The evening of my experience, I was thinking a great deal of my Father's passing as it was my first birthday since he had passed away, and I was missing him. I take my dogs out around 9:30/9:50 p.m. each night before putting them in their kennel for the night. The date was October 12, 2008, my Birthday. I took the dogs out my side door near the iris flower beds.  It was a dark evening without any significant moonlight and slight winds. While I was waiting for the dogs, I noticed what looked like someone walking down the road, perhaps smoking a cigarette (which I actually smelled).  It seemed that they walked just past the mailbox of my house up on the street (perhaps 30-40 feet away) and stood in the distance, just watching me, where I could not clearly see them. I had the distinct impression that it was the shadowy figure of a man. This made me unnerved because individuals do not walk on the street in front of my home often.  The house is in a wooded area of town, off the 'beaten path' and the neighborhood does not even have sidewalks on the roads.

I hurried the dogs along, went into the house and told my partner who was working on the computer that there was some 'weirdo' out in the street watching me and the dogs.  I said I was going out with a flashlight to see who it was and what was up.  I was rather 'steamed' at this point and was going to confront this individual.

I went outside with the flashlight and into the front yard toward the road. As I did so I noticed that the 'individual' was a kind of shimmering now. Then it dawned on me that what I was seeing was a balloon. I was stunned and thought, 'this is just not possible'. I reached my hand out and the balloon drifted right over to my hand, again entirely bizarre as it drifted toward me as if someone walked it over to me a distance of about 10-12 feet! As I took hold of it, I turned it to see that printed on the balloon was, 'Happy Birthday'. I was predominantly orange (my favorite) color. As I saw the Happy Birthday on the balloon I said out loud, 'No Way!', and also instantly knew it was from my Father (he was a smoker most of his life by the way).  I was absolutely stunned. I have no logical explanation for this. I know this sounds improbable, but it happened. I kept the balloon and have it to this day.

Was this experience difficult to express in words?          No

Did you ONLY sense an awareness of presence of the deceased without actually seeing, hearing, feeling or smelling them?      No

Did you hear the deceased or hear something associated with the deceased?          No

Did you feel a touch or experience any physical contact from the deceased?         Uncertain

This question is a bit vague in the sense that I did not feel a physical touch but the balloon is very real, it floated 10-12 feet towards me from the street in front of my home (as if someone brought it to my hand) and I have the object to this day.

            Was the touch familiar or unfamiliar? I sensed that what I perceived to be a man walking down the road was smoking and smelled the smoke. So there was an olfactory component to this.

          Was anything communicated by the touch? I was left with the impression that my Dad was wishing me a happy birthday and communicating that he was somehow still with me.

            Is there any possibility what you felt was from any other source present in the surroundings at the time of your experience?   I am certain that there was no one in the community who would try to 'spoof' me this way. Most of our neighbors keep to themselves and I do not believe they even knew my Father had passed away.  Further, when the balloon came floating over there was nothing but the balloon around.  I had gone to investigate what I thought was a man on the road initially only to find a floating balloon...that floated right into my outstretched hand.  I cannot communicate enough the sense of feeling 'stunned' during this experience and being in disbelief.  As I reported earlier, I am not in a profession or mindset that caters to such 'wild' bizarre experiences.

Did you see the deceased?       Uncertain

Initially I saw a shadowy figure walking down the street in front of the house. I perceived that individual to be a male, smoking a cigarette. I definitely thought I saw this figure, felt they were watching me from the street, was unnerved by it, went back into the house with my dogs, told my partner about it (took about 3-4 minutes) and came back out with a flashlight to investigate/confront them.

            How clearly did the deceased appear?            I saw what I thought to be a solid figure of a man, smoking but walking far enough up on the street that I could not see features clearly.  Then stopping just beyond my mailbox and standing and watching me.

            How much of the deceased did you see?       Just a shadowy but definitely dense figure.

            Did the deceased appear or not appear to be the age at which they died?           It was dark and I could not see features.

            How healthy did the deceased appear to be?            Again, no clear features were visible.

            Is there any possibility what you saw was from any other source present in the surroundings at the time of your experience?   As I stated before, it is very unlikely someone was walking down the street that would have stopped and just watched myself and my dogs from a distance. Another odd thing, the dogs did not bark or become alarmed. It was entirely bizarre.  I was alarmed though and determined to investigate with a flashlight. Further, I told my partner as I though someone was really out in the street in the distance near the mailbox.

Did you smell a distinct smell, scent, fragrance or odor associated with the deceased? Yes

          What smell, scent, fragrance or odor did you smell?          Cigarette smoke.

          Was the smell, scent, fragrance or odor familiar?          My Father smoked for 40+ years, much to the chagrin of his family.

          Was anything communicated by the smell?  Well, Dad was a smoker.

          Is there any possibility that the smell, scent, fragrance or odor was from any other source present in the surroundings at the time of your experience?         I had never experienced any of the other neighbors smoking outside in the evening when I took the dogs out before. At that time I had lived at the address for about 9 years.

How long did the experience last?      I would say the entire time, going out with the dogs, taking them back in, returning to investigate with the flashlight was about 10-15 minutes easily.

Was the beginning and end of the experience gradual or more sudden?       I am not certain what you mean by this.  It was totally normal. Time did not seem to distort in any way.

Could you sense the emotions or mood of the deceased?          Uncertain

My Dad smoked, so that would have been typical of him.  It was my birthday and he would have known that.

Did the deceased give you information you did not previously know?  No.

How do you currently view the reality of your experience?          Experience was definitely real

          Please explain why you view the reality of your experience as real or not real:   It happened just as I described and I still have the (now deflated) helium balloon that says, 'Happy Birthday'.

          Was the experience dream like in any way?  No

Describe in detail your feelings/emotions during the experience:  Stunned. I just couldn't believe it was happening, but it was. It has caused me to rethink everything that science teaches about consciousness and spirituality. I have become much more interested in quantum physics and in the study of consciousness.

Was there any emotional healing in any way following the experience? Yes

I did not feel as much grief about the loss of my Dad after this experience.

What was the best and worst part of your experience?          The worst part is I cannot explain it. But, as time has gone on I have also come to recognize that as the best part of it.

Has your life changed specifically as a result of your experience? Yes                Describe:     More open to multiple view, understandings.  Less certain that we 'know all there is to know'.