The strangest thing happened to me this morning...

[Rhah]

*I wouldn't necessarily say this was a spiritual experience, but certainly remarkable and inexplicable. Hence my reasoning for placing it in this subforum.*

Alright, let me first give you a bit of background information before I explain what happened.
My aunt and uncle went on holiday last sunday and asked me if I would be willing to spend the days they were away in their house and take care of their cats. I love cats so that wasn't a tough decision. Plus I had done this once before when they went on holiday last summer.
This time, however, it was only for two nights - from sunday till tuesday (they should actually be back in about two hours from the moment of writing).

Alright, so yesterday evening I had a couple of friends over and we spent the evening outside in the garden, sitting at a wooden table watching a movie on my laptop and just chatting a bit. They left at around midnight, at which point I locked up and went to bed shortly after.

So this morning, after I woke up, I went downstairs to let the cats out into the garden and proceeded to prepare some food for them in the kitchen. I put the trays of food down and went into the garden myself to keep an eye on them.
Then, when I looked at the table we had all sat at the night before, I noticed this...

http://s23.postimg.org/lwzvs7i5n/20151020_092608.jpg

Now, these are clearly footprints. Which obviously is extremely odd in the first place. But what puzzled me the most is the white area that surrounds them... Because, as you can clearly see, it had rained all night. And the entire table is wet, including the footprints themselves, except for that little white area. Which was still as dry as bone.

But that's not all, here's what makes this even stranger; these footprints not only exactly match my own shoe size, but the soles of the shoes I was wearing at the moment as well:

http://s8.postimg.org/9le990osl/20151020_093451.jpg

...I genuinely have no idea how to explain this. I'm not know for sleepwalking, and to the best of my knowledge I never have. Even if I did occasionally sleepwalk, I'd say it would still be quite odd for me to go downstairs in the middle of the night, put my shoes on, unlock the back door, and go into the garden to stand on top of a table for a couple of hours whilst it was raining.

But even if I did, for whatever reason, do all of the above, that still wouldn't explain the fact that the footprints themselves are wet as well... Because if someone actually did stand on top of that table while it was raining, that would just leave a dry, circle-like spot on the table. Not a dry spot with two wet footprints very precisely "cut" out of it.
You would almost say that someone placed a pair of shoes on the table, caked them in baking powder, and then took the shoes off. The prints are so precise.

This happened about 4 hours ago and I'm still a bit flabbergasted. I've shown these pictures to my friends and they're just as amazed as I am. At the time I even looked around at the surrounding houses to see if perhaps someone was laughing his butt off behind a window for playing such a good prank on me haha.

After a while I decided to also just wet the dry spot (which, surprisingly, took quite a lot of effort) so that the footprints wouldn't stand out anymore. As I obviously had no idea how to explain this to my aunt and uncle without giving them the impression that I've been acting like an idiot whilst they were away.
The table now looks like this:

http://s29.postimg.org/obcqdvzrb/20151020_105333.jpg

Does anyone have any idea what the heck this could've been? If so, I would love to hear it. Because I genuinely can't think of any logical explanation, and I have no recollection whatsoever of doing anything after having gone to bed.
I went to bed, fell asleep, woke up, went outside, and saw this. That's it.

[Desrknelf]

That is very strange. What was the white made of exactly? The only phenomenon i can relate this to is gang stalking where people do things to utterly confuse you. But usually those things have some purpose of making you doubt your memory and experiences. This is just weird and completely nonsensical.

[Rhah]

That is very strange. What was the white made of exactly? The only phenomenon i can relate this to is gang stalking where people do things to utterly confuse you. But usually those things have some purpose of making you doubt your memory and experiences. This is just weird and completely nonsensical.

That's the thing, it wasn't anything. It was just bone dry. That's the color the table has when it's dry (as you can see from the edge of the table in the first picture, which wasn't hit by rainfall.) The rest of it is just darker due to it being wet from the rain.

And yeah, something similar to the gang stalking thing also came to mind. Someone messing with me. But that wouldn't really make any sense either because my aunt and uncle live in a completely different city than I do, about a half an hour to forty minutes drive away. So this is not a familiar neighborhood for me. I don't know anyone here, and (I presume) no one here knows me.

Thank you for your input.

[Billy]

From the pictures, The white part appears to be engrained into the wood, almost weathered. can you describe the white part in more detail. Was it powder of some sort.
Did you lock the door when you went to bed and were your shoes inside the house?

[Sérénité]

Rhah, that's really bizarre! The only 'logical' thing I can think of is possibly there is something invisible marking the surface of the wood, that has only been made visible by the wood getting wet?
I say this as I work with a lot of old upcycled furniture and sometimes wood shows up different textures under different environmental factors.

Is it at all possible maybe your uncle has used the table to stand on whilst spraying/painting something, this could have left an invisible residue or coating where the rain reacts differently to that area.
In the after shot, where it is cleared up and dried, the wood finish does seem different in that one area to the rest...as though it has been treated or had some products spilt onto it, or possibly stripped in that area ready to be re-varnished but then left?

It would be interesting to see, under the same weather conditions again, do the footprint marks reappear?

If they do not, then that is truly some crazy X-Files kind of $h*t going on right there hehe :D

[SKIBADABOMSKI]

I know a silver robot showman that always spray paints his shoes whilst doing a street show and thats exactly the mark he leaves behind. But anyway.. my guess is it was a prank. Your mates returned and sprayed something around the insoles of their shoes or something like that.

Looks scary..

I just read somewhere of someone reading the exorcist only to get half way through and was so utterly disgusted and disturbed by it that he decided to stop reading it and went to Brighton Pier and threw the book into the sea. A friend saw him do this and bought another copy and drenched it in sea water and covered it in sand and placed it on his bed.

[Sunny-side-up]

Hi Rhah :)

Just one thought:

Have you ever put your shoes on the table and sprayed them with a waterproofing like 'Scotchguard'

doing so would create the effects you found
I.E. dry patch around your shoes but the area under your shoes wet when rained on!

At least your experience was not like my friends.
He woke after a night of drinking and found a track of small hoof prints burnt across his living room floor?

[Rhah]

From the pictures, The white part appears to be engrained into the wood, almost weathered. can you describe the white part in more detail. Was it powder of some sort.
Did you lock the door when you went to bed and were your shoes inside the house?
Yes, all the doors were locked, as well as the entry to the garden itself, and my shoes were inside the house. And as I said to Desrknelf; at first it looked like powder, but when I swiped the table nothing came off, it just felt like bone dry wood.


Is it at all possible maybe your uncle has used the table to stand on whilst spraying/painting something, this could have left an invisible residue or coating where the rain reacts differently to that area.
In the after shot, where it is cleared up and dried, the wood finish does seem different in that one area to the rest...as though it has been treated or had some products spilt onto it, or possibly stripped in that area ready to be re-varnished but then left?

Thank you for your input Sérénité. I simply do not know whether or not my uncle has done the above, so I guess that remains a possibility, yes. And I have to admit that so far this comes closest to any form of logical explanation I can have for this. However, it still doesn't really explain how the footprints matched the size and shape of my own shoes so perfectly. Because I did check the shoes my uncle left at home and he doesn't have the same size as I do. His are bigger.
I do have to add that when I attempted to wetten the dry spot so that the footprints wouldn't stand out, it took a lot of water, scrubbing, and time before the wood absorbed the water and became dark. Does that perhaps say anything to you about the wood or its furnishing?

All I can say for sure is that when I stayed there last August these markings didn't appear on the table. As it also rained a couple of days when I was there that time.


But anyway.. my guess is it was a prank. Your mates returned and sprayed something around the insoles of their shoes or something like that.


Yeah believe me, this certainly crossed my mind. But up to this point I can only doubt it to be honest... I stayed up for a good half hour after they had left, cleaning up the dishes, locking up, and doing some casual internetting before heading off to bed. Then did some reading in bed. I've also never been a quick sleeper, it usually takes me atleast half an hour to an hour to actually fall asleep. And all this time I didn't hear a thing. Besides, it was around midnight when they left, and it was a weekday. They all came together in a single car and some of them had to get up early in the morning to get to work. So I simply highly doubt it that they stayed and waited in the car for a good hour/hour and a half 'till all the lights went out to then do something silly like this.
PLus I've already spoken to them about it and they all seemed genuinely surprised. I know them well enough to know that if this really were a prank of theirs, one of them would've cracked up immediately :P

Still though, if this really were a prank by someone - which I can't entirely rule out yet at this point -, how was it done? Because what still really puzzles me is the fact that the footprints themselves are wet, indicating that rain must've been allowed to hit the table at that spot in that shape. They simply couldn't have placed a pair of shoes on the table in the rain because that wouldn't give that effect. In this case it looked more like a box was placed on the table - causing the dry area - with two shapes of the soles of my shoes cut out of it.


Have you ever put your shoes on the table and sprayed them with a waterproofing like 'Scotchguard'
No, I have never done that. Even if I had, I wouldn't have done it at my aunt and uncle's house as I don't see them very often. I can't, however, rule out the possibility that my uncle has done that with any of his shoes. So it's certainly an interesting theory, thank you. Though from what I have seen he doesn't have the same shoe size as me, nor does he have any pairs of shoes with similar shaped soles, but of course I was only able to look at the pairs he left at home so I might have missed some.

Anyway, thank you all for your input! Very interesting.

[SKIBADABOMSKI]

Are you alone again tonight?

You might wake up with the same shape at the bottom of your bed lol.. sorry... I'd be crapping it by now If I was sure it wasn't my mates or something. Thats just scary as hell.

I tell you what.. this would be a great opening to a horror movie.

Keep us informed. I'm really curious as to what this is.

Thanks for the pictures and for sharing this. You might have some weirdo about. I'd have someone stay over tonight. No way would I sleep alone after that.

[WhiteLove]

EDIT: I'm actually not sure my theory is what I think it is, I have to think of this one some more. :waving:

[Rhah]

Are you alone again tonight?

No, fortunately today was my last day. They're back home again so I'll be back in my own bed tonight. :Angel:


EDIT: I'm actually not sure my theory is what I think it is, I have to think of this one some more. :waving:

Well, WhiteLove, your theory actually made me reconsider not telling them... I now think it might be best to inform them after all. So thank you :)


Keep us informed. I'm really curious as to what this is.

I certainly will!

[Sérénité]

Hi Rhah, yes if that area of wood has had an application of polyurethane, acrylic or some sort of lacquer or epoxies then it could well make it far less porous for longer in comparison to the other areas of the table that haven't had treatments come in contact with it.

Also if the grain has been burnt or has had some sort of glue, marine finish or lacquer of some sort accidentally sprayed on it.

But still, this doesn't explain how such an exact match of your trainers could match the ones on the table...that's a big coincidence if so...erg vreemd!!!

Maybe your Uncle can shed some light to the mystery...or maybe he will be equally baffled :)

Sleep well in your own home tonight!

[DeDukshyn]

I assume the rain had stopped or almost stopped by the time you found this? Correct?

Addition: Wind or no wind when you found it? I'll assume no wind?

[Lancelot]

I love a good mystery!

Perhaps an alien beamed down onto the table during the night or used it as a telepad to transport away when it started raining heavily.

The most logical answer is that your uncle sprayed scotchguard onto his sneakers before he went on holiday and the residue only showed up on the table after it had rained that night.

Do let us know if this is the case!
Thanks, Lancelot