Graveyard jinn or phosphorus? (true personal story)

[Zainab_M]

 

   folks!


When I was about 6 years old, we were living in a huge official bunglow that was given to my father in his then official capacity. The house was built on approximately 5 acres of land .. or probably more.  The compound in front of it and behind it was huge.  It was a single storey house with a very large open balcony (or verandah) in front.  It would easily take five full minutes to walk from one end of this balcony to the other.  Being an old British style residence, it was particularly comfortable in summer months with its high ceilings and very spacious rooms.  My parents and older brothers would often sit in their long easy chairs in the large open balcony soon after dark, before going in for dinner, and chat.  The moderate summer air was truly refreshing.  On week days, my younger brother and me would go to bed early.  But on weekends we would also hang around in the balcony with our parents and older siblings.  We would all chat, tell stories and joke. 

On certain evenings the servants would be told to bring the study table and a few chairs in the balcony where my older brothers would work on their school assignments and also attend to tuition from a tutor who came to coach them at home, once or twice a week. 

The front of this huge house along with its balcony and compound overlooked a very large green field which consisted of the training ground for police cadets and other such academic trainees.  This training ground, right in front of our house, consisted of the parade field and beyond that the horse-riding ground.  It was truly picturesque with a carpet of emerald green grass and clusters of old tall trees here and there.  The place was an idyllic spot for bird watchers.   The horse riding ground that was beyond the parade field was about ten minutes walk from our house.  Alongside this riding ground was an old graveyard, not a very big one, which was used by the nearby villagers as a burial ground.  This graveyard wasn't too neatly maintained, with overgrown grass and shrubs all over.  The entire field including the graveyard looked pitch dark at night as there was no electric lighting anywhere. 

Though the riding ground and the graveyard were approximately ten to twelve minutes walk from our house,  both these places were clearly visible from the balcony .. straight ahead. 

After spending almost six months, relaxing or studying in the balcony during the evenings, my parents, my older siblings and their tutor noticed something inexplicable at the distant graveyard.  In the dark night, a bluish purple light could be seen hovering over one of the corner sides of the graveyard that was directly opposite our balcony. It looked less translucent and a little less bright than an electric light .. somewhat of the same visual texture of the blue & purple colors of a rainbow.  The light wasn't constant.  It would appear and disappear more than a dozen times within a couple of hours.  It would also keep changing its shape.  At times the strange light would look quite round like a balloon and at other times, long and narrow, similar to the shape of a human figure.  My mother called it the "dancing light from nowhere."  My family observed this light from afar, night after night when they sat there.  I recall hearing them talk incessantly about it, but I was too young to know what it meant nor do I have any clear recollections of that light.  However, this story was repeated in our home numerous times by my parents and brothers much after we left that house and when I was a grown young woman.   That's how I learnt of these details.  While in that house, my father made a lot of inquiries through various sources to find out what that light might have been. 

Different people came up with different notions relating to the paranormal.  Some had no explanations at all. A community doctor of that small town had something different to say.  He said that it was scientifically true that physical human remains sometimes gave off phosphorus and methane through the grave into the atmosphere above, where these chemicals ignited in the form of light.  He added that this didn't necessarily happen with the remains of every person in the grave, but it wasn't totally uncommon either.  Several years later, one of my older brothers who studied chemistry as one of his major subjects in college, also mentioned the possibility of phosphorus + methane in such cases.  But there was no way of confirming it.

My parents and brothers always had a feeling that the light they saw night after night for almost two years was not just a chemical reaction of decaying bones and flesh.  They are felt it was something different.  And only Allah knows best. 

[Heba E. Husseyn]

This is sooo interesting sis.  Thanks for sharing.  Yeah, I've too have heard a lot about these graveyard lights and the attempts of many professionals to try to explain it with scientific connotations.  Even if their analysis is true, of which one can never be sure, still it makes little difference.  I mean, God has created a reason for every occurence.  It's just that there are many occurences for which our human mind cannot comprehend a reason so we call it the 'paranormal.'  Nevertheless, presuming a reason doesn't make the event any less amazing.

BTW - Did this affect the life of anyone in your home in anyway - i mean, did anyone experience any feelings of distress, or happiness, or anything out of the ordinary?

[Zainab_M]

You're welcomed, Sis Heba.  And you're very right.  To analyse and explain the reasons doesn't change the truth and origin of such matters.  It still remains an amazing phonomenon.  Not to mention, that analysis & explanation is only a presumption based on the knowledge of human mind which is very little compared to the vast and actual knowledge of the Almighty Allah. 

BTW - Did this affect the life of anyone in your home in anyway - i mean, did anyone experience any feelings of distress, or happiness, or anything out of the ordinary?

No, not really.  Well .. my parents and older siblings did feel uncomfortable whenever they would see this light.  That was but natural.  In the dark of the night, you wanna relax in your balcony and you see something inexplicable like this .. sure it can be disturbing.  But otherwise this particular aspect did not affect our lives.  Like I said, I was too young to understand what exactly the paranormal meant.  But later in life when I used to hear my parents talk about it, they never mentioned about it as having any consequences in their lives.  However, this little town was rumored to be a very 'jinny' place.  There were any number of paranormal stories and sightings by people who used to live here.  This place was one of those old colonial towns with a lot of history.  So, incidents were well recorded and remembered by the locals, some as true events and some as mere folklore.  But there was never any talk of any paranormal occurrence being evil. 

[Ruhi_Rose]

Really spooky and interesting sis.  yeah, thanks a million for sharing.  such real life events are truly fun reading.  I too have come across lots of new scientific theories being worked out toward such explanations on lights and bright sightings in graveyards.  Some professionals also say that these lights appear only in graveyards that have many (or at least some) fresh graves, or graves that are less than 10 years old.  I suppose what they mean is that the chemicals are emitted for a certain length of time from the remains.  But only Allah knows best.

[Zainab_M]

  Some professionals also say that these lights appear only in graveyards that have many (or at least some) fresh graves, or graves that are less than 10 years old.  I suppose what they mean is that the chemicals are emitted for a certain length of time from the remains.  But only Allah knows best.

Oh really?  I didn't know this.  I'm not sure how old that graveyard was but it was quite an old one.  Of course during the 2 years that we lived in that town, we didn't see or hear of any burials there.  From the look of that graveyard, I don't think any burials had taken place since many years.  The grass had grown so tall that many of the graves were not even clearly visible.  It was surrounded by a wire fence.  It looked quite in contrast with the surrounding fields that were very well maintained.  But that contrast presented its own kind of natural beauty filled with greenery all over.  Alhamdulilah. 

Thanks for liking the story Rose 

[N. Truth Seeker]

Good one. 

I've heard a great deal about this phenomenon in recent times within the scientific circles.  I guess now science is working on the anatomy of ghosts     after all it's quite possible that spirits could be some kinda gaseous matter .. I mean, the soul is likely a form of gas, that's why it's not tangible.  And Allah knows best.