By Tim Binnall
Given the near-ubiquity of cell phones these days, it should come as no surprise that some unsettling urban legends and creepy stories have begun to be associated with the devices. YouTube user Top5s has compiled an enlightening look at some of these unnerving tales which constitute a kind of modern folklore. Whether these stories are simply the result of the virtual campfire that is the internet or actual eerie events is anyone's guess, but in light of the highly personal nature of cell phones, they're often more unnerving that your average phantom hitchhiker encounter.
One incident detailed in the video centers around a man who was vacationing in Ireland and inadvertently left his phone behind in the hotel room. Upon his return to where he was staying, he spotted the device sitting in a corner, but suspected that perhaps a maid had left it in that curious location. Things really got strange when he perused the photos on his phone and found an image that was apparently taken while it had been left in the room and showed a pair of unidentified people seemingly lurking in a dark doorway.
A similar yet even more bizarre story detailed in the collection involved an inexplicable image of a memorial which popped up on the phone of an individual in Arkansas. insisting that they could not have possibly taken the photo and that they never share their phone with others, the owner of the device posted the photo online in the hopes of solving the mystery. Eventually, the dedicated online sleuths of Reddit were somehow able to discern that it was a marker dedicated to a family in California who had been murdered. The owner of the phone insists that they were nowhere near the state when the image was taken and is by baffled by how it could have possibly been on their device.
Other weird stories featured in the video include an urban legend surrounding a phone number that, when called, allegedly puts a person on the radar of a nefarious organization as well as a series of strange calls received by a someone serving in Navy while they were on base. Have you ever experienced something potentially paranormal via your cell phone? Let us know at the Coast to Coast AM Facebook page.