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"Meeting Nicola"

I think it's as likely to be a true account as any of these weird encounters I've heard. I've perused some books and didn't find anything specifically for that area that seems relevant.
 
Hi the following is copied from a previous "It happened to me" posted in a 2017 Fortean times. I know the person who it happened to, and can confirm and vouch for his sincerity, I have have been interested if anyone else might know of any similar experiences to this? or offer any other avenues of research, thanks.


"Meeting Nicola"

I have kept an irregular journal and have jotted down some of the more notable incidents and at quiet times it pleases me to flick through the now yellowing pages and reminisce.

One experience bothers me so much that not one day goes past without my thinking about it.

The following is an almost verbatim copy of my journal entry, itself a copy of the original notes I jotted down immediately after the event but which have since been lost: “At approximately 8:30am [on 21 June 1983] I left ––Dudley Road to walk along the River Thames to Walton Bridge and the ‘Cowey Sale’.

I was hoping to see my friend Joe–––, who was selling ice cream for the summer. When I arrived at approximately 9am his van was nowhere to be seen.

I decided to wait and while I did so I walked along the bank of the river, away from the bridge and up to where there was a sloping concrete launch for boats.

I then turned and looked for my friend’s van which I expected/ hoped to be parked in the car park and the usual spot.

He had still to arrive. The day was cloudy and brisk and I decided that the weather had put him off coming down to his pitch.

I started to wander back along the bank and home. Up to this point, apart from the odd car which had sped past, I had seen no other person along what is usually a busy stretch of the river.

The only people I could see were a couple of fishermen who had set up right next to the bridge.

After walking about 50 yards from the concrete launch, I heard a loud ‘splash’ coming from behind me on the left and the river.

Thinking it might be a large fish, I turned and went to investigate.

A fisherman myself (and a lifelong visitor along these banks), I knew the sound was coming from a small, semi-circular area of the bank that had been worn away and allowed fishermen to wade out into the water quietly without having to step down into the river from the bank.

To my shock – I had only passed the spot moments before – standing on the shingle was a girl, probably a couple of years younger than me (18/19), bending down and looking out at a dog that was swimming in the water.

I turned away and started walk back home again. After just a few strides I decided to go back and have a chat… from what I had seen she seemed quite attractive! I opened with the line: ‘Hi, are you an art student on leave too?’ ‘No,’ she said. ‘I’m just walking my Nan’s dog.’

“The girl had jet-black hair, very white, faultless skin and plump, full red lips. Her eyes were stunning and were a true emerald green, sparkling in the murky light and piercing.

Of the dog that was in the water I could only see its head. It was large, menacing and black.

We continued chatting by the bank and she revealed that her name was Nicola and that she lived in Streatham.

I then suggested that if she had nothing on we should go for a walk. She agreed and I thought I was ‘in’.

“We crossed over the road and headed to Broadwater Lake, a great fishing spot for tench and a lake that was supposed to have been created by Capability Brown.

The chat was light and jovial and we brushed shoulders as we walked. ‘Nicola’ seemed to be very relaxed.

It was as we approached the end of the rough, rutted lane which led to the lake that I suddenly became very uneasy in her company.

She was gorgeous, I thought, and must have been chatted-up so many times before; surely she must have been aware of the dangers of going off with strangers… and yet here she was, alone, with a stranger (me) in a dark (even though it was day), secluded spot.

The hairs all over my body stood on end as if I’d touched a live wire and I stopped.

I then – and I really don’t know why – asked the first thing that came into my head: ‘Do you know why the 23rd is called mid-summer although today is the Solstice?’ “It was a pathetic question.

It had come from nowhere and just sounded stupid, but the affect it had on ‘Nicola’ was bizarre.

She stopped in her tracks and her face became contorted and angry. Her eyes narrowed to slits and her nostrils flared. ‘Why are you asking me this?’ she demanded.

‘Why do you think I would know that? Do you think I know?’ “I was shocked, stunned and very disturbed.

I really did think I was with an escaped mental patient.

I was very scared even though I was 12 stone and heavily muscled and she was slim and of average height.

There was an awkward silence that seemed to last ages as we stepped two or three paces forward.

Suddenly she turned round and said: ‘Oh, hi, you’re here?’ “I turned and looked over my left shoulder and stumbled as I looked at something which wasn’t possible.

Immediately behind us, no more than a yard, was a giant of a man standing astride a hefty black and chrome motorbike.

He was dressed in all black leathers and wore a black helmet with a darkened visor.

I couldn’t see his face but could just make out the white of his eyes.

I was terrified.

I hadn’t heard the bike.

Even if he had pushed it along the 150 yards of the pot-holed dirt track we were on I would have heard something.

I thought it might be her boyfriend or an over-protective brother.

‘Frank,’ said Nicola. ‘Do you just want to go on, I won’t be a minute.’ “Relieved, I gladly walked to the end of the lane, some 20 yards, where it turned to the right and behind a big oak.

I glanced back only once and then waited behind the tree for a second. Curious to get another look at the bike and biker, I popped my head around the corner.

There was no one there.

“Refusing to accept anything supernatural, I strained my eyes and ears and sprinted (I am an 11 second 100 metre runner) to the end of the lane and the 100 yard climb up a hill where the lane joins the main road.

Nothing and nobody was to be seen… and then I realised: Where was the dog? It hadn’t followed us on our romantic walk.

We had left it in the water. I ran to the spot on the bank.

Nothing.” The account goes on to say how I ran back home and then to my cousin’s house, and how I described everything that had happened.

It also states how for many years afterwards – at the same time and place – I visited the site… with nothing unusual occurring. The incident was in all probability insignificant; no one was harmed and there was no real consequence, but it was real.

I actually touched Nicola (albeit with my shoulder).

I felt that she was no phantasm, no product of an overactive imagination, but I don’t know what she was… and it frustrates me so.

I came so close, so close to finding out about something which we are, it appears, not allowed to know. I consider the facts and memories every day and I will go to my grave without ever knowing the answer… but the fact that I came so close bothers me more than you can know.

Hopefully this letter will help expunge my feeling of having guessed the six numbers and then lost the ticket.

Francesco S
Hello what a fascinating story thankyou. Gave me the chills. The man on the motorbike sounds like Hadrid from Harry Potter ….. and she sounded like perhaps a vampire? Very creepy
 
My impression, taking into account the picture of her, is that she suffered from a personality disorder.
The solstice question triggered something in her.
Such people can change personality and mood in an instant.
I think it is related to past trauma.

I get the vibe she might have been someone who was in care at some point in her life too.

My experience is that women's faces, looks, vibes can significantly change in a very short space of time in a way that men's do not.

If Frank was engrossed on conversation, a "high" on romance, and genuinely not expecting a biker to turn up, then it is definitely possible he simply did not notice the bike approach for rational reasons.

What is of interest to me, is that the biker approached....how did he know Nicola and where to find her if she had not been sending messages to him on a phone, unless she had a "live location" setting on whatsapp?

The absence of the dog on the walk is very strange.
Didn’t it take place in 1983….no phones then!
 
Me neither. It reads like fiction & I note Frank is or was an author..

He evidently wasn’t keen coming here to talk to anyone about it either.

Many of the better or more clearly written ITMEs do, I'd expect a made up one to be more spectacular - i.e. sighting a ghost/cryptid/entity although that doesn't mean there won't be more subtle fake ones, written for whatever purpose. Not casting aspersions on the OP.
 
He evidently wasn’t keen coming here to talk to anyone about it either.
Can't say I blame him. What would be the point? To maybe convince a few people he's never heard of that he was telling the truth? It's especially fun to be grilled about details by people who can't be arsed to read the whole story. Even those who read and comprehend the narrative are often prone to ignoring whatever details they need to, in order to believe some anodyne explanation that sounds absurd to the person who experienced the events.
 
Hello what a fascinating story thankyou. Gave me the chills. The man on the motorbike sounds like Hadrid from Harry Potter ….. and she sounded like perhaps a vampire? Very creepy
I think someone else mentioned an Harry Potter reference lol. I believe the events unfolded just has Frank related them to me. What actually took place I can only speculate, did he suffer some sort of psychological episode that may have contributed to time or spatial disorientation? Or something more exotic? I do believe something happened to him, and he was left generally confused over the incident. The parallels it has to fairy lore, modern abductions and mythology are interesting (for both fortean and anthropological sociology interests )
 
Just listening to one of Kevin Eustace's paranormal podcasts earlier today (Dark Bites, a mini-version of his Dark Paranormal show - which now I think about it, might be a Patreon-only bonus episode) and this tale appeared, just as set out by the original poster.

View attachment 44785
Still a cracking tale, mind.
How do you get to listen to this? I've not seen this before.
 
My problem with this story is the additional detail supplied beyond the original story in answer to forum interest and questions. Her eye colour, her accent, a sketch and additional details that ‘Frank’ may have supplied instantaneously yet he never appeared - to my knowledge at least.
 
My problem with this story is the additional detail supplied beyond the original story in answer to forum interest and questions. Her eye colour, her accent, a sketch and additional details that ‘Frank’ may have supplied instantaneously yet he never appeared - to my knowledge at least.
Her eye color was in the original post, and the sketch was something that I asked him to do. I did tell him it would be great if he decided to come on to this forum, I know that he has been dealing with one of his parents contracting Covid (seems to be getting better thank goodness) I will ask him again when I get the opportunity. Anything that I have added, would be what I asked him after he wrote what was in the original post (this was a copy of what he had placed in a copy of FT) I have NOT added anything extra of my own making.
 
My problem with this story is the additional detail supplied beyond the original story in answer to forum interest and questions. Her eye colour, her accent, a sketch and additional details that ‘Frank’ may have supplied instantaneously yet he never appeared - to my knowledge at least.

Nicola sounds like a classic Mary Sue, much loved in fan fiction. However that doesn’t mean the story isn’t true, she could be an archetype, a classic example of how she should look
 
Fascinating thread. The most interesting thing to me is the Frank's sudden descent into panic. The original story, aside from the silent motorbike, doesn't have anything where a rational explanation would be more plausible (and full respect and courtesy to the original poster - I wasn't there and didn't experience this). The shift where everything turned is fascinating though - that sudden panic - what could have caused this? I had a, well, not really remotely simiilar, story happen to me - but it put me in mind of it. I was 18 on the London Underground, and a time, about my age, caught my eye, looked quite posh - 'private school-ish' I thought at the time. I got on the tuve when it arrived and she came and stood next to me - i could feel her against me and a kind of electricity. I got off the tube next stop and walked away. Nothing remotely odd about this whole thing - just the feeling that persisted with me the rest of the day. A feeling of otherness - kind of feeling you might get from a slightly odd dream. The event itself was entirely normal - 2 passengers on a no doubt busy tube train forced into close proximity. What is interesting us my reaction of feeling slightly haunted by it all. A minor incident but it stays with me 30 years on - or rather my response to it does. Anyway, an excellent thread and post - and whatever happened - the original story really does feel most uncanny.
 
My problem with this story is the additional detail supplied beyond the original story in answer to forum interest and questions. Her eye colour, her accent, a sketch and additional details that ‘Frank’ may have supplied instantaneously yet he never appeared - to my knowledge at least.
People are allowed to not want to join/post/be involved in these threads.
 
Fascinating thread. The most interesting thing to me is the Frank's sudden descent into panic. The original story, aside from the silent motorbike, doesn't have anything where a rational explanation would be more plausible (and full respect and courtesy to the original poster - I wasn't there and didn't experience this). The shift where everything turned is fascinating though - that sudden panic - what could have caused this? I had a, well, not really remotely simiilar, story happen to me - but it put me in mind of it. I was 18 on the London Underground, and a time, about my age, caught my eye, looked quite posh - 'private school-ish' I thought at the time. I got on the tuve when it arrived and she came and stood next to me - i could feel her against me and a kind of electricity. I got off the tube next stop and walked away. Nothing remotely odd about this whole thing - just the feeling that persisted with me the rest of the day. A feeling of otherness - kind of feeling you might get from a slightly odd dream. The event itself was entirely normal - 2 passengers on a no doubt busy tube train forced into close proximity. What is interesting us my reaction of feeling slightly haunted by it all. A minor incident but it stays with me 30 years on - or rather my response to it does. Anyway, an excellent thread and post - and whatever happened - the original story really does feel most uncanny.
Interesting, Thanks for sharing your incident.
 
People are allowed to not want to join/post/be involved in these threads.
...and people are allowed to reply to these threads, even if they have a negative point of view. And people are allowed to ignore replies they don't like. I don't think there's much to be gained from the users of the forum suggesting anyone with a negative response should keep it to themselves. The thread is here for any members of the forum to respond with their thoughts.
 
...and people are allowed to reply to these threads, even if they have a negative point of view. And people are allowed to ignore replies they don't like. I don't think there's much to be gained from the users of the forum suggesting anyone with a negative response should keep it to themselves. The thread is here for any members of the forum to respond with their thoughts.
Absolutely, I actually agree with most of what you post here. Clearly only Damien knows the truth of what has been posted, but regardless it is a brilliant post that the majority of replies seemed to have very much enjoyed. * I * don't think there is much to be gained by assuming that just because a third party doesn't sign up to a forum, it means it's fake.
 
Fascinating thread. The most interesting thing to me is the Frank's sudden descent into panic. The original story, aside from the silent motorbike, doesn't have anything where a rational explanation would be more plausible (and full respect and courtesy to the original poster - I wasn't there and didn't experience this). The shift where everything turned is fascinating though - that sudden panic - what could have caused this? I had a, well, not really remotely simiilar, story happen to me - but it put me in mind of it. I was 18 on the London Underground, and a time, about my age, caught my eye, looked quite posh - 'private school-ish' I thought at the time. I got on the tuve when it arrived and she came and stood next to me - i could feel her against me and a kind of electricity. I got off the tube next stop and walked away. Nothing remotely odd about this whole thing - just the feeling that persisted with me the rest of the day. A feeling of otherness - kind of feeling you might get from a slightly odd dream. The event itself was entirely normal - 2 passengers on a no doubt busy tube train forced into close proximity. What is interesting us my reaction of feeling slightly haunted by it all. A minor incident but it stays with me 30 years on - or rather my response to it does. Anyway, an excellent thread and post - and whatever happened - the original story really does feel most uncanny.
You have it in a nutshell there Mr H. 380 posts, so people found it interesting, and whether the sequence of events as described had a natural explanation or not is largely irrelevant. It's the effect on the experiencer that is fascinating, haunting and still remembered nearly 40 years later.
I've had 3 similar encounters to yours over the decades and why I remember them still remains a mystery.
 
Absolutely, I actually agree with most of what you post here. Clearly only Damien knows the truth of what has been posted, but regardless it is a brilliant post that the majority of replies seemed to have very much enjoyed. * I * don't think there is much to be gained by assuming that just because a third party doesn't sign up to a forum, it means it's fake.
Okay, I think I misinterpreted your post. I thought you were suggesting @Analogue Boy shouldn't be posting on the thread if he has nothing positive to say. In fact you were, I think, pointing out to Analogue Boy that the fact someone may not want to share his story on the forum for any number of potential reasons doesn't really reflect on the likely truth of the story. And, I agree. And I think Damien sounds like someone who is particularly fascinated by this story and has tried to get as much detail and accuracy as he could.
 
Okay, I think I misinterpreted your post. I thought you were suggesting @Analogue Boy shouldn't be posting on the thread if he has nothing positive to say. In fact you were, I think, pointing out to Analogue Boy that the fact someone may not want to share his story on the forum for any number of potential reasons doesn't really reflect on the likely truth of the story. And, I agree. And I think Damien sounds like someone who is particularly fascinated by this story and has tried to get as much detail and accuracy as he could.
Yes, apologies I may not have been clear. It was Frank's non-appearance I was commenting on.
 
You have it in a nutshell there Mr H. 380 posts, so people found it interesting, and whether the sequence of events as described had a natural explanation or not is largely irrelevant. It's the effect on the experiencer that is fascinating, haunting and still remembered nearly 40 years later.
I've had 3 similar encounters to yours over the decades and why I remember them still remains a mystery.
I've always thought that The subjective experience of the 'weird' is far more interesting than the search for 'evidence' - I find a vague glimpse of something shadowy in a gloomy house far nore fascinating than any number of thermometer- recorded temperature drops or EMF readings. Would be very interesting to hear your tales too - unless too private to share of course as these can be very personal experiences.
 
I've always thought that The subjective experience of the 'weird' is far more interesting than the search for 'evidence'
Yes I've mentioned the same view before on here. As far as the encounters mentioned above are concerned, they were similar to yours, and not really worth detailing, paling into insignificance compared to my other weird experiences which have been covered in previous posts. I seem to have gone through a decade (years ago) of attracting the weird and (sometimes) wonderful.
 
Here are my guesses!

a) She was Jenny Greenteeth giving Black Shuck a walk and Frank was lucky he survived
b) She was an early goth who was a bit fed up of pervy randoms cracking on to her
c) She was a pagan. I remember there being a lot of anti-pagan and New Age feeling in the 80s. It was when New Age shops were being burned down. You wouldn't necessarily want to get into a discussion of the Solstice.
d) Frank had a panic attack, it sounds like his life wasn't all kittens and candy floss.
 
This very much reads like fiction to me. Not sure chatting up a lone girl in the woods is a good story choice either tbh.

However if we assume the person laying claim to events is not making it up -

Definitely sounds like someone with a mental disorder. Having been witness to instant personality changes caused by a mental illness it can be extremely frightening.

I'd also suggest that he had subconsciously picked up on something being not right about her and this caused an anxious reaction.
 
This very much reads like fiction to me. Not sure chatting up a lone girl in the woods is a good story choice either tbh.

However if we assume the person laying claim to events is not making it up -

Definitely sounds like someone with a mental disorder. Having been witness to instant personality changes caused by a mental illness it can be extremely frightening.

I'd also suggest that he had subconsciously picked up on something being not right about her and this caused an anxious reaction.
I can assure you it is NOT fiction. Frank has written books before so this may lend to the prose style. He didn't meet her in the woods it was on a public pathway.
 
Here are my guesses!

a) She was Jenny Greenteeth giving Black Shuck a walk and Frank was lucky he survived
b) She was an early goth who was a bit fed up of pervy randoms cracking on to her
c) She was a pagan. I remember there being a lot of anti-pagan and New Age feeling in the 80s. It was when New Age shops were being burned down. You wouldn't necessarily want to get into a discussion of the Solstice.
d) Frank had a panic attack, it sounds like his life wasn't all kittens and candy floss.
Frank isn't a "Pervy random" LOL, a bit forward in his advances maybe but no perv :hahazebs: I can't remember there being anti-pagan resentment in the 80s; was this something that was prevalent down south at this time?
 
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