Right, Ghost Busters!
Under the cut are photographs of my bathroom for the purposes of people having a guess at a rational explanation for the Mysterious Flying Jar. I put everything back to the way it was which wasn't easy because the perfumes balance on the edge kept falling off.



This is my bathroom looking in from the door, it's narrow and long.
I have two shower curtains that go all the way around the bath.
I always end up having to close them fully to stretch them out so as to avoid mildew and such. My lodger never does this but I'm really fussy about it. I was the last one in the shower that evening and I (sadly) always check to see if my products are being used. I know! Shut up! Anyway, I would have noted something out of place, but plainly, there is no room on the flat edges of the bath for any more shampoo/shower gel/shaving gel/conditioner/intensive conditioner etc. The rest of the edges are rounded and narrow so that nothing could be balanced on them anyway.

1

Here is the close-up of the pile of stuff. I haven't enough storage and have a bad habit of grabbing multi-buys. Now, my toothbrush (which I moved there temporarily because the lodger's sister knocked it into the sink) is resting in my tinting bowl which is sitting on top of the jar of scrub in question. The pile of stuff is so precariously balanced, it's like a game of Kerplunk!

2

Here is a close-up of the position the jar was in originally. It's been sitting for months untouched because I have an allergy to it. I use the tinting bowl daily to rinse suds from the sink and excess cat litter from loo after the daily scoopage. This is how I know the jar is always there, I put the tinting jar on top of it every day, well, sort of, it doesn't actually touch the jar because it gets lodged between the other stuff but I can still clearly see the jar every time I lift the bowl and put it back.

3

I've pulled back the curtain here and placed the jar exactly as I found it. There was still a thin layer of dust on it, and no finger prints until I lifted it out of the bath after showing the lodger and her sister and grilling them about it.

4

And finally, here is the path the jar has to have travelled to get where I found it - off the cabinet - through the closed shower curtain - and up to the other end of the bath.
You can also see in the bottom left where the perfume has fallen off despite my carefully removing the jar. I know none of the girls went up to that end of the bathroom because the sister had the door open and because they were so drunk, if they'd lifted the jar from it's position, everything else would be scattered about.

5

Recap of events:

Lodger and her sister come in drunk, both used the bathroom once, the sister was so drunk she didn't even close the door or flush the loo - just had a pee and staggered into the lodger's bedroom, not to surface again until after I was up again. Actually, neither of then went near the bathroom again until after I was up and about for the day. They were both in bed and had stopped talking by around 03:30.

I used the bathroom at least twice after them before I went to bed with a book, the first of those is when I found my toothbrush in the sink, I'd heard it go in whilst the sister was trying to steady herself on the sink. The lodger was a bit less trollied herself (it was the sister's birthday but lodger was up for work at 11.) and was chatting to me in the hall saying not to mind her sister peeing with the door open! Bless.
Anyway, I washed the toothbrush and cleaned my teeth because I knew I'd be going to bed myself shortly, popped my toothbrush in the tinting bowl to keep it out of the way in case it got knocked over again. Nothing was amiss.

I finished working around 04:00 and used the loo before going to bed with my book. I'm really enjoying this book and have trouble putting it down. I was reading away with the house in silence apart from the fb purring at my side. My bedroom door is always open about a foot for the fb to get around. My bedroom is right next door to the bathroom. There is no lock on the door, so the rule is that it stands open unless it's occupied.

At 05:45 there was a loud clatter in the bath which startled the fb and I. I put it down to a shampoo bottle or shower gel bottle falling off the edge.

I put the lights out at about 06:15-06:30 and lay in the dark for a while.
I gave up on sleeping and got up again at about 08:45. Then I went to the loo and thought I would see what had fallen in the bath earlier and put the bottle back on the flat edge. The shower curtain was still closed.

When I pulled the curtain back, there was the jar sitting upright. My heart leapt in my chest because it was so strikingly out of place. On closer inspection, I could still see the thin layer of furry dust and noted there weren't any fingerprints. Then I looked at it's usual resting place and noted that everything else was sitting exactly where it was.

Thoughts?

From: [identity profile] silverfiligree.livejournal.com


Maybe one of Derek Acorah's spirits is taking revenge on you for dissing him?

From: [identity profile] happyblade.livejournal.com


*grin*
I just couldn't find him believable, though. There was only about 10% of anything he said that applied to anyone. His cracker was when he'd run up the stalls to say that he felt someone was in a particular area and got talking to someone with a very vague connection..she had a walking stick which she could be clearly seen resting her hand upon on camera...and he was then saying "someone has problems with their legs...someone in the physical...yes...the leg area...I feel....thanks Sam...the spirit lady here is sending healing to someone with leg problems..I think it could be you...yes it's you, it's you she's sending her love and healing to. You'll be dancing around soon!".

He picked out a young lad that I know but kept referring to him as a girl! And said he would find a gift in his room, a coin, he was to check for this when he got home - of course, there was nothing.

I like to think I keep an open mind but I'll probably always be a bit of a sceptic ;) This flying jar thing has thrown me a wee bit.

From: [identity profile] magent.livejournal.com


I remember discussing him with a Spiritualist once... he wasn't very complimentary about Derek Acora

From: [identity profile] angiehewitt.livejournal.com


Derek Acorah is such a fake.. if u are ever down and need a laugh search him and Youtube.. people have posted loads of his OVER acting.. he isnt even a very good actor!
zotz: (Default)

From: [personal profile] zotz


The obvious answer - and I've no idea how likely this is - is that as the building cooled overnight the floorboards flexed slightly (this is common) tilting the pile a little. Something fell onto the tub and flipped it against the shower curtain, letting it slide down into the bath and roll to where you found it.

A bit Heath Robinson, but odder things have been documented.

From: [identity profile] happyblade.livejournal.com


Possibly, the only thing would be that if it did roll, it would be going against the slant on the bath, the bath has a slight slant down towards the tap end. The jar is full and is quite heavy so it would have to have quite a lot of momentum to roll against the slant.

*quick experiment - tapping the side of the jar toward the bath with two fingers to see what it does*

OK. I tried it 10 times in all. I removed the packs of Ibuprofen. Underneath those are 6 full round pots of dye which are flat on the surface and were right where they were before, mind you, they have weight in them so they weren't likely to move anyway. The heaviest thing that could have shifted would be a packet of Ibuprofen, you see the tinting bowl was still wedged between the rehydration pack, a tub of dye & the foot file (higher than the top of the jar) when I checked it yesterday morning.

Anyway, 4 of 10 times, the tub left the surface of the cabinet, and I really had to whack it to get it to do so. The rest of the time, the tub just moved an inch or so but didn't get to the edge. Twice it fell straight down the gap. Twice it landed in the bath, once flat and upright in the plughole, the other it rolled around the plughole for a bit and stopped on it's side.

I've just experimented with rolling the jar up the bath. The results were, out of 30 rolls, the jar got just shy of the half way mark and rolled back to settle in the plughole. Only once did it make it up to the toilet end of the bath. But! Once is all it takes. I'll accept that as a rational explanation. I just needed someone else to point me in the direction of workable scenario to try out. :)
zotz: (Default)

From: [personal profile] zotz


Get actual visitors to suggest things. Something more likely may be visible if you're actually in the room.
(screened comment)
zotz: (Default)

From: [personal profile] zotz


Odd things do happen. I used to share a place with [livejournal.com profile] original_aj and a couple of other people. We used to joke about a ghost because occasionally things would spontaneously fall over, or doors would swing open or closed. It was likely the building flexing as it cooled - it's quite an old one.
zotz: (Default)

From: [personal profile] zotz


Quite a lot, particularly if it's got wood or metal components. Enough to make odd noises and move delicately-balanced doors, at least.

From: [identity profile] conphie.livejournal.com


Can't offer any explanation - it would have really freaked me out!

From: [identity profile] vodkafrenzy.livejournal.com


I do like your shower curtain :)

No idea about how the jar ended up in the bath.

From: [identity profile] mid-night-glory.livejournal.com


the logical explanation above seems, well, logical. i think though, that we can't really explain everything, you know?
sorry, not so helpful here....

From: [identity profile] angiehewitt.livejournal.com


its soooo SPOOKY... i feel on edge now... if u find a reason for ur jar to do that plz let me know

From: [identity profile] happyblade.livejournal.com


LOL! I don't live in that house anymore. I moved to Glastonbury recently.
I was a bit confuzed there for a bit, I usually make all my posts Friends Only (that's why you'll not see many) but I lifted the lock on this one so that a friend who doesn't have LJ could look at the pictures/post/Comments etc. I never did find a reason!
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