meters from him...lol...
I watched him for a few seconds, then shouted out and charged at him...
He absolutely crapped himself, as my 100Kg+ 6'5 screaming figure came barrelling out of the darkness...
He dropped his torch and a screwdriver and bolted off down the street, I went after him for a bit, I had no real chance of catching him...
Luckily, he left a nice big palm print on the car window as he took off...
The police caught a suspect who aparently was just out taking a walk (at 3am)...
Seems he likes to touch cars during his walks, his print matched the one on my car, as well as two other car break-ins in the area...
He was found guilty, not sure of the sentence though...

Definately one of the scariest moments I've had scope-side.
Davin

[Astro_Bot]

I have seen people genuinely out for a walk at 2am, including walking their dogs, so not everyone wandering around is up to no good. Heck, when I was much younger, I used to go for a 5k run at midnight to blow off excess energy. Oh, to have that kind of energy now ...

----------------------------------------------------

Anyway, on to my (slightly) scary story ... :scared3:

I set my scope up at the front of my house, because I'm "treed in" on the other three sides. In fact, I set up right on the kerbside due to the slope of my front yard and driveway. Consequently, I get a lot of passers by, both in cars and on foot, who usually greet me with, "Is that a telescope?".

Back in February (IIRC) after a long break, I had a particularly late one - I was still out viewing at 3am - and for the last couple of hours there'd been not a sound. It was the quietest night I can remember for a long time.

As I gazed through my scope I heard a strange sound in the distance:

Scrape, scrape, scrape .... kthunk, kthunk.

It was faint and intermittent.

I viewed some more, and the sound grew a little louder:

Scrape, scrape, scrape .... kthunk, kthunk.

Over the next few minutes the sound stopped and started, each time a bit louder and getting nearer, as I could hear it shift from being behind me and going towards my right:

Scrape, scrape, scrape .... kthunk, kthunk.

At this point, just in case, I retrieved my "persuading stick" from inside the house and lay it against the mount tripod:

Scrape, scrape, scrape .... kthunk, kthunk.

I can't see the road to the side, only the small side street directly in front of my house, due to the aforementioned trees and fence, so I still don't know what the hell is making this noise and don't want to tempt fate by going out to the "main" road to see, in case I draw too much attention to myself and my expensive equipment:

SCRAPE, SCRAPE, SCRAPE .... KTHUNK, KTHUNK. :scared2:

Finally, the thing came into view past the edge of the trees at the corner:

...

...

...

It was some guy, drunk as ten men, staggering along, dragging a steel esky along the pavement behind him. The esky looked like it was originally on a trolley, but no longer had wheels, and the "kthunk, kthunk" was the sound when the remnants of the wheel mounts on the bottom hit the gaps in the concrete pavement. Occasionally, as he was obviously barely able to stand, he would pause, sit on the esky, then summon up the strength to continue for a few more metres. He paused and sat at the street corner for a minute or two, then went on. (And this is when I recalled that there had been party noises up at the top of the "main" street earlier in the evening). He didn't even notice I was there.

[sn1987a]

[QUOTE=Astro_Bot;1093706]I have seen people genuinely out for a walk at 2am, including walking their dogs, so not everyone wandering around is up to no good. Heck, when I was much younger, I used to go for a 5k run at midnight to blow off excess energy. Oh, to have that kind of energy



Ahhh yes me too, I have fond memories of jogging over the Sydney harbour bridge at midnight and around the opera house in my youth, you'd be surprised how many others are out doing the same thing that time of night.

[SteeDee87]

Haha great stories. Keep them coming! I've personally not really had any 'scary' moments but I've had a few strange ones. I usually set up at the top of my drive way because i to am "treed in". I live in a quiet street and i definitely feel like I am looked at strangely when a car comes by at 3 am. My cat usually joins me (which can be really annoying because he likes to rub against the scope from time to time just as im getting a great view of Saturn). Anyway one night i could see something very faintly coming up the street, all i could see was two red eyes coming right at me. In stealth mode. It was a fox. I think it was trying to sneak up on my cat. I usually keep my high powered LED torch with me so I shone it on it. It must of only been 5 meters away. It ran off quickly but i wonder what would of happened if it had gotten right up to us?

Another night I went up to quite a nice "darker then usual' site in the glass house mountains. Pretty good spot can see the milky way nicely and the LMC/SMC. Just a bit of sky glow from the east. We had a few hoons rock up at around 1am. They were fine I think they just wanted somewhere to smoke a joint and then went off on their way. Didnt bother us at all. But they did a burn out as they left and tore off down the road. About half an hour later we could hear a siren in the distance. Coming closer and closer. About 5 minutes later an ambulance came into the car park and came right up to us high beams and all (thanks for ruining the night vision guys). They asked if we had seen anyone else. I'm guessing the hoons had had abit of an accident. They went on their way after asking us a few questions. Twenty minutes later a Fire engine rocks up (night vision ruined again). Asked us the same questions and were on their way. We left about an hour later and the came across the Ambulance and Fire engine down the bottom of the mountain. Not sure what happened. I guess anywhere else it wouldn't of been all that strange but when you are in the middle of no where things are different.

[el_draco]

Decades ago I had the chance to visit Riverside Telescope Makers Conference at Big Bear in California. Amazing experience and I think i did not sleep more than a few hours during the whole deal.

Of course, being a newly arrived "Resident Alien" at the time, I had little knowledge of the local environment and had a doozy of an encounter at about 2:00 am one night.

I had been running one of the domes for the evening and when I lost my voice from talking hours on end, I got relieved from duty. I started heading back to my camp area but got a little disoriented in the dark and then got distracted looking at the most amazing Milkyway.... then I got the impression I was not alone and my dark adaption was good enough to see a series of shapes around me, all about the same size... little sounds coming from both sides and in front of me set every hair on my neck absolutely upright and I froze... NOT my imagination!:face:
Cautiously, I raised my RED light torch and thought, I'll bust one of you Bast*ards good before you take me down... and then did the dumbest thing possible... I turned it on :eyepop: There before me in 3 directions were a dozen sets of eye's, blazing red and slanted inward like evil incarnate..:wink2::wink2::wink2::wi nk2::wink2:

Well, I can tell you, the old sphincter retracted like the recoil from a 150mm howitzer and I left the area in the opposite direction almost as fast as that herd of wild donkeys.... with them braying their heads off, I suspect in hysterical laughter :lol:

I will NEVER forget that sense of utter terror :rofl:

[RB]

There was a recent one in Jan this year too Steve.
If you missed it have a read here: http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=116881&page=2

:thumbsup:

[LewisM]

The one that relly sticks out in my memory is not scary, but just a sublime moment.

Out there, 3 am or something. I hear some noises to the left, and the biggest darned hare bounds into view. Turns around as he goes past, looks back over at me for a few seconds, then bounds off. And this is in the middle of suburbia.

I did one night here VERY odd noises in the treeline some 80 metres away. Shone the torch there, and got eyes reflecting back - not near ground level either - definitely human height. Someone was wandering around in the treeline, maybe watching houses etc, or maybe just having a midnight leek during a walk :)

[SteeDee87]

Yes I did have a read of this one! I particularly like Ron's story about his encounter with the bear! And Chris' story about the Blue Mountains! Now that is freaky!!!!!!!!! :eyepop:

[jjjnettie]

I'd driven up to our local look out to snaffle some pics of Terry's Xmas Comet and had a mob of feral pigs set up camp across the road, watching me the entire time I was there. Every time I got out of the car to check on the camera they'd grunt and squeal at me.
It really was quite frightening at the time.

When I go down to Lake Somerset to take night scapes, I sometimes hear them digging around at the waters edge. Though I've not had an encounter with them yet.

[Sarge]

Maybe more funny than scary, and it didn't happen to me, but here it is. This is a story told to me by my father many years ago.
My father's grand-dad had a small farm south of Geelong in Victoria, AUS. He was having a great deal of trouble with foxes in the chook pen overnight. One night he heard the chooks going wild, so ran out with his trusty 4/10 shotgun. Ran straight into the chook pen in total darkness and saw two eyes looking at him. Immediately, BAM with the shot gun right between the eyes. Then he hears a low Moooooo, as his prized bull collapses dead in front of him.
Sometimes is does pay to wait for your night vision.

Clear skies

Rod
:D:D

[GrahamL]

Working a tractor on a farm at night ,nothing near bye, no sheds, houses ,lights nothing around me for 3kms in every direction , even the manager has gone to brisbane for the weekend.On my return run from the rear boudary I crest a small hill after a couple of kms and see exactly this , cept for there was only two, though one had a weapon in its hand :)


Well I stopped dead and for the life of me could not rationalize whats in front of me for several seconds ,,,I was clearly about to be abducted :( and If I hadn't caught a glimpse of the bee hives and the gantry arm of the light on the truck through all the swirling fog I swear I was off an runnin :)

[BakerStreet]

Setting up one evening I had taken the scope out just before dark to line it up with the south while I could see what I was doing. I pulled the cap off and pointed it at a random patch of sky, to check the columnation while I still had light, and put an eye piece in and looked through. Two enormous square objects passed across the field of view :eyepop: and I thought, "That's it. The aliens have arrived.

It took me a couple of seconds to figure out what it was that I had just seen and then I dived for the laptop to check. The ISS had just passed over head and I had glimpsed it through the eye piece.

Have also had a few small objects slowly cross the field of view and not been sure what I was seeing until I realised they were geostationary satellites.