The Bankfoot Apparition

This is a true story except the names have been changed at the author's request. It is also the first time it has been published.

Last week I met some friends from Inverness. Marion and Martin are my generation and we remember the 'old days' when the A9 wasn't the fast road it is today. For those of you who don't know the A9 it is the main route to the Highlands from the south. The conversation turned to the recent improvements which have been made and how maybe one day it would be all dual-carriageway from Perth to Inverness.

Martin then asked me if I had ever heard of the Bankfoot Apparition (because he knew I used to travel that part of the road daily) and once the two of them started their story, I was completely intrigued. It certainly deserves an audience and I said there is no better than my blog readers.

Martin sent the following by email at my request: (Bankfoot is a village about 8 miles north of Perth)

The Bankfoot Apparition

In November 1984, my 3 year old son, my wife, who was 8 months pregnant, and I were driving north on the A9 when, at a point about one mile north of Bankfoot, roughly about one hundred yards north of where the well known speed camera is presently situated, I noticed, through the heavy fog which had alighted on the area, a car emerging towards us and flashing its headlights, presumably as some kind of a warning signal.

Shortly thereafter, I was horrified to see what appeared to be the figure of a man suddenly lurch into view straddling the centerline of the road. I immediately swerved violently to the left, trying to avoid the figure and, as I did so, my wife screamed – I remember thinking that I should stop, then thought the better of it, as stopping on any carriageway in thick fog was asking for trouble.

We then continued north, soon emerging from the mist as the Dunkeld lights loomed into view as we approached the village where we stopped in a layby to recover our composure. We have had many a discussion over the years as to what it was which had startled us, and my wife, who has always had an eye for detail which I sadly lack, has recently done a line drawing of her impression of the figure.

I certainly agree with her recollection as to the overall profile, but she appears to have captured aspects of detail which escaped me at the time, presumably as I was preoccupied with steering the car out of danger. I append her sketch of the figure for your scrutiny, but what immediately strikes me is the remarkable resemblance to a Covenanter, who were prominent in the area in the mid 17^th century. Further, a little Google research reveals that two important battles involving them were fought fairly locally, near Pitlochry and Dunkeld during this period.

My conclusions are as follows :-

The apparition must have been seen by others, as witness the flashing of lights by other vehicles.

I have often wondered if the fact of my wife’s pregnancy, or the presence of an infant in the car at the time led, in some mysterious way, to our being more receptive to viewing these type of paranormal events? I recall reading somewhere that the presence of young children and infants appears to cause these phonomena to reveal themselves more readily.

It would be interesting to know if anyone has had a similar experience when driving. Do tell us about it.

Tweet