The Totally Creepy, Totally True Story of the Lansing, Michigan Whistler
Imagine being a young boy, walking your dog late in the evening and you hear an odd whistle in the distance. Unnerving maybe. What if you heard the same whistling randomly in different places at different times during your life? That's the story of the Lansing Whistler.
The story was shared on the Ask Reddit forum and it started in Lansing, Michigan. The question on the subreddit was, "What is the creepiest thing that has ever ACTUALLY happened to you?" User bingbong1234 relates a creepy as could be story of a whistler that has randomly popped up at different times during his life - then provides video evidence.
The First Encounter
It was in Lansing that the first encounter with the Whistler took place. The person wasn't alone but was with their mom.
When I was about 8 years old I was taking my dog for a walk through the neighborhood with my mom. It was maybe 11pm. We live next to a swamp/woods area on the edge of our neighborhood in Lansing, Michigan. I remember it being very silent and slightly windy. From down in the swamp we heard somebody whistling at us. It sounded sort of like a bird, but each whistle was different enough where the lack of consistency made it human-like. The whistle sounded higher, then lower. I can't really describe it. My mom had a concerned, slightly terrified look on her face and grabbed my hand and said that we should go inside quickly. I didn't understand because I was too young, but seeing my mom freak out made me freak out too. After a while, though, I kind of forgot about it.
The Second Encounter
The next encounter happened when the person was 10. Again they were with thier mother.
Two years later, I was taking my dog out again, late at night. There is a large bush that could easily obscure a person behind it just next to the front door. As I was finishing the walk, the whistling noise started again, same pitches, same inconsistent, human-like tones. As soon as I heard it, a chill went down my spine as I remembered exactly the feeling of seeing my mom, terrified, looking down into the swamp at something I couldn't see (maybe she couldn't either). I ran inside as fast as possible.
The Third Encounter
Incredibly the same whistle popped up a decade later and several states away. This time there was video rolling to capture the sound of the whistle and a glimpse of the whistler.
Fast forward to last summer: I'm 24, started dating my girl Sarah. We moved out to South Dakota for work. For Independence day, we decided to go to Pierre, SD and watch the fireworks along the bank of the Missouri river. There was a free camping spot behind a hospital where you could pitch your tent, hang out, and see the fireworks up the river...A huge thunderhead was moving in and a storm was imminent, so the air seemed electric and the wind was picking up. The atmosphere was eerie to say the least.
Suddenly, we heard the sound of a paddle methodically dipping into the water. We saw a figure steering a canoe about 20m off shore. Sarah decided to go get more beers from the car, leaving me alone to stare at this mystery person. And then, of course, they whistled at me. My entire body was frozen and covered in goosebumps. It was the exact same whistler from my childhood, more than a decade earlier. I looked at the figure, but it was much too dark to discern who it could be. They were wearing a hat. When they were perpendicular to the shore from me, they stopped paddling, turned the canoe to face directly at me, and whistled right at me. I was so frightened I stood up and shouted at them "who are you?!?" They didn't say anything, just whistled a couple more times, turned the canoe 180 degrees, and paddled out of sight.
The Explanations - Coincidence, El Sabon or Multiverse Whistling?
Could it just be coincidence? Sure. A two-tone whistling pattern like what's heard in the video isn't competently out of the realm of possibility to be made by different people at different times?
The is a legend in Venezuela of a whistling banshee who whistles when death is near. From Wikipedia,
he has a whistle characteristic that resembles musical notes do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si, in that order, raising the tone until fa and then down to the note if. It is said that when the whistle is heard very close there is no danger, as the Silbón far, but if you listen from afar means that is very close. It is also said to hear his whistle is harbinger of death itself. You can be anywhere at any time. It seems that if you feel the whistle away the only thing that can save the person is the barking of a dog, as it is the only thing that terrifies him a chili or a whip. The bore usually take revenge on the philandering men.
The storyteller bingbong1234, has another possible explanation,
my new theory is that I'm living in a perpetual vortex of random chance realities and I'm actually the one whistling at myself from some of those other realities.
Whatever is happening that started back in Lansing, it sure is creepy and unnerving as could be.