Are people really being abducted by aliens?
I was recently on the windswept, beautiful, and remote island of Islay in Scotland. It is an island that is mysterious and isolated. Here can be found the famous “walking stones.” These tall stones have flat sides and were most likely directional markers left by people in the early Bronze Age or the even earlier Neolithic period. Seeing these ancient stones, whether they are grouped side by side by side, or standing singly, like solitary sentinels in abandoned fields, can make one wonder about the people who placed them there. For viewers of shows like “Ancient Aliens” the stones may bring to mind questions concerning times long past, when humans, perhaps, were influenced by visitors from other worlds.
For Scotch whiskey lovers, Islay is the center of the universe. It is the place where the most pungent spirits in the world are made. Anyone visiting the island has to take some time and tour at least a few of the eight distilleries there. One of the distilleries I visited was Laphroaig. Laphroaig is noted for its peaty, smoky whiskey. How it becomes so peaty and smoky has to do with the preparation of one of its main ingredients: Malted Barley. In order to make this critical ingredient, it is necessary to moisten raw barley and allow it to start germinating. Once that process is underway, enzymes are released that help break down the starches in the barley into sugars that can be fermented. Germination is stopped by heating and drying the barley. In olden times, the only material available for this process on Islay was peat. Since the island is made mostly of peat, there were no trees for wood and peat was plentiful and reasonably easy to use. It imparted a unique taste to the whiskey that was distinctive and definitely acquired. That smoky taste that has been increasingly popular around the world in recent decades and Laphroaig is one of the most heavily peated whiskeys available.
Now, the reason that I am relating this is that I had my first “paranormal” experience while at this particular distillery. Islay is stark and lonely and just walking the hilly path to the distillery put me in touch with deep feelings of connection to the land and the past. So perhaps I was already “primed” for an unusual experience. The tour guide explained that during the malting process the barley has to be turned frequently while on the malting floor to keep it from turning into an unusable mass of tangled sprouts. This means that 24 hours a day, seven days a week during the malting process, workers must return several times an hour to repeatedly turn the peat. This is hard work and can lead to a repetitive strain condition known among workers in the whiskey business as “monkey shoulder”. She explained that many workers feel the malting building at Laphroaig is haunted and hate having to do the overnight shift. Apparently, many workers have had unusual experiences while there alone at night. Like most everyone else, I chuckled at this and continued on with the tour. As we were leaving the malting building, I stood holding a door waiting for the last person to come along. I was sure there was someone behind me. As the voices of the tour group began to fade I kept looking back but there was no one there. I was sure there was someone there and as I looked down the hall I thought I saw a door open a bit and then close. I went back but there was no one there. A slight chill went down my back and I hurried to get out of that room and catch up with the rest of the group. I was more than slightly relieved when I caught up with them and we walked out into a suddenly clear and beautiful summer day in Scotland.
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