The Church and the light

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

President Donald Trump seems to have chosen well in nominating former Justice Department criminal division head Christopher Wray as FBI director. In his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on July 12, Wray said Trump had not asked him for, nor had he offered, personal loyalty to the president. His only allegiance in the director’s post, if he is confirmed for it, would be to the Constitution and the rule of law. Wray said that if he were asked by the president to do something unlawful, he would first try to talk him out of it, and, if that didn’t work, he would resign.

In June 2016, Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya met with Donald Trump Jr., the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and then-Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. The younger Trump hoped the meeting would yield damaging information about Hillary Clinton. Asked about that meeting, Wray advised senators that the FBI should be told about such overtures from foreign parties.

That was the correct statement for him to make, one that suggests he will act in the best interests of the American people. His term in office is theoretically 10 years, although Trump fired his predecessor, James B. Comey, after less than four years, after asking him to back off the scrutiny of Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser, in the midst of inquiries into links between Russia and the 2016 Trump election campaign.

If Wray is approved by the Senate, as it appears he will be, he will be stepping into a true political maelstrom in Washington. Comey’s predecessor, Robert S. Mueller III, is now special counsel assigned to investigate the Russia-Trump campaign issues.

Wray has useful background for his future mission, including as a federal prosecutor and assistant attorney general looking into money laundering, fraud and tax evasion. He is familiar with the activities of Russian organized crime in the United States, a subject that has not yet been explored as part of the inquiry into Russian interference in the U.S. elections last year. In Russia, government and organized crime are closely intertwined.

Having worked in George W. Bush’s Justice Department, Wray also is familiar with America’s vital anti-terrorism agenda at home and abroad, all of which would be valuable experience in his new post. Wray would serve the country well.

Iremember that a church was on North Broad at the corner of the street that ran down from North Broad to the railroad tracks by Jennings Funeral home. I am not sure of the name of the street. I grew up in North Rome on Reece Street. I used to walk to town down North Broad. I remember that on a Sunday morning that there would be people in church. In later years the church seemed to have got into a rundown condition. The church has long been torn down. The car wash now occupies the place that once was where the church sat.

I remember that when I went on the police department that the church was still being used. On Sunday mornings cars would be parked around it and it had a good gathering of people. I have no idea what faith the people were who went to the church. I remember being disappointed when it was torn down. I have always hated to see old buildings torn down. I realized that if they are not kept up then they become a hazard.

It was back in the ’60s that I remember going inside the church. My riding partner, which I will call Doug, had a friend that worked at Jennings Funeral Home. We would go by and get out and have a cup of coffee with him and shoot the bull. Back in those days we didn’t have walkie talkies so we had to stay close to the car. We would get a cup of coffee and stand by the car where we could hear the radio.

I remember that on this night we had ran most of the night and I was tired. I got a cup of coffee and sat down in the car. The car was facing the church. I was sipping on the coffee when a light appeared in a window of the church. I watched for a few minutes. I called Doug to come outside. I told him to watch the church windows and tell me what he saw. In just a few seconds the light appeared in a window. The light seemed to stand still, then bounce back though the church. I told Doug to get in the car and we would go and check the church. Doug’s friend began to laugh. He told us that no one was in the church. Him and a friend had checked it one night when they saw the light. The light, according to him, appeared in the church every night at about the same time.

I told Doug we would check the church just the same. Doug got in and we drove down to the front of the church. I checked us out and we walked up on the front porch and stopped. We listened but there was no sound coming from inside. I stood up on tip toes and peered through the glass in the front door. I could not see anything, it was so dark inside. I reached out and turned the door knob. The door opened. I stepped just inside and stopped, still no sound of any kind. I walked to where we were behind the pews where the people sat. I motioned for Doug to take the left side and I would go down LONIE ADCOCK Jim Powell of Young Harris Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press the right side. I was about halfway down the right side when I heard a noise come from where Doug was. I turned to see Doug standing, still pointing his light toward the stage. There over the pulpit, a ball of light appeared. It was about the size of a tennis ball.

I will try to describe this light as best as I can remember. As I said, it was about the size of a tennis ball. It was of a yellow color with a glow that sent off a bright blueish circle around it. It was about a foot above the podium. It seemed to be turning around and around. Doug let out a yell as the light went spinning toward the side of the church where he was. It went by him and made a complete circle around the church and then back to the podium. It spun for a few minutes, then dropped down on the top of the podium. I began to move slowly toward the stage where the podium sat. There was no way to get up on the stage from the front. A door that was at the end of the pews was open. I shined my light into the dark. I saw steps that went upon the stage. I came out on the stage just as Doug came out on the other side. We had the light between us, no way for it to get by. I walked up to the podium, but saw no light. Doug and I examined everything that was connected to the podium. No light or anything that could have made it.

I walked over to the edge of the stage and looked out over the pews. I was standing still listening to see if there was any kind of noise in the church. It was as quiet as a cemetery on a dark night. Doug let out a yell and I turned in time to see the light come from the podium. It came straight up and went to the same side of the church as before. It swirled around the room. Chills went up my back and the hair on the back, of my neck stood straight up. I moved over just as the light crossed the stage and disappeared into the podium. I looked at Doug and asked “had enough?” He headed for the front door. Doug went out and got in the car. I stopped and watched the light go around the church one more time. I believe that the light is called an orb by people who deal with the paranormal.

We drove back over to where Doug’s friend was. We talked for a while and then went back out on patrol. I remember asking Doug what he thought about the light. The answer he gave me was “if there are any more calls come in on this church you will have to answer by yourself. I have no intention of ever going back into that church again.”

Some people believe orbs are the soul of the dead who have passed on. Me, I have seen lights in many places, what they are, your guess is as good as mine.