By John Macklin
The shadowy world of what some call the paranormal can be strange or even frightening to those who become convinced they are enmeshed in its mysteries.
Recently, for instance, I received a long letter from a reader I will call Mrs R about an experience which obviously upset her. She put forward no rational explanation, advanced no theory, but is totally convinced that she saw what she relates.
Here, then, is her story.
Mrs R is a middle-aged woman living in London who at the time of her experience had a daughter at a northern university.
In November 1998 she was walking alone one evening along the riverside near the Tower of London.
As she paused for a moment near a line of ancient cannons which once guarded the tower, she was apparently aware of someone approaching her down a nearby flight of steps.