SIGHTING: WATERLOO, IOWA (UNITED STATES)

Witness Testimony

"At the time, it just seemed like a rapid series of small events attributed to the heat, but....I know better. And my colleagues know better.I was painting inside my new home, an old turn-of-the-20th century model with no air conditioning and no fans. I had one of the windows open and several unopened jugs of water, but the heat was stifling. After a while I worried I'd get heat sickness, since I was slick with sweat (and I never sweat), so I set the brushes down and went downstairs for water. Again, I had not opened the jug previous to now, so I was surprised that the rim tasted kind of sweet. The back of my mind whispered that something wasn't right, but I ignored it. I didn't have hot water in the house yet at that was fine with me, I wanted the cooler (not cold, just cooler due to the heat around the pipes) water to help stand the heat. I was able to handle the water for about.....one minute. My skin burned, and I found myself screaming at the pain and barely able to stand up. My vision was blurry, and I knew I was about to pass out, so I quickly turned off the water, stumbled to my bed (that was right by the bathroom), and collapsed.The last thing I remember before waking up, and it felt like that hazy part of a dream in those few seconds before you wake, was a man setting me down on the bed and standing behind me. I liked him, as in I felt safe with him there. I felt my body sink onto the bed, like I actually had just been set down, right before I opened my eyes. Over two hours had passed when I checked my phone....and it was then that I found three smallish red marks on the back of my hand.To me, I'd just had a very minor heat stroke and a wild dream, but I felt very unsettled. I felt terrified, actually. I quickly called my best friend (now boyfriend) to see if he could come over immediately, which he did. I told him the story, omitting the "dream" about the man. He took one look at my hand and his face went grim. We have mutual friends and colleagues involved with certain sciences, and the first theory he had was that the Grays had taken me. Of course we set that aside and had an esthetician (skincare specialist) look at the back of my hand, and I was told that it could very well just be bug bites. But she had to admit, this was very symmetrical and perfectly aligned, rather unusual for insects. If they were bites, then the marks would be gone in a matter of days. If the marks remained there longer, then....she was honest. Then it would mean that my chances of abduction skyrocketed, no pun intended.The marks were there for over a month, far beyond normal insect bites.This happened last August, and I did a very good job of shoving the incident aside. But then a few nights ago (Feb 3 at 1:30am) I had just finished a movie and shut it off when I heard a low, pulsating, mechanical noise surrounding the apartment building. I now live near a major road/highway, so I looked outside to see if there were any semis or vehicles driving by. There was absolutely nothing, and as I looked, something inside me screamed to get away from the windows and stay the hell inside. I sat on my bed for a moment, trying to figure out what the hum could be...and I was beyond terrified. I don't get scared easy, and I have seen some messed up crap in my life, and as a Christian I have not only been trained in prayer battle, but I've exorcised demons and faced off with truly scary people. But right at this moment, I was shaking, crying, and clutching my Bible for dear life. It came to a point where I found myself curled up in the bathroom shower, praying for that stupid hum to go away! During this I kept trying to call my boyfriend, but he never answered. I did have a friend on Facebook who prayed with me, and who understood the gravity of the situation. I blasted worship music on Youtube and then Pandora, and it helped dim down the hum (I could still hear it, though). The second a song stopped to transition, though, the hum pulsated louder like a revving engine. Every now and then the window would vibrate and tapping sounds could be heard. Only once did an actual vehicle drive by, closer to 2am and a completely different sound.For three hours I stayed awake, trying to read my Bible amidst the cacophony. Deep down I'd long since realized that I'd heard this exact same hum the "night the water burned" in August. And all I could think, all that was chanting in my mind was, "Keep the lights on. Stay Awake. Pray. Keep the lights on. Stay awake. Pray."For three hours. Then at 3:45am, it stopped. And at that exact moment, three states away, my boyfriend woke up. He'd noted the time because he never wakes up that early on his own, and when he checked his phone he was shocked to see that not only had I called him dozens of times, but he hadn't heard any of it. I went the entire day completely shaken. I didn't go to school, I didn't even leave my room unless it was to use the bathroom. He wanted to know what had happened, but it was several hours before I could even speak, at all. Finally I told him, and the whole time I did my heart raced and my body trembled, and I prayed it wouldn't happen again. Even though he reassured me it probably won't happen again, he did confirm the whispered fear in my mind: the M.O. fit the description of the Grays. He promised to contact our colleagues to see if there is any further information to help, but as of right now, as I write this, we have heard nothing. He is the only one who knows the whole story. I debated on whether to report it or not...but the activity is something that needs to be recorded, and perhaps I am not the only one in the area to experience this. Even now as I write this, there is a tapping at my second floor window that has me playing worship music just in case. "