Walking On Power Line

I favorited this, one because of the creep factor. The second reason, and the reason for posting my comment is how extraordinary I find this all. Please let me preface by saying I mean nothing malicious or offensive.

Initially when reading the story, I thought how strange and creepy and what an event this must have been for Airboy to remember this from 3 years old. Not that memories are unheard of at that age, but just all the detail he was able to remember of it. Again, creep factor in the details. Then to read the comments about how others have seen electrocution victims with yellow eyes, how the skin on the hands and head would be the first to go, etc... Lends even more creditbility to this account, for me. That's not to say the poster wasn't being truthful in his account. I don't mean that at all. Just that the level of detail is probably historically accurate with what a tight rope walker who fell victim to his stunt would look like, fascinates me. Also, I've always been fascinated by children being able to see things that adults cannot, which piqued my interest further still.

Thanks for sharing, Airboy!

Love and light,
PB n Jilly

[at] Lady glow - I'm unsure about it's history, that house was near buffalo bayou which is what most of Houston was built up on. People have been residing in that location since Austin came to Texas with land grants, not counting the native folk that had been there before hand.

[at] Augusta - Been digging but to no avail.

[at] Rookdygin - My mothers exp took place in her old childhood home, I'll find out more "detailed" information from her.
- It was the main line running between the houses in the backyard with the transformers and what not, then running to the houses.

[at] Tweed - I remember that brutal web-site. The feeling of when I caught eyes with it, was like I was being sucked into another world almost, That fear pretty much prepared me for life I guess. Nothing has scared me like that ever. Never felt like a hallucination for me but I guess that's what anyone would say, I can still turn my eyes off and see those eyes perfectly.

[at] Bibliothecarius - Strolling along casually. The two of them have a very peculiar sense of humor.
How you are now talking about tree branches, I never thought that maybe I was climbing to close to the line and could have been on my way to be a crispy critter, got stuck and then it manifests itself later to show me why. Anyways that's what ran through my head when I read your comment.

Greetings, Airboy, and Welcome to YGS.

First, your account moved along smoothly from one point to the next without any confusion or major writing errors. I don't think you should be afraid of reactions to your plain-spoken, logically-organized writing style.

I have to acknowledge that the first 4 ideas I had have been aired by the first 4 responses to this narrative:
1. "Tight rope walker and dancing girls - sounds like a circus" -Augusta
2. "it makes me think of a burnt person or, better said, the ghost of a burnt person" -lady-glow
3. "Is this the one from the house to the pole OR is it the main line for the entire neighborhood? (Yup, I am thinking about HIGH EMF) " -rook
4. "The tapering flesh to bone got me wondering about electrocution. Maybe he attempted a public display on those lines" -Tweed

As I juggled (another circus metaphor for Augusta!) these ideas, I remembered something that a home inspector told me about tree branches near the line from the street to the house; they can electrocute someone --even fatally-- without even touching the victim! Electricity can "arc" easily from the wire to a human body up to 5 feet away, so the law requires people to stay *at least* 10 feet from a downed power line. However, an active line (functioning normally under certain weather conditions) can cause a fatal arc, too.

That said, I do not believe that the wiring is designed to sustain the weight of a human being for an extended period (e.g.: a tightrope-walker). There's some slack built into the design (the "loops" near each pole), but that's a temporary measure to allow people to get away from imminent danger so they can call the power company to send out the experts.

If we presume for a moment that Augusta's half-joking guess is correct, a tightrope walker would need to hold a walking cane or a balance pole horizontally in front of himself or herself to maintain the inertia built up by walking and distributing the force along the pole so that lifting the second foot into the air to place it before the first one does not create a massive imbalance in rotational torque that would spin the tightrope walker off to one side. Should such a fall occur, this hypothetical walker would grab for the wire out of instinctive self-preservation, thus causing the type of burns which quickly consume hands, forearms, and head. The rest of the body has a thicker layer of subcutaneous fat which would take longer to burn IF the fire started on a limb and eventually spread to the torso. (If started on the torso, the fire would incinerate the central body because the layer of fat would act like candle tallow, keeping the fire confined to the destruction of the body, but leaving the nearly-fatless extremities --hands and feet-- unburned.)

(How was this manifestation holding the cane? Was it outstretched, like a tight-rope walker's pole, or just strolling along like a well-dressed gent of the late 1800s?)

I've got to say that I'm impressed with your mother and now-stepfather's taking your fear seriously at that time. I'm not quite so happy about their joking around while you were trapped by a tree branch, as it was probably not the most reassuring thing action for a panicked toddler. (You're probably over that by now, though.)

Thanks for sharing this with us; as it was both creepy and peculiar; you certainly held my interest.

Best,
Biblio.

I am the lineman for the county
And I drive the main road.

Couldn't help myself.

Hi Airboy and welcome. This is certainly a weird thing to have seen. Like Rook I'm wondering about high EMF for the odd man. I'm sure there's some historical footage of someone tap dancing on a telegraph pole, probably an illusion but that's what I thought of.
If a ghost, perhaps a tightrope enthusiast, as Augusta suggests. The tapering flesh to bone got me wondering about electrocution. Maybe he attempted a public display on those lines. Not a nice thing to imagine.
As for the eyes, sorry for getting gross. Err better yet just stop reading here if you like.

When I was an idiot (teenager) I used to visit 'rotten' (don't look it up, it's very distasteful/distributing). There were a few photos of electrocution victims, one on a powerline. The eyes were a very odd 'yellow' sort of colour, which dripped out of the sockets. I was reminded of that when I read your description.

I really hate to think someone is/was walking on those lines in that form. I hope it was an hallucination you had.

airboy,

Did your Mother ever describe the 3 little girls? What were they wearing... Did they 'fade to bone' as you describe the 'man' you saw? Where did she see 'them'...I know you said 'her bedroom' but is that bedroom in her current home... The one this experience happened at?

You say he was on the power line? Is this the one from the house to the pole OR is it the main line for the entire neighborhood? (Yup, I am thinking about HIGH EMF).

Respectfully,

Rook

Tight rope walker and dancing girls - sounds like a circus! Seriously, though - have a look through local papers from the 1800s I wonder if there could have been a circus disaster or a Vaudeville theater fire in the area.

"...the power line running across the backyard (this yard probably a quarter of an acre tiny yard)."

A quarter of an acre TINY yard?!... No wonder they say everything's bigger in Texas! 😆

Airboy07: welcome to YGS.

I imagine how scary it was for you to see that strange apparition. For some reason it makes me think of a burnt person or, better said, the ghost of a burnt person.
Do you know anything about the history of the land were the house is built?

It is hard to say what you witnessed though, since it was an only one time event that happened a long time ago, you can be sure it didn't mean any harm to you.

You had just an encounter with the unexplained.

Thanks for sharing.