The "Strange and Bizarre" Mysterious World Thread

This thread basically does what it says on the tin. This is the thread for all "out there" strange and bizarre stuff that exists here on Planet Earth and further afield - ghosts, UFOs, elves, fairies, leprechauns, spirits, time travel, aliens, hooded men with lanterns in fields at night, the Real Men in Black, phantom death coaches, poltergeists, banshees, strange clouds, time slips, crazy or credible conspiracy theories, alternative religions, unexplained phenomena, cults and sects, Voodoo and black magic, the Occult, Seances, Ouija Boards, the Bilderberg Group, the Masonic Order, secret societies, the Skulls and Bones, the Hollow Earth Theory and just general bizarre stuff...it all belongs here in this thread! Let's get a discussion going. There are Bond links here of course - you only need to look at the Black Magic and Voodoo ceremony elements in Ian Fleming's Live and Let Die and in the film version of the same name!

For a period of several years--and I may resume it again at some point--I painted abstract pictures. The basis of these canvases was images I saw flash before my eyes when I closed them in preparation for sleep. These images are called hypnagogic hallucinations--at least, that's what I think they are--and I just assumed everybody experienced them. Apparently not. At any rate, whatever the source of these images, I painted under the assumption that my imagery was from "someplace else." I was painting the unknown.

Apparently, the putative metaphysical inspiration and meaning of abstract painting was pretty much taken for granted among abstract painters in the early days, ca. 1910-1945. In fact, there's a book on the subject called The Spiritual in Abstract Art: Abstract Painting, 1890-1985. If you're interested in this topic, the book is very much worth buying. The scholarship is excellent, and its findings are fascinating.

Perilagu Khan wrote:

For a period of several years--and I may resume it again at some point--I painted abstract pictures. The basis of these canvases was images I saw flash before my eyes when I closed them in preparation for sleep. These images are called hypnagogic hallucinations--at least, that's what I think they are--and I just assumed everybody experienced them. Apparently not. At any rate, whatever the source of these images, I painted under the assumption that my imagery was from "someplace else." I was painting the unknown.

Apparently, the putative metaphysical inspiration and meaning of abstract painting was pretty much taken for granted among abstract painters in the early days, ca. 1910-1945. In fact, there's a book on the subject called The Spiritual in Abstract Art: Abstract Painting, 1890-1985. If you're interested in this topic, the book is very much worth buying. The scholarship is excellent, and its findings are fascinating.

That is interesting. I have also experienced that phenomenon. The images are very bright and vivid. More so than the world in general.

Phantom Commander wrote:

Perilagu Khan wrote:

For a period of several years--and I may resume it again at some point--I painted abstract pictures. The basis of these canvases was images I saw flash before my eyes when I closed them in preparation for sleep. These images are called hypnagogic hallucinations--at least, that's what I think they are--and I just assumed everybody experienced them. Apparently not. At any rate, whatever the source of these images, I painted under the assumption that my imagery was from "someplace else." I was painting the unknown.

Apparently, the putative metaphysical inspiration and meaning of abstract painting was pretty much taken for granted among abstract painters in the early days, ca. 1910-1945. In fact, there's a book on the subject called The Spiritual in Abstract Art: Abstract Painting, 1890-1985. If you're interested in this topic, the book is very much worth buying. The scholarship is excellent, and its findings are fascinating.

That is interesting. I have also experienced that phenomenon. The images are very bright and vivid. More so than the world in general.

Yes. Unusual shapes and bright colors. Since I stopped painting, I haven't noticed them. But then again, I no longer need grist for art, so I'm not paying attention either. If I decide to get back into painting, I imagine they will return.

I see real, tangible images, but I often have the feeling that they are symbols, although sometimes it is just this otherwordly, colourful place. It only happens when I am tired, and the brainwaves change their frequency.

https://www.techeblog.com/mind-blowing-story-of-russian-cosmonauts-who-saw-angels-in-space/

Phantom Commander wrote:

https://www.techeblog.com/mind-blowing-story-of-russian-cosmonauts-who-saw-angels-in-space/

Pretty wild. Sounds like a Twilight Zone plot.

Speaking of which, there are two superb TZ episodes dealing with astronauts/test pilots and strange behavior upon returning to earth. They are "And When the Sky Was Opened" (perhaps my favorite episode), and "The Parallel."

Also this -

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Quatermass_Experiment

I enjoy the work of this chap -

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Robins

Have listened to The Battersea Poltergeist, Uncanny and The Witch Farm, watched the Uncanny TV episodes, have been to see the 2:22 play (scared the bejesus out of me) and caught the live tour version of Uncanny last week. I'm mostly sceptical, but even if what people have experienced is tricks of the mind, natural phenonema etc it doesn't make it any less fascinating.

Quatermass and the Pit (1967 or 1968) is one of my all-time favorite films, period. Saw it on the telly when I was 16 and it freaked me right out it did. Something tells me it probably influenced Stephen King.

Perilagu Khan wrote:

Quatermass and the Pit (1967 or 1968) is one of my all-time favorite films, period. Saw it on the telly when I was 16 and it freaked me right out it did. Something tells me it probably influenced Stephen King.  

I really love early King, but man, if you take Richard Matheson, Nigel Kneale and Robert Scheckley out of the equation for what made King work, there'd be nothing to go on. Matheson especially.

Kneale's PIT blew me away when I first saw it as a teen (in spite of some fx that made the whole crowd in the revival house howl), and I was very pleased to get it as a xmas present blu-ray a couple years back. Kneale's work obviously was a hit with JOhn Carpenter too.

trevanian wrote:

Perilagu Khan wrote:

Quatermass and the Pit (1967 or 1968) is one of my all-time favorite films, period. Saw it on the telly when I was 16 and it freaked me right out it did. Something tells me it probably influenced Stephen King.  

I really love early King, but man, if you take Richard Matheson, Nigel Kneale and Robert Scheckley out of the equation for what made King work, there'd be nothing to go on. Matheson especially.

Kneale's PIT blew me away when I first saw it as a teen (in spite of some fx that made the whole crowd in the revival house howl), and I was very pleased to get it as a xmas present blu-ray a couple years back. Kneale's work obviously was a hit with JOhn Carpenter too.

Carpenter/King's Christine is a film that never becomes dull or prosaic. It's not scary in the least, but is highly entertaining from the first frame to the last. Well...almost the last. The concluding scene (Alexandra Paul: "God, I hate rock n' roll.") is the only weak one in the film.

Paul Harvey - "If I Were the Devil" (1965):

Maeve Horton wrote:

Paul Harvey - "If I Were the Devil" (1965):

Heard and seen many variations on this. It is a cheap way to demonize everything one does not like. If I were the Devil, I would probably do something like that myself.

Phantom Commander wrote:

Maeve Horton wrote:

Paul Harvey - "If I Were the Devil" (1965):

Heard and seen many variations on this. It is a cheap way to demonize everything one does not like. If I were the Devil, I would probably do something like that myself.

And therein lies the irony. It's like a double bluff.