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Precognition is the claimed paranormal ability to foresee future events. DEBORAH CONTESSA describes her own strange personal precognitive experience
Is linear time, as quantum physics suggests, just an illusion? How else could one become aware of a future event or situation, seemingly through extrasensory means?
Foreknowledge and foreknowledge of an event or catastrophe violates the principle of causality, as it is not possible for an effect to arise before its cause. However, magazines and newspapers regularly report visions of future events, including sports results, disasters and celebrity scandals, in addition to the usual births, deaths and marriages.
Many famous premonitions and prophecies have been fulfilled, including that of NostradamusMark Twain and even Jules Verne.
Therefore, I feel I have put myself in good company as I indulge you with my own personal precognitive experience…
My insider experience
My eyes flew wide open as I was suddenly jolted awake, adjusting to the darkness that enveloped me, my mind trying to figure out what had caused such a rude awakening. I became aware of blue flashing lights partially visible through a crack in the curtains and the echo of engines nearby.
As I regained full consciousness I realized that the emergency services must be present in the street and this was immediately confirmed by the high-pitched wailing of sirens from further approaching vehicles.
My curiosity was aroused, I put on my dressing gown and quickly descended the stairs. I opened the front door as quietly as I could, stepped outside, walked along the path and then onto the main road.
As I investigated the area I quickly became aware of the cause of all the nocturnal activity; about two blocks away one of the row houses was on fire! Firefighters rushed into the burning building, their hoses continuously pumping gallons of water in a vain attempt to save the family compound and suburban residents.
What made this terrifying sight even more horrifying was that I knew the inhabitants of that now charred black shell; it was home to a middle-aged lady who was locally infamous for her alcoholism, and her teenage daughter Sammy, who had been at school under me for a few years. I watched in fascination as the house seemed to collapse in on itself, scorched beams sticking out where the roof had once been and the entire building was destroyed by the catastrophic fire.
I was relived when all the flames were extinguished and the paramedics who had arrived on the scene returned to their vehicles without any casualties, with the only casualty of the inferno seemingly being the home itself.
As the other bystanders began to head back to their respective homes, I too decided to go back inside and snuggle up for what was left of the night.
The next morning, over breakfast, my mother mentioned that she had heard my nightly wanderings and asked why I had gotten up and gone out in the middle of the night. I told her the previous evening’s drama as we sipped our morning coffee, and suggested that we take a walk to the local shop so we could walk past the destroyed property and see the devastation for ourselves.
Imagine my surprise when I passed the property: it appeared completely intact and showed no evidence of fire whatsoever!
Confused, we walked further to the newsagents and questioned the shopkeeper for information about the previous night’s fire. She had not heard of such an event, but suggested we try the nearby hairdresser, because ‘nothing happened here without Nancy knowing about it’ – but she too had no idea.
In fact, no one could help us, we talked to several neighbors and friends but came up blank every time. My mother became convinced that I had dreamed or imagined it all, but even she could not explain how she would have heard me go out if it had only been a fantasy! I felt completely perplexed by the whole experience!
The rest of that day passed uneventfully, although I did get a few sideways glances from my mother just before bed and my father joked that I shouldn’t eat cheese for dinner in case it caused more night terrors!
Fortunately, I fell into a deep dreamless sleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow and woke up the next day feeling refreshed and relaxed, my strange experience all but forgotten.
That is until the lady across the road showed up on our doorstep and started feverishly describing a disastrous fire. An inferno that had occurred while we were all sleeping unknowingly in the comfort of our homes!
We quickly went outside to find the rest of the neighborhood inspecting the ruins of a well-known home. An incredible sense of indescribable horror enveloped me, chilling me to my core as I viewed the image of a collapsed house, its scorched beams sticking out where the roof once was…
So how had I witnessed an event 24 hours before it actually happened?
Did I actually visit another physical location and see, hear and feel everything while I slept?
Time is not an absolute, so are the present, future and past largely unwritten?
I can find no plausible explanation for this strange experience that occurred nearly thirty years ago, and I honestly admit that I feel a shiver of sadness as I tell this story.
Do you have insider knowledge? Tell us about it in the comments below!
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