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Saturday, October 12, 2019

Black Eyed Kids in Rome


I recently came across the following account:

So this was August of 2017. I had just graduated about a week prior from college (summer classes) and as part of my graduation gift my parents and grandparents went in together to buy me a flight to Rome. I'm a major history buff so I've always wanted to go to Europe and Rome/Italy especially. One of my friends also went along with me (I'll call him Caleb so I don't have to type out "my friend" a ton but not his real name). Anyways, as both Caleb and I were recent college grads, we didn't exactly have a ton of money to spend on vacation so we stayed in the area of Rome by Termini in a budget hotel.

So, before I proceed, a few things about Rome because there were some misconceptions I had before going. The first is that Rome is dirty and just "feels" sketchy. Because of this you instinctively are looking over your shoulder and I just felt paranoid. The area that Caleb and I stayed at, was near Termini, the main train/bus hub of the city. While it was a super convenient location (less than a 5 minute walk and we could access the metro or a bus to anywhere in the city or a cross-city train) the area just felt run-down with graffiti all over (I mean, more than usual than Rome). The other thing you should know is that Romans like to eat long meals and eat very late, whereas back here in the US I typically eat dinner around 5:30 to 6 and generally finished well before 7:30. Some of the restaurants in Rome don't even open until 7 pm, which leads to you being out a lot later than you had intended.

So one evening after dinner (it was probably around 9:30 or so) Caleb and I were leaving the restaurant to the metro station to head back to Termini when we noticed two children were following us. Now, you hear online that a lot of scammers use children to distract you so I put my hand in my pocket around my wallet and walked a bit faster. Both of the kids were probably around 10 or 12. The lighting wasn't the greatest and the sun had set but they were dressed in dark clothing (whether it was black or brown or even maroon I couldn't really tell at the time). One was a boy and one was a girl. The boy had a very short haircut only slightly longer than a buzz cut whereas the girl was wearing a beret (dark colored) and had long, slightly curly hair. I felt a bit of unease because something didn't seem "normal." At the time I didn't think anything paranormal but was worried about being mugged or pick-pocketed. Anyways, eventually I stop hearing their footsteps behind me and when I look back I don't see them or anyone. The metro ride back to Termini was uneventful, I didn't particularly look for the children but I didn't notice them if they were around.

Once at Termini it was only a couple of minutes to the hotel. Despite it being rather dark (Rome doesn't seem to have adequate street lighting for a city that eats so late!) nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Anyways, I went to my room and Caleb went to his. At this time it was probably around 10:00 at night. So I go to take a shower before bed and midway through my shower I think I hear a knock on my door. I don't think a whole lot about it, this is a cheap hotel and I doubt that its soundproof enough that someone standing outside of my door couldn't hear the shower running. So 2 minutes pass and I don't hear any more knocking and I finish my shower, put on sweatpants and a t-shirt and look out the peephole and I see the 2 children from earlier just standing there.

Now the peephole distorts things so I really didn't think I saw what I saw, but let me try to describe what I saw.

The boy was wearing a maroon button-down shirt with brown pants. He had black hair just barely longer than a buzz cut. But what stood out was his white skin, maybe it was the lighting in the hall but I don't think I've seen anyone with as white of skin as his (and his female companion) it was almost as if someone had painted their skin white. It's very hard to describe without seeing it, it looked almost, bloodless? There was just no warmth to it. His eyes looked to be black, almost like if someone was squinting in that the eyes looked like they weren't there, it wasn't like someone had colored contact lenses at all. It was a very, very strange thing indeed.

The girl was standing behind the boy so I didn't get as good of look at her, but she had very dark brown hair (clearly different than the color of the boy's hair) and it was curly. She was wearing a black beret and a black dress. She had the same weird artificial-looking white skin and the same eyes that looked like someone was squinting

Now at this point I was freaking out a bit. The hotel required a key card to operate the elevator to get to the second story where my room was which made it rather odd that some random kid (who we never did see with any parents) would follow myself and Caleb halfway across Rome and end up in the same hotel, on the same floor and randomly knock on my door. And not just knock, but knock and stand there for at least a couple of minutes (I didn't say anything to indicate that I'd be coming to the door). At this point I double checked the chain lock to make sure it was secure but I think the kids must have thought I was going to open the door when I heard the boy's voice (or at least I assume it was the boy's voice as it certainly didn't sound feminine) say "Aren't you going to let us in? We're lost"

Now, prior to hearing about the Black-Eyed-Kids I thought this was the creepiest part of it because after 4 days of being in Rome, outside of Caleb pretty much everyone did not speak good English and the ones that did speak decent English had a very clear accent of some sort. This though did not, it was clearly the voice of a native English speaker and I couldn't detect that there was really any accent (as in, it didn't sound like anyone from England or have a noticeable southern accent).

I decided that I'd had enough and just didn't make another sound and moved to my bed, I must have just sat there waiting for an hour or so trying not to make a noise or make any indication that I was in the room hoping that they'd decide that their prank or scam wasn't having any effect and leaving me alone. I decided against texting Caleb about it, after all, I was probably just paranoid about nothing and it was just me being nervous being 5000 miles away from home mixed with what I probably would have considered rather funny or mildly annoying rather than scary if it was back in the US.

I suppose eventually I fell asleep and tried to wipe the memory of it from my mind. Caleb never mentioned anything about it so I didn't mention anything to him. The rest of my time in Rome (and my time in Venice and Naples) were without any incident and I haven't encountered anything like this in the US. RB

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Weird Buzzing In My Head

“I live in Surrey BC about 20 minutes from Aldergrove. Every night I see something. Around 12-3 am I feel a buzzing in my head. It's like a switch was flicked and I feel weightless. I don't move. (I'm not sure if I can or not. I just don't.) I'm never scared. I feel some sort of euphoria but very calm. One night after it happened I found myself (non graduate quite illiterate) researching what happened. I was able to read about 10 pages of text in seconds. Not looking at the words but skimming them fully comprehending what I was (skimming) reading. I don't understand. I'm afraid of telling people in my life so I stick to the internet. My Facebook has over 1000 messages from people claiming they experienced the same thing. To be honest I wish I could live a normal life. At the same time, I know they have a plan for me. I've come to accept it with open arms. "Peace love and happiness" - every time I feel the buzz I hear this in my head. You don't have to believe me. I could care less. Maybe I have a vivid imagination Maybe not. I guess we will see. I love you all, brothers and sisters. - TF


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Hey folks...some of the team members at Phantoms & Monsters Fortean Research are contemplating personal / speaking appearances in south central Pennsylvania and north central Maryland. These events will be attended by at least 2 of our investigative team. It can be promoted events, paranormal group meetings, etc. We will NOT charge any appearance fees, but do request that our books and other items be available for sale at the event. I'm interested in your thoughts on this proposal? If you have an event for us to consider, please contact me at 410-241-5974 or my email lonstrickler@phantomsandmonsters.com


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RECOMMENDED BOOKS

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UNEXPLAINED ENCOUNTER OR SIGHTING?















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