Considering what happened to him decades ago, it's no wonder John Tierney says, "There are things that can't be explained through normal processes."
At 17, John was a passenger in a car driven by another teen, who lost control of the vehicle that then slammed into a tree.
John, who would be hospitalized 72 days and undergo four major surgeries to save his life, was unconscious when brought into the hospital Emergency Room and was perilously close to death.
His friend, the driver, was less seriously injured.
When John regained consciousness, he related a strange story of having been visited by a man with a white beard, and "flying through the air with the old man."
Over the years, John, a retired Kentucky State Park naturalist, has traveled all over the state speaking to groups on different subjects, and invariably people feel compelled to tell him about episodes from their lives.
Often, those episodes involve seemingly supernatural events, and John has catalogued those experiences.
They are the gist of a free program he'll present at the Audubon State Park campground shelter at 8:30 p.m. on Friday, June 10.
That program, suitable for all ages as he makes every effort "not to scare little kids," is entitled "Ghosts of Kentucky," but includes other paranormal phenomena.
The people who confide in him "aren't kooks," he says. "They're very responsible. They'll say, 'I didn't believe, but I saw something I cannot explain.'"
The Olive Hill resident notes that he's never personally seen a ghost, but he thinks there's a possibility some troubled souls might remain earthbound for awhile.
One of them, he speculates, could be the famed "Woman in Purple" said to stand at the edge of roads in Powell County after nightfall.
There have been numerous purported sightings of the female who, the story goes, was killed in that county and became a restless spirit after her untimely death.
John stresses that he's only the messenger who relates these tales. "A lot of people believe one thing," he says, "and others believe something else."
This fellow, who was staff naturalist for Carter Caves State Resort Park in northeastern Kentucky for 36 years prior to his 2001 retirement, includes humorous episodes in his program as well as the more spine-tingling ones.
His late grandmother, for instance, once was caught out in a sudden storm with some others and took refuge in an abandoned church.
In the gloom, they could barely make out something white moving in the church sanctuary. Terrified, they tried to open the church door, which had become tightly jammed.
Imagine their relief when the entity in white opened its mouth and said "B-a-a-a-a-a." Yep, it was a little lost sheep. (All kinds of symbolism there).
John, whose wife Lelana sometimes participates in his state park programs, is by no means a stranger here.
He comes a couple of times a year, giving entertaining and informative talks about one thing and another.
Five years ago this month, he presented a particularly enjoyable account of his grandmother's home remedies that had brought many a Grayson, Ky., resident to her door.
His granny had remedies for everything from injuries to removing freckles to preventing arthritis.
She had one for baldness too, John said, and it called for green pawpaws, persimmons, and alum.
John jokes that instead of curing baldness, the formula "just shrivels up your head so it looks like you've got more hair."
His June 10th program here has a tantalizing angle about possible hauntings at Audubon State Park.
He clammed up when I begged for more information during our telephone interview last week, and said, "You'll just have to come to the program and find out!"
At 17, John was a passenger in a car driven by another teen, who lost control of the vehicle that then slammed into a tree.
John, who would be hospitalized 72 days and undergo four major surgeries to save his life, was unconscious when brought into the hospital Emergency Room and was perilously close to death.
His friend, the driver, was less seriously injured.
When John regained consciousness, he related a strange story of having been visited by a man with a white beard, and "flying through the air with the old man."
Over the years, John, a retired Kentucky State Park naturalist, has traveled all over the state speaking to groups on different subjects, and invariably people feel compelled to tell him about episodes from their lives.
Often, those episodes involve seemingly supernatural events, and John has catalogued those experiences.
They are the gist of a free program he'll present at the Audubon State Park campground shelter at 8:30 p.m. on Friday, June 10.
That program, suitable for all ages as he makes every effort "not to scare little kids," is entitled "Ghosts of Kentucky," but includes other paranormal phenomena.
The people who confide in him "aren't kooks," he says. "They're very responsible. They'll say, 'I didn't believe, but I saw something I cannot explain.'"
The Olive Hill resident notes that he's never personally seen a ghost, but he thinks there's a possibility some troubled souls might remain earthbound for awhile.
One of them, he speculates, could be the famed "Woman in Purple" said to stand at the edge of roads in Powell County after nightfall.
There have been numerous purported sightings of the female who, the story goes, was killed in that county and became a restless spirit after her untimely death.
John stresses that he's only the messenger who relates these tales. "A lot of people believe one thing," he says, "and others believe something else."
This fellow, who was staff naturalist for Carter Caves State Resort Park in northeastern Kentucky for 36 years prior to his 2001 retirement, includes humorous episodes in his program as well as the more spine-tingling ones.
His late grandmother, for instance, once was caught out in a sudden storm with some others and took refuge in an abandoned church.
In the gloom, they could barely make out something white moving in the church sanctuary. Terrified, they tried to open the church door, which had become tightly jammed.
Imagine their relief when the entity in white opened its mouth and said "B-a-a-a-a-a." Yep, it was a little lost sheep. (All kinds of symbolism there).
John, whose wife Lelana sometimes participates in his state park programs, is by no means a stranger here.
He comes a couple of times a year, giving entertaining and informative talks about one thing and another.
Five years ago this month, he presented a particularly enjoyable account of his grandmother's home remedies that had brought many a Grayson, Ky., resident to her door.
His granny had remedies for everything from injuries to removing freckles to preventing arthritis.
She had one for baldness too, John said, and it called for green pawpaws, persimmons, and alum.
John jokes that instead of curing baldness, the formula "just shrivels up your head so it looks like you've got more hair."
His June 10th program here has a tantalizing angle about possible hauntings at Audubon State Park.
He clammed up when I begged for more information during our telephone interview last week, and said, "You'll just have to come to the program and find out!"
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