"A" Street Indians (early 1960's)

When I was a kid, around eight or nine years old I saw my first ghosts.  We were living in Hull, MA at 1 Central Ave.  It was the early sixties and the area we lived in was nice and quiet.  Across from our house on 
A street was what we called the woods.  It was owned by Carl Ross who lived across from us on Central Ave. This was a treed area that we loved to play in.  In the middle of the woods was an area that had a pit in it that had been dug many, many years ago.  Around the pit the ground was built up in a circle.  We never knew how this got there, but we didn't care.  We were kids and it was a fun place to play.

One night, I think it was in the fall, I don't really remember, just seems there weren't many leaves on the trees, I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom.   While in the bathroom something drew me to the window and I looked out.  Our bathroom window faced the woods and was right across from the pit and mound.

As I pulled up the shade I noticed a bright light coming from the woods.  When I looked closer I realized that there was a large yellow/orange fire burning in the pit.  I could see through the fire.  Around the fire there were a bunch of Native American Indians dancing on the mounded area.  They were all in full headdress with lots of feathers.  There was no sound at all.  There were many other Indians standing around the mound as well. 

All of the Indians were yellow and orange like the fire and I could see through them as well.  I don't remember how long I watched them, but it wasn't very long.  I was not frightened by seeing them, I thought
it was kind of cool.  When I told my mother the next day, she told me that we lived near an area called Skull Head, that ran from about D street to J Street on the bay side, which was an old Indian burial ground.

I've never forgotten this night.  This was the only time I did not see the ghost from the corner of my eye first.



CDM Orlando VMS upgrade (late 1980's) *

I've seen ghosts many times since the night of the Indians.  Most I don't remember, but a few I do.  On one trip to the CDM Maitland, Florida office for a weekend upgrade I saw the same ghost twice.  As with most of the upgrades we did this one was on a long weekend and mostly at night.  Bob Egan had come with me on this trip and was with me the first time I saw this ghost.  Bob did not see anything, but was really freaked out about it when I told him.

It was about 1:00 AM and we were sitting the in the computer room waiting for a backup to finish running. Bob was sitting behind me reading or snoozing.  I was reading something and noticed movement out of the corner of my eye to the left in front of me.

When I looked up there was a large man dressed in old clothing from around the colonial times.  Three pointed hat, large coat and ruffled shirt and high boots.  He was bright white and I could see right through
him.  He just walked past me moving from left to right through the room. T he room was not very wide, so it did not take him a long time. He looked at me as he passed.

After he left the room I told Bob about what had happened.  He was all weird for a while after that. He had never seen a ghost before, but he believed they were around.

The second time I saw this ghost was the same night a few hours later.  Bob and I had to do some minor upgrades on all the PC's and he was working one end of the building while I worked the other.  I was sitting
in an office that had the desk set up with your back to the door and facing out a large window.  The PC was on the desk.  While doing the upgrade I saw the ghosts refection in the window walk past the door 
behind me.  I got up to see if he was in the hall, but he was gone.

I told this story to Denise Crews of the Orlando office several months later.  She told me that the person who sat in the office I saw the ghost in the second time had reported seeing a ghost in the glass reflection also.


CDM Raleigh office move (late 1980's) *

The next time I remember I was on another CDM road trip. Rick Wasserboehr, George Jacobs and Paul Hannon came on this trip.  We had been sent down to set up the network for a new office and had to install and upgrade all the PC's to use DECnet.

Rick and I were working on some PC installs in an unusual little PC lab.  The room had a very narrow opening and got wider as it went towards the outside of the building.  There was a long counter with several PC's set up on it.  I was working on one of the PC's set up in this area.

I was facing the PC when out of the corner of my eye to the right I saw two shapes standing in the opening to the PC lab.  This time there were two, a taller one and a smaller one.  I got the feeling this was a mother and child.  I could not tell what sex they were because they were only shapes with rounded tops.  They were both a blue/white haze color.  They seemed to be holding hands.  They stopped and looked at me as they passed by when I looked up at them.


Doyle's Bar, Jamaica Plain, MA (early 1990's)

This next story I only have faint memories of and had to tap the memory of my pal Paul McCoy to remember it.  Tim & Julia Tobias and their infant son Gabe met myself, Paul "Bones" McCoy and Paul's friend Melissa at Doyle's Bar and Restaurant on Center Street in Jamaica Plain, MA for a good bye dinner for Paul who was moving to Las Vegas.

We were having dinner and Gabe started to cry. I said, "enjoy your dinner while I walk the baby".  So I took Gabe and started pacing back and forth in the restaurant to quiet him down.  A few minutes later Paul 
got up to go to the bathroom.   When he passed me I told him,  "we weren't alone".  Paul asked what I meant and I told him that someone had just tapped me on the shoulder, but when I turned around no one was there.


Fowler House, Quincy, MA (winter 1992)

Just prior to Rozz and I getting together I went out for dinner and drinks with Matt & Ellie Putnam and Ellie's sister Jane to the Fowler House in Quincy, MA.  We had just ordered our meal and had gotten our drink order.  My usual cranberry juice with a lime was on the table.  We were sitting at the last table in the front corner to the right of the front door.   I was sitting on the outside seat facing the bar.

We had been talking for a while and I went to pick up my drink with my right hand.  I wasn't looking at my drink, I just reached for it.   I grabbed hold of the glass and tried to lift my hand, but it would not go up.  I tried once more to lift my drink, but my hand was not moving.

When I looked over at my hand there was another hand on top of mine, holding it down.  I could see through the hand.  I followed the arm up and there was a man standing next to me holding my hand down.   He was dressed in clothes from the 1800's.  He stood there for a moment and  was gone in an instant, just as I started to tell everyone what had happened.


Uncle Bill Simons, Sellersville, PA (April 23, 1999)

The day after my Uncle Bill from PA passed away I was driving down Rt. 3A in the Hingham, MA area.   As I passed a wooded area I saw a figure on the side of the road.  I got a quick flash of the face and I saw either my fathers face or my Uncle Bill's face.  I was sure it was one of them, but never sure which one.


Miriam Glikin, (my mother in-law) Hull, MA

Rozz's mom passed at home during the night.  Although it is sad to loose someone you love, sometimes it is for the best to end the pain and misery of aging and long illness.  Miriam was the youngest of six, two brothers and three sisters.  She was also the last to go.  In less than ten years all had gone.

We went down to the house the next morning to visit with her Dad and brother Harvey.  Harvey had been taking care of his mom for several years.  It was because of him that Miriam was able to pass in her own bed with her husband by her side.

I decided to let Rozz visit with her family and went for a walk.  It was a nice day and I decided to walk along the water on Sunset Drive towards A Street.  As I made my way along the rode across from the large rock off the shore, I had a sudden sense of not being alone.  It only lasted a second, and then I saw Miriam floating past me with a huge smile on her face.  She was glowing with happiness.  White dressing gown flowing around her.  I felt her kiss me as she went by.  And then she was gone.

I didn't tell Rozz right away, but she asked me later in the day if I had seen her.  I think it was a relief for Rozz to know her "Momo" was free and happy. 


Small Shop, Portsmouth, NH (2009ish)

Bones and I went to Portsmouth to attend a ceramics class. Prior to the class we decided to walk around downtown. There was this really great "Day of the Dead" shop and next door a small gift shop. Bones entered ahead of me. As I walked through the door someone pushed me. I saw no one and came to the conclusion it was a ghost. Since Bones loves when I have encounters, I told him.

There was a young girl working behind the counter and she overheard what I said. She got all goosebumpy because she was thinking about her grandfather who recently passed away, as I was coming in. She was sure it was him, coming to check on her. She felt his presence.


Church Street, Milton Mills, NH (Summer 2011)

I was helping my friend work on her antique farmhouse in NH. Her family owned the house for over 50 years and my friend has been taking care of it since her dad passed away. It was built in the late 1700s and had a few issues. I was replacing the back door kick plate and threshold. 

As I was working I heard the water in the kitchen turn on, run a short time, and shut off. I thought my friend was getting some water. I called out to her and asked for a glass of water. But there was no response. I called out one more time. Nothing. So I went into the house and called her name, but she wasn't there. 

The sink was wet and my friend was outside working on the lower 40. No one was in the house. I was sure that her dad had come to check my work. My friend was very surprised to hear that I was visited. 

Some of her family said they can remember hearing sounds and having animals that wouldn't go on the couch in the fireplace room where he used to sit. I had two other encounters since then.


The Shed Pub, Acton, ME (Summer 2011)

While sitting at the bar with a friend, I saw a man dressed in black pass through the room.  I told my friend what happened and the bartender overheard. She started asking me questions and told us I wasn't the first person to have seen this ghost. 
This page contains my true ghost encounter stories. 
Some may believe, others not. 
Either way I hope you enjoy them.

This page was last updated on: January 29, 2022
* CDM is CDMSmith, an Environmental Engineering firm that I worked at for 13 years 13 days.
 Copyright © 2000-2016 Bruce E. Simons. All rights reserved.
I have had other encounters but these are my most vivid memories. Most of my ghost sightings were during the saddest times in my life.