Gray Man
This is a truestory ... not fiction, and only the second time that I've everfelt that I've experienced something truly unexplainable.
In 1979, when I was living in Myrtle Beach, SC, I went out with agroup of friends one night. We ended up at a club -- Big Daddy's,of all places -- in Litchfield Beach, just south of Myrtle Beach.Since Big Daddy's was on the beach, we decided to go for a walk.Around 10 p.m., six of us started to walk north on the beach.
In 1979, this area, unlike now, was fairly isolated. About ablock or two north of BD's, it was dark and there were no houses.We were just walking along, kicking sand, having fun, whensomeone said, "Hey, what's that?" We all noticedsomething that looked like a piece of material blowing in thewind -- maybe a towel left on a pole -- further down the beach,about a hundred yards in front of us.
We all slowed to see what it was, then decided to walk closer.We're saying it's this, or it's that ... Then, almost at once, westopped. The material wasn't on a pole and it wasn't hanging fromanything. It was fluttering ... stationary ... in mid-air.
I didn't say anything, I was trying to figure out what it was.Almost collectively, the rest were saying things like, "Idon't know what it is ..." None of us really believed whatwe were seeing. No one wanted to go any further; we all juststood there, about 75 yards from the material.
At this point, I was kind of scared, maybe alarmed is more likeit. You know the feeling, when you see something you can'texplain and you get goose pimples.
The material, still loosely blowing in the breeze, took shape, Iguess is the best way to describe it. We were seeing a silhouetteand we couldn't see what the material looked like, but it beganto take the general shape of a head and shoulders ... nofeatures, but what it would look like if you draped a very lightcloth or blanket over a mannequin. From the sand to the bottom ofthe cloth, there was nothing. It was floating three or four feetin the air.
Where you would expect an arm to be on the figure, the clothmoved outward; motioning to us, was the feeling we all got. Whenit did it a second time, we knew that it meant for us to leave.Although the motion was very subtle, it was deliberate and thesecond time was no confusion as to what it was or what it meant.All six of us pivoted in our tracks and ran.
Back at Big Daddy's, we were sitting on the steps, chatteringabout what we had just seen. An older man approached, havingoverheard us, which wasn't difficult, considering how excited wewere. He said that there was no reason to be afraid, it was the"Gray Man." This man then said, "You know there'sa storm coming." None of us had ever heard of a "grayman" and we figured the guy was drunk, but then he began totell us about the "Gray Man."
As the story goes, during a killer hurricane years earlier, a manwas trying to save his family and was unsuccessful. According tolegend, he now appears before certain storms to warn people ofthe coming danger. At that point, we really knew what themotioning cloth/arm meant ... it was telling us to leave.
Later, after we arrived in Myrtle Beach, a torrential downpourstarted ... the streets were flooded and we pulled into a gasstation to wait for the storm to pass. While this storm wasstrong, a week or so later the entire beach area was evacuatedfor a hurricane, I think it was David, although someone elsemight know.
Not because of our sighting, but others, Pawley's Island -- ifyou've been there, you've seen the signs and gift shops -- isknown for the legend of the Gray Man.
But we didn't know of the legend at the time.
If anyone else has ever seen the "Gray Man," please letme know. It was really one of the most incredible things that hasever happened to me.