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Security Guards Reveal The Spookiest Thing They've Ever Seen On Their Monitors

Security Guards Reveal The Spookiest Thing They've Ever Seen On Their Monitors
RyanMcGuire/Pixabay

Security can be a tough job, and it's easy to get a bit distracted when a large part of your shift is spent staring at CCTV monitors.

Sometimes, though, things will happen that snap you right back to reality—and totally freak you out.


Reddit user u/Supreme Hydrostatic asked:

"Redditors who have a security job watching monitors, what's the creepiest thing you've seen?"


10.

Someone once came into the gym at 1:00 AM and got naked and started rubbing themself. I made my presence known and stopped watching

-Will_Hermeyer

9.

There was a guy who would stand just off property dressed in a dark clothing and a hoodie with the hood pulled up and stare into one of the cameras for long periods of time.

This was always after midnight in a poorly lit area, so all you could ever make out was the outline and you could tell it was always the same guy because of the body language.

You could also tell that he was staring in the direction of the camera because of the angle his head was tilted at and there's literally nothing else there of interest but blank brick walls.

This would happen sometimes 1 night a week or sometimes 3-4 nights in a row and sometimes went on for hours at a time. Never saw him move.

It was especially creepy running patrols past that area because there's a wooden fence that you can't see through but the camera is on the second floor and can see over it, so you walk past that area every hour knowing there's a creepy nutter staring at the camera who could literally walk 30 feet and come around the end of the fence at any point in time.

You never saw him arrive or leave either. Go out to patrol, and when you come back he's there. Go out on patrol again, he's gone when you get back.

-jordantask

8.

I frequently spend nights alone in a building by myself, sorta not really watching a camera feed.

Really haven't seen anything weird, but I did get a chuckle this one time. It was spring, and apparently we had some kind of fruit-bearing tree on the property. Some suburban mom pulls into the lot, jumps out of her minivan, and looks at the tree. She sends a text on her phone, and starts picking fruit off the tree.

Within 30 seconds, there were five more suburban moms in the parking lot. Then eight. Then ten. They brought a ladder.

That tree was STRIPPED in four minutes flat, and they all jumped back into their cars and disappeared. You could have gone to the bathroom and missed the whole thing.

-QuoOfStatus

7.

It's not what I saw on the monitors, but what I didn't see.

You see, I'm a security guard at a distribution warehouse. Sometimes I have to work the graveyard shift.

During this time the only people on the premises is me, and a rare truck driver bringing in a late load.

Our guard shack is concrete, with sliding glass doors on the sides (no locks) and big windows in front and back.

Sometimes when I'm the only person on the premises, I'll see a reflection of someone walking past the shack in the windows or the doors.

Every inch of this shack and the yard is covered by security cameras. No one has shown up on the footage when I see these reflections.

It's not a reflection of me, as I'm usually sitting down.

-bad_luck_dragon

6.

Worked security for a few years at a rather major electronics company/distribution center in the Midwest for a few years.

During off-season, we'd close the warehouse down for the weekend and only myself, and my boss would be there.
This was a pretty big warehouse consisting of 5 buildings connected together so if you heard ANYTHING, it would echo throughout the entire warehouse.

One night about 2:30 in the morning, I'm on my hourly patrol of the warehouse and was just getting back on post when my boss called from the surveillance room asking me to check outside behind a semi trailer as he thought he saw someone.
I went out there with my flashlight and checked the surrounding area but didn't see anything out of place or anyone.

About 15 minutes later, it was dead silent, only the slight hum from the computer where I was playing solitaire was making a noise when all of a sudden I heard violent banging on one of the loading dock doors (think a metal single car garage door. That very distinctive metallic/aluminum banging). Scared the absolute sh!t out of me.
I ran back outside again and checked the area once more and again came up with nothing. I called my boss and told him to check the cameras and didn't see anyone. We couldn't find a draft and there wasn't any wind that night.
The next time I worked I requested to be put back on days.

-Hendrix1911

5.

I dunno about creepy but definitely horrible. I was security at a company that makes electronic parts for space shuttles and military planes. We had PTZ camera's that scanned not only the outside of the building but that could also be used to check out traffic on the highway. There was this one incident where one truck driver hit a parked (he had broke down) deadheading truck driver at about 70mph. Impact Killed the sitting driver and busted the conventional Cab all over the road, truck and body parts were picked up By the first responders. PTZ caught it all....that was about the creepiest most horrible thing I have ever seen on the PTZ cameras at work.

-Bodyicing

4.

I worked security at a local convenience store. they'd close at midnight and were allowed to stay past closing to clean and do chores. The worker and I locked the door at midnight as per the usual. About an hour later I come out of the bathroom an there's an old lady standing at the counter with items. I go get the employee and he even freaked out. He checked her out and everything. I ran to the door to open it for her and it was locked. I gave it a push and it didn't budge. I had to physically put the key in. It was theoretically locked since we locked it about an hour before. He mopped the entire store. Did chores and there was never a lady in the store. Mind you this place was tiny. You could see the entire building from the cash register. We checked the cameras and we never seen her enter.

It bugs me to this day.

-Jibbies92

3.

I've been called in to review security tapes on a piece of machinery that was apparently starting up by itself and running for the longest time, like someone was fucking with it to sabotage it, or just to be a troll. Nonetheless, it was draining money while it was running at night off the electrical bill.

Plenty of the workers had watched the tape, same as I did. Sure enough, the thing just started up like someone had pressed the On switch. No sign of anyone in the area.

"Is it haunted?" and, you know, I still have enough curiosity about the supernatural to have wondered, too.

Called an electrician in with the maintenance crew to take it apart during off-hours, right about the window of time the machine normally started itself. Had to be out there myself, in the dark, to be on the lookout for a possible return of the possible saboteur. Or, hey, an actual ghost.


You ever heard about spaghetti electrical wiring, where you turn on your light in your apartment and it somehow turns on Grandma Sander's garbage disposal in her home? The electrician that came out identified that it was hooked to a neighboring company's grid, and that their night shift people were apparently turning something off or on that was turning the machine on, somehow.

Didn't ask him to go over and figure out what on the other side was doing it. It wasn't supposed to be hooked into our neighbor's system, but I suppose in the past it was, so we had to get city utilities out to sever the two properties completely. Some old system configuration from at least the 40's. I just had to take the electrician's professional opinion on the matter as the last word. That's not my expertise.

Machine never started up by itself again, so, hey, fixed that ghost's wagon.

-Bicarious

2.

When I graduated from college I was having trouble finding a job. I ended up deciding to take a seasonal job (in this area summer was considered a higher risk because of local kids not being in school) at a warehouse that had various items of value (mostly electrical parts which said kids would try to take and sell). Anyway I was tasked with watching the security cameras. Pretty dull for the most part. They were usually just dark screens because while the cameras were always on, the lights were motion sensor so often they werent on. When the lights did go off, usually it was just an animal. However, one time the light came on but I couldn't see anything. I sat there for about a minute until the light went off. Then another light on the other side of the warehouse went on. Again I saw nothing in the camera. Half an hour or so passed and I saw nothing. I assumed that a bird had just flown close to the light or maybe they were faulty. I called the security guy and let him know that the lights had come on but I hadnt seen anything. Then around 30 minutes after the second light came on, I saw the light in the back of the warehouse come on. We didnt have any entrances by this side but I was still concerned. I looked and saw three figures about 20 feet from the side of the building. They looked really confused and looked really rough. I called the security guy and let him know what I saw. The lights went off after a minute or so and I couldnt see the people. Security guy went out there and the light came on because of him. The people werent there anymore after this.

At this point I was feeling pretty freaked out. Then you could hear some noises that sounded like gunshots come from the back side of the warehouse. Guard came running back in and we called the cops. Cops came and looked around for half an hours before saying they couldnt find anything. Next morning out first truck gets to the warehouse and we find that the side entrance had 3 bullet holes in it. I have no idea what was going on and Im not sure I really want to know.

-ET318

1.

My cousin is a night shift security at a bank on a pretty sketchy street. This is the creepiest thing he says he's seen before. When the first Purge movie came out this guy came dressed in full black with a lit up rave mask came up to the storefront at 3 a.m. He just stood there and stared at the outdoor security camera, tilted his head kinda like a dog. Then he left after about 6 minutes of just staring at the camera. My cousin says he was lucky that this wasn't some type of organised robbery bc apparently people do this to distract guards. It was just some guy trying to be creepy.

-PetCasette

People Reveal The Weirdest Thing About Themselves

Reddit user Isitjustmedownhere asked: 'Give an example; how weird are you really?'

Let's get one thing straight: no one is normal. We're all weird in our own ways, and that is actually normal.

Of course, that doesn't mean we don't all have that one strange trait or quirk that outweighs all the other weirdness we possess.

For me, it's the fact that I'm almost 30 years old, and I still have an imaginary friend. Her name is Sarah, she has red hair and green eyes, and I strongly believe that, since I lived in India when I created her and there were no actual people with red hair around, she was based on Daphne Blake from Scooby-Doo.

I also didn't know the name Sarah when I created her, so that came later. I know she's not really there, hence the term 'imaginary friend,' but she's kind of always been around. We all have conversations in our heads; mine are with Sarah. She keeps me on task and efficient.

My mom thinks I'm crazy that I still have an imaginary friend, and writing about her like this makes me think I may actually be crazy, but I don't mind. As I said, we're all weird, and we all have that one trait that outweighs all the other weirdness.

Redditors know this all too well and are eager to share their weird traits.

It all started when Redditor Isitjustmedownhere asked:

"Give an example; how weird are you really?"

Monsters Under My Bed

"My bed doesn't touch any wall."

"Edit: I guess i should clarify im not rich."

– Practical_Eye_3600

"Gosh the monsters can get you from any angle then."

– bikergirlr7

"At first I thought this was a flex on how big your bedroom is, but then I realized you're just a psycho 😁"

– zenOFiniquity8

Can You See Why?

"I bought one of those super-powerful fans to dry a basement carpet. Afterwards, I realized that it can point straight up and that it would be amazing to use on myself post-shower. Now I squeegee my body with my hands, step out of the shower and get blasted by a wide jet of room-temp air. I barely use my towel at all. Wife thinks I'm weird."

– KingBooRadley

Remember

"In 1990 when I was 8 years old and bored on a field trip, I saw a black Oldsmobile Cutlass driving down the street on a hot day to where you could see that mirage like distortion from the heat on the road. I took a “snapshot” by blinking my eyes and told myself “I wonder how long I can remember this image” ….well."

– AquamarineCheetah

"Even before smartphones, I always take "snapshots" by blinking my eyes hoping I'll remember every detail so I can draw it when I get home. Unfortunately, I may have taken so much snapshots that I can no longer remember every detail I want to draw."

"Makes me think my "memory is full.""

– Reasonable-Pirate902

Same, Same

"I have eaten the same lunch every day for the past 4 years and I'm not bored yet."

– OhhGoood

"How f**king big was this lunch when you started?"

– notmyrealnam3

Not Sure Who Was Weirder

"Had a line cook that worked for us for 6 months never said much. My sous chef once told him with no context, "Baw wit da baw daw bang daw bang diggy diggy." The guy smiled, left, and never came back."

– Frostygrunt

Imagination

"I pace around my house for hours listening to music imagining that I have done all the things I simply lack the brain capacity to do, or in some really bizarre scenarios, I can really get immersed in these imaginations sometimes I don't know if this is some form of schizophrenia or what."

– RandomSharinganUser

"I do the same exact thing, sometimes for hours. When I was young it would be a ridiculous amount of time and many years later it’s sort of trickled off into almost nothing (almost). It’s weird but I just thought it’s how my brain processes sh*t."

– Kolkeia

If Only

"Even as an adult I still think that if you are in a car that goes over a cliff; and right as you are about to hit the ground if you jump up you can avoid the damage and will land safely. I know I'm wrong. You shut up. I'm not crying."

– ShotCompetition2593

Pet Food

"As a kid I would snack on my dog's Milkbones."

– drummerskillit

"Haha, I have a clear memory of myself doing this as well. I was around 3 y/o. Needless to say no one was supervising me."

– Isitjustmedownhere

"When I was younger, one of my responsibilities was to feed the pet fish every day. Instead, I would hide under the futon in the spare bedroom and eat the fish food."

– -GateKeep-

My Favorite Subject

"I'm autistic and have always had a thing for insects. My neurotypical best friend and I used to hang out at this local bar to talk to girls, back in the late 90s. One time he claimed that my tendency to circle conversations back to insects was hurting my game. The next time we went to that bar (with a few other friends), he turned and said sternly "No talking about bugs. Or space, or statistics or other bullsh*t but mainly no bugs." I felt like he was losing his mind over nothing."

"It was summer, the bar had its windows open. Our group hit it off with a group of young ladies, We were all chatting and having a good time. I was talking to one of these girls, my buddy was behind her facing away from me talking to a few other people."

"A cloudless sulphur flies in and lands on little thing that holds coasters."

"Cue Jordan Peele sweating gif."

"The girl notices my tension, and asks if I am looking at the leaf. "Actually, that's a lepidoptera called..." I looked at the back of my friend's head, he wasn't looking, "I mean a butterfly..." I poked it and it spread its wings the girl says "oh that's a BUG?!" and I still remember my friend turning around slowly to look at me with chastisement. The ONE thing he told me not to do."

"I was 21, and was completely not aware that I already had a rep for being an oddball. It got worse from there."

– Phormicidae

*Teeth Chatter*

"I bite ice cream sometimes."

RedditbOiiiiiiiiii

"That's how I am with popsicles. My wife shudders every single time."

monobarreller

Never Speak Of This

"I put ice in my milk."

– GTFOakaFOD

"You should keep that kind of thing to yourself. Even when asked."

– We-R-Doomed

"There's some disturbing sh*t in this thread, but this one takes the cake."

– RatonaMuffin

More Than Super Hearing

"I can hear the television while it's on mute."

– Tira13e

"What does it say to you, child?"

– Mama_Skip

Yikes!

"I put mustard on my omelettes."

– Deleted User

"Oh."

– NotCrustOr-filling

Evened Up

"Whenever I say a word and feel like I used a half of my mouth more than the other half, I have to even it out by saying the word again using the other half of my mouth more. If I don't do it correctly, that can go on forever until I feel it's ok."

"I do it silently so I don't creep people out."

– LesPaltaX

"That sounds like a symptom of OCD (I have it myself). Some people with OCD feel like certain actions have to be balanced (like counting or making sure physical movements are even). You should find a therapist who specializes in OCD, because they can help you."

– MoonlightKayla

I totally have the same need for things to be balanced! Guess I'm weird and a little OCD!

Close up face of a woman in bed, staring into the camera
Photo by Jen Theodore

Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.

Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?

But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.

It would be so great to be sure there is something else.

But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.

Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:

"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"

Sensations

Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy

"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."

PeachesnPain

Recovery

"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."

"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."

"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."

good_golly99

Take Me Back

"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."

"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."

rayrayrayray

Free

The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy

"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."

TooReDTooHigh

This is why I hate surgery.

You just never know.

Shocked

Giphy

"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."

Admirable_Buyer6528

The SOB

"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."

"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”

1-cupcake-at-a-time

Colors

"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"

Hannah_LL7

"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"

huntokarrr

The Fog

"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."

"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."

Fluffy-Hotel-5184

Through the Walls

"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."

"She's quite alive and well today."

Hot-Refrigerator6583

Well let's all be happy to be alive.

It seems to be all we have.

Man's waist line
Santhosh Vaithiyanathan/Unsplash

Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.

The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.

Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.

Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:

"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"

Redditors didn't see these coming.

Shiver Me Timbers

"I’m always cold now!"

– Telrom_1

"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."

– r7ndom

"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."

– mr_remy

Drawing Concern

"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."

– dee-fondy

"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"

"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."

– LizardofDeath

Unleashing Insults

"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”

"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."

– alanamablamaspama

Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight

"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."

– KeltarCentauri

"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."

– KatMagic1977

"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."

– Jaew96

These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.

Shopping

"I can buy clothes in any store I want."

– WaySavvyD

"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."

– ganache98012

No More Symptoms

"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."

– colleennicole93

Expanding Capabilities

"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."

– Ramblonius

People Change Their Tune

"How much nicer people are to you."

"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"

– LiZZygsu

"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"

"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"

– awholedamngarden

It's gonna take some getting used to.

Bones Everywhere

"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."

– Princess-Pancake-97

"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."

– bekastrange

Knee Pillow

"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."

– snic2030

"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."

– Strongbad23

More Mobility

"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."

"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."

– dma1965

People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.

But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.

That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.