Please don’t laugh at me, I’m freaked out.

[Connie222]

So I posted a thread two nights ago where I woke up to see a white figure standing by my bed. It was an white sort of see though figure, looked like a shortish, stubby old man in a suit. I screamed, jumped out of bed, screamed for Dh who was downstairs. Some posters on the thread said hypnopompic hallucinations which made sense. I’m pregnant, stressed and tired.

Woke up this morning to a very tired Dh who hadn’t slept. Ask him what’s wrong and he’s skirting round it, nips off to do Dd breakfast. He comes back and I ask him to tell me what’s up.

Last night he woke twice (2am and 3am) to bright white flashes and a smell of cigar/cigarette smoke so strong in the room that he had to go down stairs and check. But the smell was only in the room. And then he noticed a small burn mark on the carpet (we only moved in to this rented house 5 weeks ago, new carpets, Dh had thoroughly, obsessively checked every inch of the place so we don’t get stiffed on deposits again for things that were here before - he insists carpet was perfect).

None of us smoke, no family smoke. I’ve been hiked up in this room with HG since we moved in.

Dh works away two nights a week, he’s going tomorrow and I’m feeling a bit wobbly.

Please don’t take the piss! I know rationally that ghosts don’t exist. I just feel a bit weird.

(P.s is Birdie friend still around? Would like his/it’s opinion).

*safety, not sadly

X posted

Poltergeist then soz

Is there a mirror anywhere in the room that could have concentrated the light onto that point? It happened in our camper van and the mark it left looked exactly like a cigarette burn.

Do you have carbon monoxide detectors? I have read about couples having very weird and vivid dreams which turned out to be due to a faulty boiler releasing carbon monoxide.

I'd also insist on the locks being changed and the loft being checked - the thought of a living person would scare me far more than a dead one.

I would apply Occam's razor here - the simplest explanation is most likely

@Connie222
There isn't a light downstairs underneath where the cigarette mark was? Please test your smoke alarms and get the landlord to check the wiring. Check your insurance too. I've lived in a haunted house before. They never left marks.

I regularly had a man in a suit sit on my bed. I told him he freaked me out and could he please stop coming... Never saw him again.
Now have a little boy instead in our lives..
Op I would say it is connected to your pregnancy... Someone you have lost feels they are missing out on your up and coming arrival!

How strange.

Can you post a picture of the burn?

Sorry,just seen posts about carbon monoxide. Cross posted

No mirror at all in the room. Just moved in so it’s literally just a bed and open clothes storage at the moment.

I wish I’d never pushed it and made him tell me what was up this morning, because now I will over think it. I go to bed when dd does at 7.30 because I feel so rough and I have to have the room dark to sleep. I really don’t want to sleep with the lamp on until Dh comes up!

I’ve never been so jealous that he gets to spend two nights in a hotel for work!

We always said we'd have the code word "Travelodge" which would mean get the fuck out now if there was a sniff of anything paranormal

Hmm your dh isn't staying at a "Travelodge" for his work thing is he?

I often smell smoke in my sleep. It wakes me up and I wander around sniffing, but it's all in my head (I think I may be paranoid about house fires). I've also woken up smelling toast and perfume, but again, it's all in my head. Likewise the flashes of light - I get these when I'm sleeping and someone makes a loud noise. No idea why but I know it's normal.

I'd suspect the burn was there before and he just didn't notice it. The human mind is incredibly easy to mislead. Maybe he was distracted when he was looking over the carpet, maybe somethng was on top of it, maybe it happened when the carpet fitter was fitting it. Have you ever put something down and have it 'vanish' only to turn up again right in front of you? Sometimes we literally can't see what's there.

Don't worry. Stay hydrated.

Post a picture of the burn, someone may have had something similar and be able to give other suggestions.

I often wake up to the feeling of my cat climbing over my bed and when I look there's nothing there. Our mind can play tricks on us, especially if your DH already had the idea of you seeing something on his mind.

I suffer from Explosive Head Syndrome (@Zap have you heard of it sounds like you might have the same) and it’s similar to this, although both of you and the burn is baffling.

Agree ghosts don't smoke!

You must have missed the burn mark, or dropped something and didn't notice.

Crystals in the window can also concentrate light like mirrors and cause burns.

Halogen bulbs, the old style ones that get hot can also be a culprit.

Did you smell smoke? Or just him at 3am after you’d screamed about a white figure in the room?

I’m not laughing at you! I’m just saying - the subconscious is a weird and wacky place. I’m sure he had all sorts going on in there after your dream.

I really, really, really wouldn’t worry.

We had a burning smell in just one room then a sooty mark appeared on the ceiling. We got an electrician in and it turned out to be a faulty light.

On another occasion, something similar happened in a student house and it also turned out to be an electrical fault. The electrician said we were lucky it had burnt itself out and not set the house on fire.

So even though its not near any electrics there could be a wire underneath the floor. Please get you electrics checked.

You're not in Suffolk by any chance?

On a slightly more serious note, is the house terraced or semi detached? Or even the possibility of a neighbour smoking outside? Any mirrors or candles that could have concentrated sunlight onto the carpet that could have caused it to singe?

Sniff the carpet. Does it smell burned where the burn is? Does it smell different from the carpet 2 m away.

Has it been sunny, and do you have anything that might focus sunlight coming in the window onto that spot? I used to have a glass paper weight on my window sill, and the sunlight through it one day burnt a little patch on my wooden chest.

Sparks could have jumped from an exploding electrical onto the carpet, have you checked everything in the room? Flashes of light and a burning smell are more likely to be a faulty electrical than a ghostly cigarette, even if the burn marks aren’t directly by anything electrical a small explosion can send sparks quite far.

If you're scared, keep the lights on. You'll get poor sleep either way, but at least you won't be lying in the dark terrified.

Can you spend the night in a different room whilst your husband's away?

It doesn't really matter whether ghosts are real or not. Whether it's 'all in your head' isn't relevant. You're scared. Find all the ways you can to minimise that. Can you keep the tv/radio on all night so that you're not hearing every little house-creak?

Best I could take.

It’s a thick carpet. I’ve never smoked but Dh said he made the same mark on his mums carpet as a teenager having a sneaky fag in the house. It’s not like on had been put out. It’s like hot ash has been dropped, doesn’t go all the way through the carpet.

I’ve had a poke around it and I’m not convinced. I just think he smelled the smoke, saw that and connected the two.

I think you are suffering sleep paralysis which isn't always experienced as paralysis but also sensations of people looming over you etc.

I have fibromyalgia, and someone went and brought me Cannabis capsules (back street) for my pain. Next night I took 2 and went to sleep. I awoke to the distinct sensation of someone opening the bedroom door, walking in and standing over my head. It was a man and he stood there and I wasn't able to really do much (as sleeping) but was also awake if that makes any sense. I sort of was alarmed but also accepting.

Next morning I didn't panic because I knew the cannabis had resulted in me having an episode of sleep paralysis and I had hallucinated. I had disturbed sleep again the next night then no more hallucinations. (the strong cannabis capsules are going to waste)

I think smelling smoke is also common. Another explanation is if you live in a terraced house the neighbour can smoke and the smell is capable of penetrating under the gap in the skirting board. i always know when my neighbour has the odd fag (rarely thankfully)

Try to relax. I think it really is due to hormones and pregnancy.

This will sound batshit, I know, but with a try. I do believe in ghosts. I'm certain I saw one as a child. And since when working in a nursing home many years ago.

When DD was a toddler, she woke up crying for a few nights running and was sat in the corner of her cot. It seemed as if she was looking at something. Anyway, when thus happened again I decided to say out loud for it to please leave dd alone as they were scaring her. I swear it never happened again.