What happened here?

[Nasib]

I wasn't quite sure what section to place this in... hopefully admin will oblige by putting it into an appropriate home (preferably not the junk section. :cheesy: )

Just wondering if anyone here might be able to offer some rational explanations?


Sitting on the tube one day, all of a sudden I had what I can only describe as a short video clip run in front of me. It lasted for perhaps just a second or two, where I saw the Tube map (just of the line that I was travelling on), on this sort of screen in front of me but slightly to the left, and it was as though the map was static and I seemed to be moving very fast past it (same direction as the train was going at the time) and where one of the station names should have been, instead was a printed sign which read - in capital letters "THIS TRAIN WILL NOT STOP AT THE NEXT STATION". I then snapped out of this strange reverie, thinking 'that was weird'. It occurred and was over in a jiffy, but I could still see those printed words in my mind. This 'video flash' had seemed to me so 'real' that I found myself looking around at the other passengers wondering if they had seen it as well, but no-one gave any sign of having done so.
A few minutes later the train came to an abrupt halt (between stations) and stayed there for what seemed like an age. People began speculating is there something going on up ahead. Why are we stopped here? - but no explanations were given, no announcements.
After some time the train started to move off again, slowly at first, but then began building up speed, and whooosh! we sped at great speed right through the next station (Regents Park) without stopping! On arrival at the next station (Oxford Circus) there was a platform announcement that due to "an incident" at Regents Park station, trains will not be stopping at that station. Weird. What happened there?

[davidrodway]

I wasn't quite sure what section to place this in... hopefully admin will oblige by putting it into an appropriate home (preferably not the junk section. :cheesy: )

Just wondering if anyone here might be able to offer some rational explanations?


Sitting on the tube one day, all of a sudden I had what I can only describe as a short video clip run in front of me. It lasted for perhaps just a second or two, where I saw the Tube map (just of the line that I was travelling on), on this sort of screen in front of me but slightly to the left, and it was as though the map was static and I seemed to be moving very fast past it (same direction as the train was going at the time) and where one of the station names should have been, instead was a printed sign which read - in capital letters "THIS TRAIN WILL NOT STOP AT THE NEXT STATION". I then snapped out of this strange reverie, thinking 'that was weird'. It occurred and was over in a jiffy, but I could still see those printed words in my mind. This 'video flash' had seemed to me so 'real' that I found myself looking around at the other passengers wondering if they had seen it as well, but no-one gave any sign of having done so.
A few minutes later the train came to an abrupt halt (between stations) and stayed there for what seemed like an age. People began speculating is there something going on up ahead. Why are we stopped here? - but no explanations were given, no announcements.
After some time the train started to move off again, slowly at first, but then began building up speed, and whooosh! we sped at great speed right through the next station (Regents Park) without stopping! On arrival at the next station (Oxford Circus) there was a platform announcement that due to "an incident" at Regents Park station, trains will not be stopping at that station. Weird. What happened there?


Someone jumped in front of the train at Regents Park. Messy

[DrS]

I've not travelled on a tube for absolutely ages, but I have done so in the past, and frequently found myself bewildered by reflections from everywhere, it seemed: from the lights, from the windows, from the stations, and so on. Could it just be that somehow there was a deflected reflection of an instruction to the driver?

[chaggle]

I've not travelled on a tube for absolutely ages, but I have done so in the past, and frequently found myself bewildered by reflections from everywhere, it seemed: from the lights, from the windows, from the stations, and so on. Could it just be that somehow there was a deflected reflection of an instruction to the driver?

Good thinking - or possibly a passenger information board on the platform of the previous station?

[Admin]

Well, the 'vision' was obviously hallucinatory in some way; perhaps hypnagogia (possible on a train journey!)

But for me, the interesting bit is the 'information' contained in the vision. Coincidence? It's possible. Subliminal perception of something happening? Again, possible. Precognition? Impossible (as we all know psychic phenomena don't exist. ;) :tongue:)

This sort of thing reminds me of people who say they have dreamt something and then the next day, something happens exactly as it did in the dream. But memories of dreams are ephemeral and memory is a constructive process so I always suspect that these memories of precognitive dreams are false memories of the dream created when the experience triggered a memory of something in the dream - the rest being filled in (albeit unintentionally). So it might be that your memory of what you experienced is different to what really happened.

But we'll never really know because, unless information from such experiences is written down or recorded and witnessed before the event, it can never be verified. Unfortunately, these sort of things seem to occur randomly and they aren't perceived as significant until after the event.

One more thing.....

Do you often have these 'visions' (they're quite normal!)? If so, how many do you have that don't come true?

[chaggle]

Good thinking - or possibly a passenger information board on the platform of the previous station?

Thinking about this a bit more:


It lasted for perhaps just a second or two, where I saw the Tube map (just of the line that I was travelling on),


The tube map displayed in stations is a cut down version like you describe.



on this sort of screen in front of me but slightly to the left, and it was as though the map was static and I seemed to be moving very fast past it (same direction as the train was going at the time)


Well, you were on a moving train and the map was on the wall of a station maybe?



and where one of the station names should have been, instead was a printed sign which read - in capital letters "THIS TRAIN WILL NOT STOP AT THE NEXT STATION".

Yup. I vote passenger information sign.

Any way of finding out? Probably not.

[Nasib]

Someone jumped in front of the train at Regents Park. Messy

Well yes, that did cross my mind, although that's not quite what I meant by the question 'what happened here?'

[Nasib]

I've not travelled on a tube for absolutely ages, but I have done so in the past, and frequently found myself bewildered by reflections from everywhere, it seemed: from the lights, from the windows, from the stations, and so on. Could it just be that somehow there was a deflected reflection of an instruction to the driver?

Apart from arrival at a station, the train was travelling through tunnel - just black nothing outside windows; there would have been light reflections, yes, but this image was too 'solid' for a passing reflection. It was 'framed' (if you know what I mean) and the 'movement' was within the motionless frame.

[Nasib]

Good thinking - or possibly a passenger information board on the platform of the previous station?

I was sitting facing the opposite window. A passenger information board would only be visible if I were facing the direction of the train on approaching a platform as they tend to be perpendicular to the platform. Also, those information boards are usually simply wording in lights. My 'notice' had a white background with capital lettered printing. The 'frame' was long (like a comic strip in a newspaper - but an animated one)

[Nasib]

Well, the 'vision' was obviously hallucinatory in some way; perhaps hypnagogia (possible on a train journey!)
I hadn't actually been on the train very long though, it was a short journey and I hadn't had a chance to get into the sleepy kind of rhythm that train journeys can effect. I was actually very much alert as, for one thing I HATE travelling on public transport and avoid it wherever I possibly can.


But for me, the interesting bit is the 'information' contained in the vision. Coincidence? It's possible. Subliminal perception of something happening? Again, possible. Precognition? Impossible (as we all know psychic phenomena don't exist. ;) :tongue:)

This sort of thing reminds me of people who say they have dreamt something and then the next day, something happens exactly as it did in the dream. But memories of dreams are ephemeral and memory is a constructive process so I always suspect that these memories of precognitive dreams are false memories of the dream created when the experience triggered a memory of something in the dream - the rest being filled in (albeit unintentionally). So it might be that your memory of what you experienced is different to what really happened.
Ok, but this wasn't a dream, and the time between when 'it' happened and the train not stopping was minimal - it was still vividly in my mind at the very moment we were whooshing through Regents Park Station - I'm sitting there almost in a state of disbelief, looking at the platform and the name of the station as we whizzed by, and thinking nah, it's gonna stop ... but it didn't!


But we'll never really know because, unless information from such experiences is written down or recorded and witnessed before the event, it can never be verified. Unfortunately, these sort of things seem to occur randomly and they aren't perceived as significant until after the event.

One more thing.....


Do you often have these 'visions' (they're quite normal!)? If so, how many do you have that don't come true?
No, it was a total one-off - never before and never since, like that. (Happened about 3 years ago - but I did record the incident somewhere straight afterwards)

[Harryprice]

I hadn't actually been on the train very long though, it was a short journey and I hadn't had a chance to get into the sleepy kind of rhythm that train journeys can effect. I was actually very much alert ...

It could be a microsleep with REM intrusion. It is possible to go into a microsleep for a few seconds and not even realise it - you may not even close your eyes. However, sometimes you DO notice a microsleep because you go straight into REM state and start dreaming instantly. One minute you're in reality, the next your away with the fairies, then the next moment you're back to reality wondering what the hell is going on. Sometimes the REM state is like a normal dream - completely fictitious - and sometimes it is a mixture of reality with dream elements - hence 'intrusion'. You could easily see a 'ghost' in such a state. Trains are a good place to have such weird experiences.

Regarding paranormal experiences 'changing' after the event, I come across this a lot. When a natural explanation is offered for a witness's weird experience, they may suddenly remember something, not mentioned before, that 'proves' it really was paranormal. And if that, too, is explained. something else may be remembered to disprove that explanation as well. And so on.

[Nasib]

It could be a microsleep with REM intrusion. It is possible to go into a microsleep for a few seconds and not even realise it - you may not even close your eyes. However, sometimes you DO notice a microsleep because you go straight into REM state and start dreaming instantly. One minute you're in reality, the next your away with the fairies, then the next moment you're back to reality wondering what the hell is going on. Sometimes the REM state is like a normal dream - completely fictitious - and sometimes it is a mixture of reality with dream elements - hence 'intrusion'. You could easily see a 'ghost' in such a state. Trains are a good place to have such weird experiences.

This does seem a plausible explanation and possibly the only likely one that I could consider in trying to understand what 'actually happened'.
However, that still doesn't explain away the 'information' that I apparently received in that 'microsleep', i.e. the suggestion of an event about to happen, moments before it actually occurred. :undecided:




paranormal experiences 'changing' after the event, I come across this a lot. When a natural explanation is offered for a witness's weird experience, they may suddenly remember something, not mentioned before, that 'proves' it really was paranormal. And if that, too, is explained. something else may be remembered to disprove that explanation as well. And so on.
I do understand and accept the implications here, but must say that this is irrelevant in this instance.

[Harryprice]

This does seem a plausible explanation and possibly the only likely one that I could consider in trying to understand what 'actually happened'. However, that still doesn't explain away the 'information' that I apparently received in that 'microsleep', i.e. the suggestion of an event about to happen, moments before it actually occurred.

I never explain things 'away', I just attempt to explain the evidence as presented. Explainiing 'away' implies that there is some obvious alternative explanation that is being deliberately ignored for some reason.


I do understand and accept the implications here, but must say that this is irrelevant in this instance.

In this particular case I believe coincidence is easily the most likely explanation. We humans tend to see meaning in coincidence even when we can see only normal explanations for an event. It is like seeing a 'face' in a random pattern of light and shade. We know it isn't really a face but we cannot help seeing it.

In this case two events, the vision and the missing a station, appear significantly connected but there is no evidence to support this idea. If, on the other hand, you were to regularly forecast events in the future, other explanations might become more likely.

[Nasib]

In this case two events, the vision and the missing a station, appear significantly connected but there is no evidence to support this idea. If, on the other hand, you were to regularly forecast events in the future, other explanations might become more likely.

So, in your reckoning, a one-off occurrence might be a 'coincidence' .. and if such situations were a regular occurrence, what are the 'other explanations' you suggest?

[Harryprice]

So, in your reckoning, a one-off occurrence might be a 'coincidence' .. and if such situations were a regular occurrence, what are the 'other explanations' you suggest?

In one off incident, there would need to be additional evidence of some sort before I would say it was more than a coincidence. The fact that the witness regularly and reliably foretold the future could constitute such evidence.

I don't have any explanations for people who regularly foretell the future. I haven't needed any so far because I've yet to come across such a person. I've come across many people who've predicted something correctly a few times in their life but statistics suggest that is normal.

[Matt]

I've come across many people who've predicted something correctly a few times in their life but statistics suggest that is normal.

Ali Carter will win the Snooker World championship beating Mark Williams 18-15 in the final.

[Nasib]

I never explain things 'away', I just attempt to explain the evidence as presented. Explainiing 'away' implies that there is some obvious alternative explanation that is being deliberately ignored for some reason.

That was just a turn of phrase (I think)... or is it an indication that, for some reason, one or the other of us is deliberately ignoring some 'obvious alternative explanation'? :huh:

[Harryprice]

That was just a turn of phrase (I think)... or is it an indication that, for some reason, one or the other of us is deliberately ignoring some 'obvious alternative explanation'?

Maybe I'm just oversensitive but often, when I suggest a 'normal' explanation for an event that some people may consider paranormal, I am told I am 'explaining it away', rather than simply 'explaining it'. It never happens when I explain something that is not suspected of being paranormal.