Auditory hallucination/felt presence - well, that was weird

[SirChenjins]

Has anyone else ever had this?

I've just been out for a walk with the dog, down in some woods where we often go. It's always deserted and there's a clearing in the middle of the woods where I throw balls for him and he runs about retrieving them and having a great old time. I was walking towards a ball to pick it up and I distinctly heard loud footsteps scuffling the leaves very close behind me and felt someone was there - you know how you know someone is right behind you before you see them? I turned round really quickly to see who it was, but there was no-one there - it really made me jump. Apparently it's an auditory hallucination or felt presence - but bloody hell, my heart was racing!

I don’t believe in ghosts or anything “woo” but when me and my husband moved into our bungalow we had a mattress on the floor until a bed was ordered. One night I felt one of our dogs “settle” on the mattress the way dogs do. I later asked my husband which dog had come in the room to see me and he smiled and said “they both stayed in the living room with me, that must have been the ghost dog” and said he’d felt the same thing. I don’t know what to think now. Was it some sort of hallucination? I have felt it since but would still say I’m not a believer in ghosts. What’s your level of belief in spookiness OP?

Ultimately what we think of as "the world" only exists in our heads ...

That's interesting, I was just thinking how I used to get these in puberty a lot more than I do now. I wonder what role hormones play.

Edit: not whispering voices for me, more like the other sounds people have described.

It happened to me once in an old pub. The loos were outside, across a courtyard. As I approached the door to the Ladies I heard and felt someone walking across the courtyard and coming up behind me. Held the door open for them, glanced round and there was no one there.

That's exactly it - no voices but the definite sound of adult footsteps walking quickly through the leaves and then the feeling of someone right behind me. I turned around fully expecting to see someone (maybe another dog owner) and was surprised there was no-one there as it was so real.

My logical head is saying it was an auditory hallucination but it was quite unnerving!

@CrowsInMyGarden I'm prepared to believe that there's something to the spookiness and happy to keep an open mind - but don't think the local woods is likely to be haunted!

Hallucinations can happen a lot but are not always recognised as such. I’ve experienced visual hallucinations when I’ve woke in the night but brain still in sleep mode at a time of significant stress. Also smell hallucinations which I didn’t know was a thing until recently and only as an adult can I now make sense of things when I was younger. Also auditory hallucinations. Tinitus is part of an auditory hallucination in that we hear sounds that are not there in the world they are inside our head. So it’s highly possible you had a hallucination particularly if you have ever experienced tinitus. Nothing to worry about. But I would be cautious in the woods. Sometimes people experience things ahead of something happening. or it’s a ghostly happening. Or there may have been someone there without you knowing

Was probably just a random hallucination but I wouldn’t worry too much about it. An odd moment of perception.

Could be an animal that's scurried off?

Is there any evidence of badger setts in the wood?
They can sound like shuffling through the debris, especially if they're big ones.

My sympathies are with you. I have them quite a bit worst one I had was standing in my kitchen and someone whispered in my ear but most of the time it's noises or occasionally distant music. I do hear distant voices too but can't make out anything being said, just muffled voices. I just ignore it now.

This thread is fascinating! I had no idea this was a thing.

I’ve heard ‘someone’ whisper my name in the house when I’m alone and it’s quiet and so has DM. Only once or twice over the course of a lifetime.
Stress, anxiety, some external or house noise.

Yes, several times in the woods and occasionally on the cliff tops. I call them my Pan encounters 😂 No idea what causes them but I’m otherwise of sound mind. I suppose it’s a bit like when you hear someone whispering your name in bed at night.

No badger set - the clearing is too flat and open, and the dog hasn't ever shown any interest. I don't think they would have ventured out when the dog was charging around and the sound was exactly like a person walking through leaves coming up close behind me. I could also feel them right behind me iykwim?

You didn’t happen to find and blow an old whistle did you?

Of course it’s all in the mind, as @SirChenjins acknowkedges!

Say what?!

It was a joke. A reference to Whistle and I’ll Come to You.

Oh, ok 😂 No, no old whistle, just my Acme for the dog

Lol at the squirrel suggestions.

Are you a bit woo OP? My friend had a similar experience, it was close to a spot where a guy had been murdered.

I used to get exploding head syndrome as well. Lots of stuff connected to deafness and PTSD I have both. Did a lot of research and was given the all clear medically so now I try to ignore it. First time any of it happens is so strange.

If you think about it our brain is just a blob of electric jelly…. Mishaps will surely happen… actually maybe don’t think about it too much!

Not quite the same level of weirdness as the op, but here goes.
at lambing time I am sleep deprived. I work a lot of hours and don’t have a day off in 32 days.
i do however get to nip to the supermarket once a week for essential supplies.
I drive in to town, go into supermarket. I’m pushing my trolley round the aisles and can clearly hear the sound of sheep and lambs. Baa - baa. Mehh - mehh. Clear as day. It’s happened more than once.

I keep an open mind about the woo stuff, but this was the middle of the day when I was just focused on playing with the dog and not thinking of ghosties and ghouls! I'm just putting it down to an auditory hallucination - weird as hell though.