To get an overwhelming sense of danger from a stranger?

[ThisIsCheese]

The weirdest thing just happened. I’m in the supermarket and as I’m stood selected and bagging vegetables I suddenly feel very uncomfortable.
There is a man about 50 something stood with his elderly mother a few feet away to the side of me and I felt very sick and uncomfortable when I looked at him.
Absolutely no reason for it but it was overwhelming, like a sense of fear he was not a good man.

Completely clueless why I felt that way I moved along quickly but I crossed paths with him again in another aisle and knew he was there before I saw him because the sick / anxious feeling returned.

Anyone else ever had this? I don’t have anxiety or anything but this feeling was so odd, like I could sense he wasn’t a good person.

Never met him before, he could be perfectly lovely but my physical reaction to him was so strong

I did too, Bert

It's instinct. Your brain picks up signals subconsciously about people. You do it too, everyone does, we give and receive vibes all the time. Dogs can do it too. A man once came up to me when I was walking them in the dark and asked directions and my dogs were honestly on such high alert like I've never seen them before. They're a couple of soft, soppy Labs; the older one I had never actually heard her growl before. Fur bristling, hackles up, teeth bared and snarling at him. Completely hostile, both of them. I honestly think if he'd taken a step nearer, they would have gone for his throat. Never seen it before, never seen it since. I'm convinced they knew something about him that I didn't.

@FudgeBrownie2019 that is startling. It’s great your son could articulate himself and that you listened to him. Do you think you will ever tell him when he is older?

@iwantacookie The dirty gross man. I’m so sorry.

@chaosisaladder
Oh gosh. I totally believe your child could pick up the feeling emitting from the man energetically. Of course sometimes children get shy etc but when they have unusual reactions I would always trust it. As we get older I think we lose this capacity.

Bert and Prop I think the comment should stay though as an example of everyday racism where people say "I'm not racist but..." People need to know that saying things like what have just been said is comp,Evelyn unacceptable and you are indeed a racist if you say things like this. Deleting it is akin to covering it up.

I’m not sure instinct is the right word. It’s more subconsciously reading micro body language.

Not overwhelming but there have been a few times when someone has given me very 'off' vibes.

One was a guy I used to see on my train sometimes when I used to commute to & from the city. He looked perfectly normal but there was something about him, particularly his eyes, that gave me the creeps. I once changed carriages as I couldn't bear to be near him. No idea who he was or why I got that.

More recently, I was walking locally and used a short-cut between two blocks of flats. I heard a noise behind me and turned abruptly. There were two guys (late 20's/early 30s walking along) and they looked a bit startled, but carried on past me. By then, I had got my phone out and pretended to call someone to say "I'll be right there" so they heard me. They crossed the road and went into another block of flats, but spent a while lingering on the pavement.

About an hour later, I was returning and was approaching the same cut-through and spotted them standing by the entrance to it.
I took a different route home.
They weren't doing anything, but the lurking made me very uncomfortable.

At 18 I was at home and was going to have a nap on my sofa, I felt uneasy for some reason so decided to put my handbag and shoes by the front door in case I needed to make a quick exit. I lay down and just felt that I should go anyway so put my shoes on and went out into town. My mum called me an hour or so later to say that her (now ex) husband who lived with us had threatened to kill her and had been arrested by police. When we went home again that night we found a weapon wrapped up in a piece of clothing on the sofa and he later confirmed that he had intended to use this. So whilst it wasn't a particular person as such, there was something telling me that day that I needed to get out of that house. I'd never had any feeling like it before or anything since.

I completely get this. I get physical reactions to people and situations. I’ve felt dread several times and acted to make myself safe. But I also have different reactions, eg I can tell if I’m near a pregnant woman because of the physical reaction I have.

I also elicit strong reactions from people - often men. I’m very good at reading people. Men either tend to be genuinely friendly, ignore me, or seem to be angry at me. The angry ones I put down to them knowing I can see through their masks.

@FudgeBrownie2019 that is startling. It’s great your son could articulate himself and that you listened to him. Do you think you will ever tell him when he is older?

You know I think I would. Whilst it's awful and could easily have been a fluke, he's never disliked another human in his entire life and I can only assume that his body instinctively picked up something from that person that, ultimately, protected him. So I'd use it as an example of why instincts should be listened to and heard.

Justaboy a man, there's no need to say an Asian man. And WTF? Do they all tend to do that?

OK then lets put that another way is it maybe a cultural thing perhaps? I did say I did not want to be "racist" about it.

I do where i live mix and mingle with a lot of other people from all over the worlld and get on with them fine thanks probally more so than a lot of others!.

So why are you asking basic ignorant questions about “Asian men” then?

Do jog on Justaboy if you can't see what is wrong with your statement.

Slightly different situation but I do believe we can sense danger (or at least potential danger).
My DH and I were on our honeymoon and had gone out snorkelling each morning at the same time (on the way to breakfast) but on our last morning we got into the water and set off both of us stopped quickly and agreed something didn't feel right so got straight back out. Shortly after whilst we were still looking out at the ocean a large shark swam past....I appreciate that chances are it wouldn't have hurt us but I'm still glad we trusted our instincts and got out.

Justaboy several posters found your post offensive, and MN removed it, so clearly there was something wrong with it.

Come back to read the rest as I scared myself silly last night.

I sometimes feel like this but also the amount of times my mother and I see a “strange man” alone in the park and whisper to each other he must be a murderer before his wife pips up with their dog makes me question it 😂

@SrSteveOskowski damn, missed that thread, i bet that was interesting. Now i really want to know who the repeatedly named person is! 😅

It seems quite a lot of people's experiences have been backed up years later.

The post of the man inching along the wall towards your car is terrifying. 😱 I can see it in my mind. I think freaks like that rely on people who really arent aware of surroundings, so many people don't have any awareness of surroundings, let alone picking up on another persons vibes. The animal stories are fascinating too.

Thinking about it - how many minute danger signals could a person potentially miss because they're completely focussed on their phone? One more reason not to walk around plugged in!

@LumpyPillow. I really want to know too! I'm so annoyed that I missed that thread.
I love threads like this but having an over active imagination is such a curse. I felt totally spooked at home just because of this thread. I'm also having anxiety about the next time someone comes to look at the boiler or reads the meters.

When my DS was 4 onward he would screw his face up get upset and cry "no, no get him off, " if a popular local weatherman ever appeared on the telly. He did it every single time he saw this man on telly no matter where he was, he never did this to anyone else. He would still get upset aged 9 or 10 and insist we turn the channel over.

This weatherman/presenter was found guilty of multiple historic sexual assaults on teenage boys from when he was a teacher in the 70s/80's.

My mum still mentions it occasionally and thinks it was a sixth sense thing but considering this guy was on tv and was not physically present I am at a loss to explain it.

DS is now 17, when the original allegations came to light I asked DS what prompted his reaction to this man and he said he just had a horrible feeling in his tummy and felt scared every time he saw him on tv.

PropagandaMachine Yes maybe it could have been written a bit clearer but sometimes It does seem to me its best to try at least to keep it as much to the point as possible rather that something that appears like a legal docment!

That said when we are on say a train we don't normally look at another persons face or make eye contact unless we're about to ask or say something to them and if we do keep facial or eye contact longer than what might be said to be necessary then most people would seem to find that unsettling. Do bear in mind that on this thread much is or has bene made of "he/she looked at me with menancing/staring/penetrating eyes" etc.

However is that just a British UK thing?. Is this the same in other parts of the world in other cultures, or is it just here that most all seem to find that unsettling or do others find it the same or is it OK to do that elsewhere?

@Justaboy. I think stereotypically, British people are seen as quite reserved. I'd say unless a stranger is speaking to you or you're flirting, direct and prolonged eye contact is strange. I definitely break eye contact quickly if I make it accidently.