CHAPTER TWO - LIVING THE DREAM
The weirdest thing that happened during that time was a series of supernatural occurrences in our house and where Steve lived next door. Unfortunately, there was nothing we could do legally to make Steve move right at first. Luckily for us he moved after a couple of months I believe. The supernatural things occurred over a two year period. From right after Misty was molested until about late 1982 or early 1983. Debbie claimed that she heard footsteps in our house at night when the kids were asleep and I was at work. She told me about the footsteps but I just blew it off. Late one Saturday night I was studying my Sunday school lesson for the next morning. Debbie was sound asleep and I had my feet next to her head with my head at the foot of the bed as I lay there reading with the bedroom light on. All of a sudden I became aware of how quiet the house was. It was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
It kind of unsettled me and I raised my head in anticipation of hearing something. Suddenly, I heard the footsteps of what sounded like a large man walking from the back door of our house to the entrance of our bedroom. I grabbed my pistol and walked all through the house. The kids were sleeping soundly. After that we continued to hear footsteps off and on. Debbie and I were lying in bed one night when a hair brush bounced off of our bedroom door. Again the kids were in bed sound asleep. This was during the time Steve was still living beside us. Our neighbor across the street was still in contact with them. One day I was talking to her about the weird things going on in our house and she said that Steve was also hearing footsteps but his problems were even worse. His faucets were turning on by themselves and the toilets were flushing. He was also hearing footsteps and one night he even saw the ghost of a little boy walk through the hallway wall into his sons bedroom. When he looked in the room his son was asleep and there was no sign of the little boy.
My scariest experience happened in the Fall of 1982. For some reason I would wake up around 3:00 A.M. and hear the footsteps. I have heard many times that there is something about 3:00 AM that is unique regarding supernatural experiences. On one particular morning I woke up at 3:00 A.M. and again the house was eerily quiet. I lay there waiting for the inevitable footsteps. Our dogs usually stayed outside but on this night they were sleeping under our bed and I didn't know that they were there. Suddenly the dogs started growling. A few moments later I could hear someone walking toward our bedroom and feel the house vibrate from the heavy footsteps. Again I jumped out of bed and grabbed my pistol. As usual there was no one there and the kids were sound asleep. This would turn out to be our last supernatural occurrence. Since that time we have not had a similar experience.
My scariest experience happened in the Fall of 1982. For some reason I would wake up around 3:00 A.M. and hear the footsteps. I have heard many times that there is something about 3:00 AM that is unique regarding supernatural experiences. On one particular morning I woke up at 3:00 A.M. and again the house was eerily quiet. I lay there waiting for the inevitable footsteps. Our dogs usually stayed outside but on this night they were sleeping under our bed and I didn't know that they were there. Suddenly the dogs started growling. A few moments later I could hear someone walking toward our bedroom and feel the house vibrate from the heavy footsteps. Again I jumped out of bed and grabbed my pistol. As usual there was no one there and the kids were sound asleep. This would turn out to be our last supernatural occurrence. Since that time we have not had a similar experience.
In the early 1980's we did a series of Bible studies at our church. One of the subjects that we studied was the state of the dead. Simply put, it is my belief, based on scripture, that a person doesn't have a soul, they are a soul. When a person dies their spirit, which is energy, returns to God and the body returns to dust. The spirit is energy and is not a conscious energy. Upon the resurrection the spirit will be reunited with the body and only then will the person be conscious. He will again become a living soul. The saved will instantaneously acquire a glorified body and live forever. The damned will be destroyed after the Great White Throne Judgement. They will die the second death by being consumed in the Lake of Fire. In short, what I am saying is that if the deceased are in the grave and there can't be spirits of the dead haunting the living. Any supernatural occurrences are caused by demons. They are the fallen angels cast down from heaven after the rebellion Lucifer's rebellion. After we discovered this truth the weird happenings at our house never occurred again.
There was one more incident that happened to a neighbor. She lived two doors down from us on the other side of the Ikemire house. The neighbor was working in her flower bed one day and by this time the Ikemire house was empty. Suddenly she began to hear bag pipe music coming from the empty house. The music grew louder and louder until she was so spooked she ran into her house. At the time all of this was happening I did not link it to Misty's molestation until I read a book much later about the Bell Witch. The book was based on a supposed real life diary found many years later belonging to Betsy Bell in Alabama. It is my understanding since I read the book that this story has been discovered to be a hoax. Betsy Bell was the young girl that was being abused by the Bell Witch. Her father, John Bell, was supposedly poisoned by the witch and died as a result.
The book claims that the Bell Witch was actually a poltergeist. A poltergeist is defined as a ghost or spirit supposed to manifest its presence by noises, knockings, objects flying through the air, etc. The following is from a article at www. crystalinks.com. "Poltergeist activity usually takes place when a particular individual is present - usually young teenagers at puberty who has emotional problems. A poltergeist is often thought of as a negative spirit attracted to these teenagers. Due to hormonal and emotional changes in the teenager's body, negative energy may be thrust outwardly sometimes moving or destroying objects telekinetically. Young teens seek to develop telekinetic abilities. Poltergeist activity can cease as suddenly as it started. It can last anywhere from a few hours to a few years".
According to the Bell Witch book, which later became a movie, John Bell was molesting his daughter Betsy Bell. The Bell Witch was a manifestation of the trauma associated with the molestation. Although Misty was only seven years old when she was molested I began to suspect that our house and the Ikemire's house had been experiencing poltergeist activity. This might explain why the activity only lasted for two years and during that period of Misty's life. The Ikemire house was rental property for many years. I would occasionally run into people, some of who I couldn't remember, due to the sheer number of people, who had rented that house over the years. One of the first things that they would tell me was that house was haunted. I can't say for sure what really caused the strange things that occurred during that time but I tend to believe, however; that it was demonic activity of some sort.
On the afternoon of Thursday, October 2, 1980, one of our C-130's, belonging to the 105th Tactical Airlift Squadron crashed on a hillside next to a nursery in McMinnville Tennessee. Witnesses said that the plane was at a low altitude when it suddenly plunged nose first into the ground and cartwheeled into a ball of fire. The subsequent investigation revealed that it lost part of the port wing leading edge, This aircraft had been operated by Air America in February 1970. Air America was a C.I.A. air operation in Southeast Asia and there was a movie starring Mel Gibson about Air America. Our monthly Guard drill was that weekend and we were sent to McMinnville very early on Saturday October 4th, to relieve the handful of Security Policemen from our unit that had been sent to secure the crash scene. They told us that the scene was chaos when they first arrived because a crowd of gawkers and souvenir seekers were rummaging through the wreckage.
They managed to clear the crowd and set up a restricted area with an entry control post. A crash scene must be secured so crash investigators can determine the cause of the crash. They said that the plane had virtually disintegrated and they were having to locate human remains which were everywhere. Of the four man crew only 100 pounds of flesh were recovered on the first day. Human remains were still being located three months later. When I arrived on Saturday morning most of the remains had been found and tagged. There were, however; pieces of white plastic lying everywhere on the ground which had been placed to mark the remains. I saw a charred combat boot along with strips of flight suits hanging from the trees. The smell of JP 4, (jet fuel), was very strong. In the nearby nursery you could follow a trail of debris that had fallen from the wing as it flew into the hillside. There you could see the imprint of all four engines where they made contact with the ground. There are few sights worse than a crash scene.
According to the Bell Witch book, which later became a movie, John Bell was molesting his daughter Betsy Bell. The Bell Witch was a manifestation of the trauma associated with the molestation. Although Misty was only seven years old when she was molested I began to suspect that our house and the Ikemire's house had been experiencing poltergeist activity. This might explain why the activity only lasted for two years and during that period of Misty's life. The Ikemire house was rental property for many years. I would occasionally run into people, some of who I couldn't remember, due to the sheer number of people, who had rented that house over the years. One of the first things that they would tell me was that house was haunted. I can't say for sure what really caused the strange things that occurred during that time but I tend to believe, however; that it was demonic activity of some sort.
On the afternoon of Thursday, October 2, 1980, one of our C-130's, belonging to the 105th Tactical Airlift Squadron crashed on a hillside next to a nursery in McMinnville Tennessee. Witnesses said that the plane was at a low altitude when it suddenly plunged nose first into the ground and cartwheeled into a ball of fire. The subsequent investigation revealed that it lost part of the port wing leading edge, This aircraft had been operated by Air America in February 1970. Air America was a C.I.A. air operation in Southeast Asia and there was a movie starring Mel Gibson about Air America. Our monthly Guard drill was that weekend and we were sent to McMinnville very early on Saturday October 4th, to relieve the handful of Security Policemen from our unit that had been sent to secure the crash scene. They told us that the scene was chaos when they first arrived because a crowd of gawkers and souvenir seekers were rummaging through the wreckage.
They managed to clear the crowd and set up a restricted area with an entry control post. A crash scene must be secured so crash investigators can determine the cause of the crash. They said that the plane had virtually disintegrated and they were having to locate human remains which were everywhere. Of the four man crew only 100 pounds of flesh were recovered on the first day. Human remains were still being located three months later. When I arrived on Saturday morning most of the remains had been found and tagged. There were, however; pieces of white plastic lying everywhere on the ground which had been placed to mark the remains. I saw a charred combat boot along with strips of flight suits hanging from the trees. The smell of JP 4, (jet fuel), was very strong. In the nearby nursery you could follow a trail of debris that had fallen from the wing as it flew into the hillside. There you could see the imprint of all four engines where they made contact with the ground. There are few sights worse than a crash scene.
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