GHOSTS AROUND UNITED KINGDOM

DOGS IN THE GRAVEYARD

"DOGS IN THE GRAVEYARD" – The Soothsayer of Suburbia.

Since the dawn of humankind, mystics have sought to foretell the future through magical processes or by interpreting natural events and phenomena. Known as precognition, the prophetic predictions offered-up by the likes of Mother Shipton or Nostradamus were said to offer a genuine insight into the future. Oracles, soothsayers, wise-women, witches, prophets and fortune tellers are all connected to the idea that destiny is both discoverable, discernible and controllable by human beings.

Dream premonitions occupy a central position in the art of predicting the future. Throughout history many men and women have claimed to have foreseen events in dreams. The Pharoh in the biblical narrative of Moses for example, is led to believe that his dreams foretell plagues and famines in the land of Egypt. In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, the eponymous hero forecasts his own death when he dreams of the Tiberius overflowing with blood. Even Jung, one of the founders of modern psychology, believed that dreams tapped into a greater mass of collective human knowledge, including knowledge about events that were yet to occur.

In the 21st Century, mankind still struggles to explain how some individuals appear to have an ability to foretell future events. Chris Robinson of Bedfordshire is one such individual. Ever since Chris was a child he has experienced coded dreams, which seemed to predict the future. As he grew older, the nature of the predictions became more and more serious, foretelling death, disaster and acts of terror. Tormented by this "other knowledge", Chris decided to act on his dreams and where possible, warn those at risk.

One of Chris Robinson's most celebrated premonitions related to RAF Stanmore in Middlesex. Chris had been disturbed by a dream that clearly featured the airforce base. The dream had included "dogs in a graveyard", "ticking clocks" and "photographic equipment". Experience had taught him that "dogs" represented terrorists, so he became convinced that the base was about to be the target of a terrorist atrocity. Acting on his belief, he contacted the airbase to warn them, but his pleas for vigilance fell on deaf ears. Unwilling to let innocent people suffer and die, Chris decided to go to the airbase in person in order to insist that the RAF take steps to prevent the tragedy from taking place.

When the officer in charge of the premises met Chris, he soon realised that he was not dealing with a lunatic. He decided to treat his warning seriously and asked Chris to attend an interview, where the details of his dream where analysed and recorded. During this interview, Chris mentioned that he had assisted Bedfordshire Police with several of their investigations and that he could prove that past premonitions had been accurate. The RAF officer decided to confirm this by contacting the Detective Inspector at Bedfordshire police station. He was astonished when the seasoned, high-ranking police officer not only confirmed Chris Robinson's story, but also urged the RAF to pay heed to his warnings.

In light of Chris Robinson's premonition, security at RAF Stanmore was stepped-up. However, exactly two weeks after Chris first made contact with the base, an IRA bomb exploded there. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured or killed. Astonishingly, the terrorists were shown to have entered the premises through an adjoining graveyard. What's more, they had planted the bomb in room used to store photographic equipment. This was just one of Chris Robinson's many dream premonitions that was later shown to have come true.