‘Someone I Used to Know’

Someone recently suggested that I (Rob) watch a documentary called Hellier. Strange name, I thought. What could this be? It turns out that Hellier is the name of a rural town in Kentucky where usual creatures have been seen and documented, at least through photos of their three-toed foot prints, and a few murky pictures. The creatures are supposedly about three-feet tall with large pointed ears and a face without a nose.

The paranormal researchers who set out to find the creatures or at least find out more about them were drawn into this quest by a series of e-mails from a man named David Christie, whose family seemingly was targeted by these creatures that he referred to as gremlins. The beings repeatedly came onto his property late at night, approached his house, and apparently were curious about his young daughter. He believed they lived in one of many abandoned mines in the area. After living in the house a mere seven months, the Christies became more and more frightened by events, and finally fled.

The documentary is well done and worth watching if you’re interested in stories of strange creatures, possibly alien beings. After Christie abandoned the house, he stopped writing the investigators, and they were unable to contact him for an in-person interview. Apparently, he didn’t respond to their e-mails or his account was closed. Eventually, they found the house, which was empty except for some children’s toys scattered in the yard.

Interestingly—at least for me—is that I used to correspond with a man named David Christie. We exchanged e-mails related to Carlos Castaneda and the people around him. David was fascinated with Castaneda and approached me because I had some dealings with one of the women in Castaneda’s orbit, who had gone on to write a couple of books herself.

So, of course, as I watched the video, I began wondering if the David Christie, who was e-mailing paranormal researchers about Gremlins, was the same one I had communicated with years earlier. On a whim, I decided to put his name in a Facebook search to see what turned up. I found several David Christies, but only one caught my attention. This David Christie had no picture, just the usual silhouette that’s posted before a profile picture is established. I clicked into the page and found no photos, no comments, just a single post. It was a link to a song: Someone I Used to Know.

So I was looking for someone I used to know and that’s all I got, a song with the exact same title. A puzzling synchronicity. I still don’t know if he was the same David Christie, but I guess it doesn’t matter. If it does, maybe I’ll hear from him.