Wild and crazy stories from your past

[bobcat]

So here's one of mine.
Back in the day, my gf and I decided to go parking and get to know each other a little better (Probably more my idea than hers).
We told her parents we were going to the movies.
Anyway, since we lived in a rather rural area, I had decided to take a dirt road out into a farmer's field.
The road eventually led me over a culvert that the irrigation ditch flowed through.
What I couldn't see at night is that some of the water was overflowing the pipe and was seeping into the nearby ground.
So, before I knew it my 55' chevy was buried with all 4 wheels sunk up to the axles. It became quite clear that car wasn't going anywhere.
I managed to open the car door with the ground almost level with the floorboard.
In desperation, I left her in the car and headed to a nearby country house for help (It turns out he was the owner of the field)
I quickly made up some story about how I made a wrong turn and got lost in his field and my car was stuck.
Once he spotted my gf in the car, he knew right away it was BS, but I guess he was young once too, so he didn't call me on it.
He hooked his 4WD truck up to it with a chain, and couldn't even budge it, so back to his house we went to get his tractor.
Once the tractor got a grip, it pulled my sorry looking car out of the mud pit. I thanked him profusely, and he just smiled.
We spent the next hour at the car wash hosing off all the mud from the undercarriage and bottom of the car.
Needless to say, no fun was had that night, but at least her parents never found out about the ill-planned scheme.
The only happy ending that happened is that we were married sometime later after I got out of the Air Force.
In time we laughed about that and many other escapades.

 

[oldaunt]

Small town Saturday nights are for young adults on horseback, just riding the back roads and drinking a few brews in the moonlight as we went, with the occasional stop back in town at the small tavern, where we would knock on the door and the barkeep would bring us out a 6 pack to go. One night, the door wasn't answered, so we just opened it and rode through, and around the pool table then out again. Got better service next time.

 

[PeppermintPatty]

The first time my significant other and I went to visit my parents, we decided to sleep in their tent trailer in the backyard so we’d have more privacy. It was a very rainy wet day but we didn’t mind. We heard thunder rumbling before we feel asleep. Not long after falling asleep the big thunder crashes woke us up.

Once awake we heard the crackles of lightning but closer than usual. We could see big flashes through the canvas so unzipped the windows to look out. What we both saw was the wildest, craziest thing regarding lightning that we’d ever seen.

Lightning bolts were coming from above , branching off and turning into lightning balls which would scramble on the ground for a while. It was spectacular and went on for over an hour. I wish I could have taken pictures because no photos online compare to what we saw. Needless to say that the visit was exceptionally memorable.

Later on I looked up different forms of lightning and it seems like there was a variety of lightning forms that night with lightning balls everywhere. It was the best organic light show I’ve ever seen in my life.

The lightning balls looked similar to this.

Some of them formed balls like this

Which came from branched lightning bolts like these

 

[C50]

The first time my significant other and I went to visit my parents, we decided to sleep in their tent trailer in the backyard so we’d have more privacy. It was a very rainy wet day but we didn’t mind. We heard thunder rumbling before we feel asleep. Not long after falling asleep the big thunder crashes woke us up.

Once awake we heard the crackles of lightning but closer than usual. We could see big flashes through the canvas so unzipped the windows to look out. What we both saw was the wildest, craziest thing regarding lightning that we’d ever seen.

Lightning bolts were coming from above , branching off and turning into lightning balls which would scramble on the ground for a while. It was spectacular and went on for over an hour. I wish I could have taken pictures because no photos online compare to what we saw. Needless to say that the visit was exceptionally memorable.

Later on I looked up different forms of lightning and it seems like there was a variety of lightning forms that night with lightning balls everywhere. It was the best organic light show I’ve ever seen in my life.

The lightning balls looked similar to this.
View attachment 290188
Some of them formed balls like this
View attachment 290190
Which came from branched lightning bolts like these
View attachment 290191

Nature is awesome, and scary. Beautiful pictures!

 

[C50]

Crazy but true story. I just graduated highschool and was driving home one rainy night, my tires broke traction as I was going up a hill and I spun out and rolled my car onto its side blocking the entire road. Being just over a hill I knew I was in a dangerous place, turns out the real danger was I was in front of Jeffery Dahmers house! Turned out this was right when he killed his first victim, in that very house. This was years before his arrest so he was still an unknown.

Fortunately since I was on a hill I was able to roll the car back onto its wheels and head back down hill. Who knows what could have happened if I had knocked on his door asking for help!

 

[bobcat]

The first time my significant other and I went to visit my parents, we decided to sleep in their tent trailer in the backyard so we’d have more privacy. It was a very rainy wet day but we didn’t mind. We heard thunder rumbling before we feel asleep. Not long after falling asleep the big thunder crashes woke us up.

Once awake we heard the crackles of lightning but closer than usual. We could see big flashes through the canvas so unzipped the windows to look out. What we both saw was the wildest, craziest thing regarding lightning that we’d ever seen.

Lightning bolts were coming from above , branching off and turning into lightning balls which would scramble on the ground for a while. It was spectacular and went on for over an hour. I wish I could have taken pictures because no photos online compare to what we saw. Needless to say that the visit was exceptionally memorable.

Later on I looked up different forms of lightning and it seems like there was a variety of lightning forms that night with lightning balls everywhere. It was the best organic light show I’ve ever seen in my life.

The lightning balls looked similar to this.
View attachment 290188
Some of them formed balls like this
View attachment 290190
Which came from branched lightning bolts like these
View attachment 290191

Wow ! I've heard of freak things like that about lightning, but never a first hand account.

 

[bobcat]

Crazy but true story. I just graduated highschool and was driving home one rainy night, my tires broke traction as I was going up a hill and I spun out and rolled my car onto its side blocking the entire road. Being just over a hill I knew I was in a dangerous place, turns out the real danger was I was in front of Jeffery Dahmers house! Turned out this was right when he killed his first victim, in that very house. This was years before his arrest so he was still an unknown.

Fortunately since I was on a hill I was able to roll the car back onto its wheels and head back down hill. Who knows what could have happened if I had knocked on his door asking for help!

Whoa. That is one spooky thing to think about. The "What if ?? Fate was on your side that night buddy.

 

[bobcat]

Small town Saturday nights are for young adults on horseback, just riding the back roads and drinking a few brews in the moonlight as we went, with the occasional stop back in town at the small tavern, where we would knock on the door and the barkeep would bring us out a 6 pack to go. One night, the door wasn't answered, so we just opened it and rode through, and around the pool table then out again. Got better service next time.

Lol ... Sounds like you got the message across.

 

[Naturally]

So here's one of mine.
Back in the day, my gf and I decided to go parking and get to know each other a little better (Probably more my idea than hers).
We told her parents we were going to the movies.
Anyway, since we lived in a rather rural area, I had decided to take a dirt road out into a farmer's field.
The road eventually led me over a culvert that the irrigation ditch flowed through.
What I couldn't see at night is that some of the water was overflowing the pipe and was seeping into the nearby ground.
So, before I knew it my 55' chevy was buried with all 4 wheels sunk up to the axles. It became quite clear that car wasn't going anywhere.
I managed to open the car door with the ground almost level with the floorboard.
In desperation, I left her in the car and headed to a nearby country house for help (It turns out he was the owner of the field)
I quickly made up some story about how I made a wrong turn and got lost in his field and my car was stuck.
Once he spotted my gf in the car, he knew right away it was BS, but I guess he was young once too, so he didn't call me on it.
He hooked his 4WD truck up to it with a chain, and couldn't even budge it, so back to his house we went to get his tractor.
Once the tractor got a grip, it pulled my sorry looking car out of the mud pit. I thanked him profusely, and he just smiled.
We spent the next hour at the car wash hosing off all the mud from the undercarriage and bottom of the car.
Needless to say, no fun was had that night, but at least her parents never found out about the ill-planned scheme.
The only happy ending that happened is that we were married sometime later after I got out of the Air Force.
In time we laughed about that and many other escapades.

Very similar experience. Except, was my dad's '69 Chevy truck.
Sunday night and we were supposed to be at church. Parked and everything going as planned.
Got ready to leave the dip in the pasture that hid us from the road, and found the truck was stuck.
Farmer nearby tried his flat bed truck ... no dice. Waited for him to get back with his tractor.
When the tractor pulled the truck out, the wheels on the truck were not turning at all !!!
It was then I realized I'd somehow engaged the parking brake D'OH

 

[bobcat]

Very similar experience. Except, was my dad's '69 Chevy truck.
Sunday night and we were supposed to be at church. Parked and everything going as planned.
Got ready to leave the dip in the pasture that hid us from the road, and found the truck was stuck.
Farmer nearby tried his flat bed truck ... no dice. Waited for him to get back with his tractor.
When the tractor pulled the truck out, the wheels on the truck were not turning at all !!!
It was then I realized I'd somehow engaged the parking brake D'OH

Ha Ha. So even though you weren't in church, your prayers were answered, but God got the last laugh.

 

[PeppermintPatty]

Nature is awesome, and scary. Beautiful pictures!

Wow ! I've heard of freak things like that about lightning, but never a first hand account.

Nature is miraculous and I feel privileged to have seen something so spectacular!

 

[Naturally]

Ha Ha. So even though you weren't in church, your prayers were answered, but God got the last laugh.

Yep that's what we got for trying to hold our own congregation Hallelujah

 

[caroln]

Wow ! I've heard of freak things like that about lightning, but never a first hand account.

A friend who lived on a farm once had ball lightning come through her back door, travel across the kitchen and out a sliding glass door. (Doors were open) She was on the phone with me at the time, and I think she was partially in shock when she said, "a lightning ball just went through my kitchen". It seems a very rare thing to happen, to go through a house, but there have been other instances where this has happened.

 

[Murrmurr]

I grew up on a dairy farm and we always had 3 or 4 hired hands around. These guys were transient; worked a few weeks or months and moved on, and Gramps would hire new ones. He'd find them at this small railroad station where they hung around waiting for a farm job.

Some of these guys were running from the law, some had mental issues, some were under-educated, and some were downright deviants.

When I was 5yrs-old, one of these ranch hands told me that I wouldn't get a shock from our electric fence if I stood in a bucket of water when I touched it. He had just lifted me up and over the top of a steel bucket filled with water when my mom ran out of the house holding a broom over her head and screaming for my dad and grampa.

He was immediately fired.

When I was 6, me and my cousins were climbing a big pile of gravel, playing King of the Mountain, and I'd made it about half-way to the top when a ranch-hand crammed the handle of a shovel practically up my little butt. I was wearing overalls, but it still hurt because he pushed really hard....said he was "just helping" me get up the hill.

Immediately fired.

Another guy was fired for killing our queen farm cat's kittens by stomping on their heads. He managed to kill 3 out of 6 before he was stopped by another farm hand. Worst part is, me and my brother were watching.

There are other stories, but these are the most shocking and memorable.

 

[Alligatorob]

Shark fishing adventure.

When I was 13 or 14 went on an all night shark fishing trip to Hurricane Pass in Florida, with a friend about the same age. We were in his 14 ft boat that seemed big to me at the time.

First we caught a huge stingray, over 100 lbs, the biggest I have ever caught. After landing it we decided to cut it up for chum and bait. We had trouble cutting into the skeleton so took the filleted carcass, probably 40 lbs and tied it to our anchor for more chum. Nothing was biting so we fell asleep... for a little while.

Woke to the boat being violently jerked and dragged but before we could get fully awake it stopped. The anchor line was slack and when we pulled it in. The chunk of meat, a 10 lb anchor and 3 feet of chain were gone... Never saw the shark, probably for the best.

We did once catch a 12' tiger shark a few miles offshore (in a much bigger boat with adult supervision), and had seen a couple of great whites. I suppose it was probably one of them. Probably for the best it didn't hang on long we were very ill equipped to land one.

 

[Naturally]

We'd lived in a duplex apartment in town until I was almost 6yrs old. Two things made my mom demand we move.
One, a large ceiling plaster chunk fell, landing in my bed and luckily I wasn't in it.
Two, the other apartment was rented by a city police officer who worked nights.
My dad had given me a puppy and one day when we weren't there, the police officer shot and killed my pup.
Said the pup was whining loudly while he was trying to sleep.

So my dad used his VA benefits and built a house just out of town on a wooded lot that was partially cleared.
We'd just moved in when us kids and cousin were playing in the yard around some downed pine trees.
We had jumped around, over and run across the downed pines for some time when something caught my eye.
A BEAUTIFUL snake right beside the downed pine we'd just been playing on. First snake I'd ever seen in the wild.
The snake was coiled up ... around 'n round, and I thought it was dead. It was motionless.
I studied the snake for a few moments and called everybody over to check it out. 5 little kids none older than almost 6.
I slowly inched closer and closer, face first, to get a good eye on the beautiful snake.
Then the snake raised its tail and SHOOK it. It RATTLED and I jumped back. My little sister ran to get mom.
Mom had no idea how to deal with the snake and called my uncle to come out and take care of it.
By the time my uncle got out there from town, the snake was long gone.
My dad had that lot completely cleared in pretty short order too.

 

[PeppermintPatty]

A friend who lived on a farm once had ball lightning come through her back door, travel across the kitchen and out a sliding glass door. (Doors were open) She was on the phone with me at the time, and I think she was partially in shock when she said, "a lightning ball just went through my kitchen". It seems a very rare thing to happen, to go through a house, but there have been other instances where this has happened.

Yes. That’s what ball lightning does. I was never happier to be on rubber wheels that night. Of course in the house would have been safer. These balls of electricity scurry along the ground and if they are in contact with metal (like an antenna ) will follow up it .
It’s really something extraordinary

 

[bobcat]

I grew up on a dairy farm and we always had 3 or 4 hired hands around. These guys were transient; worked a few weeks or months and moved on, and Gramps would hire new ones. He'd find them at this small railroad station where they hung around waiting for a farm job.

Some of these guys were running from the law, some had mental issues, some were under-educated, and some were downright deviants.

When I was 5yrs-old, one of these ranch hands told me that I wouldn't get a shock from our electric fence if I stood in a bucket of water when I touched it. He had just lifted me up and over the top of a steel bucket filled with water when my mom ran out of the house holding a broom over her head and screaming for my dad and grampa.

He was immediately fired.

When I was 6, me and my cousins were climbing a big pile of gravel, playing King of the Mountain, and I'd made it about half-way to the top when a ranch-hand crammed the handle of a shovel practically up my little butt. I was wearing overalls, but it still hurt because he pushed really hard....said he was "just helping" me get up the hill.

Immediately fired.

Another guy was fired for killing our queen farm cat's kittens by stomping on their heads. He managed to kill 3 out of 6 before he was stopped by another farm hand. Worst part is, me and my brother were watching.

There are other stories, but these are the most shocking and memorable.

Wow, you almost got cooked and skewered.

 

[bobcat]

Shark fishing adventure.

When I was 13 or 14 went on an all night shark fishing trip to Hurricane Pass in Florida, with a friend about the same age. We were in his 14 ft boat that seemed big to me at the time.

First we caught a huge stingray, over 100 lbs, the biggest I have ever caught. After landing it we decided to cut it up for chum and bait. We had trouble cutting into the skeleton so took the filleted carcass, probably 40 lbs and tied it to our anchor for more chum. Nothing was biting so we fell asleep... for a little while.

Woke to the boat being violently jerked and dragged but before we could get fully awake it stopped. The anchor line was slack and when we pulled it in the chunk of meat, a 10 lb anchor and 3 feet of chain were gone... Never saw the shark, probably for the best.

We did once catch a 12' tiger shark a few miles offshore (in a much bigger boat with adult supervision), and had seen a couple of great whites. I suppose it was probably one of them. Probably for the best it didn't hang on long we were very ill equipped to land one.

Great story. You almost became dinner for something you never want to meet in open water.

 

[bobcat]

We'd lived in a duplex apartment in town until I was almost 6yrs old. Two things made my mom demand we move.
One, a large ceiling plaster chunk fell, landing in my bed and luckily I wasn't in it.
Two, the other apartment was rented by a city police officer who worked nights.
My dad had given me a puppy and one day when we weren't there, the police officer shot and killed my pup.
Said the pup was whining loudly while he was trying to sleep.

So my dad used his VA benefits and built a house just out of town on a wooded lot that was partially cleared.
We'd just moved in when us kids and cousin were playing in the yard around some downed pine trees.
We had jumped around, over and run across the downed pines for some time when something caught my eye.
A BEAUTIFUL snake right beside the downed pine we'd just been playing on. First snake I'd ever seen in the wild.
The snake was coiled up ... around 'n round, and I thought it was dead. It was motionless.
I studied the snake for a few moments and called everybody over to check it out. 5 little kids none older than almost 6.
I slowly inched closer and closer, face first, to get a good eye on the beautiful snake.
Then the snake raised its tail and SHOOK it. It RATTLED and I jumped back. My little sister ran to get mom.
Mom had no idea how to deal with the snake and called my uncle to come out and take care of it.
By the time my uncle got out there from town, the snake was long gone.
My dad had that lot completely cleared in pretty short order too.

Close call there. I had an encounter with a rattler too. I was climbing up some rocks near a lake, and just as I started to pull myself up over a small ledge, one was staring at me right in the face in striking distance. Instantly I knew what it was, and ever so slowly lowered myself back down, and promptly got the hell out of there.

 

[oldpop]

The first time my significant other and I went to visit my parents, we decided to sleep in their tent trailer in the backyard so we’d have more privacy. It was a very rainy wet day but we didn’t mind. We heard thunder rumbling before we feel asleep. Not long after falling asleep the big thunder crashes woke us up.

Once awake we heard the crackles of lightning but closer than usual. We could see big flashes through the canvas so unzipped the windows to look out. What we both saw was the wildest, craziest thing regarding lightning that we’d ever seen.

Lightning bolts were coming from above , branching off and turning into lightning balls which would scramble on the ground for a while. It was spectacular and went on for over an hour. I wish I could have taken pictures because no photos online compare to what we saw. Needless to say that the visit was exceptionally memorable.

Later on I looked up different forms of lightning and it seems like there was a variety of lightning forms that night with lightning balls everywhere. It was the best organic light show I’ve ever seen in my life.

The lightning balls looked similar to this.
View attachment 290188
Some of them formed balls like this
View attachment 290190
Which came from branched lightning bolts like these
View attachment 290191

When I was about ten years old I was looking out a sliding glass door during a pretty strong electrical storm and saw a bright ball like the image in your second pic. It was coming out of the sky straight at me. There was a loud boom and it knocked me down into a chair that was right behind me. I could taste copper afterwords. Scared the bejesus out of me

 

[caroln]

When I was about ten years old I was looking out a sliding glass door during a pretty strong electrical storm and saw a bright ball like the image in your second pic. It was coming out of the sky straight at me. There was a loud boom and it knocked me down into a chair that was right behind me. I could taste copper afterwords. Scared the bejesus out of me

Curious about the copper taste. Do you know why?

 

[RadishRose]

About 8, 9 and 10, My friends, who were two sisters and I were playing in their yard. Somehow, we became interested in their parent's gas can in the garage. It was squat and had a long pour spout.

We thought it would be fun to pour out gas in a curvy, squiggly pattern on their very long driveway, then light the design on fire.

Finished, the eldest put the can down at the opening of the garage and we ran back to where we started. She smoked and had matches, so she lit the gas.

Watching the flame burn its way to the can, I suddenly screamed it was going to blow up the can. We all gaped at each other stupidly before and the youngest picked up the hose, outran the trail of flame to the can, turned the nozzle on and jammed it into the pour spout in the nick of time! I guess it smothered the disaster that was about to happen.

How stupid we were!

 

[oldpop]

Curious about the copper taste. Do you know why?

Another way to describe it is a metallic taste. Knowing what I know now I believe the fillings in my teeth picked up some of the static discharge from the ball lightning?

 

[Alligatorob]

Curious about the copper taste. Do you know why?

you may taste something metallic in your mouth just before a lightning strike. Electrical stimulation in general can lead to a metallic taste, including electrical discharge from batteries. If you taste something metallic, you are already experiencing some form of electrical current

7 SIGNS THAT LIGHTNING IS ABOUT TO STRIKE
https://www.michiganlightning.com/7-signs-that-lightning-is-about-to-strike