‘I don’t remember the date or how old I was, but it was summer and I was probably eight to eleven years old which would date it to summer 1959-1962. It was evening and the lightning bugs (fireflies) were out. I was with my father on the front yard lawn when I saw a fluorescent/neon zigzag of light (six to twelve inches long) in front of me. It had nothing to do with the fireflies and was a purple/yellow/green color similar to the zigzag of light I saw in California in 1958 when I was seven and a half years old (described in a previous submission). I asked my father if it was a glowworm and from his rather confused/hesitant reply I realized that he did not see it. It only lasted a few seconds.’ The place had ‘no reputation for abnormal apparitions’. ‘I do not think it was a fairy experience. I guess it was either an aberration of my eyesight or…??’ What are fairies? ‘No idea’. ‘I experienced two unusual light phenomena in childhood and have never experienced them again (as of age seventy-two) so have absolutely no idea what was going on. I suppose the easiest explanation would be that my eyes were ‘playing tricks on me’.
§798
Nebraska, US
1950s
Female: Age 0-10
never or almost never has supernatural experiences
in a garden
6 pm-9 pm
less than a minute
with one other person who did not share my experience
no special state reported
not a humanoid apparition and no character/mood revealed
no special experience reported