Comments for The Man In The Sugarcane Field: Page 1

typo correction: I should have typed "you say that his skin... " in the comment below. I don't know where "use" came from. 😕

sylunedarkchylde - use say that his skin was tanned and such. Could it have been made out of rawhide? Could there have been stockings covering up straw "feet" and "hands"? You said that it was facing away. Could the hair have been clippings that were glued onto something roughly shaped like a head? The clothes could easily have been pinned in place.

As you said, your were kids. You were already scared because the farmer was running after you. Maybe this was preplanned? Maybe he purposely chased you in that direction so that you would find the "scarecrow"? How close were you to this thing that you could see all of those details? 3 meters? 6 meter? 9 meters? My thinking is that you would have been "frozen" in fear if you had been much closer than about 4 meters.

Re: WWII Death March... His clothes would be easier to explain than why he would still be there after 60+ growing seasons. I would think a farmer would have found the body long before. They have to plow the fields and such. Yeah, unless you're telling me that you saw this in 1945, I think it's highly unlikely that it was a dead soldier.

Re: It not being there the following year. They likely had to plow and replant. So, yeah, it would have been taken down. And the farmer, who wasn't so bad, probably wasn't going to admit putting something out there to scare you.

Rook and JamesRobiscoe - I'm with James. I think it was a scarecrow. Perphaps it was inverted due to strong winds. Or maybe it had been vandalized. Some other older kids might have thought it was funny to break the post and put the scarecrow upside-down.

Or, perhaps, one of the farmers intentionally put a "scarecrow" their in an odd position so that it would scare little kids away.

Thanks for all your insights, guys.:)

[at] champion: Haha! That's fine; I admit it's one of the most peculiar things. Rest assured, no, we weren't smoking anything back then.:)

[at] DeviousAngel: Maybe. My cousin and I are speculating that he was part of the Death March that happened during World War 2. Roads are always a three to four feet higher than the actual farm land, and they must have just tossed the poor guy down the ditch, head first. But that doesn't explain his clothes. *sigh*

[at] JamesRobiscoe: I steal sugarcanes almost every day for two months every year, so I'm sure that wasn't a scarecrow. Besides, we don't use scarecrows here, unless it's corn.:)

[at] Lilady4: Haha! Wow, if I died planking I would want to kill myself again for dying for something so stupid!:) <3

[at] rookdygin: He looked so common, and there wasn't anything that really stood out. His hair was cut short, his skin is tanned, and he just didn't have slippers. Ugh, I wish I had more details!

[at] generalchaos: Thanks! I'll research that.:)

[at] jesuis88: Yes, we got to talk to the farmer the following year. He's just an old man who mistook us with someone threatening because he wasn't wearing glasses. He went with us to look for it as soon as he heard our story, but nothing showed up. Yes, the camisa de chino is a common undershirt for cityfolk, and during the summer, the men (especially in the provinces) wear it because it's light and airy. The incident happened at 2PM, so the sun was high and hot in the sky when this happened.:)

[at] Javelina: Yes, we came back the following year, with more cousins in tow, with the angry farmer (who wasn't so bad; he just didn't have glasses on) and at night to boot. Nothing showed up.

And to answer your questions:

1. Yes, his feet and hands looked perfectly human.
2. The sun was on our upper left side (since this happened at 2PM, the sun is just slightly to the left but still high and hot and bright).

I was also thinking a scarecrow as JamesRobiscoe has already mentioned, but wow what a sight definitely differant from the normal ghostly apparitions we normally see. I really am confused as to why it would appear to you like that, as DeviouAngel has pointed out perhaps he was buried upside down and is confused. This has me stumped a little bit.Hmmm.

Thanks for sharing.

Dan

sylunedarkchylde,
I just had to return to this story once again, it is just fascinating. I also have a couple of questions:
1) You mentioned the upside down man was facing away from you, so I assume you did not get a look at a face at all. But it's the no shoes or slippers that I'm thinking about. Did you get a look a his feet? And if so, were they human looking, flesh covered feet? The same goes for the hands. Did you happen to get a look at those also?
2) This had taken place in the afternoon around 2pm when you started out and it probably took a few minutes or so to get to where you started trying to steal the sugarcane. So I'm wondering if the sun was in your eyes at all when you looked upon the upside down man? If not, and the sun was behind you, this makes an even more interesting sight to me. But you can see how that could make a difference, I'm sure.

Again, thank you for sharing this experience with us, it's the first one I've read like it. I am always interested in stories of the paranormal from the Philippines. From the little history I know of your country and all your people have endured over the centuries, it is little wonder there are as many experiences sent in to this site. And I enjoy reading them when they do come up.

Jav

If this were a scarecrow (I don't even know if birds attack sugarcane) maybe it was attached imperfectly and swung upsidedown on its own or in a strong wind--or a field manager or farmer set it up that way. It does seem rather odd that the children would be the only ones seeing it, if it were an apparition. Why scare children? Were there no stories of the field being haunted? It seems no one ever saw it again, not even when the fields were cut.
It might be just another Unexplained Phenomenon, of which I believe there are untold numbers. Peace, James

Wow, I was definitely not expecting the upside down apparition. Like you, I would have been dumbfounded. I'm sorry but somehow I find it comical reading the story, but I know that if I was you at that moment, I would've been quite scared.

The farmer that initially yelled you at guys, do you ever find out who it was when you asked the towns people later? I say this because it's very possible that that farmer and the ghost are the same being and it's plan was to show you that upside apparition, be it for fun or to actually scare you.

Two more questions for you: is it common for people in the Philippines to wear camisa de chino? You seemed to emphasize that description so I'm just wondering. Second, how did you know the camisa was light blue? Was it glowing? In my mind, the night was moonlight, which causes color distortion, especially the prevalence of blue light.

Very interesting experience and thank you for sharing. Definitely going to favorite this for its uniqueness.

For what it's worth, my bet is on a scarecrow that blew over.
However, I think (not sure, so don't quote me) there are upside down ghosts like this in Japanese culture. You might want to search that.

Interesting point Mr. Robiscoe, interesting indeed. Though I'm not sure why a farmer would construct an 'upside down' scarecrow. Unless he thought it was different enough that it would upset the 'birds' and scare them off because it's so different.

I am unfamiliar with the different spirits/entities of the Philippines so I can't offer any suggestions except the scarecrow one presented.

I will ask this, did the 'upside down man' have any facial features, or any other distinguishing characteristics?

Respectfully,

Rook

sylunedarkchylde,
I have no idea what that was you saw but I do know it would freak me out too. Nothing he was wearing had moved downward with gravity? That's really freakin' weird man. Did you ever go back to that field again?
Or did you ever talk to the farmer who chased you?
Jav

I'm inclined to think along the same lines as DeviousAngel on this one, maybe the Spirit could've been buried upside down. Or maybe the Spirit died 'planking', who really knows?
Love & Light, Rachel ❤

Could it have been a scarecrow? After all, you and your cousin were very young and already frightened by the man who shouted at you.

Wow. If I had seen that, I wouldn't be able to run away like you did. Thats just...wow.

Wow, that is absolutely bizarre... I wish I could offer an explanation but I have no idea. That is really creepy though, and I know I would be terrified if I saw that myself. Something tells me this was a confused spirit of some sort... Maybe when he died, he was buried upside-down?

that is messed up! Sorry but I couldn't help but laugh and wonder what else was in those fields that you and your cousin had been stealing/smoking or it could have been as bacchaegrl suggested. I'm not trying to be mean I just couldn't help myself.

That is one of the weirdest things I have ever heard! Or read... Perhaps it was a spirit or ghost or something like that. Ghosts can show up in strange forms. Some may look deformed, and scarier than they inteded to be, just because they lack enough energy to properly appear. Maybe this ghost got mixed up in trying to show up. He could have a bad sense of direction. I bet ghosts don't follow the same gravitational and spacial laws that us living have to put up with. Maybe on the astral plane it's easy to get mixed up when transfering to the physical world.