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In the spirit of Halloween, I wanted to share a local account of something that made one woman scream in terror. Jean and Norma were reluctant to speak with me, and did so on the condition that I change their names for this article. The two women live in the Onondaga County area near Syracuse, NY, and are both white collar professionals. Since I write a UFO blog, a friend suggested they reach out to me. Jean, for the better part of the past 15 years, has suspected that she may have had a series of close encounter experiences. In the years before she met Norma, she quietly noted periods of lost time. She found herself waking up unaware of how she came to be where she was. For the record, Jean assures me that she is a teetotaler. Her first experience began after she visited the mountains of North Carolina in a camping area near the Appalachian Trail. During the camping event, she remembers having a dream that seemed like she was in a bright hospital environment. In the decade since that experience, she has had recurring memories of that unique dream from time to time. She has also experienced additional periods of lost time, waking up in the morning with physical issues that suggested that she had been roughly handled. Jean also indicated that she’s had numerous flashback memories of large owls. Add to that various items in her household that would go missing and turn up days or weeks later in the most unusual places. For instance, her slippers came up missing and could not be found anywhere in the house. A month or so later, they were found neatly sitting next to her nightstand. The interesting thing was these fuzzy slippers looked as if they had been dry cleaned. “They were clean as a whistle … not like they were when I last saw them,” Jean said. Jean’s residence is equipped with a high-tech commercial alarm system. A few years ago, the women heard an expert on UFO abductions on a talk radio program. They did a little research and found an online test to determine if Jean had indeed been abducted. Jean took the test and passed with flying colors. While this gave Norma a sense of uneasiness, it seemed to give Jean a sense of relief. “Perhaps that was what had been happening to me for all these years.” Jean remarked. The most recent unnerving event occurred earlier this summer. They had just spent a long weekend in northern New York. It was a much needed break from the stress of their professions. When they returned to their household in the central New York, the oddest thing happened. They had just carried in their luggage and Norma opened the cellar door and proceeded down the steps to get some pantry items. Moments later, she let out what Jean said was a blood-curdling scream. Jean thought Norma had fallen and ran to her aid immediately. “Norma was sitting on the landing with her arms in a defensive position,” Jean said. “I looked in the direction she was looking and there appeared to be bats fluttering about; but they were oddly indistinct.” Jean helped Norma up and the two women vacated the cellar way and quickly slammed the door. Afterwards, the two women took their time to calm down and discussed what just happened. Both had heard reports on local news outlets that there had been bats getting into people’s houses of late. A search of the cellar later that evening yielded no bats. A further search of the cellar the next day showed no evidence of bat guano (bat droppings). A few days later, after the women discussed the topic at length, both realized that neither had heard a fluttering as if a bird had been in the cellar. Norma reported one bat, while Jean reported three. It was later that day that Jean said she had a mental flash when she heard Norma’s scream. Oddly, Jean’s mental image at that moment was of a short bald man in a blue jumpsuit at the bottom of the stairs. What this event was, neither of the women knows for sure, but stories like this are not uncommon among those who have experienced similar occurances. This reporter remembers a presentation at the International UFO Congress in 2014. The presentation was researcher Mike Cleland. The subject of Mr. Clelland’s presentation was about something called screen memories. In this context, a screen memory is a false memory that is recalled, or magnified, in importance and that masks another memory of deep emotional significance. During Mr. Clelland’s presentation, and later at an Experiencer’s meeting, I found out that these bird memories, in particularly Owl screen memories, are not uncommon. Bats are also considered an archetypal symbol in the human psyche. The theory is that the alien is telepathic and seems to be able to project a mental suggestion that triggers an archetypal screen image in one’s memory. Happy Halloween, and be careful when you go into your basement! If you are interested in joining a monthly UFO discussion group in the Onondaga County area, drop Cheryl an email [email protected]. If you have a UFO sighting to report, you can use either one of the two national database services: nuforc.org or mufon.com. Both services respect confidentiality. Cheryl Costa would love to hear the when, where and what of your New York sighting. Email it to [email protected]. The names of witnesses will be omitted to protect their privacy. [fbcomments url="" width="100%" count="on"]