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Odd Smells

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michelleeb1970

Gone But Not Forgotten
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Does anyone else experience odd smells they cannot explain? For example..the past few days I've come back to my flat to the strong smell of a meat pie cooking. I'm allergic to gluten, so I can't have pies, so the smell kills me (i used to really love pies. I miss pies). I've opened the windows, and burnt incense, and it's still there. I don't think it's the flat downstairs, because I pass by his kitchen as I come up, and he's not cooking..besides, he's not there.

And right now, at work, there's a really strong smell of tobacco smoke...in a building where smoking is not only banned, but banned outside too (I'm a non-smoker and even I think that's too far), and no-one in the room with me smokes.

I used to smell my dad's aftershave at university....long after he died. I'm not sure if that's the same phenomenom or a ghostly encounter.

I know that smells sometimes precede migraine's or epileptic attacks, but i get neither (I did get petit mal as a child, but that passed years ago)

So does anyone else get this? Smells that shouldn't be there? is it a ghostly phenonenom or physical oddity, or what? Is it even fortean?
 
I don't think phantom smells necessarily presage any serious illness - blocked sinuses can be enough to trigger them.

From the very familiarity and emotional associations of your smells, I'd guess that your brain is compensating for a lack of sense data.

We had a thread recently about the visual equivalent where deteriorating eyesight triggered strange visions. :eek:
 
I can understand the pies and the aftershave..but the tobacco smoke? I hate that...

I've read some articles on those people who saw the hallucinations, they're fascinating. I love the one about the guy who hallucinated a stripper at the same time every night and it was the highlight of his day
 
My dining room used to smell of wet dog every so often. I have never owned a dog and I shampooed the heck out of the carpet. But the smell resisted.

Funnily enough the smell went shortly after my then partner left me.

Now this is a bit gross, but sometimes I smell the smell my dad made when he went for a session in the loo and smoked a fag at the same time :cross eye. Not pleasant, but still evokes strong feelings as my dad has been dead 14 years.

And then there was the day I smelt chicken stew all day. Everywhere I went I could smell it, then looking in the mirror I realised I had spilt some on the pendant I wear at dinner the night before. Yes I know, filthy moo :D
 
When I was really young, I remember frequently getting a smell that I can only describe as "like tin or metal". It always bothered me. I have found over the years that whenever I accidentally hit my head really hard, I get the same smell. It is an incredibly annoying smell. My brother in the medical field says I am probably getting slight concussions which are creating signals in a portion of the brain that triggers a response that the brain has no idea what to do with, so it links it to the nerves related to smell.
 
Years ago me and the other half used to live in a very odd end of terrace house. We used to get odd smells all the time. We'd get really strong cigarette smoke, neither of us smoked. The smell of nail varnish would occasionally appear and would get so bad that we'd have to open the windows to get rid of it. We knew it wasn't coming from next door because they'd be at work and the fireplace had been blocked up some time before.
 
Funnily enough the smell went shortly after my then partner left me.
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:laughing: Happens a lot!

The BF recently said he was driving along and started thinking about his long-dead driving instructor, who used to smoke a pipe during the lessons.
BF says he then got an extremely stong smell of pipe smoke in the car, which he felt to be rather ghostly in origin.

I said, no, I bet it was the other way round.
You must have got a whiff of the smoke from a passing car or something, which reminded you of old Mr Ready-Rubbed, then took another breath and smelled it more strongly. ;)

This doesn't explain everyone else's experiences though.
 
Along the lines of what pkellmey posted, have you ever suffered a head trauma ?? (Seriously) An impact to the front of your cranium can affect the sense of smell. A work mate of mine was in a severe auto crash, and afterwards realized he had lost his sense of smell entirely. What was interesting was that he had "phantom smell syndrome" and sometimes would quite clearly 'smell' something that wasn't there. He also had problems eating, as smell is so closely related to our enjoyment of a meal.
 
no, no serious head trauma, though i did break my nose and it never got mended properly. i do have an incredibly vivid imagination though, and i know that smell is the most evocative of the senses....
 
It's also a symptom of several neurological conditions (don't get excited though Michelle, if you haven't got other symptoms you needn't worry!). i have M.E. and often experience the smells of peanut butter, baked beans or cigarette smoke when they can't possibly be there.
I believe smell is the most subjective sense we have, and so the most apt to hallucinations too.
 
My mother, who died three years ago from lung cancer, was a heavy smoker. About a year ago, I started noticing the scent of cigarette smoke in my house, usually in the study where I spend most of the day. Neither my husband nor I smoke, and none of our visitors do. This smoke smell came and went. About six months after this phenomenon started, I was diagnosed with lymphoma (low-grade tumor...has since responded well to treatment). I had had some symptoms for some time before the phenomenon started, had even been to several doctors, but none of them diagnosed me correctly. Finally, in March of this year I saw a doctor who performed a biopsy and put me on the road to effective treatment.

And I realized a few months ago, that the smell stopped right about the time I saw that doctor.

I will really always wonder if my mother was around and trying to get through to me until I followed through. She had ignored her own symptoms of cancer so long that by the time she was diagnosed, it was too late for her.

So I can relate to your underlying question...is "somebody" you can't see, trying to get your attention?
 
Have you guys ever heard of synesthesia? Interesting condition where the senses get short-circuited in the brain leading to people seeing flashing colours when they hear certain words, seeing words with colours that are not really there, smelling certain things when certain words are said, and other combinations...

I wonder if this could be what you are experiencing?

I first read about this years ago, but the BBC here in the UK aired an interesting programme about it last week. Looky here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/horizon/derek_prog_summary.shtml

There was even a blind chap who see's colours with certain 'ordered' words, such as days of the week, numbers and months of the year. Interesting.
 
1/2 on topic - 1/2 not

One thing about the smoke smell, I know many people who live in apartments who can smell clearly when a neighbor is smoking through their vents or walls. Glad *I* smoke, because that would be annoying if I didn't.

In the new house I live in though, (not new, but current old house, turn of the century, Juliette Gordon-Low's brother's plantation house) we would occasionally have the smell of roses in the kitchen. And though I lived with two girls, they hated the smell of roses and would never use it as a scent or product or buy roses. It was all well and good and would pass quickly, yet, when the landlord visited us once he asked, "have you smelled the old ladies roses' yet?" Apparently, every tenant has mentioned it for years. Including the owner our current landlord bought the house from.

Other than that, nothing strange ever happened. I did move, by myself, out into the carriage house, where I moved in an old white table I have had for years. Then one day when cleaning I noticed the name 'Andrea' etched in the white table. I know no Andrea, and rarely have people over. So, was it ghost? I figured it was a used table and once dirt built up enough in the etched lines it became legible. Now its more legible than ever and I can't believe it's been there forever without me noticing it before.

Thanks,
Robert
 
beakboo said:
It's also a symptom of several neurological conditions (don't get excited though Michelle, if you haven't got other symptoms you needn't worry!). i have M.E. and often experience the smells of peanut butter, baked beans or cigarette smoke when they can't possibly be there.
I believe smell is the most subjective sense we have, and so the most apt to hallucinations too.
Click to expand...

Maybe it's left over from the petit mal i had as a child. it was fairly mild, nothing shocking, i just used to 'switch off' and as i was a fairly alone daydreamy child no-one really noticed anyway. Anyway, it faded when I was 18, as I understand petit mal tends to do, but maybe this smell thing of mine is the last lingering remnants of it.
 
I keep coming home to find our new flat smells of cooking sausages when no-one's been there . It's a new flat but in a converted fabrics factory . I wonder if they had a canteen that cooked a lot of bangers ?
 
I will really always wonder if my mother was around and trying to get through to me until I followed through. She had ignored her own symptoms of cancer so long that by the time she was diagnosed, it was too late for her.
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Your post really interested me, Esmerelda. I'm convinced my Dad is still looking out for me, although he died of emphysema four years ago next month, having been a heavy smoker all his life. Recently, I was driving towards a nasty T-junction in our village that I'm very familiar with, but for some reason, that day I wasn't concentrating on what I was doing. I suddenly realised that if I didn't brake pretty damn quick, I was going to be in amongst the traffic on the main road. I whipped my foot off the accelerator and went to stamp on the brake pedal...

...and it was already half way to the floor. The brake was being applied before I put my foot on it. At the same time, the car was full of the smell of stale cigarette smoke; I know that's not what people think of as a nice smell, but for me, it's got nice associations. It's the way my dad and our car always used to smell, and it always makes me feel warm and safe.

Nobody in my family smoke now, and the smell was gone as fast as it came, but I'm sure Dad was keeping me safe; I can see him folding his arms and coming out with some comment about being more careful next time...! (Like the time I got my first and only love bite; I thought I'd hidden it really well, but just as I was going out of the room after lunch the next day, he said from behind his newspaper, "Take your shirt off next time you iron it. You aren't half burning your neck". Exit one deeply embarrassed me...)
 
Your dad sounds like a fun guy, Cyclops. :D And a great guy, to be looking out for you from the afterlife. What a close call! :shock:

I can occasionally smell what I think is gas just inside my bathroom. I have a really good sense of smell but I can't figure out where it's coming from. It's not always there and we don't have a gas leak in our furnace, which is in a room just outside the bathroom. My husband can never smell it and no one who's visited has ever said anything so I'm not sure what's going on. It seems to be weather-related as I don't recall smelling it all winter but now that the weather has started to warm up, I've smelled it a few times. Anybody know of anything else that smells like gas (with that rotten eggs smell they add to it so it's detectable?) Besides rotten eggs, that is.

Somewhat off-topic, I have a strong memory of sitting at my grandfather's feet when I was very small (maybe 4 or 5) and he's smoking a sweet smelling pipe. The only thing is, my mom insists he never smoked a pipe after I was born! It's my only real memory of him, even if she says it never happened; he did smoke a pipe but stopped well before I was born. :? Every time I smell sweet pipe smoke, I remember this and my grandpa who died not long after I turned 5 so I can't ask him.
 
i used to work as a projectionist in a cinema, and very often would smell roses in the booth. one day my boss and myself actually followed the smell around the booth.
there were rumours that the place was haunted but that was supposedly by a monk
 
A rose-loving monk who haunted a movie theater. Hm. Not your average type of ghost but at least you can be fairly sure he's harmless. :)
 
I don't think there's any supernatural aspect to this, but you never know!

Something fishy at M&S? Shoppers complain to retailer over smell of their handbags
By Emily Andrews
Last updated at 9:00 AM on 21st November 2011

This is not just a handbag. This is a Marks and Spencer handbag.
But the brand that prides itself on quality, affordability and trustworthiness doesn’t come out of its latest product launch smelling of roses.

Several customers have returned a £25 metallic shoulderbag and others have taken to the store’s website to complain about a clutch bag because of their suspicious fishy odour.

Caroline Smith, 50, from Basingstoke, Hampshire, purchased one of the shoulderbags, which are made in China from polyurethane with a polyester and cotton lining, as a 77th birthday present for her mother.
But she was too embarrassed to use the whiffy accessory, so Mrs Smith has now returned it.
Mrs Smith said: ‘It’s a really horrible smell, as if she’s carrying around some smoked mackerel.
‘Mum’s tried everything. She’s filled it with perfumed tissues and hung it out to air, but nothing works.’

Another customer, reviewing the bag on the M&S website, wrote: ‘I like it, but I don’t think I can use it any more. When I removed the packaging the interior smelled like fish.
‘I’ve tried air neutralisers and natural fragrances but even today in the office someone commented on the fishy smell in the air and I realised that it was my handbag.’

A spokesman for M&S confirmed that a number of customers had returned the patent handbag, billed as a ‘practical and fashionable accessory’, due to its smell.
He insisted that it was a popular product with ‘extremely low rates of return’ and that only a small fraction of consumers had asked for a refund.

But customers have also been complaining online of a similar smell coming from the lining of other bags from the store.

One customer, under the name RoopyE, from Bristol, said her Per Una clutch bag had a ‘fishy smell that won’t go away’.

And Crimsonmaj, from Somerset, complained about the stench of a crocodile-skin print shopper bag from M&S.
The 45-year-old said: ‘The bag comes stuffed with paper which smells of fish! I have sprayed the bag with perfume and you can’t smell it unless you put your head in it – thank goodness I don’t do that very often!’

The M&S spokesman added: ‘We wouldn’t speculate on the cause of the smell before we have had the chance to investigate.
‘Our work is ongoing on this but we don’t believe it’s a widespread issue.
‘If any customer experiences any quality issues with any product we encourage them to contact customer services and return the product to our stores to enable us to investigate.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/artic ... z1eLQ9VI9z

The last time I bought a handbag was over 40 years ago! ;)
 
Crimsonmaj, " . . . you can’t smell it unless you put your head in it – thank goodness I don’t do that very often!"

I'll cut you some eye-holes. :nonplus:


edit: Crimsonvaj begone!
 
Funny before I saw this thread I'd been thinking about odd smells. On Sunday for about a minute while I was sitting at the computer I could smell this lovely perfume, not one my daughter or I use.
Yesterday I could smell a cigar. Noone smokes here and the only one I ever knew to do so was my late father in law. Two of my non smoking friends sometimes smell cigarette smoke but never cigars.
 
Isis177 said:
Funny before I saw this thread I'd been thinking about odd smells. On Sunday for about a minute while I was sitting at the computer I could smell this lovely perfume, not one my daughter or I use.
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This exact thing happened to me last week! I was sitting on the couch using my laptop and I kept catching the hint of a perfumey scent. It came and went over the next couple of hours. I'm sure there's a very logical explanation for it but whatever it is it's beyond me, as no one in my family uses perfume.
 
We often smell cigarette smoke at home. Nobody smokes here and it's often at night when the windows are closed so it can't be drifting in from the street. Weirdly, it'll only be one of us at a time who smells it, then another day it'll be the other.
 
sneakyfeet said:
This exact thing happened to me last week! I was sitting on the couch using my laptop and I kept catching the hint of a perfumey scent. It came and went over the next couple of hours. I'm sure there's a very logical explanation for it but whatever it is it's beyond me, as no one in my family uses perfume.
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Could the smell of perfume be a kind of washing powder/conditioner smell? If I'm sat with my lap top on my lap, when it gets fairly warm (the lap top, that is, not the ambient temperature) I can usually smell my fabric conditioner.
 
Cultjunky said:
Could the smell of perfume be a kind of washing powder/conditioner smell?
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I thought about that. Except it didn't really smell like the fabric softener we use...but maybe the heat of the laptop combined with wearing it altered the scent a bit? Who knows. Ah, the little mysteries of life!
 
Two relevant remarks have I. I told them to let me go!

Seriously, personal and general.

Personally, from mid 2009 to mid 2010, I had been spontaneously smelling tobacco smoke, in contexts where I knew I could not encounter any. (e.g., at home alone, or in the shower). I smoked 25 years ago, but not since, so I know the odor well & wouldn't confuse it with anything else. My doctor was perplexed, and asked me to try to make sure I could move and speak while I was having these olfactory hallucinations. (I infer he wanted to rule out any kind, or some kinds, of seizure.) Eventually, it stopped.

Generally: I had recently heard from some source on evolutionary biology that the human sense of smell has been subject to significant random drift, since humans do not directly use our sense of smell to enhance our survival anymore. (e.g., Rather than using our sense of smell to avoid eating near excreta, we simply keep our food out of the bathroom. Rather than smelling food to see if it has gone off, we use our fridges, and industry creates food-like substances unpalatable to decomposing microbes.) The upshot of this is that the same substance may smell significantly different to various persons. Just a tangent. Among my acquaintances, I'm famous for my tangents!
 
sneakyfeet said:
Cultjunky said:
Could the smell of perfume be a kind of washing powder/conditioner smell?
Click to expand...

I thought about that. Except it didn't really smell like the fabric softener we use...but maybe the heat of the laptop combined with wearing it altered the scent a bit? Who knows. Ah, the little mysteries of life!
Click to expand...

The only way to be sure is to play on your laptop for a while and then get someone to bury their face in your lap while your thighs're still hot snd sniff really hard.
Let us know how you go on.
 
Further up the post re the rose loving monk in the cinema. Aren't the smell of roses supposed to signify a holy presence? Also, on my way to work yesterday a single white feather fell in front of me, which is kind of related.
 
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