In reply to WelshLamb:
There's an interesting piece here about Joseph McCook and Ben Alder Cottage from the SMC Journal.
https://www.smc.org.uk/downloads/archives/journal/prize/wh-murray-prize-201...
I've had a few unusual experiences when staying in bothies over the years but after thinking long and hard about them I believe all the sensations have originated in my head rather than from some other source beyond my own body.
That's not to disparage your own experience as different people seem to experience the world in very different ways and maybe we are just tuned in on different levels. I am one of those people who can hear clear words and phrases in the sounds of running water outside my tent.
I spent a couple of nights alone at Ben Alder Cottage in the early 1990s and experienced nothing unusual.
The most extreme experience I had was when I spent a few long winter nights alone at Shenavall, also in the 90s.
The first night I had a good fire going and what I thought was a "crack" from the cooling embers woke me in the early hours. I was instantly aware of a very powerful presence watching me through the window. I can still recall how terrifyingly strong the feeling was. I lay in my sleeping bag for what felt like ages just staring at the window, completely unable to move.
Eventually I overcame my fear and went to the door. It was a beautiful moonlit night with a very hard frost. A couple of Red Deer hinds were grazing the frozen grass a few yards away. My fear disappeared immediately, replaced by feelings of awe and wonder at the beauty of the night.
Interestingly, Tom Weir describes something similar in the beginning of his excellent book, "Highland Days".
Some years later in the internet age I was researching why my sleep was often so poor and I came across the entertainingly named Exploding Head Syndrome.
I think this can account for most of the frightening experiences I have had at night. People with Exploding Head Syndrome are woken from sleep by sudden loud noises. Typically the noises I hear (and feel) are like someone crashing two cymbals together, or gunshots or breaking glass.
Waking suddenly from such noises can produce a state of high anxiety during which I would often then hear footsteps outside my bedroom. Many times I crept out of the bedroom, ice axe in hand, but found nothing unusual.
I think my Shenavall experience and other similar events were due to Exploding Head Syndrome, the "crack" I heard being in my head with my subsequent anxiety resulting in the sensations that followed.
I still get Exploding Head Syndrome but nowadays I can turn over and go quickly back to sleep.
As I said I don't wish to disparage your own experience but I think mine can be explained as being something that originated from within me. Whether there really are ghosts, I don't personally think so, but then again maybe they are just something that I am unable to sense.
I wouldn't want to take part in any radio discussion but you can use anything I have written here if it is of interest. Good luck with your project.
