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Wrapped In Black

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Wrapped in Black

My story begins in the Autumn of 1984. I was 6 yrs old and I only just remember the chain of events, my elder brother remembers this part much better than myself.

My father had picked us up from school and we were driving towards a town called Whitham, in Essex. He needed to get some cash so he could take us swimming. He pulled the car over round the corner from the bank and left us while he went inside. About ten seconds after he left a man opened the passenger door and got in. My brother and I went silent, he was wearing some kind of black wrap around his head and just sat there looking straight ahead faintly mumbling something.

http://www.forteantimes.com/happened/blackwrap.shtml

Link is dead. See post below for complete text.
 
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In view of the fact that these accidents happen at junctions there is a fair chance of the guy being caught on c.c.t.v.
Maybe even several angles.Good hunting!
 
Two thoughts crossed my mind on reading this:

i. Angel of Death/Grim Reaper - read up on Mark Chorvinsky's work on the subject.


ii. A film (American, made for TV) about time travellers who sit around to witness the big disasters, as some kind of future tourist thing. Can't remember the title...but it was concerned with big historical events, not small-scale ones. Interesting concept, though.
 
Wouldn't being distracted by what one thought was a ghost help cause an accident by itself?
 
But why getting in cars with young children to watch? Or is it just because only young children are "innocent" enough to see the figure wrapped in black?
 
Originally posted by Hermes



A film (American, made for TV) about time travellers who sit around to witness the big disasters, as some kind of future tourist thing. Can't remember the title...but it was concerned with big historical events, not small-scale ones. Interesting concept, though.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...


I remember that movie, it got me thinking about foo fighters during WW2, were they from the future observing an historical event and are we likely to see them now as we wait to see what the next moves will be in the war on terrorism?
 
I have heard of a theory that things don't actually happend unless they are witnessed. Maybe this being's job is to witness these things so that they will have happened.

Just an idea.

Cujo
 
Reminds me of the episode of TAXI in which Reverend Jim is telling the young boy he's adopted about that old philosophical question:

> If a tree falls in the forest, and there's no-one around to hear it, does it make a sound?

The boy says, "Gee, I don't know."

Jim answers: "Of course it does! Don't let anyone tell you any different. Some people try to make that complicated.:rolleyes:"
 
Hermes said:
> If a tree falls in the forest, and there's no-one around to hear it, does it make a sound?
Click to expand...

Sound: Defn (1) periodic vibrations that are propogated through a medium, eg air, as pressure waves, so that the medium is displaced from its equilibrium state. So the answer is YES

Sound: Defn (2) the noise that is heard as the result of the above periodic vibrations. So the answer is NO

The boy should have said, 'Ask a sensible question, dude.'
 
A comment on the story, though: Some stories have a ring of falseness about them, and this is one such story. I don't believe it. I think it was made up beginning to end. Having said that, it could be turned into a decent work of fiction, a short story or the like.
 
It's a spooky tale, but, I feel, a tale all the same. It seems quite reminiscent of Ray Bradbury's The Crowd , which was a similar story of ghostly / otherworldly beings being spotted at accident sites, and one man's resolve to find out what they are. For some reason, I was also put in mind of the old public information film about the perils of swimming in quarries, which also featured a sinister figure in black luring people to their doom.

Perhaps if the tv footage showing Mr Wrapped In Black lurking in the background of the news report could be produced, I'd be more inclined to believe, but until then...
 
The film that was mentioned is Timescape, or The Grand Tour: Distaster in Time, with Jeff Daniels, and was actually very entertaining.

The post mentions that the man in black had a head wrap that covered his eyes, and was attached to a tunic that went down his back, that had something (wings?) hidden underneath it.

Someone tell me where I've seen an image like that before, because it sounds very familiar.

I can remember seeing a picture, (possibly a cartoon, or painting) of a guy wearing a black skullcap sort of thing, with a black gauze piece that covered his eyes and face, almost like an arabian dancing girl would wear in old films. His back was covered in a cloak or cape that fitted to the skullcap, and the cloak jutted out slightly as if, as is mentioned, he has wings or something underthere.

I remember this picture being about angels, or religion or something equally strange (It may have been in FT itself)

I'll do some more digging and try to locate it.
 
Spooky Observer

How about a psychic hit-man. Using the energy of young children to cause accidents. Sounds fanciful but a cursory reading of the Golden Bough will show several references to children used for magical rituals.
 
Never saw the Timescape film, but perhaps it was based on a short story I once read.

Time travel was being used for tourism, and all the big events were visited, including the Crucifixion. The tour company briefed the tourists on what to do and how to behave, stressing that it was important to follow the rules to avoid creating logical paradoxes and changing history. Thus they were given first century clothing, and told that when Pilate asked who was to be crucified, Jesus or Barabas, they had to reply 'Jesus!'.

So off they go, but one tourist, more perceptive than the rest, realises that all the huge crowd around him is actually composed of other tourists - there are no real locals there at all! So when they all start yelling 'Jesus, Jesus!' he tries to stop them, saying this is all wrong but...

Well, the rest is history! A deliciously ironic little tale.
 
Doesn't Voldo (of Dreamcast 'Soul Calibur' fame) wear a strip of material over his eyes? Amazing he fights so well, really. Don't know whether he's into hanging around in cars at road junctions, though.
 
The Beasts comment

Not that this is particularly helpful, but I also am reminded of the same (or a similar) image. Not that I remember where it's from either.

Several people have commented to me regarding this posting that they are reminded of the following.

German folk/fairy tales - something to do with a crossroads haunter who spooks horses.

Djinn or Ghuls from Arabian Myth (probably prompted by the head wrap motif).

Depictions of angels and demons from woodcuts, notably:-
Asmodeus and Azrael (neither of which are particulary associated with the scaring of small children).

I'm intrigued by the mumbling mentioned, quite unusual for this detail to appear without any mention of how it sounded (reminded the listener of arabic/french/german, etc.) this even occurs at times in UFO incidents (where one would expect the language to be entirely unhuman, but often reminds people of some human language anyway).
But it also reminds me of ritual religio-magickal practices (mantra's, prayer inclusive) and may imply a religious source
(angelic guardian?) rather than the German cross roads fairy who has moved to Colchester to crash cars instead of spooking horses.

Perhaps considering the Roman nature of Colchester there could be a Roman precident to the incident. one of the numina?
 
We have the cross roads ghost type story here in the UK also as we used to put gallows where roads met.

An explanation I heard was that the spirit of the hanged man would be confused about which road to take and would therefore stay at the crossroads.

Then again it could have been a purely practical thing in that more people would see the body and be warned to stay within the law...
 
greenrd said:
But why getting in cars with young children to watch? Or is it just because only young children are "innocent" enough to see the figure wrapped in black?
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Don't you people know Pratchett's books? ;)
 
Emmy Mallow said:
We have the cross roads ghost type story here in the UK also as we used to put gallows where roads met.

An explanation I heard was that the spirit of the hanged man would be confused about which road to take and would therefore stay at the crossroads.

Then again it could have been a purely practical thing in that more people would see the body and be warned to stay within the law...
Click to expand...

The explanation that they were placed at crossroads to confuse the ghost is correct.This is also the reason put forward for the fact that many crossroads have had ghost sightings.
Interesting that so many people seem to vaguely remember seeing/reading of something similar.When I read the story,the mumbling was what I took notice of,and as people have said,it would've been helpful to know what the mumbling sounded like.I'm wondering if it was anything like speaking in tongues.Other than that,some religious/ritual thing seems the most likely reason for the apparition,though I'm not sure whether or not I believe it.
 
Yknow, I've been reading IHTM on and off for several months now and I think this is the first time I've seen so many people declare that they think the story is false. I know it gave ME goosebumps! :shock:
I do think it's interesting that the writer has never come back to refute those who said the story was made up.
 
aww u guys....... ur mean lol! :twisted:

maybe it was true but then again maybe its not! :?

i personally think either way he should have kept the story to just one incident like when he was 6 it would have been far more belivable..... :shock:
im not saying its untrue just maybe exaggerated or memory isnt recalling it properly...i cant remember anything from when i was 6!!

maybe he DID witness a car crash but im sure the angel of death has got better things to do than put the heebie jeebies into 6 yr olds in the back of cars!
:roll: Kids.........(tut tut)

peace out :yeay:
 
Oooh, scary one that!

This chap sounds almost like a self effacing banshee - mumbling rather than screaming; and as you didn't see 'his' face, can you be sure it was male?

From what yu say, this one certainly seems to presage disaster - but not by very many minutes.

Tree falling in the forest: here's a variation

'If a man makes a decision, and no woman is around, is he still wrong?'

That's just a joke made by someone else in a light heart - pleasedon't inundate me with complaints!!!
 
The poster could just be pulling our legs but i'm inclined to think he's just exaggerating to get our attention. His black dude could just be a mental manifestation or gut feeling that something is about to happen.

I guess he's not going 2 answer these questions but here goes:

Could it be that you have a heightened sense of awareness about vehicular mishaps?

Do you think that your brother could have implanted this memory into you through continuous re-tellings? I realise that that sounds far fetched but if you browse through the topics here there are several discussions of 'false memories' - i.e things thast can't possibly have been remembered as the poster wasn't there or was fare too young.
 
Mr. Bingo~ said:
A comment on the story, though: Some stories have a ring of falseness about them, and this is one such story. I don't believe it. I think it was made up beginning to end. Having said that, it could be turned into a decent work of fiction, a short story or the like.
Click to expand...

Exactly my thought... Difficult to say why, but I too think it's definitely fake.
 
rynner said:
Time travel was being used for tourism, and all the big events were visited, including the Crucifixion. The tour company briefed the tourists on what to do and how to behave, stressing that it was important to follow the rules to avoid creating logical paradoxes and changing history. Thus they were given first century clothing, and told that when Pilate asked who was to be crucified, Jesus or Barabas, they had to reply 'Jesus!'.

So off they go, but one tourist, more perceptive than the rest, realises that all the huge crowd around him is actually composed of other tourists - there are no real locals there at all! So when they all start yelling 'Jesus, Jesus!' he tries to stop them, saying this is all wrong but...

Well, the rest is history! A deliciously ironic little tale.
Click to expand...

"Let's got to Golgotha" by Gary Kilworth (that reply was long time in coming)
 
The link in post #1 is long dead. Here's the complete text, salvaged from the Wayback Machine ...

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Wrapped in Black

My story begins in the Autumn of 1984. I was 6 yrs old and I only just remember the chain of events, my elder brother remembers this part much better than myself.

My father had picked us up from school and we were driving towards a town called Whitham, in Essex. He needed to get some cash so he could take us swimming. He pulled the car over round the corner from the bank and left us while he went inside. About ten seconds after he left a man opened the passenger door and got in. My brother and I went silent, he was wearing some kind of black wrap around his head and just sat there looking straight ahead faintly mumbling something.

Suddenly there was a loud crash and I looked past the man out of the front windscreen and saw that two cars had collided at the junction ahead. At this point the man opened the car door and got out, I was crying and didn't see what happened to him and my brother was trying to comfort me. My father doubted our story.

In May this year (2001), my father phoned me. He said he had been crossing the road in a town called Colchester. As he reached the other side of the road he noticed a badly parked car, as he walked past the side of it along the pavement to his amazement he recognised the black wrapped figure sitting in the passenger seat as the one we had described seventeen years ago. He said he just froze. He was jolted out of this by a loud banging noise, and looked across the junction to see a three car pile up taking place. When he looked back to the car the door was open but the figure had gone, and sitting in the back was a crying five year old boy

Two weeks later, at the start of June, my brother was driving through Gloucester. He stopped at a red light and saw the figure sitting in a parked car about ten yards away. Fearing the worst, when the lights went green he put on his emergency indicators and didn't move. Three cars from behind him passed honking their horns the fourth went straight into the back of him.

I think I've witnessed him on about five occasions, but I can't be certain. I also think I've seen him in the background of a TV news report. He's about six foot tall and the black wrap around his head covers his eyes and all. He wears a black tunic which joins the head wrap and there is something under his tunic on his back, almost like he's got a pair of folded wings underneath, yet somehow he blends in, it's almost like you don't want to notice him.

If anyone else thinks they've seen something similar please write in. I only found out about this site through my girlfriend and I'm hoping people will keep their eyes open and hopefully witness this man. I don't feel he is especially linked to my family, I just think we had an earlier experience with him and that makes it easier to see him somehow.

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SALVAGED FROM: https://web.archive.org/web/20011109064230/http://forteantimes.com:80/happened/blackwrap.shtml
 
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