A Confusion Field

[Analogue Boy]

I’ve probably mentioned this before but this is a night that still replays in my mind.
It was around 2007 or 08 and my gf had just left me to pursue a new and wanton life leaving me to pick up the bits. I was in Stratford upon Avon at the time, which is a sleepy market town, especially on a sunday night. Anyway, I ran out of cigarettes and decided to pop to the newsagents to resupply.
On my way, I passed the cinema which was showing Jim Carrey’s The Number 23.
‘Oooooh. 23 Skidoo’ I thought to myself. I carried on to the newsagents. As I opened the door, I saw Sylvester McCoy thumbing through some camping and caravanning magazines from the shelf but I played it cool and worked my way around the maze to front counter.

For what seemed like about 15 minutes I waited while two girls and the guy on the checkout worked out the correct amount payable for some chocolate bars. Apparently, the issue arose from their careless selections from the 2 for 1 offer and the 3 for 2 offers right next to each other.
It seemed like reality had gone really fuzzy. Yes I knew there were actors in Stratford. Yes, people do get confused in shops and yes The Number 23 was on at the cinema but when I finally got out of the shop with a pack of cigarettes, I looked to my left and there were a couple of ducks looking up at the menu of the local kebab shop in the middle of town.

 

[Mythopoeika]

I’ve probably mentioned this before but this is a night that still replays in my mind.
It was around 2007 or 08 and my gf had just left me to pursue a new and wanton life leaving me to pick up the bits. I was in Stratford upon Avon at the time, which is a sleepy market town, especially on a sunday night. Anyway, I ran out of cigarettes and decided to pop to the newsagents to resupply.
On my way, I passed the cinema which was showing Jim Carrey’s The Number 23.
‘Oooooh. 23 Skidoo’ I thought to myself. I carried on to the newsagents. As I opened the door, I saw Sylvester McCoy thumbing through some camping and caravanning magazines from the shelf but I played it cool and worked my way around the maze to front counter.

For what seemed like about 15 minutes I waited while two girls and the guy on the checkout worked out the correct amount payable for some chocolate bars. Apparently, the issue arose from their careless selections from the 2 for 1 offer and the 3 for 2 offers right next to each other.
It seemed like reality had gone really fuzzy. Yes I knew there were actors in Stratford. Yes, people do get confused in shops and yes The Number 23 was on at the cinema but when I finally got out of the shop with a pack of cigarettes, I looked to my left and there were a couple of ducks looking up at the menu of the local kebab shop in the middle of town.

Did the cigarettes have an extra... ingredient?

 

[Analogue Boy]

Did the cigarettes have an extra... ingredient?

No. Unfortunately it was an episode of real life.

 

[henry]

my gf had just left me

possibly the cause of finding everything around you off kilter ?

 

[PeteS]

I’ve probably mentioned this before but this is a night that still replays in my mind.
It was around 2007 or 08 and my gf had just left me to pursue a new and wanton life leaving me to pick up the bits. I was in Stratford upon Avon at the time, which is a sleepy market town, especially on a sunday night. Anyway, I ran out of cigarettes and decided to pop to the newsagents to resupply.
On my way, I passed the cinema which was showing Jim Carrey’s The Number 23.
‘Oooooh. 23 Skidoo’ I thought to myself. I carried on to the newsagents. As I opened the door, I saw Sylvester McCoy thumbing through some camping and caravanning magazines from the shelf but I played it cool and worked my way around the maze to front counter.

For what seemed like about 15 minutes I waited while two girls and the guy on the checkout worked out the correct amount payable for some chocolate bars. Apparently, the issue arose from their careless selections from the 2 for 1 offer and the 3 for 2 offers right next to each other.
It seemed like reality had gone really fuzzy. Yes I knew there were actors in Stratford. Yes, people do get confused in shops and yes The Number 23 was on at the cinema but when I finally got out of the shop with a pack of cigarettes, I looked to my left and there were a couple of ducks looking up at the menu of the local kebab shop in the middle of town.

The last thing I would describe Stratford upon Avon as being would be a sleepy market town! We were there a few weeks ago mid week and the place was jammed solid with people. Always been like that when I've been there.

 

[Analogue Boy]

The last thing I would describe Stratford upon Avon as being would be a sleepy market town! We were there a few weeks ago mid week and the place was jammed solid with people. Always been like that when I've been there.

Have you been there during the week or at 9pm on a sunday night after all the coaches have gone?

 

[Min Bannister]

Could it have been a touch of jamais vu? I have had that before and it is very disorientating.

 

[Analogue Boy]

Could it have been a touch of jamais vu? I have had that before and it is very disorientating.

I don’t think so. These events in themselves are fairly unremarkable but when encountered as a sequence within a few minutes, it all became a bit weird.

 

[Min Bannister]

I don’t think so. These events in themselves are fairly unremarkable but when encountered as a sequence within a few minutes, it all became a bit weird.

Oh I see. I suppose slightly odd things happen randomly and sometimes random things happen in clusters. Cool.

 

[Analogue Boy]

This is why I’ve described the thread as a confusion field. It’s like everything and everyone in that area at that point in time were just going about their normal business (maybe not the ducks) but in that radius of about 100 yards, it was like everything was .... well... odd. Maybe it was my fortean overview of the situation that found it remarkable.

 

[Mythopoeika]

This is why I’ve described the thread as a confusion field. It’s like everything and everyone in that area at that point in time were just going about their normal business (maybe not the ducks) but in that radius of about 100 yards, it was like everything was .... well... odd. Maybe it was my fortean overview of the situation that found it remarkable.

Was it a bit like that scene in Men in Black when J sees a few weird things in the space of a few seconds and comes to the realisation that aliens are real?

 

[Analogue Boy]

Was it a bit like that scene in Men in Black when J sees a few weird things in the space of a few seconds and comes to the realisation that aliens are real?

No. It was not like a movie. It was like an intelligent, creative person being aware of the events happening around him and totting up the the odds on the oddness.

 

[hunck]

The ducks were probably just considering the bill.

 

[Analogue Boy]

The ducks were probably just considering the bill.

And we’re only a few posts in. Congratulations on you making a link to Ducks and Bill so the rest of us don’t have to. Although in a kebab shop, technically there is no ‘bill’. You just hand over cash for stuff and chips in advance. That’s a price.

 

[IbisNibs]

Ducks may not like kebabs, but I bet they like chips/fries.

 

[PeteS]

Have you been there during the week or at 9pm on a sunday night after all the coaches have gone?

Yes on both counts - always jammed solid. Suspect probably different out of season, like most tourist resorts.

 

[Scribbles]

I’ve probably mentioned this before but this is a night that still replays in my mind.
It was around 2007 or 08 and my gf had just left me to pursue a new and wanton life leaving me to pick up the bits. I was in Stratford upon Avon at the time, which is a sleepy market town, especially on a sunday night. Anyway, I ran out of cigarettes and decided to pop to the newsagents to resupply.
On my way, I passed the cinema which was showing Jim Carrey’s The Number 23.
‘Oooooh. 23 Skidoo’ I thought to myself. I carried on to the newsagents. As I opened the door, I saw Sylvester McCoy thumbing through some camping and caravanning magazines from the shelf but I played it cool and worked my way around the maze to front counter.

For what seemed like about 15 minutes I waited while two girls and the guy on the checkout worked out the correct amount payable for some chocolate bars. Apparently, the issue arose from their careless selections from the 2 for 1 offer and the 3 for 2 offers right next to each other.
It seemed like reality had gone really fuzzy. Yes I knew there were actors in Stratford. Yes, people do get confused in shops and yes The Number 23 was on at the cinema but when I finally got out of the shop with a pack of cigarettes, I looked to my left and there were a couple of ducks looking up at the menu of the local kebab shop in the middle of town.

Love this account. Burst out laughing at the end.

I know I've had these sort of experiences and enjoy the sense of things being surreal for a short time. Naturally can't think of a single one right now.

 

[Ulalume]

Love this account. Burst out laughing at the end.

I know I've had these sort of experiences and enjoy the sense of things being surreal for a short time. Naturally can't think of a single one right now.

Yes, those moments when reality just seems to warp somehow? I enjoy them too. :joyf:
One that I experienced with my OH, I wrote down on my blog. It happened on May Day, so I gave it a suitably pagan interpretation, but really I have no idea what caused it. Interestingly, it happened on a quiet Sunday night in a store, just like in Analogue Boy's tale.
It's here if you want to read it -
https://victoriaphantasmagoria.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-first-of-may.html

 

[pandacracker]

Trying to form my thoughts into an intelligible sentence so bear with me...

How much is this responding to and being affected by the atmosphere created by the surrounding energies and how much is it a projection of the observer/s emotional state?

 

[Sollywos]

Yes, those moments when reality just seems to warp somehow? I enjoy them too. :joyf:
One that I experienced with my OH, I wrote down on my blog. It happened on May Day, so I gave it a suitably pagan interpretation, but really I have no idea what caused it. Interestingly, it happened on a quiet Sunday night in a store, just like in Analogue Boy's tale.
It's here if you want to read it -
https://victoriaphantasmagoria.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-first-of-may.html

Really enjoyed reading your account Ulalume!

I can relate to some of what you desrcribe, not saying exactly as it's not an easy feeling to articulate. It's just that I've noticed an other worldy, things not quite right, isolating feeling come over me when shopping in a supermarket late in the evening or come to that anytime that it's not that busy.

A feeling of timelessness, being suddenly connected to some essence from the past which seems like it's happening now but you know it's not as here is what's happening now. Then in turn is a feeling of such melancholy, realising that it is in the past but you can't get through that sheet of glass to reach out to it and it's as if all the people you have ever known have left you and you are totally on your own. Are these people around me real? Yep 'lonely' seems the best word to desribe it and that's how I can relate it to your experience.

However I've worked out the calalyst, for me anyway not suggesting it's the same for you. It's that low hum of the airconditioning/heating/refridgeration coming from those overhead pipes and ducts! Worked it out as it only happens in one supermarket and not the others and I'd read about how low hums can effect you. The others have their own 'hum' but the accoustics of the different buildings are not the same!

As regards to how you felt outside, I suspect we are more in tune with atmospheric conditions than we realise. Most noticeable prior to a thunderstorm but much lesser changes in pressure and humidity as well.

I preferred your pagan interpretation though and maybe it's not so far off mine in this vibrating humming universe we live in!

Sollywos x

 

[Scribbles]

Yes, those moments when reality just seems to warp somehow? I enjoy them too. :joyf:
One that I experienced with my OH, I wrote down on my blog. It happened on May Day, so I gave it a suitably pagan interpretation, but really I have no idea what caused it. Interestingly, it happened on a quiet Sunday night in a store, just like in Analogue Boy's tale.
It's here if you want to read it -
https://victoriaphantasmagoria.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-first-of-may.html

Wow! LOVE this! Great blog, thank you for sharing

 

[Zeke Newbold]

A feeling of timelessness, being suddenly connected to some essence from the past which seems like it's happening now but you know it's not as here is what's happening now. Then in turn is a feeling of such melancholy, realising that it is in the past but you can't get through that sheet of glass to reach out to it and it's as if all the people you have ever known have left you and you are totally on your own. Are these people around me real? Yep 'lonely' seems the best word to desribe it and that's how I can relate it to your experience.

However I've worked out the calalyst, for me anyway not suggesting it's the same for you. It's that low hum of the airconditioning/heating/refridgeration coming from those overhead pipes and ducts! Worked it out as it only happens in one supermarket and not the others and I'd read about how low hums can effect you. The others have their own 'hum' but the accoustics of the different buildings are not the same!

As regards to how you felt outside, I suspect we are more in tune with atmospheric conditions than we realise. Most noticeable prior to a thunderstorm but much lesser changes in pressure and humidity as well.

Fascinating stuff! I believe some solid research has been done on infrasound and how it can affect our perceptions and moods. Apprently areas where infrasound is present - perhaps as a result of nearby rushing water -often have reputations for being `haunted`. (I can't give a source for this right now, but iIm sure it will check out, and aat least one British TV documentary has been produced featuring the idea).

I can't relate to the `loniliness` that Ualume and yourself refer to - nor am I aware of being affected by mechanical hums. But atmospheric conditions affect me for sure.

The feeling I can get when there is heavy clouds above -as if before a downpour (but not necessarily so) -is very hard to describe: It's a borderline pleasant sense of unfolding revelation and intense conntectedness with the stream of your life...or something. (No, I can't really describe it).

Prolonged exposure to hot, humid weather, however makes me feel apprehensive and nihilistic at the same time.( I am so glad that I'm not in the U.K right now!)

 

[Sollywos]

The feeling I can get when there is heavy clouds above -as if before a downpour (but not necessarily so) -is very hard to describe: It's a borderline pleasant sense of unfolding revelation and intense conntectedness with the stream of your life...or something. (No, I can't really describe it).

It's so hard to articulate but that sounds so similar to what I was trying to describe minus the lonliness thing. Perhaps that's where underlying personality / present circumstances comes in? After the 'sound and fury' of family life I am finding this stage of life isolating and lonely and wondering if after all it 'signifies nothing'? So the hum in the supermarket brings out the connectedness but at the same time intensifies the lonliness?

Prolonged exposure to hot, humid weather, however makes me feel apprehensive and nihilistic at the same time.( I am so glad that I'm not in the U.K right now!)

Crushed and defeated yep that's how I as a UK resident am feeling in this damn hot humid heat. I'm looking forward to that day when you feel in your very bones that 'phew that's that then Autumn is here I can restart my life' a kind of intense melancholy mixed with hope and renewed energy, 'life is sad but I can cope' (maybe related to air pressure rather than light levels as it's not the same day every year and of course it's roughly the start of the new school year so perhaps a mental habit set in childhood?) whatever the cause it's that day when you set foot outside and just 'know'. As I was born in the Autumn that may also be a factor but I know it's a very common feeling.

Sollywos x

 

[XBergMann]

I’ve probably mentioned this before but this is a night that still replays in my mind.
It was around 2007 or 08 and my gf had just left me to pursue a new and wanton life leaving me to pick up the bits. I was in Stratford upon Avon at the time, which is a sleepy market town, especially on a sunday night. Anyway, I ran out of cigarettes and decided to pop to the newsagents to resupply.
On my way, I passed the cinema which was showing Jim Carrey’s The Number 23.
‘Oooooh. 23 Skidoo’ I thought to myself. I carried on to the newsagents. As I opened the door, I saw Sylvester McCoy thumbing through some camping and caravanning magazines from the shelf but I played it cool and worked my way around the maze to front counter.

For what seemed like about 15 minutes I waited while two girls and the guy on the checkout worked out the correct amount payable for some chocolate bars. Apparently, the issue arose from their careless selections from the 2 for 1 offer and the 3 for 2 offers right next to each other.
It seemed like reality had gone really fuzzy. Yes I knew there were actors in Stratford. Yes, people do get confused in shops and yes The Number 23 was on at the cinema but when I finally got out of the shop with a pack of cigarettes, I looked to my left and there were a couple of ducks looking up at the menu of the local kebab shop in the middle of town.

The ducks were probably wondering if they sold grapes

 

[Ulalume]

It's so hard to articulate but that sounds so similar to what I was trying to describe minus the lonliness thing. Perhaps that's where underlying personality / present circumstances comes in? After the 'sound and fury' of family life I am finding this stage of life isolating and lonely and wondering if after all it 'signifies nothing'? So the hum in the supermarket brings out the connectedness but at the same time intensifies the lonliness?

There are two stores in my town that have a surreal feeling to them that I've attributed to the low hum of refrigeration units (the frozen food section at Target and one corner of the Dollar Tree.) The store were my OH and I had the experience is usually utterly ordinary, which made it even more peculiar, I suppose.

I would also agree that underlying personality would (and almost certainly does) interact to cause a specific effect - certainly in my case I am a lonely person by nature and always will be. It becomes more complicated because my spouse and son both noticed it, too, and they are very different personalities, highly social and gregarious.

 

[Sollywos]

There are two stores in my town that have a surreal feeling to them that I've attributed to the low hum of refrigeration units (the frozen food section at Target and one corner of the Dollar Tree.) The store were my OH and I had the experience is usually utterly ordinary, which made it even more peculiar, I suppose.

I would also agree that underlying personality would (and almost certainly does) interact to cause a specific effect - certainly in my case I am a lonely person by nature and always will be. It becomes more complicated because my spouse and son both noticed it, too, and they are very different personalities, highly social and gregarious.

That's why I found your story so fascinating! Not only did you all feel it but later on outside as well. I wonder if anyone else felt it? .... not really something you could easily ask the other shoppers (such as they were) and especially when you were thinking they seemed a bit 'off' themselves anyway. I mean I've not even discussed my supermarket hum with anyone as it's not easy to explain is it? I offered my experiences by way of saying yep I know that feeling!

Sollywos x

 

[tomxxy2000]

Sorry, I just can't get the image of Sylvester McCoy thumbing through a caravanning magazine out of my head now.

 

[XBergMann]

I’ve probably mentioned this before but this is a night that still replays in my mind.
It was around 2007 or 08 and my gf had just left me to pursue a new and wanton life leaving me to pick up the bits. I was in Stratford upon Avon at the time, which is a sleepy market town, especially on a sunday night. Anyway, I ran out of cigarettes and decided to pop to the newsagents to resupply.
On my way, I passed the cinema which was showing Jim Carrey’s The Number 23.
‘Oooooh. 23 Skidoo’ I thought to myself. I carried on to the newsagents. As I opened the door, I saw Sylvester McCoy thumbing through some camping and caravanning magazines from the shelf but I played it cool and worked my way around the maze to front counter.

For what seemed like about 15 minutes I waited while two girls and the guy on the checkout worked out the correct amount payable for some chocolate bars. Apparently, the issue arose from their careless selections from the 2 for 1 offer and the 3 for 2 offers right next to each other.
It seemed like reality had gone really fuzzy. Yes I knew there were actors in Stratford. Yes, people do get confused in shops and yes The Number 23 was on at the cinema but when I finally got out of the shop with a pack of cigarettes, I looked to my left and there were a couple of ducks looking up at the menu of the local kebab shop in the middle of town.

The ducks would have been trying out the kebab shop version of a duck walks into a bar and asks for grapes joke.

 

[catseye]

I've had my own slighter version of this today. Driving back from the local small town where I'd been to the gardening centre and I looked out of the car window up towards the hill I live on. It must have been some coincidence of the light and the clouds (it's been very showery and bright here all day) but, just for one moment, the view didn't look 'real'. It had the clarity of unreality, almost like a painting and I wanted to stop and take a photo but by the time I'd got off the main road the light had changed and it wasn't the same any more.

 

[Ascalon]

I wonder if this might also have something to do with ionisation fields.

It has been theorised, though not proved, that one of the reasons that animals can anticipate earth quakes is that under certain seismic conditions, certain rock types give off positive ions. This is much like a piezo-electric effect, but on a grand scale.

The effects on mammals in particular, of such fields of positive ions is supposed to be deeply unsettling, causing most to simply flee.

It has also been demonstrated that certain machinery, if not properly maintained or manufactured, can give off similar emissions.

Large, reflective surfaces, such those found in supermarkets due to food preparation surfaces or aircon ducts, serve to direct and sometimes diffuse the effects.

I wonder is there something of this in what is being described here?

The ionsation effect leads to the nameless dread feeling, that is accompanied by the hum. In reality, infrasound, by its very nature, is not audible. The hum might be more indicative of the electric 50-60Hz hum that we are all too familiar with.

Just a thought.