by Tom Shafer
June 27, 2021
So, many of you know that I have an unquenched proclivity for weird stuff, and that I’m drawn to it like moths to a flame. Frankly, I think all of us are to a degree because not everything that happens in our world can be placed simply into nice, tidy categories. Once-classified videos of “tic tac” UFOs that the U.S. Navy released to the public just recently are a perfect example of this. Of course, I have experienced this phenomena myself (which you can read about under the For Your Consideration tab, titled “Ghost UFO!”), so I was not surprised at all.
And, it’s not as if I go looking for the bizarre and unusual. I am, however, very observant and curious, and possess almost supernatural peripheral vision (just ask anyone who has travelled with me searching for animals in our national parks) – and excellent central vision as well (with my corrective contact lenses). I’m not looking for weird stuff, I’m just looking.
So, a couple of weeks ago, I was sitting on our sunset deck (built for that very purpose) with our cat Rainbow, enjoying a nice, calm evening after a stormy, bumpy morning and afternoon. As I was glancing along the tree line, I noticed the rustling of honeysuckle and poison ivy leaves at ground level. There was little to no wind, and though no animal emerged as expected (perhaps another of our outdoor cats or a squirrel), an anomalous pixilation – like a mirage – obscured slightly this small area.
Like a cartoon character not believing what he or she is seeing, I shook my head briefly and closed my eyelids, thinking that maybe a floater, a fleck of collagen on the back of my eye (the vitreous), was the cause of this visual illusion. But when I looked back, the faint rustling and optical abnormality were still occurring. It was then that I realized that Rainbow was staring at it as well. We watched for another twenty seconds or so, then as quickly as it had commenced, it was over. Both of us continued to scan the wood line for several minutes, but the translucent, almost chromatic blob never materialized again.
Intuitively, I thought of a recently deceased outdoor cat. OrangeCat had been hanging around our house for about six years, and had just passed away peacefully a couple of days prior. OrangeCat was an aggressive male who constantly fought any animals that crossed his path. It seemed like he was always sporting a new cut or abrasion, and I had been treating him with fishmox (amoxicillin for fish but used with feral animals) off and on for most of his life. Until late last year, I had never even touched him, but after years of care, I think instinctively he understood that I was helping him, so he would rub up against me at feeding time and allow me a couple of quick pettings. After his death, he took up residence in our pet cemetery in the woods, joining other cats with whom he was familiar.
Anyway, the area where this anomalous blob appeared was a favorite of OrangeCat, and he spent many warm afternoons lounging there in the shade with a constant breeze on his face. Of course, I can’t definitively report that this was the ghost of OrangeCat, but as I have transcribed many, many times, I’m not a big believer in coincidences, and facts are very stubborn things: OrangeCat had been dead for about forty-eight hours; he was buried just down the hill from this very preferred spot; I witnessed some type of optical disturbance; and Rainbow perceived and confirmed this strange visual phenomena. I will leave it for you to judge for yourselves, but I know what I – and Rainbow – observed.
I’m still not sure what I believe about the afterlife, though I have already related an out-of-this-world experience I had in Deadwood, South Dakota (okay, you may as well read that “Ghost UFO” entry in its entirety to learn about Ghost Smoker!). Suffice it to say, this happening only adds depth to the question in my mind – and happily I might add. Though the paranormal world is replete with videos that claim to provide evidence of ghost pets and animals, nothing beats a poignant, personal encounter. And maybe this answers the long debated query, “Do dogs – and cats – go to heaven?” If heaven exists, of course they do. Who do you think is there eagerly waiting just inside the gate?
