Early in October 1955, a number of newspapers across the country carried the following AP report:
Windsor, Vt.--The mystery of the water in the home of Dr. and Mrs. William Waterman was no nearer solution today.
The Watermans have been forced to take refuge in a trailer in their front yard.
The water, in the form of dew, mist, or fog, dampens everything in the eight-room house except the walls and ceilings.
The Watermans have lived in the house for nine years but not until two weeks ago did water begin to plague them. At first they sponged it up and carried it out in buckets, but then they decided to evacuate until the cause could be determined.
Experts from electrical, plumbing, furnace and insulation companies are as puzzled as the Watermans. There are no water pipe leaks and there seems to be no seepage from a spring, well or other body of water. Fog is common near a pond 200 yards from the house, but none ever has drifted into the residence.
The problem started on September 20, when the family suddenly began finding puddles of water throughout the house. The flooding quickly escalated, until the Watermans found themselves collecting dozens of buckets of water from the house. No one could ever tell where the water came from--it just appeared, including in places like bureau drawers and closets. On at least one occasion, it actually rained inside the home. Dr. Waterman told the "Claremont Daily Eagle" that once, while carrying a bowl of grapes from the kitchen to the living room, the bowl filled with water virtually in front of his eyes. Even more strangely, the basement and the insulation inside the walls remained dry. The furniture became so soaked they had to be hauled outside.
Late in October, the watery plague began to taper off, until it finally ceased altogether. The Watermans were able to move back into their home, and, as far as is recorded, were able to lead a dry existence from then on. The question of what caused the problem remained unanswered, however.
And, yes, the irony of the family's name was not lost on anyone.
[Note: Cf. these three previous posts on Mystery Floods.]
I hope they had the structure of the house examined before they moved back in. Supernatural or not, water may cause some damage. I wonder if they had the water analyzed?
ReplyDeleteThat's a good point. It would have been interesting to know if the water was completely pure, or if it matched the composition of the pond nearby.
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