Observations placeholder
The apparition of Jim, the laughing collie dog, took place one hundred and six miles from the city where it was killed
Identifier
028139
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
A description of the experience
As quoted in Gabriel Delanne - Materials for use in the study of Reincarnation
- in the Revue scientifique et morale du spiritisme, septembre 1907, we read the following curious account by General Thompson.
Jim, the dog whose ghost I mention here, was a beautiful collie, my family's pet, living in Cheyenne, Wyoming. His affectionate nature was the most remarkable one that you could ever meet. It was known throughout the city, and they called him the laughing dog. The name came from the fact that it marked the pleasure it experienced in meeting the parents or friends of its masters with a kind of joyful burst of laughter, which strangely resembled the laughter of a human being.
One evening in the last days of 1905, at about 7:30 a. m., I was walking with a friend on 17th Street in Denver, Colorado. As we approached the door of the first National Bank, we saw a dog lying in the middle of the road, and as I walked towards it, I was amazed at the absolute similarity with Cheyenne's Jim. Its identity was made even more certain by the expressions of satisfaction at my sight and by Jim's unique laughter, by which it welcomed me. I told my friend that if we were not one hundred and six miles away from Cheyenne, I would swear that we were in Jim's presence, whose particularities I mentioned.
The astral dog, or ghost, was obviously seriously injured because it could not get up. After stroking it, I said an emotional goodbye, we crossed Stout-Street and I turned around to see it again, but it had disappeared. The next morning, I received a letter from my wife announcing that the day before, at 7:30 p. m., Jim had been killed accidentally. I'll believe all my life that I've seen Jim's ghost.
What seems to rule out any idea of hallucination is that the ghost dog was seen by two people, including his master, to whom he showed his affection in his very special way, and that its appearance coincided with the exact time of its death.