Paranormal investigator Joshua Warren told C2C about the incredible but rarely discussed phenomenon of Santa sightings, where people believe they actually see the legendary Father Christmas.
According to Warren, he's been asking people for such encounters since 2008 and has a stack of sightings that have been reported to him.
"Eyewitness testimonies from professionals, people who are working in the medical field or law enforcement who say 'I'm so glad you've asked this question, because I have actually seen Santa Claus,'" he marveled.
Warren shared one account of a Santa sighting from a woman who recalled seeing St. Nick at the age of eleven.
Left home alone on Christmas Eve while her parents were out at a party, the woman and her older sister were in the kitchen doing dishes when suddenly they heard a noise "like something fell on the roof."
"Then there was stomping on the roof," Warren reported, "all this stomping around then led to a noise in the living room."
The terrified young girls ran outside to see what was happening and looked up at the top of their house.
"And there was Santa Claus, full beard and all, his sleigh and reindeer took off from our roof," the woman told Warren.
When they told their mother about the strange experience later that night, she told them, "always believe in miracles."
He also shared another story from a nurse who recalled a childhood memory of looking out the window with her brother and seeing Santa and his sleigh flying through the sky.
One possible source for these sightings, Warren suggested, may be tulpas, which are thought forms that manifest themselves into physicality through the sheer power of belief.
He theorized that Santa is a strong candidate for the tulpa phenomenon because his image is fairly universal.
"We already have this foundation of knowing what he looks like. We have this legend about how and when he appears. And we also, of course, have this idea that it's based on some real man."
"All that combines to create the perfect fodder to manifest one of these tulpas."
So if you hear a rustling on your roof this evening, don't be so quick to dismiss the possibility that Santa is in the neighborhood.
Coast Insiders can hear the full interview with Joshua Warren here.
Not yet a Coast Insider? Sign up today.