My partner Ian and I got out of the car when we had been forced to stop by all the fallen trees.  Other cars had also stopped and people were wandering about trying to see the extent of the obstruction.  Having seen that we were likely to be there for some time, until help arrived, I wandered back to talk to some of the other drivers and tell them what the situation was.

Then a man dressed in brown came up to me and said, "thank you for helping us".   He struck me as being unusually calm.  And he had my father's face.

My father had died the evening before, at 6.30pm in Coventry hospital, of a heart attack. 

As this man spoke to me I heard Ian calling me back to him.  He had also seen that it was my father and was shocked and alarmed.  The strange thing is that I did not share this shock.  In life my father had always been the over-anxious, over conscientious type.  When he came to speak to me that morning I felt it was because he wanted me to know that he had found complete peace now and was happy.  That overwhelming aura of peace is what has always stayed in my memory and given me comfort over my father's too-early passing.

Was the experience difficult to express in words?     No  

Did you hear the deceased or hear something associated with the deceased?   Yes          

Did the voice or sound seem to originate externally or outside of you, inside you, or did you not hear a voice or sound, but had a sense of knowing what was communicated?   The voice I heard was clear and distinct 

If you heard a voice or sound, was it similar or dissimilar from the voice or sound the deceased made when they were alive?     I can't now remember     

Is there any possibility what you heard was from any other source present in the surroundings at the time of your experience?   No  

Was there any possible impairment to your hearing at the time of the experience?   No

Did you feel a touch or experience any physical contact from the deceased?   No                   

Did you see the deceased?   Yes    As he often did in life, my father was wearing brown and was smartly dressed

How clearly did the deceased appear?   Solid

How much of the deceased did you see?    All

Did the deceased appear or not appear to be the age at which they died?   Same age

How healthy did the deceased appear to be?    Perfectly healthy and mentally calm, not as he had been in life

Is there any possibility what you saw was from any other source present in the surroundings at the time of your experience?    The only other explanation is that my father had an exact double

Did you smell a distinct smell, scent, fragrance or odor associated with the deceased?    No                

Could you sense the emotions or mood of the deceased?   Yes     He gave the impression of great calm and well-being

Did the deceased give you information you did not previously know?   No

How do you currently view the reality of your experience?    Experience was probably real    I feel that my experience was probably real as it seems unlikely my father would have had such an exact double who would have happened to come to speak to me just a few hours after my father had died.

Also, I have several times sat in a 'Closed Circle' - where a psychic medium contacts the spirit dimension - and have clearly seen faces of the deceased appear over the face of the medium.  I wonder if that is what happened in this case and that my father had somehow used a living person to appear to me by transposing the image of his own face.

Was the experience dream like in any way?    No   

Was there any emotional healing in any way following the experience?    Yes    Yes, I had felt sad for my father's rather stressed-out life over the years but he was able to convey that he was in a better place now

What was the best and worst part of your experience?    Best part was feeling that my father was in a happier place.  Worst thing is wishing I had continued to talk to him and not just let him slip out of sight

Has your life changed specifically as a result of your experience?    No        

Did you have any changes of attitudes or beliefs following the experience?    No   

Did the experience give you any spiritual understandings such as life, death, afterlife, God, etc.?    No    

Did you observe or hear anything regarding people or events during your experience that could be verified later?   No

Was the experience witnessed or experienced by others?    Yes    My partner also witnessed what I did

Did you have any sense of altered space or time?       Yes    I lost track of time, which I think is how my father so quickly disappeared from the scene without my noticing

Did you have a sense of knowing, special knowledge, universal order and/or purpose?        No   

Did you become aware of future events?           No   

Did you have any psychic, paranormal or other special gifts following the experience that you did not have prior to the experience?     Uncertain    I find that I often capture orbs on photos and once a clear, transparent human form

Did you experience a separation of your consciousness from your body?    No   

Did you meet or see any other beings other than the deceased?    No   

Did you see a light?    No   

Did any part of your experience seem to occur in a place other than the location described above?   No   

Have you shared this experience with others?    No   

Have you shared this experience formally or informally with any other researcher or web site?    No        

Were there any associated medications or substances with the potential to affect the experience?    No   

Following the experience, have you had any other events in your life, medications or substances which reproduced any part of the experience?   No   

Did you ever in your life have a near-death experience, out of body experience or other spiritual event?      Yes    A few years ago I sensed a 'presence' on the stairs, outside the sitting room.  The feeling got stronger and stronger until (and I have no idea what made me do this as I knew nothing of spirit photography at that time) I took my camera to the top of the staircase, switched off the lights and took two photos.  When I checked them, one was just a picture of the stairs, whilst the other showed a bright, white globe of light - where I had sensed the presence.  (Photo available).