‘I’d got up stupidly early on Midsummer in 2008. The plan was to head to somewhere pretty and take photos of the sunrise. I ended up in *** near *** in County Durham. I’d been making my way through the woods in the near dark and crashing about a bit trying to find my footing. I headed for some clear grass at the edge of the woodland in the hope of being able to walk more easily and also hopefully get a glimpse of the rising sun which was pretty much obscured by the landscape where I’d been. I nearly stood on a pheasant which took off into my face making a terrible din and landing me on my backside. While I was trying to get my breath back and my heart rate down to something manageable I saw an eerie light back amongst the trees. I crawled over to investigate, trying to be as quiet as possible, because I had no idea what could be causing it. What I saw was a creature like a person but stretched upwards, overly thin and tall, and with its head coming to a slightly corkscrewed point with some smaller branching points coming from it. It had its back to me and was a mottled brown but wreathed in a glowing greenish mist that came from it and seemed to be part of it. Part of it stretched up from the shoulders forming something vaguely wing or fan-like in shape. I was really worried it would turn round and see me but it moved away from me and disappeared a little too quickly amongst the trees.’ ‘It was very quiet, probably quieter than it should have been.’ ‘I don’t believe there is one theory which can explain all things that have been regarded as fairies.’
§97
North East, England
2000s
Male: Age 41-50
occasional supernatural experiences
in woodland
3 am-6 am
one to two minutes
on my own
no special state reported
‘oblivious’
profound silence before the experience, hair prickling or tingling before or during the experience, a sudden chill before the experience