I Have an Attachment!

On Saturday afternoon I took a quick shower. As I was washing my hair the back of my right calf began to burn very badly. Almost like someone was holding a hot piece of metal or a flame to the back of my leg. I finished my shower and jumped out. Looking in the full length mirror I noticed the area was bright red and seemed to have stripe of deeper red near the center.

All afternoon and evening the pain continued off an on. Sometimes the pain would peak and putting my hand over the area I could feel it seemed to be warmer than the surrounding skin.

Had I been burned or scratched by some unseen entity in my home?

The place has remained during the weekend sometimes being more painful and other times being fairly unnoticeable.

Today, as I was answering emails and doing some research for an upcoming investigation, I heard a strange sound.

Coming from what seemed to be the middle of my living room was an echoing and bizarre noise that seemed to undulate in pitch for a moment then stop.

Needless to say I was slightly taken aback for a moment and I'm sure my eyes widened as I furiously ran through options: a digital alarm I'd forgotten about? microwave beeping? computer in the other room? No, none of these things fit. What was the noise that seemed to float in the middle of the room?

Could I have brought home something from an investigation that was making itself known? After all, many people believe that entities can follow investigators from sites. This explains all the protection charms and things that some ghost hunters choose to do before they enter a supposedly haunted area.

What could these things be? A scratch or burn and then a disembodied sound or voice?

Many of the "ghost hunting" classes teach people that ghosts or entities can "attach" themselves to people and travel from place to place. I think of it as the "Fatal Attraction" theory of haunting. I've heard even level headed investigators swear that things have followed them home and taken up residence in their houses.

Is this what is happening to me?

Since, I am not a particularly suggestible person, I have always somewhat rejected this idea. After all, like so many things the "facts" about attachment are passed down from person to person as stories combining personal experiences with old school demonology with a little New Age thought thrown in for good measure.

So, what is my "debunk" for what is happening?

It's really very simple. In the case of the "burn" it is neuralgia or phlebitis (could be either, although the warmth leads me to phlebitis). I base that on my medical history. While I was very ill before my liver transplant my legs took the brunt of the swelling from ascities. At times they were actually twice their normal size and very painful. Of course, this leads eventually to damage of the blood vessels and nerves due to the constant pressure from fluid. Therefore, I am prone to neural and vascular problems in my lower extremities. Eventually, with a little care it will ease in a few days or a week. It is already better today.

In the case of my disembodied voice, I also noticed a metallic sound a few minutes later. In my small living room I have a large fireplace. I walked outside a bit later and noticed a large bird who had taken an interest in my chimney and was flying about. It was obvious my "disembodied voice" was actually this bird who frequents my backyard making it's usual strange noise (no, I don't know the type of bird) and that noise echoing down my chimney and out my fireplace as though it were a bull horn! The metallic noise was just the bird perching on the grating around the chimney's outlet.

Unfortunately, many people, including investigators forget to debunk in their own homes. Of course, I have the benefit of a medical background so debunking my "burn" was easy. Yet, I can imagine someone who does not understand those processes or conditions becoming concerned or jumping to the conclusion that it must be paranormal. This is especially true in people predisposed to looking for paranormal causes first or who are highly suggestible and given poor information from "experts" on the paranormal.

So, in my case, there is no attachment (sorry to disappoint) just a bird and some residual problems from a previous illness.

Remember, regardless of what "experts" say or what classes teach, the simplest explanation is usually the correct one. If you want to believe a bird on the chimney is paranormal and it doesn't scare you and gives you a good story, fine. But, if it does scare you... accept that it's a bird in your chimney and get a good night's sleep.

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