Dear Brother Ignatius,

I grew up in Providence, RI, a rather crowded city. When I was 8 years old, I was playing basketball in my narrow driveway. It was close to noon time on a summer day. As I was shooting baskets by myself, I looked up. Hovering over a neighbor's tree was craft of some sort. It was silverish in color. It made no noise and I thought I could make out movement in the front of the thing. At first, I just stared at it. A few seconds later, though, I got an impending sense of danger. A voice in my head said, "Run." I did just that. Dropping the basketball and making my way through the small backyard. I entered my two decker house at the side entrance, which led right into my parent's kitchen. My mother was there having a cup of coffee with my Godfather. I excitedly told them the story and they went outside to investigate. They saw nothing. The craft was no longer there. Providence is a city with a lot of people in it. No one, as far as I can tell, reported anything that day.

I was not ill that day. I was not running a fever, nor was I suffering from heat exhaustion. I felt perfectly fine and the rest of the day was uneventful as far as I can remember.

Since that time, I've never seen anything else odd in the skies. I've never been diagnosed with any psychiatric problems. I grew up, hold a good job, and have a wonderful family now with 4 beautiful children.

To this day though, 30 plus years later, I still sometimes catch myself looking up with sense of dread. What, in your opinion, was this unpleasant experience?

By the way, I am a Catholic who tries to practice as best I can . . . weekly Mass, pray the Rosary 5 days a week, read spiritual works (e.g. Peter Kreeft), confession once every 3 months or so, occasionally pray before the Tabernacle, and I even teach catechism.

Thank you much Brother Ignatius. I visit this site about once a week, but this is the first time I've submitted a question.

God Bless You and Your Ministry,
Mark