What was that?

Question

I am looking for genuine answers here...not some insipid crap that I watch fall off people's fingertips around here constantly.

There was an abandoned mental hospital relatively close to where I had spent the majority of my life. I felt very passionately about preserving the building and in its final days spent as much time lurking around it as possible. I had never gone there to look for ghosts, for it was truly the historical value that drew me to this place.

I took my friend Nicole for a trip up there one night, just to drive by. To keep a long story short, I had pulled up to the main gate and was about to do a three pointer to head back out. When I looked into the rear view, I saw what looked like a tiny tornado on the side of the road a few hundred feet behind us. It was a funnel of a thick fog-like consistency, about 3-5 feet tall. It struck me as odd, but I didn't think too much of it and thought perhaps there was a drain over where it was coming from.

(continued)

So, I got the car turned around and headed for the highway. As we were a quarter to halfway onto the on-ramp, I saw the same, exact thing in front of me to the right side of the road. I stopped the car and Nik & I stared at it not knowing what to think. Our eyes scoured the area for a clue as to what it was. We saw no drains...nothing to indicate why this freestanding mini-tornado would be in front of us. It started spinning toward the middle of the ramp and then started moving toward us. I opted to just drive through it. When I made contact with it, it spread along the windshield making it hard to see through this smokey/foggy mass. It appeared to flash orange and green quickly and as we were making our way through it, the vents puffed air at us. After all the way through, it was not in the rear view.

Someone had suggested it was a mini-cyclone, but I have not been able to find any information on this type of thing. It was a New England spring night, about 9PM...

The air was relatively still. I obviously did not make many observations beyond that and I have gone over that area a few times since then with nothing bringing me closer to an answer.

Two of us witnessed this situation and neither one of us can turn up an answer.

I am not looking for anyone to tell me I saw a ghost, what I am looking for is environmental causes for the situation and hopefully some links so I can look into it further.

From what I have read into cyclones and tornadoes, none are this small and they are all attached to clouds. These were two small freestanding funnels about a quarter of a mile or so apart. I am thinking of something along the lines of the air temperature having some kind of conflict, but would like to try to learn more about it and put it to bed.

Thank you, nuff. I suppose that would cover the air temperature conflict I was thinking of...heh. I am looking into dust devils now. I am trying to find pictures that look like what it was that we saw. We don't get to see a lot of dust devils out this way, I guess. This one's a first for me, but I remember hearing about them a bit during my brief residence in Nevada.

The only thing is what I am digging up shows & says that they are significantly larger than what we saw. Could this perhaps be because of our weather in New England, am I finding junk sites, or is there something similar, but smaller?

Peter, considering the first answers I got involved dust devils, yes I have heard of them. I looked up tornadoes and was led to dust devils when I first started trying to figure this out as well. From the description and pictures I've found, it is different but similar. I ponder the effect of weather specific to central New England or the lack of dust, leaves, or other debris accounting for its smaller size.

I felt the setting was worth mentioning as I am thinking if I encountered such a thing in a 7/11 parking lot, I would possibly have shrugged it off more easily and been less likely to feel the need to get to the bottom of it. Maybe I would still have been vying for an explanation, but I think it would have had much less of an impact on me. There were other circumstances in the situation that are far more subjective than what two people saw with their eyes and I have opted to leave those out.

Answer 1

dust devil. that what we call them out west, dont know bout new england. they can happen anywhere, anytime. You just need the right amount of cold air moving down and warm air moving up. As for the wind being calm, the air is usually calm before a tornado strikes. Tornados have been known to come out of nowhere. A dust devil is just a mini tornado.

Answer 2

Have you ever heard of a dust devil? I have seen many. They are indeed mini tornadoes. Actually, it's just a swirl of wind that pulls dirt, leaves, etc. from the ground. It is usually pretty weak and doesn't last very long, so although there is a possibility this is what you saw, I don't think it is.

I don't suppose it could be a swarm of some sort?

I am curious to know what you prefaced your question with the account of visiting the mental hospital. Although it is interesting (especially since I too love old buildings), it really isn't relevant to the question at hand.

Answer 3

I grew up in the southwest and have seen dust devils of all sizes, from a few feet to 100 feet high. They are just a wind eddy caused by temperature change and a slight breeze. Some times you might see as many as 10 at one time in a field if the conditions are right

Answer 4

They are harmless but look like a mini tornado. Around the west coast kids always try to run and get caught in them.
Facts.
Will usually see around 2 a year.
No certain weather is needed.
They seem to be noticeable more in the open than in a small enclosed space although I have seen them just outside of old buildings.
They are also on the water at the beach.

http://www.gc.maricopa.edu/earthsci/imagearchive/dust_devils.htm

Answer 5

HI...I must say, that I love this type of thing, and would be more than happy to come and hang at this place to see if we could find another one of these "Dust Devil's"... I just came back from a two night stay at a place called the "Black Forest" up in the N.M. mountain's near Ruidoso. I found it to have, heavy amount's of lingering fog, not to mention, ice spot's in 65 degree's, that made your teeth chatter. I believe places are a product of there past, just like we are, and some places hold a hell of alot more thing's inside them, say like a "Mental Hospital"...Researched one in Texas, that was said to have been haunted for more than a hundred year's, and I wanted to see for myself before it fell to the ground... Very cool place, but I didn't get more than a few cold spot's and maybe a few orb's, not even sure about that, you see I do most of this alone, I dig this sort of thing and most of my friend's do not..LOL. All in all, what you made contact with could have been a number of thing's and you could chose from anyone of them...I say if the place still stand's, make another visit deep in the night, that's when I find the most activity, and see what happen's, and if you dont have anyone to go with, give this old chick a holla. Take care and enjoy the thing's that we can't always answer, or understand, it bring's a bit of spice to the sometimes very boring lifes of the living... I say go kick it with a spirit,or ghost, or what ever it is you chose to call those who live on the other side of our world, one that we may be apart of ourselves one day, and have a blast..LOL..Rock On!!! Happy Halloween....

Answer 6

Wikipedia is your friend:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_devil

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