The Fog

Beware the wandering and shipwrecked sailors who roam the seas in search of land, and those who go to the ghostly gloom, where the fog has no end. 

The presence of fog is always unpredictable. Fog will begin when least expected and last longer than forecast. Fog is a cloud containing millions of water droplets that can form when the temperatures change and may move quickly over the ground or the water when driven by unseen forces.

Several different types of fog are created by the forces of nature - or perhaps by the supernatural - but icy smoke can form in seconds and sweep into the hearts and minds of any who become caught in the gloom that has no warmth.

Law enforcement and firefighters are the most frequently given the call to investigate various scenes of tragedy and as a result, patterns begin to emerge that are clearly not random. Foggy nightscapes at murder investigations are more common than on clear weather evenings, and thick fog even in the daylight hours can haunt official inquiries until cold zones in the center of the fog begin to rise or sink into the ground.

Paranormal activity is often associated with cold zones, and for those retired law enforcement and firefighters who have made the choice to investigate much more than murder, a supernatural presence can be an entity that will manifest as unusual drops in temperature. When hidden cold zones form, falling temperatures will rapidly condense tropical and humid environments and dense fog will form without warning - or perhaps the fog is the warning.

With the latest technology and hypersensitive thermal imaging equipment - often found within the military - heat sources are easy to identify. Thermal images of living people, animals, or even heat-generating equipment such as automotive engines are simple to identify with the latest night vision gear, but when extremely cold zones suddenly appear and begin moving across a thermal imaging screen, thick fog immediately swells out in all directions from the center of the coldest area. Thermal imaging can identify the living and the warmth of life, but when the dark essence of moving cold zones does not appear as living creatures other explanations must be waiting. 

After years of paranormal research, a common theme has begun to emerge as a sound prospect on which to base several reliable observations. Fog always appears in tropical environments when the cold zones suddenly appear. For supernatural entities to manifest, the paranormal will use ambient heat as energy to gain form, and when the heat disappears, the cold zones remain as the heart of the ghostly event.

Once upon a foggy October evening, when the autumn fog would not cross to the beach but was swirling at the water’s edge, fog signals began to sound and echo off the condominiums and the hotels that were lining the shore. The night was odd but captivating, and most would imagine that only fools or the superstitious would be afraid of the fog.

The young couple walking by the water were clearly on their honeymoon. They were married in the Midwest on a beautiful fall day and they were easily convinced they would be happy together on the road to forever. The newlyweds were hand in hand and walking the beach, but their flashlights would not penetrate the gloomy and cooling mist that was getting darker with every moment. Although the water of the Gulf was as warm as the breath of a giant, the icy droplets in the fog were freezing. The honeymooners, however, were impervious to the ominous and kept walking until they were alone on the sandy strand. When the footsteps of the couple became an even louder crunch on the seashells, and the tendrils of fog began reaching out from the water, the mournful cries from the fog signals became bells that were ringing from another era. 

As the honeymoon walk continued, and the fog began moving quickly onshore, the lights from the beach buildings began to glow like the firelight of old lanterns. In the distance ahead, the lanterns on the shore began to vanish, and when the couple began to turn and look back, the lanterns from behind began to disappear. Before an alarm could truly become a premonition or a warning could wander into the imagination, the youngsters huddled closer together and continued to walk.

After the fog and the damp swallowed the very young man and his lovely wife, and the moisture began to cling and drip from their features, the flashlights they carried became dead in their hands. Suddenly there was no light in the fog and only the sound of whispers. From the beginning to the end, and all along the sandy strand, the beach became as dark as the space between the stars. When the darkness was complete, the fog began to part and a distant light began to shine. As the couple walked to the light, the strand was without end.

The following morning was November 1st and the skies were clear, but a wrecked old schooner with two leaning masts was resting on the beach. The wreck of the old sailboat was awash in the breakers and the surf that sprang up in the night, and beachcombers and scavengers were ravaging the remains of her binnacle and brass work.

During the first week of November, the missing honeymoon couple was the talk of the town. The newlyweds apparently never spent a night in their hotel room. The bedspread was in place and the towels in the bathroom were unused. There were clothes in the closets, there was cash, credit cards, and identification found untouched. There was, however, a very cold section on the outdoor balcony, which would forever remain very cold, even in the warmth of the southwest Florida sunshine.

Happy Halloween Marco, Goodland, and Isles of Capri!