Do you ever get a strange feeling about someone ( or something?)

[Trixiefirecracker]

I recently met someone, just a friend of a friend, and had a really visceral gut feeling about her and not in a good way. It made me feel so uncomfortable and I felt really awkward around her, like she might know what I was thinking. I have no idea why this happened and has never happened before, there was no obvious reason for it. She was perfect polite. However It felt like all the hairs stood up on the back of my neck and something about her really rattled me.Has anyone else ever had this experience and were they ‘right’ about their gut feeling?

@Trixiefirecracker , in the 70s my folks were friends with the Broadmoor chief psychiatrist and his wife - Broadmoor wasn’t far from their house. More than once they were invited to do’s there - probably fundraisers - and at least once Jimmy Savile was the ‘celebrity’ guest.

My mother was always hyper-hyper sensitive* (which TBH could make her difficult to live with) and I well remember her saying how JS (they were introduced - handshakes etc.) utterly gave her the creeps.

By the time he was found out she was well into dementia, so never realised how well founded her instincts had been. For myself (then a teen) I certainly never liked him on TOTP - could never understand the popularity - but never had the misfortune to meet him.

*I know personally of two instances where she was acutely telepathic over long distances, so I dare say that’s relevant.

My ex boss
I just didn't like the look of him from the second I met him
I needed the job so took it and avoided him like he had fleas
Turns out he liked his girls young-hed follow the young ones round and do low level stuff that they couldn't complain about as he'd not really done anything wrong (that anyone could prove)
I was working with him one day,when he just got up and walked out
Never saw him again-he quit-but turns out a group of girls (aged 16-21) had gone to the higher ups and had complained about him following them and doing stuff like cornering them to talk to them-like i say,low level stuff
He quit before he was pushed

A customer at work-normal guy, bit entitled
He made my skin crawl inside out
Turns out,he's just done 15 years and is a paedophile

My grandad always taught me to trust my gut feeling
He was right

I think it can be similar to when you see a dead body and immediately sense that they're just 'not there'. There's something missing.

When I worked in a shop I once served a customer who afterwards I found out was a well known gangster.

I had no idea when I served him. But he just had a chilling energy. Like he was actually trying to be a normal person, but didn't have a soul animating him.

I wonder if I give off this vibe. I have autism and have a brain injury so am prone to staring.... they used to be described as petit mal seizures. I just get 'lost'. Then it looks like I have been glaring for two/ three minutes. My partner and kids are always pulling me up about it!

In a similar vein, my cousin met Rolf Harris when he was on a tour of her art studio and this was years before all the allegations came out. She said he gave her the creeps and even though he actually didnt do anything she said she could imagine him being a completely lecherous old man. Turns out she was right.

Yes and the intuition has never been wrong, regardless how polite and nice they come across.

My dad used to feel the same about saddleworth moor. He hated having to drive through it on the occasions where he had to.

I do believe in trusting your gut feeling if something or someone doesn’t feel right. Maybe there were very subtle little things about her that didnt quite seem genuine.

Lots of examples here of when people were proved right by it and I think we can all think of examples with people we’ve met in life.

@Hellybelly84 I think you have hit the mail on the head. She does not feel ‘genuine’. Something was very off like she was putting on a facade or trying to portray something she was not. The more I think about it the more I realise this was what I was reacting to.

@blackheartsgirl its a very weird place.

I've told this story before under a different user name. The first time I drove through Glencoe by myself (I'd been before as a passenger), I was approaching a bend and my head started to hurt, it was really sudden and strong. A white cottage came into view and I thought "Oh, it's Jimmy Saville's house" and a few seconds later the pain left my head. It was weird. I didn't know the road well enough to know I was approaching it.

I consoled myself with the thought perhaps I looked like the woman for whom her husband / partner had dumped her.

I have an instant dislike of anyone who reminds me of my then husband's girlfriend. It's annoying because they can be lovely people but if they have her style or look I just feel dislike.

her eyes. Omg. Absolutley dead in the eyes, like a shark. Like she had no soul.

I've often thought Kevin Costner has nothing behind his eyes. I never thought of it as a bad thing, just puzzlingly blank.

he was diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder. You would never have known. I do find the term narcissist thrown around on this forum frustrating, what’s often being described is someone who really is nasty but true narcissism is quite rare. People do seem very keen on labelling others though.

A diagnosis of NPD is rare but there are many people with strong narcissistic tendencies which don't amount to a personality disorder but are still worthy of mention. I don't believe in the 'are you a narcissist or an empath?' thing that's everywhere, and I do think narcissist is the word of the moment and overused, but using a label is easier than articulating how a person behaves every time you want to mention it. I understand your frustration but it also frustrates me that people's experiences at the hands of those with narcissistic personalities can be so lightly dismissed just because they've used an overused label.

Yes a few weeks I was in Cardiff with my son and we were sat outside one of the arcades having a drink.
A man walked passed us and I just had a horrible feeling of foreboding. I looked at my son and he said ‘ that was weird did you feel that?’
He said it felt evil.
We are the least woo people you will meet.
I think it’s primeval instinct

This is a great explanation of what it might be. Im sure there are people out there (like yourself) who recognise subtle patterns when people aren’t genuine. Some people are more in tune with these than others.

I’ve had that feeling when you cant quite say what is wrong with someone (but just don’t entirely trust them), everyone else really likes them, but usually the gut feeling has proven right in the end.

@Trixiefirecracker
ALWAYS trust those feelings.
Ditto if a normally friendly dog won’t go anywhere near someone that too I listen to .

A whippet at a show wouldn’t go near a man
the owner was sitting near him
Man later murdered his wife in lockdown.
( In public domain)
I know the dog in question- When I was a stranger to her she was happy to come close.

I don’t have the sixth sense about people at all - but my best friend does, so I always follow her instinct. When we meet new people she’ll often be polite to them but then afterwards tell me that person is a “wrong-un”! I thought she was over reacting to start with, and I’d say don’t be silly they are a perfectly nice person. But she is ALWAYS right, they turn out to be a total dickhead further down the line. I think some people really do have an extra sense for it.

You've just reminded me of a kid I met a few years back.

Was invited to my brother's daughter's birthday party and there was a boy there that I really didn't like. He must have been about 7. It was something about the way he looked at the other kids (and adults), like he was almost thinking "I could really hurt you if I wanted to". There was definitely a look of malice in his eyes.

After everyone had left, my DB said to me "what do you think of B (the kid)?". I told him he seemed evil somehow and DB was so relieved that someone else had seen the same as him.

I remember hearing how the boy's Mum was having another baby and I remember actually fearing for the new baby, that's how disturbing this boy appeared to be.

I'm not sure how they're getting on now - I'll have to find out from my DB.

I’ve met people the same and its really hard when there’s no specific reason (and your friends would think you’re crazy for saying ‘you just dont trust them’). Always go with your gut though. I think keeping a distance from someone you dont entirely trust is best.

I often wonder if anyone has these intuitions about my ex. He appears to be the life and soul of the party, he works in a role where he's the great I am and people listen to his every word and laugh at his every joke, but do any of them actually 'know'? Apart from the very obvious undeniable stuff, I didn't have a clue when I was married to him.

Apart from one time when words came into my head that it might benefit him if he killed me. I took steps to leave that particular situation and never felt anything like that again. It was only after we separated a couple of years later I had the headspace to see the extent of his abuse. That's when I started fearing him.

Moons ago,I used to go to a support group for single parents-had been going for years and made some lifelong mates

One day,a lady and her 3 kids showed up-all made to feel welcome

Something about her just didn't sit right-I can't to this day Put my finger on it-i really tried to be friendly but my heart wasn't in it

The only way I can put it was she gave off an evil vibe-her eyes where dead and her laugh was really fake

Her 3 kids where unparented to say the least-all 3 where really naughty

One day,the leader (my friend) and I where stood watching them playing and I just turned to my mate and said 'one day Daniel is going down as he will murder someone'

She agreed-we both hoped we where wrong

Lost touch with them and thought no more of it

Until 10 years on,the lads name hits the papers

He'd murdered his mums new boyfriend

She'd got with him between leaving her paedophile husband who'd been abusing the kids,shed been neglecting them-to the point all 3 had to have all their teeth out by the age of 7,the house was covered in dog shit,they where not fed properly,didnt have suitable clothes etc-the kids ended up in the care system

He'd come out of care,made contact with his mother and to get back at her,to really hurt her-murdered her boyfriend (the only one she admitted she loved-to his face) he stabbed him over 30 times

I'll never forget the cold chill that went down my spine when I read about it

He's now doing life-at the age of 19

(She of course thinks she is blameless and went screaming to a well known ladies magazine,telling her story and saying how hard she tried with them,how she did her best,how much she loved her new bloke and how she was walking away from her own son-failing to admit that she was walking away for the second time in his short life)

I'm pleased to say that being in care turned the other two kids lives around and both are doing well

Yes, I get this a lot and I've learned that my first instinct is normally right. There's been a few incidences where Ive interviewed people at work and had this feeling about them, but have decided to ignore it as there was no good reason I could see for feeling like that. Overtime, as I've got to know these people better, things have unravelled and I've realised I was right initially.

I had this creepy feeling about a colleague. Everyone else thought he was a great guy. He's currently in prison for killing his wife ...

Has anyone else ever had this experience and were they ‘right’ about their gut feeling?

Yes and yes. Only a couple of times. I ignored my gut feeling both times, thinking it was some kind of weird prejudice, though they were same background, ethnicity etc as me. God, did I regret it. Both really vicious people.

My dd got a puppy a few years ago

I told her,'if he doesn't like someone-you don't like them either'

He is such a friendly little soul-everyone is his mate

Apart from our old neighbour-he caused so much trouble for us in our old house-emailing the council if we farted,calling the police if the kids played outside,banging on our door in the night,loud music at 3am etc

He also beats his wife,spied on dd getting changed from his back garden into her bedroom-more than once and is a pisshead/cokehead-with his (then) young dd's in the house

He's also middle class so gets away with a lot more than I would

Ddog wasn't wrong-he just knew

Glad I read this thread!
Dropped my son an Easter holiday camp yesterday, one of the coaches immediately put my hackles up.
I asked my son about him, his reply yeah he's really annoying, I just said never ever tell him anything about you, or go anywhere alone with him. He replied ugh no he gives me the creeps!!
Glad we had the conversation 😬

Slightly off tangent - I have a lovely very well behaved rather old Lab. Hes the most dopey chilled out hound you have ever seen. In all the years we have had him hes only barked a handful of times, never growled or been grumpy in any way. Never causes a fuss. just a big softy soppy laid back duffus.

Except where one little old lady is concerned - she walks by the front of our road ,back and forth to the newsagents every second day.

Its not often we cross paths but the first time we did (on the other side of the rod, thankfully) He went frantic. aggressive barking, hackles up, teeth out, lunging. The first time it happened I was so taken aback, I didn't make the connection and though he was having a reaction to a huge pain or seizure and we took him to an emergency appointment at the Vet.

After he did it a second time, I realised his was doing it in response to the lady. He has only to see her in the far distance and he gets really really upset. I make sure we walk outside the time when she is about. its the most bizarre thing!