A few months ago, as I was writing one of my articles for The Star Beacon, a conversation started between another prisoner and myself. He started telling me how he had dreams "that came true."
        Being somewhat skeptical myself about psychic phenomena, but seeing as how I am always a sucker for a story, I set up a time to sit and talk to him. What I learned was very interesting.
        This prisoner, "Reese" as I will call him, said he first had these prophetic dreams when he was around 10 or 11, back in 1986. Being 29 years ago, he still remembered it. "I was at a restaurant, and there (were) a lot of cop cars coming, and I was sitting on a bench. There was a (woman) who was sitting next to me and the dream happened in two ways," Reese said.
        I interrupted and asked how the dream split. He explained that he first saw one path of the dream and then the other.
        "One (way) was where we talked, (and) the other was where I was put inside the cop car." He went to explain further. "I had this dream for about four years straight. It started again in 2007. It came true June 5, 2008. I was put into the back of the cop car."
        When I asked him about that incident, it turns out that incident was the beginning of his incarceration.
        While I have had some particularly interesting dreams, I could not fathom having one particular dream repeatedly, as this has never occurred to me.
        However, it does not seem overly strange that it would be a dream about such a momentous life event. (Yes, getting incarcerated is a momentous life event, but it is decidedly not a great one.) Still, I had more questions.
        "What exactly goes on with your dreams, usually?" I asked Reese.
        "Well, they usually entail events either with myself or strangers I’ve never met. Some (dreams) have individuals I know. For example, (I had one) when the tornado hit Joplin, (Missouri), and Hillary Clinton went into the hospital.
        "There was a massive accident with a Chinese bus, which was actually a tour bus in New York, and there was a massive transfer at the (facility). All of this happened at the same time. When I woke up, I told (another prisoner), '(Man), there's gonna be a massive tornado, Hillary Clinton is going into the hospital and she's gonna die, and there's gonna be a massive transfer with me, (and two other individuals).' Everything happened except for Hillary dying and me getting transferred," Reese said.
        I asked him about how other people show up in his dreams.
He said, "When I have strong dreams, it seems to be people that I’m strongly connected to, but sometimes it's with people I don't necessarily connect with. It just happens."
        Knowing that abilities such as this are believed to pass down through the family, I asked about his family history with paranormal experiences.
        "About two years ago (2013), I had a dream that I was watching my mom, Momo (grandmother) and Gran (great-grandmother) practicing witchcraft. My Gran and Momo asked my mom, 'Why did you give your powers to your husband? It is forbidden!'
        "When I woke up, I thought about it and called my mom. She's a devoted Christian now, what I call crazy Christian, and I asked her (if) she, Momo and Gran practice witchcraft. She said, '(Reese), why did you ask me that?'
        "I explained the dream to her, and she said, '(Reese), it is all true. Momo, Gran and the rest of us (which were the girls in the family) practiced voodoo. I hope you're not disappointed in me.' I told her I didn't care. I thought it was cool the way it happened," he said.
        He also related about an experience after his grandmother died. A bird landed in his backyard, about 15 steps from the back door. He decided to walk up to it. As a kid, he wanted to play with the bird. However, as he approached closer, the bird did not fly away. As soon as he got to it, he heard everyone screaming at him. He did not understand why they did not want him to touch the bird.
        Afterwards, they told him it was a bad omen because it was a crow. Two months later, his great-grandmother died.
        As my personal area of expertise is largely the paranormal, I asked him about anything specific he experienced in his life. He said, "I have experienced 'old hag' attacks." He continued:
        "In Korea, this may sound weird, but I would stay in the mountains, right outside K-16 and Yongsan. I would go to the mountains and just stay in the mountains. Supposedly, there are no snakes there, (but) I found a nice green little snake, and it became my little friend.
        "The Koreans in that area gave me … a set of beads for my neck and (one) for each arm. They all had turtles on them. They were wooden beads with religious symbols on them. They told me that (they) were for good luck and that I was a lucky person. I thought this was important, because I went to PLDC (Primary Leadership Development Course, which is now known in the Army as Basic Leadership Course) at Camp Jackson in 1997.
        "I was doing land nav (short for land navigation, where soldiers are expected to get from point to point using a compass and a map), and during the brief, they said, 'If you drop your map down the side of the mountain, do not go get it.' Well, I dropped my map and fell down the side of the mountain and survived. That experience, receiving the bracelets and necklace, and finding the snake made me feel like I had something really watching over me."
        I talked to some of the other people that verified his claims and their accuracy. It seems to have some legitimacy, but then again, it could just be a hoax.
        I wish I could study phenomena such as this in a more scientific manner. Instead, I will settle with just being able to gather case study personal testimony, and present them as I find them.
        Until next time in our strange, wonderful
planet …

        Anthony Raby writes from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.